[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 7 (Thursday, January 12, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S895-S898]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


          SENATOR KENNEDY'S SPEECH TO THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB

  Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, yesterday, one of our colleagues made a 
speech at the National Press Club that deserves the attention of all 
Senators.
  Senator Kennedy spoke of the timeless values and enduring ideals that 
Democrats share with the American people. He eloquently described the 
[[Page S896]] successful fights Democrats led in past years to enact 
Social Security and Medicare; the fight for civil rights; the fight for 
an equal opportunity for all America's children, rich and poor alike; 
the great opening of opportunity through higher education; all the 
efforts to preserve what's finest about our national community.
  And he set forth the challenges Americans face today, and the 
Democratic response to those challenges, for the working middle-class 
families of this country.
  I addressed the same concerns last week, on the first day of the 
104th Congress, when I introduced five bills that are directed at the 
goals of increasing the economic and personal security of working 
families, strengthening of economic foundations on which American 
prosperity rests, and reforming the Congress to reduce the influence of 
money in politics.
  Senator Kennedy spoke with the special passion that only he brings to 
politics, a passion that throws into sharp relief Democratic goals and 
the principles by which Democrats have sought those goals throughout 
this century.
  I believe his words deserve a wider audience, so I ask unanimous 
consent that following my remarks, the full text of Senator Kennedy's 
statement be reproduced in the Congressional Record.
  There being no objection, the speech was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

  Address of Senator Edward M. Kennedy: ``What Democrats Should Fight 
                 for--Principles is the Best Politics''

       I want to thank Gil Klein for that generous introduction, 
     and I am grateful to the Press Club for the opportunity to 
     address you today.
       I come here as a Democrat. I reject such qualifiers as New 
     Democrat or Old Democrat or Neo-Democrat. I am committed to 
     the enduring principles of the Democratic Party, and I am 
     proud of its great tradition of service to the people who are 
     the heart and strength of this nation--working families and 
     the middle class.
       I would have lost in Massachusetts if I had done what 
     Democrats who were defeated in other parts of the country too 
     often tried to do.
       I was behind in mid-September. But I believe I won because 
     I ran for health reform, not away from it. I ran for a 
     minimum wage increase, not against it. I continued to talk 
     about issues like jobs, aid to education, and job training. 
     And I attacked Republican proposals to tilt the tax code to 
     the most privileged of our people.
       I stood against limiting welfare benefits if a mother has 
     another child, and I will stand against any other harsh 
     proposals that aim at the mother but hit and hurt innocent 
     children. I spoke out for gun control, and against 
     reactionary Republican proposals to abandon crime prevention 
     as a weapon in the war on crime. I rejected the Republican 
     double standard that welcomes government as benign when it 
     subsidizes the affluent, but condemns government as the enemy 
     when it helps the poor.
       I ran as a Democrat in belief as well as name. This turned 
     out to be not only right in principle--it was also the best 
     politics.
       I talked about the issues that mattered to working 
     families, and about what I had tried to do to address their 
     needs and concerns. I take some sense of pride and 
     satisfaction that exit polling showed 89 percent of 
     Massachusetts voters--by far the highest percentage in the 
     country--said they had learned enough about the candidates 
     and the issues in the Senate race to make an informed choice.
       Our issues, if we defend them, are popular. The working 
     families in New Bedford, Fall River, Lowell, Lawrence, 
     Springfield and Worcester in my
      state voted for me, and they have the same concerns as 
     working families throughout the country.
       The caricatures of us by the other side will be 
     ineffective--as long as we vigorously oppose them and expose 
     them, instead of sheepishly acquiescing in them. If Democrats 
     run for cover, if we become pale carbon copies of the 
     opposition and try to act like Republicans, we will lose--and 
     deserve to lose. As I have said on other occasions, Democrats 
     must be more than warmed-over Republicans. The last thing 
     this country needs is two Republican parties.
       If we fall for our opponents' tactics, if we listen to 
     those who tell us to abandon health reform, or slash student 
     loans and children's programs, or engage in a bidding war to 
     see who can be the most anti-government or the most laissez-
     faire, we will have only ourselves to blame. As Democrats, we 
     can win, but only if we stand for something.
