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Smart Speeches Every speech is an occasion to expand your influence beyond the success of your business or enterprise. It’s an opportunity to share your knowledge, your wisdom and your passion with a willing audience and advance the public debate on subjects important to you and society — whether economics, education, the environment, immigration, philanthropy, business ethics, law enforcement, conservation, childcare or Social Security. Jeff Gillenkirk was principal speechwriter for New York Governor Mario M. Cuomo, New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams, United States Senator Barbara Boxer and other major political figures, CEOs, and heads of non-profit organizations and NGOs. A graduate of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., he brings three decades of experience as an author and journalist, speechwriter, political strategist and media consultant to a wide variety of clients. Samples of Speeches: Mario Cuomo: International High School Commencement, Long Island City, NY Mario Cuomo: New York and the American Liberal Tradition, New York City Susan Smartt, President, California State Parks Association Robert Abrams, New York State Attorney General and candidate for the United States Sen Amy Dean, Chief Executive Officer of the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council, San Jose, California Remarks by Governor Mario M. Cuomo
Thank you for inviting me here for such an important occasion. I want to first extend my best wishes to Dr. Joseph Shenker, one of the prime movers behind the success of the International High School. Joe is moving on to the Presidency of the Bank Street College of Education, in Manhattan. His leadership and imagination will be sorely missed here at La Guardia. Thank you, Joe, for your fine work. I'm glad you're staying with us in New York. And my deep-felt congratulations to all of you, members of this pioneering class — the first graduating class of this inspiring school. You have overcome tremendous odds to get here today. You have battled the obstacles of language and culture ... as well as history and math and computer science. But now you face one last hurdle before you receive the diploma you've worked so hard for — my commencement speech. I won't keep you long, however — I promise. I have only a few simple thoughts to share with you before you get on with the fun part of your day. # # # First and foremost, I want to tell you how truly proud and excited I am by your achievement. I've had the opportunity to give many commencement speeches in my six years as Governor of New York. But I don't think there has been any graduating class as close to my own heart — and to my own experience — as you people today. Like all of you, I am the son of immigrants to this great nation. I entered my first year of school without a mastery of English. I grew up not far from here — in South Jamaica, Queens. South Jamaica then, as now, was a world of little shops, apartment buildings, tenements, and small, well-kept family homes. It was a community of ethnics, of Blacks and Whites, speaking all sorts of languages and all just starting the struggle to become Americans in this new world of promise and hope. My language — my family's language — was Italian. As a youngster, I spent a lot of time by myself, playing around my father's store. It was a place where I wouldn't be embarrassed when somebody said something to me I couldn't understand. But then came my day of reckoning — P.S. 50. At first, I had difficult with the language my classmates and teachers were speaking. In the beginning, I often came home discouraged, wondering why I couldn't just work beside my father forever in his grocery store on 150th Street. But gradually — after listening, and struggling, and sitting by the radio for hours — we didn't have television then — the new language came to me. It took me well into high school before I felt completely comfortable with English ... but I still use my hands a lot! # # # And when I began to understand the language, and I got a bit older, I began to understand this country. America, for me, wasn't all that different from the one you know. Like you, we had our dreams. I remember, on hot afternoons after supper, my friends and I would go up to the rooftops of the tenements where we lived on 150th Street. We would stand on the tar roof, still hot from the summer sun, and leaning against the walls look west towards the horizon and the faraway towers of Manhattan. And if we turned our eyes a little toward the great harbor, we could imagine Lady Liberty holding up her lamp, like an evening star ... a star of opportunity ... a promise of the future ... A star to dream by. Sometimes on those rooftops, we talked abut what we wanted to be when we grew up. Doctors. Lawyers. Priests. Cops. I can still feel my aching to belong. And I can still see my father, weary from the long day's labor, his arms folded, his shirt stained with sweat, watching us as we looked out to where the lady stood. His tied, hopeful eyes telling us — "Go ahead, make your wish." Offering his silent prayer for his children. Just as your parents have wished and dreamed for you. There are mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, aunts and uncles in this audience today who never received a degree or a diploma in their lives. But because of their ambition, because of their dreams for you, at this moment they're feeling fulfilled by your success. Just as my mother and my father were fulfilled by mine. # # # You and I — Americans all! Aktas [AAk-taash] Apolonio [ah-po-Lo-nee-oh] Chen ... Flores [FLOOR - ess] Hu [who] Kim Montealegre [mon-tay-ah-Lay-gray] Nader [nah-DARE] Rani [RAA - nee] Rotariu [ro-TAR-ee-oo] Siderakis [see-der-AH-kees] Su [soo] What beautiful poetry your names make. From 37 countries, and 32 languages ... your names like a roll call of America's promise. How lovely to hear your alma mater, "We Are the World." And how