WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, running to be the Democratic nominee for president, on July 17 delivered a major address on Medicare for All, coinciding with the 54th anniversary of Medicare being signed into law. In his remarks, Sanders outlined his plan to make health care a human right for all Americans. Here is highlighted transcript of remarks as they were prepared for delivery: – Karen Rubin, News & Photo Features
Thank you all very
much for being here to discuss one of the major crises facing our country.
Let me also thank the dozens of organizations throughout America who
support Medicare for All and the tens of thousands of doctors, nurses and other
health professionals who support my legislation. Let me thank the 14
Senate co-sponsors that we have on this legislation and the 118 Members of the
House who support similar legislation. And mostly, let me thank the
American people who by the millions understand, as I do, that health care is a
human right, not a privilege.
Together, we will end
the international embarrassment of the United States being the only major
country on earth that does not guarantee health care to all of its citizens.
It is not acceptable to
me, nor to the American people, that some 87
million people today are either uninsured or underinsured.
It is not acceptable
to me that we end up spending almost
twice as much as any other major country on health care, while our life expectancy continues to decline
and our healthcare outcomes lag behind many other countries.
Frankly, I am sick and
tired of talking to doctors who tell me about the patients who died because
they were uninsured or underinsured, and walked into the doctor’s office when
it was too late. And we are talking about over 30,000 Americans who die every year because they are uninsured or
under-insured. What a tragedy.
I am sick and tired of
seeing working class families and small
businesses pay far more for healthcare than they can afford, and 530,000 Americans declare bankruptcy each
year because they cannot pay off the outrageous cost of a medical emergency
or a hospital stay. Families should not be driven into financial ruin
because someone in the family became seriously ill. How insane is that?
I am sick and tired of
hearing from Americans who lost loved ones because they could not afford the unbelievably high cost of prescription drugs, or
hearing from constituents who are forced to cut their pills in half due to the
cost.
In fact, later this
month, I will be travelling from Detroit, Michigan to Windsor, Ontario with a
busload of Americans who have diabetes in order to purchase insulin in Canada
at one-tenth of the price that they pay in America.
I am sick and tired of
talking with people who are struggling with mental illness but cannot afford the mental health counseling they
desperately need.
I am tired of talking
to people who have teeth that are rotting in their mouths, but cannot afford the high cost of dental care.
Let me be very honest
and tell you that, in my view, the
current debate over Medicare for All really has nothing to do with healthcare.
It has everything to do with greed and the desire of the healthcare
industry to maintain a system which fails the average American, but which makes
the industry tens and tens of billions of dollars every year in profit.
It is about whether we
maintain a dysfunctional system which
allows the big drug and health insurance companies to make over $100 billion in
profits last year, while the top CEOs in that industry made $2.6 billion in
total compensation – all the while 1 out of 5 Americans cannot afford the
prescription drugs their doctors prescribe.
It’s about whether we
maintain a system in which the CEO of the Aetna insurance company, Mr. Mark
Bertolini, received a golden parachute worth nearly $500 million after his
company merged with CVS Health, while elderly people lack the resources to
purchase a hearing aid.
It’s about whether we
maintain a system that allows the former CEO
from Gilead (John Martin) to become a billionaire by charging $1,000 a pill for
a hepatitis c drug called Sovaldi that costs a dollar to manufacture.
Let us make no mistake
about it. The struggle that we are
now undertaking, to guarantee health care to all Americans as a right and to
substantially lower the cost of prescription drugs, will be opposed by some of
the most powerful forces in America – entities that have unlimited amounts of
money. We’re talking about the insurance companies, the drug companies,
private hospitals, medical equipment suppliers, Wall Street and other powerful
entities.
Let me make a
prediction. In order to defeat the Medicare for All movement, powerful special
interests will be spending millions on 30 second television ads, full page
magazine ads, and corporate-sponsored “studies” to frighten the American people
about Medicare for All – which is exactly what happened before the passage of
Medicare in the 1960s. They failed then and they’re going to fail now.
And let me give you an
example of the kind of money and power we are talking about.
Over the last 20 years, the insurance industry
and pharmaceutical companies have spent more than $330 million in campaign
contributions and over $4 billion in lobbying to get Congress to do its
bidding.
The pharmaceutical industry alone has hired
some 1,200 lobbyists – including the former leadership of both political
parties.
I find it quite
interesting that Billy Tauzin, the
Republican Congressman who wrote the bill to prevent Medicare from negotiating
for lower drug prices and then went on to become the President and CEO of
Pharma, received over $11.6 million in compensation in 2010.
That’s how business is done in Washington. Well, I have a different vision of what
a rational healthcare system is all about. Instead of massive profits for the drug companies, the insurance
companies and Wall Street, we must provide a healthcare system that provides
quality healthcare to all in a cost effective way.
And that is exactly what Medicare for All does.
Under this
legislation, every family in America
would receive comprehensive coverage, and middle-class families would save
thousands of dollars a year by eliminating their private insurance costs as we
move to a publicly funded program.
The transition to the Medicare for All program
would take place over four years. In the first year, benefits to older people
would be expanded to include dental care, vision coverage and hearing aids, and
the eligibility age for Medicare would be lowered to 55. All children under the
age of 18 would also be covered. In the second year, the eligibility age would
be lowered to 45 and in the third year to 35. By the fourth year, every man,
woman and child in the country would be covered by Medicare for All.
Medicare for All will reduce – let me repeat,
reduce — overall health care spending while lowering the number of uninsured
and underinsured people in this country to zero.
We accomplish this
because Medicare for All creates a
system of health care insurance that isn’t designed to generate profits for
insurance and drug companies — it will be a system focused on delivering actual health care. It will save lives, save money, and end the
frustration of endless paperwork, denials, and desperate fights with an
insurance company to cover medically-necessary medications and procedures.
Medicare for All will
fully eliminate health insurance premiums, deductibles and co-payments. Make no
mistake about it: These are nothing less than taxes on the middle class.
And when we do that, the
average middle class family will save an estimated $3,000 each and every year.
Further, unlike the
current dysfunctional system, Medicare for All allows people the freedom to
choose any doctor, clinic, and hospital without worrying about whether their provider is in-network or
not. People will be able to make
the health care choices that are best for themselves and their families without
some insurance bureaucrat telling them which providers they can see or not
see. Medicare for All is at the end of the day empowering patients and health
care providers.
In addition, a
Medicare for All system will allow us to
address the serious problem of medically underserved areas.
Just to demonstrate
how absurd our health care system is, I was in Philadelphia two days ago
rallying with the people of that city to try to stop the closure of Hahnemann
University Hospital, an important, safety net hospital in that community.
Why do the owners want to close this hospital? Because they can make more
money redeveloping that property into condominiums and hotels.
Let me address some of
the half-truths, misinformation, and, in some cases, outright lies that people
may be hearing about Medicare for All.
Medicare for All
critics tell us that Americans just love their private health insurance
companies. We heard this most recently from UnitedHealth CEO David Wichmann,
who by the way, made $83 million in 2017 and who said Medicare for All would
“destabilize the nation’s health system.”
But let’s remember: the current system is already disrupting
and destabilizing millions of people’s lives. In the current system, 50 million
Americans every year lose their existing health insurance when their employer
changes insurer, when they change jobs, or when they cannot afford their current
plan. For many of them, they will no longer be able to see the doctor they have
relied on for years. For others, important treatments for long-term
conditions or disabilities will be changed or stopped altogether.
Here is the simple
truth. The American people do not like their private health insurance
companies. In fact private health insurance companies are quite unpopular.
What the American people do like are their doctors, nurses and other
health care providers.
While our opponents
claim that Medicare for All is too expensive, the reality is that it is much more cost effective than our
current system.
The Center for
Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates that, if we do not change the system, this country will be spending $50
trillion over the next ten years –19.4 percent of our nation’s GDP.
This is unsustainable and will be incredibly harmful to the people of our
country, to the business community, and to the entire economy.
And the reason why we spend so much is obvious. It
is not just the huge profits in the insurance industry and the pharmaceutical
industry, but it is the incredible and wasteful bureaucratic maze developed by
thousands of different healthcare plans. Today, hospitals and doctors
must deal with patients who have different deductibles, different co-payments,
different networks of coverage, and different coverage for pharmaceuticals, or
no insurance at all. All of this is not only driving doctors and nurses
and hospital administrators to distraction, but it is wasting
up to $500 billion a year on unnecessary administrative costs.
Unlike our current
system, there is broad consensus – from conservative to progressive economists
– that Medicare for All would result in substantial savings to the American
people. Two of the most recent studies on this issue have estimated that Medicare
for All would save the American people between $2 trillion and $5 trillion over
a 10-year period.
Let us be clear, the
fight against Medicare for All today is not a new development. Powerful
special interests have always opposed healthcare programs that work for the
people and not for corporate interests.
Let us not forget that
when President Harry Truman first proposed a program guaranteeing health care
to seniors that idea was billed as radical, “un-American,” and an attack on
basic freedom. And because of that assault, the idea stalled in Congress for
years — until voters made their voices heard.
In 1960, America
elected John F. Kennedy after he campaigned in support of Truman’s idea. That
election prompted serious work on universal health care bill, and Kennedy at
the time noted that “what we are now talking about doing, most of the countries
of Europe did years ago.”
Finally, following the
1964 Democratic election landslide, the new Congress was able to pass what is
now known as Medicare despite intense opposition from the health insurance
industry and the pharmaceutical companies.
More than a
half-century after that achievement, the time is now to go forward. The
time is now to expand Medicare to every man, woman and child in this
country.
Let us be very clear.
When it comes to health care, the insurance and drug industries have been
able to control the political process.
If we are going to break the stranglehold of
corporate interests over the health care needs of the American people, we have
got to confront a Washington culture that is corrupt, that puts profits before
people.
That is why I am
calling on every Democratic candidate in this election to join me in rejecting
money from the insurance and drug industries. That means not accepting
donations over $200 from health insurance or pharmaceutical company PACs,
lobbyists or executives. Candidates who are not willing to take that pledge
should explain to the American people why those corporate interests believe
their campaigns are a good investment.
Of course, President Trump should do the same but I am not going
to even waste my breath suggesting that he will. His efforts to throw 32
million people off their health insurance to have it replaced with junk
insurance shows exactly what side he is on.
Finally, let me say,
eliminating health insurance and drug company money from the Democratic primary
won’t solve all the problems, but it is an important step forward. Now is the
time to tell the health care industry that your profits are not more important
than the lives of the American people.
Vice
President Joe Biden, in the race for the Democratic nomination for President,
has staked out a position on improving on the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)
as his solution to providing universal healthcare – essentially, enabling people keep their
private insurance but creating a new public option. That is more moderate than
the Democrats like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren who want a more extreme
Medicare for All that replaces private insurance (though it is unlikely that
there will not still be a market for supplemental private insurance, just as
there is now for Medicare). Here, is the Biden campaign’s description and
rationale for Biden’s plan to protect and build upon the Affordable Care Act: – Karen Rubin, News&
Photo Features
On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the
Affordable Care Act into law, with Vice President Biden standing by his side,
and made history. It was a victory 100 years in the making. It was the
conclusion of a tough fight that required taking on Republicans, special
interests, and the status quo to do what’s right. But the Obama-Biden
Administration got it done.
But, every day over the past nine years, the Affordable Care Act has been under
relentless attack.
Immediately after its passage, Congressional Republicans began trying again and
again to repeal it. Following the lead of President
Trump, Republicans in Congress have only doubled down on this
approach since January 2017. And, since repeal through Congress has not been
working, President Trump has been unilaterally doing everything he can to
sabotage the Affordable Care Act. Now, the Trump Administration is trying to
get the entire law – including protections for people with pre-existing
conditions – struck down in court.
As president, Biden will protect the Affordable Care Act from
these continued attacks. He opposes every effort to get rid of this historic
law – including efforts by Republicans, and efforts by Democrats. Instead of
starting from scratch and getting rid of private insurance, he has a plan
to build on the Affordable Care Act by giving Americans more choice, reducing
health care costs, and making our health care system less complex
to navigate.
For Biden, this is personal. He believes that every American has a right to the
peace of mind that comes with knowing they have access to affordable, quality
health care. He knows that no one in this country should have to lay in bed at
night staring at the ceiling wondering, “what will I do if she gets breast cancer?”
or “if he has a heart attack?” “Will I go bankrupt?” He knows there is no peace
of mind if you cannot afford to care for a sick child or a family member
because of a pre-existing condition, because you’ve reached a point where your
health insurer says “no more,” or because you have to make a decision between
putting food on the table and going to the doctor or filling a prescription.
In the coming months, Joe Biden will build on today’s plan by rolling out his
proposals to tackle some of our greatest public health challenges – from
reducing gun violence to curing devastating diseases as we know them like
cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and addiction.
I. GIVE EVERY AMERICAN ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE HEALTH INSURANCE
From the time right before the Affordable Care Act’s key coverage-related
policies went into effect to the last full year of the Obama-Biden
Administration, 2016, the number of Americans lacking health insurance fell
from 44 million to 27 million –
an almost 40% drop. But President Trump’s persistent efforts to sabotage
Obamacare through executive action, after failing in his efforts to repeal it
through Congress, have started to reverse this progress. Since 2016, the number
of uninsured Americans has increased by
roughly 1.4 million.
As president, Biden will stop this reversal of the progress made by Obamacare.
And he won’t stop there. He’ll also build on the Affordable Care Act with a
plan to insure more than an estimated 97% of Americans. Here’s how:
Giving Americans a new choice, a public
health insurance option like Medicare. If your insurance
company isn’t doing right by you, you should have another, better choice.
Whether you’re covered through your employer, buying your insurance on your
own, or going without coverage altogether, the Biden Plan will give you the
choice to purchase a public health insurance option like Medicare. As in
Medicare, the Biden public option will reduce costs for patients by negotiating
lower prices from hospitals and other health care providers. It also will better coordinate among
all of a patient’s doctors to improve the efficacy and quality of their care,
and cover primary care without any co-payments. And it will bring relief to
small businesses struggling to afford coverage for their employees.
Increasing the value of tax credits to
lower premiums and extend coverage to more working Americans. Today,
families that make between 100% and 400% of the
federal poverty level may receive a tax credit to reduce how
much they have to pay for health insurance on the individual marketplace. The
dollar amount of the financial assistance is calculated to ensure each family
does not have to pay more than a certain percentage of their
income on a silver (medium generosity) plan. But, these shares of
income are too high and silver plans’ deductibles are too high. Additionally,
many families making more than 400% of the federal poverty level (about $50,000 for a single person
and $100,000 for a family of four), and thus not qualifying for
financial assistance, still struggle to afford health insurance. The Biden Plan
will help middle class families by eliminating the 400% income cap on tax
credit eligibility and lowering the limit on the cost of coverage from 9.86% of
income to 8.5%. This means that no family buying insurance on the individual
marketplace, regardless of income, will have to spend more than 8.5% of their
income on health insurance. Additionally, the Biden Plan will increase the size
of tax credits by calculating them based on the
cost of a more generous gold plan, rather than a silver plan. This
will give more families the ability to afford more generous coverage, with
lower deductibles and out-of-pocket costs.
Expanding coverage to low-income
Americans. Access to affordable health insurance
shouldn’t depend on your state’s politics. But today, state politics is getting
in the way of coverage for millions of low-income Americans. Governors and
state legislatures in 14 states have
refused to take up the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of Medicaid eligibility,
denying access to Medicaid for an estimated 4.9 million adults.
Biden’s plan will ensure these individuals get covered by offering premium-free
access to the public option for those 4.9 million individuals who would be
eligible for Medicaid but for their state’s inaction, and making sure their
public option covers the full scope of Medicaid benefits. States that have
already expanded Medicaid will have the choice of moving the expansion
population to the premium-free public option as long as the states continue to
pay their current share of the cost of covering those individuals.
Additionally, Biden will ensure people making below 138% of the federal poverty
level get covered. He’ll do this by automatically enrolling these individuals
when they interact with certain institutions (such as public schools) or other
programs for low-income populations (such as SNAP).
II. PROVIDE THE PEACE OF MIND OF
AFFORDABLE, QUALITY HEALTH CARE AND A LESS COMPLEX HEALTH CARE SYSTEM
Today, even for people with health insurance, our health care system is too
expensive and too hard to navigate. The Biden Plan will not only provide
coverage for uninsured Americans, it will also make health care more affordable
and less complex for all.
