General Wesley Clark's Agenda for Hispanics and Latinos

Protecting each citizen's fundamental right to equal opportunity

I've said that my campaign is about building a New American Patriotism. What I mean by that is that we all must participate in the rebirth of our national spirit and benefit equally from it. In the Army leaders have an obligation to look out for their soldiers, and not just themselves. A unit cannot succeed unless every person does their part; every person gets the support they need; and every person is trained and educated and given the chance to fulfill their true potential. I believe that great leaders must speak their mind, but they must also listen as well. Now, more than ever, our leaders must listen to the important and unique voice of the Hispanic/Latino community when shaping our national goals. In 1811, General Simon Bolivar delivered his discourse in favor of Latin American unity to the Patriotic Society. I will make a similar commitment to work with Hispanics and Latinos in America everyday in the same spirit of unity that inspired Simon Bolivar nearly two centuries ago.

I have seen what can be accomplished when the doors of opportunity are fully opened to all. We had such a system in the U.S. military. I was honored to serve, in the U.S. Southern Command and throughout my career, with some outstanding Latino and Hispanic leaders. I saw many proud young men and women thrive when treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. And through their service, they prepared for college and for careers, using their talent and determination to compete fairly and equally with others. As President, I'll do everything I can to make sure that the people of the rest of our nation - in government, in the business sector, in education, in health care - are treated fairly and equally as well.

Specifically, I will focus on:

• Job creation and economic security. 1.5 million Individuals of Latino or Hispanic origin are currently unemployed. Opportunity starts with jobs-which is why I want to repeal Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy and invest $100 billion in a job creation plan. My first policy proposal in this campaign was an ambitious program to create millions of new jobs in this country. Job creation must be our top economic priority.

• Health care. Thirteen million Hispanics and Latinos lack health insurance. That is a 32 percent uninsured rate, twice the rate for the general population. I will fight to ensure that everyone has equal access to affordable, high quality health care. I have proposed a health care plan that will provide health insurance for every child and affordable access for every family. We also need to address the inequities in access and care for minorities. My plan increases funding, for example, for the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Finally, we must not, as the Republicans in Congress have done, turn our backs on health care for expectant mothers and immigrant children. Children who aren't citizens should not be treated differently from children who are-- we must lift the ban on Children's Health Insurance for non-citizens so that our future thrives and is healthy.

• Education. Until we have equal access to quality education, this country won't be able to reach its full potential. Education must start early, which is why I support expanding Head Start and pre-school for all four year olds. I am committed to working to fully fund programs that target necessary resources to the schools that need them. We must also invest in hiring, training, and retaining new teachers - instead of cutting the funding, as the Bush administration has done, for the resources they need to teach our children. And we need to invest in school construction and renovation so that teachers and students have safe, modern facilities in which to work and learn. I also believe that educational language barriers must be overcome by bilingual programs that recognize how children in bilingual environments learn.

  My commitment to education doesn't end with high school. Now more than ever, higher education is an important component of success. Hispanic and Latino college students are being disproportionately hurt by increases in state college tuition and widespread cutbacks in services and recruiting. To help states keep tuition increases at public colleges down I would invest $40 billion dollar state and local tax rebate fund. I also support the DREAM Act, which would provide access to college for undocumented young people who have spent their formative years here and who have worked their way through high school. I also support increasing the maximum for Pell grants and expanding work study, to make higher education affordable for everyone.

• Homeownership. Homeownership is a part of the American dream. Every working family should be able to have a place they call their own. Yet too many minorities are unfairly steered away from conventional credit into high-interest, sub prime loans. It's redlining, and it's wrong. Three straightforward steps would help ensure that every family is able to seek home ownership on equal terms. First, we need to get the economy going again - economic growth is the key to continuing to expand home ownership. Second, we need to crack down on predatory lending. Third, we must support minority lending institutions and other financial institutions that serve minority communities.

• Environmental justice. Every citizen of this country should receive the full protection of our environmental laws. This administration's record on environmental protection and enforcement is abysmal; I'll promote better enforcement for everyone. I'll re-invigorate action on environmental justice at EPA, where it's languished under President Bush, and ensure that it once again becomes a priority. And of course, I'll make sure that protecting minority communities from toxic chemicals and other pollution doesn't come at the expense of economic development. I'll provide adequate funding for safely developing "brownfields" sites, and ensure that those sites are developed in a manner that respects the nature of the communities where they are located. I'm convinced that it can be done.

• Immigration reform. We are, and always have been, largely a nation of immigrants. Immigrants from around the world have helped to build this county. They are invaluable to our economy and a vital part of both the work force and our social fabric. I believe that we need a new immigration policy that recognizes the important contributions of immigrants. Our policy must help to unite families instead of dividing them. It must ensure that law-abiding, hard-working undocumented workers may eventually earn their citizenship. And we must create a temporary worker program that funnels workers to employers who need them and protects workers from exploitation. We must also change the immigration process - for example, by cutting the backlog of applications at the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, speeding up the naturalization process, and reducing the wait for family visas. And with the processes for legal immigration improved, we must tighten our borders to deter attempts at illegal immigration, too many of which end in tragedy. This requires not only improved border security, enhanced penalties against illicit traffickers, institution of a guest worker program that works, and full enforcement of unfair labor practice laws against employers who exploit undocumented workers, but also cooperation with governments like Mexico. This administration has offered only inaction on immigration reform. It has failed to improve border security and it has failed to reduce illegal immigration. It hasn't worked with Mexico. We need to work with other governments toward accomplishing shared objectives so that people who cross the border are prepared, screened, safe and not exploited by either side.

• Expedited citizenship for members of the Armed Forces. We must better serve the people willing to serve our country. I support expediting naturalization for legal permanent residents serving in the military, waiving the naturalization filing fee, and allowing service members to naturalize overseas. Those who defend us and secure our rights and privileges deserve no less.

• Self-determination for Puerto Rico. I believe that the people of Puerto Rico should be able to determine their own future by resolving the status issue. The four million American citizens living in Puerto Rico should have full civil rights and liberties. To that end, I will work with Congress to determine viable status options.

• Cuba: I want to help bring democracy to the Cuban people, the only people in the Western Hemisphere who don't have democratic freedoms. I think we need to engage the people of Cuba. I don't think that embargoes have helped spread democracy in other parts of the world, like Eastern Europe. I don't support engagement in a way that rewards Fidel Castro. That's why I will work this problem with the leaders of the region. I would look at the circumstances at the time and then decide the best plan for bringing democracy to Cuba.

• US-Mexico Relations: President Bush has failed to deliver on key issues Mexican President Vincente Fox told him were crucial, including revitalizing the US-Mexico temporary worker program. President Bush has been too busy punishing Mexico for disagreeing with us on Iraq - the way most of the world did - to promote a relationship that is extremely important to the United States and to the millions of Hispanic Americans in this country. I would address US-Mexico relations right away. First I would take steps to promote economic growth in Mexico, thus reducing the income disparity US and Mexico, which would be important in its own right but also would lead fewer Mexicans to feel compelled to come to America illegally. In addition I would ensure that Mexican workers, whether temporary or undocumented, have their papers so that we can know who is in our country and protect non-citizens from exploitation.