Hon. Patricia Madrid, Co-Chair, Democratic Party Platform Committee
Monday, August 25, 2008 at 04:05 PM I am very proud to have been elected the first Latina attorney general in America. I bring greetings from beautiful New Mexico, a battleground state where we know that Barack Obama will lead the Democrats this fall in renewing the promise of America. I am proud that this year the Democratic Party opened up the platform process and invited Americans in. There were over 1,600 platform hearings in every state of the union. Over 30,000 people attended. This platform reflects their concerns and their hopes. We Democrats believe that each succeeding generation should have the opportunity, through hard work, service and sacrifice, to enjoy a brighter future than the last. But today, the American dream is at risk. Incomes are down and foreclosures are up. Millions of our fellow citizens have no health insurance. We cannot afford more of the same. In our platform, we pledge that Barack Obama will bring the change we need to renew the American dream with the same new hope and new ideas that propelled FDR towards the New Deal and JFK to the New Frontier. We will jumpstart the economy, providing an energy rebate and keeping families in their homes. We will invest in America again, in clean energy technology, world-class education and infrastructure, so that our economy can generate the good, high-paying jobs of the future. We will end the outrage of health care that’s not affordable and not available to everyone, and help Americans save for retirement and protect Social Security. And we will harness American ingenuity to free this nation from the tyranny of oil. Today, in our platform, we also pledge that Barack Obama will bring us the change we need to renew American democracy. In recent years, we’ve seen an Administration put forward a false choice between the liberties we cherish and the security we demand. The Democratic Party rejects this false choice. We Democrats in our platform reject illegal wire-tapping of American citizens. We reject the use of national security letters to spy on citizens who are not suspected of a crime. And I’m very proud to say that we reject torture. We Democrats are committed to being smart on crime. That means being tough on violent crime, funding community policing and holding offenders accountable. It also means investing in successful crime prevention. We pledge to enact comprehensive immigration reform in a way that unites this country and doesn’t divide it, reform that solves the problem rather than playing on our worst instincts and fears. America has always been a nation of immigrants. Over the years, millions of people have come here in the hope that in America you can make it if you try. Each successive wave has made our country stronger. Our immigration system is broken. We need comprehensive immigration reform, not just piecemeal local efforts, and that’s the change Barack Obama and Democratic leadership will provide. We believe we must change not just our policies, but our politics as well. That is why we come together not only to prevent a third Bush term, but to change how Washington works. We will shine a light on government spending and Washington lobbying so that every American is empowered to be a watchdog and a whistle blower. We will use technology to allow citizens to participate in their government. We will pay for our new spending, measure results and stop funding programs that don’t work. We’ll end the abuse of no-bid contracts, institute a gift ban and close the revolving door. We support campaign finance reform to reduce the influence of moneyed special interests. This is the essence of what it means to be a patriot: not
only to declare our love of this nation, but to show it. This is the country of Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, Martin Luther King Jr., and César Chávez, people who had the audacity to believe that their country could be a better place and the courage to work to make it so. Today, we can choose to stay the current failed course, or we can choose a path that builds upon the best of what we are. The time for change has come, and America must seize it.