       The election last November was not a ratification of 
     Republican solutions. By the narrowest of margins, they 
     gained control of Congress. But less than 40 percent of 
     eligible voters turned out on election day, and only slightly 
     more than half of those--about 20 percent--cast ballots for 
     Republicans. Some mandate!
       As the current controversy over the motor voter law 
     demonstrates, Republicans thrive by depressing voter turnout. 
     Intensity matters for Democrats. Turnout will certainly be 
     higher in 1996--fifty or sixty percent higher. We must stand 
     our Democratic ground. We must fight for the ideals that are 
     the very reason for our party's being. We must prove to 
     working families and average citizens that we are on their 
     side, fighting hard for them. If we do, then Democrats will 
     turn out and come home in 1996. The defeat of 1994 will be 
     history, and we will be back, stronger than ever--not stale 
     from the past, but renewed for the future.
       But to achieve that victory, we must not repeat the 
     mistakes of the past. We must make explicit to the American 
     people our core values and beliefs which form the basis of 
     our political philosophy and underlie our legislative 
     proposals--specifically and most important, that we as 
     Americans, with all our diversity, share a common purpose, a 
     common sense of family, neighborhood, community and country, 
     of fairness, responsibility, and decency.
       Unfortunately, we have failed in the past to make these 
     vital and important points as clearly as we should. We 
     Democrats have always considered family, community, faith and 
     love of country to be core values--the foundation upon which 
     all of our proposals are based. But we allowed Republicans to 
     take these values as their own. We assumed too quickly that 
     our commitment to such values was self-evident in the 
     proposals we made and the legislation we passed. We were 
     wrong, and we paid a price because of it.
       So let me set the record straight. Family, community, love 
     of country, fairness, responsibility--all of these values 
     underlie the philosophy of the Democratic Party. And these 
     are the values that underlie and must underlie all of our 
     legislative proposals.
       This is not to say, however, that I believe these core 
     values should be used as a superficial rationale for bumper 
     sticker solutions to the complex problems we face. No, these 
     core values require us to reject simple, easy answers which 
     may make us feel good today, but do absolutely nothing to 
     solve these problems. Our values oblige us to address these 
     problems in a thoughtful and productive way.
       We are, without apology, the party that believes in 
     assisting the poor and the disabled and the disadvantaged--
     but not to the detriment of the hard-working middle class, 
     which is justifiably frustrated and angry. The feel left out 
     and left behind, because they know they are losing ground. 
     They see the wealthiest Americans becoming wealthier. They 
     see the poorest Americans being taken care of by society's 
     safety net--which their tax dollars have put in place.
       Americans are angry, and rightly so. Rapid economic change 
     and surging global competition have made many jobs and people 
     less secure. The vast majority of Americans are working 
     harder and making less. Yet fair reward for work has always 
     been essential to their hope of creating better lives for 
     their families and their children.
       As Democrats, we must address that anger and frustration. 
     But the answer is not to create larger problems by 
     dismantling the safety net, leaving the poor to fend for 
     themselves. Such a result is not only inhumane, it is wrong 
     and destructive to our country, our communities, and our 
     values.
       Nor is the solution to give more tax breaks to the 
     wealthiest Americans, in hope that something will trickle 
     down to the middle class. This country was founded on equal 
     opportunity for all, not unequal opportunity for some.
       Instead, we must be more responsive and give a greater 
     helping hand to working families and the middle class. In 
     this central battle for their minds and hearts, heritage and 
     history are on our side. Recall the great victorious battles 
     of the past--for Social Security and Medicare, for the 
     minimum wage and the rights of workers, for civil rights and 
     equal rights, for protection of the environment, for a Head 
     Start for every child and the education of all children 
     regardless of their parents' income, for family and medical 
     leave, for opportunity for women and a woman's right to 
     choose. By any standard, these were extraordinary 
     achievements. And all of them were won because they were 
     sought and fought for by members of the Democratic Party.
