The vigorous contest of Democrats seeking the 2020 presidential nomination has produced excellent policy proposals to address major issues. Senator Elizabeth Warren details a plan to transform America’s approach to trade: “Trade can be a powerful tool to help working families but our failed pro-corporate agenda has used trade to harm American workers and the environment. My plan represents a new approach to trade — one that uses America’s leverage to boost American workers and raise the standard of living across the globe. The President has a lot of authority to remake trade policy herself. When I’m elected, I intend to use it.” Here are the details, as provided by the Warren campaign:
Charlestown, MA – Senator Elizabeth Warren, who is running to be the 2020 Democratic candidate for president, released her plan to break decades of Washington consensus and transform every aspect of America’s current approach to trade.
America enters trade negotiations with enormous leverage because it is the world’s most attractive market. A Warren Administration won’t hand that leverage to big corporations to use for their own narrow purposes. Elizabeth will use it to create and defend good American jobs, raise wages and farm income, combat climate change, lower drug prices, and raise living standards worldwide. Under Elizabeth’s plan, America will engage in international trade — but on our terms and only when it benefits American families.
The plan is the third pillar of Elizabeth’s economic patriotism agenda. Read more about her plan here and below:
Last month, I released my economic patriotism agenda
— my commitment to fundamentally changing the government’s approach to the
economy so that we put the interests of American workers and families ahead of
the interests of multinational corporations. I’ve already released my ideas for
applying economic patriotism to manufacturing and
to Wall Street. This is my
plan for using economic patriotism to overhaul our approach to trade.
For decades, big multinational corporations have bought and
lobbied their way into dictating America’s trade policy. Those big corporations
have gotten rich but everyone else has paid the price. We’ve lost millionsofjobs to
outsourcing, depressedwages for American
workers, accelerated climate
change, and squeezed America’s
family farmers. We’ve let China get away with the suppression of pay and labor rights, poor environmental
protections, and years of currency manipulation.
All to add some zeroes to the bottom lines of big corporations with no loyalty
or allegiance to America.
We need to completely transform our approach to trade.
America enters into trade negotiations with enormous leverage because America
is the world’s most attractive market. As President, I won’t hand
America’s leverage to big corporations to use for their own narrow purposes —
I’ll use it to create and defend good American jobs, raise wages and farm
income, combat climate change, lower drug prices, and raise living standards
worldwide.We will engage in international trade — but on our terms
and only when it benefits American families.
A New Approach to Trade
My plan is a new approach to trade — one that is different
from both the Washington insider consensus that brought us decades of bad trade
deals and from Donald Trump’s haphazard and ultimately corporate-friendly
approach.
Unlike the insiders, I don’t think “free trade” deals that
benefit big multinational corporations and international capital at the expense
of American workers are good simply because they open up markets. Trade is good
when it helps American workers and families — when it doesn’t, we need to
change our approach. And unlike Trump, while I think tariffs are an important
tool, they are not by themselves a long-term solution to our failed trade
agenda and must be part of a broader strategy that this Administration clearly
lacks.
To ensure that American families benefit from international
trade in the decades to come, I want to invest in American workers and
to use our leverage to force other countries to raise the bar on everything
from labor and environmental standards to anti-corruption rules to access to
medicine to tax enforcement. If we raise the world’s standards to our level and
American workers have the chance to compete fairly, they will thrive — and
millions of people around the world will be better off too.
Achieving this vision isn’t about tough talk or tweets. We
must do the hard work of transforming every aspect of our current approach to
trade: from our negotiating process to the negotiating objectives we pursue to
the way we enforce agreements. That’s what I intend to do.
A Trade Negotiation Process that Reflects America’s
Interests
Our current approach to negotiating trade agreements works
great for the wealthy and the well-connected. The negotiating text is
kept confidential from
all but a small set of advisory groups comprised mostly of corporate
executives and industry trade group representatives. Once those corporate
interests are finished whispering in the ears of our negotiators, the completed
text is released. Then, under the expedited “Fast Track” procedure
Congress typically uses to approve trade agreements, our elected
representatives must vote up or down on the agreement with no ability to
propose and secure any changes to it. Meanwhile, the negotiators who
constructed it often breeze through the revolving door to
take jobs with the corporations whose interests underlie the deal.
This is undemocratic and obviously corrupt. In a Warren
Administration, we will negotiate and approve trade agreements through a
transparent process that offers the public a genuine chance to shape it:
Trade negotiators will publicly disclose negotiating
drafts and provide the public with an opportunity to comment. When
federal agencies write new rules, they typically must publish a proposed
version of the rule and permit the public to submit comments on it. I will
adopt a similar approach for our trade deals. Prior to negotiations, our
negotiators will publish a draft of their proposals in the Federal Register,
let the public offer comments on the draft, and take those comments into
consideration during negotiations. And then as talks proceed, they will publish
drafts of the negotiating texts so the public can monitor the negotiations.
Trade advisory committees will prioritize the views of workers and consumers. I will ensure that there are more representatives from labor, environmental, and consumer groups than from corporations and trade groups on every existing advisory committee. And I’ll expand the current list of advisory committees to create one for consumers, one for rural areas, and one for each region of the country, so that critical voices are at the table during negotiations.
The US International Trade Commission will provide a regional analysis of the economic effects of a trade agreement. Trade agreements can hollow out communities and transform regional economies. Yet the report the ITC provides before Congress considers a trade agreement only includes a nationwide analysis of a trade deal’s economic impact. I will push for the agency to provide a region-by-region analysis so the public and Members of Congress can understand how an agreement is likely to affect the places they live and represent.
The congressional approval process will offer more
opportunities for the public and elected representatives to shape trade
agreements. I will seek expedited congressional approval of trade
agreements only when every regional advisory committee and the labor, consumer,
and rural advisory committees unanimously certify that the agreement serves
their interests. I will also expand the list of congressional committees that
must review any agreement before it is eligible for expedited consideration.
Together, these changes will ensure that our negotiations
reflect the views of American families, not corporate interests.
Using Our Leverage to Demand More for American Families
and to Raise the Global Standard of Living
While a better process will produce better agreements, we
also must fundamentally shift the goals of our trade agenda so they are aligned
with the interests of America’s families.
With certain important exceptions, we live in a low-tariff
world. Modern trade agreements are less about the
mutual reduction of tariffs and more about establishing regulatory standards
for everything from worker rights to pollution to patent protections.
My approach to trade reflects that reality. For too long, we
have entered into trade deals with countries with abysmal records on labor, environmental, and human rights issues.
In exchange for concrete access to the American market, we get vague
commitments to do better, which we then hardly enforce. The
result is that millions of people in our trading-partner countries don’t gain
the benefits of higher standards — and companies can easily pad their profits
by shifting American jobs to countries where they can pay workers next to
nothing and pollute the air and water freely.
That will end under my Administration. I am establishing a set of standards countries must meet as a precondition for any trade agreement with America. And I will renegotiate any agreements we have to ensure that our existing trade partners meet those standards as well.
My preconditions are that a country must:
Recognize and enforce the core labor rights of the International Labour Organization, like collective bargaining and the elimination of child labor.
Uphold internationally recognized human rights, as reported in the Department of State’s Country Reports on Human Rights, including the rights of indigenous people, migrant workers, and other vulnerable groups.
Recognize and enforce religious freedom as reported in the State Department’s Country Reports.
Comply with minimum standards of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.
Be a party to the Paris Climate agreement and have a national plan that has been independently verified to put the country on track to reduce its emissions consistent with the long-term emissions goals in that agreement.
Eliminate all domestic fossil fuel subsidies.
Ratify the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions.
Comply with any tax treaty they have with the United States and participate in the OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project to combat tax evasion and avoidance.
Not appear on the Department of Treasury monitoring list of
countries that merit attention for their currency practices.
A country should only be considered an acceptable partner if
it meets these basic standards. Shamefully, America itself does not meet many
of these labor and environmental standards today. I am committed to fixing that
as President. And to help bring other countries up to these standards, I’ll
revitalize our commitment to providing technical assistance to help countries
improve.
I will also go beyond these minimum standards in key areas
to promote the interests of American workers and families.
Labor. I will ensure trade agreements protect
Buy American and other programs designed to develop local industry, contain
strong rule-of-origin standards to promote domestic manufacturing, protect
worker pensions, promote equal pay for equal work for women, and prohibit
violence against workers. Unlike previous trade deals agreements that
have put labor standards in side agreements that
are difficult to enforce, I will make labor standards central to any agreement.
Climate Change and the Environment. Climate
change is real, it’s man-made, and we’re running out of time to address it.
America should be leading this fight, but we have turned our backs on our
responsibilities — with communities of color in the U.S. and developing countries bearing
a disproportionate amount of the harm.
Beyond requiring implementation of the Paris Climate accord
and the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies as preconditions for any trade
agreement, I have already proposed a Green Marshall Plan to
dedicate $100 billion to helping other countries purchase and deploy
American-made clean energy technology.
But we must do more. I will push to secure a
multilateral agreement to protect domestic green policies like subsidies for
green products and preferential treatment for environmentally sustainable
energy production from WTO challenges. And because big corporations
will move their production to the countries with the weakest greenhouse gas
emissions standards — undermining global efforts to address climate change and
penalizing countries that are doing their part — I will impose a border carbon adjustment so
imported goods that these firms make using carbon-intensive processes are
charged a fee to equalize the costs borne by companies playing by the rules.
Prescription Drugs. Last year, Americans spent more
than $500 billion on
prescription drugs. That’s a 50% increase since 2010. Nearly 3 in 10Americans
report not taking their medicine as directed because of costs. And yet, one of
the core elements of America’s current trade agenda is guaranteeing
pharmaceutical firms monopoly protections so they can avoid competition from
generic drugs — driving up costs and reducing access to
necessary medicine abroad, and undermining our
efforts to reduce drug prices here at home. That’s exactly what
the Trump Administration has done as part of their failed effort to renegotiate
NAFTA.
While medical innovation is important, there is no link between
extremely long exclusivity periods and pharmaceutical innovation. These are
giveaways to drug companies, plain and simple, which allow them to maintain
ludicrously high drug prices.
As President, I will fight to bring down the costs of
prescription drugs here and around the world. I will never use
America’s leverage to push another country to extend exclusivity periods for
prescription drugs. I will support efforts to impose price controls on
pharmaceuticals. And I will actively seek out opportunities to reduce
exclusivity periods in our existing trade deals in exchange for securing other
changes that will help America’s working families.
