Keene, New Hampshire
October 13, 2007

Thank you. Good to see all of you.

There’s been a lot of talk up here in New Hampshire about change lately. But change is just a word when it’s not backed up by real action. Anybody can say it. It’s what you do that shows whether you really mean it.

To actually create change, we should start by telling the truth.

Here’s the truth: the system in Washington is broken. Money is corrupting our democracy. Lobbyists and the special interests they represent are pouring millions of dollars into the system, and stopping the change we need dead in its tracks.

Our founding fathers intended our government to do the will of the people. But today, it’s doing the will of the special interests instead.

The cynics say that it will always be this way. They say that the kind of big, bold change we need today can’t be achieved, and we just shouldn’t try.

But you can’t listen to them. We’ve done it before, and we can do it again. Throughout our history, there have been times when good people have had to take the power back from the powerful interests. This is one of those times.

A century ago, the system was broken, too. Powerful business interests established control over the biggest sectors of the American economy. Men like Rockefeller and Carnegie colluded to control prices, eliminate competition, and manipulate the free market in the name of their own narrow interests.

Then as now, the American people knew the system was broken. And they had the same choice that we have today: accept it, or demand change.

We all know what happened. They demanded change, and elected a leader named Theodore Roosevelt to deliver it.

Because of Roosevelt’s leadership, the coming decades were known as the “American Century,” and in it we built the biggest, strongest, most prosperous middle class in history.

Today, once again, powerful special interests have established control over our democracy. But what we face today is not a monopoly of control over our economy – it is a monopoly of influence over our government.

We can fix this broken system, as generations before us fixed the problems they faced in their time. But we need a leader who won’t accept the corruption in Washington. We need a leader strong enough to say “No” to money from lobbyists and special interests. We need a leader who will fight for the big change we need to see.

To clean up our government, you have to do two things. You have to be committed to changing the system. And you have to run a campaign that does not take money from lobbyists or special interests – so you are not beholden to the people who are corrupting our system by the time you get to Washington.

You can’t do one without the other. You have to do both. In this election, more than any other, the candidate who stands with the special interests will lose.

I have fought the special interests my entire life. As a lawyer, I defended hard-working Americans during the toughest times of their lives against the big corporations that were trying to victimize them.

As a United States Senator, I unseated a corrupt Republican incumbent in a red state – because the voters knew that I would fight for them, and not the special interests.

Now, I am running for president to end the corrupt system in Washington, and return the power of this government back to the hard-working people of America.

And I am refusing to take money from lobbyists and special interests – because if there’s one thing I’ve learned out here on the campaign trail, it’s that the American people are looking for more than just talk about change. They are looking for a leader who will back up their words with action.

The American people are sick and tired of business as usual. The status quo and the Washington establishment will not get us the change we need.

When I was in Congress, I saw what business as usual looked like. Sometimes it’s blatant – like the time current House Minority Leader John Boehner handed out checks from big tobacco companies to lawmakers on the floor of the House of Representatives. Or the time someone offered $100,000 to Congressman Nick Smith’s son’s campaign in exchange for a vote.

But usually, it’s more subtle. The influence peddlers buy seats at the table where decisions are made. They explain their special needs to politicians, in their offices and at cocktail parties. And they surround them with hand-picked experts who will back up their case.

The problem is that one side of the argument usually has all the money and all the manpower. It’s like a courtroom where only one side of the case is being argued.

If you want to see how the special interests get their way, just look at the universal health care bill that Senator Clinton tried to get passed in the 1990s. At first, the American people supported her proposal. But then the health insurance companies deployed armies of lobbyists to Capitol Hill to pressure lawmakers. They spent millions of dollars on television ads. And they won.

I believe Senator Clinton deserves credit for her effort. Her plan wasn’t perfect, but it included a lot of good ideas. The place where she and I differ is the lessons we’ve learned since then.

She seems to think that you should still give lobbyists a seat at the table. I think if you give them a seat at the table, they’ll eat all the food.

She seems to think you can talk about ending the influence of lobbyists, but still take millions of dollars from them. I believe that if you are serious about ending the influence of lobbyists, you have to stop taking their money.

When I challenged her on this, she responded by defending the system. I don’t think you can talk about changing America, and then turn around and defend the broken system in Washington.

And I think if you are going to talk about ending the influence of special interests, you can’t turn around and hold a fundraiser where you bring the special interests together with the very lawmakers they are trying to influence.

This is the poster child for what is wrong with politics today. Politicians try to have it both ways: they talk about changing the system, but then conduct business as usual.

The American people need a president who will be straight with them – who will be honest about the greatest challenges our government faces. And one of the most important of those is the looming Social Security crisis. First, Senator Clinton said she would just wait for things to get better. Now, she has apparently told some people that she really supports my idea of asking people who make more than $200,000 a year to contribute a little more.

I don't believe open government means popular answers in public and honest candor in private.

Part of the reason the system is broken is that the special interests are winning many fights behind the scenes, before the American people ever hear about them.

Just a few days ago, the hedge fund industry won a behind-the-scenes war to kill a bill that would have plugged a loophole that funnels billions of dollars into the pockets of some of the highest-paid people in America.

The hedge fund industry hired more than 20 lobbying firms – corporate Republicans and corporate Democrats. At the same time, they stepped up their campaign contributions, to remind politicians what they would be missing if they didn’t play along.

Of course, Congress dropped the bill, and left the loophole wide open. This happens all the time in Washington. Measures that lobbyists oppose just fall off the schedule.

Look at the debate over global warming. Earlier this year, over 2,000 of the world’s top client scientists released a report that concluded with at least 90 percent certainty that global warming is happening, and that man-made greenhouse gases are a major cause.

This is the same group that is sharing the Nobel Prize with Vice President Al Gore. But the facts in their report were not the facts that the big oil companies wanted to hear. So a conservative think tank funded by ExxonMobil offered scientists $10,000, plus travel and other expenses, to undermine the facts in the report to politicians on Capitol Hill. It was no wonder that the energy bill that passed Congress did not include a cap on greenhouse gas emissions.

Are you seeing a pattern here? The American people want change. But the special interests see change as a threat to their profits. So they hire lobbyists, step up their campaign contributions – and block the change that people want. In Washington, that’s the way the game is played.

*****

Well, I say it’s time we end this game. This government belongs to the American people. It’s time we put the power back in their hands. That is why today, I am proposing the One Democracy Initiative, to end the power of the special interests, restore our democracy, and start building One America.

The first thing we have to do is cut off special interests’ ability to influence campaigns with their money, and increase the power of regular people.

Right now, any individual can donate up to $2,300 to a campaign. That means candidates are spending their time glad-handing with the tiny fraction of Americans who can write a $2,300 check. As president, I would rewrite the rules to put small donors in charge by matching the first $100 of donations at a rate of 8-to-1. Under my plan, two $100 checks will be worth the same as one $1,000 check – and no one will be allowed to give more than $1,000.

But I will not stop there. With all the money that is flooding into this race, you would think it was an auction, not an election. I have decided to take public financing – which will help my campaign raise money from small donors, and make a statement about my independence from big donors.

This is another place where Senator Clinton and I part ways. We have both said we support the public financing of campaigns as the best way to get special interest money out of our elections. I have backed up my words with actions, and challenged her to do the same.

She hasn’t yet, but I hope she will. If she is not going to take public financing, I believe the American people deserve to know why she says she believes in the public financing system, but will not participate in it.

Unlike Senator Clinton, I have also never taken a dime from federal lobbyists or political action committees, because I know that money comes with strings attached. I think that should be the rule, not the exception. As president, I will prohibit all candidates and federal office holders from accepting contributions from lobbyists.

All this money is making it extremely difficult for non-wealthy candidates to run. I believe that a high-school teacher here in Keene, or a nurse in Manchester, should have the same opportunity to run for Congress as a lawyer from North Carolina. I believe everyone should have the same chance to run for office as I had.

But today, the cost of even a congressional campaign is climbing into the millions. Unfortunately, our broken system helps create the perception that to run for office, you either need to be very wealthy or willing to be very bought by the special interests.

As president, I will fix this by creating a public financing option for Congressional candidates that would give all candidates equal budgets and equal airtime. That way, regular Americans just like the people in this room can run for office without having to cozy up to big contributors.

*****

We also need to restore confidence in our democracy. In America, everyone’s vote should count the same. But after the vote-counting fiascoes of recent years, we need to reassure people that their vote will be counted correctly. As president, I will require that all voting machines, including electronic ones, use paper ballots that can be verified by voters.

We also need to make sure that all of our citizens are able to participate in our democracy, and have the representation they deserve. We need to end the disenfranchisement of residents of Washington, D.C., and give D.C. residents a vote in Congress. We also need to end the disenfranchisement of former prisoners who have served their time. And we need to end the voter suppression and intimidation that has been reported in recent elections.

I believe in the wisdom of the American people, and I think the more power they have in our democracy, the better our country will be. That’s why every two years, I will ask one million citizens to come together to tackle our toughest issues in local forums across the nation.

These Citizen Congresses will combine old-fashioned town halls with 21st century technology. They will give regular Americans a chance to speak to each other, and to their elected officials in Washington, without the filters of interest groups and the media.

Like so much of what Washington needs, this idea of grassroots democracy is already working out in the real world, in towns just like this one.