       Let us not forget that many of these measures, which the 
     American people now accept as part of our way of life, were 
     opposed at the time by the majority of Republicans in 
     Congress. Democrats bled--and suffered lasting battle scars 
     for these victories. But there are few if any Republicans who 
     would refight them or repeal them now.
       These historic victories strengthened families, 
     strengthened communities, and brought Americans together. 
     They reflect the fundamental dedication of the Democratic 
     Party to a sense of progress that embraces all Americans. Our 
     achievements remind us of our roots, inspire us to fight 
     harder now, and give us a credibility and a vision that 
     history denies Republicans in fighting for the future.
       Surely, the challenges we face in the 1990's are no greater 
     than those we faced in other years. People want government to 
     be more responsive to their problems and more effective in 
     resolving them. I'm talking about basic things that make a 
     difference in people's lives. A strong growing economy. A 
     clear commitment to keep the current recovery going, and to 
     keep the deficit heading down.Good jobs and decent wages 
     where hard 
     [[Page S897]] work pays off in rising standards of living, 
     not falling farther behind. Safe streets and neighborhoods. 
     Schools that give students a good education. Child care and 
     health care that are accessible and affordable to all. 
     Rekindling the sense of community and patriotism, of shared 
     values and individual responsibility, of service to others--
     to neighborhoods and the nation alike.
       These ideals are, have always been, and must continue to be 
     our Democratic priorities. And we made more progress on them 
     in the last two years than most voters ever knew on election 
     day.
       But there is no profit in endlessly regretting the denial 
     of credit to President Clinton and the Democratic Party for a 
     remarkable record of achievement.
       One reason for the lack of credit is that the President and 
     the Democratic Congress took on a almost unprecedented array 
     of tough challenges, and did not win every battle. Another 
     reason is that we live in a period of vast economic and 
     social transformation, in which the politics of fear is 
     easily marshaled to overrun the politics of hope.
       And another reason, I am convinced, is a Republican 
     strategy of obstruction, distortion, and massive personal 
     attack on the President and the First Lady. In the wake of 
     this election, Democrats need to fight back for our beliefs, 
     not turn our back on the Clinton Administration.
       Blaming Bill Clinton by some in our party comes with ill 
     grace from those who abandoned him on critical votes in the 
     last Congress, then ran from him in the campaign--and then 
     lost, often by wide margins. Now they come forward to 
     advocate a strategy discredited by their own defeats.
       My fundamental recommendation to the President is that he 
     stay the course of change and do what he thinks is right. My 
     advice to my fellow Democrats is that we work with the 
     President for change--instead of seeking to change our 
     principles, or distance ourselves from him.
       No one wants a repeat of the Republican tactic in 1994 that 
     made the ``G'' in G.O.P. stand for gridlock. We must try to 
     reach across party lines--and build bipartisan coalitions to 
     do the things the nation needs and deserves. This is an 
     obligation on both sides, Republicans as well as Democrats. 
     We must never forget that it takes two parties to be 
     bipartisan.
       I believe in free enterprise--but I believe in active 
     government too. A practical way to blend them both and make 
     government more effective is through what I have called 
     public enterprise--using market forces wherever possible, not 
     asking taxpayers to blindly pay for programs, but insisting 
     that programs be genuine investments in a brighter future, 
     and produce results commensurate with their cost.
       There is no doubt that many programs are not successful. A 
     federal program is not the solution to every problem. But 
     there continues to be an important federal role in solving 
     the problems of our society by investing in people and the 
     infrastructure needed for our country to succeed and our 
     citizens to thrive. To believe otherwise is hostile to the 
     basic values of our country and to the historic concept of 
     ``We the People'' in our Constitution. We must not rob the 
     people of the resource of government. It is their government, 
     and we must make it work for them.
       We do need to streamline government and make it more 
     responsible to average Americans. But as President Clinton 
     said last month, people want government to be lean, not mean. 
     There is a large difference between reinventing government 
     and rejecting it--and an even larger difference between using 
     government to promote the general welfare and misusing it to 
     pander to the powerful and punish the powerless.
