The America We Love– as prepared for delivery

Monday, June 30^th, 2008

Independence, Missouri

 

On a spring morning in April of 1775, a simple band of colonists – farmers and merchants, blacksmiths and printers, men and boys – left their homes and families in Lexington and Concord to take up arms against the tyranny of an Empire. The odds against them, were long and the risks enormous – for even if they survived the battle, any ultimate failure would bring charges of treason, and death by hanging.

On a spring morning in April of 1775, a simple band of colonists – farmers and merchants, blacksmiths and printers, men and boys – left their homes and families in Lexington and Concord to take up arms against the tyranny of an Empire. The odds against them, were long and the risks enormous – for even if they survived the battle, any ultimate failure would bring charges of treason, and death by hanging.

And yet they took that chance. They did so not on behalf of a particular tribe or lineage, but on behalf of a larger idea. The idea of liberty. The idea of God-given, inalienable rights. And with the first shot of that fateful day – a shot heard round the world – the American Revolution, and America’s experiment with democracy, began.

Those men of Lexington and Concord were among our first patriots. And at the beginning of a week when we celebrate the birth of our nation, I think it is fitting to pause for a moment and reflect on the meaning of patriotism – theirs, and ours. We do so in part because we are in the midst of war – more than one and a half million of our finest young men and women have now fought in Iraq and Afghanistan; over 60,000 have been wounded, and over 4,600 have been laid to rest. The costs of war have been great, and the debate surrounding our mission in Iraq has been fierce. It is natural, in light of such sacrifice by so many, to think more deeply about the commitments that bind us to our nation, and to each other.

We reflect on these questions as well because we are in the midst of a presidential election, perhaps the most consequential in generations; a contest that will determine the course of this nation for years, perhaps decades, to come. Not only is it a debate about big issues – health care, jobs, energy, education, and retirement security – but it is also a debate about values. How do we keep ourselves safe and secure while preserving our liberties? How do we restore trust in a government that seems increasingly removed from its people and dominated by special interests? How do we ensure that in an increasingly global economy, the winners maintain allegiance to the less fortunate? And how do we resolve our differences at a time of increasing diversity?

Finally, it is worth considering the meaning of patriotism because the question of who is – or is not – a patriot all too often poisons our political debates, in ways that divide us rather than bringing us together. I have come to know this from my own experience on the campaign trail. Throughout my life, I have always taken my deep and abiding love for this country as a given. It was how I was raised; it is what propelled me into public service; it is why I am running for President. And yet, at certain times over the last sixteen months, I have found, for the first time, my patriotism challenged – at times as a result of my own carelessness, more often as a result of the desire by some to score political points and raise fears about who I am and what I stand for.

So let me say at this at outset of my remarks. I will never question the patriotism of others in this campaign. And I will not stand idly by when I hear others question mine.

My concerns here aren’t simply personal, however. After all, throughout our history, men and women of far greater stature and significance than me have had their patriotism questioned in the midst of momentous debates. Thomas Jefferson was accused by the Federalists of selling out to the French. The anti-Federalists were just as convinced that John Adams was in cahoots with the British and intent on restoring monarchal rule. Likewise, even our wisest Presidents have sought to justify questionable policies on the basis of patriotism. Adams’ Alien and Sedition Act, Lincoln’s suspension of habeas corpus, Roosevelt’s internment of Japanese Americans – all were defended as expressions of patriotism, and those who disagreed with their policies were sometimes labeled as unpatriotic.

In other words, the use of patriotism as a political sword or a political shield is as old as the Republic. Still, what is striking about today’s patriotism debate is the degree to which it remains rooted in the culture wars of the 1960s – in arguments that go back forty years or more. In the early years of the civil rights movement and opposition to the Vietnam War, defenders of the status quo often accused anybody who questioned the wisdom of government policies of being unpatriotic. Meanwhile, some of those in the so-called counter-culture of the Sixties reacted not merely by criticizing particular government policies, but by attacking the symbols, and in extreme cases, the very idea, of America itself – by burning flags; by blaming America for all that was wrong with the world; and perhaps most tragically, by failing to honor those veterans coming home from Vietnam, something that remains a national shame to this day.