Agriculture. For decades, trade deals have squeezed family
farmers, with Black farmers losing their land particularly quickly.
Between the trade fights incited by Trump’s haphazard tariffs and a series
of natural disasters,
America’s farmers are now facing the worst crisis in almost 40
years. They are also facing unprecedented levels of uncertainty and
instability. Trump’s tariffs have reduced crop prices, threatened farmers
already operating on razor-thin margins, and opened up new non-American markets
against which our farmers are now forced to compete. Like trade deals of the
past, Trump’s NAFTA 2.0 is written to help giant multinational agribusinesses
at the expense of family farms, and it
will do nothing to solve the newly created market insecurity Trump’s tariffs
have caused.
As President, I will fight for trade agreements that reward
American farmers for their hard work by negotiating for fair prices for goods,
breaking up the monopolies in grain
trading and meat packing, and protecting domestic markets to create stability
for America’s family farms. And I will impose Country-of-Origin Labeling rules
to protect American producers and provide transparency to consumers.
Consumer protection. We must ensure that the food we
eat is high-quality and safe. But our trade agreements have limited safety
standards and the inspection of imported foods,
while simultaneously enabling a new flood of food imports that overwhelm food
safety inspectors. In my Administration, our trade pacts will require
imported food to meet domestic food safety standards, including enhanced border
inspection requirements.
As with imported food, our current trade deals require us to
allow imports of other products and services that do not meet domestic safety
and environmental standards. My trade agreements will ensure that imported
products and services must meet the same standards as domestic products and
services.
Antitrust. We are in an era of massive
consolidation across many sectors of the economy. One of the reasons why is
that we have a narrow, permissive approach to mergers that looks only at
economic efficiency and consumer welfare instead of assessing the impact that a
merger will have on competition itself.
In recent years, we have added this problematic
standard into trade agreements and
proposed it as the defining objective for competition policy in new and renegotiated agreements.
Under my administration, we will not propose this standard in any new
agreement, and we will work to renegotiate agreements to remove it.
Delivering for American Families with Stronger
Enforcement
Our approach to enforcing trade agreements drives down
standards worldwide and undermines American families. We offer big corporations
fast and powerful methods to enforce the provisions that benefit them but make
it nearly impossible for Americans to enforce labor and environmental
protections. Foreign governments only fear a challenge to strong rules that
might hurt corporate bottom lines, not to weak rules that might not adequately
protect workers, the environment, or public health.
I will entirely reorient our approach to enforcement so we drive standards up, not down. I’ll start by ending “Investor-State Dispute Settlement,” or ISDS, the favorable enforcement approach we offer corporations. Under ISDS, a company that believes that a new law violates some aspect of a trade agreement can skip the courts and challenge the law before an international panel of arbitrators. If the company wins, the panel can order that country’s taxpayers to pay out billions in damages — with no review by an actual court. What’s worse, the arbitration panels handing out these binding rulings are often made up of corporate lawyers whose day jobs are representing the very same companies that seek judgments before them.
Companies have used ISDS to undermine laws intended to benefit the public interest. A French company challenged Egypt when it increased the minimum wage. A Swedish company challenged Germany when it decided to cut back on nuclear power after the Fukushima disaster. These cases have real effects across the globe: an ISDS panel’s decision to hear a challenge that Philip Morris brought against Uruguay’s anti-smoking campaign prompted several other countries to abandon similar public health efforts.
As President, I will not include ISDS in any new
agreement and will renegotiate existing agreements to remove ISDS from them.
And I’ll strengthen our approach to enforcing labor and environmental
standards. Unlike a corporation under ISDS, a labor union seeking to enforce
labor standards can’t bring a claim on its own — it must convince the federal
government to bring a claim on its behalf. Even in the face of overwhelming
evidence, our government can refuse to act for diplomatic or other unrelated
reasons.
As a result, the federal government has only pursued one such claim in
the last 25 years. In that one case, the American government, AFL-CIO, and
Guatemalan unions spent nine years trying
to challenge the Guatemalan government for violating the labor chapter of one
of our trade deals because Guatemalan workers were being murdered for trying to
join a union. In the end, we lost because the
trade agreement required a showing that the violations had affected trade.
I will replace this broken process by creating independent
commissions — made up of experts in the area — to monitor potential violations,
respond to complaints, and investigate claims. The commissions must review and
investigate claims promptly so that claims don’t languish for years. If
one of these commissions recommends that the United States bring a claim
against another country, the United States will be required to do so, without
exception.
I will also fix the problem that arose in the Guatemala case
by pushing to remove language from our deals that require us to show that a
violation of rights was “sustained or recurring” and “affecting trade or
investment.” A violation is a violation, and I won’t let another case like
Guatemala happen ever again.
I will strengthen our enforcement approach in other ways as
well:
Under WTO rules, a country designated as a “non-market economy” can face more serious trade penalties. I will push for a new “non-sustainable economy” designation that would allow us to impose tougher penalties on countries with systematically poor labor and environmental practices. We cannot allow countries that treat their workers and the environment poorly to undercut American producers that do things the right way.
I already have a plan to move the lead American trade negotiator — the Office of the United States Trade Representative — within my new Department of Economic Development. That will ensure that America’s trade policy supports our broader economic agenda of defending and creating good American jobs. I will also create a new labor and environment enforcement division at the USTR to more effectively enforce obligations, and embed a labor attache at U.S. embassies to monitor compliance with our labor standards.
Unlike the current approach that lets our government ignore unfair trade practices, my administration will create automatic triggers to initiate investigations into unfair trade practices. If those investigations produce compelling evidence of a violation, the Department will impose trade remedies immediately until the offenders show they are no longer engaging in an unfair trade practice. These automatic triggers will also apply to violations of labor and environmental standards.
Finally, when we impose duties to support particular
domestic industries, I want to ensure that the money we collect actually goes
to American workers, instead of being sucked up by
executives and shareholders. I will fight to change our trade laws so
that we review duties every six months and lift the duties if companies can’t
demonstrate the benefits of the duties are going to their workers.
The vigorous contest of Democrats seeking the 2020 presidential nomination has produced excellent policy proposals to address major issues. Vice President Joe Biden has presented his plan for Rural America. This summary is provided by the Biden campaign:
Rural America is home to roughly 20% of Americans, but we are all connected to rural
communities in many ways. Rural Americans fuel us and feed us. Rural lands
provide us with places to spend time outdoors with friends and family and
relax.
A healthy, vibrant rural America is essential to the success of our country.
Yet in small town after small town, parents watch their kids and grandkids
leave rural communities because there just is not enough opportunity for them
at home. For too many rural Americans, a pathway to the middle class is out of
reach if they stay in their rural communities.
The moral obligation of our time is rebuilding the middle class, so that this
time everyone comes along regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation,
disability or zip code. It should not be dependent on whether they live
in a city center, a small town, or a remote area. Everyone means everyone.
As president, Biden will build a pathway to the middle class for rural
Americans, in rural America. He will pursue a rural economic development
strategy that partners with rural communities to invest in their unique assets,
with the goal of giving young people more options to live, work, and raise the
next generation in rural America. It’s not just good for those in rural
America, it’s good for everyone across our country.
I. FUNDAMENTALLY REVITALIZE
RURAL ECONOMIES
Rural America is asset-rich. It feeds and fuels the rest of the country, gives
us places to enjoy the outdoors and spend time with friends and family, and is
home to creative, hard-working Americans. Yet rural America’s economy is
traditionally based on extraction, taking the resources out of rural
communities and never returning the profits.
The Biden strategy for rural economic development will be to partner with rural
communities, invest in their unique assets, and make sure the wealth created in
rural America stays in rural America.
Under this strategy, Biden will:
Strengthen our
agricultural sector by:
Pursuing a trade policy that works
for American farmers. More than 20% of all crops grown and products raised in the United
States are exported, supporting
hundreds of thousands of jobs and helping
to stabilize farm income. But America’s farmers and rural communities have paid
a heavy price for President Trump’s tariffs. While Trump is pursuing a damaging
and erratic trade war without any real strategy, President Biden will stand up
to China by working with our allies to negotiate from the strongest possible
position. And, he’ll make sure our trade policy works for American farmers.
Supporting beginning farmers. America tries to make it easy to start a business, but unless
you inherit the land, it’s much more difficult to start a farm. The Biden
Administration will expand the Obama-Biden Administration’s microloan program
for new and beginning farmers, doubling the
maximum loan amount to $100,000. And, it will increase funding for the U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s farm ownership
and operating loans that typically serve
beginning farmers who grew up on a family farm but need low-cost capital to add
to their family’s operation to support another household.
Fostering the development of
regional food systems. The Biden Administration will
partner with small and mid-sized farmers to help them collectively create
supply chains to deliver fresh produce and other products to schools,
hospitals, and other major state and federal institutions, including the
Defense Department. This will allow these farmers to negotiate their own
prices. And, it will help farmers identify markets for specialty crops and
secondary products, like ice cream produced by dairy farmers to bring in
additional revenue.
Re-investing in land grant
universities’ agricultural research so the public, not private companies, owns
patents to agricultural advances. The Biden
Administration will reinvest in agricultural research by bolstering funding for
the Sustainable Agriculture
Research and Education Program and
the National
Institute of Food and Agriculture. Our farmers
need new technologies to compete in world markets while protecting our soil and
water. These new technologies – and the next new seeds – should be developed
and owned by the American people, not private companies who can use patents to
expand profits.
Partnering with farmers to make
American agriculture first in the world to achieve net-zero emissions, giving
farmers new sources of income in the process. Many
farmers are some of the best stewards of our land, air, and water. The
government needs to partner with them to accelerate progress toward net-zero
emissions. As president, Biden will ensure our agricultural sector is the first
in the world to achieve net-zero emissions, and that our farmers earn income as
we meet this milestone. Toward this end, the Biden Administration will
dramatically expand and fortify the pioneering Conservation
Stewardship Program, created by former Senate
Agriculture Committee Chair Tom Harkin, to support farm income through payments
based on farmers’ practices to protect the environment, including carbon
sequestration. In addition to seeking full federal funding for the program, the
Biden Administration will ensure the program can participate in carbon markets.