       If we keep these truths in mind, we can find real solutions 
     that work for health care, schools, and jobs, and achieve a 
     rising standard of living for all. We can deal effectively 
     with crime, welfare, race, and immigration--instead of 
     allowing our opponents to keep on welding grievances, anger,
      suspicion, and even outright bigotry into weapons of mass 
     destruction of their next campaigns.
       Democrats can win the current debate on the budget and on 
     tax relief for the middle class. Republicans can disguise 
     their intentions all they want. But at the heart of the 
     Republican plan are deep reductions in Medicare and Medicaid, 
     and lavish tax cuts that favor the wealthy--especially their 
     capital gains tax cut, the classic Republican tax break for 
     the rich--trickle down economics at its worst. That is not 
     what the 1994 elections were about, and the Republicans and 
     the voters know it.
       We must also resist our opponents's mindless anti-
     government vendetta against regulation--a rhetoric leading to 
     an across-the-board assault on government that hides a 
     multitude of injustices and indifferences.
       Republicans wanted to get government out of the savings and 
     loan industry in the worst way in 1980s--and they did. 
     Deregulation ran amuck. The S & L mess became one of the most 
     serious scandals in our history, costing taxpayers more than 
     a hundred and fifty billion dollars.
       So my advice to Republicans is to make sure there is water 
     in the pool before they leap off their pro-business anti-
     regulation diving board. Government is there for a reason--to 
     help people, including the middle class.
       There are mounting needs and frustrations in this land. But 
     it will only make things worse, not better, to shred the 
     safety net, or deregulate health and safety. Nostalgia for a 
     past that never was is not a policy for the future.
       Where do we go from here? Let me outline some key 
     priorities that should be part of our Democratic agenda for 
     1995, because they are part of our strategy to strengthen and 
     invest in the community we call America.
       No issue better represents the commitment of the Democratic 
     Party to strengthen families and communities than the drive 
     for comprehensive health reform. It is a total misreading of 
     the election--and a deliberate misreading of the public 
     will--to include this issue is no longer important or urgent.
       For some in Congress, with their blue chip coverage under 
     the federal government plan, health reform may be only a 
     political game, where points are won or lost. But to the 
     majority of Americans, it is a continuing worsening problem, 
     where their health, their children and their family, their 
     financial security, and often their best lives are at stake.
       The real value of the average working family paycheck has 
     been stagnant for many years, but the share that goes for 
     health has soared. Excessive inflation in health costs means 
     less and less of the paycheck is available for everything 
     else. Millions of working men and women risk losing the 
     insurance they have, if they change or lose their job. And 
     for too many senior citizens and persons with disabilities, 
     the high cost of prescription drugs and long term care has 
     broken the promise of Social Security and Medicare.
       Democrats fought for health reform in the last Congress, 
     but we did not fight well. We made serious mistakes that 
     contributed to our failure. But I am certain that in large 
     part we were defeated because of the cynical Republican 
     calculation that successful health reform would benefit 
     Democrats at the polls and thwart Republican election goals. 
     And so they settled on a strategy of relentless obstruction.
       No one can know for sure. But I believe voters would have 
     rallied to Democrats in 1994 if we had gone down fighting as 
     hard as we could for health reform. Instead, we engaged in a 
     search for a phantom compromise that our opponents never 
     intended to achieve. We allowed the great debate in Congress 
     to end without a vote--with a whimper, not a bang--and we 
     must not make that mistake again.
       Now, Republicans have had their election--and their 
     victory. I ask them--and challenge them--to join us in 
     fashioning a health bill and enacting it into law in 1995. 
     Sit down with us for real. Get serious about coming to 
     agreement. Bring Harry and Louise if you like--but let's 
     expose special interest pleading for what it is. Shape a 
     compromise that deals realistically with the problem, rather 
     than treating each offer of compromise as a pretext for new 
     demands--which is what happened last year.
       It would be nice if the Republican Contract with America 
     contained even a hint of this simple pledge--to give every 
     American the same health care that the newly-elected signers 
     of the Contract are receiving from the federal government. We 
     are now making Congress abide by the same laws we pass for 
     others. Why not give the American people the benefit of the 
     same laws that Congress passes for itself?