appropriate. You are the world. From Burma, from Bolivia ... from Yugoslavia and Honduras ... from Egypt, Taiwan, Colombia, Mexico and Iran ... from all over the world you have been brought to these shores by the strength of your family's dream — or your own — for a better life. Adding to the American dream, to this incredible mosaic of a country — this place of miracles. Castillo [ka - STEEJ - oh] Kakar [ka - KAR] Lindao [LEAN - dow] Mahkhatam [ma - ha TOM] Pataki [pa - TA - kee] Wong ... American poetry ... your names, so rich, so evocative, are part of our American language now. Your presence here today, and mine, attests to one certain truth — the power of dreaming is still alive in America. Bold, outrageous dreams — like this school. America is probably the only place in the world where a school like this could exist. It was Thomas Jefferson who wrote in the Declaration of Independence, so audaciously, more than two hundred years ago: "We hold these truths to be self-evident ... that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Since then, each generation of Americans has dedicated itself tot hat founding principle — to expanding the circle of opportunity to all Americans. They have worked and struggled — millions have given their lives — to keep that dream of equal opportunity alive. You are the latest chapter in this dream. Through the extraordinary efforts of your family, your teachers, your government, and the people of this state — you have now been given the chance to enter that circle of opportunity. I understand that every one of you graduating here today have received acceptances to college. That's wonderful! It's an impressive testimony to your achievement and the success of this International High School. I hope you will make the most of this opportunity. To do your best at fulfilling your dreams, at developing your special beauty and potential. And every successful step you take will help ensure that projects like this one will continue ... ever widening the embrace of this nation's circle of opportunity. That's important because there are tens of thousands of young people in New York City today who need the same kind of opportunity you have been given here. # # # Today is just one stop on your way. Savor it. Remember it for a lifetime. You have made it. A high school graduate, bound — if you choose — for college and a career in the United States of America. It is, I know you agree, a great privilege. It is also a great responsibility. You needed America. But America needs you as well. As you go forth from here today, you will not find an America that is perfect. We face many difficulties as a nation — we always have. They are the growing pains of a great nation. The necessary consequences of a nation rich in its diversity of voices and dreams. What kind of country America becomes in your lifetime will depend very much upon the choices you make. You have already made some good ones. You have started up the ladder of personal success in this country. And I congratulate you. I hope you climb as far as you can go, as far as your dreams can reach. But as you achieve success, you will be presented with a choice. You can climb your ladder of personal ambition, reach a comfortable level, thank your lucky stars and never look back. Or, you can climb that ladder, reach that same comfortable level, and t hen turn, and reach down to lend a hand to the person behind you. I ask you to remember this school, and all those who lent a hand to you as you came up the ladder, those who helped you achieve your dream. And then your choice will be clear. # But there is time enough for meeting these larger responsibilities. What matters now is that you savor the sweetness of this day. I remember what it felt like, getting that high school diploma. I had such dreams. Though I never dreamed I'd be Governor of New York. It seemed impossible that the son of two non-English speaking immigrants from Italy could ever become Governor of this great state. But that's what the miracle of this place is all about. Sometimes, it takes a special kind of seeing. Which is what I wish for each of you today. The ability to look up, to see, to dream possibilities for yourself and the world you'll build — better, richer, more beautiful than anything that has come before you. That is your job. To continue the miracle, to make it even better. You can do it. I know you can. Look at how far you've come already. Dreaming your future — and the future of this vast and magnificent nation — into being. Thank you for inviting me here today. # # # # Remarks by Governor Mario M.
Cuomo It is an honor — and a pleasure — to be with you tonight. To be with so many old friends and to have the chance, again, to express my gratitude for your support over the last decade. This Election Year, the high holy day of the political calendar, is an important time. It is a time for assessment of where we are on our path to a more perfect union. Immediately, it should be clear to all of us that we are, at this moment, still the greatest nation in the world. We are not at war. We have been in a period of economic growth enjoyed by some portions of the country, although by no means all of it. The INF agreement, in the opinion of most Americans, is a hope-giving step in the direction of sanity and survival. At the same time, however, our nation stands poised at the edge of the 21st Century, facing dramatic new challenges. We have paid for our economic growth with a national debt that is three times what it was in 1980, a debt that threatens to strangle our growth. We have lost dominance of the world economy: thousands of our nation's businesses and industries face life or death struggles with foreign competitors. Our current work force is weakened, and the potential work force of the 21st Century devastated by dropouts, drugs, AIDS and illiteracy. Schools and public housing, roads and bridges from coast to coast are in serious need of repair, without the resources to meet the need because