Most Americans never bought into these simplistic world-views – these caricatures of left and right. Most Americans understood that dissent does not make one unpatriotic, and that there is nothing smart or sophisticated about a cynical disregard for America’s traditions and institutions. And yet the anger and turmoil of that period never entirely drained away. All too often our politics still seem strapped in these old, threadbare arguments – a fact most evident during our recent debates about the war in Iraq, when those who opposed administration policy were tagged by some as unpatriotic, and a general providing his best counsel on how to move forward inIraqwas accused of betrayal.

Given the enormous challenges that lie before us, we can no longer afford these sorts of divisions. None of us expect that arguments about patriotism will, or should, vanish entirely; after all, when we argue about patriotism, we are arguing about who we are as a country, and more importantly, who we should be. But surely we can agree that no party or political philosophy has a monopoly on patriotism. And surely we can arrive at a definition of patriotism that, however rough and imperfect, captures the best of America’s common spirit.

What would such a definition look like? For me, as for most Americans, patriotism starts as a gut instinct, a loyalty and love for country rooted in my earliest memories. I’m not just talking about the recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance or the Thanksgiving pageants at school or the fireworks on the Fourth of July, as wonderful as those things may be. Rather, I’m referring to the way the American ideal wove its way throughout the lessons my family taught me as a child.

One of my earliest memories is of sitting on my grandfather’s shoulders and watching the astronauts come to shore in Hawaii. I remember the cheers and small flags that people waved, and my grandfather explaining how we Americans could do anything we set our minds to do. That’s my idea of America.

I remember listening to my grandmother telling stories about her work on a bomber assembly-line during World War II. I remember my grandfather handing me his dog-tags from his time in Patton’s Army, and understanding that his defense of this country marked one of his greatest sources of pride. That’s my idea of America.

I remember, when living for four years in Indonesiaas a child, listening to my mother reading me the first lines of the Declaration of Independence – “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness ” I remember her explaining how this declaration applied to every American, black and white and brown alike; how those words, and words of the United States Constitution, protected us from the injustices that we witnessed other people suffering during those years abroad. That’s my idea of America.

As I got older, that gut instinct – that America is the greatest country on earth – would survive my growing awareness of our nation’s imperfections: it’s ongoing racial strife; the perversion of our political system laid bare during the Watergate hearings; the wrenching poverty of the Mississippi Delta and the hills of Appalachia. Not only because, in my mind, the joys of American life and culture, its vitality, its variety and its freedom, always outweighed its imperfections, but because I learned that what makes America great has never been its perfection but the belief that it can be made better. I came to understand that our revolution was waged for the sake of that belief – that we could be governed bylaws, not men; that we could be equal in the eyes of those laws; that we could be free to say what we want and assemble with whomever we want and worship as we please; that we could have the right to pursue our individual dreams but the obligation to help our fellow citizens pursue theirs.

For a young man of mixed race, without firm anchor in any particular community, without even a father’s steadying hand, it is this essential American idea – that we are not constrained by the accident of birth but can make of our lives what we will –that has defined my life, just as it has defined the life of so many other Americans.

That is why, for me, patriotism is always more than just loyalty to a place on a map or a certain kind of people. Instead, it is also loyalty to America’s ideals – ideals for which anyone can sacrifice, or defend, or give their last full measure of devotion. I believe it is this loyalty that allows a country teeming with different races and ethnicities, religions and customs, to come together as one. It is the application of these ideals that separate us from Zimbabwe, where the opposition party and their supporters have been silently hunted, tortured or killed; or Burma, where tens of thousands continue to struggle for basic food and shelter in the wake of a monstrous storm because a military junta fears opening up the country to outsiders; or Iraq, where despite the heroic efforts of our military, and the courage of many ordinary Iraqis, even limited cooperation between various factions remains far too elusive.

I believe those who attack America’s flaws without acknowledging the singular greatness of our ideals, and their proven capacity to inspire a better world, do not truly understand America.

Of course, precisely because America isn’t perfect, precisely because our ideals constantly demand more from us, patriotism can never be defined as loyalty to any particular leader or government or policy. As Mark Twain, that greatest of American satirists and proud son of Missouri, once wrote, “Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” We may hope that our leaders and our government stand up for our ideals, and there are many times in our history when that’s occurred. But when our laws, our leaders or our government are out of alignment with our ideals, then the dissent of ordinary Americans may prove to be one of the truest expression of patriotism.