Right here in New Hampshire, the Portsmouth Study Circle has brought hundreds of regular people together for over a decade to work out issues – from school redistricting to ending racial profiling to the city’s 10-year plan. And the November 5th Coalition is working to raise awareness of local democracy and promote a new generation of citizen-centered work.

*****

That is the promise of our democracy: that everyday, hard-working Americans and their families can come together and exercise their democratic power to change this country for the better.

But to give them that power, we need to do more than just clean up our elections. We also need to break the link between K Street and Capitol Hill.

The bread and butter of wealthy lobbyists are earmarks – taking money from the U.S. Treasury and sending it directly to their clients through spending bills. Top lobbyists earn millions this way. I will end that practice with a constitutional version of the line-item veto, where the president can require an up or down vote on any spending item he deems irresponsible or inappropriate

We also need to close the revolving door between Capitol Hill and K Street. I will reinstate the five-year ban on lobbying by former top government officials. President Bill Clinton passed that ban, but then he cancelled it in his last days in office. I will reenact it by statute so no president can rescind it again.

We also need to bar federal lobbyists from setting policy over their former industries. When I’m president, there will be no more foxes guarding the henhouse. If you want to see whether another candidate really stands for change, ask them whether they will do the same.

*****

The way Washington is rushing to do the bidding of special interests these days, you would think that they were the ones that made America great. But they’re not. The hard-working men and women of America, like the people in this room, are the ones who made this country great.

I’ve talked a lot about what I will do as president to fix the broken system in Washington. But you all have a role to play in this, too.

The status quo will only continue if you let it. It will continue if you look the other way while people defend a system we all know is broken. It will continue if you settle for replacing a bunch of corporate Republicans with a bunch of corporate Democrats.

The status quo will continue if you let it – but it will change if you demand it.

That is why I am challenging you today: be vigilant. Remember that democracy does not defend itself. Every generation has to fight to fulfill the promise of America – of a nation where everyone is equal, and the government responds to the will of the people.

We are the great nation we are today because the generations that went before us stood up and fixed our democracy when it was broken. Today, that responsibility falls on all of us.

My youngest daughter, Emma Claire, is 9 years old. Many of you may have children or grandchildren around that age.

If we join together, starting today, and demand change, think about how different this country could be by the time they are out of high school.

We could be living in an America where every man, woman and child is guaranteed high-quality health care.

An America where we are finally working to halt global warming, develop clean fuels and end our addiction to foreign oil. An America on the road to ending poverty, with the American dream becoming a new reality for millions of hard-working Americans. An America where we have restored our moral leadership in the world.

But to reach that America tomorrow, we need to rise to the challenges we face today. No matter what the cynics say, if we join together and fight for real change, we can restore our democracy, and make our government work again.

So don’t settle for more of the same. Don’t settle for a broken system that ignores your cries for change.

Demand better. Let’s be the generation that restores our democracy. Let’s be the generation that returns the power of our government back to the people. Let’s be the generation that restores our nation to greatness. Let’s be the change we want to see.

This is our government. This is our America. And this is our moment to take it back. Stand with me today. And together, we can change this country.

Thank you, and God bless.

Pace University, New York, NY
September 7, 2007

Thank you for having me here today. Thank you.

On a beautiful, bright September day almost six years ago, a group of 19 men stepped onto four airplanes, intending to kill as many people as they could, intending to terrorize America. Just a few blocks from here, the hijackers crashed their terrible ideology into the American dream.

Nearly 3,000 Americans died on that horrible day in New York City, in Arlington, Virginia, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. They were bankers and busboys, secretaries and firemen, and they were all our brothers and sisters.

Their sacrifice is a harsh and lasting reminder of what must become one of the great goals of our generation—the need to protect our citizens from these horrors, to root out and shut down terrorist cells wherever they fester, to remove the poverty and instability that give radicalism a toehold, and to make terrorism utterly unacceptable among nations everywhere, for all time.

In August of 2001, while George Bush was in Crawford ignoring memos about the threat from Al Qaeda, I authored an op-ed in which I named terrorism as the most vital national security challenge our country would face in the coming years. I still believe that today.

The world stood united behind America after 9/11. But instead of leading a truly visionary campaign against global terrorism, our president led America down a garden path. He used the attacks to justify a preconceived war against a nation he now admits had no ties to Al Qaeda. He then offered belligerence and hostility to the world community, and we have been rewarded in kind.

President Bush, like the Republicans following him today and even some Democrats, was stuck in the past, and he still is. He had no grasp of the new threats we faced, so he failed to offer a vision to keep us safe in a world that had changed. Saddam Hussein was the threat he knew, so Iraq was the war he waged.

We needed new thinking and a bold vision to protect the world for our children; instead, George Bush literally gave us his father's war—but without his father's allies or his father's sense of decency. What's more and what's worse, the so-called "war on terror" he used as his excuse for war in Iraq became his excuse for trampling our Constitution and, most perversely, for ignoring the demands of the actual struggle against terrorism. Because in George Bush's reality, disagreement is called weak, challenge is suspect, and opposition downright unpatriotic.

Six years later, the devastating consequences of the Bush "war on terror" doctrine are so clear that his own Administration has had to admit them.

A recent National Intelligence Estimate found that Al Qaeda is now as strong as it was before 9/11. In a recent survey of America's most respected foreign policy experts, the vast majority said the world is becoming more dangerous for Americans and the United States. The State Department recently released a study showing that terrorism has increased worldwide 25 percent in 2006, including a 40 percent surge in civilian fatalities.

And as everyone here knows, Osama bin Laden is still at large. Six years ago, President Bush declared that he wanted bin Laden "dead or alive." This is his starkest failure. Apparently, bin Laden plans to address America on the anniversary of 9/11. But I don't need to wait and hear what this murderer has to say. My position is clear. I can make you this solemn promise: as president, I will never rest until we have hunted bin Laden down and served him justice.

George Bush's approach to terrorism has not only failed to make the world safer. It has demolished the foundation of America's foreign policy: our relationships with other countries. In the first Gulf War, our allies shared the cost of troops, casualties, and funding. But in the current Iraq War, the Bush approach left us largely on our own, bearing almost all of the burden.

Tragically for America and the world, George Bush's "war on terror" approach walked directly into the trap the terrorists set for us. Islamic extremists wanted to frame the conflict with the U.S. as a war of civilizations, and the Bush Administration, stuck in a Cold War mentality, happily complied.

There is now only one key question we must ask ourselves: are we any closer to getting rid of terrorism than we were six years ago? And the terrible answer is no, we're further away. Today, terrorism is worse in Iraq, and it's worse around the world. So what does all this mean? It means the results are in on George Bush's so-called "global war on terror" and it's not just a failure, it's a double-edged failure.

The Bush approach hasn't only made the terror problem worse. The Administration has rigidly stuck to outdated approaches that are ineffective against the modern terrorist threat. We need a counterterrorism policy that will actually counter terrorism. That matches 21st century threats with 21st century tactics. That replaces Cold War thinking designed to defeat a single, implacable enemy with new world thinking that can defeat a multi-national, diverse, and often hidden foe—not just now, but for the long-term. That's strong, fast, and hard enough to stop terrorists cold, but also smart, honest, and prescient enough to draw people away from terrorism in the first place.

And to do all of this, we must do one thing. We've got to throw away the failed George Bush policies of the past, and move in a bold new direction.

Instead of Cold War institutions designed to win traditional wars and protect traditional borders, we need new institutions designed to share intelligence, cooperate across borders, and take out small, hostile groups.

Instead of a foreign policy of convenience that readily does business with whoever is available and regularly turns a blind eye when our allies behave wrongly or fail to cooperate, we need a new foreign policy of conviction that requires cooperation in exchange for our support, whether it's arms sales, trade, or foreign aid.

Instead of an exclusively short-term focus on the enemy we know, we need a long-term strategy to win the minds of those who are not yet our enemies, by offering education, democracy, and opportunity in place of radicalism, hatred and fear.

Most of all, instead of a reckless, solo pursuit of an ideological agenda that abandons our moral authority and disregards our allies, we need to reengage with the world and reassert our moral leadership.

In a few short days, we will all take time to remember 9/11. This year, we should all make the anniversary not only a time of mourning, but of reflection on the very real choices we face.

We learned on 9/11 the consequences of not dealing with the threat of terrorism. You will have a very real choice to make in this election, and the choice will have consequences. You and your children will have to live with the decisions we make in the next four years.

There is no doubt that some progress has been made. We should thank the professionals who have uncovered plots like the one on John F. Kennedy Airport. Our federal government has been substantially rearranged, and many problems corrected.

But we should not let our enthusiasm for short-term victories cloud the long-term reality. The fact is that George Bush has used 20th century tools to attack 21st century problems. The Bush approach has failed not only because of the shameless political manipulations and reckless decisions of the president and his aides. It has failed because the president is using an antiquated set of weapons against a modern target, and he's misfiring.

Some politicians, like Rudolph Giuliani, Mitt Romney, and John McCain have responded to the shortcomings and backfires of the Administration's approach by essentially doubling-down. They have closed their eyes to the facts and asked us to accept, on faith, more of the Bush approach. Some running for the Democratic nomination have even argued that the Bush-Cheney approach has made us safer. It has not.

For the sake of our nation's security, for the sake of building a safer America, we must take a new direction.