The plan’s elements described above will help reduce the cost of health
insurance and health care for those already insured in the following ways:
All Americans will have a new, more
affordable option. The public option, like Medicare,
will negotiate prices with providers, providing a more affordable option for
many Americans who today find their health insurance too expensive.
Middle class families will get a premium
tax credit to help them pay for coverage. For
example, take a family of four with an income of $110,000 per year. If they
currently get insurance on the individual marketplace, because their premium
will now be capped at 8.5% of their income, under the Biden Plan they will
save an estimated $750 per month on
insurance alone. That’s cutting their premiums almost in half. If a family is
covered by their employer but can get a better deal with the 8.5% premium cap,
they can switch to a plan on the individual marketplace, too.
Premium tax credits will be calculated
to help more families afford better coverage with lower deductibles. Because
the premium tax credits will now be calculated based on the price of a more
generous gold plan, families will be able to purchase a plan with a lower
deductible and lower out-of-pocket spending. That means many families will see
their overall annual health care spending go down.
The Biden Plan has several additional proposals
aimed directly at cutting the cost of health care and making the health care
system less complex to navigate. The Biden Plan will:
Stop “surprise billing.” Consumers
trying to lower their health care spending often try to choose an in-network
provider. But sometimes patients are unaware they are receiving care from an
out-of-network provider and a big, surprise bill. “Surprise medical billing”
could occur, for example, if you go to an in-network hospital but don’t realize
a specialist at that hospital is not part of your health plan. The Biden Plan
will bar health care providers from charging patients out-of-network rates when
the patient doesn’t have control over which provider the patient sees (for
example, during a hospitalization).
Tackle market concentration across our
health care system. The concentration of market power
in the hands of a few corporations is occurring throughout our health care system,
and this lack of competition is driving up prices for consumers.
The Biden Administration will aggressively use its existing antitrust authority
to address this problem.
Lower costs and improve health outcomes
by partnering with the health care workforce. The Biden
Administration will partner with health care workers and accelerate the testing
and deployment of innovative solutions that improve quality of care and
increase wages for low-wage health care workers, like home care workers.
III. STAND UP TO ABUSE OF POWER BY
PRESCRIPTION DRUG CORPORATIONS
Too many Americans cannot afford their prescription drugs, and prescription
drug corporations are profiteering off of the pocketbooks of sick individuals.
The Biden Plan will put a stop to runaway drug prices and the profiteering of
the drug industry by:
Repealing the outrageous exception
allowing drug corporations to avoid negotiating with Medicare over drug prices. Because
Medicare covers so many Americans, it has significant leverage to negotiate
lower prices for its beneficiaries. And it does so for hospitals and other
providers participating in the program, but not drug manufacturers. Drug
manufacturers not facing any competition, therefore, can charge whatever price
they choose to set. There’s no justification for this except the power of
prescription drug lobbying. The Biden Plan will repeal the existing law
explicitly barring Medicare from negotiating lower prices with drug
corporations.
Limiting launch prices for drugs that
face no competition and are being abusively priced by manufacturers. Through
his work on the Cancer Moonshot, Biden understands that the future of
pharmacological interventions is not traditional chemical drugs but specialized
biotech drugs that will have little to no competition to keep prices in check.
Without competition, we need a new approach for keeping the prices of these
drugs down. For these cases where new specialty drugs without competition are
being launched, under the Biden Plan the Secretary of Health and Human Services
will establish an independent review board to assess their value. The board
will recommend a reasonable price, based on the average price in other countries
(a process called external reference pricing)
or, if the drug is entering the U.S. market first, based on an evaluation by
the independent board members. This reasonable price will be the rate Medicare
and the public option will pay. In addition, the Biden Plan will allow private
plans participating in the individual marketplace to access a similar rate.
Limiting price increases for all brand,
biotech, and abusively priced generic drugs to inflation. As
a condition of participation in the Medicare program and public option, all
brand, biotech, and abusively priced generic drugs will be prohibited from
increasing their prices more than the general inflation rate. The Biden Plan
will also impose a tax penalty on drug manufacturers that increase the costs of
their brand, biotech, or abusively priced generic over the general inflation
rate.
Allowing consumers to buy prescription
drugs from other countries. To create more competition
for U.S. drug corporations, the Biden Plan will allow consumers to import
prescription drugs from other countries, as long as the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services has certified that those drugs are safe.
Improving the supply of quality
generics. Generics help reduce health care spending, but
brand drug corporations have succeeded in preserving a number of strategies to
help them delay the entrance of a generic into the market even after the patent
has expired. The Biden Plan supports numerous proposals to accelerate the
development of safe generics, such as Senator Patrick Leahy’s proposal to
make sure generic manufacturers have access to a sample.
IV. ENSURE HEALTH CARE IS A RIGHT FOR
ALL, NOT A PRIVILEGE FOR JUST A FEW
Joe Biden believes that every American – regardless of gender, race, income,
sexual orientation, or zip code – should have access to affordable and quality
health care. Yet racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and other forms of
discrimination permeate our health care system just as in every other part of
society. As president, Biden will be a champion for improving access to health
care and the health of all by:
Expanding access to contraception and
protect the constitutional right to an abortion. The
Affordable Care Act made historic progress by ensuring access to free preventive care, including
contraception. The Biden Plan will build on that progress. Vice
President Biden supports repealing the Hyde Amendment because health care is a
right that should not be dependent on one’s zip code or income. And, the public
option will cover contraception and a woman’s constitutional right to choose.
In addition, the Biden Plan will:
1) Reverse the Trump Administration and states’
all-out assault on women’s right to choose. As president, Biden will work to
codify Roe v. Wade, and
his Justice Department will do everything in its power to stop the rash of
state laws that so blatantly violate the constitutional right to an abortion,
such as so-called TRAP laws, parental
notification requirements, mandatory waiting periods, and ultrasound
requirements.
2) Restore federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
The Obama-Biden administration fought Republican attacks on funding for Planned
Parenthood again and again. As president, Biden will reissue guidance specifying
that states cannot refuse Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood and other
providers that refer for abortions or provide related information and reverse
the Trump Administration’s rule preventing
Planned Parenthood and certain other family planning programs from obtaining
Title X funds.
3) Just as the Obama-Biden Administration did, President Biden
will rescind the Mexico City Policy (also referred to as the global gag rule) that
President Trump reinstated and
expanded. This rule currently bars the U.S. federal government from supporting
important global health efforts – including for malaria and HIV/AIDS – in
developing countries simply because the organizations providing that aid also
offer information on abortion services.
Reducing our unacceptably high maternal
mortality rate, which especially impacts people of color. Compared
to other developed nations, the U.S. has the highest rate of
deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth, and we are the only country
experiencing an increase in this death rate. This problem is especially
prevalent among black women, who experience a death rate from complications
related to pregnancy that is more than three times higher than
the rate for non-Hispanic white women. California came up with a strategy
that halved the state’s
maternal death rate. As president, Biden will take this strategy nationwide.
Defending health care protections for
all, regardless of gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Before
the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies could increase premiums merely due
to someone’s gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Further, insurance
companies could increase premiums or deny coverage altogether due to someone’s HIV status. Yet,
President Trump is trying to walk back this progress. For example, he has proposed to once
again allow health care providers and insurance companies to discriminate based
on a patient’s gender identity or abortion history. President Biden will defend
the rights of all people – regardless of gender, sexual orientation, gender
identity – to have access to quality, affordable health care free from
discrimination.
Doubling America’s investment in
community health centers. Community health centers
provide primary, prenatal, and other important care to underserved populations.
The Biden Plan will double the federal investment in these centers, expanding
access to high quality health care for the populations that need it most.
In the months ahead, Biden will put forward
additional plans to tackle health challenges affecting specific communities,
including access to health care in rural communities, gun violence, and opioid
addiction.
SUPPORTING HEALTH, NOT REWARDING
WEALTH
Joe Biden believes in rewarding work, not just wealth – and investing in
hard-working Americans’ health, not protecting the most privileged Americans’
wealth. Warren Buffett said it best when he stated that he should not pay a
lower tax rate than his secretary.
The Biden Plan will make health care a right by getting rid of capital gains
tax loopholes for the super wealthy. Today, the very wealthy pay a tax rate of
just 20% on long-term capital gains. According to the Joint Committee on
Taxation, the capital gains and dividends exclusion is the second largest tax
expenditure in the entire tax code: $127 billion in fiscal year 2019
alone. As President, Biden will roll back the Trump rate cut for the
very wealthy and restore the 39.6% top rate he helped restore when he negotiated an end to the Bush
tax cuts for the wealthy in 2012.
Biden’s capital gains reform will close the loopholes that allow the super
wealthy to avoid taxes on capital gains altogether. The Biden plan will assure
those making over $1 million will pay the top rate on capital gains, doubling
the capital gains tax rate on the super wealthy.
WATCH: Joe Biden
talks more about the need to build on and protect ACA in THIS new video.
Today, Joe
Biden laid out his foreign
policy vision for America to restore dignified leadership at
home and respected leadership on the world stage. Arguing that our policies at
home and abroad are deeply connected, Joe Biden announced that, as president, he
will advance the security, prosperity, and values of the United States by
taking immediate steps to renew our own democracy and alliances, protect our
economic future, and once more place America at the head of the table, leading
the world to address the most urgent global challenges.
In a Biden administration, America will lead by example and rally the world to
meet our common challenges that no one nation can face on its own, from climate
change to nuclear proliferation, from great power aggression to transnational
terrorism, from cyberwarfare to mass migration. Donald Trump’s erratic policies
and failure to uphold basic democratic principles have surrendered our position
in the world, undermined our democratic alliances, weakened our ability to mobilize
others to meet these challenges, and threatened our security and our future.
In a speech at The Graduate Center at CUNY in New York, Joe Biden laid out his
blueprint to repair the damage wrought by President Trump and chart a
fundamentally different course for American foreign policy for the world as we
find it today—and as we anticipate it will be tomorrow. Biden will continue to
build on this vision over the course of the campaign.
I. Reinvigorate our Own Democracy &
Strengthen the Coalition of Democracies that Stand With Us
Democracy is the root of our society, the wellspring of our power, and the
source of our renewal. It strengthens and amplifies our leadership to keep us
safe in the world. It is the engine of our ingenuity that drives our economic
prosperity. It is the heart of who we are and how we see the world—and how the
world sees us. That is why America’s ability to be a force for progress in the
world and to mobilize collective action starts at home. The United States must lead not just with the example of power,
but the power of our example.
Among his early actions as
president, Joe Biden will:
Reinforce our Democracy
Remake our education system so that a child’s opportunity in life isn’t determined by their zip code or race;
Reform our criminal justice system to eliminate inequitable disparities;
Restore the Voting Rights Act;
Seek greater transparency in our campaign finance system so money, foreign and domestic, won’t pollute our politics;
Dedicate greater resources, including cyber resources, to defending our election systems.
End the practice of anonymous shell companies;
Institute strict conflict-of-interest and anti-corruption policies for every member of the Biden administration so there will be no more self-dealing;
Immediately return to daily press briefings at the White House, U.S. Department of State, and U.S. Department of Defense. Our foreign policy relies on the informed consent of the American people. That is not possible when our government refuses to communicate with the public.
Restore our Moral Leadership
Immediately end the horrific practice of separating families at our border and holding immigrant children in for-profit prisons. Abandoning our deepest-held values does nothing to increase security at our border—and everything to diminish our standing in the world. At the same time, as president, Biden will establish sensible policies that improve screening procedures at our legal ports of entry and make smart investments in border technology, in cooperation with Canada and Mexico.
Protect undocumented members of our armed services, veterans, and their spouses from deportation because if you are willing to risk your life for this country, you and your family have earned the chance to live safe, healthy, and productive lives in America;
Order a review of Temporary Protected Status to vulnerable populations who cannot find safety in countries ripped apart by violence or disaster, including for Venezuelans and Haitians.
Terminate the travel ban against people from Muslim-majority countries;
Reverse Trump’s detrimental asylum policies and raise our target for refugee admissions to a level commensurate with our responsibility and unprecedented global need;
End the Global Gag Rule, which prevents money from going to international NGOs that even talk about abortion;
Return to a government-wide focus of uplifting the rights of women and girls at home and around the world, including by focusing on measures to address gender-based violence internationally.
Reaffirm the ban on torture and restore greater transparency in our military operations, including policies instituted during the Obama-Biden administration to reduce civilian casualties;
Restore a commitment to science and truth in government, including bringing back the words “climate change”;
Return the phrase “nation of immigrants” to the mission statement of our Citizenship and Immigration Services, because that is who we are.
Revitalize our national commitment to advancing human rights and democracy around the world.
Having taken these essential steps to reinforce the democratic
foundation of our country and inspire action in others, President Biden will
organize and host a global Summit for Democracy to renew the spirit and shared
purpose of the nations of the Free World. During his
first year in office, President Biden will bring together the world’s
democracies to strengthen our democratic institutions, honestly confront the
challenge of nations that are backsliding, and forge a common agenda to address
threats to our common values.
The Summit will prioritize results by galvanizing significant new country commitments in three areas: (1) fighting corruption; (2) defending against authoritarianism, including election security; (3) advancing human rights in their own nations and abroad.
The Summit will include civil society organizations from around the world that stand on the frontlines in defense of our democracies.
The Summit will also issue a Call to Action for the private sector, including technology corporations and social media giants, to make their own commitments, recognizing their responsibilities and their overwhelming interest in preserving open, democratic societies and protecting free speech. For example, technology companies—which benefit from the fruits of democracy—should make concrete pledges for how they can ensure their algorithms and platforms are not empowering the surveillance state, facilitating repression in China and elsewhere, spreading hate, spurring people to violence, and remaining susceptible to misuse.
As an example
of the concrete action our world needs, Joe Biden served as a founding member
of a Trans-Atlantic Commission on Election Integrity—to fight back against
Russia’s attacks on Western democracies. The Commission asked politicians
across Europe to sign a pledge committing to transparency in campaign finance
and to reject the use of fabricated or hacked material. Now that he is a
candidate for office, Biden has signed that pledge and is calling on every
person running for president to do the same.
II. Equip our People to Succeed in a Global Economy
with a Foreign Policy for the Middle Class
Joe Biden believes that economic security is national security. That is why, as
president, Biden will pursue a foreign policy for the middle class. To win the
competition for the future against China or anyone else, we must sharpen our
innovative edge and unite the economic might of democracies around the world to
counter abusive economic practices.
Rebuild the Middle Class, the Backbone of the
Country: Give every student the skills they need to obtain a good 21st
century job; make sure every single American has access to quality, affordable
healthcare; invest in infrastructure; raise the minimum wage to $15; and lead
the clean-economy
revolution to create 10 million new jobs in the United
States.
Invest in Our Innovative Edge: Unleash
our nation’s full potential—which includes unrivaled research universities,
unparalleled venture capital, and our citizens’ unmatched spirit of
entrepreneurship and commitment to hard work—with investments in research and
development to spur advances in clean energy, quantum computing, artificial
intelligence, 5G, and high-speed rail. We must ensure the technologies of the
future like AI are bound by laws and ethics and promote greater shared
prosperity and democracy. A Biden administration will join together with our
democratic allies to develop secure, private sector-led 5G networks, leaving no
community—rural or low-income—behind.
Ensure the Rules of Road Benefit our Workers and our
Communities: There is no going back to business as usual on trade. And he
will ensure we negotiate from the strongest possible position. Joining with our
fellow democracies, we represent about one-half of global GDP. As president,
Biden will use this substantial leverage to shape the future rules of the road
on everything from the environment to labor to trade to transparency, non-proliferation
to cyber theft, and data privacy to artificial intelligence, so they continue
to reflect democratic interests and values—America’s interests and
values.
III. Renew American Leadership to Mobilize Global
Action on Global Threats
The world does not organize itself. American leadership, backed by clear goals
and sound strategies, is necessary to effectively address the defining global
challenges of our time. In order to lead again, we must restore our credibility
and influence. From day one of a Biden administration, other countries will
once again have reason to trust and respect the word of an American president.
Working together, democracies can and must confront the rise of populists,
nationalists, and demagogues; the growing strength of autocratic powers and
their efforts to divide and manipulate democracies; and the threats unique to
our time, including the renewed threat of nuclear war, mass migration, the
disruptive impact of new technologies, and climate change.