of the mounting debt and continuing deficit. We have 37 million people without a way to pay for the health care they need to stay alive. We have 25 million illiterates. We have more people doing better than ever in our history, but we also have more homeless and hungry people than any time since the Great Depression. Crack maniacs run wild in our streets. The violence they are guilty of in their madness has driven a majority of our people to scream for death, in anger, confusion and fear. And AIDS inexorably brings early death to more and more. Yes, we are still the greatest nation in the world. But, a failure to meet these challenges can make real what is now only threatened ... the decline of this great nation to a lesser power, and to less opportunity for freedom, strength and truth. This is a moment, then, for a thoughtful, courageous, decisive leader, with a sense of history and a commitment to the future. A leader who will help find answers and inspire the national resolve to make the sacrifices to implement them. This election should have been a vigorous and intelligent search for such a leader. Instead, the process has become a spectacle. Led by the Republican media manipulators, it has become a distasteful game. Small-minded technicians design nasty distortions to save their candidate from scrutiny ... sending up clouds of smoke and flinging shovelsful of mud to hide the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of the post-Reagan Republican party. There is no real substantive dialogue: How can there be when only one of the two candidates is willing to appear without a ventriloquist? It has become an exercise in simplistic, labels and lies. And no one really denies it! Recently, the Republicans have focused their efforts on a single word — the word that you have used proudly as your standard since the time you were founded ... the "L" word. "Liberal." Led by the President of the United States, the Republicans have chosen to make it a form of opprobrium. The truth is that, to a considerable extent, they have succeeded. But how? By telling the truth about the nation's values? By telling the people what 'Liberalism' has really meant for the past 200 years? Of course not. They have done it by exploiting the new 9-second attention span (that's the length of today's average television sound bite!). They have done it by creating false impressions of the meaning of the word 'Liberal.' By distortion and innuendo, they have made some people believe that when liberals use a word like "freedom," it really means permissiveness; "liberty" is license, "privacy" is pornography; "progress" becomes chaos; "government" becomes intrusion; "conciliation" becomes weakness. If this word "liberal" and what it signifies is worth the millions of dollars spent to brandish it ... why is it not worth a single hour of the Republican candidate's time to describe his ideas on the subject, in depth? Why will the Republican candidate not step forward from behind his ugly literature and tawdry commercials and discuss liberalism fully, together with the Democrat — man to man? Because there is no depth in the Republican candidate's position. Because there is no truth in it. There are only smoke and mirrors. And they are effective only in quick and elusive flashes, and cannot withstand scrutiny. # # # There is a simple, intelligent response to the attempt to sum up a whole complicated philosophy by the use of one-word labels. We could say: "it's ridiculous to try; it's bound to distort, and anyone who insists on doing it is therefore, deliberately distorting." Dwight Eisenhower put it well: "Such slippery slogans make difficult the problem of communicating true faiths, facts and beliefs ...." Then he dismissed the subject. I agree, and have had a lot of fun with the subject of labels, even inventing my own — "progressive pragmatism." Since it was new, it came with no biases or predispositions and therefore was less likely to be distortive. But there is another response that can be made. We can accept the label as generally descriptive of a school of political thought that does have identifiable emphases and an ascertainable national history. Having accepted that proposition, we can pretend the Republicans were inviting an intelligent discussion ... and then embarrass them by insisting on one! # If we chose to do this, then we would tell them the following: We know the truth about liberalism in this state. It was championed here ... by great Democrats — and extraordinary Republicans. By men like Theodore Roosevelt, Al Smith and Franklin Delano Roosevelt ... by Herbert Lehman and Robert Wagner ... Jacob Javits ... Nelson Rockefeller ... Robert Kennedy. Liberalism's national leaders have always been heroes here. Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson. All of them larger-than-life leaders and visionaries of this century, who rescued America from the elitism, the narrowness — and even the meanness — of Republican policy. Liberals, who ensured this nation's golden age as a thriving center of prosperity, diversity and liberty. With accomplishments that resonated from coast to coast of this great nation and beyond — a model and inspiration for democratic movements all over the world. Yes, liberalism was championed right here in New York. With Governor Al Smith and his magnificent public works projects of the 1920s. With Senator Robert Wagner, who set up the nation's first housing assistance programs. With Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Think of Roosevelt — again. By 1933, when FDR went to Washington as President, the Reaganomics of the 1920s had brought our economic system almost completely — and some thought permanently — to its knees. Business after business had failed. Millions of Americans faced the abyss of the Great Depression. It's hard for the generations that came later to understand it all. The breadlines and Hoovervilles, the nearly 30 percent national unemployment, the despair of millions of Americans who felt