Wesley K. Clark
Remarks for True Values Tour
Tulsa, Oklahoma
January 28, 2004
(As prepared for delivery)
Good morning, Tulsa! It's great to here today, in my first stop after a very successful night in New Hampshire!
For four months now, I've traveled the country, talking to voters, and more importantly, listening to them. And what I'm hearing down here in Oklahoma is no different than what I've heard in New Hampshire and across America: under George W. Bush, America has lost its way. Eight million Americans are out of work. Forty-four million without health care. College costs are through the roof. And twelve million children are living in poverty.
For all his talk about values, George Bush doesn't really seem to lead by them. And I think it's time he did. It's time he remembered the American values that built this country. The true values that make us Americans: patriotism, faith, family, and inclusion.
I'm running for president because I long for a better America.
An America where everyone has a shot at the American dream, no matter where you're from, or what your background is.
An America where families come first, and a good education and top notch health care aren't just luxuries for the chosen few.
An America where we don't just preach our faith - we practice it.
An America where we look up to our leaders, believe in our government, and trust our Commander in Chief.
That's the America I believe in. And I'm running to bring those American values back to the White House. To bring a higher standard of leadership back to Washington.
And it starts here, on this campaign, with all of you.
I should tell you up front, I am not a career politician. I haven't spent years holding hearings and cutting deals with high-priced special interests. Four months ago, when I decided to run, the Washington-types tried to warn me off. They told me to leave politics to the politicians - that I was an outsider, just a soldier from the South. Maybe it's because I've never been in politics, but I don't believe that America is run by politicians in Washington. I believe it's run by people like us, in places like this.
And if there's one thing I learned during my thirty-four years in the Army, it's that real leadership comes from acting and doing. Not talking and debating. It comes from setting real goals, and being held accountable for achieving them. It's about putting the nation's interests above any personal or political interests. And I simply couldn't stand by and watch the country I fought for unravel before my eyes, while the people in Washington did nothing to stop it. I had to stand up for the ideas and the values I believed in.
Today I want to talk to you about some of those values, and how, over the past three years, our President has abandoned them.
First is patriotism. When you're President of the United States, that means, first and foremost, protecting this country and all its citizens - at home and abroad. To do that, we need the strongest armed forces in the world. But we also need to commit ourselves to using force only as a last resort, after we've exhausted all other options.
Unfortunately, our President has a different approach. He took us to war even though there was no connection to September 11th and no imminent threat to the United States. Even though our allies weren't fully on board, and we hadn't exhausted all diplomatic alternatives. Even though we didn't have a plan to win and get our troops home safely. That's not patriotism. It's bad leadership.
And today, even after the capture of Saddam Hussein, our troops are still in harm's way, and al Qaeda is still at large. More than 120,000 service men and women are still in Iraq, placing enormous stress on tens of thousands of families back at home. And more than 500 have been killed -- sixteen in the last week alone.
This simply cannot go on. We need to clean up the mess in Iraq. I've got a success strategy to do just that - to get our soldiers home with Iraq and America standing strong, so we can focus on the war on terrorism and the real enemy: Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda network. We've got to rebuild our alliances and restore America's historic role as a leader around the world. And we've got to give our veterans and soldiers the care and benefits they deserve.
The second value I want to discuss is faith. Not just where you pray, or who you pray to, but the fundamental value all faiths teach: that if you have more in life, if you're more fortunate, or more favored, then you have an obligation to reach out and help those with less.
Growing up in Arkansas, I learned that a lot of people can talk about religion and quote the scriptures, but not everybody practices what they preach.
We're seeing a lot of that today in Washington. Our President talks a lot about leaving no child behind. But since he took office, half a million children have fallen into poverty. He talks a lot about compassion. But his compassion seems to be directed more at the Enrons and Halliburtons of America than at the millions of American families who can't make ends meet.
That's unacceptable. And when I'm in the White House, we're going to reach out to those who are struggling. We're going to lift two million children out of poverty by raising the minimum wage, giving tax relief to hard-pressed families, and providing help with housing, childcare and transportation to those who need it most.
And that brings me to the third value I want to discuss - family values. I know what it's like to struggle to make ends meet - and to watch every penny you have. I didn't grow up with much. My dad died when I was four, and he left us with less than a few months rent. My mom took a job as a secretary just to pay the bills.