Defend our Vital Interests: As president,
Biden will never hesitate to protect the American people, including when
necessary, by using force. We have the strongest military in the world—and as
president, Biden will ensure it stays that way. The Biden administration will
make the investments necessary to equip our troops for the challenges of the
next century, not the last one. But the use of force should be our last resort,
not our first—used only to defend our vital interests, when the objective is
clear and achievable, and with the informed consent of the American
people.
End Forever Wars: Biden will end
the forever wars in Afghanistan and the Middle East, which have cost us untold
blood and treasure. As he has long argued, Biden will bring the vast majority
of our troops home from Afghanistan and narrowly focus our mission on Al-Qaeda
and ISIS. And he will end our support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen. Staying
entrenched in unwinnable conflicts only drains our capacity to lead on other
issues that require our attention, and it prevents us from rebuilding the other
instruments of American power.
Elevate Diplomacy: As president,
Biden will elevate diplomacy as the premier tool of our global engagement. He
will rebuild a modern, agile U.S. Department of State—investing in and re-empowering
the finest diplomatic corps in the world and leveraging the full talent and
richness of America’s diversity. Working cooperatively with other nations makes
us more secure and more successful. For example, as president, Biden will
launch a top-to-bottom review of our funding to Central America to determine
how we can build on a successful initiative from the Obama-Biden administration
that secured concrete commitments from the leaders of El Salvador, Guatemala,
and Honduras to take on the corruption, violence, and endemic poverty that
drive migration.
Restore and Reimagine Partnerships: A Biden
administration will do more than restore our historic partnerships; it will
lead the effort to reimagine them for the future. This means keeping NATO’s military
capabilities sharp, while also expanding our capacity to take on new,
non-traditional threats like weaponized corruption, cyber theft, and new
challenges in space and on the high seas; calling on all NATO nations to
recommit to their responsibilities as members of a democratic alliance; and
strengthening cooperation with democratic partners beyond North America and
Europe by reaching out to our partners in Asia to fortify our collective
capabilities and integrating our friends in Latin America and Africa. When the
United States hosts the next Summit of the Americas in 2021, President Biden
will harness this opportunity to rebuild strong hemispheric ties based on
respect for democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. We will also
strengthen our alliances with Japan, South Korea, Australia and other Asian
democracies, while sustaining an ironclad commitment to Israel’s security.
Renew our Commitment to Arms Control for a New
Era:
The historic Iran nuclear deal, negotiated by the Obama-Biden administration alongside our allies and other world powers, blocked Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. Yet Trump decided to cast it aside, prompting Iran to restart its nuclear program and become more provocative, bringing the region to the cusp of another disastrous war. If Tehran returns to compliance with the deal, President Biden would re-enter the agreement, using hard-nosed diplomacy and support from our allies to strengthen and extend it, while more effectively pushing back against Iran’s other destabilizing activities.
In North Korea, President Biden will empower our negotiators and jump start a sustained, coordinated campaign with our allies and others, including China, to advance our shared objective of a denuclearized North Korea.
As president, Biden will pursue an extension of the New START Treaty, an anchor of strategic stability between the United States and Russia, and use that as a foundation for new arms control arrangements.
President Biden would take other steps to demonstrate our commitment to reducing the role of nuclear weapons. As he said in 2017, Biden believes the sole purpose of the U.S. nuclear arsenal should be deterring—and if necessary, retaliating against—a nuclear attack. As president, he will work to put that belief into practice, in consultation with our allies and military.
Rally the World to Address Existential Climate Crisis: The Biden
administration will rejoin the Paris Climate Accord on day one and lead a major
diplomatic push to raise the ambitions of countries’ climate targets. To
catalyze this effort and demonstrate concrete actions at home to achieve a
clean-energy economy with net-zero emissions by 2050, President Biden –
as outlined
in his comprehensive plan – will in his first 100 days in
office:
Convene a climate world summit to directly engage the leaders of the major carbon-emitting nations of the world to persuade them to join the United States in making more ambitious national pledges, above and beyond the commitments they have already made.
Lock in enforceable commitments that will reduce emissions in global shipping and aviation—and pursue strong measures to make sure other nations can’t undercut us economically as we meet our own commitments. This includes pressuring China—the world’s largest emitter of carbon—to stop subsidizing coal exports and outsourcing their pollution to other countries by financing billions of dollars of dirty fossil-fuel energy projects through their Belt and Road Initiative.
Foreign policy is Joe Biden’s forte. It
is a lane he can travel relatively apart from the two dozen others vying for
the Democratic nomination for President, and also is the starkest contrast to
Trump. It is also gets to the heart of everyday Americans’ most horrific
anxieties – living with the fear of nuclear war, climate catastrophe, trade
wars that upend businesses and household budgets – and where a president has
the most unconstrained power. The proverbial finger on the nuclear button.
Biden alluded to the fact US administrations have not been infallible regarding foreign policy. And though Bernie Sanders (and others) will use his vote as a Senator for the Iraq War as a cudgel as he and Obama did against Hillary Clinton, that vote only confirms one of Biden’s most crucial arguments to replace Trump: a President must be credible. Iraq was a product of Bush/Cheney administration lies – about Weapons of Mass Destruction, about Saddam Hussein’s culpability for 9/11, about what the Senate “authorization” actually authorized.
The
speech Biden delivered at the NYU Graduate Center on Fifth Avenue in New York
City on July 11 summed up in the clearest terms the former Vice President’s
rationale to be President – as he summed it up, “In
2019, foreign policy is domestic policy, and domestic policy is foreign policy.”
He delivered the speech in moderated, controlled tones. It was workmanlike, but, as he would say, “deadly serious.” Here is a highlighted transcript – Karen Rubin, News& Photo Features
Ladies and Gentlemen, political wisdom holds that the American public doesn’t vote on foreign policy – but that’s an old way of thinking.
In 2019, foreign policy is domestic policy, and domestic policy is foreign policy.
They are a deeply connected set of choices we make about how to advance the American way of life and our vision for the future.
And, like everything about this election, the threat Donald Trump poses to our national security, and to who we are as a country, is so extreme, we cannot afford to ignore it. His erratic policies and failures to uphold basic democratic principles have muddied our reputation, our place in the world, and our ability to lead it.
So let me start today, by reminding everyone about what’s been lost amid the chest-thumping, the self-inflicted setbacks, and the manufactured crises of this administration.
American foreign policy must be purposeful and inspiring, based on clear goals and driven by sound strategies – not Twitter-tantrums.
And the overarching purpose of our foreign policy must be to defend and advance the security, prosperity, and democratic values of the United States.
Every President in modern history prior to Donald Trump, Democrat and Republican alike, has understood and carried out this basic directive – often imperfectly – but never before has it been so thoroughly abandoned.
I knew when I saw how Donald Trump responded to the events in Charlottesville – assigning a moral equivalence between those who promote hate, and those who oppose it – that the threat to our democracy was unlike any in my lifetime.
Less than a year later, Trump again stood before the press – this time on foreign soil, in Helsinki – and repeatedly deferred to Vladimir Putin – over American interests, the American intelligence community, and, I would argue, the American people. It was one of the weakest, most shameful performances by a U.S. president in modern history – perhaps ever.
And one we saw repeated just last month at the G-20 summit, where Trump smirked along with Putin – making a joke out of Russia’s very real, very dangerous assault on our institutions.
Trump debases our cherished democratic values every time he plays sycophant to strongmen. When he refuses to condemn Saudi Arabia for the gruesome murder of a journalist and American resident. Or when he “falls in love” with a murderous dictator in North Korea.
He undermines our democratic alliances, while embracing dictators who appeal to his vanity. And make no mistake, the world sees Trump clearly for what he is – Corrupt, insecure, ill-informed, impulsive. Dangerously incompetent and incapable of leadership.
It’s why we’ve seen such a precarious drop in how the rest of the world views the United States. One recent poll found America’s leadership is now less respected than China’s and on par with Russia.
If we give Donald Trump four more years – we may never recover America’s standing in the world or our capacity to bring nations together. And that would be catastrophic for our security and our future.
We can’t let that happen. As President, I will remind the world who we are. The United States of America does not coddle dictators. The United States of America gives hate no safe harbor.
There will be no more Charlottesvilles. No more Helsinkis.
The challenge of following this disastrous presidency, however, will not be to just restore our reputation and credibility.
We must enact a forward-looking foreign policy for the world as we find it today – and as we anticipate it will be tomorrow.
Much has shifted in the past few years. The international landscape is more crowded, competitive and complicated.
And when we look at what’s different today, two key points stand out, one is that the speed and intensity of our gravest challenges means that the fates of nations are more intertwined than ever before.
Climate change, nuclear proliferation, great power aggression, transnational terrorism, cyberwarfare, disruptive new technologies, mass migration – none of them can be resolved by the United States, or any nation, acting alone. America’s security, prosperity and way of life require the strongest possible network of partners and allies working alongside us.
Yet Donald Trump’s brand of America First has too often left America alone, making it that much harder to mobilize others to address threats to our common well-being.
The second is the rapid advance of authoritarianism, nationalism, and illiberal tendencies around the world – not just in Russia and China, but also among our allies, places like Turkey, the Philippines, Hungary.
In every part of the world, technology and instant information are driving change at an unprecedented pace and scope, causing many to feel confused and vulnerable.
Democratic governments – paralyzed by hyper-partisanship, hobbled by corruption – are having a harder time delivering for their people. Trust in our institutions is down. Fear of the “other” is up.
Together, these forces have driven a dangerous resurgence of extreme nationalism and illiberalism, of protectionism and xenophobia.
And Donald Trump and demagogues around the world are leaning into these forces for their own personal and political gain.
But this is not a moment for fear.
This is the time for us to tap the strength and the audacity that took us to victory in two world wars and brought down the Iron Curtain. That triumph of democracy and liberalism over fascism and autocracy is what created the Free World. And this contest won’t just define our past – It will define our future as well.
Today, democracy is under more pressure than at any time since the 1930s.
Freedom House has reported that, of the 41 countries consistently ranked “free” from 1985 to 2005, 22 have registered net declines in freedom in the last five years.
Yet, when the world’s democracies look to America to stand for the values that unite us – to truly lead the Free World – Donald Trump seems to be on the other team. When those living under oppression, yearning for freedom, look to the United States for hope – Trump has nothing to offer.
We cannot forget that democracy is the root of our society, the wellspring of our power, the source of our renewal. It strengthens and amplifies our leadership to keep us safe in the world. It’s the engine of our ingenuity that drives our economic prosperity. It’s the heart of who we are and how we see the world – and how the world sees us.
As president, I will ensure that democracy is once more the watchword of U.S. foreign policy – not to launch some moral crusade, but because it is in our enlightened self-interest.
We must restore our ability to rally the Free World – so we can once more make our stand upon new fields of action and together face new challenges.
We only have one opportunity to reset our democracy. After Trump, we have to be prepared to make the most of it.
So, what does that mean in practice?
First, it means repairing and reinvigorating our own democracy, even as we strengthen the coalition of democracies that stand with us on every continent.
I will start by putting our own house in order – remaking our education system so that a child’s opportunity in life isn’t determined by their zip code or race; reforming our criminal justice system to eliminate inequitable disparities; putting the teeth back in the Voting Rights Act.
I will seek greater transparency in our Campaign Finance System. We need to get big money out altogether, and ensure that foreign dark money doesn’t continue to pollute our politics.
We need to dedicate greater resources, including cyber resources, to defending our elections.
I served as a founding member of a Trans-Atlantic Commission on Election Integrity to fight back against Russia’s attacks on Western democracies. We asked candidates across Europe and North America to sign a pledge, committing to transparency in campaign finances and to reject the use of fabricated or hacked materials. Now that I am a candidate for office – I have signed that pledge, and I urge everyone running for president to do the same. It’s the right thing to do.
As individuals, and as a nation, we have to prove to the world that the United States is prepared to lead – not just with the example of our power, but the power of our example.
To that end, as president, I will take decisive steps to renew our core American values and return transparency to our government.
We believe in freedom of religion, which is why I will end the Muslim ban.
We believe in free speech, which is why I will end the Global Gag Rule that prevents money from going to international NGOs that even talk about family planning.
We believe in the power of a free press, which is why I will immediately return to daily press briefings at the White House, State Department, and Department of Defense.
We are a nation of immigrants. President Trump took those words out of the mission statement of our citizenship and immigration services. I will restore them.
Our Statue of Liberty invites in the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. I will reverse Trump’s detrimental asylum policies and raise our target for refugee admissions to a level commensurate with our responsibility and the unprecedented global need.
A Biden administration would immediately end the horrific practice of separating families at our border and holding children in for-profit detention centers.
And I would order a review of Temporary Protected Status to vulnerable populations who cannot find safety in their countries ripped apart by violence or disaster – including Venezuelans and Haitians.
We’ve always been a nation that chooses science over fiction – and from climate change to standards for harmful environmental toxins to global health policy. We’re going to return facts to our policy making.
Renew a government-wide focus on uplifting the rights of women and girls, at home and abroad. And revitalize our national commitment to advancing human rights and democracy around the world.
These changes – and many more, which I’ve released on our website – are just a start – a day-one down payment on our commitment to living our democratic values at home.
And then, I will invite my fellow democratic leaders to put strengthening democracy back on the global agenda.
We will organize and host in the United States, during the first year of my administration, a global Summit for Democracy to renew the spirit and shared purpose of the nations of the Free World.
Building off the successful model we instituted during the Obama-Biden administration with the Nuclear Security Summit – leaders who attend must come prepared with concrete commitments to take on corruption, counter authoritarianism, and advance human rights in their own nations.
We have to be honest about our friends that are falling short and forge a common agenda for action to address the greatest threats to our shared values. We’ll include civil society organizations from around the world that stand on the frontlines in defense of our democracies.
And we’ll challenge the private sector, including tech corporations and social media giants, to make their own commitments.
America’s openness fueled their success. Now I believe they have a duty to make sure their algorithms and platforms are not misused to sow division at home, or to empower the surveillance state, facilitate repression and censorship in China and elsewhere, spread hate, or spur people to violence.
Second, we will equip our people to succeed in the global economy with a foreign policy for the middle class. To win the competition for the future, we must double down on sharpening our innovative edge and uniting the economic might of our friends to counter abusive economic practices.
We know that economic security is national security. But there are a lot of communities across this country that are hurting because we’ve neglected the basics.
Our trade policy has to start at home, by strengthening our greatest asset – our middle class.
We have to take care of everything I’ve talked about on the campaign trail – giving every student the skills or training they need to obtain a good21st century job; making sure every single American has access to quality, affordable healthcare; investing in rebuilding our bridges and roads, modernizing our airports and trains; making sure Americans have access to broadband networks; reforming our taxes to reward work, not just wealth; leading the clean-economy revolution to create 10 million new jobs right here in the United States.
I will make investment in research and development a cornerstone of my presidency so that the United States is leading the charge with innovation. There’s no reason we should be falling behind China or anyone else when it comes to clean energy, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, 5G, and high-speed rail. And there’s no reason that we cannot ensure that our people are ready – for the transition that will inevitably accompany this new technology.
Ladies and Gentlemen – we have the greatest research universities in the world. The most agile system of venture capital. We’re virtually energy independent. We have a strong tradition of the rule of law. And most important, we have an extraordinary population of workers and innovators who have never let our country down.
A foreign policy for the middle class will also work to make sure the rules of the international economy are not rigged against us. Because when American businesses compete on a fair playing field – we win.
President Trump may think he’s being tough on China, but all he has delivered is more pain for American farmers, manufacturers, and consumers. His economic decision making is as short-sighted as the rest of his foreign policy. China is playing the long-game – extending its global reach and investing in the technologies of the future – while Trump is designating our closest allies – from Canada to the European Union – as National Security Threats in order to impose damaging and pointless tariffs.
By cutting us off from the economic clout of our partners, he knee-caps our capacity to take on the real economic threat.
We do need to get tough with China. If China has its way, it will keep robbing the U.S. of our technology and intellectual property, or forcing American companies to give it away in order to do business in China.
And the most effective way to meet that challenge is to build a united front of friends and partners to challenge China’s abusive behavior – even as we seek to deepen cooperation on issues where our interests converge, like climate change and preventing nuclear proliferation.
There’s no going back to business as usual on trade. We need new rules, and a new process that has the voices of all stakeholders at the table – including leaders representing labor and the environment.
