1996 Democratic Party Platform (16,247 words, 42 pages) Meeting America's Challenges, Protecting America's Values

INTRODUCTION In 1996, America will choose the President who will lead us from themillennium which saw the birth of our nation, and into a future that hasall the potential to be even greater than our magnificent past. Today'sDemocratic Party is ready for that future. Our vision is simple. We wantan America that gives all Americans the chance to live out their dreamsand achieve their God-given potential. We want an America that is stillthe world's strongest force for peace and freedom. And we want an Americathat is coming together around our enduring values, instead of driftingapart. Today's Democratic Party is determined to renew America's most basicbargain: Opportunity to every American, and responsibility from every American.And today's Democratic Party is determined to reawaken the great sense ofAmerican community. Opportunity. Responsibility. Community. These are the values that madeAmerica strong. These are the values of the Democratic Party. These arethe values that must guide us into the future. Today, America is moving forward with the strong leadership it deserves.The economy is stronger, the deficit is lower, and government is smaller.Education is better, families are healthier, and our streets are safer.There is more opportunity in America, more responsibility in our homes,and more peace in the world. Today's Democratic party stands proudly on the record of the last fouryears. We are living in an age of enormous possibility, and we are workingto make sure that all Americans can make the most of it. America is movingin the right direction. Now we must move forward, and we know the course we must follow. We needa smaller, more effective, less bureaucratic government that reflects ourtime-honored values. The American people do not want big government solutionsand they do not want empty promises. They want a course that is reasonable,help that is realistic, and solutions that can be delivered -- a moderate,achievable, common-sense agenda that will improve people's daily lives andnot increase the size of government. That is what today's Democratic Party offers: the end of the era of biggovernment, a final rejection of the misguided call to leave our citizensto fend for themselves -- and bold leadership into the future: To meet America'schallenges, protect America's values, and fulfill American dreams. OPPORTUNITY For 220 years, America has been defined by a single ideal: Opportunityfor all who take the responsibility to seize it. President Andrew Jacksonput it best: We believe in equal opportunity for all, and special privilegesfor none. The mission of the Democratic Party in 1996 is to ensure thatthe great American Dream of opportunity for all is within reach for all,and that it travels with us, whole and intact, as we walk together intotomorrow. Economic growth. Since Bill Clinton became President, America has seenan explosion of job growth, economic renewal, and opportunity. The Americanpeople have created 10 million new jobs. After trailing Japan for 14 years,America once again became the world's leading manufacturer of automobilesin 1994, and remained number one last year. The combined rate of inflation,unemployment, and mortgage interest rates is the lowest in three decades.Now, 3.7 million more Americans own their own home, and Americans have starteda record number of new small businesses in each of the last three years. In the 12 years before President Clinton took office, Republicans inthe White House allowed the deficit to spiral out of control, and ignoredthe economic interests of ordinary America. Bill Clinton was determinedto turn things around and move America in a new direction. With his leadership,we put in place a comprehensive strategy for economic growth. We foughtto put America's economic house in order so private business could prosper,because today's Democratic Party knows that the private sector is the engineof economic growth. We worked to tap the full potential of a new globaleconomy through open and fair trade. We fought to invest in the Americanpeople so they would have the capacity to meet the demands of the new economy.And we have invested in the roads, bridges, and highways that are the lifelinesof American commerce. Democrats in Congress supported this course and America is better offbecause they did. Republicans opposed our economic plan; America's economicgrowth over the last four years makes it clear that they were wrong. Ourstrategy is in place, and it is working. We are proud of our economic recordover the last four years -- and we know that our record is a record to buildon. not to rest on. We have to move forward, to make sure that every Americanwilling to work hard has the opportunity to build a good life and sharein the benefits of economic success. In the last four years we worked to get the American economy going: cuttingthe deficit, expanding trade, and investing in our people. In the next fouryears we have to make the new economy work for all Americans: balancingthe budget, creating more jobs, making sure all families can count on goodhealth care and a secure retirement, and, most of all, expanding educationalopportunities so all Americans can learn the skills they need to build thebest possible future. Balancing the budget. For 12 years, Republicans hid behind rosy scenarioswhile quadrupling the national debt. We knew this had to stop. In 1992,we promised to cut the deficit in half over four years. We did. Our 1993economic plan cut spending by over a quarter trillion dollars in five years.The only deficit left today is interest payments on the debt run up overthe 12 Republican years before fiscal responsibility returned to the WhiteHouse. President Clinton is the first President to cut the deficit fouryears in a row since before the Civil War. Now the Democratic Party is determined to finish the job and balancethe budget. President Clinton has put forward a plan to balance the budgetby 2002 while living up to our commitments to our elderly and our childrenand maintaining strong economic growth. The Republican Congress' own economistsadmit the President's plan will balance the budget by 2002. It cuts hundredsof wasteful and outdated programs, but it preserves Medicare and Medicaid.it protects education and the environment, and it defends working families.The President's plan reflects America's values. The Republican plan doesnot. Today's Democratic Party believes we have a duty to care for our parents,so they can live their lives in dignity. That duty includes securing Medicareand Medicaid, finding savings without reducing quality or benefits, andprotecting Social Security for future generations. The Republican agendarests on massive Medicare cuts, three times bigger than the largest Medicarecuts in history, including new premium increases on seniors, and drasticchanges to Medicaid that will jeopardize the health care of children andseniors. Today's Democratic Party believes that all children should have the opportunityto make the most of their own lives. We believe that schools should be runby teachers and principals, not by Washington. The Republican agenda slashescollege scholarships and college loans. cuts Head Start, and cuts fundsto reduce class size and improve teacher standards. Today's Democratic Party believes we have a duty to preserve God's earthand American quality of life for future generations. We are committed toreform, so that environmental protection does not trap business in a tangleof red tape. The Republican budget guts environmental protection. Today's Democratic Party believes that working people should not be taxedinto poverty. The Republican budget raises taxes on millions of workingfamilies. Today's Democratic Party believes that America must put our familiesfirst. The Republican budget takes Big Bird away from 5-year-olds, schoollunches away from 10-year- olds. summer jobs away from 15-year-olds, andcollege loans away from 20-year-olds. Tax relief for working families and small businesses. President Clintonand Democrats in Congress expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit. cuttingtaxes to help 40 million Americans in 15 million working families -- withouta single Republican vote. The Dole Gingrich budget was designed to givea massive tax break to the wealthiest Americans, and pay for it by raisingtaxes on ordinary Americans and slashing health care for the elderly. Americacannot afford to return to the era of something-for-nothing tax cuts andsmoke and-mirrors accounting that produced a decade of exploding deficits.Today's Democratic Party is committed to targeted tax cuts that help workingAmericans invest in their future, and we insist that any tax cuts are completely paid for, because we are determined to balancethe budget. We want to strengthen middle-class families by providing a $500 tax cutfor children. We want to cut taxes to help families pay for education afterhigh school and to guarantee the first two years of college. We want peopleto be able to use their IRA's to buy a first home, deal with a medical emergency,or provide for education. We want to cut taxes for small businesses thatinvest in the future and set up pensions for their workers. And we wantto cut taxes for people who are self employed and self-insured so theirhealth care is more affordable. Technology. We know investments in technology drive economic growth,generate new knowledge, create new high-wage jobs, build new industries,and improve our quality of life. In the face of Republican efforts to undermineAmerica's dedication to innovation, President Clinton and the DemocraticParty have fought to maintain vital investments in science and technology.We remember that government investment in technology is responsible forthe computer, for jet aircraft, and for the Internet -- no investments haveever paid off better, in jobs, in opportunity, or in growth. We support government policies that encourage private sector investmentand innovation to create a pro-growth economic climate, like a permanentresearch and development tax credit. We want technology to create jobs andimprove the quality of life for American workers. President Clinton andVice President Gore fought for and, the President signed, a sweeping telecommunicationsreform bill that will unleash the creative power of the information industryto create millions of high-wage American jobs. As we enter the 21st century,we will continue to invest in world-class research and development, advancedtechnologies in transportation, information. and other industries, and agriculturaland environmental research in partnership with American business. We areworking to reinvent the national laboratories and revitalize America's spaceprogram. Creating jobs through trade. We believe that if we want the Americaneconomy to continue strong growth, we must continue to expand trade, andnot retreat from the world. America's markets are open to the world, soAmerica has a right to demand that the world's markets are open to our products.American products are the best in the world. When American workers and Americancompanies have the chance to compete around the world, we do not take secondplace. In the last four years, the Clinton-Gore Administration has signed over200 trade agreements, including NAFTA and GATT, to open markets around theworld to American products. and create more jobs for the people who makethem here at home. We have put in place the most sweeping agreements to lower foreign tradebarriers of any administration in modem American history, including over20 such agreements with Japan alone -- and American exports to Japan inthe sectors covered by those agreements have increased by 85 percent. All. over the world, barriers to American products have come down, exportsare at an all time high -- and we have created over one million high-payingexport-related jobs. In the next four years, we must continue to work to lower foreign tradebarriers; insist that foreign companies play by fair rules at home and abroad;strengthen rules that protect the global economy from fraud and dangerousinstability; advance American commercial interests abroad: and ensure thatthe new global economy is directly beneficial to American working families.As we work to open new markets, we must continue to guarantee that all tradeagreements include standards to protect children, workers, and