We need a bold new approach—one that is smart, tough, and targeted. This will require us to look beyond the structures of World War II and the Cold War to new tools that will allow us to target terrorism more precisely. It will require sustained U.S. leadership—but the kind that leverages the power of partnerships, rather than going it alone. It will mean raising the level of cooperation between law enforcement and intelligence agencies—while preserving civil liberties and the rule of law.

We saw the promise of a new multilateral approach just a couple of days ago in Germany. The terrorists the German authorities caught were plotting massive attacks on American interests. They had been trained in Pakistan, had a network in Turkey, and were captured through German and American intelligence. We must be able to coordinate similar operations throughout the world—in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and anywhere terrorists would attack.

Now more than ever, the world is ready for a new direction from America. The world is ready to work together against terrorism. But right now, the community of nations lacks any global institution to coordinate counter-terrorist intelligence and security operations. The international institutions of the last century were designed for World War II and the Cold War. Institutions like the United Nations, NATO, and Interpol have taken steps to adapt to the twenty-first century challenge of terrorism, and they serve valuable purposes. And they remain essential to fulfilling our interests. But they cannot be the complete and final answer to shutting down global terrorism.

It's the right time for a bold new direction.

As president, I will launch a comprehensive new counterterrorism policy that will be defined by two principles—strength and cooperation.

The centerpiece of this policy will be a new multilateral organization called the Counterterrorism and Intelligence Treaty Organization (CITO).

Every nation has an interest in shutting down terrorism. CITO will create connections between a wide range of nations on terrorism and intelligence, including countries on all continents, including Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Europe. New connections between previously separate nations will be forged, creating new possibilities.

CITO will allow members to voluntarily share financial, police, customs and immigration intelligence. Together, nations will be able to track the way terrorists travel, communicate, recruit, train, and finance their operations. And they will be able to take action, through international teams of intelligence and national security professionals who will launch targeted missions to root out and shut down terrorist cells.

The new organization will also create a historic new coalition. Those nations who join will, by working together, show the world the power of cooperation. Those nations who join will also be required to commit to tough criteria about the steps they will take to root out extremists, particularly those who cross borders. Those nations who refuse to join will be called out before the world.

It's important to note that CITO is not a panacea, nor will it be perfect. But it would represent the first step in a new direction. As President John F. Kennedy observed when he signed the treaty that first limited the testing of nuclear weapons, we must begin with the common recognition of a common danger. President Kennedy said then, "A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." Today, this new anti-terrorism organization would be such a first step.

Organizations are only as strong as the people who help make them run, and so we must also improve the quality of our human intelligence—agents better able to understand local culture and make local connections in countries with active terrorist cells. As president, I will lead efforts to improve human intelligence through 1,000 new annual scholarships to improve language skills for students who pursue careers in intelligence and diplomacy.

A terrorist should not be able to escape detection in Europe or the Middle East if a foreign agency could have caught him with the help of American technology and advice. Within six months of taking office, I will direct the Secretary of State, working with the Attorney General and other national security officials, to launch comprehensive strategies to support agencies in other countries.

There is no more urgent task than preventing terrorists from acquiring a nuclear weapon or another weapon of mass destruction. And we will all be better off when the world is free of nuclear weapons.

Diplomacy is key to progress against nuclear weapons. The recent agreement with North Korea to shut down their nuclear programs in exchange for the release of frozen assets is long overdue, but encouraging. It is telling that the few successes of the Bush Administration come from the diplomacy it has derided.

As president, I will create a Global Nuclear Compact to strengthen the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which would support peaceful nuclear programs, improve security for existing stocks of nuclear materials, and ensure more frequent verification that materials are not being diverted and facilities are not being misused. And I will lead an international effort to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

Our chemical plants are also targets for terrorists. A successful attack on any of these targets would be devastating. Because of industry pressure, new watered-down security rules imposed by the Bush Administration may actually weaken security at many chemical plants. I support implementing tough new safety standards at plants vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

We must also work hard here at home to ensure that extremist ideologies do not take hold in our own Muslim communities—and we must do so in a way that respects diversity and civil liberties and avoids practices like racial profiling against both Arabs and Muslims. We must encourage American Muslim participation in public life. I will put new resources toward engaging American Muslims, empowering local mosques to counter extremist ideas, and working hand-in-hand with Muslim communities to identify and isolate threats.

Finally, we must achieve energy independence. If we reduce our reliance on oil from instable parts of the world, Middle Eastern regimes will finally diversify their economies and modernize their societies. And fighting global climate change will reduce global disruptions that could lead to tends of millions of refugees and create massive new breeding grounds for desperation and radicalism.

There are those who are hard-core proponents of terror, and I have spoken here about how we must deal with them.

Yet we also should have a broader, deeper goal—to prevent terrorism from taking root in the first place. Millions of people around the world are sitting on the fence. On the one side are bin Laden and Al Qaeda, and on the other side is America. The question is which way they will go. If they perceive America as a bully, it will drive them in the other direction. If, on the other hand, they see us as the light, the country they want to be like, the country that's creating hope and opportunity, it will pull them to us like a magnet.

We have to be that light again. We need to do everything we can to prevent this generation of potential friends from becoming a generation of enemies.

Several months ago, I proposed a sweeping effort to eliminate the poverty and instability that create the conditions for extremism, including increasing our funding for global primary education to $3 billion a year, expanded microfinance programs, ramping up our support for sanitation and preventive health care in developing nations, and dramatically increasing our promotion of constitutional democracies and the rule of law across the developing world.

And during my first year in office, I will establish a "Marshall Corps," patterned after the military reserves, that will include at least 10,000 civilian experts. Its members will be deployed abroad to serve on reconstruction, stabilization, and humanitarian missions.

Rethinking our approach to terrorism also means rethinking our approach country by country, cell by cell. And in each place where terrorism has taken root, there is a lot more we can do.

We must begin with one of the greatest generators of terrorism in the world today: Iraq. George Bush's failed management of the war in Iraq has made the problem of terrorism worse. The war provided Al Qaeda with a powerful tool for recruiting terrorists. It gave them a battlefield for training. It gave them an attractive target, in American troops. And it diverted the resources of the U.S. military, weakening our force structure in the process.

Even though the presence of U.S. troops has served as an attractive target for terrorists, our eventual withdrawal will not remove the threat. As president, I will redeploy troops into Quick Reaction Forces outside of Iraq, to perform targeted missions against Al Qaeda cells and to prevent a genocide or regional spillover of a civil war.

We can neglect the crisis in Afghanistan no longer. The Taliban is re-taking territory in southern Afghanistan and kidnapping foreigners. As president, I will work with the other members of NATO to ensure that our forces and rules of engagement are robust enough to defeat the Taliban and protect the democratic government in Afghanistan. As part of this effort, I will commit additional American Special Forces to root out and shut down Taliban cells.

Terrorists also take advantage when states don't do enough to stop them. We ought to use our tremendous tools—whether diplomacy, arms sales, trade, or foreign aid—to get states to shut down terrorism. In Pakistan, the recent National Intelligence Estimate found that Al Qaeda has established a safe haven in the northwest tribal areas. We have given the Musharraf government billions of dollars of aid in the last several years, yet they have done far too little to get control over these areas. As president, I will condition future American aid on progress by Pakistan, including strengthening the reach of police forces and working more effectively with tribal leaders and their members to ensure their acceptance of the government. But I want to be clear about one thing: if we have actionable intelligence about imminent terrorist activity and the Pakistan government refuses to act, we will.

And Saudi Arabia is a country we have given too much in return for too little. We must require the Saudis to do more to stop the flow of terrorists to Iraq. As president, I will condition future arms packages on Saudi Arabia's actions against terrorists.

Finally, you may be asking yourself why I am delivering this speech at a college, instead of a think tank—why I am talking to a room full of young people, instead of a room full policy experts.

The answer is simple.

I have spoken of the need to counter 21st century threats with 21st century strategies. To do that, we need 21st century minds. And that means we need you.

Your country needs you. You may not agree with the decisions that got us to where we are today. You may not agree with the policies George Bush is currently pursuing. Everyone in this room knows that I certainly do not.

But we are in this struggle. We are in it together—and America needs you now more than ever.

While the Bush administration used this struggle to divide us, I am asking you to rise to the challenges we face today. To sacrifice. To make a meaningful contribution to our national effort.

It's time to be patriotic about something other than war.

Your country needs your help. Your country needs you to contribute to this effort in ways big and small.

You can dedicate your life to this cause by joining our armed forces or an intelligence agency, to help establish and execute the plan I have laid out here today.

You can join the Marshall Corps that I have proposed, to represent America abroad and help alleviate the poverty that provides the breeding ground for terror.

You can take the lead in bridging the cultural divide by learning to speak Arabic or another foreign language.

You can work or volunteer for an NGO that fights global poverty.

Or you can write and talk to your elected representatives to keep them honest and make sure they are supporting smart policies that will help us end the war in Iraq.

It is these sacrifices that will help restore America's greatness. We must lead the world toward the future, and we must take up the mantle of moral leadership that served us so well in the last century.

The campaign against terrorism will demand toughness and creativity. It will take place in the shadows, in difficult terrain like the hills of Pakistan and the fields of Afghanistan, and in the hearts and minds of millions.

We have a choice today, and it rests in your hands. You are the generation who will help decide whether America will stick with the failed policies of the past, or whether we will aim for the horizon.

Every generation of Americans has faced grave challenges. We have overcome great foes in the past, and we will do so again—in the last century, we closed the chapters on Nazism, Fascism, and Communism through courage, bold new ideas, and strength.