We must negotiate from the strongest possible position. On our own, we represent about one-quarter of global GDP. When we join together with fellow democracies, that number doubles. China can’t afford to ignore half the global economy. That gives us substantial leverage to shape the future rules of the road on everything from the environment to labor, trade, technology and transparency so they continue to reflect democratic interests and values – America’s interests and values.
Not China’s. Not Russia’s.
The world does not organize itself. If we do not shape the norms and institutions that govern relations among nations, rest assure – that some other nation will step into the vacuum, OR – no one will – and chaos will result.
Which brings me to my final point.
The Biden foreign policy agenda will place America back at the head of the table, working with our allies and partners – to mobilize global action on global threats, especially those unique to our Century.
American leadership is not infallible. We have made missteps and mistakes.
Too often we have relied solely on the might of our military instead of drawing on our full array of strengths.
Let me be clear – I will never hesitate to protect the American people Including, when necessary, by using force.
As Vice President, I worked with President Obama to craft the military and diplomatic campaign that ultimately defeated ISIS. In fact, it turned out Trump’s secret plan to destroy the so-called caliphate was to continue the plan we put in place.
We have the strongest military in the world – I would argue in the history of the world. As President, I will ensure it stays that way. I will make the investments necessary – to equip our troops for the challenges of the next century, not the last one.
But the use of force should be our last resort, not our first. Used only to defend our vital interests, when the objective is clear and achievable, and with the informed consent of the American people.
It’s past time to end the Forever Wars, which have cost us untold blood and treasure.
As I have long argued, we should bring the vast majority of our troops home – from the wars in Afghanistan and the Middle East, and narrowly focus our mission on Al-Qaeda and ISIS.
And we should end our support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen. [This prompted applause.]
Staying entrenched – in unwinnable conflicts – drains our capacity to lead on other issues that require our attention, and it prevents us from rebuilding the other instruments of American power.
So I will make it my mission – to restore American leadership – and elevate diplomacy as our principal tool of foreign policy.
I will reinvest in The Diplomatic Corps that this administration has hollowed out – and put our diplomacy back in the hands of genuine professionals.
Above all, diplomacy requires credibility.And Donald Trump has absolutely corroded our country’s credibility.
In the conduct of American foreign policy – and especially in times of crisis – a President’s word – is his or her most valuable asset.
But by pulling out of treaty after treaty, reneging on policy after policy – walking away from America’s responsibilities, and lying – about matters big and small – Trump has bankrupted America’s word in the world.
And he has alienated us from the very democratic allies we need most.
Trump has taken a battering ram to our NATO alliance – he treats it like an American-run protection racket.
He just doesn’t get it.
NATO is at the very heart of America’s national security. And more than that, it’s the bulwark of the liberal democratic ideal. It is an alliance – first and foremost – of values.
That makes it far more durable, reliable, and powerful than partnerships built by coercion or cash.
The same is true of our core alliances in Asia.
And let’s be clear: working cooperatively with other nations that share our values and goals doesn’t make America a sucker – it makes us more secure and more successful.
We amplify our own strength, extend our presence around the globe, and magnify our impact – while sharing the burden among willing partners.
No country, even one as powerful as ours, can go it alone against challenges that respect no borders and cannot be contained by walls.
As president, I will do more than just restore our historic partnershipsI’ll lead the effort to reimagine them – to better meet the challenges we’re grappling with today.
To keep NATO’s military capabilities sharp, while also expanding our capacity – to take on non-traditional threats like weaponized corruption, cyber theft, and new challenges in space and on the high seas. And, by the way, the increase in NATO defense spending started under the Obama-Biden administration.
We need to look for opportunities to strengthen cooperation with democratic friends – beyond North America and beyond Europe – reaching out to our partners in Asia, including Japan, South Korea, Australia, and India to fortify our collective capabilities.
Sustaining our ironclad commitment to Israel’s security.
Integrating our friends in Latin America and Africa and seizing opportunities throughout the broader network of democracies.
And in order to regain the confidence of the world – we’re going to have to prove that America says what it means, and means what it says.
Especially when it comes to the challenges that will define our time: the renewed threat of nuclear war, mass migration, disruptive technology, and climate change.
We cannot be a credible voice on non-proliferation and nuclear security while we are abandoning the deals we negotiated.
From North Korea to Iran, Russia to Saudi Arabia, Trump has made the prospect of nuclear proliferation, a new nuclear arms race, and even the use of nuclear weapons more likely.
I’ve worked on these issues my entire adult life. I understand what’s at stake and I understand the consequences of failing to act. That is why, as President, I would renew our commitment to arms control for a new era.
The historic Iran nuclear deal we negotiated blocked Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. Yet Trump cast it aside, prompting Iran to restart its nuclear program and become more provocative – raising the risk of another disastrous war in the region.
If Tehran returns to compliance with the deal, I would re-join the agreement and work with our allies to strengthen and extend it, while more effectively pushing back against Iran’s other destabilizing activities.
In North Korea, I will empower our negotiators and jumpstart a sustained, coordinated campaign with our allies and others – including China – to advance our shared objective of a denuclearized North Korea.
I will pursue an extension of the New START Treaty, an anchor of strategic stability between the United States and Russia, and use that as a foundation for new arms control arrangements.
And I would take other steps to demonstrate our commitment to reducing the role of nuclear weapons.
As I said in 2017, I believe the sole purpose of the U.S. nuclear arsenal should be deterring – and if necessary, retaliating against a nuclear attack. As president, I will work to put that belief into practice, in consultation with our Allies and our military.
By the same measure, we cannot push nations to meet their humanitarian obligations to address the biggest refugee and migration crisis since World War II if we are not living our democratic values and firmly rejecting Trump’s nativist rhetoric.
It shames our nation when a father and his baby daughter drown seeking our shores, when children are locked away in overcrowded detention centers – denied even the most basic necessities – when families are ripped apart.
Abandoning our deepest-held values does nothing to increase security at our border – and everything to diminish our standing in the world.
We need sensible policies that improve screening procedures at our legal ports of entry and make smart investments in border technology.
We need to work again with Canada and Mexico as neighbors – not adversaries. And we need to focus on the root causes driving migrants to our border.
As Vice President, I secured commitments from the leaders of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to take on the corruption, violence, and endemic poverty in their countries that are driving people to leave their homes. Then I worked with a Republican Congress to approve a $750 million aid package to help support those reforms.
And guess what – it worked. Security improved and migration flows began to decrease in countries like El Salvador.
Trump announced an end to our aid – to Central America – via tweet, with no understanding of the consequences.
If elected President, I will relaunch that initiative, with a top-to-bottom review of our funding to the region to determine how we can continue to drive reforms that deliver results.
When it comes to the technologies of the future – like 5-G and Artificial Intelligence – other nations are devoting national resources to dominating their development and determining how they are used.
We have to ensure that 21st century technologies are used to promote greater democracy and shared prosperity– not to curb – freedom and opportunity at home and abroad.
As new technologies reshape our economy and society, we must ensure that these engines for progress are bound by laws and ethics as we’ve done at every technological turning point in history.
A Biden administration will join together with our democratic allies to develop secure, private-sector led 5-G networks, leaving no community – rural or low income – behind.
And the last example I’ll end on today is how the United States must lead the world to take on the existential threat we face – climate change. If we don’t get this right, nothing else matters.
I’ll put us on track to achieve a clean-energy economy with net-zero emissions by 2050.
And, equally important because the United States is only 15 percent of global emissions, I’ll leverage our economic and our moral authority to push the world to urgent action.
I will rejoin the Paris Climate Accord and convene a summit of the world’s largest carbon emitters, rallying nations to raise their ambitions and push our progress further – faster.
We’ll lock in enforceable commitments that will reduce emissions in global shipping and aviation – and we’ll pursue strong measures to make sure other nations can’t undercut us economically as we meet our own commitments.
That includes insisting that China, the world’s largest emitter of carbon, stops subsidizing coal exports and outsourcing pollution to other countries by financing billions of dollars of dirty fossil-fuel energy projects through their Belt and Road Initiative.
These are ambitious goals and we won’t accomplish any of them without the United States – flanked by our fellow democracies – leading the way.
We are facing enemies – both without and within – hoping to exploit the fissures in our society, undermine our democracy, break up our alliances, and return us to an international system where might determines right.
The answer to this threat is more openness – not less. More friendships, more cooperation, more alliances. More democracy.
Vladimir Putin wants to tell himself and anyone he can dupe into believing him that the liberal idea is “obsolete” – because he’s afraid of its power.
No army on earth can match – how the Electric Idea of Liberty – passes freely from person to person, jumps borders, transcends languages and cultures – how it can supercharge communities of ordinary citizens into activists and organizers and change agents.
We must once more harness that power and rally the Free World to meet the challenges facing our world today. And it falls to the United States of America to lead the way.
No other nation has the capacity. No other nation is built on that idea – that promise.
And it’s in our self-interest.
We have to champion liberty and democracy. We have to reclaim our credibility. We have to look with unrelenting optimism and determination toward the future.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Senator Klobuchar’s mom taught second grade until she was 70 years and she was also a proud teachers’ union member who walked the picket line in the 1951 teachers’ strike. As the daughter of a teacher and union member, Senator Klobuchar understands that a good education is a basic right of every child and that all Americans should have the educational opportunities they need to succeed in today’s economy.
During the presidential campaign, Senator Klobuchar has announced plans to fully fund education and our schools, make a historic investment in increasing teacher pay, close the opportunity gap, fully fund the IDEA, boost STEM education and apprenticeship opportunities, and rebuild our crumbling school infrastructure.
In addition to her already announced plans, Senator Klobuchar is announcing at the 2019 National Education Association Presidential Forum an additional proposal — new federal-state school “Progress Partnerships” that will allow states to take aggressive action to support our students. These partnerships are designed to elevate the voices of our educators and they will provide additional resources to help states take bold action to fund our public schools, support our teachers, and prioritize learning.
Increase teacher pay: States will agree to a
state-federal partnership with a generous federal match to increase salaries
for all teachers, as well as recommendations that address unique state needs
when it comes to the teacher pipeline, such as recruitment, retention,
diversity of the workforce, and quality of teacher preparation. State educators
should be included in the development of these plans.
Adapt high school curricula to improve workforce
readiness and post-secondary success: State education departments, working
with educators, will evaluate student career and college readiness, including
coursework, curriculum and other policies that prepare students for today’s
workforce and post-secondary success.
Establish an equitable school infrastructure funding
mechanism: In addition to receiving generous direct federal funding for school infrastructure
improvements, states will create a mechanism for distributing
federal school infrastructure funding that addresses disparities in conditions
and resources and ensures equity in funding for construction and repairs of
school buildings across the state.
Submit recommendations to align school services and
schedules with the needs of working families: States will work with
educators to develop and submit recommendations on how schools can meet the
needs of working families, which could include low-cost after-school programs,
alternative programs for students on days when schools are closed, and a
community school model that wraps other community services in the school
building to make schools into community hubs.
Convene a commission to review the state’s existing
funding formula to improve equity: States will review the existing funding
formula to ensure that all students, particularly those with the greatest need,
have access to adequate educational resources. The commission must include
professional educators and develop recommendations for improving state
education funding equity, which will be published biennially along with an
assessment of state progress.
As part of her plan for her first 100 days as President,
Senator Klobuchar will also:
Reduce racial disparities in disciplining students.
Senator Klobuchar will re-issue guidance directing schools to reduce racial
disparities in how they discipline students, which prompted more than 50 of
America’s largest school districts to institute discipline reform.
Fully fund the IDEA and reinstate the guidance protecting
the rights of students with disabilities. Senator Klobuchar’s budget will
fully fund IDEA to support students with disabilities. In addition, Senator
Klobuchar will reinstate documents protecting the rights of students with
disabilities after Secretary DeVos rescinded 72 guidance documents outlining
those rights.
Prevent the expansion of private school vouchers.
Senator Klobuchar will stand firmly with our public schools and end discussions
of Secretary Betsy DeVos’s $50 billion proposal to fund private school
vouchers.
Restore protections for the LGBTQ community. Senator
Klobuchar will reverse the harmful anti-LGBTQ administrative actions taken by
the Trump Administration when it comes to education, health care and civil
rights, and she will work to pass the Equality Act in year one of her
presidency.
Vice President Joe Biden campaigning for the Democratic nomination for President in Iowa.
Celebrating the Fourth of July with Iowans in Marshalltown, Vice President Joe Biden, campaigning for the Democratic nomination for President, expressed what the holiday is really about and how Donald Trump doesn’t get it. Here is his speech, as prepared for delivery, with segments highlighted:
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s great to be back in Iowa celebrating the independence of our country and the incredible promise of the American future.
243 years ago, a group of rebels in Philadelphia pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to a revolutionary idea—to the self-evident truth that all men—and women—are created equal.
And ever since then presidents and patriots have gathered together on the 4th, as we are gathered today, to reflect on the greater meaning of our American experiment.
In 1821, just decades after revolution, John Quincy Adams proclaimed: “[America’s] glory is not dominion, but liberty. Her march is the march of the mind.”
In 1861, Abraham Lincoln invoked the Declaration to make the case for the Civil War, reminding Congress that it would be: “a struggle for maintaining in the world that form and substance of government whose leading object is to elevate the condition of men; to lift artificial weights from all shoulders; to clear the paths of laudable pursuit for all.”
In 1962, deep in the grip of the Cold War, Kennedy made the pilgrimage to Independence Hall to declare that: “this Nation—conceived in revolution, nurtured in liberty, maturing in independence—has no intention of abdicating its leadership in that worldwide movement for independence to any nation or society committed to systematic human oppression.”
Three different presidents, of three vastly different eras, united by their faith in the power of the idea that is America. Constant in their dedication to the pursuit of humankind’s highest ideal—liberty.
What, I wonder, will Donald Trump say this evening when he speaks to the nation at an event designed more to stroke his ego than celebrate American ideals?
Will he speak to the example America must set to inspire the world? Will he offer a robust defense of the democratic values that have always been our strength in times of crisis?
We all know the answer to that. Donald Trump is incapable of celebrating what makes America great—because he doesn’t get it.
He cannot distinguish between our Allies and our adversaries—because he does not grasp that America is the “march of the mind” toward greater openness, greater understanding, greater human freedom to pursue lives of meaning and fulfillment.
And if we give Donald Trump eight years in the White House he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation. We can’t let that happen.
Trump’s embrace of dictators and strongmen is a fundamental rejection of everything our founders wrote into their Declaration.
Vladimir Putin in Russia, Kim Jong Un in North Korea, Mohamad bin Salman in Saudi Arabia—their drive to concentrate greater and greater power in their own hands and to silence their opposition, including through brutal assassinations—that is the death of liberty.
Last week, Putin gave an interview where he crowed: “the liberal idea has become obsolete.”
Trump thought he was talking about Democrats in California. Not a joke.
Our president does not understand the difference between liberal as opposed to conservative politics, and liberal as opposed to autocratic systems of government.
Well, I’m here to tell Vladimir Putin, and Donald Trump, and anyone who needs to hear it:the liberal idea is the American idea. And it will never be obsolete—not as long as there remain patriots committed to the higher ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The liberal idea is what drives innovation and entrepreneurship. The liberal idea is what inspires art and exploration and human curiosity. And—critically—the liberal idea is what built the Free World.
The Free World is an American design. We created it, together with our democratic allies in Europe and in Asia after World War II, to hold in check the abuse of power by any one nation, and to affirm a collective defense, open economies, and human rights.
The Free World drove the march of democracy, prevented a third great war, protected the territorial integrity and sovereignty of small states, allowed unprecedented economic growth and development, and advanced basic human rights and fundamental freedoms in every corner of the world.
Ours is a community of values that stands in opposition to all who seek to profit by the oppression of others.
That’s why Putin wants to see it destroyed. That’s why he’s actively working to tear apart our democracy.
Ladies and gentlemen – America is the heart of the Free World—and we must defend it.
That is how the Fourth of July is best honored – by remembering that our Declaration is first and foremost a call to arms, in defense of liberty.
But we must also remember, as JFK put it, that ours is: “not the individual liberty of one but the indivisible liberty of all.”
Donald Trump doesn’t get that either.
My liberty, depends on yours. Our liberty as a nation rests on our ability to ensure equal access, equal opportunity – not just for our own children, but all our children.