the environment.We must ensure adequate trade adjustment assistance and education and trainingprograms to help working families compete and win in the global economy. Education. Today's Democratic Party knows that education is the key to opportunity.In the new global economy, it is more important than ever before. Today,education is the fault line that separates those who will prosper from thosewho cannot. President Clinton and Democrats in Congress have spared no effortover the last four years to improve the quality of American education andexpand the opportunity for all Americans to get the education they needto succeed. Every step of the way, we have been opposed by Republicans intent oncutting education. Now, they want to cut education from Head Start throughcollege scholarships. They want to make borrowing for college more difficultfor millions of students. Today's Democratic Party will stand firmly against the Republican assaulton education. Cutting education as we move into the 21st century would belike cutting defense spending at the height of the Cold War. We must domore to expand educational opportunity -- not less. Strengthening public schools. We increased Head Start funding to expandearly education for more children who need it. We passed Goals 2000 to helpschools set high standards, and find the resources they need to succeed:the best books, the brightest teachers, the most up-to- date technology.We restructured federal education programs and eliminated federal regulations to give local schools. teachers, and principals the flexibilityand help they need to meet those standards. We've worked to make sure ourchildren have the best teachers by expanding teacher education. We applaudthe work of state and local Democrats to develop innovative solutions tomake sure our children get the best possible education. In the next four years, we must do even more to make sure America hasthe best public schools on earth. If we want to be the best, we should expectthe best: We must hold students, teachers. and schools to the highest standards.Students should be required to demonstrate competency and achievement forpromotion or graduation. Teachers should be required to meet high standardsfor performance and be rewarded for the good jobs they do -- and there shouldbe a fair, timely, cost effective process to remove those who do not measureup. And we should get rid of the barriers that discourage talented youngpeople from becoming teachers in the first place. We should not bash teachers.We should applaud them, and find ways to keep the best teachers in the classroom.Schools should be held accountable for results. We should redesign or shutdown schools that fail. We should expand public school choice, but we shouldnot take American tax dollars from public schools and give them to privateschools. We should promote public charter schools that are held to the higheststandards of accountability and access. And we should continue to ensurethat America provides good education to children with disabilities, becausehigh-quality public education is the key to opportunity for all Americanchildren. Teaching values in schools. Today's Democratic Party knows our children'seducation is not complete unless they learn good values. We applaud theefforts of the Clinton-Gore Administration to promote character educationin our schools. Teaching good values, strong character. and the responsibilitiesof citizenship must be an essential part of American education. Safe schools and healthy students. If young people do not have the freedomto learn in safety, they do not have the freedom to learn at all. Over thelast four years, we have worked hard to keep schools safe and drug-free,and students healthy. When Senator Dole and Speaker Gingrich led Republicanefforts to cut school safety funding, President Clinton and Democrats inCongress wouldn't let them get away with it. When Senator Dole and SpeakerGingrich led Republican efforts to destroy the nation's school lunch program,President Clinton and Democrats in Congress stopped them cold. Now, we mustlaunch a major rebuilding effort to make sure our children go to schoolin high-quality facilities where they can learn. We must help schools setthe highest standards for good behavior and discipline in the classroom.Children cannot learn -- and teachers cannot teach -- without order in theclassroom. Technology in the classroom. We must bring the 21st century into everyclassroom in America. There is a vast realm of knowledge waiting for ourchildren to tap into. Computers are powerful tools to teach students toread better, write better, and understand math. President Clinton and VicePresident Gore understand that technological literacy is essential to successin the new economy. The only way to achieve that for every student is togive them all access to a computer, good software, trained teachers, andthe Internet -- and President Clinton and Vice President Gore have launcheda partnership with high-tech companies, schools, state, and local governmentsto wire every classroom and library to the Information Superhighway by theyear 2000. Preparing students for jobs. We passed School-to-Work so young peoplecan learn the skills they need to get and keep high wage jobs. The RepublicanCongress is trying to destroy it, and we pledge to stop them. We want tokeep working with the private sector, to encourage community partnershipsthat build the bridge between a good education and a good job. Higher education for all Americans. Finally, we must make sure that everyAmerican has the opportunity to go to college. Higher education is the keyto a successful future in the 21st century. The typical worker with a collegeeducation earns 73 percent more than one without. America has the best highereducation in the world. We do not need to change it -- we need to make itavailable for all Americans. Our goal must be nothing less than to makethe 13th and 14th years of education as universal as the first 12. Over the last four years, the Democratic Party under President Clintonhas put an unprecedented college opportunity strategy in place: We reformedthe student loan program, to make college more affordable for 5.5 millionstudents -- and we saved money for the taxpayers by eliminating the middleman,cutting red tape, and cutting the cost of student loan defaults in half.We have expanded Pell Grant college scholarships for deserving students.And the President's national service program has already helped 45,000 Americansearn money for college by helping their communities. Tax cuts for college. Over the next four years, we want to go even further:We should expand work-study so one million students a year can work theirway through college by the year 2000. We should let people use money fromtheir IRA to help pay for college. We should give a $1000 honor scholarshipfor the top 5 percent of graduates in every high school. And we must make14 years of education the standard for every American. The Democratic Partywants to create a $10,000 tax deduction for families to help pay for educationafter high school. And we want to create a $1,500 tax cut for Americans,modeled after Georgia's successful HOPE scholarships, to guarantee the firstyear of tuition at a typical community college, and the second year if individualsearn it by maintaining a B average. No tax cut will do more to raise Americanincomes than a tax cut to pay for college. Economic security for American families in the 21st century. In the oldeconomy, most workers could count on one job for life. They knew that hardwork was rewarded with raises and steady jobs; they were confident the companywould take care of them, their families, their health, and their retirement.Success was tied to the success of their employer: sacrifice when timeswere tough and a share in the wealth when times were good. In the new economy,the rules have changed. We need to find new ways to help working familiesfind economic security: better training to help workers learn skills toget new and better jobs; the security of good health care and safe pensionsso they can take care of themselves and their families. This is a challengethat American workers and managers are ready to face, and the DemocraticParty will continue to tackle. Rewarding work. We honor work in America. Americans work hard, and theyhave a right to expect that work will pay. We want to continue reversingthe trend of the eighties, so all Americans benefit from continued economicgrowth and rising wages. President Clinton and Congressional Democrats foughtfor and won the largest expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit in history,a tax cut for 15 million working families, because no parent who takes theresponsibility to work full time should have to raise children in poverty.The President and Democrats in Congress are fighting -- against fierce Republicanopposition, led by Senator Dole and Speaker Gingrich -- to raise the minimumwage to $5.15 an hour, because the minimum wage should be a wage you canlive on. We want to strengthen families, and we challenge the private sectorto help their workers earn enough to support a family. Health care. The Democratic Party is committed to ensuring that Americanshave access to affordable high-quality health care. We have expanded theWomen, Infants, and Children and children will have access to the healthand nutrition services they need. We established a comprehensive effortto immunize children, after defeating Republican opposition led by SenatorDole. Last year, the percentage of two-year-olds in America who were fullyimmunized reached an historic high. The Clinton-Gore Administration has dramatically shortened the approvalprocess for new lifesaving drugs at the Food and Drug Administration andwill continue to work to streamline the process further; we have paid specialattention to women's health issues, including a 65 percent increase for breast cancer research;and we have made AIDS research, prevention, and treatment a top priority,increasing funding by almost 40 percent, including more than doubling theRyan White Care Act to help care for people with AIDS. We are committedto finding a cure for breast cancer and AIDS, and doing more to help allAmericans live longer, healthier lives. The Democratic Party is proud that we held the line against the Republicans'mean- spirited Medicare and Medicaid cuts that would risk the health careof millions of Americans, from infants to seniors. Senator Dole voted againstMedicare when it was first created, and now Republican leaders want Medicareto "wither on the vine." The Dole-Gingrich Medicare plan wouldput millions of our parents into a second class health care system for thefirst time in their lives, and we will not stand for it. The Dole-GingrichMedicaid plan would end the guarantee to meaningful health benefits formillions of children, older Americans, and people with disabilities. TheDemocratic Party wants America to preserve and strengthen Medicare and Medicaid,so we honor our values and protect the health of our children, parents,and grandparents, ensuring they can get the health care they need, fromdoctors' visits to long-term care. In 1993-- without a single Republican vote -- President Clinton and Democratsin Congress extended the Medicare Trust Fund into the 21st century. We havegiven 12 states more flexibility to run their Medicaid programs more efficientlyand expand coverage, while maintaining the guarantee of meaningful benefits.When these plans are implemented, two million more Americans will have healthinsurance because of them. We have given Medicare beneficiaries more healthplan choices and increased benefits. We have cracked down on health carewaste, fraud, and abuse, saving more than $15 billion in three years. Nowwe must finish the job -- we can balance the budget while we preserve andstrengthen Medicare and Medicaid, protecting millions of middle class familiesfrom being overwhelmed by health care costs for their parents. children,or family members with disabilities. We must move forward to reform our health care system to stop insurancecompanies from denying coverage to families where one member has a preexistingcondition, and we must make sure that people can take their health insurancewith them when they change jobs. No more Americans should have to turn downa better job because they would lose their health care if they took it.As we take steps to ensure that Americans