The young preacher from Georgia, Martin Luther King, Jr., who led a movement to help America confront our tragic history of racial injustice and live up to the meaning of our creed – he was a patriot. The young soldier who first spoke about the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib – he is a patriot. Recognizing a wrong being committed in this country’s name; insisting that we deliver on the promise of our Constitution – these are the acts of patriots, men and women who are defending that which is best in America. And we should never forget that– especially when we disagree with them; especially when they make us uncomfortable with their words.

Beyond a loyalty to America’s ideals, beyond a willingness to dissent on behalf of those ideals, I also believe that patriotism must, if it is to mean anything, involve the willingness to sacrifice – to give up something we value on behalf of a larger cause. For those who have fought under the flag of this nation – for the young veterans I meet when I visit Walter Reed; for those like John McCain who have endured physical torment in service to our country – no further proof of such sacrifice is necessary. And let me also add that no one should ever devalue that service, especially for the sake of a political campaign, and that goes for supporters on both sides.

We must always express our profound gratitude for the service of our men and women in uniform. Period. Indeed, one of the good things to emerge from the current conflict in Iraq has been the widespread recognition that whether you support this war or oppose it, the sacrifice of our troops is always worthy of honor.

For the rest of us– for those of us not in uniform or without loved ones in the military – the call to sacrifice for the country’s greater good remains an imperative of citizenship. Sadly, in recent years, in the midst of war on two fronts, this call to service never came. After 9/11, we were asked to shop. The wealthiest among us saw their tax obligations decline, even as the costs of war continued to mount. Rather than work together to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and thereby lessen our vulnerability to a volatile region, our energy policy remained unchanged, and our oil dependence only grew.

In spite of this absence of leadership from Washington, I have seen a new generation of Americans begin to take up the call. I meet them everywhere I go, young people involved in the project of American renewal; not only those who have signed up to fight for our country in distant lands, but those who are fighting for a better America here at home, by teaching in underserved schools, or caring for the sick in understaffed hospitals, or promoting more sustainable energy policies in their local communities.

I believe one of the tasks of the next Administration is to ensure that this movement towards service grows and sustains itself in the years to come. We should expand AmeriCorps and grow the Peace Corps. We should encourage national service by making it part of the requirement for a new college assistance program, even as we strengthen the benefits for those whose sense of duty has already led them to serve in our military.

We must remember, though, that true patriotism cannot be forced or legislated with a mere set of government programs. Instead, it must reside in the hearts of our people, and cultivated in the heart of our culture, and nurtured in the hearts of our children.

As we begin our fourth century as a nation, it is easy to take the extraordinary nature of America for granted. But it is our responsibility as Americans and as parents to instill that history in our children, both at home and at school. The loss of quality civic education from so many of our classrooms has left too many young Americans without the most basic knowledge of who our forefathers are, or what they did, or the significance of the founding documents that bear their names. Too many children are ignorant of the sheer effort, the risks and sacrifices made by previous generations, to ensure that this country survived war and depression; through the great struggles for civil, and social, and worker’s rights.

It is up to us, then, to teach them. It is up to us to teach them that even though we have faced great challenges and made our share of mistakes, we have always been able to come together and make this nation stronger, and more prosperous, and more united, and more just. It is up to us to teach them that America has been a force for good in the world, and that other nations and other people have looked to us as the last, best hope of Earth. It is up to us to teach them that it is good to give back to one’s community; that it is honorable to serve in the military; that it is vital to participate in our democracy and make our voices heard.

And it is up to us to teach our children a lesson that those of us in politics too often forget: that patriotism involves not only defending this country against external threat, but also working constantly to make America a better place for future generations.

When we pile up mountains of debt for the next generation to absorb, or put off changes to our energy policies, knowing full well the potential consequences of inaction, we are placing our short-term interests ahead of the nation’s long-term well-being. When we fail to educate effectively millions of our children so that they might compete in a global economy, or we fail to invest in the basic scientific research that has driven innovation in this country, we risk leaving behind an America that has fallen in the ranks of the world. Justas patriotism involves each of us making a commitment to this nation that extends beyond our own immediate self-interest, so must that commitment extends beyond our own time here on earth.

Our greatest leaders have always understood this. They’ve defined patriotism with an eye toward posterity. George Washington is rightly revered for his leadership of the Continental Army, but one of his greatest acts of patriotism was his insistence on stepping down after two terms, thereby setting a pattern for those that would follow, reminding future presidents that this is a government of and by and for the people.