       A second major challenge, if we are serious about 
     revitalizing our communities and investing in families and 
     the nation's future, is reform in job education.
       Today, we have scores of separate job training programs 
     costing billions of dollars a year--and workers are not 
     getting their money's worth. President Clinton and the 
     Democratic Leadership Council are right to call for vouchers 
     and greater reliance on market forces, so that workers can 
     circumvent the bureaucracy and choose the training they want.
       We must also focus more on outcomes. Too often, the path of 
     least resistance has been to create more and more training 
     programs--without the follow-through to see that they succeed 
     in actually preparing people for jobs and placing them in 
     jobs. We must reward those that are successful--and de-fund 
     those that fall short.
       We must do more to redress the widening gap between soaring 
     profits and stagnant wages. We must insist that firms provide 
     training for their workers. I make no apology for supporting 
     a mandate in an area like this. Often, a mandate is the only 
     practical way to assure that free enterprise is fair as well 
     as free. Through the minimum wage, we ask business to invest 
     in the lowest paid workers, and the time has come to ask 
     business to invest in all workers by providing a minimum 
     level of training.
       Companies make choices. Some firms train their workers 
     well, upgrade their skills, and offer good benefits. They 
     treat workers as valuable resources, and still earn good 
     profits. Other companies rely on a harsher strategy that 
     exploits workers. They downsize. They lay off good workers. 
     They hire part-time employees to avoid paying benefits. They 
     cut corners on safety.
       Congress should do more, not less, to encourage companies 
     to do the right thing and prevent unfair competition from 
     those that don't. Mandates make sense in areas like job 
     training and health care. We must break the iron grip of a 
     Gresham's Law of Business, in which irresponsible firms drive 
     out firms attempting to be responsible.
       A third major challenge to invest in our future and 
     strengthen our American community relates to education. With 
     college costs 
     [[Page S898]] rising--over $8,000 a year at many public 
     universities and over $20,000 at many private
      colleges--the American dream is too often an impossible 
     dream for many families.
       Let's hold the line against even one cent of Republican 
     cuts in college aid. How dare anyone offer a Contract with 
     America that professes allegiance to the middle class, but 
     that would slam college doors in the face of their children. 
     Basic values are at stake. Let's strengthen the Department of 
     Education not abolish it. Let's oppose and defeat education 
     cuts that would be nothing more than federal aid for 
     ignorance.
       Finally, a top priority for this Congress is reform of the 
     lobbying and campaign finance laws. No change will do more to 
     strengthen our American community and make greater progress 
     possible on every other issue than breaking the stranglehold 
     of special interest groups and restoring government that 
     truly represents ``We the People.''
       We must end the power of special interest money and 
     political action committees, and take elections off the 
     auction block. We must make lobbyists disclose what they're 
     doing in the back rooms to subvert the public interest. It is 
     time to end the lavish gifts, meals, entertainment and 
     expensive trips paid for by special interests.
       A sunshine law for lobbyists will pay a dividend to you in 
     the press as well, because it will enable you to expose what 
     really happens in the ongoing battles between the special 
     interests and the public interest.
       These are major items on a Democratic agenda for recovery 
     in 1995. But in a larger sense, they are at the heart of a 
     constructive and needed American agenda to restore the sense 
     of family and community, of caring for one another, and of 
     building a brighter future that will once again reflect this 
     nation at its best.
       In all this, we must understand that sometimes the task of 
     a great political party is to face the tide--not just ride 
     with it--and to turn it again in the direction of our deepest 
     convictions. We will lose our way--and our elections--if we 
     abandon our principles and drift with the shifting politics 
     of the moment.
       Let's renew our cause as Democrats. Let's hold our standard 
     high and advance it proudly. Let's be who we are, and not 
     pretend to be something else. And if we do, we will have a 
     strong and winning case to take to the American people in 
     this new Congress and in all the years ahead. The Republican 
     majority will be a transient one, and Democrats will be proud 
     to be Democrats again.
     

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