Today, we stand on the shoulders of the generations who faced those challenges in their own time, and who rose to meet them.

Just as they rose to meet the enemies they faced, we must rise to meet ours.

And just as they did, we rise to meet them as Americans.

So challenge your leaders—hold them accountable for creating a safer world. And challenge yourselves—hold yourself accountable for creating a better nation. That is what it means to be American. To reach, to keep on reaching, to never, ever stop reaching for the best that any nation can ever be.

Do we have the vision to imagine a better world? Of course we do. Do we have the strength to protect our people? Of course we do. And do we have the guts to say, we know that this struggle is not just about our future, it is about your future, wherever you live, whoever you are? Of course we do.

Robert F. Kennedy once said that each time we stand up for an idea, we send forth a tiny ripple of hope, and that, together, those ripples can build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.

You can create that current, and you can start today. This is America, after all. We are more than a place. We are an idea. An idea that has changed the world and will change it again and again. We are freedom, equality and respect. A beacon once lit that can never be put out.

We are America, and the future is ours if we have the courage to make it so.

Thank you, and God Bless America.

John Edwards is introduced by President Jimmy Carter and gives a speech in Americus, Ga. on August 29, 2007. This video contains the entire speech he gave at Georgia Southwestern State University.

Hanover, New Hampshire
August 23, 2007

This election is unlike any we have faced before. The stakes are higher. And the challenges we face as a nation are greater than at any time in memory.

We as a nation must choose whether to do what America has always done in times like these -- change direction and move boldly into the future for the sake of our children, if not for ourselves, or wander in the same stale direction we have traveled in our recent past.

The choice we must make is as important as it is clear.

It is a choice between looking back and looking forward.

A choice between the way we've always done it and the way we could do it if we dared.

A choice between corporate power and the power of democracy.

Between a corrupt and corroded system and a government that works for us again.

It is caution versus courage. Old versus new. Calculation versus principle.

It is the establishment elites versus the American people.

It is a choice between the failed compromises of the past and the bright possibilities of our future. Between resigning ourselves to Two Americas or fighting for the One America we all believe in.

As always, at these moments, the choice we make is not for us, but for our children and our great country. And this time, like no other time, the consequences for our children are truly profound.

Will we halt global warming, protect our environment and humanity from the cataclysmic consequences of inaction and leave our children a livable world rich in the resources that were left to us?

Will we prevail against terrorism by stopping those who would harm us and winning over the minds of those who have yet to take sides so that instead of an ever more dangerous and war-torn world, our children live in a nation that is safe, strong and once again viewed throughout the world as a truly moral leader?

Will corporate greed be all we value as we move further into the global economy, or will we put workers and families first, so that all jobs pay fair wages, every American has health care and corporate profits work for democracy and not the other way around?

Will we face our future as individuals, each of us asking, "What's in it for me?" Or will we return to the central value that makes our nation great? That we are all in this together and each of has a responsibility to the common good.

The choices we make will determine not just the quality of life our children will inherit, but the fate of the world we leave behind.

To succeed for our children where we have too often failed for ourselves, we must choose a new course. Those wedded to the policies of the 70s, 80s, or 90s are wedded to the past -- ideas and policies that are tired, shop worn and obsolete. We will find no answers there.

But small thinking and outdated answers aren't the only problems with a vision for the future that is rooted in nostalgia. The trouble with nostalgia is that you tend to remember what you liked and forget what you didn't. It's not just that the answers of the past aren't up to the job today, it's that the system that produced them was corrupt -- and still is. It's controlled by big corporations, the lobbyists they hire to protect their bottom line and the politicians who curry their favor and carry their water. And it's perpetuated by a media that too often fawns over the establishment, but fails to seriously cover the challenges we face or the solutions being proposed. This is the game of American politics and in this game, the interests of regular Americans don't stand a chance.

Real change starts with being honest -- the system in Washington is rigged and our government is broken. It's rigged by greedy corporate powers to protect corporate profits. It's rigged by the very wealthy to ensure they become even wealthier. At the end of the day, it's rigged by all those who benefit from the established order of things. For them, more of the same means more money and more power. They'll do anything they can to keep things just the way they are -- not for the country, but for themselves.

Politicians who care more about their careers than their constituents go along to get elected. They make easy promises to voters instead of challenging them to take responsibility for our country. And then they compromise even those promises to keep the lobbyists happy and the contributions coming.

Instead of serving the people and the nation, too many play the parlor game of Washington -- trading favors and campaign money, influencing votes and compromising legislation. It's a game that never ends, but every American knows -- it's time to end the game.

And it's time for the Democratic Party -- the party of the people -- to end it.

The choice for our party could not be more clear. We cannot replace a group of corporate Republicans with a group of corporate Democrats, just swapping the Washington insiders of one party for the Washington insiders of the other.

The American people deserve to know that their presidency is not for sale, the Lincoln Bedroom is not for rent, and lobbyist money can no longer influence policy in the House or the Senate.

It's time to end the game. It's time to tell the big corporations and the lobbyists who have been running things for too long that their time is over. It's time to challenge politicians to put the American people's interests ahead of their own calculated political interests, to look the lobbyists in the eye and just say no.

And it's time for the American people to take responsibility for our government -- for in our democracy it is truly ours. If we have come to mistrust and question it, it is because we were not vigilant against the forces that have taken it from us. That their game has played on for so long is the fault of each of us -- ending the game and returning government of the people to the people is the responsibility of all of us.

But cleaning up Washington isn't enough. If we are going to meet the challenges we face and prevail over them, two principles must guide us -- yes, we must end the Washington game, but we must also think as big as the challenges we face. Our ideas must be bold enough to succeed and our government must be free to enact them without compromising principle or sacrificing results.

One without the other isn't good enough. All the big ideas in the world won't make a difference if they have to go through this broken system that remains controlled by big business and their lobbyists. And if we fix the system, but aren't honest with the American people about the scope of our challenges and what's required of each of us to meet them, then we'll be left with the baby steps and incremental measures that are Washington's poor excuse for progress.

As Bobby Kennedy said, "If we fail to dare, if we do not try, the next generation will harvest the fruit of our indifference; a world we did not want, a world we did not choose, but a world we could have made better by caring more for the results of our labors."

But if we do both -- if we have the courage to offer real change and the determination to change Washington -- then we will be build the One America we dream of, where every man, woman and child is blessed with the same, great opportunity and held to the same, just rules.

For more than 20 years, Democrats have talked about universal health care. And for more than 20 years, we've gotten nowhere, because lobbyists for the big insurance companies, drug companies and HMOs spent millions to block real reform. Instead, they've grudgingly allowed incremental measures that do nothing but tinker around the edges -- or worse, they've hijacked reform to improve their own bottom line. So today, more Americans go without health care than ever before. Instead of prescription drug reform that brought down the cost of drugs, the lobbyists for the big drug companies got us a prescription drug bill that boosts drug company profits but doesn't cut patient costs.

I have a bold plan to finally guarantee true universal health care for every single American and cut health care costs for everyone. My plan will require everyone -- business, government and individuals -- to contribute something to reach universal coverage. And I am honest about the cost: $90 to $120 billion a year, and I'll pay for it by repealing the Bush tax cuts for families above $200,000. If we end the game in Washington, we can finally have a health care system that treats the health of all our people with equal worth.

Dependence on foreign oil is smothering our economy and choking our environment. Everybody knows it -- politicians from both parties have been calling for energy independence for 30 years. So what did the oilmen in the White House do? They handed the keys to the corridors of government over to the lobbyists for the big oil companies and let them literally write the energy bill. Now, gas prices are through the roof, carbon emissions are unchecked, and global warming is likely getting worse.

When I am president, we will cap greenhouse gas pollution and ratchet it down every year. We will avoid mistakes like nuclear power and liquid coal. We will invest in clean renewable energies generated in America and create a new era in efficient cars, made by union members here at home.

And look at our economic policies -- from top to bottom, they're a twisted reflection of American values. Instead of expanding opportunity for all and preventing special privileges for any, they hoard opportunity and protect special privileges for the very few at the very top.

Trade policy is all about corporate profits for big multinationals and not at all about lifting workers' wages or creating American jobs. The tax code provides breaks for hedge fund managers -- amazingly, even Democrats backed down from asking them to pay their fair share when Wall Street lobbyists put the pressure on. By the time a decade of corporate opposition to a minimal increase in the minimum wage is overcome, even its own supporters admit that the increase isn't enough -- so another decade of corporate opposition begins anew, and workers lose again.

It's time we put our economy back in line with our values. Let's restore fairness to our tax code by insisting on a simple principle -- nobody in the middle class should pay higher taxes on the money they make from hard work than the wealthiest pay on the money they make from their investments. Let's restore opportunity and responsibility to our trade policy by requiring that every new trade deal puts workers and wages first. Let's reward work by strengthening unions, raising the minimum wage, cutting taxes on working families and with a national commitment to end poverty within a generation.

And let's support our troops and end this war in Iraq. We should immediately withdraw 40-50,000 combat troops immediately and have the rest out in about a year. And when President Bush refuses to act, Congress should use its funding power to force him to act.

None of this will be easy, but all of it is possible.

I know. I've been doing it my entire life.

I am the son of Wallace and Bobbie Edwards. My father had to borrow $50 to bring me and my mother home from the hospital. I am here today because, like all the people my father worked with in the mill, my parents got up every day believing in the promise of America, and they worked hard -- no matter what obstacles were thrown against them -- to give me the chance for a better life.