Abraham Lincoln did not simply win a war or hold the Union together. In his unwillingness to demonize those against whom he fought; in his refusal to succumb to either the hatred or self-righteousness that war can unleash; in his ultimate insistence that in the aftermath of war the nation would no longer remain half slave and half free; and his trust in the better angels of our nature – he displayed the wisdom and courage that sets a standard for patriotism.

And it was the most famous son of Independence, Harry S Truman, who sat in the White House during his final days in office and said in his Farewell Address: “When Franklin Roosevelt died, I felt there must be a million men better qualified than I, to take up the Presidential task…But through all of it, through all the years I have worked here in this room, I have been well aware than I did not really work alone – that you were working with me. No President could ever hope to lead our country, or to sustain the burdens of this office, save the people helped with their support.”

In the end, it maybe this quality that best describes patriotism in my mind – not just a love of America in the abstract, but a very particular love for, and faith in, the American people. That is why our heart swells with pride at the sight of our flag; why we shed a tear as the lonely notes of Taps sound. For we know that the greatness of this country – its victories in war, its enormous wealth, its scientific and cultural achievements – all result from the energy and imagination of the American people; their toil, drive, struggle, restlessness, humor and quiet heroism.

That is the liberty we defend – the liberty of each of us to pursue our own dreams. That is the equality we seek – not an equality of results, but the chance of every single one of us to make it if we try. That is the community we strive to build – one in which we trust in this sometimes messy democracy of ours, one in which we continue to insist that there is nothing we cannot do when we put our mind to it, one in which we see ourselves as part of a larger story, our own fates wrapped up in the fates of those who share allegiance to America’s happy and singular creed.

Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America.

NH regulators have given conditionalapproval of the sale of Verizon Corp.'s land telephone lines to FairpointCommunications.  Deliberations have been lengthy and rhetoric longbut is there any evidence of what impact the sale may have on the economyof NH?   In the attached February  2008 issue of"Trend Lines NH" we suggest how increased deployment of residential broadband might affect rural regions and we look for evidenceof impacts among some of NH's rural communities. 

Highlights from the February 2008Trend Lines NH : Will Broadband Give A Lift to RuralNH?·         

• What Can We Expect From Investments inRural Broadband (pg. 2)
• Sorting Broadband's Causes From its Effects. (pg 2)
• Higher Employment and Wage Growth. (pg 3)
• Does Broadband Increase the Appeal of Towns?(pg 4)

Trend Lines is designed to provide insight into important trends affecting NH.

 

http://www.nhinsider.com/storage/TrendLinesNH_Feb08.pdf

My four guiding principles can be summed up simply: Stimulus, Safety, Security, and Sustainability.

When I took office as Governor of Arkansas in 1996, I faced a highway system which was among the worst in the country.  The road conditions were harming our economy and had reached the point of becoming an actual safety risk.   With overwhelming voter approval, we launched a highway bonds project that generated a billion dollars of highway construction, created some 40,000 new jobs, and created new movement for our economy.  Our roads were then called the "most improved" according to Overdrive magazine.  We need to do the same for this country.

Stimulus

• President Bush and Congress have come together to create a short-term economic stimulus package, which I commend and support as a valuable first step.
• However, we must also look to the next century, not just to the next few quarters. 
• So we must also look at longer-term ways to grow local economies and our national economy by: first, easing congestion by emphasizing road expansion and mass-transit investment; second, funding strategic capital improvement projects to make more localities attractive to new businesses and workers; and third, rebuilding the infrastructure of our "tools for trade" such as improvements to and expansions of our seaports and airports.
• This past fall, Texas A&M released a report on the price of congestion in time and money-we now spend 4.2 billion hours each year in our cars, and spend an extra 38 hours per urban driver.  That's nearly the length of a workweek-time taken away from our families, missing kids' soccer games, dance recitals, and school plays.   According to the Texas A&M study, we waste 2.9 billion gallons of gasoline during this lost time; the total cost to our economy is $78 billion every year.
  • In Florida, the Sunshine State is currently working on a project on I-75 in Collier and Lee counties to add an additional lane in each direction.  The cost of that project is $430 million.  Now not only will that construction mean the creation of over 20,000 jobs, it also means that Florida will be reducing congestion, reducing wasted productivity and gasoline, reducing wear on your vehicles, and speeding up the state economy.
• Infrastructure reform enhances productivity and eliminates waste, but it also generates new jobs and revenue.  The U.S. Department of Transportation tells us that every $1 billion invested in federal highway and transit infrastructure results in the creation of some 47,500 jobs, and every $1 spent on infrastructure investment results in an estimated $5.70 in economy activity.  Now that is a stimulus package.
• Florida's economic engine rests on moving people and freight. It has the longest coastline in the continental U.S. and many vital ports.  A strong highway system is integral to moving tourists through the state in a timely manner and taking freight across the country. 
• There is an immediate need to expand the ports of Miami, Tampa, and Jacksonville, which are enormous economic engines not only for Florida but for the entire country.  Yet there are challenges ahead:
  • Annual operating security costs at the Port of Miami almost quadrupled from 2001 to 2006, from about $4 to $16 million.

