Reid Lays Out Reform Agenda

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Reid Lays Out Reform Agenda
Democrats Working for America1s Priorities

Today at the National Press Club, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid
introduced a common sense agenda for the common good. After moderation
triumphed over polarization in the Senate, Democrats are moving forward with
a positive agenda for the American people.

The entire text of the speech is below.


Remarks by Senator Harry Reid
3The Use of Power: An Agenda for Reform2
National Press Club
Washington, DC
Thursday, May 26, 2005


Remarks as prepared for delivery:

This has been an important week for America. The defeat of the nuclear
option was not a victory for any party, but a victory for our Constitution
and our country.

As we said from the beginning of this struggle, our fight wasn1t over some
obscure rule of the Senate. It was a fight for Americans1 fundamental
rights and against the abuse of power.

And I'm here today to say that fight has not ended. It is only beginning.

This week threatened to be one that would undermine our democratic
traditions. Instead, it marks a moment when we can finally turn away from
government by polarization and build a government for the people.

Time and again, the American people have seen George Bush and the Republican
leadership choose between their partisan interests and the people1s
interest. And every time, they have chosen an ideological agenda over an
American agenda.

When George Bush and the Republican leadership make their decisions, the
whispered wishes of a few right wing activists drown out the pleas of
America1s families.

But if the Washington Republicans stopped to listen to the American people,
this is what they1d hear:

Americans are sick and tired of getting caught in the crossfire of partisan
sniping.

Americans want us to put the common sense center ahead of nonsense .

Americans want us to bring people together, to focus on what we owe to one
another, and the responsibilities we share.

And Americans want their agenda - their jobs, their health care, their
security - to get back on the front burners of the nation1s agenda.

Americans are coming to realize this Republican Congress is out of touch
with the real problems of working families and that the agenda the
Republicans are advancing is at odds with what people in this country really
care about.

We Democrats have something better to offer. A reform agenda that will
cleanse Washington give power to the people - not special interests and make
sure that everyday Americans and their concerns get back on the
Congressional calendar.

Strengthening our national defense. Rebuilding our economy. Providing
families with affordable health care. Making America energy independent.
Securing our retirement. That1s our agenda. That1s America1s agenda. But
the Republican Congress has put all this and more on hold. I hope that now
we can finally turn to the people's business.

Six moths have passed since this Republican Congress began and here1s their
record:

They spent precious days trying to overturn constitutional principles.

They tried to overturn the decisions of courts and duly elected legislatures
in order to insert themselves into one family1s tragedy in Florida.

They all-but disbanded the House Ethics Committee in order to protect the
Republican leader from scrutiny - but then were forced to reverse themselves
under public pressure.

But perhaps the greatest abuse of power is to have the ability to help but
choose to do nothing.

While gas prices have shot past $2 a gallon, this Republican Congress did
nothing to lower prices and give families some relief.

At a time that parents are having to tell their children that the family
can1t afford to send them to college, this Republican Congress rejected a
proposal to make college more affordable.

And even though we have gone eight years without an increase in the minimum
wage - the second longest period ever - this Republican Congress rejected an
increase that would give the hardest working Americans the chance to provide
for their families.

Whether it is rejecting Democratic initiatives to provide medical care to
veterans or to return to fiscal responsibility, this Republican Congress1s
record is clear: when it comes to answering the call of the far right, it1s
3I1ll do it ASAP.2 When it comes to doing the people1s business, it1s 3take
a message.2

Americans deserve a Congress that will use its power to advance American
values not a Congress that abuses its power to advance the agenda of a
radical few.

We need a common sense reform agenda for the common good. And that starts
with defending our nation and making it more secure. As of this month, more
time has passed since 9-11 than the time between Pearl Harbor and the defeat
of Japan. During those three years and eight months - sixty years ago - we
invaded North Africa and Normandy. We freed people from the Philippines to
France. Hitler lay dead and Tojo was in chains. We had defeated fascism
around the world and had begun to build the new United Nations.

But today Osama bin Laden is still on the loose, our homeland is still not
secure, we1re still not energy independent, and - in many ways - Americans
are less safe than we were before 9-11.

Democrats are the party of national security. And we have an agenda to
defend America from danger. We stand for increasing our military strength
by 40,000 troops so we can wage the War on Terror on every front. We stand
for securing our borders and bridges, our seaports and airports, our nuclear
and chemical plants. We stand for tracking down and securing the loose
nuclear weapons that threaten our people. And we will honor our troops and
their families by making sure they get the benefits they have earned.

Our common sense reform agenda will take our economy from sluggishness to
prosperity. A prosperity where a rising tide lifts the boat of every
American who is willing to work hard.