We have to take on the inequalities in our system that are causing too many today— in America and around the world—to question their faith in the ability of democracy to deliver for them.
It’s not enough to be for political equality—we have to be for economic fairness as well.
It’s not enough to be against the way Donald Trump conducts himself—the way he assaults the dignity of women, people of color, immigrants, LGBTQ individuals—we have to be against his policies that are further entrenching economic inequality in this nation.
That are rigging the system against the middle class.
That too is an attack on our democracy—on our liberty.
That’s the message I’ve been taking all across this nation.
And it’s all the more clear today – on the day we celebrate our independence—this country wasn’t built by Wall Street bankers and CEOs and hedge fund managers.
It was built by you. By ordinary Americans – given half a chance – doing extraordinary things. That’s the history of the journey of America.
My dad used to have an expression. He’d say a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It’s about dignity. It’s about respect. It’s about one’s place in the community. It’s about being able to look your child in the eye and say everything is going to be ok. And mean it.
But today so many people can’t do that. That’s what we have to change. That is my north star.
The moral obligation of our time is to rebuild the middle class. And this time, everybody comes along – no matter their race, gender, ethnicity, religion,who they love or where they live or whether they have a disability.
For me, it’s all about restoring the dignity of work – being able to provide security and joy for your family.
But how can a person’s dignity be maintained if they can’t afford to care for a sick child or a family member because of a pre-existing condition – or because they’ve reached a point where their health insurer says “no more?”
I can’t imagine what Jill and I would have done with Beau if we couldn’t get the best care to ease his pain and suffering while dealing with an incurable disease.
How can a parent maintain their dignity if their talented and qualified child wants to go beyond high school to trade school or community college or college, but they can’t afford to get them there?
I remember how my father felt when he told me the bank wouldn’t give him a loan to help me go to college. He said, “I’m so ashamed.” I got there – but I’ll never forget that look on his face.
Today’s corporate culture and this Administration don’t care about your dignity. They don’t care about economic fairness.
They’re squeezing the life out of workers. They’re making it harder for you to bargain for your personal worth as well.
40% of workers have to sign non-compete clauses at some point in their careers.
These non-compete agreements have one purpose: to hold down the ability of workers to bargain for themselves and to keep their wages low.
And why do companies classify so many low-wage workers as managers?
So they can get out of paying overtime and take more in profits for themselves. That cost more than 4 million hourly workers $1.2 billion in lost wages last year.
And speaking of overtime – it’s long past time we make a $15 minimum wage at the federal level.
It’s time we started to reward work over wealth in this country.
Let me ask you something.
The stock market is roaring. Do you feel it?
Or how about that big tax cut passed by Trump and the Republicans? Did you feel it?
That tax cut exploded the deficit by some $2 trillion – and now the Republicans are using it as an excuse to go after the social safety net.
Let’s not kid one another. If Trump and the Republicans win in 2020 – they’re coming after Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security.
They’ve already said it. And we can’t let that happen.
So, we need to reverse the Trump tax cuts on the super wealthy. And then we need to get rid of the capital gains loophole.
A just economy—an economy that advances liberty for all—isn’t one where the super wealthy pay lower tax rates than teachers and firefighters.
The Fourth is also a reminder of an important lesson we learned early in this county.
As Benjamin Franklin supposedly said at the signing: “We must all hang together, or most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”
Folks, we need to unify this country. We have to overcome this status quo of division—that’s the only way we’ll be able to get anything done.
And we can do it without compromising our principles. Marshalltown knows that better than anyone—what do you do when disaster strikes? You come together.
Mr. Mayor, how did you begin rebuilding after that God-awful tornado? By working together with the city council and the local businesses.
It didn’t matter whether folks were Democrats or Republicans then—all that mattered was getting Marshalltown back up and running.
You made that happen—you’re still making that happen.
It goes to show that all that stands in our way is a broken political system.
Folks, for all our problems, I’m more optimistic today than when I got elected to the United States Senate as a 29-year old kid.
And here’s why: We’re better positioned than any nation in the world to lead the 21st Century.
We have the strongest military in the world. We have led not by the example of our power, but by the power of our example. The most productive workers among major world economies. North America is energy independent. We have the world’s greatest research universities.
No other nation in the world can match us. The only thing that can tear America apart is America itself.
The only thing that would make the liberal idea obsolete is if Americans walked away from liberty itself.
Everybody knows who Donald Trump is.
This July 4th, let’s remind the world who we are.
This is the United States of America.
This is the nation that willed ourselves into existence with nothing but faith in ourselves and in the power of an idea.
There’s not a single thing we can’t do – together.
Charlestown, MA – Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, Democratic US
Senator from Massachusetts, released her plan to make voting easy and
convenient and secure our elections from threats both foreign and domestic:
Elections are the foundation of our democracy, but in the United
States – the greatest democracy in the world – our government treats voting
like it’s one of the least important things we do. We have around 8,000
election jurisdictions all doing their own thing. They are overstretched,
under-resourced, and their technology is often laughably out of date.
Voting should be easy. But instead, many states make it hard for
people to vote. We have all heard stories about polling places running
out of ballots, computer problems causing delays, ballot designs confusing voters, and
extremely long
lines preventing
working people from voting. And on top of these administrative issues, racist
and partisan officials often deliberately seek to stop citizens from exercising
the right to vote. States have purged names from the voter rolls, limited
same-day registration, closed polling places
in communities of color, used
voter ID laws to try to disenfranchise
Native Americans, and even placed restrictions and
criminal penalties on efforts to
register new voters.
Our elections should be as secure as Fort Knox. But instead,
they’re less secure than your Amazon account. State and local
officials take their jobs seriously, but they often don’t have the resources to
secure their elections. Even then, it’s hard for local officials to defend
against attacks from foreign governments. In the 2016 election, the Russian
government tried to infiltrate at
least39
state election systems and at least one election equipment company. They
tried to spear-phish more
than 100 local election officials’ email accounts. They even successfully broke into several
voter registration databases.
The harsh truth is that our elections are extremely vulnerable
to attack: Forty-two states use voter registration databases that are more than
a decade old. Laughably, in 2019, some still use Windows
2000 and Windows XP. Twelve
states still use paperless machines, meaning there’s no paper trail to
verify vote counts. Some states don’t require post-election audits.
And ten
states don’t
train election officials to deal with cybersecurity threats. This is a national
security threat, and three years after a hostile foreign power literally
attacked our democracy, we’ve done far too little to address it.
We need a constitutional amendment to guarantee the right to
vote. But the moral necessity of this amendment shouldn’t stop us from acting
now. The federal government already has the power to regulate federal elections,
secure our democracy, and put a stop to racist voter suppression.
Under our Constitution, Congress can regulate the “Times,
Places, and Manner,” of federal elections. This power is so broad that
even Justice
Scalia believed
this provision gives Congress “authority to provide a complete code for
congressional elections.” Congress also has the power to enforce the 14th and
15th Amendments to prevent voting discrimination, and the power of the purse to
grant money to the states to meet federal standards. It’s time to draw on these
constitutional powers to strengthen our democracy.
Enough is enough. It is time to make high-quality voting in the
greatest democracy in the world easy, convenient, and professional. It’s time
to secure our elections from all threats, foreign and domestic. It’s time to
address election security, administration problems, and voter suppression.
Here’s how my plan will work:
Federal elections get state-of-the-art federal machines, federal
ballots, and federal security. Right now some jurisdictions use dated
machines that are easily hackable with no paper trail. Ballot design is all
over the place. No more. The federal government will replace every voting
machine in the country with state-of-the-art equipment and require adoption of
a uniform federal ballot. And we will lock all federal voting technology
systems behind a security firewall like it’s Fort Knox.
Federal standards for federal elections. We have 8,000
election jurisdictions running elections. Problems with resources, malfeasance,
and errors are rampant. No more. We will have federal standards to ensure
everyone can vote, including mandating automatic and same-day registration,
early voting, and vote by mail. My plan will mean no more arbitrary voter
purges. No more registration issues. And no more gerrymandering. We will also
make Election Day a holiday to make it easier for people to get to the polls.
Enforce the law and expand access – through incentives where
possible, and with federal authority where necessary. My plan will give
states cutting-edge voting equipment and election security protocols, all paid
for by the federal government, and states will be required to follow all
federal standards for federal elections. States who also choose to meet these
requirements in their state elections can work through federal-state
partnership agreements to have those elections fully funded by the federal
government, too – and we’ll give them a bonus for achieving high voter turnout
rates. And where racist or corrupt politicians refuse to follow the law, the
federal government will temporarily take over the administration of their
federal elections to guarantee the fundamental right to vote.
Securing Our Elections
Under my plan, federal elections will get state-of-the-art
federal machines, federal ballots, and federal security. The federal
government will replace insecure and outdated systems with hand-marked,
voter-verified paper ballot machines. To prevent
hanging-chads and other confusing ballot designs, we’ll have uniform federal
ballots all across the country that are based on easy-to-use design principles.
The federal government will also provide every polling location with accessible
ballot machines for people with disabilities and conduct research into how to
improve voting security and accessibility for all people, including those with
disabilities and people for whom English isn’t their primary language.
Through a new independent Secure Democracy Administration, which
will replace the Election Assistance Commission and be staffed by civil
servants, the federal government will manage the cybersecurity aspects of
elections and develop additional security procedures for election
administration and the end-to-end handling of ballots. States will implement
these additional security measures, and will receive technical assistance and
training from the Secure Democracy Administration. In addition, states will be
required to conduct risk-limiting audits prior to certifying elections – and
we’ll have independent oversight of those audits.
Establishing Binding Federal Standards for Federal Elections
Our elections are never going to be secure, fair, or workable
with so many jurisdictions each making their own rules — especially when some
officials deliberately manipulate those rules to stop people from voting. Under
my plan, we’ll have a uniform set of federal election standards that achieve four
goals:
No more registration problems. My plan will mandate
automatic voter registration and same-day registration for federal elections.
State and federal government agencies will automatically register voters and
transfer that information to state elections officials, and voters can opt-out,
if they choose. Every state will also be required to offer same-day
registration, which acts as a fail-safe for anyone who is mistakenly left off
the rolls.
No more voter purges. Under my plan,
states will be banned from removing voters from the election rolls unless the
voter affirmatively requests to be removed or there is objective evidence of a
legitimate reason to remove them, like death, change of address, or loss of
eligibility to vote. We will also re-enfranchise those who have served their
time and left prison.
No more difficulties voting. We will make
Election Day a national holiday, and all federal elections will have a minimum
of 15 days of early voting, expanded voting hours, the option to vote with a sworn
statement of identity instead of an ID, convenient polling locations, and
voting by mail. And we will pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act and the
Native American Voting Rights Act to shut down a host of festering
discriminatory practices.
No more gerrymandering.Under my plan,
states will be required to use independent redistricting commissions to draw
federal congressional districts to prevent gerrymandering. Both parties should
compete on a level playing field; not in a rigged game designed to suppress the
will of the people.
Enforcing the law and expanding access – through incentives
where possible, and with federal authority where necessary
Our democracy shouldn’t be about keeping people out – it should
strive to bring everyone to the polls. Under my plan, states will receive new
state-of-the-art machines and federal election security, all paid for by the
federal government, and they will also be obligated to comply with the federal
standards for federal elections. But we should make voting easier in all
elections – federal, state, and local. I’m
proposing a federal-state partnership so that states will have a strong
financial incentive to follow these rules in their state and local elections as
well — and to maximize voter turnout.
Here’s how it will work: the federal government will pay the
entirety of a state’s election administration costs, as long as the state meets
federal standards in its state and local elections and works to make voting
more convenient. States will create state implementation plans, describing how
they will adhere to federal law and increase access to voting (e.g. location of
polling places). The Secure Democracy Administration will review state
implementation plans for compliance with federal law, election security protocols,
potentially racially discriminatory impacts, and efforts to make voting more
convenient. States that achieve high percentage voter turnout, including across
racial, gender, and age groups, will be awarded additional bonus payments. All
plans will be finalized well in advance of Election Day, and states will
provide data on their election activities. If a state does not participate in
the federal-state partnership, but a local jurisdiction within the state wishes
to do so, the local jurisdiction can work with the federal government to create
a local implementation plan and it will get access to federal funds to cover
its election administration costs.
States can choose to follow their own rules for their state and
local elections. But if they do, they won’t receive new funding for
administering state elections beyond election security measures, and they will
still have to administer federal elections in accordance with federal law –
including preclearance for any changes that might have a discriminatory impact
under the Voting Rights Advancement Act.
If state or local election officials choose to ignore these
federal rules and instead move to violate them, my plan will give the Secure
Democracy Administration the authority to seek a court order to step in and
guarantee that every voter has access to the polls unless or until the state
shows its intent to fully comply with federal law. The right to vote is a fundamental
right, and we will not let racist and corrupt politicians undermine it or our
democracy.
Our democracy is too important for it to be under-resourced and
insecure. We need to do everything we can to make sure our elections are
convenient, professional, and secure — and we should be willing to pay for it.
Based on estimates of national
election administration expenses, recentstateefforts to upgrade their election systems, and
assessments of the costs of newmachines and audits, to cover these
costs, we would allocate around $20 billion over ten years, which includes
around $15 billion for election administration and around $5 billion for
election security. This investment can be fully paid for with revenue generated
from the Ultra-Millionaire
Tax.
Democracy hangs on the idea that whoever gets the most votes
wins. Politicians are supposed to compete over how many voters they can
persuade, not how many they can disqualify or demoralize. And we have a solemn
obligation to secure our elections from those who would try to undermine them.
That’s why the Constitution gives Congress the tools to regulate the administration
of federal elections. It’s time to pick up those tools and use them.
Prior
to her appearance at the NALEO Presidential Candidate Forum, Elizabeth Warren
released her plan to root out the profit incentives standing in the way of real
reform of our criminal and immigration systems. Her plan would ban private
prisons and detention facilities, stop contractors from charging service fees
for essential services, and hold contractors accountable by expanding
oversight, transparency and enforcement.
“Last
month Caliburn International — a for-profit company whose subsidiary operates
Homestead, the largest detention center for unaccompanied migrant children
— hired John Kelly,
Trump’s former chief of staff. Caliburn has profited directly off of the Trump
administration’s inhumane immigration policies — while children at Homestead are
reportedly kept in unsanitary, prison-like conditions, often for months. Now
John Kelly is cashing in, too,” Warren stated.
“Rep.
Pramila Jayapal and I have demanded answers. But
this is just the latest example of private prison companies wringing billions
out of federal taxpayers. I’ve been after these
companies to come clean about their practices and human rights abuses. Every answer
just raises more questions.
“We
didn’t get here by chance. Washington works hand-in-hand with private prison
companies, who spend millions on
lobbyists, campaign contributions, and revolving-door hires — all to
turn our criminal and immigration policies into ones that prioritize making
them rich instead of keeping us safe. From 2000 to 2016, the private prison
population grew five times as quickly as the overall prison population. And the
profiteers multiplied, too: today, nearly 4,000corporations make
money off mass incarceration.
“President
Obama took steps to lower
the incarceration rate and wind down private prisons, but these companies got
their biggest break yet when Donald Trump landed in the White House. With
Trump, private prison companies saw their chance to run the same playbook for
our immigration system. They poured money into
lobbying for “alternatives” to ICE detention centers. And boy, did it pay off.
Private detention centers have made millions implementing Trump’s cruel
immigration policies, as the number of detained children quintupled in just
a single year. Today 73% of detained
immigrants are held in private detention facilities.
“The
companies running prisons and detention centers regularly sacrifice safety to
boost their bottom line. Private facilities have higher rates of
assaults than federal prisons. They violate federal
rules by putting incarcerated people into solitary confinement to fit more
bodies in the building. They impose forced laboron
immigrants just to make a buck. Multiple detainees have committed suicide. And now, under
Trump, babies are getting sick and dying from their
detention centers.
“The
government has also stood silently by while private contractors providing
services in both public and private centers come up with extortive schemes to
make millions off of the backs of incarcerated people. Prison phone
companies charge as much as
$25 for a 15-minute call, forcing families into debt just to stay
connected to loved ones. Commissary contractors mark up prices, and
companies coerce detainees to
work for as little as a dollar a day just to afford basic necessities like
toothpaste.
“While
contractors getting paid taxpayer dollars cut corners to maximize margins, the
government has turned a blind eye. Food companies make millions but serve bug-infested food
to save cash. An investigation into a prison transport company that allowed at
least five deaths and a sexual assault to occur under their watch has
gone nowhere.