That's the promise at the heart of the American Dream. What matters to our generation is of little consequence -- in America what has always mattered most is the consequences for our children and their children after them. And no amount of power or money gives anyone the right to break that promise with our future.

I have stood with ordinary Americans at the most difficult times in their lives, when all the power of corporate America was arrayed against them. I have walked into courtrooms alone to face an army of corporate lawyers with all the money in the world. I have walked off the Senate elevator and been besieged by an army of corporate lobbyists. And I have beaten them over and over again.

But let me tell you one thing I have learned from my experience -- you cannot deal with them on their terms. You cannot play by their rules, sit at their table, or give them a seat at yours. They will not give up their power -- you have to take it from them.

We cannot triangulate our way to real change. We cannot compromise our way to real change. But we can lead to real change. And we can start today.

Nearly ten years ago, I made the decision that I would never take a dime from a Washington lobbyist -- I wasn't going to work for them, and I didn't want their money.

Because in the courtroom, when you present your case to the jury, you can offer facts and evidence, you can argue your heart out -- and I have -- but the one thing you can't do, is pay the jury. We call that a bribe. But in Washington when an oil lobbyist gives money to office holders to influence our energy policy, they call it politics. That's exactly what's wrong with this system.

Money flies like lightning between corporations, lobbyists, and politicians. We need full public financing to reform the system once and for all. But we don't need to wait to reform our party. Two weeks ago, I called on all Democrats to reject contributions from federal lobbyists. To tell them -- we know that you give money to influence politicians on behalf of your corporate clients. Well, we're not going to take it anymore. Your money's no good here.

I repeat that challenge today. Let's show America exactly whose side we're on. We can reform our party and truly be the party of the people. And we can expose for all time who the Republicans in Washington are really working for.

There are 60 lobbyists in Washington for every member of Congress. The big corporations don't need another president that looks out for them -- they've got all the power they need. I want to be the people's president.

A few weeks, ago I met a man named James Lowe in Wise, Virginia. James spent the first fifty years of his life without a voice -- literally without a voice -- because he didn't have health care. All he needed was a simple operation to fix a cleft palate. That a man in the richest country in the world could go unable to speak for 50 years because he couldn't pay for a $3,000 operation is something that should outrage every American. We are better than that. America is better that that.

It's a stark reminder of our broken political system that leaves millions of Americans without a voice in their government -- a government that is supposed to work for them.

But it doesn't have to be that way. And we can change it together.

We must think big and end the game.

It's not about being ready to grab the reigns of establishment Washington and stand on the side of corporate elites. If it is, there are plenty who will do a better job than me at protecting the status quo, and preserving the policies and politics of the past.

It's about being ready to lift our country up, reform our party, and remake our government in line with the values of our people. It's about real change and a new vision that meets the challenges of the future and inspires the American people to work together for the common good.

We're all angry at what George Bush has done to our country. But with courage and conviction, with an unblinking eye on the future we believe in and an unbending knee on the road to get there, not only can we undo the damage, we can transform the world. No matter what life has thrown at us, Elizabeth and I have always chosen to be optimistic about the future -- and determined to make a difference as we strive toward it everyday.

I carry the promise of America in my heart, where my parents placed it. Because of them, I believe in people, hard work and the American Dream. I believe the future belongs to us if we only dare to seize it. And I believe to seize it, we must blaze a new path, firmly grounded in the values that first made America great. We must cast aside the established ways of Washington and replace them with the timeless values of the American people. We must end the game controlled by a privileged few and restore the promise that America owes to us all.

On that new path lies One America, where possibility is unbound and opportunity is the birthright of every American. Where the voices of the people are heard again in the halls of government, and government heeds their call. One America, where every individual takes responsibility for our common good, and the chance to reach one's God-given potential is every individual's common right.

I am the son of Wallace and Bobbie Edwards.

And I believe in the promise of America.

Good morning. It's good to be back in Iowa with all of you today. I was recently here to talk about the fundamental unfairness at the heart of our economy today and what we need to do to fix it. I focused then on our tax code and how we can reform it to honor work, not just wealth. And in the coming weeks I will address the issue of corporate responsibility.

Today, I want to talk to you about one of the most important economic issues facing America - trade, especially its effect on jobs.

Over the past few years, I've traveled across this country and met with so many honest, hard working Americans, including many right here in Iowa, who've been left behind by our economy.

During one of my trips a couple of years ago, I met Doug Bishop. For years, Doug worked at the Maytag plant in Newton. He worked hard for Maytag day in and day out. And then Maytag decided to cut costs by cutting Doug's job.

Doug was lucky. After eight months out of work, he's back on his feet now, a leader in his community. But many other people in Newton - and across America - haven't been so lucky. They're as eager to get back to work as Doug was, but they're still struggling.

These people did everything our country asked of them. Everything. They had jobs, they worked hard at them, and they provided for their families - and in return, they got the rug pulled out from under them. Who was looking out for these workers in Newton? Who was looking out for their families?

Not Maytag. And certainly not anyone in Washington, D.C.

It hasn't always been this way. Workers for generations were at the heart of our country. Hard-working men and women have made America the strongest, most prosperous nation in the history of the world. But today, Washington has turned its back on our workers and their futures.

More than ever, workers face an uncertain world where they feel like no one in Washington is doing what they can to help them.

They're right. Washington isn't looking out for them. Washington is too busy looking out for big business and protecting irresponsible corporations.

Trade has become a bad word for working Americans for a simple reason - our trade policies have been bad for working Americans. Washington looks at every trade deal and asks one question, and only one question - is it good for corporate profits?

They don't look at what it will do to workers, to families, to wages, to jobs, or even to the economy. When it comes to trade, the only thing that matters in Washington is the big business bottom line.

And most of big business is only looking out for its profits, not its people. Instead, they should be paying attention to a simple truth - corporations can be successful and responsible at the same time.

We need new trade policies in America that put workers, wages and families first. Not fourth, not third, not second. First. What we need is trade without trade-offs. Trade without trade-offs for workers. Trade without trade-offs for jobs. Trade without trade-offs for the environment.

We need trade without trade-offs for America.

Corporations, and the executives who lead them, need to realize that creating American jobs is not only the responsible thing to do, it's the patriotic thing to do.

But that's certainly not what is happening today. America is bleeding jobs.

Since President Bush took office, 5 million jobs have been lost to trade, including many here in Iowa, and 15 million more jobs may move offshore within the next decade. And don't let anyone tell you it's just low-skilled jobs that we'll lose - it's also many of our country's high quality service and technology jobs - jobs that require advanced education such as in computer programming, radiology, call centers, and financial analysis.

But it doesn't begin or end with just the jobs being outsourced to China, India and elsewhere. The negative effects from globalization are ripping through the economy.

Globalization has helped stunt the growth in wages for American workers. Workers in America must now compete every day with workers overseas earning miserably low wages with no benefits. And what's even worse, big multinational corporations now use the excuse that they have to ship ever more good-paying American jobs overseas in order to compete with the very low wage jobs they themselves created there. In the last few years, wages have fallen for nearly every educational group, all the way up to masters degrees - and corporate profits have nearly doubled.

Rather than create income gains for all, the gains from globalization are mostly flowing to the most fortunate Americans. Globalization is a major reason why income inequality is at its worst since before the Great Depression.

It shouldn't be this way. And when I'm president, I'm going to tell the lobbyists pulling the strings in Washington and the big corporations that hire them the same thing - their time is over. The system is rigged against regular Americans to guarantee more power for the powerful and more wealth for the wealthy. Well, I'm going to cut the rigging down and end the game.

Washington's values are all wrong, but the American people's values are exactly right. We believe in hard work, fairness and opportunity. Just like we always have. And we're going to restore those values to our economy and our government.

I know the American people want change, real change. Washington isn't working for them. Our economy isn't working for them. But by uniting together, we can fix this. We can make sure that working and middle class families again have the opportunities to which they're entitled.

While CEOs have been sitting in their boardrooms and while lobbyists and Washington insiders having been dining in their steakhouses, I have been on the ground. Meeting workers. Walking picket lines. I've walked past far too many manufacturing plants with locks on their gates and weeds in their yards. I've heard firsthand from workers how they're one crisis away - one pink slip, one trip to the emergency room - from going over a cliff. But I've also seen firsthand their determination to fight - for their families and for our values.

We'll need courage and conviction and backbone to go up against these powerful lobbyists and insiders. Half measures and baby steps won't level the playing field. Triangulation and compromise won't fix anything. It won't be easy, but together - you and me and everyone who is sick of listening to Washington say one thing and do another - we can stand up and change this country for the better.

***

And we certainly need change, especially in our trade policies. For years now, Washington has been passing trade deal after trade deal that works great for multinational corporations, but not for working Americans.

For example, NAFTA and the WTO provide unique rights for foreign companies whose profits are allegedly hurt by environmental and health regulations. These foreign companies have used them to demand compensation for laws against toxins, mad cow disease, and gambling - they have even sued the Canadian postal service for being a monopoly. Domestic companies would get laughed out of court if they tried this, but foreign investors can assert these special rights in secretive panels that operate outside our system of laws.

When economists say that trade helps our economy overall, we need to be honest about the fact that it does not help everyone. The true measure of our economy isn't found only in the size of our GDP or the level of corporate profits - it's whether middle class families are doing better or worse.

