1988 Democratic Party Platform
(4,857 words, 13 pages)
"The Restoration of Competence and the Revival of Hope"
WE THE PEOPLE OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
In order to initiate the changes necessary to keep America strong andmake America better, in order to restore competence, caring and incorruptibilityto the Federal Executive Branch and get it working again fairly for allAmericans, and in order to secure for our children a future of liberty andopportunity,
Hereby pledge our Party, our leaders, our elected officials and our everyindividual effort to fulfilling the following fundamental principles forall members of the American family.
WE BELIEVE that all Americans have a fundamental right to economic justicein a stronger, surer national economy, an economy that must grow steadilywithout inflation, that can generate a rising standard of living for alland fulfill the desire of all to work in dignity up to their full potentialin good health with good jobs at good wages, an economy that is prosperousin every region, from coast to coast, including our rural towns and ourolder industrial communities, our mining towns, our energy producing areasand the urban areas that have been neglected for the past seven years. Webelieve that, as a first-rate world power moving into the 21st century,we can have a first-rate full employment economy, with an indexed minimumwage that can help lift and keep families out of poverty, with trainingand employment programs ‹ including child care and health care ‹that can help people move from welfare to work, with portable pensions andan adequate Social Security System, safeguarded against emasculation andprivatization, that can help assure a comfortable and fulfilling old age,with opportunities for voluntary national public service, above and beyondcurrent services, that can enrich our communities, and with all workersassured the protection of an effective law that guarantees their rightsto organize, join the union of their choice, and bargain collectively withtheir employer, free from anti-union tactics.
WE BELIEVE that the time has come for America to take charge once againof its economic future, to reverse seven years of "voodoo economics,""trickle down" policies, fiscal irresponsibility, and economicviolence against poor and working people that have converted this proudcountry into the world's largest debtor nation, mortgaged our children'sfuture by tripling our national debt, placed home ownership out of reachfor most young families, permitted the rise of poverty and homelessnesson the streets of America, reduced the buying power of working men and women,and witnessed the decline of our industrial natural resource and miningbase, the unending tragedy of family farm foreclosures, an unhealthy dependenceon foreign energy and foreign capital, and the increasing foreign ownershipof our land and natural resources.
WE BELIEVE that it is time for America to meet the challenge to changepriorities after eight years of devastating Republican policies, to reversedirection and reassert progressive values, to reinvest in its people withina strong commitment to fiscal responsibility. If we are seriously to pursueour commitments to build a secure economic future for all Americans we mustprovide the resources to care for our newborns, educate our children, housethe homeless, heal the sick, wage total war on drugs and protect the environment.Investing in America and reducing the deficit requires that the wealthyand corporations pay their fair share and that we restrain Pentagon spending.We further believe that we must invest in new priorities, in life-long educationand training, in targeted economic development, in a healthy small businesscommunity and in retooled American industry; that it is time for the broadrevitalization of home town America, involving financial institutions inthe provision of crucial credit by encouraging special commitments in exchangefor bailing out those that are failing, reforming and expanding communityreinvestment laws, and reversing the trend of financial concentration andderegulation, all combining to reverse the insecurity that has increasinglytroubled our workers and their families in this rapidly changing societythat has left some communities and regions behind. There is no good reasonwhy the nation we love, the greatest and richest nation on earth, shouldrank first among the industrialized nations in output per person but nearlylast in infant mortality, first in the percentage of total expendituresdevoted to defense but nearly last in the percentage devoted to educationand housing.