have access to quality, affordablehealth care, we should start by making sure that people get help payingpremiums so they do not lose health care while they're looking for a newjob. We support expanded coverage of home care, hospice, and community-basedservices, so the elderly and people with disabilities of all ages can live in their own communities and as independently aspossible. Retirement. Over the last four years, President Clinton took strong stepsto protect the pensions of more than 40 million workers and retirees byfixing the federal pension insurance system and demanding that companiesfund their retirement plans fully. We established a nationwide retirementprotection program to protect workers' 401K retirement savings from fraudand abuse. We recognize the unique concerns of women when it comes to preparingfor retirement and have worked to protect women's pension rights. Over the next four years, we want to take further steps to make surethat Americans who have worked hard for their whole lives can enjoy retirementin the dignity and security they have earned. We want to make sure peoplecan carry their pensions with them when they change jobs, protect pensionseven further, and expand the number of workers with pension coverage. Democratscreated Social Security, we oppose efforts to dismantle it, and we willfight to save it. We must ensure that it is on firm financial footing wellinto the next century. We call on Republicans to put politics aside andjoin us in a serious bipartisan effort to make sure that Social Securitywill continue to provide true security for future generations, as it hasdone for millions of older Americans for decades. Training. We must do more to make sure all Americans have the skillsthey need to compete. We want a G.I. Bill for Workers to transform the confusingtangle of federal training programs into a simple job-training skill grantthat will go directly to unemployed workers so they will be able to getthe training that is right for them. We want to strengthen training opportunitiesfor people with disabilities, so they can learn the skills they need tolive independent, productive lives. Standing up for working Americans. We nearly doubled funding for thedislocated worker program and launched special projects to help workersdisplaced by base closures, natural disasters. and mass layoffs. We arereforming OSHA so it can do a better job to protect worker safety with lessred tape, and we continue to oppose Republican efforts to gut it. We beatback efforts to undermine workers' rights to form and join unions and todismantle the enforcement powers of the National Labor Relations Board.We vigorously oppose Republican efforts to pass Right-to-Work legislation,and to undermine collective bargaining through the TEAM Act. We are workingto eradicate sweatshops in the U.S. apparel industry by stepping up enforcementand public education. We oppose the hiring of permanent workers to replacelawful economic strikers; we support the President's action to stop thegovernment from procuring goods and services from companies that do so;and we support legislation to prohibit the permanent replacement of lawfullystriking workers. We believe in equal pay for equal work and pay equity. Promoting economic growth and opportunity for all Americans. We knowthat it is good for America when small, minority, and women-owned businesseshave the opportunity to grow and prosper. These business-owners create newjobs, expand opportunities, and serve as powerful role models for youngpeople. Over the last four years, the President has transformed Small BusinessAdministration to eliminate burdensome paperwork and deliver real assistanceto entrepreneurs as they work to start or expand their businesses. At thesame time, since Bill Clinton became President, we have more than doubledthe number of loans to small businesses. from 27,000 in 1992 to 57,000 in1995, including a 300 percent increase in loans to women-owned businessesand a nearly 200 percent increase in loans to minority businesses. The Presidentordered all federal agencies to comply with laws designed to ensure thatsmall, minority, and women-owned businesses can compete for their fair shareof procurement dollars. Corporate citizenship. Employers have a responsibility to do their partas well. President Clinton and the Democratic Party stand on the side ofworking families. We believe that values like loyalty. fairness, and responsibilityare not inconsistent with the bottom line. We call on our corporate leadersto invest in the long-term, by providing workers with good wages and benefits,education and training, and opportunities for greater involvement in companydecision making. As workers increase their productivity, employers shouldmake sure they share in the benefits of the good years, as well as the burdensof the bad ones. Employers should respect the commitment of workers to theirfamilies, and should work to provide good pensions and health care. WhenCEOs put their workers and long-term success ahead of short-term gain, theirworkers will do better and so will they. RESPONSIBILITY Today's Democratic Party knows that the era of big government is over.Big bureaucracies and Washington solutions do not have the real answersto today's challenges. We need a smaller government . . . and we must havea larger national spirit. Government's job should be to give people thetools they need to make the most of their own lives. Americans must takethe responsibility to use them, to build good lives for themselves and theirfamilies. Personal responsibility is the most powerful force we have tomeet our challenges and shape the future we want for ourselves, for ourchildren, and for America. Fighting crime. Today's Democratic Party believes the first responsibilityof government is law and order. Four years ago, crime in America seemed intractable. The violent crime rate andthe murder rate had climbed for seven straight years. Drugs seemed to flowfreely across our borders and into our neighborhoods. Convicted felons couldwalk into any gun shop in the country and buy a handgun. Military-styleassault weapons were sold freely. Our people didn't feel safe in their homes,walking their streets, or even sending their children to school. under thethumb of special interests like the gun lobby, Republicans talked toughabout crime but did nothing to fight it. Bill Clinton promised to turn things around, and that is exactly whathe did. After a long hard fight. President Clinton beat back fierce Republicanopposition, led by Senator Dole and Speaker Gingrich. to answer the callof America's police officers and pass the toughest Crime Bill in history.The Democratic Party under President Clinton is putting more police on thestreets and tougher penalties on the books; we are taking guns off the streetsand working to steer young people away from crime and gangs and drugs inthe first place. And it is making a difference. In city after city and townafter town, crime rates are finally coming down. Community policing. Nothing is more effective in the fight against crimethan police officers on the beat, engaged in community policing. The CrimeBill is putting 100,000 new police officers on the street. We deplore cynicalRepublican attempts to undermine our promise to America to put 100,000 newpolice officers on the street. We pledge to stand up for our communitiesand stand with our police officers by opposing any attempt to repeal orweaken this effort. But we know that community policing only works whenthe community works with the police. We echo the President's challenge toAmericans: If 50 citizens joined each of America's 20.000 neighborhood watchgroups, we would have a citizen force of one million strong to give ourpolice forces the backup they need. Protecting our children, our neighborhoods, and our police from criminalswith guns. Bob Dole, Newt Gingrich, and George Bush were able to hold theBrady Bill hostage for the gun lobby until Bill Clinton became President.With his leadership, we made the Brady Bill the law of the land. And becausewe did, more than 60,000 felons, fugitives, and stalkers have been stoppedfrom buying guns. President Clinton led the fight to ban 19 deadly assaultweapons, designed for one purpose only -- to kill human beings. We opposeefforts to restrict weapons used for legitimate sporting purposes, and weare proud that not one hunter or sportsman was forced to change guns becauseof the assault weapons ban. But we know that the military-style guns webanned have no place on America's streets, and we are proud of the courageousDemocrats who defied the gun lobby and sacrificed their seats in Congressto make America safer. Today's Democratic Party stands with America's police officers. We areproud to tell them that as long as Bill Clinton and Al Gore are in the WhiteHouse, any attempt to repeal the Brady Bill or assault weapons ban willbe met with a veto. We must do everything we can to stand behind our policeofficers, and the first thing we should do is pass a ban on cop-killer bullets.Any bullet that can rip through a bulletproof vest should be against thelaw; that is the least we can do to protect the brave police officers whorisk their lives to protect us. Tough punishment. We believe that people who break the law should bepunished, and people who commit violent crimes should be punished severely.President Clinton made three- strikes you're-out the law of the land, toensure that the most dangerous criminals go to jail for life, with no chanceof parole, and signed a law to limit appeals. We established the death penaltyfor nearly 60 violent crimes, including murder of a law enforcement officer.We provided almost $8 billion in new funding to help states build new prisoncells so violent offenders serve their full sentences. We call on the statesto meet the President's challenge and guarantee that serious violent criminalsserve at least 85 percent of their sentence. The American people deservea criminal justice system in which criminals are caught, the guilty areconvicted, and the convicted serve their time. Fighting youth crime and violence. Nothing we do to fight crime is moreimportant than fighting the crime and violence that threatens our children.We have to protect them from criminals who prey on them -- and we have toteach them good values and give them something to say yes to, so they stayaway from crime and trouble in the first place. The Democratic Party understands what the police have been saying foryears: The best way to fight crime is to prevent it. That is why we foughtfor drug-education and gang prevention programs in our schools. We supportwell thought out, well organized, highly supervised youth programs to provideyoung people with a safe and healthy alternative to hanging out on the streets.We made it a federal crime for any person under the age of 18 to carry ahandgun except when supervised by an adult. Democrats fought to pass, andPresident Clinton ordered states to impose, zero tolerance for guns in school,requiring schools to expel for one year any student who brings a gun toschool. At the same time, when young people cross the line, they must be punished.When young people commit serious violent crimes, they should be prosecutedlike adults. We established boot camps for young non-violent offenders.If Senator Dole and the Republicans are serious about fighting juvenilecrime, they should listen to America's police officers and support the stepsDemocrats have taken, because they are making a difference, and then theyshould join us as we work to do more. We want parents to bring order to their children's lives and teach themright from wrong, and we want to make it easier for them to take that responsibility.We support schools that adopt school uniform policies, to promote disciplineand respect. We support community-based curfews to keep kids off the streetafter a certain time, so they're safe from harm and away from trouble. Weurge schools and communities to enforce truancy laws: Young people belongin school, not on the street. We also know that we must do everything we can to help families protecttheir children, especially from dangerous criminals who have made a darkhabit of preying on young people. Study after study shows that sex offendersare likely to repeat their crimes again and again. Under President Clinton,we have taken strong steps to help keep children safe. We required everystate in the country to compile a registry