A sure sign that our trade and economic policies are seriously out of whack is our trade deficit. Our nation's imports have increased by a staggering 50 percent in the past 15 years, and instead of a trade balance, the United States now has the largest trade deficit in the history of the globe - and it just keeps growing. Last year, our current account deficit was more than $850 billion, which is a staggering 6.5 percent of our nation's entire GDP, and our trade deficit with China alone was $233 billion. That means that we are consuming billions of dollars more in imported goods than we produce - and we are borrowing heavily to pay for them.

Behind all these numbers and statistics are the faces of millions of Americans forgotten in our trade deals. Well, I can tell you that I will never forget them. I saw what happened when the mill that my dad worked in all his life, and that I worked in myself when I was young, closed and the jobs went somewhere else. It wasn't just devastating to our community economically -- it was devastating to the pride and dignity of the people who worked hard every day trying to make a better life for their kids.

Let me tell you, if a CEO thinks the right thing to do is to ship American jobs overseas, to destroy families and communities, then I challenge him to go and look those workers in the eye and have the guts to tell them to their face that they can't compete. I've stood with these workers all across America - and let me tell you, they can compete, because they are the best workers in the world.

The trade policies of President Bush have devastated towns and communities all across America. But let's be clear about something - this isn't just his doing. For far too long, presidents from both parties have entered into trade agreements, agreements like NAFTA, promising that they would create millions of new jobs and enrich communities. Instead, too many of these agreements have cost us jobs and devastated many of our towns.

NAFTA was written by insiders in all three countries, and it served their interests - not the interests of regular workers. It included unprecedented rights for corporate investors, but no labor or environmental protections in its core text. And over the past 15 years, we have seen growing income inequality in the U.S., Mexico and Canada.

Well enough is enough. Americans have paid the price long enough. We need to change our fundamental approach to trade. We need to make American values the foundation of our trade deals, and we need to put workers back at their core.

***

Let me tell you, no one is asking for any guarantees. America has the most open economy in the world, and no one is suggesting that we put up tariffs or go back to protectionism. Any politician who promises to bring back the jobs we've lost isn't telling the truth - no one can bring back those jobs. But with a level playing field, American workers can compete with anybody on earth. And I'm absolutely not suggesting an end to trade.

I am calling instead for an end to lip service. Our leaders in Washington say many of the right things. They even say that they will make sure the gains from trade are shared with everyone. But when push comes to shove, the trade gets pushed forward and the sharing gets shoved off.

We can and we must change this. I believe we need to follow three principles to make sure globalization works for everyone.

First, trade deals must benefit workers, not just big multinational corporations. Today, our trade agreements are negotiated behind closed doors. The multinationals get their say, but when one goes to Congress it gets an up or down vote - no amendments are allowed. No wonder that corporations get unique protections, while workers don't benefit. That's wrong.

Imagine trade policies that actually put American workers first. We need fair rules for workers, and we need strong protections for labor and the environment and against currency manipulation. If a deal is good for middle-class families, it's good for America; if it's not, it's not.

Second, our trade policies should also lift up workers around the world. This struggle over fair trade is about more that just what's at stake for America's workers - it's also about what's at stake for workers in every country. Making sure that workers around the globe are treated fairly and share in trade gains is the right thing to do morally, it's the right thing to do economically, and it will make us much safer and more secure. That's what strong labor standards are all about. Making sure that workers have the right to organize and earn a fair wage will not only prevent a "race to the bottom" on labor rights - it will also help build a global middle class that shares in the gains from trade and creates markets for U.S. exports.

Third, we need to address more than just our trade policies in order to restore fairness and opportunity to workers. I talked earlier about some of the adverse effects of globalization - stagnant wages and rising inequality. To help regular Americans get ahead and stay ahead, we need to make sure our children get a quality education and have the chance to go to college. We need to raise the minimum wage, strengthen unions, and help families build assets. And the most important thing we can do to provide security to our workers is to guarantee universal health care in this country. I am proud to be the first major candidate to come out with a plan for universal health care.

We also need to invest resources to ensure that our country keeps its competitive edge in the world. We need to create the jobs of the future right here in America and make sure our workers have the skills they need to fill them. We need to make the Research and Experimentation Tax Credit permanent, invest in life sciences and biomedical research, strengthen math and science education, and create a new energy economy.

There are so many things we can do to put our economy back on the side of the working men and women who make this country great. Our trade policies have a huge impact on whether regular Americans - in Iowa and across the country -- have the chance to get ahead in our economy or whether they are left behind.

We need a new era in trade policy. We need "smart trade" policies that American workers can say yes to - trade policies that do more than pay lip service to their needs and that actually make sure prosperity is shared. Trade policies that are as innovative as the American people. And when I'm president, those are the trade policies we will have.

And let me be clear: we will make sure that these policies are in place before we pass a single new trade deal.

In my first year in office, I will spend time working with Congress to get our trade policies straight -- policies which ensure that Americans workers finally begin to see benefits from the global economy. And then, when we negotiate new trade deals it won't just be big multinational corporations whose interests are served - it will also be the interests of American workers, America's communities, and our global environment.

***

First, I will be a tough negotiator on new trade deals. There are good trade deals and there are bad trade deals, and when I am president it will be crystal clear that we have a president who knows the difference. It is not enough for a trade deal to be popular on Wall Street or show up in economic statistics. My main measure is just this one - after considering the impact on jobs, wages and prices, will most families be better off?

When I'm president, our trade agreements will give workers fair and level playing fields. All our trade partners must meet basic labor standards, such as prohibiting sweatshops and child labor and protecting the right of workers to join unions. These conditions should be the floor, not the ceiling. And they should not be in side agreements, but at the core of the agreements. I will tie unilateral trade preferences and bilateral trade agreements to progress on labor rights. As president, I will also push the World Trade Organization to begin to address labor standards. And I will build on the precedent of the Cambodia textiles agreement, which rewarded progress on labor rights with greater market access.

New trade agreements must also include strong rules on environmental protection and against currency manipulation. As the world's biggest customer, our trade deals can be vital tools to ensure that progress is made in stopping global warming. They can also be tools to ensure that poor environmental practices do not create unfair competitive advantages. 

Second, I will insist that our trade deals be fairly and fully administered. For free trade to be fair, it must be based on rules, and then those rules must be followed. But right now, many major U.S. trading partners are breaking the rules without any consequences.

As president, I will seek to restore America's moral leadership of the world, and our trade policies with these countries can help. But we are going to be tough in our negotiations because the overriding obligation of the president of the United States is to put America's workers, economy and national interests first.

Right now, China, India and certain other nations are each, to one degree or another, combining miserably low wages and poor environmental practices with tax breaks, subsidies, tariffs, low-cost loans, and currency manipulation to advance their trade at the expense of ours. All of this is costing Americans high-quality jobs and threatening millions more.


When I am president, restoring fair and balanced trade with China will be a particular priority. Its massive manipulation of the yuan has continued for years, giving it an unfair advantage against U.S. manufacturers, and its labor and intellectual property protections are grossly inadequate. As a result of the massive trade deficits we run with China - the largest ever between any two countries, more than $230 billion last year alone - China now owns $1 trillion in U.S. assets, giving it great leverage over our economy and our security. This is not acceptable. We need to persuade China's authoritarian government to commit to the rules that govern the conduct of responsible nations. Our trade policies are a great opportunity for increased leverage over China. And, when I'm president I will make it crystal clear that doing
business with China should not come at the expense of American jobs or our economy - there must and will be balance between our nations when we trade.

As for our good friend India, which has achieved remarkable economic growth in recent years, we still must work hard to get it to adhere to both the letter and the spirit of its trade agreements with the U.S. and to further achieve our shared values, while all the while improving the lives of its millions of citizens.


I know following the letter of any law, let alone trade law, isn't a priority for the Bush administration, but it will be for mine. In the Edwards Administration, the top prosecutors at the Department of Justice will be responsible for enforcing our trade agreements. Right now, the trade negotiators charged with enforcing agreements seem to think their job is done when an agreement is signed. Signing a trade deal should be the beginning of the process, not the end. And I will insist that we finally begin to prosecute illegal foreign subsidies, currency manipulation, and trade practices.

Fair terms of trade also mean fixing our own tax code so that corporations aren't rewarded for closing plants and shipping jobs to countries like China. Our government should be encouraging businesses to invest here. Yet, one of the starkest examples that our economy works best for big business instead of regular Americans is that we actually give tax incentives to companies to invest overseas. American companies setting up shop in tax havens often pay little or no U.S. tax. This is not only wrong, it's unpatriotic. 

I will eliminate the tax incentives that encourage companies to invest overseas rather than here at home. These dollars, if invested in new facilities and in retraining workers and rebuilding devastated communities, can fuel a dramatic expansion of our own economy.

Third, we need much more investment in helping the workers and communities left behind. When we sign a trade deal, we know which industries and workers will likely be affected by greater competition. We need to restore some honesty to the trade debate and not claim, like too many presidents from both parties have done, that trade will help everyone. This is simply not true.


When I am president, every trade agreement will be subject to not only an economic assessment showing how imports and exports will be affected by the agreement, but also to a "community impact assessment." We need to make sure trade deals produce real benefits that are widely shared, and we need to get a head start on helping any workers and communities who will be hurt by increases in imports or by competition from other countries. Before I ask Congress to approve any new trade agreement, we will have an honest discussion about the real impact of that agreement on towns and communities and workers across our country.

