55.Ted Kennedy - 1980 Democratic National Convention Address
Thanks very much, Barbara Mikulski, for your very eloquent, your eloquent introduction.
Distinguished legislator, great spokeswoman for economic democracy and social justice in
this
country, I
thank you for your eloquent introduction.
Well, things worked out a little different from the way I
thought, but let
me tell you, I
still
love
New York.
My fellow Democrats and my fellow
Americans, I have come here tonight
not
to argue as a
candidate but
to affirm a cause.
I"m asking you I
am asking you to
renew
the
commitment of the Democratic Party to
economic justice.
I am asking you to renew our commitment
to a fair and lasting prosperity that
can put
America back to work.
This is the cause that brought
me into
the campaign and that sustained me for nine months
across a 100,000 miles in 40 different states. We had our losses, but the pain of our defeats is
far, far less than the pain of the people that
I
have met.
We have learned that
it is important
to take issues seriously, but
never to
take ourselves too
seriously.
The serious issue before us tonight is the cause for which
the Democratic Party has stood in
its finest hours, the cause that keeps our Party
young and makes it, in
the second century of
its age,
the largest political party in this republic and the longest lasting political party on
this
planet.
Our cause has been, since the days of Thomas Jefferson, the cause of the common
man and
the common woman.
Our commitment has been, since the days of Andrew Jackson, to all
those he called "the
humble members of society the
farmers, mechanics, and laborers." On
this foundation we
have defined our values, refined our policies, and refreshed our faith.
Now I take the unusual step of carrying the cause and the commitment of my campaign
personally to our national convention. I speak out of a deep sense of urgency about the
anguish and anxiety I
have seen across America.
I speak out of a deep belief in the ideals of the
Democratic Party, and in the potential of that
Party and of a President
to make a difference. And I speak out of a deep trust in our capacity
to proceed with boldness and a common vision
that will feel and heal the suffering of our time
and the divisions of our Party.
The economic plank of this platform on its face concerns only material things, but
it
is also a
moral
issue that I raise tonight. It has taken many forms over many years. In
this campaign
and in this country that we seek to
lead, the challenge in 1980 is to give our voice and our
vote for these fundamental democratic principles.
Let
us pledge that we will
never misuse unemployment, high
interest rates, and human
misery as false weapons against
inflation.
Let
us pledge that employment will be the first priority of our economic policy.
Let
us pledge that there will be security for all
those who are now at work, and let
us pledge
that
there will be jobs for all who are out of work. and we will
not
compromise on the issues
of jobs.
These are not simplistic pledges.
Simply put, they are the heart of our tradition, and they
have been the soul of our Party across the generations. It is the glory and the greatness of
our tradition
to speak for those who
have no
voice, to
remember those who are forgotten, to
respond to
the frustrations and fulfill
the aspirations of all Americans seeking a better life in a
better land.
We dare not
forsake that
tradition.
We cannot let
the great purposes of the Democratic Party become the bygone passages of
history.
We must not permit
the Republicans to
seize and run on
the slogans of prosperity. We heard
the orators at their convention all
trying to talk like Democrats. They proved that even
Republican
nominees can quote Franklin Roosevelt to
their own purpose.
The Grand Old Party thinks it
has found a great
new
trick, but 40 years ago an earlier
generation of Republicans attempted the same trick. And Franklin Roosevelt himself replied,
"Most Republican
leaders have bitterly fought and blocked the forward surge of average men
and women
in their pursuit of happiness. Let
us not be deluded that overnight
those leaders
have suddenly become the friends of average men and women."
"You know," he continued, "very few of us are that gullible." And four years later when the
Republicans tried that trick again, Franklin Roosevelt asked, "Can
the Old Guard pass itself off
as the New Deal? I think not. We have all
seen
many marvelous stunts in the circus, but
no
performing elephant could turn a handspring without falling flat on its back."
The 1980 Republican
convention was awash with crocodile tears for our economic distress, but
it is by their long record and not their recent words that you shall know
them.
The same Republicans who are talking about
the crisis of unemployment
have nominated a
man who once said, and I quote, "Unemployment insurance is a prepaid vacation plan
for
freeloaders."
And that nominee is no
friend of labor.
The same Republicans who are talking about
the problems of the inner cities have nominated
a man who said, and I quote, "I have included
in my morning and evening prayers every day
the prayer that
the Federal Government not bail out New York." And that
nominee is no friend
of this city and our great
urban centers across this nation.
The same Republicans who are talking about security for the elderly have nominated a man
who said just
four years ago
that "Participation
in social security should be made voluntary."
And that nominee is no
friend of the senior citizens of this nation.
The same Republicans who are talking about preserving the environment
have nominated a
man who
last year made the preposterous statement, and I quote, "Eighty percent of our air
pollution
comes from plants and trees." And that
nominee is no friend of the environment.
And the same Republicans who are invoking Franklin Roosevelt
have nominated a man who
said in 1976, and these are his exact words, "Fascism was really the basis of the New Deal."
And that nominee whose name is Ronald Reagan
has no right
to quote Franklin Delano
Roosevelt.