of sex offenders. The Presidentsigned Megan's Law to require that states tell a community whenever a dangeroussexual predator enters its midst. We support the President's directive tothe Attorney General, calling on her to work with the states and Congressto develop a national sex offender registry. This will ensure that policeofficers in every state can get the information they need from any stateto track sex offenders down and bring them to justice when they commit newcrimes. Battling illegal drugs. We must keep drugs off our streets and out ofour schools. President Clinton and the Democratic Party have waged an aggressivewar on drugs. The Crime Bill established the death penalty for drug kingpins.The President signed a directive requiring drug testing of anyone arrestedfor a federal crime, and he challenged states to do the same for state offenders.We established innovative drug courts which force drug users to get treatmentor go to jail. We stood firm against Republican efforts to gut the Safeand Drug Free Schools effort that supports successful drug-education programslike D.A.R.E. The Clinton Administration went to the Supreme Court to supportthe right of schools to test athletes for drugs. The President launchedOperation Safe Home to protect the law-abiding residents of public housingfrom violent criminals and drug dealers who use their homes as a base forillegal activities. We support the President's decision to tell those whocommit crimes and peddle drugs in public housing: You will get no secondchance to threaten your neighbors; it is one strike and you're out. We aremaking progress. Overall drug use in America is dropping; the number ofAmericans who use cocaine has dropped 30 percent since 1992. Unfortunatelycasual drug use by young people continues to climb. We must redouble ourefforts against drug abuse everywhere, especially among our children. Earlier this year, the President appointed General Barry McCaffrey tolead the nation's war on drugs. General McCaffrey is implementing an aggressivefour part strategy to reach young children and prevent drug use in the firstplace; to catch and punish drug users and dealers; to provide treatmentto those who need help; and to cut drugs off at the source before they crossthe border and pollute our neighborhoods. But every adult in America musttake responsibility to set a good example, and to teach children that drugsare wrong, they are illegal, and they are deadly. Ending domestic violence. When it strikes, nothing is a more dangerousthreat to the safety of our families than domestic violence, because itis a threat from within. Unfortunately, violence against women is no strangerto America, but a dangerous intruder we must work together to drive fromour homes. We know that domestic violence is not a 'family problem"or "a women's problem." It is America's problem, and we must allfight it. The Violence Against Women Act in the 1994 Crime Bill helps policeofficers, prosecutors, and judges to understand domestic violence. recognizeit when they see it, and know how to deal with it. In February, the Presidentlaunched a 24 hour, seven-day, toll-free hotline so women in trouble canfind out how to get emergency help, find shelter, and report abuse to theauthorities. The number is 1 800 799-SAFE. Everyone who knows it shouldpass it on to anyone who might need it. Every American must take the responsibilityto stop this terrible scourge. As we fight it, we must remember that thevictims are not to blame. This is a crime to be punished, not a secret tobe concealed. We must do everything we can to make sure that the victims of violentcrime are treated with the respect and the dignity they deserve. We supportthe President's call for a constitutional amendment to protect the rightsof victims. We believe that when a plea bargain is entered in public. acriminal is sentenced, or a defendant is let out on bail, the victims oughtto know about it. and have a say. A constitutional amendment is the onlyway to protect those rights in every courtroom in America. Immigration. Democrats remember that we are a nation of immigrants. Werecognize the extraordinary contribution of immigrants to America throughoutour history. We welcome legal immigrants to America. We support a legalimmigration policy that is pro-family, pro work, pro responsibility, andpro-citizenship, and we deplore those who blame immigrants for a nationof laws. We cannot tolerate illegal immigration and we must stop it. Foryears before Bill Clinton became President, Washington talked tough butfailed to act. In 1992, our borders might as well not have existed. TheSouthwest border was under-patrolled, and what patrols there were, wereunder-equipped. Drugs flowed freely. Illegal immigration was rampant. Criminalimmigrants, deported after committing crimes in America, returned the verynext day to commit crimes again. President Clinton is making the Southwest border a place where the lawis respected and drugs and illegal immigrants are turned away. We have increasedthe Border Patrol by over 40 percent; in El Paso, our Border Patrol agentsare so close together they can see each other. Last year alone, the ClintonAdministration removed over 11,000 illegal workers from jobs across thecountry. Just since January of 1995, we have arrested more than 1,700 criminalaliens and prosecuted them on federal felony charges because they returnedto America after having been deported. However as we work to stop illegal immigration, we call on all Americansto avoid the temptation to use this issue to divide people from each other.We deplore those who use the need to stop illegal immigration as a pretextfor discrimination. And we applaud the wisdom of Republicans like MayorGiuliani and Senator Domenici who oppose the mean-spirited and short- sightedeffort of Republicans in Congress to bar the children of illegal immigrantsfrom schools - - it is wrong and forcing children onto the streets is aninvitation for them to join gangs and turn to crime. Democrats want to protectAmerican jobs by increasing criminal and civil sanctions against employerswho hire illegal workers, but Republicans continue to favor inflammatoryrhetoric over real action. We will continue to enforce labor standards toprotect workers in vulnerable industries. We continue to firmly oppose welfarebenefits for illegal immigrants. We believe family members who sponsor immigrantsinto this country should take financial responsibility for them, and beheld legally responsible for supporting them. Welfare reform. Today's Democratic Party knows there is no greater gapbetween mainstream American values and modern American government than ourfailed welfare system. When Bill Clinton became President, the welfare systemundermined the very values -- work, family and personal responsibility --that it should promote. The welfare system should reflect those values:we want to help people who want to help themselves and their children. Over the past four years, President Clinton -- acting alone -- has dramaticallytransformed the welfare system. He has freed 41 states from federal rulesand regulations so they can reform their welfare systems. The Clinton Administrationhas granted 69 waivers -- more than twice as many waivers as granted inthe Reagan-Bush years. For 75 percent of all Americans on welfare, the ruleshave changed for good already, and welfare is becoming what it should be:a second chance not a way of life. Welfare rolls are finally coming down-- there are 1.3 million fewer people on welfare today than there were whenPresident Clinton took office in January 1993. The President has also taken strong executive action to make sure thatthe welfare system strengthens families and demands responsibility. He orderedstates to require minor mothers to stay in school and turn their lives aroundso they can get a job and get off welfare for good. He also directed statesto require mothers to help identity and find absent fathers so we can makethem pay the child support they owe. He challenged all states to requireteen mothers to live at home or with a responsible adult. And the Presidentfought to make sure that poor children get health care and nutrition tomeet their basic needs. Now we must finish the job, and pass national welfare reform. Unfortunately,the plan proposed by Senator Dole and Speaker Gingrich was weak on workand tough on children. That is the wrong approach. We should be tough onwork and demand responsibility, but we should not punish children for theirparents' mistakes. A real bipartisan welfare reform plan should requirethat anyone on welfare who can work, goes to work. And we should providechild care and health care so parents can work. We should impose stricttime limits so that no one who can work can stay on welfare forever. Weshould require minor mothers to live with their parents or another responsibleadult. If the Republican Party puts politics aside, we can finish the jobPresident Clinton started, and end welfare as we know it across America.Passing legislation is not enough; we should make sure people get the skillsthey need to get jobs, and that there are jobs for them to go to so theyleave welfare and stay off. Welfare reform should put more people to workand move them into the economic mainstream, not take jobs away from workingfamilies. Child support. Nobody has the right to walk away from the responsibilityto care for his or her children. If you owe child support, paying it fullyand promptly is just the first step in living up to your responsibilityas a parent. The Clinton Administration has made a determined effort tocrack down on deadbeat parents, collecting a record $11 billion in 1995through tough enforcement -- almost a 40 percent increase over 1992. PresidentClinton issued an Executive order to track down federal workers who failto pay child support, and force them to pay. President Clinton, CongressionalDemocrats, and Democratic governors all know that the toughest possiblechild support enforcement must be a central part of any real welfare reformplan -- including the President's plan to deny drivers licenses and professionallicenses to people who do not pay their child support. We must tell deadbeats:If you neglect your responsibility to your children, we will suspend yourlicense, garnish your wages, track you down, and make you pay. Teen pregnancy. For the first time in years, the teen pregnancy ratehas leveled off and begun to drop. But we all know it is still far too high.Government alone cannot solve this problem. That is why President Clintonchallenged community, business, and religious leaders together to form anational campaign to keep the teen pregnancy rate going down. And he expandedsupport for community-based prevention programs that teach abstinence anddemand responsibility. We must send the strongest possible signal to youngpeople that it is wrong to get pregnant or father a child until they aremarried and ready to support that child and raise that child. We also know that half of all underage mothers were made pregnant bya man in his twenties, or even older. Statutory rape is a crime, but unfortunatelythe laws that protect young women from it are almost never enforced. Weecho the President's call to America's prosecutors: Enforce the statutoryrape laws vigorously against men who prey on underage women. Choice. The Democratic Party stands behind the right of every woman tochoose, consistent with Roe V. Wade, and regardless of ability to pay. PresidentClinton took executive action to make sure that the right to make such decisionsis protected for all Americans. Over the last four years. we have takenaction to end the gag rule and ensure safety at family planning and women'shealth clinics. We believe it is a fundamental constitutional liberty thatindividual Americans -- not government -- can best take responsibility formaking the most difficult and intensely personal decisions regarding reproduction. The Democratic Party is a party of inclusion. We respect the individualconscience of each American on this difficult issue, and we welcome allour members to participate at every level of our party. Our goal is to make abortion less necessary and more rare, not more difficultand more dangerous. We support contraceptive research, family planning,comprehensive family life education, and policies that support healthy childbearing.For four years in a row, we have increased support for family planning.The abortion rate is