Corporations, individuals, and foundations interested in promoting greenhouse
gas reductions could offset their emissions by contributing to Conservation
Stewardship Program payments to farmers for those sequestering carbon — for
example, through cover crops. This will not only help combat climate change,
which Vice President Biden has called an existential threat, but also create additional revenue sources for farmers
at a time when many are struggling to make ends meet. And, this approach will
create a whole series of new businesses that survey, measure, certify, and
quantify conservation results. In addition, the Biden Plan will make a
significant investment in research to refine practices to build soil carbon
while maximizing farm and ranch productivity. Soil is the next frontier for
storing carbon.
Strengthening antitrust
enforcement. From the inputs they depend on –
such as seeds – to the markets where they sell their products, American farmers
and ranchers are being hurt by increasing market concentration. The Biden
Administration will protect small and medium-sized farmers and producers by
strengthening enforcement of the Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Acts and the
Packers and Stockyards Act.
Expand bio-based manufacturing to
bring cutting-edge manufacturing jobs back to rural America. The Biden Administration will create a low-carbon
manufacturing sector in every state in the
country, but not just in cities. As president, Biden will grow the bioeconomy
and bio-based manufacturing to bring cutting-edge manufacturing jobs back to
rural America. This means taking every aspect of agricultural production – from
corn stock to manure – to create chemicals, materials, fabrics, and fibers in a
process that is good for the environment and creates new sources of revenue for
farmers. Key to this strategy will be connecting research universities,
community colleges, incubators and accelerators, manufacturing institutes,
employers, unions, and state and local governments – alone or as part of a
regional pact. The federal government will provide them with significant
funding for deployment of a place-based plan to help their state or region
build a competitive and low-carbon future in manufacturing that reflects
climate impacts in their local communities.
Promote ethanol
and the next generation of biofuels. Joe
Biden believes renewable fuels are vital to the future of rural America – and
the climate. The Biden Plan will invest $400 billion in
clean energy research, innovation, and deployment – more than twice what America spent to
put a man on the moon. And, as part of this effort, developing the next
generation of biofuels will be a top priority. The Biden Plan will invest in
research to develop cellulosic biofuels in a manner that protects our soil and
water and addresses the challenge of climate change, while turning grass, crop
residues, and other biomass into fuel. Doubling down on these liquid fuels of
the future will not only make value-added agriculture a key part of the
solution to climate change – reducing emissions in planes, ships, and other
forms of transportation – but will also create quality jobs across rural
America. From day one, President Biden will use every tool at his disposal,
including the federal fleet and the federal government’s purchasing power, to
promote and advance renewable energy, ethanol, and other biofuels.
Invest in wind and solar energy. President Obama put Vice President
Biden in charge of the Recovery Act, which invested more than $90 billion in clean energy technology. Those
investments contributed to a doubling of the share of domestically produced
wind turbine components and produced a dramatic decrease in solar costs, making wind and solar
power cost-competitive. Biden will build on the Recovery Act by setting an
ambitious but essential goal for America to achieve a 100% clean energy economy
and net-zero emissions no later than 2050. His clean energy plan will accelerate the already dramatic
growth of solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources.
Invest $20 billion in rural broadband infrastructure, and triple funding to
expand broadband access in rural areas. High-speed broadband is essential
in the 21st Century economy. Yet far too many rural communities still don’t
have access to it. Rural Americans are over 10 times
more likely than urban
residents to lack quality broadband access. At a time when so many jobs and
businesses could be located anywhere, high-speed internet access should be a
great economic equalizer for rural America, not another economic disadvantage.
Investing $20 billion in rural broadband infrastructure has the potential to
create more than a quarter million
new jobs. The Biden Plan will
triple Community Connect broadband grants and partner with
municipal utilities to bring cutting-edge broadband connections to communities
across rural America.
Invest in green infrastructure nationwide. As president, Biden will
make smart infrastructure investments to rebuild the nation and to ensure that
our buildings, water, transportation, and energy infrastructure can meet
America’s economic needs and withstand the impacts of climate change. The Biden
Administration will use this infrastructure funding to ensure that rural
communities across the country have access to clean, safe drinking water. It will
modernize the lock and dam system vital to getting rural products to markets,
leveraging the federal resources to the maximum extent possible with the
private sector. And, it will build the roads to give farms and small town
businesses access to markets and an efficient means to participate in the world
economy.
Expand access to credit for new and small businesses. Entrepreneurs
in small towns and rural areas should have access to the capital they need to
realize their dreams. The Biden Administration will dramatically expand funding
for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and the Rural
Microentrepreneur Assistance Program to help rural entrepreneurs. Biden will
expand the number of Rural Business
Investment Companies to help
rural companies obtain capital.
II. PARTNER WITH RURAL
COMMUNITIES TO HELP THEM FULLY ACCESS FEDERAL RESOURCES
A contributing factor to place-based inequality across the U.S. is the simple
fact that some communities are more successful at accessing federal dollars and
technical assistance than others. The federal government’s programs are too
often too challenging to navigate for cities and towns that do not have the
ability to hire highly qualified professionals to engage with the system.
The Biden Administration wants to fundamentally change how the federal
government interacts with rural communities that so often do not have access to
federal programs. The Biden Administration will partner with these communities
to help them fully access federal resources to create jobs, build wealth, and
give rural Americans who live in poverty the chance to join the middle class.
The Biden Administration will do this in two ways:
Create a White House “StrikeForce”
to partner with rural communities to help them access federal funds. The Biden Administration will create a White House
StrikeForce consisting of agency leaders who will partner with
community-building organizations in persistent poverty rural communities and
help them unlock federal resources. This approach is modeled on the StrikeForce Secretary Tom Vilsack successfully
established in the U.S. Department of Agriculture during the Obama-Biden
Administration.
III. PROTECT AND
BUILD ON THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO QUALITY HEALTH CARE IN
RURAL COMMUNITIES
The Affordable Care Act was a big deal in rural America, and it should be
protected and built upon. As president, Biden will protect and build on
Obamacare – not get rid of it and start over with something new. He will not
support any policy that means getting rid of Obamacare, whether proposed by a
Democrat or Republican.
Vice President Biden believes that every American has a right to the peace of
mind that comes with knowing they have health insurance and access to
affordable, quality health care. He believes that it’s a right, not a
privilege. It should not be dependent on whether they live in a city center, a
small town, or a remote community.
Rural America faces unique challenges and opportunities when it comes to access
to quality health care. In many rural communities, the local hospital is one of
the largest – if not the largest – employers. Keeping our rural hospitals
open is critical not only for saving lives, but also for supporting local
economies in rural America. Yet, since 2010, more than 100 rural
hospitals across the United
States have closed. Combined, these closures represent the loss of over 10,000 jobs. And, they could mean life or death for
patients in rural communities. Already, someone injured in a rural area has to
travel, on average, nearly twice as
far to get to the closest hospital as someone
injured in an urban area. These critical moments lost in travel time are one
reason an estimated 60% of all trauma fatalities occur in rural
communities.
This problem is at risk of getting even worse. Roughly 1 out of 3 rural hospitals are at risk of shutting
down. And that’s only part of the story. Rural clinics and rural nursing homes
are closing as well.
You can read Vice President Biden’s full health care plan here. To specifically help rural Americans, his
plan will also:
Finishing the job of expanding
coverage to low-income adults. Research found that, in states that took up the Affordable Care
Act’s Medicaid expansion, the expansion was a critical tool in keeping rural
hospitals open. Yet, 14 states have still not expanded Medicaid eligibility, and an estimated 4.9
million individuals would be eligible for
coverage but for their state’s inaction. Vice President Biden’s plan will
enroll all of these individuals in a new public option, without a premium and
with benefits like those offered in Medicaid. This isn’t just the right thing
to do, it will help rural hospitals remain solvent. And, under the Biden Plan,
which preserves individuals ability to choose private insurance, these
hospitals won’t be threatened by having to get by on low Medicare reimbursement
rates for all.
Giving rural hospitals the
flexibility they need to keep their doors open and care for their patients. The Biden Administration will provide rural health care
providers with funding and flexibility necessary to identify, test, and deploy
innovative approaches to keeping their doors open and providing care for the
unique needs of rural communities. The Affordable Care Act supports this type
of innovation, for example through demonstration projects like the Pennsylvania
Rural Health Model, which is giving rural hospitals
in the state more flexibility to decide how best to spend dollars to improve
the health of the population they serve. The Biden Plan will expand funding for
these types of demonstration projects, and then accelerate efforts to replicate
proven models to other rural hospitals across the country. And, the Biden Plan
will identify and eliminate federal rules making it harder for rural hospitals
to serve their communities. For example, many rural hospitals serving small
populations do not have enough patients to maintain inpatient care, but those
communities still need a 24/7 emergency department. One approach to ensure they
can keep their doors open is to create a new designation, the Community
Outpatient Hospital, as proposed in the bipartisan Save Rural
Hospitals Act. The Biden Administration will
make sure the federal government is helping rural hospitals meet community
needs, not serving as a roadblock.
Adequately funding our rural
hospitals. To help hospitals keep their doors open,
President Biden supports the elimination of payment cuts and additional
payments for rural hospitals as detailed in the bipartisan Save Rural
Hospitals Act.
Expand primary
care and innovative health care delivery models in rural communities by:
Doubling funding for 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. More than half of community health centers are in rural areas.
Equipping rural community health
centers to be hubs for healthy communities. As
president, Biden will establish a grant program to help community health
centers hire social workers or other professionals to coordinate resources
necessary for community health, such as transportation to get patients to
health centers and connections to housing and nutrition services.
Expanding the pipeline of rural
health care providers. The Biden Administration will
use a comprehensive approach to increase the number of rural individuals going
to medical school or other training programs and returning or staying in rural
communities to provide care, with a focus on primary care physicians, nurses,
nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists, and other in-demand providers. This
initiative will include additional funding for residency programs in rural
areas, expanding theNational Health
Service Corps, and developing high
school-community-college-health-center partnerships to inspire rural youth to
pursue jobs in health care and pursue the advanced credits or industry
credentials that will put them on the path to success in the field.
Building new health clinics and
deploying telehealth in rural America. The Obama-Biden
Administration successfully used the USDA Community
Facility Direct Loan & Grant Program to build
rural hospitals and mental health clinics across rural America and equip them
with the best technology. As president, Biden will expand this grant funding,
with a focus on accelerating the deployment of telehealth for mental health and
specialty care. Telehealth – the use of videoconferencing and other technology
to provide remote care – can be a vital resource for rural communities with
limited access to providers.
——
Previously Released Biden Plans & Rural America
To Protect & Build on the Affordable Care Act, including a public option, which will give rural Americans a new health insurance choice, and other policies to lower health care costs.