WE BELIEVE that Government should set the standard in recognizing thatworker productivity is enhanced by the principle of pay equity for workingwomen and no substandard wage competition for public contracts; by familyleave policies that no longer force employees to choose between their jobsand their children or ailing parents; by safe and healthy work places, nowjeopardized by seven callous years of lowered and unenforced occupationalsafety standards for American workers; and by major increases in assistancemaking child care more available and affordable to low and middle incomefamilies, helping states build a strong child care infrastructure, settingminimum standards for health, safety, and quality, and thereby enablingparents to work and their children to get an early start on their educationand personal fulfillment. We believe that the strength of our families isenhanced by programs to prevent abuse and malnutrition among children, crime,dropouts and pregnancy among teenagers and violence in the family; by aggressivechild support enforcement; and by emphasizing family preservation and qualityfoster care. We further believe that our nation faces a crisis of under-investmentin our children, particularly in the early years of life. Strong, healthybabies with early opportunities that foster intellectual, emotional andphysical growth begin school with an enhanced foundation for learning. Thereare few better investments for this country than prenatal care, infant nutritionand preschool education, and there are few more successful programs thanWIC, Head Start, and prenatal care. We know what works; yet these successfulprograms have been starved for funds. The Democratic Party pledges to meetthis urgent need by providing the funding necessary to reach those unservedchildren who are ‹ and must be ‹ our national priority.
WE BELIEVE that America needs more trade, fair trade, an administrationwilling to use all the tools available to better manage our trade in orderto export more American goods and fewer American jobs, an administrationwilling to recognize in the formulation and enforcement of our trade lawsthat workers' rights are important human rights abroad as well as at home,and that advance notice of plant closings and major layoffs is not onlyfundamentally right but also economically sound. We believe that we canand must improve our competitiveness in the world economy, using our bestminds to create the most advanced technology in the world through a greatercommitment to civilian research and development and to science, engineeringand mathematics training, through more public-private and business-laborcooperation and mutual respect, through more intergovernmental partnerships,and through a better balance between fiscal and monetary policy and betweenmilitary and civilian research and development. We further believe in haltingsuch irresponsible corporate conduct as unproductive takeovers, monopolisticmergers, insider trading, and golden parachutes for executives by reinvigoratingour antitrust and securities laws, reviewing large mergers, and discouragingshort-term speculation taking place at the expense of long-term investment.
WE BELIEVE that the education of our citizens, from Head Start to institutionsof higher learning, deserves our highest priority; and that history willjudge the next administration less by its success in building new weaponsof war than by its success in improving young minds. We now spend only twocents of every dollar for education. We pledge to better balance our nationalpriorities by significantly increasing federal funding for education.
We believe that this nation needs to invest in its children on the frontside of life by expanding the availability of pre-school education for childrenat risk; to invest in its teachers through training and enrichment programs,including a National Teacher Corps to recruit teachers for tomorrow, especiallyminorities, with scholarships today; to commit itself for the first timeto the principle that no one should be denied the opportunity to attendcollege for financial reasons; to ensure equal access to education by providingincentives and mechanisms for the equalization of financing among localschool districts within each state; to reverse cuts made in compensatoryreading, math and enrichment services to low income children; and to expandsupport for bilingual education, historically Black and Hispanic institutions,the education of those with special needs, the arts and humanities, andan aggressive campaign to end illiteracy.
WE BELIEVE that illegal drugs pose a direct threat to the security ofour nation from coast to coast, invading our neighborhoods, classrooms,homes and communities large and small; that every arm and agency of governmentat every federal, state and local level ‹ including every useful diplomatic,military, educational, medical and law enforcement effort necessary ‹should at long last be mobilized and coordinated with private efforts underthe direction of a National Drug "Czar" to halt both the internationalsupply and the domestic demand for illegal drugs now ravaging our country;and that the legalization of illicit drugs would represent a tragic surrenderin a war we intend to win. We believe that this effort should include comprehensiveprograms to educate our children at the earliest ages on the dangers ofalcohol and drug abuse, readily available treatment and counseling for thosewho seek to address their dependency, the strengthening of vital interdictionagencies such as the U.S. Coast Guard and Customs, a summit of Western Hemisphericnations to coordinate efforts to cut off drugs at the source, and foreigndevelopment assistance to reform drug-based economies by promoting cropsubstitution.