dropping. Now we must continue to support efforts toreduce unintended pregnancies, and we call on all Americans to take personalresponsibility to meet this important goal. Reinventing government. The American people have a right to demand thatresponsibility is the order of the day in Washington. The mission of today'sDemocratic Party is to expand opportunity, not bureaucracy. We have workedhard over the last four years to rein in big government, slash burdensomeregulations, eliminate wasteful programs, and shift problem- solving outof Washington and back to people and communities who understand their situationsbest. In the last four years, President Clinton, working with the NationalPerformance Review chaired by Vice President Gore, has cut the federal governmentby almost 240,000 positions, making the smallest federal government in 30years. The federal government is eliminating 16,000 pages of outdated andunnecessary regulations, has abolished 179 programs and projects. and savedtaxpayers billions of dollars. The President fought for and signed unfundedmandates legislation. This stops Congress from requiring state and localgovernments to implement expensive policies without providing any meansto pay for them, and encourages better partnerships and more balance ofresources and responsibilities. After presidents since Ulysses S. Granttried to get the line-item veto and failed, President Clinton signed landmarklegislation that will give the President this powerful tool to cut pork-barrelspending from bills passed by Congress. For years. Republicans talked about making government smaller while lettingit grow -- Democrats are doing it. For years, Republicans talked about cuttingthe deficit while letting it climb Democrats are doing it. For years, Republicanstalked about shifting power back to states and communities -- Democratsare doing it. For years, Republicans talked about making government morebusinesslike and efficient -- Democrats are doing it. Democrats are bringingresponsibility back to Washington. In the last two years, Republicans underSenator Dole and Speaker Gingrich shut the federal government down in anirresponsible attempt at partisan blackmail. Democrats under President Clintonsaid, and America agreed: Partisan threats are no way to run a government.Nobody should ever shut down the government again. The Republican shutdowncost the taxpayers $1.4 billion. Democrats believe government should workbetter and cost less -- not work less and cost more. The Republican shutdown was an affront to the hardworking public servantsin our cities, towns, states. and nation who devote their lives to improvinglife in our country. Thanks to them our streets are safer, our water iscleaner, and our nation is secure. Front-line federal workers committedto providing quality services have joined the President's efforts to makegovernment work better for the American people. With their help, we aresaving money for the taxpayers and improving services for our people. In the last four years, we have transformed the Federal Emergency ManagementAgency from an outdated bureaucracy into a swift and effective agent ofrelief for victims of earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, or other disasters.Americans with life-threatening diseases like cancer and AIDS gain accessto new drugs faster, because the Food and Drug Administration has streamlinedits approval process, become more flexible in certifications, and eliminatedunnecessary paperwork. The Small Business Administration has eliminated half of its regulations.cut loan applications as long as 100 pages down to one, and doubled itsloan volume -- all helping Americans to produce record numbers of smallbusinesses in each of the last three years. American home buyers are savingan average of $1,000 in closing costs because the Department of Housingand Urban Development has eliminated paperwork and other unnecessary burdens. Over the next four years, the Democratic Party will continue to makeresponsibility the rule in Washington: cutting bureaucracy further, improvingcustomer service, demanding better performance, holding people and agenciesaccountable for producing the best results, ensuring all Americans haveaccess to high quality public services, and forging new partnerships withthe private sector including small, minority, and women-owned businesses,and with state and local governments. Political reform. Today's Democratic Party knows we have a responsibilityto make our democracy work better for America, by limiting the influenceof special interests and expanding the influence of the American people.Special interests have too much power in the halls of government. They oftenoperate in secret and have special privileges ordinary Americans do noteven know exist. Elections have become so expensive that big money can sometimesdrown out the voices of ordinary voters -- who should always speak the loudest. Shortly after Bill Clinton took office, he implemented the toughest ethicscode on executive officials in history: Senior appointees are barred fromlobbying their own agencies for five years after they leave, and they cannever lobby for foreign governments. After years of Republican delay, Democratspassed and the President signed the Motor Voter Bill to make it easier forpeople to participate in our democracy and exercise their civic responsibilityin the voting booth. The President led the fight to repeal the tax loopholethat let lobbyists deduct the cost of their activities, and prevailed. In1995, after a Republican filibuster, Congress finally answered the President'scall to stop taking gifts, meals, and trips from lobbyists; to bring lobbyistsout from dark rooms and into the bright light of public scrutiny by requiringfull disclosure; and to apply to itself the laws that apply to the restof the country. But we must take further strong action. The President and the DemocraticParty support the bipartisan McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill.It will limit campaign spending, curb the influence of PACs and lobbyists,and end the soft money system. Perhaps most important of all, this billprovides free TV time for candidates, so they can talk directly to citizensabout real issues and real ideas. Unfortunately, Republicans in Congresswill not even let this bill come up for a vote. We call on them to stopstonewalling. It is time to take the reins of democracy away from big moneyand put them back in the hands of the American people, where they belong.We applaud efforts by broadcasters and private citizens alike, to increasecandidates' direct access to voters through free TV. Finally, we believe all Americans have a right to fair political representation-- including the citizens of the District of Columbia which deserves statehood.We recognize the existing status of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico andthe strong economic relationship between the people of Puerto Rico and theUnited States. We pledge to support the right of the people of the Commonwealthof Puerto Rico to choose freely, and in concert with the U.S. Congress theirrelationship with the United States, either as an enhanced commonwealth,a state or an independent nation. SECURITY, FREEDOM, AND PEACE The firm, sustained use of American might and diplomacy helped win thegreatest victory for freedom in this half of the century -- the end of theCold War. But to meet the challenges of this new era of promise and peril,America needed leadership that was able to see the contours of the new world-- and willing to act with steadiness, strength, and flexibility in theface of change to make the most of it. President Clinton and Vice President Gore have seized the opportunitiesof the post Cold War era Over the past four years, their leadership hasmade America safer, more prosperous, and more engaged in solving the challengesof a new era. Four years ago, thousands of Russian nuclear weapons were aimed at Americancities. today. not a single Russian missile points at our children, andthrough the START treaties, we will cut American and Russian nuclear arsenalsby two-thirds from their Cold War height. Four years ago, the forces of reform in the former Soviet Union wereembattled. Today, peace initiatives are helping democracy and free marketstake root throughout the region, Russian troops are out of the Baltics,and democracy has triumphed in Russia's elections. Four years ago, the Middle East process had not moved beyond a set ofprinciples, and there were no signs of peace in Northern Ireland. Today,in the Middle East we have seen real agreements toward peace, and handshakesof history, and the people of Northern Ireland have seen a cease-fire andthe first negotiations among the parties. Four years ago, the North Koreans were operating a dangerous nuclearprogram. Today, that program is frozen, under international inspection,and slated to be dismantled. Four years ago, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization -- the bulwarkof Western security during the Cold War -- was losing direction and support.Today, NATO is keeping the peace in Bosnia with its Partnership for Peaceallies and, as a result of American leadership, preparing to welcome newmembers from Central Europe. Four years ago, America stood aloof as war and genocide spread throughthe former Yugoslavia. Today, thanks to NATO airstrikes, American diplomacyand the deployment of troops from the U.S. and other nations, the war hasstopped and Bosnia has its first real chance for a lasting peace. Four years ago, dictators ruled in Haiti, abusing human rights and leavingthousands of its citizens desperate to flee to our shores. Today, the dictatorsare gone, democracy has been restored, and Haiti's mass-exodus has stopped. Four years ago, South Africa was struggling under political violenceassociated with apartheid. Now, following the 1994 elections -- which theUnited States strongly supported -- there is a national unity governmentand South Africa is free and democratic. Four years ago, there was good reason to worry that the world was dividinginto separate, isolated, regional trading blocks. Today, thanks to ClintonAdministration efforts to find new markets for American products and strengthenour existing ties, America's relations with our trading parties around theworld are stronger than ever. We applaud efforts like the Summit of theAmericas, the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings, and, especially,the extraordinary leadership of Commerce Secretary Ron Brown on behalf ofAmerican industry and workers everywhere. Ron Brown will always be rememberedwith great pride and the deepest gratitude by the Democratic Party and byall Americans. The Clinton-Gore Administration's record of leadership has deterred America'sadversaries and earned respect from our allies and partners. The Dole-GingrichCongress and the Republican Party have a different approach to America'ssecurity. Too often they would force America to go it alone -- or not atall. Their shortsighted approach has cut resources for diplomacy that couldstrengthen our security, and reflects an inadequate understanding of thethreats and opportunities of this new era. Today's Democratic Party is unwilling to surrender to the voices of retreatand indifference. We believe the only way to ensure America's security andprosperity over the long run is to continue exerting American leadershipacross a range of military, diplomatic, and humanitarian, challenges aroundthe world. Led by President Clinton and Vice President Gore, today's DemocraticParty has set a far reaching agenda to strengthen our security, and promotepeace and freedom. Strengthening our security. The highest imperative for our security isthe protection of our people, our territory, and our key interests abroad.While both parties share a commitment to strong security, there is a realdifference. The Republican desire to spend more money on defense than thePentagon requests cannot obscure their inability to recognize the challengesof a new era and build the balanced defenses we need to meet them. Today's Democratic Party is committed to strengthening our military andadapting it to new challenges; reducing the threat of weapons of mass destruction;and meeting new challenges to our security such as terrorism, internationalcrime, and drug trafficking. Strengthening our military. Over the past four years, the Administrationhas undertaken the most successful restructuring