The great adventures which our opponents offer is a voyage into the past. Progress is our
heritage, not theirs. What
is right for us as Democrats is also the right way for Democrats to
win.
The commitment I seek is not to outworn views
but to old values that will
never wear out.
Programs may sometimes become obsolete, but the ideal of fairness always endures.
Circumstances may change, but
the work of compassion
must continue.
It is surely correct
that we cannot solve problems by throwing money at them, but it is also correct
that we dare
not
throw out our national problems onto a scrap heap of inattention and indifference.
The poor may be out of political
fashion, but
they are not without
human
needs. The middle
class may be angry, but they have not
lost
the dream that all Americans can advance
together.
The demand of our people in 1980 is not for smaller government or bigger government but for
better government. Some say that government
is always bad and that spending for basic
social programs is the root of our economic evils. But we reply: The present
inflation and
recession cost our economy 200 billion dollars a
year.
We reply: Inflation and unemployment
are the biggest spenders of all.
The task of leadership in 1980 is not
to parade scapegoats or to
seek refuge in reaction, but
to match our power to
the possibilities of progress. While others talked of free enterprise, it
was the Democratic Party that acted and we ended excessive regulation
in the airline and
trucking industry, and we restored competition
to the marketplace. And I
take some
satisfaction
that
this deregulation legislation that I sponsored and passed in
the Congress of
the United States.
As Democrats we recognize that each
generation of Americans has a rendezvous with a
different
reality. The answers of one generation
become the questions of the next generation.
But
there is a guiding star in the American firmament. It
is as old as the revolutionary belief
that all people are created equal, and as clear as the contemporary condition of Liberty City
and the South
Bronx. Again and again Democratic leaders have followed that star and they
have given new meaning to
the old values of liberty and justice for all.
We are the of the New Freedom, the New Deal, and the New Frontier. We have always been
the party of hope.
So this year let
us offer new
hope, new hope to an
America uncertain about
the present, but unsurpassed in its potential for
the future.
To all those who are idle in the cities and industries of America let
us provide new
hope for the
dignity of useful work. Democrats have always believed that a basic civil right of all
Americans
is that
their right
to earn
their own way. The party of the people must always be the party of
full
employment.
To all those who doubt the future of our economy, let
us provide new
hope for the
reindustrialization of America. And let our vision reach beyond the next election or the next
year to a new generation of prosperity. If we could rebuild Germany and Japan after World
War II, then surely we can reindustrialize our own
nation and revive our inner cities in the
1980"s.
To all those who work hard for a living wage let
us provide new hope that their price of their
employment shall
not be an unsafe workplace and a death at an earlier age.
To all those who inhabit our land from California to
the New York Island,
from the Redwood
Forest
to
the
Gulf stream waters, let us provide new
hope that prosperity shall
not be
purchased by poisoning the air, the rivers, and the natural resources that are the greatest gift
of this continent. We must insist that our children and our grandchildren
shall inherit a land
which
they can truly call
America the beautiful.
To all those who see the worth of their work and their savings taken by inflation, let us offer
new
hope for a stable economy. We must
meet
the pressures of the present by invoking the
full
power of government to
master increasing prices. In
candor, we must say that
the Federal
budget can be balanced only by policies that bring us to a balanced prosperity of full
employment and price restraint.
And to all those overburdened by an
unfair tax structure, let
us provide new
hope for real
tax
reform.
Instead of shutting down
classrooms, let
us shut off tax shelters. Instead of cutting
out
school lunches, let
us cut off tax subsidies for expensive business lunches that are nothing
more than food stamps for the rich.
The tax cut of our Republican opponents takes the name of tax reform in vain. It is a
wonderfully Republican idea that would redistribute income in the wrong direction. It"s good
news for any of you with incomes over 200,000
dollars a year. For the few of you, it offers a
pot of gold worth
14,000 dollars. But the Republican tax cut
is bad news for the middle
income families. For the many of you, they plan
a pittance of 200 dollars a year, and that
is
not what the Democratic Party means when we
say tax reform.
The vast
majority of Americans cannot afford
this panacea from a Republican
nominee who
has denounced the progressive income tax as the invention of Karl Marx. I am afraid he has
confused Karl Marx with Theodore Roosevelt that
obscure Republican president who sought
and fought
for a tax system based on ability to
pay. Theodore Roosevelt was not Karl Marx,
and the Republican
tax scheme is not
tax reform.
Finally, we
cannot have a fair prosperity in
isolation
from a fair society. So I will continue to
stand for a national
health insurance. We must
not
surrender We
must
not surrender to
the
relentless medical inflation that can bankrupt almost anyone and that may soon break the
budgets of government at every level. Let us insist on real controls over what doctors and
hospitals can
charge, and let us resolve that the state of a family"s health shall
never depend
on the size of a family"s wealth.
The President, the Vice President, the members
of Congress have a medical plan
that
meets
their needs in full, and whenever senators and representatives catch a little cold,
the Capitol
physician will see them immediately, treat
them promptly, fill a prescription on the spot. We
do not get a bill even if we ask for it, and when
do you
think was the last
time a member of
Congress asked for a bill from the Federal
Government?