WE BELIEVE that the federal government should provide increased assistanceto local criminal justice agencies, enforce a ban on "cop killer"bullets that have no purpose other than the killing and maiming of law enforcementofficers, reinforce our commitment to help crime victims, and assume a leadershiprole in securing the safety of our neighborhoods and homes. We further believethat the repeated toleration in Washington of unethical and unlawful greedamong too many of those who have been governing our nation, procuring ourweapons and polluting our environment has made far more difficult the dailywork of the local policemen, teachers and parents who must convey to ourchildren respect for justice and authority.
WE BELIEVE that we honor our multicultural heritage by assuring equalaccess to government services, employment, housing, business enterpriseand education to every citizen regardless of race, sex, national origin,religion, age, handicapping condition or sexual orientation; that theserights are without exception too precious to be jeopardized by Federal Judgesand Justice Department officials chosen during the past seven years ‹by a political party increasingly monolithic both racially and culturally‹ more for their unenlightened ideological views than for their respectfor the rule of law. We further believe that we must work for the adoptionof the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution; that the fundamentalright of reproductive choice should be guaranteed regardless of abilityto pay; that our machinery for civil rights enforcement and legal servicesto the poor should be rebuilt and vigorously utilized; and that our immigrationpolicy should be reformed to promote fairness, non-discrimination and familyrenunciation and to reflect our constitutional freedoms of speech, associationand travel. We further believe that the voting rights of all minoritiesshould be protected, the recent surge in hate violence and negative stereotypingcombatted, the discriminatory English-only pressure groups resisted, ourtreaty commitments with Native Americans enforced by culturally sensitiveofficials, and the lingering effects of past discrimination eliminated byaffirmative action, including goals, timetables, and procurement set-asides.
WE BELIEVE that the housing crisis of the 1980s must be halted ‹a crisis that has left this country battered by a rising tide of homelessnessunprecedented since the Great Depression, by a tightening squeeze on lowand moderate income families that is projected to leave seven million peoplewithout affordable housing by 1993, and by a bleak outlook for young workingfamilies who cannot afford to buy their first home. We believe that stepsshould be taken to ensure a decent place to live for every American. Webelieve that homelessness ‹ a national shame ‹ should be endedin America; that the supply of affordable housing should be expanded inorder to avoid the projected shortfall; that employer-assisted housing anddevelopment by community-based non-profit organizations should be encouraged,that the inventory of public and subsidized housing should be renovated,preserved and increased; that foreclosed government property should be restoredto productive use and that first-time home buyers should be assisted.
WE BELIEVE that we can rebuild America, creating jobs at good wages througha national reinvestment strategy to construct new housing, repair our sewers,rebuild our roads and replace our bridges. We believe that we must pursueneeded investment through innovative partnerships and creative financingmechanisms such as a voluntary program to invest a portion of public andprivate pension funds as a steady source of investment capital by guaranteeingsecurity and a fair rate of return and assuring sound project management.
WE BELIEVE that all Americans should enjoy access to affordable, comprehensivehealth services for both the physically and mentally ill, from prenatalcare for pregnant women at risk to more adequate care for our Vietnam andother veterans, from well-baby care to childhood immunization to Medicare;that a national health program providing federal coordination and leadershipis necessary to restrain health care costs while assuring quality care andadvanced medical research; that quality, affordable, long-term home andhealth care should be available to all senior and disabled citizens, allowingthem to live with dignity in the most appropriate setting; that an importantfirst step toward comprehensive health services is to ensure that everyfamily should have the security of basic health insurance; and that theHIV/AIDS epidemic is an unprecedented public health emergency requiringincreased support for accelerated research on, and expedited FDA approvalof, treatments and vaccines comprehensive education and prevention compassionatepatient care, adoption of the public health community consensus on voluntaryand confidential testing and counseling, and protection of the civil rightsof those suffering from AIDS or AIDS-Related Complex or testing positivefor the HIV antibody.