of our military forcesin history. Even as the size of our forces has decreased, their capabilities,readiness and qualitative edge have increased. The Administration has ensuredthat America is prepared to fight alongside others when we can, and alonewhen we must. We have defeated attempts to cut our defense budget irresponsibly.Three times in three years, President Clinton has increased our defensespending plans -- a total of almost $50 billion -- for readiness, forcemodernization, and quality of life improvements. We will continue our workto ensure that the men and women who wear American uniforms receive adequatepay and support, including: childcare, housing, and access to quality healthcare for themselves and their families. The Administration defense planreverses the downward trend in procurement with a 40% real increase forweapons modernization by 2001. At the same time, as part of its reinventinggovernment program, the Administration has fundamentally reformed governmentprocurement rules in order to get the most for our money. Use Of Force. The United States must be prepared to use military force ecisively whennecessary to defend our vital interests. The burdens of ollective securityin a new era must be shared fairly, and we should ncourage multilateralpeacekeeping through the United Nations and other nternational efforts. Preventing And Containing Conflict. American olicy must be focused on averting military threats as well asmeeting them. To alt the spread of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction,we must lead renewed international effort to get tough with companies thatpeddle nuclear nd chemical warfare technologies, strengthen the InternationalAtomic Energy gency, and enforce strong sanctions against governments thatviolate nternational restraints. A Comprehensive Test Ban would strengthenour bility to stop the spread of nuclear weapons to other countries, whichmay be ur greatest future security threat. We must press for strong internationalimits on the dangerous and wasteful flow of conventional arms to troubledegions. We will encourage Congress to ratify the START II Treaty with Russia,hich will reduce nuclear stockpiles by another 25%. Repeatedly during the past four years -- from the Persian Gulf to Bosnia-- our men and women in uniform have proven they are the best trained, bestequipped, best prepared fighting force in the world. The Democratic Partyis committed to build on this record by fully funding the Pentagon's 5-yeardefense plan; undertaking a second fundamental review of our defense structure;finding new ways for our service branches to work jointly to increase ourwar fighting capabilities; and ensuring that our troops can dominate thebattlefield of the future. We honor America's veterans; they put their lives on the line to protectour way of life and promote our values around the world. Today's DemocraticParty will stand by America's duty to our veterans. President Clinton andVice President Gore have fought hard to protect veterans' benefits; to expanddisability benefits for Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange; aggressivelyresponding to veterans of the Persian Gulf War suffering from undiagnosedillnesses; promoting veterans employment; and improving and strengtheningthe medical system of the Veterans Administration. Reducing the threat of weapons of mass destruction. Strengthening oursecurity also requires an aggressive effort against weapons of mass destruction-- nuclear, chemical, and biological -- and their means of delivery. Fromthe nuclear weapons programs in Iraq and North Korea to the Sarin gas attackin the Tokyo subway, our nation has seen that this threat is clear and present.To meet it, we must seize the opportunities presented by the end of theCold War to cut weapons of mass destruction stockpiles while working toprevent lethal weapons and materials from falling into the wrong hands. President Clinton and Vice President Gore have pursued the most far reachingarms control and non-proliferation agenda in history. They negotiated anagreement to end the targeting of Russian nuclear missiles on American citiesand citizens. They secured ratification of START II which, along with STARTI will reduce Russian and American arsenals by two- thirds. They preventedthe breakup of the Soviet Union from yielding three new nuclear weaponsstates, by convincing Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan to give up theirnuclear weapons. They secured the indefinite and unconditional extensionof the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty. They acted to freeze North Korea'snuclear program. The Democratic Party supports efforts to sign a Comprehensive Test BanTreaty this year and to bring it into force as soon as possible. We supportimmediate ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention -- delayed toolong by the Dole Senate. We support full funding of the Nunn-Lugar CooperativeThreat Reduction program to ensure that nuclear materials in the formerSoviet Union do not fall into the wrong hands. We support vigilant efforts,in cooperation with the Republic of Korea, Japan, and others, to ensureNorth Korea fully abides by its agreements to dismantle its nuclear program,and we support the Administration's vigorous efforts to prevent Iraq, Iran,and other dangerous states from acquiring or developing weapons of massdestruction. The Democratic Party is committed to a strong and balanced National MissileDefense program. The Administration is spending $3 billion a year on sixdifferent systems to protect our troops in the field and our allies fromshort and medium range missiles. To prepare for the possibility of a longrange missile attack on American soil by a rogue state, the Clinton Administrationis committed to developing by the year 2000 a defensive system that couldbe deployed by 2003, well before the threat becomes real. The DemocraticParty opposes the Republican NMD plan - spending up to $60 billion on arevival of the Star Wars program that would force us to choose a costlysystem today that could be obsolete tomorrow. The Republican plan wouldwaste money, weaken America's defenses and violate existing arms controlagreements that make us more secure. It is the wrong way to defend America. Meeting new challenges. Today's Democratic Party knows that strongersecurity requires vigorous efforts to address the new dangers of this era.Chief among these are the interwoven threats of terrorism, drug trafficking,and international crime. We have seen the terrible toll they have exacted-- the murder of American soldiers in their barracks in Saudi Arabia andof innocent civilians on buses in Israel; corruption and crime from theformer Soviet Union to Latin America. We know these vicious criminals payno heed to borders; we have seen flrsthand the awful, evil work of the forcesof terror at the World Trade Center and in Oklahoma City. And we know alltoo well the havoc drugs wreak when they cross our borders and flow throughour neighborhoods. The Clinton-Gore Administration has mounted the most aggressive effortin American history to combat terrorism, drug trafficking, and internationalcrime. We captured and convicted the perpetrators of the World Trade Centerbombing. We enacted a strong new anti- terrorism law, in spite of foot draggingby the Republican Congress. We convened an historic summit of Mideast leadersat Sharm el-Sheik to coordinate anti-terrorism efforts, and made anti- terrorisma centerpiece of the 1996 G-7 summit. We imposed or maintained strong sanctionsagainst states that sponsor terrorism, including Iran, Iraq, Libya, andSudan, and made clear to Syria that normal relations depend on concretesteps to end its support for groups involved with terrorism. We opposedirresponsible cuts to U.S. intelligence programs and supported efforts toreorganize and strengthen the full range of intelligence agencies and programs.We opened FBI centers to provide anti-crime and anti-terrorism training.We made Colombia ineligible for most American assistance after that country'sleadership failed to cooperate with American anti- narcotics efforts. Today's Democratic Party is determined to keep the war on global terrorism,narcotics, and crime at the center of our security agenda. We will seekincreased cooperation from our allies and friends abroad in fighting thesethreats. We will continue to work aggressively to shut off foreign drugflows, eradicate foreign drug crops, and assist countries that demonstrateactive cooperation. Promoting peace and democracy. Today's Democratic Party knows that peaceand democracy are products of decisive strength and active diplomacy. Thatdiplomacy must protect our interests while also projecting our values. TheRepublican Party too often has neglected diplomatic opportunities, slashedthe budgets necessary for diplomatic successes, and overlooked the importanceto our own security of democracy and human rights abroad. At its core, theRepublican Party is locked in a Cold War mentality, and lacks a coherentstrategy to nurture and strengthen the global progress toward peace anddemocracy. The Democratic Party believes a key to strengthening peace is stableand peaceful relations among the world's major powers. That has been thedriving force behind much of the Clinton-Gore Administration's work, fromits peace initiative in Bosnia to new security agreements with Japan. Weare committed to promoting democracy in regions and countries importantto America's security, and to standing with all those willing to take risksfor peace, from the Middle East to Northern Ireland. And we are committedto doing it with all the tools we have: with diplomacy where possible, withforce where necessary, and working with others where appropriate --our allies,willing partners, the U.N. and other security organizations -- to sharethe risks and costs of our leadership. Europe and the former Soviet Union. Today's Democratic Party knows thatthe security of Europe remains a vital American interest. We applaud theClinton-Gore Administration's efforts to foster a peaceful, democratic andundivided Europe -- including expanded support for reform in former communiststates; dramatically increased assistance to Ukraine; the Partnership forPeace program of military cooperation with Europe's new democracies; itssteady, determined work to add new Central European members to NATO in thenear future; and its efforts to resolve regional disputes such as betweenGreece and Turkey. We support continued efforts to secure a just and lastingpeace in Bosnia, Northern Ireland and Cyprus. We are committed to the successof independence in Ukraine and the Baltics. And we support the continuingevolution of a prosperous and peaceful Russia. And as part of our effortto support we will pursue a relationship in which we seek cooperation whenwe can, and frankly express disagreements where they exist, such as on Chechnya. Asia. We know that many of America's most pressing security challengesand most promising commercial opportunities lie in the Asia Pacific region.The Democratic Party applauds the important new security charter with Japan,the Administration's close cooperation with the Republic of Korea towardthe goal of a unified and non-nuclear peninsula, and the deployment of anAmerican naval task force to the Taiwan Straits to ensure that China's militaryexercises did not imperil the security of the region. The Party supportsthe Administration's policy of steady engagement to encourage a stable,open and prosperous China-- a China that respects human rights throughoutits land and in Tibet, that joins international efforts against weaponsproliferation, and that plays by the rules of free and fair trade. Today'sDemocratic Party strongly supports continued American troop presence inEast Asia and efforts to promote increased regional security. And we arecommitted to building long-term relationships with India. Pakistan, andothers in South Asia in order to advance America's diverse interests inthat region, from democracy and commerce to nuclear non-proliferation. The Middle East. President Clinton has overseen a remarkable record ofachievement toward peace and security in the Middle East -- the Israeli-Palestinianaccords; the peace agreement between Israel and Jordan; new regional securityand investment summits; Israel's increased acceptance throughout the MiddleEast and the world; the dual containment of Iraq and Iran. The DemocraticParty is committed to help build on this record, knowing that peace andsecurity are indivisible. The Democratic Party remains committed to America'slong-standing special relationship with Israel, based on shared values,a mutual commitment to democracy and a strategic alliance that benefitsboth nations. The United States should continue to help Israel maintainits qualitative edge so that Israel has the confidence to pursue peace.Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and should remain an undivided city accessibleto people of all faiths. We also support close ties with states and peoplesin the Arab and Islamic world committed to non- aggression and willing totake risks for peace. Latin America. The Clinton-Gore Administration forged an historic partnershipwith the democracies of the Western Hemisphere, as reflected in the 1994Summit of the Americas. Today. every country in the Hemisphere is a democracyexcept Cuba. Because democratic stability and prosperity in the countriesto our south are in their interest and ours, President Clinton took boldsteps to bolster Mexico's economy when it was threatened by crisis; workedto resolve internal and border conflicts in the Hemisphere; joined withregional partners to combat narcotics trafficking; and maintained a toughembargo against Cuba while reaching out to its people. The Democratic Partyis committed to further consolidating democracy, stability, and open marketsthroughout the hemisphere. Africa. The Clinton Administration championed South Africa's democratictransition; supported Africa's many emerging democracies and led internationalefforts to speed the return of democracy in Nigeria; helped save countlesslives in Somalia, Rwanda, and elsewhere through conflict resolution, removalof land mines, and humanitarian relief; and took steps to help sub- SaharanAfrica's 700 million people develop into strong economies and markets. TheDemocratic Party believes that continuing to help the people of Africa nurturetheir continent's extraordinary potential and address its serious problemsis both the right thing to do and profoundly in America's interest. Promoting democracy. America remains a beacon of hope to all who cherishdemocracy and human rights, and America's security benefits from the enlargementof the community of market democracies. The Clinton-Gore Administrationhas actively promoted the consolidation and spread of democracy and humanrights: in Russia and throughout the former Soviet Union, Central Europe,Latin America, Asia and Africa. President Clinton directed Vice PresidentGore to lead bi national efforts to establish trading relationships to helppromote democracy in three strategic areas: Russia, South Africa, and Egypt.The Democratic Party supports the aspirations of all those who seek to strengthencivil society and accountable governance. To this end. we support continuedfunding for the National Endowment for Democracy, Radio Free Europe/RadioLiberty, the Asia Pacific Network, Radio Marti and other efforts to promotedemocracy and the free flow of ideas. Promoting Democracy Discussion Resources for diplomacy. There is a price to be paid for America's securityand its leadership in world affairs -- and the Republican Party now refusesto pay that price. Even though less than one percent of the federal budgetgoes to foreign policy spending, the Republican Party has savaged our diplomaticreadiness, defaulted on treaty obligations to pay dues to the United Nations,slashed assistance to the poorest and most vulnerable populations on earth,and pushed the United States to dead last among developed nations in theglobal fight against starvation, infant mortality, natural disasters andenvironmental degradation and other worldwide problems. The Democratic Partyunderstands that these efforts strengthen our security and express our values,and strongly supports the Clinton-Gore Administration's work to ensure adequateresources for American foreign policy. COMMUNITY Across America, in far too many places, the bonds of community that tieus together and remind us that we rise or fall together, have too oftenfrayed. Today's Democratic Party believes we must reawaken the strong senseof community that has helped America to prosper for 220 years. America isuniquely suited to lead the world into the 21st century because of our greatdiversity and our shared values. We must never let our differences divideus from each other; instead we must come together on a new common ground,based on the enduring values we share. When Americans work together -- inour homes, our schools, our houses of worship, our civic groups. our businesses-- we can meet any challenge, and realize every dream. Putting families first. The first and most sacred responsibility of everyparent is to cherish our children and strengthen our families. The familyis the foundation of American life. After 12 years of all family-values-talkand no family-values-action by the Republicans, President Clinton took officedetermined to put families first. We support the fundamental themes of theFamilies First Agenda -- promoting paycheck, health care, retirement, andpersonal security: creating greater educational and economic opportunity;and requiring greater responsibility from individuals, businesses, and government. Standing up for parents. In the first month of Bill Clinton's Presidency,the Democratic Party ended eight years of Republican gridlock and enactedthe Family and Medical Leave Act. Americans blessed with a new child ortroubled by a family health crisis can no longer be forced to choose betweentheir families and their jobs. A bipartisan panel reported that 12 millionworkers have already been able to live up to their family obligations withoutrisking their jobs. And almost 90 percent of businesses found that complyingwith this law cost them little or nothing. Despite how important this isto American families, Senator Dole led Republican opposition to it and stillinsists it was wrong. This law is good for families, it is good for America.and it would not be the law today without the Democratic Party. Now we want to take the next step. We believe parents should be ableto take unpaid leave from work and choose flex time so they can do theirjob as parents: to do things like go to parent-teacher conferences or takea child to the doctor. We support tax credits to encourage adoption, becauseevery child deserves a mother and father who will love them and raise them. Responsible entertainment. President Clinton and Vice President Gorehave led the fight to help parents control what their children see on television. Because of their leadership, Congress passeda law requiring all new televisions to include a device called a V-chipthat will block violent programs when it is activated by an adult. SenatorDole likes to talk about TV violence, but when it came time to act, he stoodwith a small minority to oppose the bipartisan V-chip bill. The Presidentachieved a breakthrough agreement with the media and entertainment industriesto develop a rating system for TV shows similar to the motion picture ratingsystem, so parents can make informed decisions about what they want theirchildren to watch. When parents control the remote, it is not censorship,it is personal responsibility for their children's upbringing. We believe in public support for the arts, and especially for high-quality,family-friendly programming. We are proud to have stopped the Republicanattack on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting -- we want our childrento watch Sesame Street, not Power Rangers. And we echo the President's callto the entertainment industry: Work harder to develop and promote movies,music, and TV shows that are suitable -- and educational -- for children. Tobacco. Cigarette smoking is rapidly becoming the single greatest threatto the health of our children. We know that 3,000 young people start smokingevery day, and 1,000 of them will lead shorter lives because of it. Despitethat, Senator Dole and other Republicans continue to ignore volumes of medicalresearch to make baffling claims that cigarettes are not addictive. Theyeven argue with distinguished Republican experts like President Reagan'sSurgeon General C. Everett Koop. President Clinton and Vice President Goreunderstand that we have a responsibility to protect our children's futureby cracking down on illegal sales of tobacco to minors and by curbing sophisticatedadvertising campaigns designed to entice kids to start smoking before theyare old enough to make an informed decision. The President has proposedmeasures to cut off children's access to cigarettes, crack down on thosewho sell tobacco to minors illegally. and curtail advertising designed toappeal to children. We believe tobacco companies should market to adultsif they wish, but take the responsibility to draw the line on children. Parents responsibility. All of this is important, and we pledge to continueto fight for ways to strengthen our families. But today's Democratic Partyknows that governments do not raise children, parents do. That is why PresidentClinton and Vice President Gore took action to order all federal agenciesto make sure everything government does for children promotes responsibilityfrom all parents, fathers as well as mothers. Now we challenge every parentto put their children first: to help them with their homework, to read tothem, to know their teachers, and above all, to teach their children rightfrom wrong and set the best example. Community empowerment. Today's Democratic Party understands that we cannotrebuild our poorest communities by imposing cookie-cutter solutions fromWashington. We have to give communities the tools they need to create opportunity.Citizens, local government, the private sector, and civic groups must cometogether and take the responsibility to rebuild their communities from thebottom up. Encouraging private sector investment, and community-based solutions.After over a decade of sustained Republican neglect and empty Republicanpromises, President Clinton and Democrats in Congress launched a comprehensivestrategy to unleash economic growth and restore opportunity to our distressedneighborhoods. Without a single Republican vote, we created 105 EmpowermentZones and Enterprise Communities. This effort, chaired by Vice PresidentGore, is bringing jobs and businesses to our poorest urban and rural areas.Thousands of new businesses have already moved into these areas, or expandedexisting operations, bringing new hope and new jobs to these neighborhoods.We reformed the Community Reinvestment Act to shift the focus from processtoward results; we implemented low income mortgage purchase requirementson Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; and we created a Community Development FinancialInstitutions Fund. Together, these efforts are unleashing billions of dollarsin new private sector lending and investment for housing and economic developmentin our inner cities and poorest rural areas. The President and Vice Presidenthave created a brownfields initiative to bring life back to abandoned andcontaminated property by reforming outdated regulations and providing incentivesfor cleanup. Over the next four years, we want a second round of Empowerment Zonesto bring economic growth to more American communities; a significant expansionof the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund to spur more privatesector investment in local economies: and a new tax incentive to encouragefurther cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields. Today's Democratic Partyknows that the best way to bring jobs and growth back to our poorest neighborhoodsis to harness the job-creating power of the private sector. Helping people afford safe, secure housing. Safe, secure housing is anessential part of strong communities and strong families. We are proud thatafter four years of a Democrat in the White House, the percentage of peoplewho own their own house climbed faster than it has in 30 years. Bill Clintontook executive action to make it easier and cheaper for working and middle-class home buyers to get a home loan. We pledge to stand against Republicanefforts to repeal the deductibility of home mortgage interest payments.Fulfilling his 1992 pledge, President Clinton made the low-income housingtax credit permanent, encouraging private developers to build more affordablehousing. This tax credit is making it easier for families to get housing,and