o       The current expansion of the Panama Canal will allow for much larger tankers to come through Florida.  To harness these benefits, we must enlarge the capacities of the Port of Miami, the Port of Tampa, and the Port of Jacksonville.

o       The Port of Jacksonville is currently working on becoming a deepwater port and expanding to double its cargo capacity.  The Port will need road/rail improvement to transport goods across the state and country.

o       Miami has requested $13 million to complete dredging of the Miami River this year or next.  This would complete an $86 million dredging project started in 2004 and run by the Army Corps of Engineers.  Over the next 20 years, this should generate $100 million in business from ships, letting them use the river at both high and low tides.  The river had not been dredged since the 1930's.

•  
  • The Miami Harbor has requested $2 million for engineering and design for dredging the harbor.

§         These are just some of the important projects that a Huckabee administration will seek to foster.

Safety

• Such infrastructure-based economic development is not just about giving our economy a shot in the arm-it is also about protecting and preserving what we have already developed.  In decades past, our predecessors built canals, then railroads, and then the interstate highway system.  And yet now we can't even keep these vital projects adequately maintained - our bridges are sometimes reinforced with wood, our pavements are crumbling.  These are not just economic challenges; they are safety hazards.
• Our interstate highway system covers 47,000 miles.  Before it was built, motorists could only drive 250 miles a day dawn-to-dark, but after it was built, drivers could cover twice that distance.  There's enormous economic potential in dramatically improving transportation productivity.
• The American Society of Civil Engineers gave our infrastructure a "D" and said that we will need $1.6 trillion in the next five years, and that's not even including our national security needs.  We need this amount just to deal with our "congested highways, overflowing sewers, and corroded bridges".  Poor roads cost Americans $54 billion each year in repairs and operating costs - an average of $275 for each driver.

§         All of our infrastructure is suffering from a lack of maintenance and expansion - we have seen this in the collapse of the Minneapolis bridge on August 1, 2007, the steam pipe explosion in New York City on July 18, 2007, and a year of frustration with air travel, with almost 30% of flights delayed.  Antiquated infrastructure and overcrowded airports are inherently dangerous.

§         In 2006, 73,764 American bridges were rated "structurally deficient" by the U.S. Department of Transportation.  We need to take a hard look at our bridges and make sure they are safe and secure.

§         Bridges and air travel are an issue throughout Florida:

o       Miami has requested federal funding to replace the Northwest 17th Ave. Bridge and 12 Venetian causeway bridges linking Miami and Miami Beach.  This is the sort of infrastructure overhaul we need.

o       The Kendall-TamiamiExecutiveAirport in Miami has requested funds to extend two runways.

o       Orlando International Airport, the busiest airport in Florida, will soon start a $400 million construction project to sustain its main terminal.

o       The highway interchange around Tampa International Airport is currently being expanded.

o       Around Pensacola and Tallahassee, Interstate 10 improvements now underway will significantly enhance transportation across the Panhandle. 

§         We must do a better job of setting priorities.  Much of our federal funding is still apportioned to the states under mechanisms established 50 years ago when we created the interstates.  As President, I will make sure that our prioritization system responds adequately to our most urgent needs. 

§         We need an Asset Management System.  As President, I will instruct my Secretary of Transportation to develop a comprehensive database that assesses the existing condition of infrastructure and then provides options for the funding - including creative private-sector options - to maintain each asset in the condition it needs to be.  This makes funding decisions data-driven, rather than political, so that we can remove the excuse for Congressional earmarks. 

