Address By Senator Hillary Clinton

Senator Hillary Clinton took the stage to a thunderous reception. The Senator from New York has been an out spoken proponent for working Americans.

“About 80 years ago President Franklin Roosevelt told his fellow Americans they had nothing to fear but fear itself,” Senator Clinton began. “I believe this is still true. We can take back this nation and provide a country that offers opportunity for our children and grandchildren.

In January of 2000, this was a nation with the largest surplus in history, following a period where 22,000,000 jobs had been created. Beginning with their first days in office, the current administration began rolling back the gains that had been made. It started with repealing the ergonomics standard for OSHA, and then continued right on through making changes that negatively impacted working class Americans. Soon it was apparent their goal was not to just roll back the gains that Bill had made as president, but to roll back everything all the way to President Roosevelt. Standing here today, we have to ask ourselves, just what kind of country do we want?

One of the first things that must be done is to do something about these flawed trade deals. You in the UAW know this as well as anyone. Our workers need a level playing field to compete, and without that level playing field what you end up with is a race to the bottom. If the conditions of the current trade deals were enforced, then that would be a start toward leveling the playing field. When an administration refuses to hold these other countries accountable for the provisions of trade deals, then the workers pay the price.

We pass laws that limit competition for prescription drugs and pass energy bills that offer billions in tax breaks to oil companies who made a record $100,000,000,000 in profit last year. But when the automotive companies struggle trying to compete with countries that offer national health care all the administration can do is say “that is just the way it is and the market will work itself out.” I can accept this; I don’t believe that is just the way it is. Your brother and sisters in Canada are at a $4.00 an hour advantage because Canada offers health care for its citizens. We are the nation that pays the most each year in health care but we rank at the bottom when it comes to the availability of health care. There are 46,000,000 working Americans without health care and that number is growing.

Back in the 1990’s I championed a campaign to make certain that each American had access to health care you know how that turned out. I still have the scars to show for that effort. The current budget proposal offers massive cuts to Medicare yet includes a third of a trillion dollars in tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. If you don’t make at least $200,000 a year then you want see any of that. If you make over $200,000 a year, raise your hand. Next to me I heard President Gettelfinger say the he doesn’t come close to that group and I suspect that no one else in this room does.

When Bill left office in 2000, for the first time in his life he actually began making a significant amount of money. Little did we know that President Bush would make changes that would help the Clintons out. But I am here to tell you, that we had rather see those tax breaks and dollars spent on Americans that need it. That money should be spent on health care, education, the elderly and the disadvantaged.

We need to be working with the automotive companies and taking steps that will help them out and there are things the government can do. A company should be penalized for being a good corporate citizen and providing benefits and pensions for their workers. The time is over due on developing a health care system that helps companies compete. Last summer I wrote to President Bush and asked him to call a summit to discuss the difficulties in the auto industry to get everyone together and see what could be done. I am still waiting on a response to that letter.

We need a new energy source that reduces our dependency on foreign nations for fuel. We are the country that developed the Manhattan Project and built the atomic bomb. When the Russians made the first trip to space, we didn’t set back and say “that is just the way the market works” we created NASA and then led the way in space exploration. We could develop new energy sources if we tried.

I can commit to you that I will oppose any trade deal with Thailand that removes the current tariffs from pickup trucks. We can’t afford any more trade deals that have no protection for workers both here and abroad. People ask me frequently “why can’t we make China abide by the agreements in our trade deal.” I can tell you why; we are running such deficits that each month the U.S. borrows $60,000,000 to just pay the interest on what we owe. Do you know who loans us that money? China, Korea and Saudi Arabia are where those loans are coming from and you can not fight with the banker.

We can fix this situation but it is going to take time. The Democrats have got to get back to their roots and that is working people. When that happens, then we can win some elections and begin to make a difference. Two weeks ago, Karl Rover meet with the Republican National Committee in a room much like this one. He told them their strategy for winning this year was to use fear as their game plan. He told them they could win if they could keep the public so afraid they would forget the other issues. There answer to President Roosevelt is “what you have to fear is fear.” I can tell you we are interested in homeland security and fighting the war on terror. But, this can be accomplished without stripping American citizens of their basic rights that democracy is supposed to provide.

We must be willing to help our manufacturing sector retool and map out a plan that will build the manufacturing base here rather than shipping it off shore. A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet with some of my constituents at Delphi in Lockport, New York. They told me about the progress they had made in productivity, but those gains were washed away through flawed trade deals that hurt workers in both places. We can help the works at Delphi and the other automotive companies but we must get started. I thank you for your support and I pledge to continue to fight for you here in Washington.”