“And
today, the exploitation doesn’t end when individuals emerge from prison or
detention. Current law pushes money into
the hands of for-profit supervision companies, many of which are run by the
same private prison corporations. These companies get rich by making people
just getting out of prison — often with huge debts — pay outrageous fees for
monitoring and supervision services like ankle monitors. Some have gone so far
as to threaten individuals with reincarceration.
“This
is exploitation, plain and simple. Our criminal and immigration systems
are tearing apart communities
of color and devastating the
poor, including children. Women — especially
women of color — are particularly saddled with the financial burden. We need
significant reform in both criminal justice and in immigration, to end mass
incarceration and all of the unnecessary, cruel, and punitive forms of
immigration detention that have taken root in the Trump Administration.
“The
first step is to end this private profiteering off cruelty.
“The government has a basic responsibility to keep the people in
its care safe — not to use their punishment as an opportunity for profit.
That’s why today, I’m proposing my plan to root out once and for all the profit
incentives perverting our criminal and immigration systems.
“Here’s
what I’ll do:”
Ban private prisons and detention facilities. There should be no place in America for profiting off
putting more people behind bars or in detention. That’s why I will shut
down the use of federal private detention facilities by ending all
contracts that the Bureau of Prisons, ICE, and the U.S. Marshals Service
have with private detention providers. And I will extend these bans to
states and localities by conditioning their receipt of federal public
safety funding on their use of public facilities.
Stop contractors from charging service fees for
essential services. Companies
shouldn’t be able to treat incarcerated individuals as captive profit
centers. We should prohibit contractors from charging incarcerated and
detained people for basic services they need, like phone calls, bank
transfers, and healthcare. I’ll also keep contractors from imposing
exploitative price markups on other services they provide, like commissary or package services.
And I’ll prohibit companies from charging for re-entry, supervision, and
probation services, too — because no one should have to pay for their own
incarceration, whether it’s inside a facility or outside of one.
Hold contractors accountable by expanding oversight,
transparency and enforcement. It’s
time to shine sunlight on the black box of private services that receive
taxpayer dollars. I’ll close the ridiculous FOIA loophole that
lets private prison subcontractors operate in the shadows. I will put in
place an independent Prison Conditions Monitor within the Department of
Justice’s Office of the Inspector General. The Monitor will keep
contractors from cutting corners to make a quick buck by setting
enforceable quality standards, regularly auditing and investigating
contractors, and terminating their contracts if they fall short. I’ll
direct the Department of Justice to prosecute companies that blatantly
violate the law. And I’ll make sure companies are held accountable no
matter who’s in the White House by allowing people to bring a lawsuit
against abusive contractors who violate their rights.
“Washington
hands billions over to corporations profiting off of inhumane detention and incarceration
policies while ignoring the families that are destroyed in the process. We need
to call that out for what it is: corruption. Incarcerating and detaining
millions for profit doesn’t keep us safe. It’s time to do better,” Warren
stated.
Read
more about Warren’s plan to end private prisons here.
US Senator Amy Klobuchar, who is seeking
the Democratic nomination for President, released a plan outlining the
more than 100 concrete steps she would take in her first 100 days as President
of the United States to take on the biggest challenges we face at home and
abroad.
“The problems Americans are facing every single day require
urgent action. That’s why Senator Klobuchar has a plan to get to work and
deliver results on Day One,” the campaign stated.
Through executive action, Senator Klobuchar will begin to immediately deliver
on her ambitious, optimistic agenda that will build a safer world, a stronger
democracy, and a fairer economy while taking much-needed action on health care,
climate change, and immigration.
“After four years of Donald Trump, a new President can’t wait for a
bunch of congressional hearings to act,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar. “The urgent problems our country is facing
require immediate action. That’s why in my first 100 days as President I will
enact an ambitious, optimistic agenda to improve our health care, combat
climate change, pursue economic justice and shared prosperity, and build a
stronger democracy and safer world. With these concrete steps, we will put our
country back on a path of progress where people have an opportunity to get
ahead.”
During the first 100 days of Senator Klobuchar’s presidency, she
will:
Get the United States back in the International Climate
Agreement on day one. On day one of Senator Klobuchar’s presidency she will
get us back into the International Climate Change Agreement, working so that
the United States maintains global leadership to address the climate crisis.
Immediately suspend the Trump Administration’s efforts to
eliminate the Affordable Care Act’s protections for people with pre-existing
conditions. Senator Klobuchar will immediately suspend all Trump
Administration efforts — both in federal court and at the Department of Health
and Human Services — that would allow insurance companies to deny coverage to
people with pre-existing conditions.
Rebuild our relationship with our allies and restore
America’s standing in the world. To rebuild the relationship with our
allies that President Trump has undermined, Senator Klobuchar’s first
international trips as President will be to Canada and Europe to begin
restoring trust with our most important allies.
Immediately allow for the safe importation of
prescription drugs from countries like Canada. Americans pay double what
Canadians do for some prescription drugs, which is why Senator Klobuchar will
use existing Food and Drug Administration authority to grant a waiver that
allows people to import safe prescription drugs for personal use from countries
like Canada to decrease drug costs for seniors and all Americans.
Fill judicial vacancies by nominating well-qualified
judges on day one. Senator Klobuchar will waste no time in working
with the Senate and the American Bar Association to nominate a full slate of
well-qualified judges who will follow the law to fill judicial vacancies on
federal courts on day one of her presidency.
Revive the aggressive protection of voting rights.
Senator Klobuchar will restore the federal government’s longstanding position
of challenging intentionally racially discriminatory voting laws. And while
Congress works to restore the Voting Rights Act (VRA), Senator Klobuchar will
direct the Department of Justice to use Section 3 of the VRA to “bail-in”
jurisdictions to its preclearance requirements, allowing federal courts to
place jurisdictions under the oversight requirement of the VRA.
Prioritize cybersecurity and protect our elections and
other American infrastructure from cyber attack. As President, Senator
Klobuchar will make cybersecurity an immediate priority. She will issue an
Executive Order launching government-wide cybersecurity initiatives, fast-tracking
and streamlining procurement of modern information technology across agencies.
She will also launch a cabinet-level taskforce on election cybersecurity to
coordinate across agencies, including the intelligence community, on how the
federal government can work with state and local governments to address cyber
threats to our democracy and infrastructure. She will also introduce
legislation that provides election security funding, requires backup paper
ballots, and requires campaigns to report contacts from foreign nationals
seeking to interfere in an election to federal authorities.
Update the standards for reviewing both horizontal and
vertical mergers to ensure vigorous antitrust enforcement. To tackle
unprecedented consolidation and monopoly power, Senator Klobuchar will direct
the Department of Justice to update its guidelines to ensure vigorous and
aggressive enforcement of our antitrust laws.
Undertake aggressive retrospective review of mergers.
To tackle corporate consolidation in what she has called “the new gilded age,”
Senator Klobuchar will direct her Attorney General to have DOJ’s Antitrust
Division undertake aggressive retrospective reviews of mergers. She will
introduce legislation to increase funding for antitrust enforcement efforts by
adjusting merger filing fees and she will change the legal standards to promote
competition and prevent consolidation.
Raise the minimum wage for federal contractors to $15.
In line with her goal of increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour,
Senator Klobuchar will increase the minimum wage for federal contractors to
that threshold.
Expand VA health benefits for women veterans and their
babies. The Women Veterans Health Care Improvement Act of 2008 gave
the VA the authority to provide care for newborn babies born to women veterans,
but a narrow interpretation of the law is preventing access to care. Senator
Klobuchar will direct the VA to expand covering the costs of
medically-necessary emergency services for newborn babies of veterans.
Jump-start legislative negotiations for comprehensive
immigration reform with the stated goal of passing it in the first year.
Senator Klobuchar will jump-start negotiations for comprehensive immigration
reform — which includes a pathway to citizenship, the DREAM Act and border
security — with the stated goal of passing it in the first year of her
presidency. Comprehensive immigration could reduce the deficit by $158 billion.
Protect DACA and TPS and Deferred Enforcement Departure
designations. While she jump-starts negotiations for comprehensive
immigration reform with the stated goal of passing it within the first year,
Senator Klobuchar will undo attempts by the Trump Administration – many of
which have been blocked by courts – to deport DREAMers and immigrants who are
living, working and succeeding here under Temporary Protected Status and
Deferred Enforcement Departure.
Shine a light on the corporate dark money spending.
Senator Klobuchar will shine a light on the dark money by requiring publicly
traded companies to disclose all political spending over $10,000 to their
shareholders.
Bring transparency to dark money issue advocacy.
Senator Klobuchar will direct the IRS to institute the requirement that
tax-exempt organizations that engage in issue advocacy disclose to the IRS the
names of individual donors who contribute more than $5,000 per year.
Propose landmark legislation that drives our changing
economy forward and provides opportunity to all Americans. Our laws and our
policies have not kept pace with our changing economy and the digital
revolution. That’s why Senator Klobuchar will propose landmark legislation to
take on monopoly power, empower our workers, and protect consumers’ privacy and
health data privacy. She will also invest in quality child care, raise the
minimum wage, provide paid family leave, support small business owners and
entrepreneurs, as well as establish portable, worker-owned UP Accounts for
retirement savings. She will also allow students to refinance their loans at
lower interest rates, provide tuition-free community college and technical
certifications, and expand Pell Grant eligibility and award amounts. To pay for
these policies and reduce the debt, Senator Klobuchar will repeal the
regressive portions of 2017 Republican tax reform, equalize tax rates for
capital gains and ordinary income, put the Buffet rule in place, and close the
carried interest and big oil loopholes.
Immediately close the “boyfriend loophole.” Senator
Klobuchar leads legislation in the Senate to close the ‘boyfriend loophole’ by
preventing people who have abused dating partners from buying or owning
firearms, and she will take executive action to get it done immediately.
Introduce gun violence legislation. Senator Klobuchar
will introduce gun violence legislation including putting universal background
checks in place, closing the gun show loophole, and banning bump stocks,
assault weapons and high capacity magazines.
Consider gun violence as a public health issue in CDC
studies. Senator Klobuchar will direct the CDC to study gun violence as a
public health issue and help identify approaches to reduce gun violence and
save lives.
Propose a historic investment in public education.
Senator Klobuchar will propose a historic investment in America’s education
system that will fully fund education, increase teacher pay, and rebuild our
crumbling school infrastructure.
End the misguided overuse of secret RFS small refinery
waivers that have been granted to big oil companies at the expense of farmers.
Senator Klobuchar will completely overhaul the EPA’s small refinery waivers and
greatly increase transparency, ensuring that RFS waivers meant for small
refiners do not go to big oil companies like Chevron and ExxonMobil and that
these secret waivers do not line the pockets of big oil companies at the
expense of farmers.
Protect federal employee labor rights. Senator
Klobuchar will immediately rescind Executive Orders signed by President Trump
that severely restrict federal workers’ rights, including the right to
collectively bargain.
Prioritize mental health and addiction. Senator
Klobuchar will take immediate action to combat substance use disorders and
prioritize mental health, including launching new prevention and early
intervention initiatives, expanding access to treatment, and giving Americans a
path to sustainable recovery. This includes addressing workforce shortages for
nurses, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals in many areas of
the country and it means addressing the lack of hospital services and treatment
beds.
End attacks on tribal sovereignty. Senator Klobuchar
will respect tribal sovereignty including by stopping the Department of Justice
from taking anti-sovereignty positions in litigation, directing the Department
of Health and Human Services from deferring to states on Medicaid rules for
tribal members, and increasing meaningful tribal consultation.
Make a plan to connect every household to the internet by
2022. Senator Klobuchar will work to close the rural-urban divide by
connecting every household to the internet by 2022. This means directing
federal support to close the last mile gap, overhauling broadband coverage
mapping by establishing processes to verify carrier-reported data, and
encouraging public-private partnerships in the areas of greatest need.
Restore the Clean Power Plan. To address the climate
crisis, Senator Klobuchar will bring back the goals established by the Clean
Power Plan, which set emissions standards for states with respect to reductions
in carbon dioxide emissions.
Bring back the fuel-economy standards. Senator
Klobuchar will restore and strengthen our fuel economy standards, which are key
to fighting climate change. The Trump Administration has weakened the
fuel-economy standards for cars and light trucks and has challenged the right
of California and other states to follow more stringent standards.
Introduce sweeping legislation to address the climate
crisis. Senator Klobuchar will introduce sweeping legislation to combat the
climate crisis that builds on the framework of the Green New Deal, including a
massive investment in green jobs and infrastructure, promoting rural energy
development, supporting tougher building codes, buy clean, better greener
transportation, appliance standards and climate resilience.
End “pay for delay” agreements that increase the cost of
prescription drugs. Senator Klobuchar will take aggressive action to crack
down on drug companies that are — in effect — paying the makers of generic
drugs to delay cheaper versions of drugs from getting into the market.
Outline a plan to cut childhood poverty in half in ten
years and end it within a generation. Senator Klobuchar will put
forward a plan to cut childhood poverty in half in ten years, including
expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child Care Tax Credit, SNAP
benefits and overhauling our country’s housing policy.
Restore and strengthen overtime rules. Too many
American workers have been working overtime without getting paid for the extra
hours. Senator Klobuchar will restore and strengthen the Obama Administration’s
overtime rules to expand overtime pay to millions of workers, increasing the
maximum salary for a worker to qualify for the overtime pay they’ve earned.
Propose legislation to get us to universal health care. Senator
Klobuchar will propose legislation that gets us to universal health care, which
includes creating a public health care option by expanding either Medicare or
Medicaid, as well as improving the Affordable Care Act to help bring down costs
to consumers through reinsurance, providing cost-sharing reductions, expanding
premium subsidies, and continuing delivery system reform. Her legislation will
also provide additional consumer protections and lower the costs of
prescription drugs through aggressive reforms including lifting the ban that
prohibits Medicare from negotiating the best possible price. These programs
significantly reduce cost to consumers and help promote choice.
Develop best models of care to address disparities in
maternal and infant mortality and address the shortage of maternity care health
professional in underserved rural and urban areas. Senator Klobuchar will
immediately implement a new law that tackles the shortage of maternity care
health professionals —including nurses, midwives, and obstetricians — in
underserved areas, and she will develop best models of care to address racial
disparities in maternal and infant mortality.
Stop Trump sabotage of the ACA by ending workarounds that
allow states to raise premiums for sicker people and shift ACA premium
subsidies away from lower-income enrollees. Senator Klobuchar will
eliminate the Trump Administration guidance that provides states more
flexibility to increase insurance costs for sicker people and shift premium
subsidies away from low-income enrollees.
Remove the citizenship question from the Census.
Senator Klobuchar will direct the Department of Commerce to remove the Trump
Administration’s citizenship question that was added to the 2020 Census from
the short form during preparations for the 2030 Census.
Prevent outsourcing of jobs overseas by closing tax
loopholes on corporations’ overseas earnings. The 2017 tax law
instituted a new minimum tax on corporations’ overseas earnings but applied the
tax on a global or “blended” rate, encouraging companies to move physical
operations and jobs overseas. Senator Klobuchar will direct the IRS to mitigate
the worst effects of this law and crack down on attempts to minimize tax liability
through outsourcing.
Provide incentives for employers to adopt paid family
leave and child care benefits. Senator Klobuchar will reward federal
contractors by providing additional points during the contract bidding process
if contractors offer paid family leave to their employees or child care
benefits.
Restore freedom to travel to and trade with Cuba.
Fifty years of an embargo have not achieved America’s policy objectives in
Cuba. Senator Klobuchar believes that a better path forward would allow
Americans the freedom to travel and conduct business there and that lifting the
trade embargo will open a huge export market, create American jobs, and support
both the Cuban and American economies. She will revive policies to expand the
ability of Americans to travel to Cuba and facilitate U.S. exports to the
island using credit to the maximum extent allowed by current law while
respecting human rights and property claims against the Cuban government.
Create a clemency advisory board and position in the
White House that advise the President from a criminal justice reform
perspective. Senator Klobuchar will create a clemency advisory board as
well as a position in the White House — outside of the Department of Justice —
that advise the President from a criminal justice reform perspective. The
clemency advisory board will investigate and review requests for clemency for
federal offenses and ultimately prepare a recommendation for the President.