 

Security

• Moreover, allowing these weaknesses to continue provides openings for the terrorists to exploit. I will address the many security issues still unresolved after 9/11, such as the security of our ports and our chemical plants. 
• For all our effort, we still have far to go in ensuring that our planes are secure and our passengers not overly inconvenienced.  DHS' Transportation Security Lab is researching new technologies to update and secure our air travel.
  • For Miami, this includes a $20 million request for changes made in the terminal to install a baggage explosives detection system.
  • In Orlando, the airport is already taking advantage of new technologies such as the "Clear" card, a voluntary ID system, which will be available in Orlando International Airport starting this June.
• If states choose even tougher standards to protect their people, I will respect their authority and not allow the federal government to pre-empt those standards.  When New Jersey passed standards for its chemical plants, lobbyists for the chemical companies tried to get Congress to pass weak federal legislation for these plants and to pre-empt New Jersey from enforcing its stricter standards.  I will always fight for you, not the lobbyists.

• I will reassess, tighten, and strengthen the focus and mission of the Department of Homeland Security.  When the Department was formed, it brought together 180,000 people from 22 agencies, combining tasks as diverse and unrelated as the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service from the Agriculture Department to the Nuclear Incident Response Team from the Department of Energy.  Its size and structure have proven to be unwieldy and inefficient.  We must reform and restructure DHS so that it is even more effective at identifying threats and foiling attacks.
  • For example, at the Port of Miami, divers search for contraband at the Coast Guard's request, but since DHS is not reimbursing them, the Miami Dade Police Department is picking up that tab.  DHS should provide the funding to conduct hull searches as ships enter the port. 
  • I also support Miami's request for DHS to open a regional office in Miami-Dade County. This will make sure that Florida's largest metropolitan area has the resources to work with state and federal officials in case of a terror attack or other emergency.
  • We need better radiation detection devices to screen cargo in our ports.  The current generation has technology limitations.  I support DHS' pilot program called SETCP (Southeast Transportation Corridor Pilot), which Florida participates in, for using mobile radiation detection devices.
  • Miami has also requested $6 million to improve communications between police and firefighters.  This sort of interoperability is key to our ability to respond to a national disaster or terrorist attack.
• When Congress put FEMA in the Department of Homeland Security, they moved its director too far down the food chain.  I will restore FEMA to cabinet status, so that the Director reports directly to me.  My FEMA director will have sterling credentials, leadership and management skills, including extensive, hands-on experience in disaster response.  
• During the massive emergency of Hurricane Katrina, when local, state, and federal governments were in melt-down, I stepped forward and directed the rescue and relief of 75,000 victims. Our success amidst so much failure was one of the reasons Time magazine named me one of America's five best governors.
• A sound infrastructure is also the key to developing our energy security, and our energy independence.  As President, I will work to make sure that we have a comprehensive and balanced approach to the enormous challenge of strengthening  America's energy independence from unstable and sometimes hostile foreign governments.   If we could put a man on the moon four decades ago, we can accomplish this mission in the coming decade.

 

Sustainability

§         I have always been a conservationist. Stewardship of the air and land and soil is very important to me.  I will follow the principle I learned from the Boy Scouts: Always leave the land better than when you found it.  I am proud of my record in Arkansas, building constructive consensus on key issues.  I look forward to bringing the same leadership to America. 

§         We need to move toward long-term solutions, bringing a comprehensive vision, combining economic development and environmental protection.  We can have both.

§         We must link land use and transportation planning.  It is folly, for example, to provide rail service to places that don't have the density to make it work. 

§         We keeping building schools and post offices outside of town centers, so that everyone has to drive.  Our children don't walk to school or to the playground anymore, which is not only a transportation issue, but causes childhood obesity as well.  So transportation becomes a health issue, a lifestyle issue, which shapes the future of our children and our county.  We need to trim the fat and produce an efficient, sustainable plan for the future.

§         We must also consider sustainability relating to water, of particular importance to Floridians.

o       South Miami-Dade has a request for a $6.25 million water pipeline.

o       Biscayne Bay has made a $500,000 request for a study of water quality.

§         Properly used, public transportation can reduce congestion and emissions, lower our demand for oil, and improve accessibility.

o       Miami has requested funding for 12 new Metromover vehicles; $6 million for new buses and routes, $5 million for transit security, $8 million for pedestrian overpasses.