For Educators, Students, and Our Future, which will triple funding for Title I schools, including those in rural communities, and expand high school-community college-business partnerships to prepare students for good jobs.
For a Clean Energy Revolution and Climate Justice, which commits our country to fulfilling our obligation to all workers impacted by the energy transition, like coal miners and power plant workers and their communities.
In the months ahead, Biden will release a higher education proposal which will include a policy to support small, low-endowment private colleges that are often anchor institutions in rural communities.
The
vigorous contest of Democrats seeking the 2020 presidential nomination has
produced excellent policy proposals to address major issues. Senator Amy
Klobuchar’s plan to address the need for affordable housing seeks to bridge the
rural-urban divide, expand housing opportunities and revitalize neglected
neighborhoods. This is a summary from the Klobuchar campaign:
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Senator Klobuchar is proposing a plan to bridge the rural-urban divide, expand affordable housing opportunities and revitalize neglected neighborhoods.
Stable and affordable housing is out of reach for too many American families. Both rural and urban areas struggle with a shortage of affordable rental housing, homelessness and neglected neighborhoods. Racial disparities and discrimination persist in housing and many families face significant obstacles to buying a home. As President, Senator Klobuchar will tackle these challenges to make a safe and affordable home a reality for more Americans.
Expanding Access to Justice and Fighting Discrimination
Provide access to counsel. Senator Klobuchar will create a
new federal grant program with the goal of eliminating the unmet need when
it comes to providing access to counsel in
civil cases involving basic human needs, which means providing counsel for
people who are dealing with evictions, being denied
access to health care and having wages unfairly taken.
Prohibit landlords from unfairly discriminating against
renters. Senator
Klobuchar will ban all landlords from discriminating against people based
on their income, including housing vouchers or disability
benefits. She will also protect renters by preventing the blacklisting of
people who have been to court over eviction or discrimination on the basis
of sexual orientation, gender identity, or veterans status.
Combat segregation in housing. Senator Klobuchar will suspend
the Trump Administration’s proposals to weaken fair housing rules. As
previously announced, in her first 100 days as President Senator Klobuchar
will suspend the Trump Administration’s attempts to weaken
efforts to combat segregation in housing by modifying the Affirmatively
Furthering Fair Housing Rule.
Reinstate the Office of Fair Lending and Opportunity’s
enforcement and oversight powers. The Trump Administration has significantly weakened the Office
of Fair Lending and Opportunity, stripping the
office of its ability to ensure fair and equitable access to credit. As
President, Senator Klobuchar will restore all enforcement and oversight
powers to the Office of Fair Lending and Opportunity to monitor
fair lending practices and coordinate with the Department of Justice to
prevent lending discrimination before it happens.
Addressing the Rural Housing Crisis
Increase affordable rental housing in rural communities. 54 million Americans live in rural
areas with a severe need for more affordable rental housing. Senator
Klobuchar will strengthen rural rental assistance programs and
significantly increase investments in the rural housing supply, which
includes expanding affordable housing programs serving Native Americans.
Improve access to information about rural housing programs. To take advantage of federal
support for new rural housing, developers must first know about the
programs available to them. Senator Klobuchar will improve training for state,
local and federal agencies so communities and developers can better access
housing opportunities. Senator Klobuchar will also improve and expand
programs that provide technical assistance to rural nonprofits to connect
rural communities with resources to develop housing.
Encourage innovative strategies to attract private investment. Senator Klobuchar will use the
loan purchasing power of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to ask lenders to
create new ways to meet the mortgage credit needs for rural markets based on
evidence from their existing portfolio data. Senator Klobuchar will also
provide incentives for community financial development institutions to
provide access to credit in rural communities using the expertise of local
financial institutions.
Increasing Access to Affordable Housing
Invest in Housing Choice Vouchers. The Housing Choice Voucher
program helps provide the stable homes families need to succeed, but
demand far exceeds the number of vouchers available. Senator Klobuchar
will make a major investment to make vouchers available to all qualifying
households with children.
Promote effective zoning rules. Outdated zoning rules can make
it harder to build affordable housing in many areas. Some cities are
beginning to update their zoning policies through initiatives like
Minneapolis 2040 to increase affordable housing opportunities. Senator
Klobuchar will prioritize areas that have updated their zoning rules when
awarding federal housing and infrastructure grants.
Give renters access to emergency funds for rent. The path toward eviction can
start with an unexpected emergency expense. As she has previously
announced, Senator Klobuchar will work to create innovative, portable
personal savings accounts called UP Accounts that can be used for retirement and
emergencies — including non-routine expenses like rent payments in
situations like a lapse in earnings, a car accident, or family leave. [This
proposal is modeled after the Saving for the Future Act, which was introduced by Senators Coons and Klobuchar.] Under
her plan, employers will set aside at least 50 cents per hour worked,
helping a worker build more than $600,000 in wealth over the course of a
career.
Support housing for people with disabilities. Senator Klobuchar will
strengthen housing programs that assist people with disabilities. She will
also invest in the successful Housing Opportunities for Persons with
AIDS program.
Promote climate change mitigation and resilience. Residential buildings are a
significant source of carbon emissions. Senator Klobuchar will ensure that
all federal housing programs implement strong standards to reduce carbon
emissions and she will invest in retrofitting so existing housing
is more energy efficient.
Providing Access to Opportunity
Encourage mobility for renters. An effective way to break the cycle of
poverty is to move to a neighborhood that provides greater opportunity. Senator Klobuchar will expand the pilot for mobility housing
vouchers that allows families to use their vouchers in higher opportunity
neighborhoods. She will expand incentives to encourage relocation and work
with regional and federal housing agencies to reduce obstacles
that can make these relocations difficult.
Increase the supply of affordable housing in high opportunity
neighborhoods. The Low-Income
Housing Tax Credit is a critical tool for developing affordable rental
housing. Senator Klobuchar
will push to expand the current allocations to support the construction of
additional units. She will also work to encourage construction in high
opportunity neighborhoods.
Reduce homelessness. Over half a million Americans
experience homelessness every night. Senator Klobuchar will make a major
investment in homeless assistance grants that provide emergency and
long-term housing and build on her work in the Senate increasing access to
case management services like counseling and job training. This also means
addressing the unique challenges of specific homeless populations
including those living in rural areas, domestic violence victims, and the
formerly incarcerated.
Help seniors age in place. By 2040, one in five Americans
will be over 65, but the current supply of rental housing is not equipped for
this Silver Surge. In the first 100 days of her Administration, Senator
Klobuchar will reverse the Trump Administration’s proposed changes to
federal housing subsidies that could triple rent for some households and
would be particularly harmful for seniors. In addition, she will update
regulations for reverse mortgages to make sure seniors have access to safe
products that make it easier to stay in their homes, as well as expand
support for affordable senior housing. She will direct affordable housing
programs to allow retrofitting of rental housing and encourage a share of
new rental housing to be built in a senior friendly way.
Increasing Access to Homeownership
Revitalize and build value in neglected neighborhoods. In some neighborhoods,
neglected properties make investments to improve living conditions or
build property value economically infeasible. Neighboring blighted and
abandoned properties further reduce the possibility of investment, leading to
downward spiral. Senator Klobuchar will advocate for a new federal tax
credit, similar to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, to encourage
investment in family-owned homes in distressed neighborhoods.
Promote homeownership through down payment assistance and
credit development. Saving for a downpayment and building a credit
history are two of the largest obstacles new homebuyers face. Senator
Klobuchar will build on programs that allow certain types of rental
housing assistance to be used for home ownership expenses. She will also
work to pass legislation that expands access to capital for down payments
and makes it easier to build a credit history by allowing credit bureaus
to use on-time payment data from cell phone bills, utilities, and rent in
calculating credit scores.
Protect the Community Reinvestment Act. During the first 100 days of her
presidency, Senator Klobuchar will direct financial regulators to
strengthen 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.
Improve education for homebuyers. Buying a
home can be confusing, especially for first-time homebuyers. Senator
Klobuchar will strengthen federal homebuyer education programs including
targeted programs for communities with low levels of homeownership.
To pay for these policies, Senator Klobuchar will raise the capital
gains rate to the income tax rate for households making over $400,000, and as
announced in her infrastructure plan, which included plans for housing, raising
the corporate tax rate to 25%.
The
vigorous contest of Democrats seeking the 2020 presidential nomination has
produced excellent policy proposals to address major issues. This is from the
Biden 2020 campaign:
THE
BIDEN PLAN FOR OLDER AMERICANS
The moral obligation of our time is rebuilding
the middle class. The middle class isn’t a number, it’s a value set. And, a key
component of that value set is having a steady, secure income as you age so
your kids won’t have to take care of you in retirement. This means not only
protecting and strengthening Social Security, but also helping more
middle-class families grow their savings.
A dignified retirement also means having access to affordable health care and
support. Too many Americans – and too many older Americans – cannot afford
their prescriptions or their long-term care. Their families are faced with
saving for their own retirement or taking care of their aging parents. It’s not
right.
Working- and middle-class Americans built this country. And, they deserve to
retire with dignity – able to pay for their prescriptions and with access to
quality, affordable long-term care.
I.
STAND UP TO THE 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.
II. PROTECT AND STRENGTHEN MEDICARE AS WE KNOW
IT AND ENSURE QUALITY, AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE FOR ALL OLDER AMERICANS
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.
Today, the Affordable Care Act is still a big deal – especially for older
Americans. Because of Obamacare, over 100 million people no
longer have to worry that an insurance company will deny coverage or charge
higher premiums just because they have a pre-existing condition –
whether cancer or diabetes or heart disease or a mental health challenge.
Insurance companies can no longer set annual
or lifetime limits on coverage. The law limited the extent to which insurance
companies may charge you higher premiums just because of your age. And, the
Affordable Care Act strengthened Medicare by extending the life of the
Medicare Trust Fund; giving Medicare beneficiaries access to free recommended
preventive services, such as an annual wellness visit; and
closing the prescription drug coverage gap, often referred to as the “donut hole.”
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. You
can read Biden’s full health care plan [here]. In
addition, to improve older Americans’ access to affordable, quality health
care, Biden will:
Protect Medicare
as we know it. Today,
Medicare provides health insurance coverage to over 60 million older
Americans and people with disabilities. As president, Biden will
continue to defend our nation’s commitment to older Americans and people
with disabilities through Medicare, and he will keep Medicare as a
separate and distinct program, and ensure there is no disruption to the
current Medicare system.