Aggressively combat illegal Chinese steel dumping.
Senator Klobuchar will ensure the federal government is aggressively combating
illegal Chinese steel dumping including through expanded personnel to enforce
our trade laws and increased inspections of steel imports at ports of entry.
She will also direct the U.S. Department of Labor to expedite approval of Trade
Adjustment Assistance petitions for workers from the affected mining
operations.
Restart the President’s Export Council. Senator
Klobuchar will restart the President’s Export Council, which brings together
business, labor, and agricultural leaders with Members of Congress and key
Administration officials to help promote a comprehensive export and trade
strategy.
Reverse dramatic proposed funding cuts to diplomacy and
foreign assistance. Senator Klobuchar will reverse this Administration’s
shortsighted approach to diplomacy and US foreign assistance. The FY2020 budget
request would cut diplomacy and development funding by 23 percent, including a
30 percent cut to humanitarian assistance and a 22 percent cut to the
President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
End the sale of junk insurance policies that eliminate
existing protections for consumers. Senator Klobuchar will end efforts to
provide short-term junk insurance that eliminates existing protections for
consumers like protections for people with pre-existing conditions and
Affordable Care Act requirements to cover essential health benefits.
Restore protections for journalists and protect the First
Amendment. Senator Klobuchar will restore former Attorney General Eric
Holder’s guidance on protections for journalists so that they are not jailed
for doing their jobs.
End the family separation policy. Senator Klobuchar
will issue an Executive Order putting an immediate end to the cruel and
inhumane policy where the government is taking kids away from their parents and
ensuring children are reunited with their parents without delay. She will also
reverse this administration’s attempt to overrule the Flores Settlement
Agreement, which prevents prolonged detention of children and prevents children
from being detained in inhumane conditions by requiring basic levels of food,
water and health care.
Restore staffing levels at the Department of Agriculture.
Under the first two years of the Trump Administration, between December 2016
and March 2018, USDA had more staff departures than any other federal agency.
This has severely impacted USDA’s ability to carry out its mission on behalf of
rural communities and farmers. Senator Klobuchar will restore staffing levels
to the appropriate levels.
Protect student borrowers. Senator Klobuchar
will restore and strengthen rules that allow students who believe they were
defrauded by their colleges to apply for loan forgiveness, providing relief to
thousands of additional students.
Crack down on gun manufacturers and dealers that break
the law. Senator Klobuchar will increase inspections and strengthen
enforcement to crack down on gun manufacturers and sellers that violate the
law.
Commit to strong financial regulation. Senator
Klobuchar will rescind Executive Order 13772, which has allowed the Treasury
Department and other financial regulators to weaken critical safeguards put in
place after the financial crisis. She will commit to strong financial
regulation that levels the playing field and promotes economic stability and
growth.
Stop the use of noncompete agreements to stifle
competition and hurt workers. Senator Klobuchar will instruct the FTC to
initiate a rulemaking addressing anti-competitive noncompete agreements that
prevent low-wage workers from pursuing new employment opportunities.
Strengthen minimum wage enforcement efforts. Senator
Klobuchar will strengthen enforcement and expand investigations to make sure that
are wage laws are properly enforced and that workers are able to recover back
pay when the government rules in their favor.
Lift the ban preventing qualified transgender people from
serving in the military and restore protections for the LGBTQ community.
Senator Klobuchar will direct the Department of Defense to lift the ban on
military service by transgender people. She will reverse the harmful anti-LGBTQ
administrative actions taken by the Trump Administration when it comes to
education, health care and civil rights, and she will work to pass the Equality
Act in year one of her presidency.
Protect LGBTQ people from government-sanctioned
discrimination. Senator Klobuchar will stop efforts to give federal
protections to those discriminating against LGBTQ people. She will end all
efforts by the Department of Justice that argue that transgender people do not
have protections under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
Prioritize LGBTQ antidiscrimination policies across the
federal government to address homelessness, suicide and access to life-saving
drugs. Senator Klobuchar will expand efforts to reduce LGBTQ
homelessness, address LGBTQ suicide rates, and increase access to PrEP. She
will create an office of LGBTQ Antidiscrimination within the White House
Domestic Policy Council to coordinate these efforts across federal agencies.
Propose a bold infrastructure plan to rebuild America and
re-establish the Presidential Advisory Council on Infrastructure. The
Presidential Advisory Council on Infrastructure was intended to provide the
federal government with expertise from key sectors on infrastructure policy,
but President Trump disbanded the council. Senator Klobuchar will reinstate the
council to execute her first budget proposal: a bold, comprehensive
infrastructure plan. This trillion-dollar investment includes repairing and
replacing our roads, highways and bridges, building smart climate
infrastructure, ensuring clean water, modernizing our airports, seaports and
inland waterways, expanding reliable public transit options, rebuilding our
schools, and overhauling our country’s housing policy. The plan will be paid
for by changes to the tax code including adjustments to the corporate tax rate.
Restore asylum for the victims of gender-based violence.
Senator Klobuchar will overturn former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s opinion
in Matter of A-B and restore protections for immigrant victims of domestic
violence seeking asylum in the United States.
End anticompetitive practices that increase the price of
prescription drugs. Many pharmaceutical companies have found
loopholes in regulations that allow them to block or delay cost-saving
competition like refusing to provide samples or share important information
about how to distribute a drug safely. As President, Senator Klobuchar
will instruct HHS to issue regulations to stop anti-competitive practices and
help reduce the cost of prescription drugs.
Reduce racial disparities in disciplining students.
Senator Klobuchar will re-issue guidance directing schools to reduce racial
disparities in how they discipline students, which prompted more than 50 of
America’s largest school districts to institute discipline reform.
Bring cyber-security expertise into the Defense
Department immediately. Senator Klobuchar will direct the Department of
Defense to immediately provide adequate staffing for cyber security programs,
as Congress has already provided the Pentagon with special authority to recruit
civilian cybersecurity experts.
Strengthen prosecution of white-collar criminals.
Senator Klobuchar will direct the Attorney General to issue a memorandum to
federal prosecutors to strengthen prosecution efforts for individuals who are
personally responsible for white-collar, corporate crime and tax fraud.
Expand Medicaid reimbursement for people receiving mental
health or substance use treatment. While she works to pass a
permanent legislative solution, Senator Klobuchar will make it easier for
states to qualify for waivers that allow for Medicaid reimbursements for people
receiving mental health or substance use care in facilities with more than 16
beds.
Fully fund the IDEA and reinstate the guidance protecting
the rights of students with disabilities. Senator Klobuchar’s budget will
fully fund IDEA to support students with disabilities. In addition, Senator
Klobuchar will reinstate documents protecting the rights of students with
disabilities after Secretary DeVos rescinded 72 guidance documents outlining
those rights.
Restore oversight to eliminate discriminatory lending
practices. Senator Klobuchar will direct financial regulators to restore
Community Reinvestment Act protections, develop policies to encourage financial
institutions to make loans and investment in local communities, especially
communities in need, and conduct greater outreach to assess the true credit
needs of certain areas.
Provide Americans a strong taxpayer advocate. The IRS
Taxpayer Advocate exists to help taxpayers navigate tax laws and serve as an
ally when Americans need to engage with IRS representatives. But the Trump
Administration refused to designate the Taxpayer Advocate Service an “essential
service,” forcing it to close shop during the government shutdown and leaving
taxpayers without a crucial ally. Senator Klobuchar will designate the IRS an
essential service so taxpayers have continued access to this support and
advocacy.
Encourage reinsurance programs. Rather than
penalizing states who put reinsurance programs in place, which happened under
the Trump Administration, Senator Klobuchar will encourage states to adopt
reinsurance programs that stabilize the state’s insurance marketplace, lower
premiums, and allow more people to access to affordable, quality health care.
Provide incentives for states and localities to adopt
sentencing and prison reforms. Congress passed the First Step Act, which
changed the overly harsh sentencing laws on nonviolent drug offenders and
reformed our federal prisons. But the reform only applies to those held in the
federal system. The new law doesn’t help the nearly 90% of people incarcerated
in state and local facilities. Senator Klobuchar will create federal incentives
so that states can restore some discretion from mandatory sentencing for
nonviolent offenders and reform the unconscionable conditions in state prisons
and local jails.
Restore staffing levels at the EPA. The Environmental
Protection Agency now has fewer staff members than President Reagan’s EPA had
in his final year in office. Senator Klobuchar will restore appropriate
staffing levels to allow the agency to effectively protect the environment.
Strengthen the Minority Business Development Agency.
The Minority Business Development Agency provides technical and managerial
expertise to help minority business overcome social and economic disadvantages.
President Trump has proposed eliminating the agency, but as President, Senator
Klobuchar will ensure it has the resources it needs.
End Illegal Robocalls. Senator Klobuchar will
coordinate efforts to end illegal robocalls across the Federal Trade
Commission, Federal Communications Commission, and Department of Justice and
direct the Department of Justice to aggressively pursue robocall scammers while
working with Congress to increase penalties for aggravated violations of the
Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
Ensure funding for Planned Parenthood, end the gag rule,
and restore the Title X program. Senator Klobuchar will reverse the
Trump Administration’s decision to change the Title X program to ban health
providers like Planned Parenthood from receiving funding under Title X. And she
will fight for legislation that codifies Roe v. Wade and protects women’s
reproductive rights.
Remove barriers to education for homeless and foster
youth. Senator Klobuchar will direct her Secretary of Education to remove
barriers to higher education for homeless and foster youth, including by
ensuring grant programs identify, recruit and prepare homeless and foster
students for college.
Restore staffing levels at the Office of Civil Rights and
the Office of Federal Student Aid. The Trump Administration has
dramatically cut staffing levels at the Department of Education. Senator
Klobuchar will restore staffing levels at the Department of Education,
including at the Office of Civil Rights and the Office of Federal Student Aid,
which has created obstacles for processing more than 87,000 borrower defense
claims as well as impeded investigations into Title IX violations.
Prevent misclassification of workers. Senator
Klobuchar will rescind the Department of Labor guidance under the Trump
Administration that makes it easier for businesses to misclassify workers,
which can result in reduced benefits, lower wages, discrimination, diluted
worker protections, and abdications of legal responsibilities.
Expand investments in veterans telehealth services.
Senator Klobuchar will further expand investments in VA telehealth to ensure
rural veterans have access to medical professionals, especially for mental
health services.
Ensure funding to prevent and respond to violent hate
crimes and address racial discrimination. Senator Klobuchar will fully
staff and fund the Justice Department’s Community Relations Service, a
non-investigative office of “peacemakers” founded by the Civil Rights Act of
1964, which provides communities facing racial and other conflict with
confidential services to ease tensions.
Reinstate the National Climate Assessment Advisory
Committee to immediately start addressing the climate crisis. The National
Climate Assessment Advisory Committee was charged with translating the findings
of the National Climate Assessment into concrete goals. Senator Klobuchar will
reinstate this committee that President Trump let expire.
Improve free tax filing. Senator Klobuchar will
direct the IRS to prevent tax preparation vendors from steering low-income taxpayers
toward paid products, which has reduced the use of free filing products. She
will also direct the IRS to devote greater resources to the enforcement of
vendors’ obligations under the Free File program.
Reverse the Attorney General’s memo directing federal
prosecutors to seek the most severe penalties in all cases. Senator
Klobuchar would reverse former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s memo limiting
federal prosecutors discretion and requiring them to seek the most severe
penalties possible in all cases. She will also restore the Smart on Crime
initiative, which had been hailed as a positive step forward in rehabilitating
drug users by focusing on more serious drug cases and fewer indictments
carrying mandatory minimums. Senator Klobuchar will start the evaluation
process to reschedule marijuana, collecting the required scientific and medical
evaluations and recommendations.
End attempts to reduce federal housing subsidies.
Senator Klobuchar will reverse the Trump Administration’s proposed changes to
federal housing subsidies that could triple rent for some households and be
particularly harmful for seniors, families with children and people with
disabilities.
Promote net neutrality. Senator Klobuchar will use
federal contracting requirements to encourage broadband providers to honor net
neutrality principles and promote a free and open internet.
Support agricultural research. The Trump
Administration has repeatedly proposed budgets for USDA that cut billions for
rural development, conservation, and research. These include the forced closure
of agricultural research laboratories and stations. Senator Klobuchar will give
these important programs the support they deserve.
Put rules in place to prevent pay discrimination. The
Trump Administration has tried to block rules that require large companies to
disclose what they pay employees by sex, race, and ethnicity in an effort to
prevent pay discrimination. Senator Klobuchar will end the Trump
Administration’s legal efforts to prevent the rule from taking effect.
Prevent the expansion of private school vouchers.
Senator Klobuchar will stand firmly with our public schools and end discussions
of Secretary Betsy DeVos’s $50 billion proposal to fund private school
vouchers.
End the travel ban. Senator Klobuchar will put an end
to the administration’s travel ban, recognizing that immigrants don’t diminish
America, they are America. While security and vetting should stay in place, the
Trump Administration’s ban was wrong.
Support the Manufacturing Extension Partnership. The
Manufacturing Extension Partnership program helps small manufacturers innovate,
upgrade their technology and improve production. Senator Klobuchar will support
and expand this program, which the Trump Administration has tried to eliminate.
Hold for-profit colleges accountable if they put profits
above students. The Trump Administration has repeatedly delayed rules
requiring vocational programs at for-profit higher education institutions to
show that they provide gainful employment for their students. Senator Klobuchar
will hold for-profit colleges accountable if they put profits above students by
ensuring that these protections are in place.
Establish a new senior fraud prevention office.
Senator Klobuchar will establish a new senior fraud prevention office to
educate consumers, expedite the handling of complaints, and coordinate
prevention efforts across the federal government.
Collect data to address LGBTQ disparities. Senator
Klobuchar will ensure all federal data collection efforts accurately reflect
the needs of LGBTQ communities including reinstating LGBTQ data in the foster
care system and Older American Act that the Trump Administration has tried to
stop collecting.
Reopen and expand the Office for Access to Justice.
Senator Klobuchar will reopen and expand the Office for Access to Justice,
which makes access to legal aid more accessible to people and has the stated
goal of making sure the justice system delivers outcomes that are fair and
accessible to all, irrespective of wealth or status.
Raise the refugee admissions cap. Under
President Trump, the State Department has dramatically lowered the annual cap
on the number of refugees that can be resettled in the United States. Senator
Klobuchar will direct the State Department to restore the cap to at least its
pre-Trump Administration level.
Invest in the Veterans Health Administration.
Expanding access to private care cannot come at the expense of fully funding
and even expanding the current Veterans Health Administration (VHA)
infrastructure. Senator Klobuchar will direct the VHA to use data on private
care usage only as a means to help guide investments in its own growth, not as
a way to further privatize its core functions.
Strengthen the National Science Foundation. Senator
Klobuchar will fully support the National Science Foundation and ensure that
research decisions are being made by researchers and scientists, not
politicians.
Expand apprenticeships. Senator Klobuchar will direct
her Secretary of Labor to analyze the use of apprenticeships for in-demand
occupations and to launch a nationwide campaign to expand apprenticeship
opportunities and their benefits.
Reinstate joint employer rules that protect workers’
rights. While the Trump Administration attempted to rewrite the “joint
employment” standard, Senator Klobuchar will restore guidance recognizing the
responsibilities of joint employers to their employees.
End the Trump Administration’s censoring of climate
science. Senator Klobuchar will end Trump Administration efforts to censor
climate science through actions like deleting climate-focused websites,
removing the phrase “climate change” from reports, and preventing government
scientists from attending conferences on climate change.
Set ambitious goals to reduce the carbon footprint of the
federal government. The federal government has a significant carbon
footprint. As President, Senator Klobuchar will set ambitious goals to increase
the efficiency of federal buildings, data centers, and vehicles, reduce water
consumption, and increase the use of renewable energy.
Reassess the granting of Medicaid waivers, including
states that have privatized Medicaid. Senator Klobuchar will conduct a
reassessment of the granting of Medicaid waivers for states that wish to
privatize the program and impose discriminatory work requirements.
Restore disclosure rules that counter workers’ organizing
efforts. Senator Klobuchar will restore a rule rescinded by President Trump
mandating public disclosure when employers hire consultants to counter workers’
union organizing efforts.
Prevent federal funding from being used to arm teachers.
The Trump Administration has indicated that it would consider providing federal
funding to arm teachers. Senator Klobuchar will prevent any federal funding from
being used for arming teachers.