We didn't have much more when I was in the Army. For more than half of my thirty-four years, I earned less than $50,000 a year. I spent the summer of my fortieth birthday with my family living in a trailer in the Mohave dessert. So I know what it's like to struggle at the end of every month just to save a few dollars for a rainy day. I know what it's like to drive a car with tape on the muffler because you don't have the money to replace it. It isn't easy. And as president, I will never, ever forget where I'm from and who I'm for -- America's working families. They will be at the heart of every decision I make, starting with the most basic decisions about our economy. Because you can't take care of your family without the opportunity to work and make a decent wage.
But the sad fact is that today, too many Americans are working harder and harder for less and less. Under George W. Bush, the typical working family has seen its income fall by nearly $1,500. And as incomes have fallen, expenses have gone up - way up. The result is that too many families are struggling to make ends meet. The Republicans talk a lot about family values. It's time they started valuing families.
My Families First Tax Reform Plan is going to turn this around. Under my reform plan, families of four making under $50,000 will stop paying income taxes altogether - they will not have to pay a single penny in federal income tax. And all taxpaying families with children making under $100,000 will get a tax cut. The average family will get $1,500 - real money they can use for groceries, prescription drugs, and utility bills. I know how much of a difference $100 a month can make. I've been there. That's why we must give America's working families the tax relief they need and deserve.
And my plan won't increase the deficit by one dime. I'm going to pay for it by closing corporate loopholes and by having families with incomes greater than $1 million a year pay a five percentage point higher tax rate on the amount they earn over a million dollars a year. And we're going to take back the tax cuts George Bush gave the wealthiest Americans - those earning over $200,000 a year - and use that money for job creation.
That's just the beginning. You can't build strong families without basic health care. We're going to extend health insurance coverage to 30 million Americans - including every single American child.
And we're going to give every student who needs it a $6,000 grant for each of the first two years of college, helping an additional one million Americans enroll in college. Because the bottom line is that our children will never compete in the 21st century economy if they don't have a 21st century education.
These are the kind of family values that will unite our country, because strong families are the key to strong communities.
That brings me to the final value I want to talk about today - inclusion, and how we're going to bring people together.
Growing up in Little Rock, we learned about inclusion -- the hard way. I was twelve years old when we had the integration crisis at Central High School, when nine brave young men and women faced down a mob to get their education and educate all of us. It took the 101st Airborne Division to show us that fundamentally we're all alike, and that every single person in America must be treated equally regardless of their race, creed, color, gender, sexual orientation, or any other factor.
That's what we believed in the United States Army. For 34 years, I served with men and women from all backgrounds under one flag: the American flag. And right from the beginning, I knew that our diversity is our greatest strength, and that the wider we open our doors, the stronger we are. That's why I've always stood up for equal opportunity and affirmative action.
And I'm leading this campaign the same way I led in the Army. The doors of my campaign are open to everyone. Because when we take on George Bush this fall, we want everyone to join us, no matter what your party registration says. We want Democrats. We want Independents. We want Republicans too - and we won't even make them repent. There's just too much at stake not to open our Democratic doors to all who share in our values.
That's how our party has succeeded in the past and how it will succeed in the future: by pulling together winning coalitions from across the spectrum. Coalitions of southerners and seniors, of veterans and rural Americans. That's what Franklin Delano Roosevelt did during the New Deal. And what led John F. Kennedy to victory in 1960 and Bill Clinton to the White House in 1992. And, I'm going to build on that same winning strategy in 2004 - on the same coalitions that built our great party -- to send George Bush back to that ranch in Texas.
That's what my campaign for president is all about - bringing those values to Washington. They are the values I lived and led by for thirty-four years in the military -- and the values we need now more than ever to set our country straight.
Let me finish up by saying this: I respect my opponents in this race. But I think that there is one issue above all others in this primary. And that is: Who is best equipped to beat George Bush. In a closely divided country, I think we need someone from the heartland to win. In a country at war, I think we need someone with the experience and understanding to lead. Someone who's been on the frontlines of battle and international diplomacy. In the face of a ruthlessly political President, I think we need someone who knows what he stands for -- who has put his career on the line for what he believes -- to stand up for Americans.
So, if you are happy with the direction of our country, you should support the politicians who are running it. But if you think we can build a better America, and you want someone who is part of the solution, then I am your candidate. If you want a higher standard of leadership back in Washington, then I am your candidate. If you want a leader committed to the national interests, not the special interests ... to open, honest, and accountable government, then I am your candidate. If you want leadership committed to the next generation, not just the next election, then I am your candidate.
Together, with your support, we're going to take America back -- and move our country forward.
Thank you.
http://www.clark04.com/speeches/039/
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