we will stand against Republican attacks on it. The Clinton Administration has made sweeping changes to transform thenation's public housing system after decades of neglect. In the last fouryears, Democrats demolished more units of unlivable public housing thanRepublicans did in the previous twelve years, replacing them with lower-densitydevelopments that can serve as anchors for neighborhood renewal. In thenext four years, we want to transform the worst public housing from a systemthat traps people in rundown, crime-ridden projects into one which givesfamilies the freedom to choose where they live by providing vouchers tohelp them with housing costs. We have dramatically increased help for thehomeless, and shifted focus from temporary shelters toward permanent solutionsdesigned to move people back into the mainstream, into jobs and a home oftheir own. Agriculture and the rural community. America has the most abundant agriculturaleconomy on earth, and it must be preserved and strengthened as we entera new century. President Clinton and the Democrats have worked hard to promoteeconomic growth in rural areas, protect the family farm, and ensure thatfarmers get a fair return for their labor and investment and consumers cancontinue to count on safe and nutritious foods. In the face of Republicanefforts to gut food safety, the Clinton Administration has revolutionizedmeat inspection and set a new standard of consumer protection. PresidentClinton has reinvented the Agriculture Department, reducing regulationsand bureaucracy and improving service. The Clinton Administration has crackeddown on food stamp fraud, and approved experiments in state after stateto reform the food stamp program. President Clinton and Democrats in Congresssupported new voluntary conservation programs and saved economic developmentprograms for rural areas through the 1996 Farm Bill. We are committed toexpanding agricultural exports by reducing unfair subsidies and trade barriersaround the world. Protecting our environment. Today's Democratic party wants all Americansto be able to enjoy America's magnificent natural heritage -- and we wantour people to know that the air they breathe is pure, the water they drinkis clean, and the land they live on is safe from hazard. We understand wehave a sacred obligation to protect God's earth and preserve our qualityof life for our children and our children's children. For the 12 Republicanyears before Bill Clinton and Al Gore took office, protecting the environmentwas far from a priority. And in the last two years, 25 years of bipartisanenvironmental progress -- started by a Democratic Congress under a RepublicanPresident -- has come under attack from the far right. Time and again, PresidentClinton and the Democratic Party have stood firm against this onslaught. The Republican Congress, under Senator Dole and Speaker Gingrich, votedto cut environmental enforcement by 25 percent. President Clinton and Democratsin Congress said no. We believe government has a responsibility to enforcethe laws that help keep toxic chemicals from our water, pesticides fromour food, and smog from our air. The Republican Congress, under Senator Dole and Speaker Gingrich, letlobbyists for the polluters write their own loopholes into bills to weakenlaws that protect the health and safety of our children. President Clintonand Democrats in Congress said no. We believe America's elected officialshave a responsibility to protect America's families from threats to theirhealth, and that trust must never be abdicated -- especially not by placingcontrol of environmental safeguards in the hands of the very polluters thosesafeguards are meant to keep in line. The Republican Congress, under Senator Dole and Speaker Gingrich, triedto make taxpayers pick up the tab for toxic wastes, and let polluters whocaused the problem and can afford to fix it off the hook. President Clintonand Democrats in Congress said no. We believe America should insist thattoxic waste cleanup is paid for by those responsible for it in the firstplace -- and not foisted off on the taxpayers. In the last four years, President Clinton and Vice President Gore havetaken strong action to make our air and water cleaner. They reformed theSuperfund program -- in each of the last two years nearly as many toxicdumps were cleaned as in the previous decade. They dramatically strengthenedCommunity Right-to-Know efforts, because Americans should be informed abouttoxic chemicals being released into the air and water so they can take stepsto protect themselves and their families. They took measures to cut toxicair pollution from chemical plants by 90 percent, and after years of Republicanneglect they cleaned up hundreds of nuclear weapons sites and are committedto finishing the job. Today's Democratic Party knows that we can protect the environment andexpand the economy. We believe we can create more jobs over the long runby cleaning the environment. We want to challenge businesses and communitiesto take more initiative in protecting the environment, and we want to makeit easier for them to do it. President Clinton and Vice President Gore launchedProject XL which tells businesses: If you can find a cheaper, more efficientway than government regulations require to meet even tougher pollution goals,do it -- as long as you do it right. This new approach offers business flexibility,incentives, and accountability. Environmental protection should include more education on compliancefor small and medium sized business, more strategies to increase compliancefor all businesses, and tough enforcement -- including criminal prosecution-- for those who put human health and the environment at risk. We are committed to protecting the majestic legacy of our National Parksand enhancing recreational opportunities; restoring the Florida Everglades;preserving our wildlife refuges and fighting off any effort to open theArctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. We will be goodstewards of our old-growth forests, oppose new offshore oil drilling andmineral exploration and production in our nation's many environmentallycritical areas, and protect our oceans from oil spills and the dumping oftoxic and radioactive waste. The President and Vice President announced an historic partnership withthe Big Three American automakers to develop the technology to produce carsup to three times more fuel efficient than those made today -- cleaner carsfor a cleaner environment. We will continue to support responsible recycling,and encourage energy efficiency that makes our economy more efficient andless reliant on foreign oil. We believe that investments in better masstransit, cleaner cars, and renewable energy sources are good for the environmentand good for the economy. After years in which Republicans neglected the global environment, theClinton Administration has made America a leader in the fight to meet environmentalchallenges that transcend national borders and require global cooperation.The Clinton-Gore Administration led the world in calling for a global banon ocean-dumping of low-level radioactive waste and for a legally bindingtreaty to phase out persistent organic pollutants such as DDT and PCBs.We will seek a strong international agreement to further reduce greenhousegas emissions worldwide. We are committed to preserving the planet's biodiversity,repairing the depleted ozone layer. and working with other nations to stabilizepopulation growth. Democrats recognize that sustainable development is the key to protectingthe environment and promoting economic growth. That is why the Clinton-GoreAdministration has reformed our foreign aid programs to focus on sustainabledevelopment. At home, Democrats know that sound economic development meanssound environmental protection. The American community. Today's Democratic Party knows that when Americais divided we will likely fail, but when America is united we will alwaysprevail. Americans will always have differences, and when we reach acrossthose differences, we are stronger for it. And we share an abiding set ofvalues that define us as Americans. Our task is to draw strength from both-- from our great diversity and our constant values -- to fashion the futurewe want for our children. Fighting discrimination and protecting civil rights. Today's DemocraticParty knows we must renew our efforts to stamp out discrimination and hatredof every kind, wherever and whenever we see it. We deplore the recent waveof burnings that has targeted African-American churches in the South, aswell as other houses of worship across the country, and we have establisheda special task force to help local communities catch and prosecute thoseresponsible, prevent further arsons, and rebuild their churches. We mustremember we do not have an American to waste. We continue to lead the fightto end discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religion, age, ethnicity,disability, and sexual orientation. The Democratic Party has always supportedthe Equal Rights Amendment, and we are committed to ensuring full equalityfor women. We support continued efforts, like the Employment Non-DiscriminationAct, to end discrimination against gay men and lesbians and further theirfull inclusion in the life of the nation. Over the last four years, President Clinton and the Democrats have workedaggressively to enforce the letter and spirit of civil rights law. The Presidentand Vice President remain committed to an Administration that looks likeAmerica, and we are proud of the Administration's extraordinary judicialappointments -- they are both more diverse and more qualified than any previousAdministration. We know there is still more we can do to ensure equal opportunityfor all Americans, so all people willing to work hard can build a strongfuture. President Clinton has led the way in reforming affirmative actionso that it works, it is improved, and promotes opportunity, but does notaccidentally hold others back in the process. When it comes to affirmativeaction, we should mend it, not end it. Religious freedom. Today's Democratic Party understands that all Americanshave a right to express their faith. The Constitution prohibits the stateestablishment of religion, and it protects the free exercise of religion.The President fought for and signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act,to reaffirm the great protection the Constitution gives to religious expression,and to recognize the historic role people of faith have played in America.Americans have a right to express their love of God in public, and we applaudthe President's work to ensure that children are not denied private religiousexpression in school. Whenever the religious rights of our children -- orany American -- are threatened, we will stand against it. Responsibility to our community and our country. Today's Democratic Partybelieves every American has a duty and a responsibility to give somethingback to their community and their country. In the past three years, 45,000Americans have performed national service as part of the AmeriCorps program PresidentClinton and the Democrats fought so hard to create -- and we commend SenatorGrassley and other Republicans who joined a bipartisan effort to preserveAmeriCorps when Speaker Gingrich's House tried to kill it. We applaud the American spirit of voluntarism and charity. As we balancethe budget, we must work even harder in our own lives to live up to theduties we owe one another. We must shrink the government, but we cannotshrink from our challenges. We believe every school and college in Americashould make service a part of its basic ethic, and we want to expand nationalservice by helping communities give scholarships to high school studentsfor community service. We challenge Americans in all walks of life to makea new commitment to taking responsibility for themselves, their families,their communities, and their country. If we do our job, we will make the next American century as great aseach one that has come before it. We will enter the 21st century with theAmerican Dream alive for all, with America still the world's strongest forcefor peace and freedom, and with the American community coming together,enriched by our diversity and stronger than ever. America's best days lie ahead, as we renew our historic pledge to upholdand advance the promise of America -- One nation, under God, indivisible,with liberty and justice for all.