Protect Medicaid
and ensure its beneficiaries can access home and community-based long-term
care when they want it. Medicaid pays for more
long-term care than any other insurer in the country. In fact,
roughly 6 in 10 individuals
residing in nursing homes are enrolled in Medicaid, including many older
Americans. Yet, the Trump Administration is reportedly considering
a plan to cut Medicaid funding by turning it into a block grant. And
Republican leadership in states like Iowa, where Medicaid has been
privatized with devastating results for some
of its most vulnerable residents, are not fulfilling their obligations
under the program. The Biden Plan will protect Medicaid funding and make
sure the program gives those on Medicaid who need long-term care the
flexibility to choose home- and community-based care. In addition, the
Biden Administration won’t let states skirt their duties under Medicaid
and will take enforcement action against any state that allows
profiteering to get in the way of Medicaid beneficiaries’ health.
Provide tax
relief to help solve the long-term care challenge. The Biden
Plan will also help Americans pay for long-term care by providing relief
for Americans needing long-term care by creating a $5,000 tax credit for
informal caregivers, modeled off of legislation
supported by AARP. These informal caregivers –
whether family members or other loved ones – have for too long been doing
tireless work without any financial support. In addition, Biden will
increase the generosity of tax benefitsfor older
Americans who choose to buy long-term care insurance and pay for it using
their savings for retirement.
Care for our
caregivers. The
physical, emotional, and financial challenges of caring for a loved one is
enormous. As president, Biden will work to enact at the federal level
the AARP-endorsed
Caregiver Advise, Record, Enable (CARE) Act, which has
already been passed in 39 states. This
legislation will help our caregivers by ensuring hospitals equip them with
instructions and information when their loved ones are discharged. Biden
also supports additional proposals to support caregivers, such as funding
to give them access to respite care.
III. PRESERVE AND STRENGTHEN SOCIAL SECURITY
Social Security is the bedrock of American retirement. Roughly 90% of retirement-age
Americans receive Social Security benefits, and one-in-four rely
on Social Security for all, or almost all, of their income. The program has not
only ensured that middle-class workers can enjoy the sound and secure
retirement they worked so hard for, it also lifted over 17 million older
Americans out of poverty in 2017 alone.
The Biden Plan will protect Social Security for the millions of Americans who
depend on the program. With Social Security’s Trust Fund already in deficit and expected to be
exhausted in 2035, we
urgently need action to make the program solvent and prevent cuts to American
retirees.
But the Biden Plan doesn’t stop there. As president, Joe Biden will strengthen
benefits for the most vulnerable older Americans – including widows and
widowers, lifelong workers with low monthly benefits, and old-age beneficiaries
who may have exhausted their other savings. Specifically, the Biden Plan will:
Put Social
Security on a path to long-run solvency. The impending exhaustion of
the Social Security Trust fund imperils American retirement as we know it.
Waiting to act only jeopardizes the program further, and will make an
eventual solution that much more difficult. The Biden Plan will put the
program on a path to long-term solvency by asking Americans with
especially high wages to pay the same taxes on those earnings that
middle-class families pay.
Preserve the
nature of Social Security. Social Security is one of
our nation’s great public policy successes, in large part due to the fact
that participation in the program is shared across almost all workers.
Efforts to privatize the program – such as an approach suggested under the
Bush Administration – will undermine the program’s solvency, while putting
at risk individuals’ income in retirement. Similarly, proposals to make
the program “means-tested” – so that only low-income retirees workers
receive benefits – jeopardizes the program’s universal nature and key role
as the bedrock of American retirement. Ultimately, the success of Social
Security is largely due to the fact that almost all Americans can rely on
the program to make their retirement more secure.
Provide a higher
benefit for the oldest Americans. At advanced ages, Americans
become more vulnerable to exhausting their savings, sometimes falling into
poverty and living a life of hardship. The Biden Plan will provide the
oldest beneficiaries – those who have been receiving retirement
benefits for at least 20
years –
with a higher monthly check to help protect retirees from the pain of
dwindling retirement savings.
Implement a true
minimum benefit for lifelong workers. No one who has worked for
decades and paid into Social Security should have to spend their
retirement in poverty. The Biden Plan will revolutionize the Social
Security’s minimum benefit, which has deteriorated over time to the point
of being entirely ineffective. Under the Biden Plan, workers who spent 30
years working will get a benefit of at least 125%
of the poverty level.
Protect widows
and widowers from steep cuts in benefits. For many
couples, the death of a spouse means that Social Security benefits will be
cut in half – putting pressure on the surviving spouse who still needs to
make the mortgage payment and handle other bills. The Biden Plan
will allow surviving
spouse to
keep a higher share of the benefits. This will make an appreciable
difference in the finances of older Americans, especially women (who live
longer on average than men), raising the monthly payment by about 20% for
affected beneficiaries.
Eliminate
penalties for
teachers and other public-sector workers. Current rules penalize
teachers and other public sector workers who either switch jobs or who
have earned retirement benefits from various sources. The Biden Plan would
eliminate these penalties by ensuring that teachers not eligible for
Social Security will begin receiving benefits sooner – rather than the
current ten-year period for many teachers. The Biden Plan
will also get rid of the benefit cuts for workers and surviving
beneficiaries who happen to be covered by both Social Security and another
pension. These workers deserve the benefits they earned.
IV. EQUALIZE SAVING INCENTIVES FOR
MIDDLE-CLASS WORKERS
In the modern retirement landscape, a sound retirement begins with years of
diligent saving. While other aspects of the Biden Plan will help raise wages
for workers and reduce costs for spending like child care and health insurance,
the Biden Plan will also ensure that middle-class families get a leg up as they
grow their nest egg.
Under current law, the tax code affords workers over $200 billion
each year for various retirement benefits – including saving in 401(k)-type
plans or IRAs. While these benefits help workers reach their retirement goals,
many are poorly designed to help low- and middle-income savers – about
two-thirds of the benefit goes to the wealthiest 20% of families. The
Biden Plan will make these savings more equal so that middle class families can
enter retirement with enough savings to support a healthy and secure
retirement. President Biden will do so by:
Equalizing the
tax benefits of defined contribution plans. The
current tax benefits for retirement savings are based on the concept of
deferral, whereby savers get to exclude their retirement contributions
from tax, see their savings grow tax free, and then pay taxes when they
withdraw money from their account. This system provides upper-income
families with a much stronger tax break for saving and a limited benefit
for middle-class and other workers with lower earnings. The Biden Plan
will equalize benefits across the income scale, so that low- and
middle-income workers will also get a tax break when they put money away
for retirement.
Removing
penalties for caregivers who want to save for retirement. Under
current law, people who work as caregivers without receiving wages are
ineligible to get tax breaks for retirement saving. The Biden Plan will
allow caregivers to make “catch-up” contributions to retirement accounts,
even if they’re not earning income in the formal labor market, as has
been proposed in
bipartisan legislation by Representatives Jackie Walorski
and Harley Rouda.
Giving small
businesses a tax break for starting a retirement plan and giving workers
the chance to save at work. As proposed by the
Obama-Biden Administration, the Biden Plan will call for widespread
adoption of workplace savings plans and offer tax credits to small
businesses to offset much of the costs. Under Biden’s plan, almost all
workers without a pension or 401(k)-type plan will have access to an
“automatic 401(k),” which provides the opportunity to easily save for
retirement at work – putting millions of middle-class families in the path
to a secure retirement.
V. PROVIDE HELP FOR OLDER WORKERS WHO WANT TO
KEEP WORKING
With longer lifespans and the changing nature of work, many Americans are
choosing to stay in the workforce longer. Despite their valuable contributions,
these workers often face illegal discrimination or steep tax penalties when
they try to continue to earn a living. Joe Biden believes that all workers
deserve an opportunity to earn a living and will fight to change the laws to
allow all people – regardless of their age – to get the pay they deserve. The
Biden Plan will:
Protect older
Americans against harmful age discrimination. As
president, Biden will back bipartisan legislation protecting older workers
from being discriminated against in the workforce. According to an AARP
survey,
this practice is widespread – with more than 60% of older workers
reporting discrimination because of their age. The Biden Plan will put in
place workplace safeguards making it easier for older workers to prove
that they were treated unfairly at work.
Expand the
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to older workers. The EITC
is one of the most effective strategies for helping low-wage workers
achieve a living wage. Unfortunately, the EITC is not available to workers
once they turn 65, putting them at a distinct disadvantage relative to
their younger peers. As president, Joe Biden will allow low-wage older
workers to claim the tax credit they deserve.
As Donald Trump prepares to unleash raids
on undocumented migrants in cities across the country, while thousands of men, women
and children seeking asylum are crammed into unliveable detention camps for
weeks and months without end – a humanitarian crisis created through a
combination of cruelty and ineptitude – US Senator Elizabeth Warren, running
for Democratic nomination for president, announced a plan to create an immigration
system that is fair, humane, and reflects American values.
“Donald
Trump wants to divide us — to pit worker against worker, neighbor against
neighbor. He wants Americans to blame their troubles on those who are new to
our country, or who don’t look the same, even as his administration robs us
dry. He has tried his best to make it appear that immigrants are not welcome on
our shores.
“We
can be better than this. Americans know that immigrants helped weave the very
fabric of our country in the past — and they know that immigrants belong here
today.
“I’ll
work with Congress to pass broad-reaching reform, but I’m also prepared to move
forward with executive action if Congress refuses to act. We cannot continue to
ignore our immigration challenges, nor can we close our borders and isolate the
United States from the outside world. Instead we need big, structural change: a
fair immigration system that preserves our security, grows our economy, and
reflects our values. That’s good for immigrants, good for workers, and
ultimately good for the United States.”
Immigrants have always been a vital source of American strength. They grow our
economy and make our communities richer and more diverse. They are our
neighbors, our colleagues, and our friends — and every bit as much a part of
America as those who were born in the United States.
President
Trump sees things differently. He’s advanced a policy of cruelty and division
that demonizes immigrants. He’s axed programs that protect young Dreamers and
asylum seekers fleeing violence and upheaval. He’s championed dramatic cuts to legal
immigration, and imposed a bigoted ban on travelers
from Muslim-majority countries. He’s threatened to close our ports of
entry to lawful transit and commerce, and exploited a crisis
of his own making at the border to score cheap political points. But while
Trump may have taken the system to its most punitive extreme, his racist
policies build on a broken immigration system and an enforcement infrastructure
already primed for abuse.
