1988 Democratic Presidential Primary

GOVERNOR MICHAEL S. DUKAKIS ON THE ISSUES

OPPORTUNITY: AN AGENDA FOR ALL AMERICANS

When my parents arrived in this country seventy-five years ago, they didn't have much money, but they had faith in the American dream; faith in the opportunity to make a good life for themselves and for their children.

I am running for President because I want to make that dream come true for all Americans, no matter who they are; or where they came from; or what the color of their skin. We all have a right to share in the American dream.

Opportunity for all is the goal we set for ourselves in Massachusetts. And by working together — with community groups and business and labor and our colleges and universities — we have reduced unemployment from nearly 12 per­cent when I first took office in 1975 to the lowest of any industrial state in the nation — just under 3 percent. And we have cut the jobless rate for minorities by more than one-half in just the past four years.

Our ET Choices program has helped nearly 40,000 families move from welfare to good jobs; we have expanded the op­portunity for quality day care; and through the Massachusetts Housing Partnership, we have helped provide decent and affordable housing for 30,000 low and moderate income families.
Working together to solve real problems is what leadership is all about. And in Massachusetts, we have worked together:

• to add over 400,000 new jobs, and over 54,000 new businesses since 1983.

• to cut state taxes five times in the past four years, quadruple college scholarship assistance and help 6,000 young families purchase their first homes.

• to double minority representation in the state workforce since 1982, including record numbers of appointees in the Governor's office, senior agency positions and the judiciary.

• to establish a permanent Commission on Minority Business Development, and to further encourage com­munity economic development.

• to require set-asides that have ensured the active participation of minority business enterprises in state con­tracting and development projects.

• to increase minority equity participation in, and control of, a new $400 million commercial development project in Boston - an historic first for the Commonwealth and the nation; and

• to propose a plan for universal health care for every citizen in Massachusetts.

This kind of teamwork ... in government, in our economy, in our communities ... has paid off in Massachusetts. lt will pay off for the nation, as well.

As President, I will:

1. Make full employment one of our top national priorities. Full employment is the most important human services program we have; and I am a full employment Democrat.

2. Tap this nation's enormous potential for economic growth by investing in community and regional develop­ment.

3. Investing in good schools — at all levels. Over half of all the public school teachers in the nation will be retiring in the next 5-10 years. Unless we make teaching a valued and honored profession once again, there will be very few bright, highly motivated young people who will want to teach. I want to be this country's number one advocate for good teachers and good teaching, with scholarships to young teachers willing to make a commitment to teaching after they graduate, and with a revived National Teacher Corps. We must also raise the expectations and self-esteem of our young people so that they can feel good about saying "no" to drugs, and so they can aim high — not just for jobs — but for good jobs at good wages; for jobs with a future.

4.    Restore the role of the federal government and the judiciary as guarantors of civil rights for minorities and for all Americans. A Dukakis Administration will take office with an unyielding commitment to affirmative action, equal opportunity and social justice. Just as I have done as Governor of Massachusetts, I will set a tone for private and public action that will create genuine opportunity and social justice for all Americans. Our government will become vigilant in the fight against ethnic violence and discrimination — whether the cause for concern is in our neighborhoods or in the administration of our immigration laws. Specifically, I will:

• aggressively enforce the Voting Rights Act so that every American, regardless of race or ethnic back­ground, enjoys the right to register to vote free of unnecessary impediments; and so that the power of that vote is not diluted by discriminatory districting;

• revitalize the U .S. Commission on Civil Rights and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commis­sion and restore their historic roles by appointing to those bodies people who believe that the federal government has a leading role to play in battling racial discrimination in this country;

• appoint an Attorney General who will make the fight against racial and gender-based discrimination a top priority for the federal government, and who is committed to vigorous enforcement of the civil rights laws;

• appoint more federal judges from the large pool of outstanding women and minority lawyers in this nation;

• ensure that the federal government strongly pursues affirmative action employment and the use of minority set asides in federal contracting so that minority citizens actively participate in the business of the federal government, and in the economic development of all communities across the nation;

• support the Civil Rights Restoration Act, now pending in Congress, which would prohibit the use of federal funds by any institution which discriminates on the basis of race or gender in any of its pro­grams;

• promote minority business and community development in ways that can help build independence and self-sufficiency.

5. I will reaffirm our nation's historic commitment to decent and affordable housing for all Americans; I will strongly support Congressional efforts to reform our welfare system and help hundreds of thousands of families to lift themselves out of poverty and find good jobs; and I will work with state and local leaders, employers, unions, and community organizations to expand the opportunity for quality day care services for our children.

6. Help to shape a foreign policy that reflects the values of the American people. In Southern Africa, we must be firmly and aggressively allied with the forces of change. Our actions — from tougher economic sanctions to more vigorous efforts to build multilateral pressures on the Botha regime — must be developed in con­sultation with South Africa's future leaders and with the front line states in the region. I will end the shoot­ing war in Nicaragua and start the war against poverty and injustice and exploitation throughout Latin America. And I will work to help developing nations to deal with their debt problems; rebuild their econ­omies; and create economic opportunity for their people. That's not just good foreign policy. lt's good domestic policy too.

Working together to create genuine opportunity: that's not just something I believe, it's something that is part of me, and that is part of all of us. It's what our country is all about. And — with your help — it is a commitment that I will take with me to the White House and that — together — we will make a reality for every citizen in this land.

[union bug]  Paid for and authorized by the Dukakis for President Committee, Inc.