When it comes to the economy, the Washington Republicans offer the same old
answers and then try to change the subject. But the growing trade deficit
and a runaway national debt that puts us into hock to China and Japan show
that this Administration and this Congress have lost control over America1s
economic destiny.

Democrats stand ready to win back America1s prosperity. We1ll end the tax
breaks that encourage companies to take jobs overseas. Restore fiscal
responsibility. Spur innovation. Open the doors to college. And make work
pay more than welfare.

And if we want our companies to be ready to compete in the world economy, we
have to hold down health care costs. Today, Starbucks spends more on health
care than on coffee. Today, GM spends more on health care than on steel.
Today, we can1t ask our companies to go head to head with foreign
competitors with this burden on their backs.

Our families will never get ahead while they are getting battered down by
health care costs that total $10,000 a year.

And our country will never be what it should be as long as the color of your
skin or the size of your bank account determines whether your children can
see a doctor. We can do better for them. And they are expecting nothing
less from us.

Many of the jobs of the future will be jobs that come from new energy saving
industries. Today, Japan1s and South Korea1s head start on innovation means
they are running away with those jobs. We have to get back in that race.

Americans are getting fed-up every time they go for a fill-up. They know
that our reliance on Mideast oil is making America less safe. They want us
to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and make this nation energy
independent. We can get there - but only if we start putting America1s
security and prosperity first.

And Democrats will continue to stop George Bush from privatizing Social
Security while we say 3yes2 to shoring up Americans1 pensions and making our
retirement system more secure.

This is our agenda - an agenda for reform, an agenda to do the people1s
business. And for them we will continue to fight.

The lines that divide Congress should be between right and wrong, not right
and left.

Our enemies should not be those in the other party, but the common threats
that face the American community.

Our goal should not be winning the news cycle, but breaking the vicious
cycle of political battle and winning a future where all Americans can live
out their dreams.

The defeat of the nuclear option shows what is possible when people of good
faith - Republicans and Democrats - join hands and put principles ahead of
partisanship.

This doesn1t have to be an isolated incident - a momentary ceasefire before
Washington1s trench warfare starts up again. Rather it can be a new
beginning. Because on issue after issue, there is a common sense center in
America that knows what it believes and can1t understand why this Republican
Congress won1t get the job done.

Just as there was a bipartisan majority that could not stomach the nuclear
option, there is a bipartisan consensus for action on many fronts. And all
we need for progress is for President Bush and the Republican leadership to
let America1s agenda get its day.

The American people are demanding it. And Democrats are going to be
standing in the common sense center to make sure that we get there.

In this Congress, there is a bipartisan consensus for raising the minimum
wage - but the White House and the Republican leadership stand in the way.

There is a bipartisan consensus for allowing the prescription drugs to be
safely reimported - but the White House and the Republican leadership stand
in the way.

And there is a bipartisan consensus for stem cell research that has the
potential to help cure diseases such as diabetes and help save American
lives. From Nancy Reagan to Orrin Hatch, Republicans have broken ranks to
join the common sense center on this important issue.

For four years, President Bush has not vetoed a single piece of legislation.
Even when this Republican Congress sent him bill after bill weighed down
with pork or special interest subsidies or runaway spending, he chose to
keep his veto pen in the drawer.

But now, he is threatening to veto stem cell research. Not because most
Americans oppose it. They support it across party lines. President Bush is
threatening to veto it because the far right is demanding he do so.

I ask President Bush to step away from the far right and join us in this
common sense center, to show he will be part of this new spirit of national
consensus by letting stem cell research go forward.

This week1s events mark our chance to forge a common sense center that
embraces an American agenda for reform. As Democratic Leader, I will be
working aggressively to advance the work the American people sent us to do.
And I hope that Republicans of good faith will join with us to get this job
done: To strengthen our national security. To make America energy
independent. To restore economic prosperity and opportunity. To help our
families and business afford their health care. To boost Americans1
retirement security and protect their Social Security.

In the coming weeks and months, I1ll have more to say on all these fronts.
But I pledge today, that in everything we do, the lesson of this week - that
we can build on the common sense center - will remain front and center.

The nuclear option could have been another long, sad stride down an ever
more slippery slope toward partisan crossfire and abuse of power.

Instead, its defeat marks the moment we turned around and began to climb the
hill toward a common politics of national purpose and a rebuilding of
America's promise.

This journey is our cause - and reaching the top of that hill will mark our
real victory.

Thank you.

[sendero]

1. Nice...

... some good themes there.

[feelthebreeze]

2. kick