I
saw that in McAllen, Texas, in the eyes of mothers who fled violence only to be
ripped apart from their babies at the U.S. border. I saw it in the tears of
families as they waited for their loved ones at Logan Airport in Boston on the
night Trump announced his Muslim Ban. I saw it in the tired faces of little
children made to march in formation between makeshift tents in the hot summer
sun at the Homestead detention facility in Florida.
I
also see it when I talk with our Dreamers about their aspirations and their
fears. When I meet with business owners who watch their competition exploit
undocumented workers for a competitive advantage, and with farmers who cannot
access the labor they need. When I sit with families who have been waiting
decades for a visa to reunite with their loved ones, and with mixed-status
families who worry that a parent, brother or sister could be ripped away at any
time.
We
must address the humanitarian mess at the border and reverse this president’s
discriminatory policies. But that won’t be nearly enough to fix our immigration
system. We need expanded legal immigration that will grow our economy, reunite
families, and meet our labor market demands. We need real reform that provides
cost-effective security at our borders, addresses the root causes of migration,
and provides a path to status and citizenship so that our neighbors don’t have
to live in fear. That’s why today I’m announcing my plan for immigration reform
— to create a rules-based system that is fair, humane, and that reflects our
values.
Eliminating
Abusive Enforcement
President
Trump has weaponized deportation in ways that are costly, ineffective, and
designed to maximize pain. It’s time to end this cruelty — and refocus on true
threats to public safety and national security instead. As president, I
will:
Decriminalize migration and refocus enforcement on
serious criminal activity. Entering the country without authorization has
always been a violation of civil immigration law, but thanks to a former segregationist Senator,
it’s also a criminal violation. This additional criminal provision is totally
unnecessary for border security, and for a century, it was rarely enforced. But
since the early 2000s, it has been used to build and sustain a massive
immigration detention complex. In 2016, over half of all
federal criminal prosecutions were for immigration violations — more than
prosecutions for terrorism, organized crime, hate crimes, or financial fraud.
This obsessive focus ties up federal prosecutors and overwhelms federal
courts. It’s costly and unnecessary. And under Trump, it has become
increasingly abusive. We should repeal this criminal prohibition to prevent
future abuse. As president, I will immediately issue guidance to end criminal
prosecutions for simple administrative immigration violations; end Operation
Streamline, which subjects migrants to mass prosecutions; and refocus our
limited resources on actual criminals and real threats to the United States. I
will also issue prosecutorial guidance to prioritize immigration cases with
security concerns, and make sure government attorneys are properly exercising
their discretion for individuals who pose no public safety risk.
Separate law enforcement from immigration
enforcement to strengthen our communities. There are good reasons to
keep immigration enforcement and law enforcement separate. When law enforcement
is forced to also handle immigration violations, people are less willing
to report crimes for
fear of revealing their immigration status. Combining these functions sows
distrust and harms public safety. As President, I’ll put in place strict
guidelines to protect sensitive locations like schools, medical facilities, and
courthouses from enforcement actions. I’ll expand programs that grant
protections to immigrant victims of serious crimes who come forward and assist
law enforcement. And I’ll end programs like 287(g) and “Secure
Communities” that force local cops to enforce federal immigration laws so they
can focus on effectively serving their communities.
Remake CPB and ICE in a way that reflects our
values. Our
immigration agencies should protect Americans and uphold the rule of law, not
pursue punitive anti-immigrant policies that target communities of color. I’ll
hold immigration enforcement to the same due process standards as other law
enforcement agencies — no more warrantless arrests or stops deep in the
interior of our country. I’ll reshape CBP and ICE from top to bottom, focusing
their efforts on homeland security efforts like screening cargo, identifying
counterfeit goods, and preventing smuggling and trafficking. And to change the
culture, I’ll insist on transparency and strengthen the authorities of
independent internal watchdogs to prevent future abuses.
Create accountability for the abuse perpetrated
during the Trump Era. President Trump and his Administration are
comfortable looking the other way while criminal abuses of immigrants pile up.
When I am President, I will not. I’ll designate a Justice Department task force
to investigate accusations of serious violations — including medical neglect and physical and sexualassaults of
detained immigrants — and give it independent authority pursue any substantiated
criminal allegations. Let there be no ambiguity on this: if you are violating
the basic rights of immigrants, now or in the future, a Warren Administration
will hold you accountable.
Significantly
Reduce Immigration Detention
Americans
are rightfully horrified by scenes of chaos and abuse at our
border. Separating parents and children and detaining families and other
vulnerable populations is not only staggeringly expensive and inhumane, it has
no proven deterrent effect. To end
unnecessary detention and rebuild a more humane system, a Warren administration
will:
End unnecessary detention. We already
have the tools to effectively track and monitor individuals without shoving
them into cages and camps along the border. As President, I’ll issue guidance
ensuring that detention is only used where it is actually necessary because an
individual poses a flight or safety risk. I will put additional layers of
protection in place for certain groups, including asylum seekers, families
and pregnant women, and LGBTQ+ people who are more vulnerable in a general
detention facility. And I’ll enforce strict standards for remaining detention
facilities, including for medical care and to end the use of solitary
confinement.
Eliminate private detention facilities. There is
no place in this country for profiting off cruelty. I’ll end the contracts ICE
has with private detention providers, and push for legislation to
permanently ban for-profit
detention.
Expand the executive use of parole and invest in
alternatives-to-detention. DHS has broad authority to parole individuals
who are detained prior to their cases being heard in immigration court.
Community-based alternatives to
detention are safer, save money, and can be more effective at ensuring
compliance. I’ll significantly expand successful programs, which include case
management, referrals to legal and social services, and periodic check-ins and
surveillance. These programs provide a measure of dignity for those in the
system, and their expanded use would save over a billion dollars each year in
unnecessary detention costs.
Provide
Rights and Due Process in our Immigration Courts
It’s
not enough to merely correct the excesses of the Trump administration’s
immigration policies. To prevent future abuses, we need to treat migrants
moving through the system in a manner that reflects our Constitution and our
values. A Warren administration will:
Establish professional, independent Article I
immigration courts. DOJ
both oversees the immigration court system and enjoys massive authority to
manipulate those courts to implement the president’s immigration policy agenda.
Immigration court rulings can even be overturned by the Attorney General — a
fundamental conflict of interest exploited by Jeff
Sessions. I’ll work to create a credible, independent system by passing
legislation establishing Article I judicial review for immigration cases
modeled on our federal courts. I’ll deploy smart efficiency measures, beginning
by restoring judges’ ability to prioritize and manage their own dockets. And my
administration will recruit highly qualified immigration judges with a diverse
set of legal experiences so that everyone receives appropriate justice.
Eliminate expedited removal and provide due
process. Due
process ensures basic fairness for individuals attempting to navigate complex
laws and prevents law enforcement and Presidents from abusing authority.
But mostimmigrants facing
deportation do not have attorneys — and in the Trump administration, that even
includes toddlers. In fact,
one-third of deported immigrants never even see a judge: instead, the
immigration officer serves as both prosecutor and jury. I’ll eliminate the use
of expedited removal proceedings and guarantee hearings. I’ll call for creating
a national-scale immigration public defender corps,
and a Warren administration will provide access to counsel in immigration
court.
Welcome
Those In Need
Our
laws and our values compel us to help those fleeing violence and oppression,
but Trump’s racism has contributed to a climate of fear for those seeking
refuge in our country. As president, I will:
Reject exclusionary policies based on race,
religion and nationality. I’ll reverse Trump’s bigoted Muslim Ban on my
first day in office. I’ll withdraw the Trump policy that forces
immigrant families to choose between staying together and ensuring their
children — many of whom are American citizens — have access to critical
services. And I’ll reinstate Temporary Protected Status designations and
Deferred Enforced Departure to protect individuals at risk in their home
countries, including migrants from the Caribbean and Africa that have built
lives and businesses in our country.
Raise the refugee cap. At a time
when 70 million are
displaced around the world, President Trump has abused his authority to lower
the refugee cap for the United States, admitting just over 22,000 refugees in
total last year. I’ll welcome 125,000 refugees in my first year, and ramping up
to at least 175,000 refugees per year by the end of my first term.
Affirm asylum protections. We should
welcome those fleeing violence, not imprison them in cages. As president, I
will reverse Trump’s efforts to stack the deck against asylum applicants. I’ll
ensure that asylum seekers can safely present themselves at ports of entry for
humane, efficient processing, including by ending the metering and “Remain in
Mexico” policies. I’ll restore President Obama’s promise to extend asylum for
those fleeing domestic or gang violence and affirm asylum protections for gender
identity and sexual orientation-based asylum claims. I’ll streamline processes
to eliminate the backlog of individuals waiting for an asylum adjudication. And
I’ll pardon those convicted of providing food and water to migrants — because
no one should go to jail simply providing humanitarian aid to another person in
need.
Grow
Legal Immigration and Establish a Fair and Achievable Path to Status
As
president, I’ll work to expand legal immigration. I’ll also take executive
action to provide a measure of protection for those who are undocumented, while
pursuing a legislative solution that provides a path to citizenship.
Expand legal immigration. America
should welcome more legal immigration — done in the right way and consistent
with our principles. We should use targeted immigration as a tool to create
jobs and businesses and grow our economy. We should reflect our values, which
means expanding family reunification and making it easier for relatives of
citizens and green card holders to come to the United States. We should put
American workers first by ensuring that workers already here get the first
opportunity to fill any available positions. We should empower workers, not
employers, by coupling any expansion of legal immigration with real
accountability on employers who break the rules, exploit workers, or don’t
adhere to basic labor standards. And we should be transparent and data-driven
in our immigration policies, using the best available information to identify
true needs in the labor force and to address those needs in a way that
incorporates the input of both workers and companies.
Make it easier for those eligible for citizenship
to naturalize. Today
over 9 million green card holders are eligible to apply for citizenship but
many have not chosen to naturalize due to unnecessary barriers, including the
cost of applications, the complexity of the process, and administrative issues
and backlogs. I’ll work to make it possible for everyone who is eligible to
naturalize to do so.
Reduce the family reunification backlog. As many as 4
million immigrants who are otherwise eligible to come to the United States
legally are prohibited because of by-country visa caps. My administration will
redistribute unused visas to reduce this backlog and reunite more families with
their loved ones. I’ll also urge Congress to repeal laws that make family
reunification more difficult to achieve.