• We should use the new technology and markets available to us to encourage the next generation of sustainable infrastructure. The US Green Building Council has created the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating Systems, which cover everything from homes and offices to schools and hospitals, even neighborhood development.  LEED is the nationally and internationally accepted benchmark for designing, building, and running green structures.  We should consider offering personal and corporate tax benefits for LEED Certified buildings.

 

Conclusion

 

• These improvements are vital to our economic prosperity, but they also define our quality of life. We've spent decades ignoring the issue, and we no longer have a national transportation or infrastructure vision like the one that built the interstate highway system in the 1950's or sent us to the moon in the 1960's.  The Huckabee administration would restore and act on that national vision.

Agenda for Safe and Healthy Families

Ø Preventing the need for adoption – Hillary will reform the foster care financing system to allow states to invest in what’s right for the children in their care. Along the lines recommended by the Pew Commission on Children in Foster Care, Hillary will provide support to states as they provide the range of services from prevention of placement in foster care to support for children who have been reunified with their families or adopted. Without taking away the entitlement for children in foster care, Hillary will provide new rewards for states that succeed in reducing the number of children in care and lessening the time they spend in care. Rather than essentially forcing states to keep kids in care in order to get federal matching dollars for payments to foster homes and administrative funds, Hillary will enable states to invest in keeping families healthy and kids out of foster care, investing in services from housing assistance, to mental health counseling, to respite care. The policy will also enable states to invest more money in quickly reunifying children with their families when it is safe to do so.

 

Ø Getting Adoptive Parents in the Door -- A recent study found that 48 million Americans have said they would consider adopting out of foster care. Approximately 240,000 Americans reach out to child welfare agencies each year to inquire about adopting or fostering a child, but only 22% of those fill out an application or attend an orientation meeting; only 6% complete the adoption home-study; and an even smaller fraction actually adopts or fosters a child. The problem is that states aren’t investing in encouraging parents to adopt; while 22% of children in the foster care system are available for adoption, yet states spend only 1.3% of their foster care funds on recruiting and training foster and adoptive parents. We can do much more to draw in prospective parents and connect them with children who desperately need loving families. As President, Hillary will:

 

• Recruit Prospective Adoptive Parents -- Hillary will provide an enhanced federal match for child welfare funds spent on parent recruitment initiatives. She will also provide $50 million for innovative public-private partnerships designed to recruit and retain prospective parents. Hillary’s guiding principle will be that no child should remain in foster care for one day longer than is necessary.
• Require states to streamline their adoption processes in order to make them user-friendly – As President, Hillary will require states – as a condition of receiving child welfare funding – to develop and implement improved systems for retaining adoptive parents all the way through the process. States will be required to track the number of inquiries they receive as well as their retention rate at every step in the process, and to develop and implement an action plan based on their findings. And she will gather and disseminate information on the best practices communities are using to recruit and retain adoptive parents so that states and communities can build on each other’s successes in this area.
• Make the Adoption Tax Credit Permanent – The Adoption Tax Credit provides $10,960 to cover any costs incurred in the course of an adoption, or in the case of children adopted out of foster care, any tax liability of the adoptive parents. This credit is set to expire in 2010. As President, Hillary will make this tax credit permanent. She will also look for ways to provide an even greater incentive to adopt children out of foster care, such as making it partially refundable.

 

Ø Keeping Adoptive Families Together – W hile most adoptions succeed, 10 to 25 percent of adoptions out of foster care are dissolved or disrupted. One major reason is that adoptive parents often can’t get the support their children need. In the most tragic instances, adoptive families have to send children back to foster care to get them the services they need, such as mental health treatment. In addition, many states provide less in adoption assistance than foster care assistance, discouraging foster parents who’d like to adopt from actually doing so. As President, Hillary will:

• Fund comprehensive post-adoption services – Hillary will ensure that federal funds support children who have been adopted out of foster care and make mental health and other services for adopted children reimbursable under federal child welfare guidelines, just as these services are for children in foster care .
• Increase access to adoption assistance – Hillary will put adoption on a level playing field with foster care by increasing adoption assistance payments to the same level as foster care payments, in states where they are lower.

Ø Supporting Other Forms of Permanency

• Subsidized Guardianship – Hillary will also support families doing what they have done for generations – caring for their extended kin. She will provide federal resources to support subsidized guardianship programs for children who have been in foster care for at least one year, are not candidates for adoption or returning home, and who demonstrate a strong attachment to a relative who is willing and able to care for them. Through subsidized guardianship, children can achieve permanency yet remain connected to their biological relatives. Research has shown that the availability of guardianships encourages permanency, including adoptions, by encouraging family members to think in terms of the children’s long-term interests. Because subsidized guardianship has worked in the states where it is available, Hillary will support it nationwide.