WE BELIEVE that the last seven years have witnessed an unprecedentedassault on our national interest and national security through the poisoningof our air with acid rain, the dumping of toxic wastes into our water, andthe destruction of our parks and shores; that pollution must be stoppedat the source by shifting to new, environmentally sound manufacturing andfarming technologies; that the federal government must promote recyclingas the best, least costly way to solve the trash crisis, aggressively enforcetoxic waste laws and require polluters to be responsible for future clean-upcosts; that this nation must redouble its efforts to provide clean waterways,sound water management and safe drinkable ground water throughout the country;that our national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and coastal zones mustbe protected and used only in an environmentally sound manner; that alloffshore oil drilling in environmentally sensitive areas should be opposed,and that regular world environmental summits should be convened by the UnitedStates to address the depletion of the ozone layer, the "greenhouseeffect," the destruction of tropical forests and other global threatsand to create a global action plan for environmental restoration.
WE BELIEVE that all Americans, producers and consumers alike, benefitwhen food and fiber are produced not by a few large corporations and conglomeratesbut by hundreds of thousands of family farmers obtaining a fair price fortheir product; that the disastrous farm policies of the last seven years,despite record federal spending, have forced hundreds of thousands of familiesfrom their farms while others are struggling to survive; and that a workableagricultural policy should include supply management, reasonable price supports,soil conservation and protection of rural water quality, credit and foreclosurerelief, the return of federally held foreclosed lands to minority, beginningand restarting farmers, the development of new uses and markets for Americanfarm products, improved disaster relief, and the revitalization of ruralAmerica through new sources of capital for rural business and new federalsupport for rural health care, housing, education, water supply and infrastructure.We further believe that no person should go to bed hungry and that we mustrenew the fight against hunger at home and abroad, make food available tothose nations who need it and want it, and convene an international conferenceof food producing nations.
WE BELIEVE that a balanced, coherent energy policy, based on dependablesupplies at reasonable prices, is necessary to protect our national security,ensure a clean environment, and promote stable economic growth and prosperity,both nationally and in our energy producing regions; that the inevitabletransition from our present, nearly total dependence on increasingly scarceand environmentally damaging non-renewable sources to renewable sourcesshould begin now; that such a policy includes increased cooperation withour hemispheric neighbors, filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, promotingthe use of natural gas, methanol and ethanol as alternative transportationfuels, encouraging the use of our vast natural gas and coal reserves whileaggressively developing clean coal technology to combat acid rain, and providingtargeted new incentives for new oil and gas drilling and development, forthe development of renewable and alternative sources of energy, and forpromotion of energy conservation. We believe that with these changes thecountry could reduce its reliance on nuclear power while insisting thatall plants are safe, environmentally sound, and assured of safe waste disposal.
WE BELIEVE that this country's democratic processes must be revitalized:by securing universal, same day and mail-in voter registration as well asregistration on the premises of appropriate government agencies; by preventingthe misuse of at-large elections, the abuse of election day challenges andregistration roll purges, any undercounting in the national census, andany dilution of the one-person, one-vote principle; by ending discriminationagainst public employees who are denied the right to full political participation;by supporting statehood for the District of Columbia; by treating the offshoreterritories under our flag equitably and sensitively under federal policies,assisting their economic and social development and respecting their rightto decide their future in their relationship with the United States; byempowering the commonwealth of Puerto Rico with greater autonomy withinits relationship with the United States to achieve the economic, socialand political goals of its people, and by giving it just and fair participationin federal programs; by assuring and pledging the full and equal accessof women and minorities to elective office and party endorsement; and byminimizing the domination and distortion of our elections by moneyed interests.
WE BELIEVE in a stronger America ready to make the tough choices of leadershipin an ever-dangerous world: militarily stronger in our overall defense andanti-terrorist capabilities and in the cohesion of our military alliances,economically stronger at home and in the global marketplace; intellectuallystronger in the advances of our schools, science and technology; and spirituallystronger in the principles we exemplify to the world.