Repeal the 3- and 10-year bars. The law
currently requires a person unlawfully in the United States to depart the
country for three or ten years before they can apply for legal status. I’ll
petition Congress to repeal that requirement. In the meantime, I’ll reinterpret
“extreme hardship” to include family separation, making it easier to obtain a
waiver allowing people to apply for legal status without having to leave the
country for an extended period of time.
Provide a fair and achievable pathway to
citizenship. For
the good of our economy and our communities, it’s long past time to provide a
path forward for the approximately 11 million undocumented individuals
currently living and working in the Unites States. We should immediately
reinstate the DACA program and protections for our Dreamers and their families.
I’ll expand the program to cover more young people by extending the cut-off
date, eliminating the arbitrary application age requirement, and extending the
“minor” designation to anyone who was brought to the U.S. under the age of 18.
But Dreamers have families and communities that are productive, longtime
members of our American family and need protection too. The same is true of the
Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure holders. I’ll extend
the individual exercise of discretion to offer deferred action protections to
hardworking immigrants who have contributed to our country for years and have
built careers and families here. And I’ll push for a far-reaching legislative
fix that provides a fair but achievable path to citizenship for them.
Limit the penalties considered for status
determinations. Part
of focusing on real threats means distinguishing between actual criminals and
law-abiding immigrants. We shouldn’t penalize people for prior convictions
under statutes that criminalize border crossing for the purpose of status
determinations. And we should establish a statute of limitations for how long a
misdemeanor will be considered as part of an individual’s immigration
adjudication. Citizens with minor, non-violent criminal records should not be
permanently excluded from being a part of American society — and immigrants
shouldn’t be, either.
Create an Office of New Americans. I’ll establish
an Office of New Americans dedicated to supporting new immigrants as they
transition into our society and economy, and task that office to draft a
national strategy for integration. We should provide English, civics, and
employment- focused classes and training for immigrants who want to enroll, and
work with faith groups and other community organizations to provide support
services for refugees and asylees, providing the tools to make it easier for
newcomers to integrate into their communities.
Address
the Forces Displacing Migrants from Their Home Countries
Migration
has spiked around the world, the result of poverty, climate change, violence
and injustice. Migrants have come to our country fleeing naturaldisasters or conflicts that forced them from
their homes.
In
recent years, many have fled north from the Northern Triangle. But the solution
to Central American migration isn’t placing children in cages, it’s stabilizing
the countries that families are risking their lives to escape. Rather than
addressing rampant corruption,
criminal gangs, and some of the
world’s highest rates of
gender-based violence, President Trump has cut off hundreds of millions of
dollars in aid for programs that provide vital support.
We
cannot fully address migration until we address its root causes. Now more than
ever, the United States must reclaim its role as the world’s beacon of hope —
and that means proposing bold and nuanced solutions to these complex
challenges. As president, I will:
Restore and increase aid. I’ll commit at
least $1.5 billion annually in aid to fully fund programs that target crime,
disrupt trafficking, address poverty, reduce sexual violence, and enhance
programs for at-risk youth in Central America and throughout our hemisphere —
and I’ll rally the international community to match those funds.
Step up efforts to address transnational crime. A Warren
administration will expand efforts to reduce corruption and improve the rule of
law, investigate and prosecute human trafficking, employ targeted financial
sanctions against drug kingpins and money launderers, and provide robust
funding for efforts to counter gangs.
Inform and protect those seeking refuge. My
administration will provide information about the right to seek asylum,
reinstate the Central American Minors program, and coordinate with the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to help resettle children and families
who need protection. We’ll also do more to spread awareness about the dangers
of attempting migration across borders to help prevent vulnerable people from
being exploited along the way.
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.
Joe Biden, two-term Vice President
under Barack Obama, officially launched his own campaign for 2020 at a rally in
Philadelphia, his wife, Dr. Jill Biden’s hometown and the city where the
Declaration of Independence and Constitution, were birthed and for the first
time, structured a government around “We the people.”
“I am running for three basic
reasons,” he declared. “I want to restore the soul of this country…I want to
rebuild the backbone of this country, this time bringing everyone along, the
middle class — the middle class that built this country. And thirdly I want to
unite the country.”
“In 1776, the Declaration of Independence:
‘We hold these truths to be self-evident.’ Those words formed the American
creed. Equality. Equity. Fairness. America didn’t live up to that promise for
most of its people, for people of color, for women.
“But we are born of the idea
that every single person in this country — no matter where you start in life
— there’s nothing that’s beyond your capacity if you work hard enough for
it.”
Unity – one America united around
common values and a belief that each is entitled to the same opportunity – is a
big theme for Biden, who blasted the divisiveness, the dysfunction of
government, starting with Donald Trump.
“Some say Democrats don’t want
to hear about unity. That they are angry– and the angrier you are – the better.
That’s what they are saying to have to do to win the Democratic nomination.
Well, I don’t believe it. I believe Democrats want to unify this nation. That’s
what we’ve always been about. Unity.
“If the American people want a president to add to our division, to lead
with a clenched fist, closed hand and a hard heart, to demonize the opponents
and spew hatred — they don’t need me. They already have a President who
does just that. I am running to offer our country – Democrats, Republicans and
Independents – a different path.”
“I know how to make government work.
I’ve worked across the aisle to reach consensus. And I can do that again with
your help,” he said, often having to speak over a heckler and whistles.
“Compromise is not a dirty word;
consensus is no a weakness – the founders designed constitution to require
consensus – it’s what I did as Senator, what I did as vice president working
with Barack Obama…
If I’m elected your president, I
will do whatever to make progress on matters that matter most – civil rights,
women’s rights, climate change policy that will save our children,
grandchildren.
“I know there are times when only a
bare knuckle fight will do –I can take on Republicans. That’s what took to pass
the Affordable Care Act – it was a big… deal…
“Barack Obama was an extraordinary
man…. Someone your children looked up to…I’m proud to have served as his vice
president [and proudest of] passing health care. Past administrations tried and
failed; it was done by Obama without a single Republican vote.
“The Recovery Act [at the time of
America’s biggest economic crisis] was a big reason we have had 10 years of
uninterrupted economic growth…
“Trump likes to take credit for
economy and economic growth – but look at facts, not alternative facts- he
inherited a strong economy from the Obama-Biden administration.
“The Recovery Act helped save the
country from economic ruin – we had to get the work done – if we hadn’t,
we could have had another Great Depression . Working together matters. The
American people want government to work.
“The country is sick of division,
sick of childish behavior – there isn’t a single person in this country who
could get away with that in their job. All people want is for their senator,
their congressman to do their job, and above all, a president who measures the
day by people he brings together rather than division he sows…a president
obsessing over personal grievance.
“The rest of the world isn’t
waiting. China not waiting – they’re building 5G, mastering AI, rewriting the
rules of the internet, moving into areas that shouldn’t be abandoned by us. The
rest of the world isn’t abandoning the Paris Climate Accord…
“The greatest challenge we face will
be over technology, intellectual property, clean energy, a warming planet – and
not a single thing that building a wall [or attacking immigrants] can
address….
“We have to focus on the future ..
we will invest in educational assistance our people need to succeed in 21st
century because any country that out-educates us will out compete us.”
He declared. “Let’s stop fighting
and start fixing,” prompting cheers of “We want Joe. We want Joe.”
On health care, he said that instead
of starting over, certainly not tear down, “we need to go to the next step”
with the Affordable Care Act.
On infrastructure, he said,
“Highways, ports, airports need to be greener, more rational. No one should
have to drink poisoned water; protect the nation from cyber attack [and bring]
solar and wind energy across the same lines.
“We know what we have to do.That’s
why I’m running – stop fighting, start fixing… together.
“There is not much time left,” he
declared. “We need a clean energy revolution, starting now. Clean energy and
jobs creation go together…
“We have to work together to get it
done….We need a president who will lead.”
Getting down to brass tacks, he
said, “The single most important priority on my list: defeat Donald Trump…
“I’ve watched [Trump] for 3 years
instilling fear, undermining every institution designed to check abuse of
power- all to solidify his base and expand power.
“Attacks on free press as the enemy
of the people is nothing to be dismissed – tyrants, dictators all over the
world use the same [rhetoric]. Attacking the independence of courts – saying he
cannot trust a judge because of his Mexican ancestry, that’s not America,
Democrat or Republican.
“Attack on Congress to legitimately
engage in oversight a without whimper of Republicans in Congress who should
know better…
“This undermines our standing around
the world.
“Are we a nation that believes in
the moral equivalent between neo-Nazis and the KKK, and those with courage to
stand against them? We don’t but Trump does.
“Are we a nation who believes it’s
okay to tear children from the arms of parents at the border? We don’t but
Trump does.
“Are we a nation that [coddles up
to] a tyrant like Kim Jong Un? We don’t but Tump does.
“Remember who we are, what we stand
for, what we believe. Every day I am reminded nothing is guaranteed by our
democracy, we have to fight for it, earn it.”
Biden cited Lincoln’s Gettsburg
Address, saying, “the great task remaining before us, that government of, by,
for the people shall not perish from the earth.
“That challenge has been handed down
to every generation. That challenge is now handed to us, that future generations
will measure us by. Will we be the ones to let government of, by, for the
people perish from the earth?
“We will not, I will not, you will
not let perish on my watch or yours.
But while we confront “the biggest
threat any of us have faced in our entire lifetime,” he added, “on other hand,
we‘ve never had a future more promising.
“I’m more optimistic about America’s
future today, than when I was first elected, too young to be sworn in. We are
in a better position to lead in the 21st century. Our workers are 3
times as productive, we have the biggest economy in the world, the strongest
military in the history of the world. Entrepreneurs…there are more great
research universities in this city, this state, this country than all the world
combined..
“We lead by the power of example not
by the example of power. The only thing to defeat America is America itself and
we cannot let that happen.
“Let them know who we are, what we
stand for – unity over division.”
Elizabeth Warren, the senior Senator
from Massachusetts, launched her campaign for President in Lawrence, a small
mill town which was the site 100 years ago, textile workers, led mainly by
women, went on strike to demand fair wages, overtime pay and the right to join
a union. She laid out a platform built
on rebuilding the middle class, strengthening democracy, equal justice under
law.
Here are highlights from her speech:
A little over 100 years ago, the textile mills in Lawrence
employed tens of thousands of people, including immigrants from more than 50
countries.