Today, Hillary Clinton outlined her agenda to ease the burden on families that are struggling to balance caring for elderly parents, spouses and children, while meeting their job obligations. Maintaining this balance is a growing practical and financial struggle. Today’s parents have 22 fewer hours to spend with their children. Two-thirds of working parents say they do not have enough time with their children. And with a growing elderly population, many of these working parents are finding themselves in the “sandwich generation,” providing care not only as “working parents” but as “working children” for their own parents as well. Out-of-pocket costs for families with long-term caregiving responsibilities have skyrocketed to $5,531 per year – more than what most of these families spend on their own health care. Burdened with both long-term care and child care costs, many caregivers are dipping into their retirement savings or forgoing health care coverage for themselves.

Hillary Clinton understands the need to ease the burdens on these families. Americans are working harder for less pay and feeling increasingly overwhelmed as they struggle to balance work and family. With sound policies and sensible investments, Hillary will provide people more choices to make the decisions that are best for them. Hillary’s plan for caregivers will offer:

· A New $3,000 Caregiving Tax Credit : Hillary will offer a new $3,000 Caregiving Tax Credit to any person with substantial long-term care needs or to their caregivers. On average, unpaid caregivers pay more than $5,000 in out-of-pocket costs, often dipping into their savings or forgoing their own health care. The credit will not require a complex accounting of out-of-pocket costs, but instead would be available directly to any individuals with substantial long-term care needs or their caregivers.

New Hampshire : Hillary’s Caregiver Tax Credit will provide generous new assistance to at least 20,000 New Hampshire residents. [CRS, 2007; Census 2007]

· A New Long-Term Care Insurance Tax Credit: Hillary will offer a new tax credit to help those planning for their long-term care needs afford high-quality insurance policies that are right for them. This new tax credit will cover 75 percent of long-term care insurance premiums up to $1,500 per year for qualified long-term care insurance policies that meet strong new consumer protection requirements. The credit will reward middle-class families that take steps to prepare for their long-term care needs.

New Hampshire : Hillary’s new Long Term Care Insurance Tax Credit will benefit at least 45,000 New Hampshire seniors and near-retirees. [ http://www.ahipresearch.org/pdfs/18_LTC2002.pdf (p. 27)].

· Stepped Up Support for Unpaid Family Caregivers : Hillary understands that the heroic work of caregiving can take its toll. By providing temporary relief and counseling for caregivers, we will improve the quality of life of those they care for. As President, Hillary will invest an additional $300 million per year in the Lifespan Respite Caregiver Act and the National Family Caregiver Support Program.

· Paid Family Leave by 2016 : Hillary will set a bold goal of having paid leave for all American workers by 2016. She will reach that goal first by expanding the Family Medical Leave Act to cover employers with 25 or more workers, a change that will provide legal protection for unpaid leave to 13 million additional workers. Second, Hillary will commit $1 billion per year for a Family Leave Innovation Fund to support the establishment and expansion of state-level leave programs for new parents and those caring for their aging parents.

New Hampshire : In New Hampshire, this proposal could impact approximately 500,000 private-sector workers – 91 percent of all private-sector workers – who do not have paid family leave. [National Partnership for Women & Families]

· Guaranteed Access to Sick Days for All Americans : Hillary is proposing to make seven sick days a year – to care for yourself or your children – standard. When people go to work ill or worry about their sick child, they make other people sick and they run the risk of affecting the productivity of the organization as a whole.

New Hampshire : In New Hampshire, this proposal could impact approximately 263,000 workers (42% of the private and public workforce) who currently do not have sick days. [National Partnership for Women & Families]

· Increased Support for Child Care : Hillary has worked to expand access and improve quality of child care in our country for decades. The Bush Administration has essentially frozen the level of child care funding for the last eight years. As a result, the real purchasing power of child care subsidies has fallen significantly. According to the Bush Administration’s own estimates, 300,000 children will lose child care assistance by 2010, and 150,000 have already lost child care assistance since 2000. Hillary believes we need to increase child care funding through the Child Care and Development Block Grant and return the program to it’s original intent: to serve working families.