WE BELIEVE in a clear-headed, tough-minded, decisive American foreignpolicy that will reflect the changing nature of threats to our securityand respond to them in a way that reflects our values and the support ofour people, a foreign policy that will respect our Constitution, our Congressand our traditional democratic principles and will in turn be respectedfor its quiet strength, its bipartisan goals, and its steadfast attentionto the concerns and contributions of our allies and international organizations.We believe that we must reassume a role of responsible active internationalleadership based upon our commitment to democracy, human rights and a moresecure world; that this nation, as the world power with the broadest globalinterests and concerns, has a greater stake than any in building a worldat peace and governed by law; that we can neither police the world nor retreatfrom it; and that to have reliable allies we must be a reliable ally.
WE BELIEVE that our national strength has been sapped by a defense establishmentwasting money on duplicative and dubious new weapons instead of investingmore in readiness and mobility; that our national strength will be enhancedby more stable defense budgets and by a commitment from our allies to assumea greater share of the costs and responsibilities required to maintain peaceand liberty; and that as military spending and priorities change, governmentshould encourage the conversion of affected military facilities and theretraining of workers to facilitate the creation of new forms of communication,space development and new peacetime growth and productivity.
WE BELIEVE in an America that will promote peace and prevent war ‹not by trading weapons for hostages, not by sending brave Americans to undefinedmissions in Lebanon and Honduras, not by relaxing our vigilance on the assumptionthat long-range Soviet interests have permanently changed, not by toastinga tyrant like Marcos as a disciple of democracy, but by maintaining a stablenuclear deterrent sufficient to counter any Soviet threat, by standing upto any American adversary whenever necessary and sitting down with him wheneverpossible, by making clear our readiness to use force when force is requiredto protect our essential security commitments, by testing the intentionsof the new Soviet leaders about arms control, emigration, human rights andother issues, and by matching them not merely in rhetoric but in reciprocalinitiatives and innovation, which takes advantage of what may be the greatestopportunity of our lifetime to establish a new, mutually beneficial relationshipwith the Soviet Union, in which we engage in joint efforts to combat environmentalthreats, explore peaceful uses of space and eradicate disease and povertyin the developing world, and in a mutual effort to transform the arms racethat neither side can win into a contest for people's minds, a contest weknow our side will win.
WE BELIEVE in following up the INF Treaty, a commendable first step,with mutual, verifiable and enforceable agreements that will make significantreductions in strategic weapons in a way that diminishes the risk of nuclearattack by either superpower; reduce conventional forces to lower and equivalentlevels in Europe, requiring deeper cuts on the Warsaw Pact side; ban chemicaland space weapons in their entirety; promptly initiate a mutual moratoriumon missile flight testing and halt all nuclear weapons testing while strengtheningour efforts to prevent the spread of these weapons to other nations beforethe nightmare of nuclear terrorism engulfs us all.
WE BELIEVE in an America that recognizes not only the realities of East-Westrelations, but the challenges and opportunities of the developing world;that will support and strengthen international law and institutions, promotehuman and political rights and measure them by one yardstick, and work foreconomic growth and development. We believe that we must provide leadership,compassion and economic assistance to those nations stunted by overwhelmingdebt, deprivation and austerity, and that we must work to promote activeagreements between developing and industrial countries, and the major publicand commercial lenders, to provide debt relief and rekindle and sustaineconomic growth and democracy in Latin America, Asia, and the poorest continent,Africa, which deserves special attention. We further believe that we mustenlist the trade surplus nations to join with us in supporting new aid initiativesto fuel growth in developing countries that, though economically depressed,are rich in human and natural potential.