Then we can go into dislocated communities - starting before the jobs are gone - and help them diversify their economies with initiatives modeled on the military base closing commissions, bringing local leaders, employers and unions together to rebuild local economies. We need to be much more aggressive about helping workers and affected communities.

Training is no substitute for good trade policies, but we must help workers gain new skills and get ahead. The problem is that, too often, training programs are completely disconnected from the job market. I will create a broad new Training Works program that ties retraining to real jobs. It will support on-the-job training programs through partnerships among businesses, unions and community colleges. Workers will be trained on-the-job to make sure the jobs actually exist. And to make it worth businesses' while - and to support high-wage jobs - we will pay part of workers' wages while they are being trained.

All types of workers are affected by globalization, and all types of workers should be eligible for help getting back on their feet. But Trade Adjustment Assistance, or TAA, now only helps manufacturing workers at plant closings.

Because most unemployed workers who lose their jobs aren't even covered by unemployment insurance, I will help states modernize their programs. This will give security to 500,000 more jobless workers a year, including more low-wage and part-time workers.


And, as we have seen over the last year, another dark side of trade is the concern over the safety of the foods we eat, the toys our children play with, and even the medicines we take.

Now more than ever, we need to make sure that our trade rules protect American consumers.

Food imports have doubled in the past decade, and Americans now eat three-quarters of a pound of imported food every day. However, less than 1 percent of imported food is inspected.

As president, I will enforce mandatory "country of origin" labeling for food and other consumer products so that Americans will know who is making the products they are buying. The big meat packers have blocked this law for too long. I will give the FDA all the authority and resources it needs to keep tainted food and products out of our country and out of our homes.

We will strengthen enforcement to ensure that safety standards are being met, and we will enforce "zero tolerance" and immediately freeze the specific import of any food, toys, medicines, or other goods that threatens the health of our children and families. We will not let them in until we know they are safe, because the health and welfare of our children are more important than cheap toys.

We must make sure that trade is not only smart and good for America's economy and workers, but safe for American families. Regular families - their safety and their best interests - should come before the interests of multinational corporations. That's what safe and smart trade is about.

You know, some people as they listen to my new smart trade vision for America will accuse me of being a protectionist or anti-trade. They would be wrong. I believe in smart and safe trade, just not trade that helps American multinationals but hurts America.

And, let me tell you, you can protect the interests of American workers and still trade. We can grow our economy, and create good jobs and trade responsibly, fairly and safely. With smart trade policies, we can make sure American workers compete on level playing fields. With smart trade policies, we can create a new future where even more workers and their families have a chance to achieve the American Dream.

I know we can make trade and our economy work for regular workers, but real change must first begin with ending - once and for all - the influence 
lobbyists have on trade policies and on our government. It's time Washington worked for the American people, not for lobbyists and insiders. It's time that
the president stood up and fought for American workers. It's time to have a
president that always - always - puts the interests of the American people first.

So today, I'm again calling on all federal officeholders and candidates from all political parties to join me in putting an end to the money game in Washington by simply refusing to accept any form of campaign donation from federal lobbyists going forward. It's really just that simple. We need to send a message to all of the lobbyists in Washington: Your money is no good
 here, and we're not going to take it anymore. We don't need you, we've got
 the American people on our side.

***

What I've just said today isn't going to be popular with the special interest groups, lobbyists or Washington insiders. But this isn't about being well-liked. This is about doing what's right.

They're going to try to distract you and me from the issues that matter - issues like health care, poverty, jobs and economic fairness.

And it's these insiders in Washington who are going to attack us to try to keep people like me from speaking out, but they won't succeed. Because I'm going to fight with every breath I have. Because this isn't about me or them - it's about you, your family, your children, and how those who run for president are going to fight for real change to create a better America where all of us can go as far as our hard work and God-given talents will take us.

That's the kind of president I will be.

As Harry Truman said, "The ultimate test of any presidential decision is ‘not whether it's popular at the time, but whether it's right…If it's right, make it, and let the popular part take care of itself.'"

We know we don't have to live in an America where hard-working men and women are struggling to get by. Where we pass trade deal after trade deal that rip apart communities. Where good people like those who worked at Maytag do right by their country and are still left out in the cold.

That's not our America. Our America says if you work hard, you'll have the chance to get ahead and leave your kids a better life. That's the One America we're fighting for. That's our America. And together, I know we can make our One America a reality because the real power of America isn't in Washington, it's with the American people. It's with all of you.

And that is why when I'm president, real change is coming.

Thank you. God bless you. God bless America.

Remarks as prepared for delivery
Manchester, New Hampshire

A little more than three years ago, I gave a speech here in New Hampshire I called "In Defense of Optimism." Some of you probably wonder if I could give a similar speech today. After all, a lot has happened since then – and a lot of it hasn't been good – the escalation of the war in Iraq, the aftermath of Katrina, health care costs rising, incomes staying flat, mounting evidence of global warming. I could go on.

But as a matter of fact, I am still optimistic – maybe even more so than I was then. I am still optimistic that America can be a country where anyone who works hard is able to get ahead and create a good life for their family. I am optimistic that we can restore America's moral authority. The challenges may be larger, and we may have even more work to do to build a country that lives up to our ideals and our potential. But we can do it.

I am optimistic we can do these things because my own life says it is possible. I am optimistic we can do these things because everything I love about America and our entrepreneurial spirit and sense of decency says it's possible. But most of all, I am optimistic because of you and the millions of people like you. You don't have to look very far or dig very deep to find people determined to make the changes we need. Millions of people are impatient to take control of their own lives and to take the responsibility to get our country back on track. Millions of people who know we can't just wait for the next president to come in and fix all of our problems or for government to do what needs to be done.

Millions of people who know that America is so much more than just a place – America is an idea. And the idea of America – real, fundamental equality – equality of opportunity, equality of culture, equality of respect – equality for all – matters more than ever. Our job is to make the idea of America real for all Americans, and to rekindle that idea around the world.

So I want to take a few minutes today to talk about some of the challenges we face. But I want to spend most of my time talking about the opportunities before us if we have the courage to do what it takes.

Because we have not yet realized the promise of America; we still struggle to live up to the idea. There are still two Americas here at home, one for the powerful and another one for everyone else. And there are two Americas in the world, the America that we aspire to and has been a light to the world, and the one you've seen too often on the news lately.

Here at home, the country with the most advanced health care in the world, we have more Americans without health care – 47 million – not fewer.

In the richest country in the history of the globe, we have more millionaires and more billionaires that ever – but we also have more Americans living in poverty – 37 million people unable to fulfill their basic needs of food and shelter, no matter how many jobs they work – not less.

As someone who grew up in the segregated South it hurts me to say that more than 50 years after the Brown decision, we still have two school systems – one for people who live in the right neighborhoods and one for everyone else. And the truth is that opportunity is too often denied to people because of the color of their skin, their ethnic background, their gender, or their sexual preference.

And you all know that we are not leading the world in a way that lives up to the idea of America – or is good for us here at home.

What we used to call foreign policy has such a profound effect on our everyday lives that there really is no such thing as purely foreign policy anymore. Trade policies affect jobs and wages here and throughout the world. Energy policy affects climate change here and all over the world, and it impacts domestic and foreign security. Poverty is an issue for us here – I could talk about that all day long – but poverty is also an issue directly related to the rise of terrorism and our place in the world economy. A well-known politician from a neighboring state used to say that all politics is local. Today, all policy is local.

We are not going to solve these problems with the usual approaches. These challenges are too big, too connected, and too complicated to be answered with the same old politics of incrementalism. Meeting them requires more than just a new president—it requires an entirely new approach.

To build the America we believe in requires fundamental, transformational change. Not change for the sake of change, but change for the sake of getting to where we know the country and the world can be, should be, and needs to be. Not incremental, baby-step changes, but invigorating, uplifting, challenging, daring, boundary-pushing changes that address the root causes and understand the complexity of our challenges.

So if we are going to lead from this point in the 21st century, we must lead with a bold and confident step – confident in the greatness of the American idea, and bold in our plans to make it real.

To lead the world in addressing the challenges of our century, America must restore our moral authority.

Restoring our moral authority isn't just about feeling good about ourselves. When the world looks to America for leadership, we are stronger and safer, and so is the rest of the world.

Restoring our moral authority means leading by example, and making clear that hard challenges don't frighten us, but call us to action.

To me, there is no better opportunity to make this clear than the enormous challenge of helping the 37 million Americans who live in poverty.

Maybe you've heard the phrase "it's expensive to be poor." Well, it's also expensive for America to have so many poor.

We all pay a price when young people who could someday find the cure for AIDS or make a fuel cell work are sitting on a stoop because they didn't get the education they need.

And don't think for a second that addressing poverty is charity – addressing poverty makes our workforce stronger and our economy stronger.

That is why I've set a national goal of eliminating poverty in the next 30 years – and laid out a detailed plan to do it by creating what I call a "Working Society," building on what we've learned to create solutions for the future.

In a Working Society, we will reward work with a higher minimum wage, stronger labor laws, and tax credits for working families. We will offer affordable housing near good jobs and good schools, and create a million stepping-stone jobs for people who cannot find work on their own. We will help workers save for the future with new work bonds and homeownership tax credits. And we will all take responsibility for the problem of poverty and not just leave it to government.