Impose full sanctions on Russia for hostile act against
the United States and its allies. In 2017, Congress passed legislation
providing additional authorities for the President to impose sanctions on
Russia in response to its election interference and other aggressive actions.
The Trump Administration has resisted full implementation of these sanctions.
Senator Klobuchar will use these authorities to the fullest extent possible to
impose serious costs on the Putin regime and its enablers for hostile acts
against the United States and our allies.
Improve train safety. The Trump Administration
blocked a proposal to require two-person train crews for safety. Senator
Klobuchar will direct the Department of Transportation to restart this
rulemaking and she will also restore a number of rules to improve train safety.
Protect students from discrimination and violence.
Senator Klobuchar will repeal Title IX regulations proposed under the Trump
Administration and restore guidance reminding universities of their obligation
to protect students from sexual violence.
Direct the Department of Defense and VA to track servicemembers
and veterans exposed to toxic chemicals. Currently, servicemembers’
exposure to toxic chemicals such as mold, caustic fumes, open air burn pits,
and airborne chemicals during military operations are not being properly
documented and tracked by the Defense Department or VA. Senator Klobuchar would
direct these agencies to record any environmental health hazard exposure in a
servicemember’s records during deployment, and the record would then follow the
servicemember through his or her career and into veteran status.
Expand loans for and investments in local communities in
need. For the past 40 years, the Community Reinvestment Act has encouraged
financial institutions to make loans and investment in local communities,
especially low-income and minority communities. Senator Klobuchar will protect
the CRA and instruct financial regulators to conduct greater outreach to assess
the true credit needs of their communities.
Overhaul ethics rules for White House employees and other
senior officials. Senator Klobuchar will make clear that the President and
Vice President must follow our conflict of interest laws, do more to
investigate foreign agents who lobby in the United States, give the Office of
Government Ethics more enforcement power, and provide additional protections
for all Special Counsels.
Support and strengthen the Economic Development
Administration. The Economic Development Administration works directly with
communities and regions to promote competitiveness and innovation. It has a proven
track record of success and on average every $1 of EDA infrastructure funding
generates $15 in private investment. Still, the Trump Administration repeatedly
proposed eliminating the agency. Senator Klobuchar will ensure the agency has
the resources to carry out its mission.
Restore reporting requirements of civilian casualties.
Senator Klobuchar will issue an Executive Order restoring requirements for the
release an annual report on the strikes undertaken by the U.S. military and
Central Intelligence Agency outside of war zones and assessments of military
and civilian deaths resulting from those strikes.
Work to re-enter the Iran nuclear agreement. The 2015
nuclear agreement imposed verifiable limits on Iran’s nuclear program that
would prevent it from building a nuclear weapon. Senator Klobuchar will
negotiate to bring the United States back into the nuclear agreement with the
goal of avoiding war and a nuclear-armed Iran.
Connect more families to housing in higher opportunity
neighborhoods. Senator Klobuchar would expand the pilot for mobility
housing vouchers that allow families with children to use their vouchers in
higher opportunity neighborhoods.
Prosecute unscrupulous payday lenders. Senator
Klobuchar will direct the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Justice
Department and other agencies to prosecute unscrupulous payday lenders that
engage in predatory practices and charge customers exorbitant interest rates.
Undertake a comprehensive review and restore
environmental protections repealed by the Trump Administration. The Trump
Administration has revoked dozens of guidance documents and rules that protect
people’s safety, health and the environment when it comes to our power plants,
oil refineries, national parks and wildlife refuges, offshore drilling,
pipelines, and oil and gas development. Senator Klobuchar will undertake a
thorough review of all the repealed guidance and rules, and work to restore our
environmental and safety protections.
Ensure fair labor practices and safe workplaces for federal
contractors. Senator Klobuchar will restore policies ensuring fair pay and
safe workplaces for federal contractors.
Protect health care workers’ right to organize.
Senator Klobuchar will rescind an anti-union regulatory change enacted by the
Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services that prevents union dues from being
deducted from Medicaid-funded paychecks of home health care workers.
Direct the Department of Health and Human Services to
consider VHA facilities when designating Health Professional Shortage Areas.
Senator Klobuchar has long pressed for HHS to consider adding VHA facilities as
Health Professional Shortage areas. Once designated, these facilities have
access to health professional students with scholarships and loan forgiveness
who pledge to practice in the program for at least two years. As President,
Senator Klobuchar would direct HHS to revise its current regulations for
defining Health Professional Shortage areas to include VHA facilities.
Stop the diversion of funds needed to modernize our
military bases from being used for the border wall. President Trump is
diverting funding meant for modernizing our military bases in order to build
his border wall. Senator Klobuchar will rescind his national emergency
declaration and return funding for its intended purpose.
Visit our troops stationed in combat zones. Visiting
our military servicemembers serving in harm’s way is a long-standing
Presidential tradition. Senator Klobuchar will visit U.S. troops in combat
zones within her first 100 days in office.
Reopen international U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services offices. The Trump Administration is shutting down international
USCIS offices – which deal primarily with international adoptions, family visa
applications, petitions for citizenship for military members stationed in
foreign countries, and citizenship applications, along with help on refugee
processing and investigations of fraud. Senator Klobuchar will direct USCIS to
reopen its international offices.
Reduce State Department vacancies. Senator
Klobuchar will immediately direct her Secretary of State to accelerate hiring
for key positions.
Prevent people with severe mental illness from acquiring
guns. Senator Klobuchar will restore a rule requiring the Social Security
Administration to submit records of people with severe mental illness to the
FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
Curtail arms transfers and other support for the war in
Yemen. Saudi and UAE military operations in Yemen have killed thousands of
civilians and contributed to a humanitarian crisis that has left millions
displaced and starving. The conflict shows no signs of ending, but the Trump
Administration continues to go to extraordinary lengths to provide weapons and
other support to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, including circumventing the standard
Congressional approval processes. Senator Klobuchar will order a stop to arms
transfers and support to the Saudi and Emirati forces until a negotiated
settlement to the conflict is achieved.
Reinstate visas for same-sex partners of foreign
diplomats. Senator Klobuchar will reverse the Trump Administration
policy change of no longer issue family visas to same-sex partners of foreign
diplomats or employees of international organizations who work in the United States.
Renew efforts to prevent another financial crisis.
The Office of Financial Research, an independent bureau within the Treasury
Department, was created by the Dodd-Frank Act to collect information on
financial system risks, perform long-term research, and develop risk
measurement and monitoring tools to help prevent future financial crises.
Senator Klobuchar will restore the mission and stature of the office.
Protect funding for the Northern Triangle. Senator
Klobuchar will end all Administration discussions to cut off direct assistance
funding for Northern Triangle countries of Honduras, El Salvador, and
Guatemala, recognizing that the cuts present a serious risk to our national
security and undermine efforts to address the underlying conditions driving
migration to the United States.
Crack down on money laundering and tax evasion.
Senator Klobuchar will crack down on money laundering and tax evasion by
empowering Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to aggressively
implement new rules for identifying the “true” owner of financial accounts,
especially large accounts used in financial transactions where the incidence of
fraud and tax evasion is high. And she will call on Congress to enact legislation
imposing greater disclosure requirements.
Protect retiree pensions. The Kline-Miller
Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 (MPRA) allows underfunded
multiemployer pension plans to request permission from the Treasury Department
to reduce retiree benefits in order to improve their financial condition.
Senator Klobuchar believes retirees are entitled to the benefits they’ve earned
during their working lives and will recommend that Treasury heighten the
scrutiny of any applications to reduce retiree benefits under MPRA.
Combat segregation in housing. Senator Klobuchar will
suspend Housing and Urban Development Secretary Carson’s proposed changes to
the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, which would weaken efforts to
combat segregation in housing policy.
Invest in adult basic education. Senator Klobuchar
will reverse President’s Trump proposal to cut basic education programs for
adults, and launch an initiative focused on increasing opportunities for adults
to master literacy and basic math skills.
Restore consumer protections. Senator Klobuchar will
direct the Department of Commerce, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,
Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Federal
Communications Commission, Department of Transportation and other consumer
protection agencies to re-evaluate any Trump Administration actions that have
weakened protections for consumers.
Maintain protest rights on public property in Washington,
DC. Senator Klobuchar will end the Trump Administration attempts to limit
protest rights in Washington, DC, like closing 80 percent of the White House
sidewalk and putting new limits on spontaneous demonstrations.
Prevent abuses by IRS private debt collectors. Reports
suggest that the IRS private debt collectors have abused and harassed
low-income taxpayers whose tax debts are relatively small. Senator Klobuchar
will overhaul the program and limit these abuses.
Invest in Alzheimer’s research. Senator Klobuchar will
commit to preventing, treating and facilitating a cure for Alzheimer’s disease.
She will also immediately expand initiatives that provide support for family
caregivers.
End the Justice Department’s reliance on private prisons.
As President, Senator Klobuchar will phase out the use of private prisons by
directing the Department of Justice to decline to renew or reduce the scope of
contracts when the contract reaches its end.
Restore national monuments. Senator Klobuchar will
restore the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument and Grand
Staircase-Escalante National Monument to protect their ecological and the
tribal cultural significance and undertake a review of other boundary
adjustment and management changes initiated by the Trump Administration.
Prioritize health care delivery system reform to reduce
health care costs. Senator Klobuchar will immediately identify value-based
delivery system reforms, including in Medicare and Medicaid, and she will
create incentives for employers and insurers to expand new payment models.
Expand the open enrollment period for health insurance
under the Affordable Care Act so more people can get insurance coverage.
Rather than shortening the open enrollment period on the exchanges from
November 1st to December 15th, which happened under the Trump Administration,
Senator Klobuchar will expand the open enrollment period for exchange
enrollment so more people can access health insurance.
Investigate deceptive online travel practices that hurt
consumers. Senator Klobuchar will direct the Federal Trade Commission
and Department of Transportation to investigate deceptive and fraudulent
practices by online travel booking websites.
“Senator Klobuchar is committed to governing from
opportunity and taking administrative actions when it comes to our foreign
policy and security, veterans, health care, education, income inequality,
worker protections, economic justice, immigration reform, unions, civil rights,
climate change, the environment, criminal justice reform and gun violence
prevention. She will be updating these goals with your ideas,” the campaign
stated.
With Democrats clamoring for the Democratic National Committee to host a climate debate for candidates, several have issued their own climate action plans, including Vice President Joe Biden. The Biden Plan for a Clean Energy Revolution & Environmental Justice details how a Biden Administration will tackle the moral and economic imperative of climate change on day one.
“More severe storms and droughts, rising sea levels, warming temperatures, shrinking snow cover and ice sheets – it’s already happening. We must take drastic action now to address the climate disaster facing the nation and our world,” said Vice President Joe Biden. “Science tells us that how we act or fail to act in the next 12 years will determine the very livability of our planet. That’s why I’m calling for a Clean Energy Revolution to confront this crisis and do what America does best – solve big problems with big ideas.”
Here is an overview:
The Biden Plan for a Clean Energy Revolution & Environmental Justice
Addressing the global threat of climate change and revitalizing America’s economy
From coastal towns to rural farms to urban centers, climate change poses an existential threat – not just to our environment, but to our health, our communities, our national security, and our economic well-being. It also damages our communities with storms that wreak havoc on our towns and cities and our homes and schools. It puts our national security at risk by leading to regional instability that will require U.S military-supported relief activities and could make areas more vulnerable to terrorist activities.
Vice President Biden knows there is no greater challenge facing our country and our world. Today, he is outlining a bold plan – a Clean Energy Revolution – to address this grave threat and lead the world in addressing the climate emergency.
Biden believes the Green New Deal is a crucial framework for meeting the climate challenges we face. It powerfully captures two basic truths, which are at the core of his plan: (1) the United States urgently needs to embrace greater ambition on an epic scale to meet the scope of this challenge, and (2) our environment and our economy are completely and totally connected.
If we can harness all of our energy and talents, and unmatchable American innovation, we can turn this threat into an opportunity to revitalize the U.S. energy sector and boost growth economy-wide. We can create new industries that reinvigorate our manufacturing and create high-quality, middle-class jobs in cities and towns across the United States. We can lead America to become the world’s clean energy superpower. We can export our clean-energy technology across the globe and create high-quality, middle-class jobs here at home. Getting to a 100% clean energy economy is not only an obligation, it’s an opportunity. We should fully adopt a clean energy future, not just for all of us today, but for our children and grandchildren, so their tomorrow is healthier, safer, and more just.
As president, Biden will make the United States a world leader to address the climate emergency through the power of example, by ensuring the U.S. achieves a 100% clean energy economy and net-zero emissions no later than 2050.
The Biden Plan will:
Ensure the U.S. achieves a 100% clean energy economy
and reaches net-zero emissions no later than 2050. On day one, Biden will sign a series of new
executive orders with unprecedented reach that go well beyond the
Obama-Biden Administration platform and put us on the right track. And, he
will demand that Congress enacts legislation in the first year of his
presidency that: 1) establishes an enforcement mechanism that includes
milestone targets no later than the end of his first term in 2025, 2)
makes a historic investment in clean energy and climate research and
innovation, 3) incentivizes the rapid deployment of clean energy
innovations across the economy, especially in communities most impacted by
climate change.
Build a stronger, more resilient nation. On day one, Biden will make smart infrastructure
investments to rebuild the nation and to ensure that our buildings, water,
transportation, and energy infrastructure can withstand the impacts of
climate change. Every dollar spent toward rebuilding our roads, bridges,
buildings, the electric grid, and our water infrastructure will be used to
prevent, reduce, and withstand a changing climate. As President, Biden
will use the convening power of government to boost climate resilience
efforts by developing regional climate resilience plans, in partnership
with local universities and national labs, for local access to the most
relevant science, data, information, tools, and training.
Rally the rest of the world to meet the threat of
climate change. Climate change is a global
challenge that requires decisive action from every country around the
world. Joe Biden knows how to stand with America’s allies, stand up to
adversaries, and level with any world leader about what must be done. He
will not only recommit the United States to the Paris Agreement on climate
change – he will go much further than that. He will lead an effort to get
every major country to ramp up the ambition of their domestic climate
targets. He will make sure those commitments are transparent and
enforceable, and stop countries from cheating by using America’s economic
leverage and power of example. He will fully integrate climate change into
our foreign policy and national security strategies, as well as our
approach to trade.
Stand up to the abuse of power by polluters who
disproportionately harm communities of color and low-income
communities. Vulnerable
communities are disproportionately impacted by the climate emergency and
pollution. The Biden Administration will take action against fossil fuel
companies and other polluters who put profit over people and knowingly
harm our environment and poison our communities’ air, land, and water, or
conceal information regarding potential environmental and health risks.
The Biden plan will ensure that communities across the country from Flint,
Michigan to Harlan, Kentucky to the New Hampshire Seacoast have access to
clean, safe drinking water. And he’ll make sure the development of
solutions is an inclusive, community-driven process.
Fulfill our obligation to workers and communities who
powered our industrial revolution and subsequent decades of economic
growth. This is support they’ve
earned for fueling our country’s industrial revolution and decades of
economic growth. We’re not going to leave any workers or communities
behind.
The Biden plan will
make a historic investment in our clean energy future and environmental justice,
paid for by rolling back the Trump tax incentives that enrich corporations at
the expense of American jobs and the environment. Biden’s climate and environmental justice
proposal will make a federal investment of $1.7 trillion over the next ten years,
leveraging additional private sector and state and local investments to total
to more than $5 trillion. President Trump’s tax cut led to trillions in stock
buybacks and created new incentives to shift profits abroad. Joe Biden believes
we should instead invest in a Clean Energy Revolution that creates jobs here at
home.
The Biden plan will be paid for by reversing the excesses of the Trump tax cuts
for corporations, reducing incentives for tax havens, evasion, and outsourcing,
ensuring corporations pay their fair share, closing other loopholes in our tax
code that reward work not wealth, and ending subsidies for fossil fuels.
This all builds on Vice President Biden’s years of leadership on climate change
– from introducing one of the first climate bills in the Senate to overseeing
the largest clean energy investment in our country’s history, the Recovery Act
and to mobilizing the world to achieve the Paris Climate Accord.
Vice President Biden
has committed that Biden for President will not accept contributions from the
oil, gas and coal corporations or executives.
For more on Vice
President Biden’s plan, watch THIS video,
view the policy HERE.