WE BELIEVE this country should work harder to stop the supplies of arms,from both East and West, that fuel conflict in regions such as the PersianGulf and Angola. Deeply disturbed that the current administration has toolong abandoned the peace process in the Middle East and consistently underminedit in Central America, we believe that this country, maintaining the specialrelationship with Israel founded upon mutually shared values and strategicinterests, should provide new leadership to deliver the promise of peaceand security through negotiations that has been held out to Israel and itsneighbors by the Camp David Accords. We support the sovereignty, independence,and territorial integrity of Lebanon with a central government strong enoughto unite its people, maintain order and live in peace in the region. Weare committed to Persian Gulf security and freedom of navigation of internationalwaters, and to an end to the Iran-Iraq war by promoting United Nations effortsto achieve a ceasefire and a negotiated settlement, through an arms embargoon the combatants. We further believe that the United States must fullysupport the Arias Peace Plan, which calls for an end to the fighting, nationalreconciliation, guarantees of justice, freedom, human rights and democracy,an end to support for irregular forces, and a commitment by the CentralAmerican governments to prevent the use of their territory to destabilizeothers in the region. Instead of the current emphasis on military solutionswe will use negotiations and incentives to encourage free and fair electionsand security for all nations in the region. We will cease dealing with drugsmugglers and seek to reconcile our differences with countries in CentralAmerica, enabling the United States and other countries to focus on thepressing social and economic needs of the people of that region. We furtherbelieve in pursuing a policy of economic cooperation instead of confrontationwith Mexico and our other hemispheric friends; in helping all developingcountries build their own peaceful democratic institutions free from foreigntroops, subversion and domination and free from domestic dictators and aggressors;in honoring our treaty obligations; and in using all the tools at our disposal,including diplomacy, trade, aid, food, ideas, and ideals, to defend andenlarge the horizons of freedom on this planet.
WE BELIEVE in an America that will promote human rights, human dignityand human opportunity in every country on earth; that will fight discrimination,encourage free speech and association and decry oppression in nations friendlyand unfriendly, communist and non-communist, that will encourage our Europeanfriends to respect human rights and resolve their long-standing differencesover Northern Ireland and Cyprus; that will encourage wherever possiblethe forces of pluralism and democracy in Eastern Europe and that will supportthe struggle for human rights in Asia.
WE BELIEVE the apartheid regime in South Africa to be a uniquely repressiveregime, ruthlessly deciding every aspect of public and private life by skincolor, engaging in unrelenting violence against its citizens at home andpromoting naked aggression against its neighbors in Africa. We believe thetime has come to end all vestiges of the failed policy of constructive engagement,to declare South Africa a terrorist state, to impose comprehensive sanctionsupon its economy, to lead the international community in participation inthese actions, and to determine a certain date by which United States corporationsmust leave South Africa. We further believe that to achieve regional securityin Southern Africa, we must press forcefully for Namibia's independenceby calling for the end of South Africa's illegal occupation, a cease fireand elections, must end our counterproductive policy in Angola and mustoffer support and further assistance to Mozambique and other frontline states.
IN SUM, WE BELIEVE it is time for America to change and move forwardagain in the interest of all its families ‹ to turn away from an erain which too many of America's children have been homeless or hungry andinvest in a new era of hope and progress, an era of secure families in asecure America in a secure world.
WE BELIEVE the American dream of opportunity for every citizen can bea reality for all Americans willing to meet their own responsibilities tohelp make it come true. We believe that the governments at the national,state and local level, in partnerships between those levels and in partnershipwith the private sector, exist to help us solve our problems instead ofadding to them. We believe in competent, pragmatic governments, accountableto the people, led by men and women dedicated not to self-interest but toservice, motivated not by ideology but by American ideals, governing notin a spirit of power and privilege but with a sense of compassion and community.For many years, in state and local capitals across this nation, Democratshave been successfully solving problems and helping people with exactlythis kind of innovative government.
THEREFORE, THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY in Convention assembled and united, theParty of hope and change and fairness for all, hereby declares its readinessto end the stalemate in Washington by challenging, encouraging and invitingthe American people ‹ challenging them to do their patriotic best tomeet their community responsibilities, encouraging them to protect and preservetheir families, our most precious assets, and inviting them to join withus in leading the land we love to a brighter and still greater future ofopportunity and justice for all.