Business was booming. The guys at the top were doing great. But workers made so
little money that families were forced to crowd together in dangerous tenements
and live on beans and scraps of bread. Inside the mills, working conditions
were horrible. Children were forced to operate dangerous equipment. Workers
lost hands, arms, and legs in the gears of machines.
One out of every three adult mill workers died by the time they were 25.
But one day, textile workers in Lawrence – led by women – went on strike to
demand fair wages, overtime pay, and the right to join a union.
It was a hard fight. They didn’t have much. Not even a common language. But
they stuck together.
And they won. Those workers did more than improve their own lives. They changed
America. Within weeks, more than a quarter of a million textile workers
throughout New England got raises. Within months, Massachusetts became the
first state in the nation to pass a minimum wage law.
And today, there are no children working in factories. We have a national
minimum wage. And worker safety laws. Workers get paid overtime, and we have a
forty-hour work week.
The story of Lawrence is a story about how real change happens in
America. It’s a story about power – our power – when we fight together.
Today, millions and millions of American families are also struggling to
survive in a system that has been rigged by the wealthy and the well-connected.
And just like the women of Lawrence, we are ready to say enough is enough.
We are ready to
take on a fight that will shape our lives, our children’s lives, and our
grandchildren’s lives: The fight to build an America that works for everyone….
Over the years, America’s middle class had been deliberately
hollowed out. And families of color had been systematically discriminated
against and denied their chance to build some security.
The richest and most powerful people in America were rich, really rich – but
they wanted to be even richer – regardless of who got hurt.
So, every year, bit by bit, they lobbied Washington and paid off politicians to
tilt the system just a little more in their direction. And year by year, bit by
bit, more of the wealth and opportunity went to the people at the very top.
That’s how, today, in the richest country in the history of the world, tens of
millions of people are struggling just to get by.
This disaster has touched every community in America. And for communities of
color that have stared down structural racism for generations, the disaster has
hit even harder.
We can’t be blind to the fact that the rules in our country have been rigged
against people for a long time – women, LGBTQ Americans, African Americans,
Latinos, Native Americans, immigrants, people with disabilities – and we need
to call it out.
When government works only for the wealthy and well-connected, that is
corruption – plain and simple. It’s time to fight back and change the rules….
Enough
is enough, enough is enough.
[Enough
is enough. Enough is Enough, the crowd responds.]
They
will say it is “Class warfare” – they’ve been waging class warfare against
middle class for decades. It’s time to fight back.
To
protect their economic advantage, the wealthy and well-connected have rigged
our political systems as well. They have bought off, bullied politicians in
both parties to make sure Washington is always on their side, some even try to
buy into office..The economy is working great for oil companies, government contractors,
private prisons, great for Wall Street banks and hedgefunds, but not anyone
else.
Because
of Climate Change, our existence is at
stake, but Washington refuses to lift a finger without permission from fossil
fuel companies. That is dangerous and wrong.
It
isn’t just climate change – any other major issue in America – gun violence, student loan debt, crushing
cost of health care, mistreatment of veterans, broken criminal justice system,
an immigration system that lacks commonsense and under this administration,
lacks a conscience. Overwhelming majorities want action – huge crowds march on Washington
demanding change, there are letters, phone calls, protests – but nothing
happens.
Why?
Because if you don’t have money and y9ou don’t have connections, Washington doesn’t
want to hear from you.
When
government works, only for wealthy and well connected that is corruption plain
and simple, and we need to call it out.
Corruption
is a cancer on our democracy, and we will get rid of it only with strong
medicine, with real structural reform.
Our
fight is to change the rules, so that our government, our economy, our
democracy work for everyone.
I
want to be crystal clear about exactly what I mean:
First we need to change the rules to
clean up Washington, end the corruption.
We
all know trump administration is most corrupt in living memory – but even after
Trump is gone, it won’t do just to do a better job of running a broken system. We
need to take power in Washington away from the wealthy and well connected and
put it back in hands of people where it belongs.
That
is why proposed strongest, most comprehensive anti corruption laws since
Watergate.
Examples:
shut down the revolving door between Wall Street and Washington; end lobbying
as we know it; ban foreign governments from hiring lobbyists in Washington, and
make justices of US Supreme Court follow a basic code of ethics.
Ban
members of Congress from trading stocks. How is that not already illegal?
And
just one more: make every single candidate for federal office put their taxes
on line – I’ve done it.
2:
Change the rules to put more economic power
in the hands of the American people. Workers and small businesses, middle class
families and people of color have been shut out of their chance to build wealth
for generations. That requires real structural change. Right now, giant
corporations in America have too much power, just roll right over everyone
else. Put power back in hands of workers. Make it quick and easy to join a
union. Unions built America’s middle class and will rebuild America’s middle class.
Make
American companies accountable for their action; raise wages by putting workers into corporate
board rooms where real decisions made; break up monopolies when choke off
competition; take on Wall Street banks so big banks can never again threaten
security of our economy. And when giant
corporations and their leaders cheat customers, stomp out competitors and rob
workers, let’s prosecute them.
One
more thing: I am tired of hearing that we can’t afford to make real, real
investments in child care, college
and Medicare for All. I am tired of hearing we can’t afford to make
investments in things that create economic opportunities for families,
investments in housing and opioid treatment, that we can’t afford
to address things like rural neglect
or the legacy of racial discrimination,
I am tired of hearing what we can’t afford because it’s just not true.
We
are the wealthiest nation in the history of the world. Of course we can afford these investments. But we
need a government that makes different choices- choices that reflect our values
– stop handing out enormous tax giveaways to rich people and giant
corporations. Stop refusing to invest in
our children. Stop stalling on spending money, real money, on infrastructure and clean energy and a Green New
Deal.
Start
asking the people who have gained the most from our country to pay their fair
share. And that includes real tax reform
in this country, reforms that close loopholes
and giveaways to people at the top and an ultra
millionaires’ tax to make sure that rich people do their part for the
country that made them rich.
3:
Change the rules to strengthen our
democracy.
That
starts with a constitutional amendment
to protect the right of every American citizen
vote and have that vote counted.
And
that’s just the beginning.
Overturn
every single voter suppression rule
that racist politicians use to steal votes from people of color.
Outlaw
partisan gerrymandering – by Democrats
or Republicans.
Overturn
Citizens United, our democracy is
not for sale.
It’s
not just elections. Real democracy requires equal justice under law. It’s not equal justice when kids with
ounce of pot gets thrown in jail, while bank executive who launders money for
drug cartel gets a bonus. We need reform.
It’s
not equal justice when for the exact same crime, African Americans are more
likely than whites to be arrested, charged, convicted, and sentenced. Yes we
need criminal justice reform and we need it now.
We must not allow those with power to
weaponize hatred and bigotry to divide us. More than 50 years ago, Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr went to Montgomery and warned us of danger of division, how bigotry
and race bating used to divide blacks from white Americans so rich people can
keep picking all their pockets – that playbook around forever, whether straight
against gay, middle class against poor – same – rich and powerful use fear to
divide us. We’re done with that. Bigotry
has no place in the Oval Office.
This
is who we are – we come from different backgrounds, religions, languages,
experiences. We have different dreams. We are passionate about different
issues, and we feel the urgency of this moment in different ways, but today,
today we come together ready to raise our voices together until this fight is
won.
Our
movement won’t be divided by our differences, it will be united by the values
we share. We all want a country where everyone, not just the wealthy, everyone
can take care of their families; where every American, not just the ones who
hire armies of lobbyists, lawyers, can participate in democracy, a country
where every child can dream big and reach for real opportunity and we are in
the fight to build an America that works for everyone.
I
get it – this won’t be easy – a lot of people with money, power, armies of
lobbyists and lawyers, people who are prepared to spend more money than you and
I could ever dream of to stop us from making these solutions a reality – people
who will say, extreme or radical to demand an America where every American has
economic security and every kid has opportunity to succeed.
I
say, get ready, because change is coming
faster than you think.
[Change
is coming, change is coming, the crowd roars.]
This kind of fundamental change will be
hard –
a lot of people, including some of our friends, will say it’s so hard, it’s not
worth trying. But we will not give up. When I was home with my first baby, I had
the notion to go to law school. It was a crazy idea, but I persisted. It took
some time but eventually I figured out admissions, applications, how to pay
tuition, mapped out the 45 minute commute to campus. Weeks out, there was just
one more thing: child care.
My
daughter Amelia was nearly 2 years old. I looked for childcare but everywhere,
I struck out over and over. So down to the weekend before law school would
start, I finally found small place with cheerful teacher, play area, nothing
smelled funny, I could afford it. But the place would only take children who
were dependably potty trained. I looked over at Amelia – 5 days to dependably
potty train and almost 2 year old. I stand before you today courtesy of 3 bags
of M&Ms and a cooperative toddler.
Since
that day – never let anyone tell me that anything is too hard.
How
they have tried.
People
said it would be too hard to build an agency that would stop big banks from
cheating Americans on mortgages, credit cards. We got organized. To date, big banks
have paid $12 billion to those they cheated.
When Republicans tried to sabotage the agency, I came back to
Massachusetts and then ran against one of them. No woman had ever won a Senate
seat in Massachusetts, and people said it would be “too hard” for me to get
elected. But we got organized, we fought back, we persisted, and now I am the
senior Senator from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
So, no, I am not afraid of a fight. Not even a hard fight.
When
the women of the Everett Mill walked out from their machines and out into that
cold January air all those years ago, they knew it wouldn’t be easy, but they
knew what was at stake for themselves and their families, and they weren’t
going to tell anyone it was too hard – doubters told abolitionists, the
suffragettes, the foot soldiers of civil rights movement, it’s just too hard,
but they all, all kept going and they changed the history of America.
Sure, there will be plenty of doubters and cowards and armchair
critics this time around. But we learned a long time ago that you don’t get
what you don’t fight for. We are in this
fight for our lives, for our children, for our planet, for our futures – and we
will not turn back.
So here is the promise I make to you today: I will fight my heart out
so that every kid in America can have the same opportunity I had – a fighting
chance to build something real.
And here’s a big piece of how we’ll get it done: We’ll end the
unwritten rule of politics that says anyone who wants to run for office has to
start by sucking up to rich donors on Wall Street and powerful insiders in
Washington.
I’m not
taking a dime of PAC money in this campaign or a single check from a federal
lobbyist. I’m not taking applications from billionaires who want to run a Super
PAC on my behalf. And I challenge every other candidate who asks for your vote
in this primary to say exactly the same thing.
We’re going to keep building this campaign at the grassroots.