By building a Working Society, we won't just try the old solutions and the old politics. Instead, we will work, as a nation, to change fundamentally the culture of poverty itself and create the conditions that allow people to lift themselves up into the middle class.

Rebuilding our middle class for the 21st century also means getting at the root of one of the main obstacles to middle class prosperity -- the cost of health care.

Americans spend more than $2 trillion per year on heath care –- more than any other country on earth.

Despite this incredible expenditure, more than 47 million Americans don't have any health insurance at all.

That's not just morally wrong. It undercuts our personal security and our competitiveness in the global marketplace.

That's why I've introduced a true universal health care plan to cover every man, woman and child in America – by the end of my first term as President. I'm proud to be the first and only candidate to do so.

We cannot wait to transform our health care system. My plan sets up health care markets around the country to give people a choice of good health care plans, including a choice between private and government plans. It provides access to preventive care. It creates efficiencies that don't exist today by dramatically lowering administrative costs. Under my plan, if you don't have health care, you will. If you have health care, your costs will go down.

It may seem complicated in its details, but I see health care as a simple matter of right and wrong. I believe every single one of us has equal worth, and we should not treat anybody as better than anybody else. Every American – rich or poor, no matter which America we live in – has the right to health care. My plan delivers it.

Our domestic problems are intertwined with our global challenges, and nowhere is this truer than at the nexus of global warming and energy independence.

Global warming is a problem that is here, now, and not going away. The United States must lead – lead smart, lead courageously, and lead by example.

It is time to ask the American people to be patriotic about something other than war. We need investments in renewable energy – more efficient cars and trucks – and a national cap on carbon emissions.

By taking personal responsibility for our energy use, we can all reduce our impact on the environment in big ways and small. This week, I announced that we're going to do exactly that in our campaign – our campaign is going to be carbon neutral.

Tackling global warming through responsibility and conservation helps reduce our reliance on foreign oil. And reducing our reliance on foreign oil strengthens our national security. But we won't stop there.

By creating a new energy economy – by transforming our energy infrastructure and investing in research, development and deployment of alternative energy technologies – we can not only address global warming and energy independence, we can create more than a million new jobs in America, and lay the foundation for a secure middle class and a manufacturing base for America in the 21st century.

Our education system, too, needs fundamental change. As I said a few minutes ago, more than 50 years after Brown v. Board of Education, our education system remains shockingly unequal. There are nearly 1,000 high schools where more than half of the students won't graduate. Minority 12th-graders read at the same level as white 9th-graders.

Our education system shortchanges the skills our children need for the future – math and science, creativity and critical thinking. Every day you can read reports about how we're falling behind in math and science – our 9th-graders are 18th in the world in science education. We need to fundamentally change the discussion about education in our country, to move beyond a focus on testing and get to the issue of educating our children for the challenges of the 21st century.

We need a serious, sustained effort to turn around failing schools. We should invest in our teachers – the most important part of any school. We need to do more to recruit them, train them, and pay them, particularly in math and science and other places where there are teacher shortages.

Finally, it has been more than a century since we made high school universal, but high school graduates from well-off families are five times more likely to enroll in college. Those who do go to college pick up larger and larger debts. I have a plan called College for Everyone that will pay for the first year of college for anyone willing to work part-time. And this is one of the hallmarks of the fundamental changes we need, we as Democrats. Work and personal responsibility are good things – and we should be encouraging both.

When we're serious about moral leadership at home, we have the standing to assert moral leadership in the world.

And I believe we can begin by leading in areas that – at first glance – might not seem directly related to our self-interest. I'm talking about global poverty, primary education. But I believe if you look closely, it's clear that these areas are in fact directly related to our present and future national security.

We know that terrorists thrive in failed states, and in states torn apart by internal conflict and poverty.

And we know that in many African and Muslim countries today, extreme poverty and civil wars have gutted government educational systems.

So what's taking their place? The answer is troubling – but filled with opportunity if we have the courage to seize it.

A great portion of a generation is being educated in madrassas run by militant extremists rather than in public schools. And as a result, thousands and thousands of young people who might once have aspired to be educated in America are being taught to hate America.

When you understand that, it suddenly becomes clear: global poverty is not just a moral issue for the United States – it is a national security issue for the United States. If we tackle it, we will be doing a good and moral thing by helping to improve the lives of billions of people around the world who live on less than $2 per day – but we will also begin to create a world in which the ideologies of radical terrorism are overwhelmed by the ideologies of education, democracy, and opportunity. If we tackle it, we have the chance to change a generation of potential enemies into a generation of friends. Now that would be transformational.

But the challenge is great – generational struggles require generational solutions – so we must meet the challenge with an audacious plan.

As President I would implement a four-point plan to tackle global poverty – and improve the national security of the United States:

First, we would launch a sweeping effort to support primary education in the developing world.

More than 100 million young children have no school at all, denied even a primary education to learn how to read and write. Education is particularly important for young girls; as just one example of the ripple effects, educated mothers have lower rates of infant mortality and are 50 percent more likely to have their children immunized.

As president, I will lead a worldwide effort to extend primary education to millions of children in the developing world by fully funding the Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education by 2015. The U.S. will do its part by bringing education to 23 million children in poor countries, and we will ask our allies to step up and do the rest. It's not just good for our security; it's good for theirs.

Second, we will support preventive health care in the developing world.

Women and children bear the burden of poverty and disease in the developing world. Women in our poorest countries have a 10% chance of dying during childbirth. More than 10 million children die each year from preventable diseases. Many of these diseases are preventable with clean water and basic sanitation or affordable immunizations.

As president, I will convene a worldwide summit on low-cost investments in clean drinking water and sanitation. Under my plan, the U.S. will increase its investment in clean water six-fold.

Third, we can get to the root of global poverty by increasing opportunity, political opportunity and economic opportunity. Democratic rights allow poor citizens to force their countries to create more progressive laws, fight oppression and demand economic stability. Economic initiatives like microfinance and micro-insurance can spark entrepreneurship, allowing people to transform their own lives.

And fourth, I would appoint an individual in the White House, reporting directly to me, with the rank of a Cabinet member, to oversee all of our efforts to fight global poverty. Despite its importance to our national security, the United States still lacks a comprehensive strategy to fight global poverty. We need to embrace the vision of John F. Kennedy, who recognized that "the Nation's interest and the cause of political freedom require" American efforts to lift up the world's poor.

Our current effort has plenty of bureaucracy – over 50 separate U.S agencies are involved in the delivery of foreign assistance. What it lacks is efficiency and accountability. As President, I'll change that.

Accomplishing these goals – ending poverty in America and transforming our approach to poverty around the world, creating a new energy economy, bringing health care to every American, and building an educational system that helps to build and support the middle class of the 21st century– will not be easy.

And attempting them will require a change in our politics.

We can no longer accept having the course of our country dictated by a relatively few people who push onto the rest of us policies that suit their particular interests. We need leaders who insist that all voices are heard, leaders who will take the role Harry Truman defined so clearly: a president who is the lobbyist for all the people who don't have, don't want, and can't afford one.

But this is not just about the leaders. It is also about you taking responsibility for your own country, for your own government, for your own community, for your own family. I was only in the Senate for 6 years, but that was more than enough time to learn firsthand what I feared and what you know: if you see a problem, you can't wait for the government to fix it.

We are at one of those rare moments in history – a time when two paths are clear before us.

On one side is the path we have been on.

It is a path in which we argue over fuel standards while global warming gets worse; where the Senate passes non binding resolutions on the war in Iraq while the war escalates; where the middle class shrinks and disappears while tax cuts for the wealthiest set in; a path where the two Americas is still there and still wrong.

On the other side is that future which we have all long imagined - a future in which America's moral leadership once again makes us strong and secure.

A future in which the gulf between the haves and have-nots is fading because we are actively working to lift our fellow human beings up from poverty. Where every American has health care. Where America leads the world in creating a new global economy powered by clean energy. Where women around the world enjoy the same opportunities as men. A future in which we recognize that our security is not just measured by our military might, but by our ability and determination to build a more peaceful, more prosperous, more stable world.

I believe that future is ours for the taking. We can make it real. We know that. We – the American people – have changed the world before.

Nearly 70 years ago, another generation of Americans faced a world darkened by insecurity.

The storm clouds of fascism and totalitarianism were gathering over Europe and Asia. We were struggling to emerge from the depths of the Great Depression. And it was easy to think then that our problems at home were too big for us to try to tackle the problems mounting abroad.

Yet that generation of Americans saw in the challenges of their day not a cause for despair, but a call to greatness.

And they answered it. Not meekly, not uncertainly. But proudly, confidently, and with conviction. Because they had what we have – the idea of America. It's right here.

And in answering that call, not only secured freedom for the people of Europe and Asia – they laid the foundation for a new American economy that produced the greatest expansion of the middle class and the sharpest reduction of poverty in the history of the world.

They turned the 20th century into the American century.

Now it is our turn – to see the challenges we face with an unblinking eye and once again to answer the call.

Proudly, confidently, and with conviction.

It is our responsibility. As Abraham Lincoln once called us, we are still the "last best hope of earth." If America does not lead, who will?

I believe we are up to the task. I am certain of it.

After all, I am an optimist.

Fact Sheets Related To This Speech:

• Ending Poverty In America Within A Generation
• Restoring America's Moral Leadership By Fighting Worldwide Poverty
• Universal Health Care through Shared Responsibility