And I
say again, as I
have before, if health insurance is good enough for the President, the
Vice President, the Congress of the United States, then it"s good enough for you and every
family in America.
There were some who said we should be silent about our differences on issues during this
convention, but
the heritage of the Democratic Party
has been a history of democracy. We
fight hard because we care deeply about our principles and purposes. We did not
flee this
struggle.
We welcome the contrast with
the empty and expedient
spectacle last month
in
Detroit where no
nomination was contested,
no
question was debated, and no one dared to
raise any doubt or dissent.
Democrats can be proud that we chose a different course and a different platform.
We can be proud that our Party stands for investment in safe energy, instead of a nuclear
future that
may threaten the future itself. We must
not permit the neighborhoods of America
to be permanently shadowed by the fear of another Three Mile Island.
We can be proud that our party stands for a fair housing law
to unlock the doors of
discrimination once and for all. The American
house will be divided against itself so long as
there is prejudice against any American buying or renting a home.
And we can be proud that our party stands plainly and publicly and persistently for the
ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.
Women
hold their rightful place at our convention, and women
must
have their rightful
place
in the Constitution of the United States. On this issue we will not yield. we will not equivocate.
we will
not rationalize, explain, or excuse. We will
stand for E.R.A. and for the recognition at
long last
that our nation was made
up of founding mothers as well as founding fathers.
A fair prosperity and a just society are within our vision and our grasp, and we do
not have
every answer. There are questions not
yet asked, waiting for us in the recesses of the future.
But of this much we can be certain because it is the lesson of all of our history: Together a
President and the people can
make a difference. I
have found that faith still alive wherever I
have traveled across this land.
So let
us reject
the counsel of retreat and the call
to reaction.
Let
us go
forward
in the knowledge that history only helps those who
help themselves.
There will be setbacks and sacrifices in the years ahead. but I am convinced that we as a
people are ready to give something back to our country in return
for all
it has given
to us.
Let
this be our commitment: Whatever sacrifices must be made will be shared and shared
fairly. And let
this be our confidence: At
the end of our journey and always before us shines
that
ideal of liberty and justice for all.
In
closing, let
me say a few words to all
those that I
have met and to all those who
have
supported me at
this convention and across the country. There were hard hours on our
journey, and often we sailed against
the wind.
But always we kept our rudder true, and there
were so
many of you who stayed the course and shared our hope. You gave your help. but
even more, you gave your hearts.
And because of you, this has been a happy campaign. You welcomed Joan, me, and our family
into your homes and neighborhoods,
your churches, your campuses, your union halls. And
when I think back of all the miles and all
the months and all
the memories, I think of you. And
I recall
the poet"s words, and I say: "What golden friends I
had."
Among you, my golden
friends across this land,
I have listened and learned.
I have listened to
Kenny Dubois, a glassblower in Charleston, West
Virginia, who
has ten
children to support but has lost
his job after 35 years, just three years short of qualifying for
his pension.
I have listened to
the Trachta family who farm in Iowa and who wonder whether they can
pass the good life and the good earth on
to their children.
I have listened to
the grandmother in East Oakland who no
longer has a phone to call her
grandchildren because she gave it up to pay the rent on
her small apartment.
I have listened to
young workers out of work, to students without
the tuition
for college, and
to families without
the chance to own a home.
I have seen
the closed factories and the stalled assembly lines of Anderson, Indiana and
South
Gate, California, and I have seen too
many, far too many idle men and women
desperate to work.
I have seen
too many, far too
many working families desperate to protect the value of their
wages from the ravages of inflation.
Yet
I
have also sensed a yearning for a new
hope among the people in every state where I
have been.
And I
have felt it in
their handshakes, I saw
it in their faces, and I shall
never forget the
mothers who carried children
to our rallies.
I shall always remember the elderly who have lived in an
America of high purpose and who
believe that it can all happen again.
Tonight, in
their name, I
have come here to speak for them. And for their sake, I ask you
to
stand with
them. On
their behalf I ask you to
restate and reaffirm the timeless truth of our
Party.
I congratulate President Carter on his victory here.
I am confident
that
the Democratic Party will reunite on the basis of Democratic principles,
and that
together we will
march
towards a Democratic victory in
1980.
And someday, long after this convention, long after the signs come down and the crowds stop
cheering, and the bands stop playing,
may it be
said of our campaign
that we kept
the faith.
May it be said of our Party in 1980 that we found our faith again.
And may it be said of us, both in dark passages and in
bright days, in
the words of Tennyson
that
my brothers quoted and loved, and that
have special
meaning for me now:
"I am a part of all
that
I
have met
To [Tho] much
is taken, much abides
That which we are, we are One
equal
temper of heroic hearts
Strong in will
To strive, to
seek, to
find, and not
to yield."
For me, a few
hours ago, this campaign came to an
end.
For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the
hope still lives, and the dream shall
never die.
英语演讲55.Ted Kennedy - 1980 Democratic National Convention Address
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