free enterprise and democratic capitalism might have run their course, that it might even be time for Marxism, or Socialism — or suicide. Franklin Roosevelt — the Liberal — ended that despair. He echoed the most hallowed principle of our nation's founders, and thereby laid the framework of modern liberalism: that government is not just to advance the wealth and opportunities of a privileged class, as it has been for years, leading up to the Depression. Roosevelt said that instead, government's obligation — indeed, government's very reason for being — was to promote actively the greater good and security of all Americans. Especially those too old or too poor or too weak to help themselves. From this came a new idea, grown out of necessity and desire from the ashes of the old order — a politics of inclusion. And a wonderful progression of programs and policies that allowed our society, through its joined strength, to save itself ... then strengthen itself ... then build itself into the most powerful nation in world history. And at every step of the way, some fought the progress. Always, there was the charge — against Roosevelt, then against each of his successors — against every one of the great proposals — that they were ... "liberal." If they had been respected or feared, these cries would have damned the social security system; the right of workers to organize on their own behalf; a system of agricultural supports; help for small businesses, an industrial relief act, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; the nation's first guaranteed minimum wage. The progress didn't stop with FDR, or course. Neither did the reactionism. Always there were the cries ... and always, they were ignored. There was Harry Truman and the GI Bill, expanding the circle of opportunity by putting young men who had fought for this democracy through college. There was the liberal John F. Kennedy, who saw the wrenching poverty of Appalachia and our inner cities and — rather than wringing his hands and complaining of feeling "haunted" by the visions of people in distress — put together one of the most comprehensive anti-poverty programs in the history of this nation. And Lyndon Johnson, who passed the Civil Rights Act, and the Voting Rights Act ... Medicare and Medicaid ... job training and the most generous and far-sighted package of higher education assistance in this nation's history. These great leaders, whose progressivism is so badly needed today, were above all things intelligent, and their policies reflected that intelligence. They were characterized by completeness and balance ... and would be today. A true liberal would understand that we must educate our youth, train our unskilled, provide housing and health care and employment, not just as an exercise in compassion, but because common sense and self-interest require it as well. We cannot win our proper place in the global economy with a workforce debilitated by ignorance, drags or AIDS. Nor can we afford the immense fiscal costs of social disorientation. Prison cells are much more expensive than college scholarships. A lifetime of addiction or sickness costs hundreds of thousands of taxpayers' dollars: a lifetime of productive work produces hundreds of thousands of taxpayers' dollars, if they are needed. And a true liberal knows there are limitations, and times for austerity. They know not all the good things can be done at once. A liberal would accommodate the need for strength and force ... they always have. Never was force more boldly used than by Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman. Never was threat of force more intelligently and effectively used than by John Kennedy. We strive for a world of perfect love, but for now we live in a much meaner place: A liberal understands that. # A liberal understands this essential idea: that in our disparate society of so many parts and pieces, progress requires that we develop a sense of mutuality. That we will find our individual strength and comfort to a large degree in the strength and comfort of the whole community. That we must share benefits and burdens, not just because some inscrutable force from on high requires it, but because only that way can we survive and flourish. All the regions, all the classes, all the colors ... all the people and their places are interdependent and, therefore, to live and grow, we must think of ourselves not as a nation of individuals, or even a nation of communities, but as a national community. That is the one grand liberal idea. For more than twenty years, we have had to keep the torch alive, mostly at the state level, with occasional periods of help from a Democratic Congress. Progressive Governors in states like Massachusetts and, yes, New York, have applied the liberal agenda, and shown how to use it to carve paths to a better future. In their records of balanced budgets, tax cuts, firm law enforcement, joined with new housing programs, immense investments in education, and a proliferation of job-creating economic development programs can be seen the efficacy of a liberal agenda that allows the people to rule themselves through their heart and their head, with common sense and compassion, benevolence and self-interest. # # # So would the nation reject liberalism today? Would it, it if understood the truth? Would it reject Social Security? Reject Medicare? Or affordable housing? Or child care? Or job training? Or help for a child who has cerebral palsy? Or help for an elderly mother too weak to eat her own food, clean her own body? Would it reject civil rights? Human rights? Would it reject privacy? Freedom of conscience? The empowerment of workers, women, minorities? Of course not. Liberalism properly understood is not just consistent with the American idea. Liberalism, properly understood, is the American idea! I know how you must feel tonight, you guardians of the American idea for half a century. And I feel it too: pride in what you believe ... indignation at the Republicans' cheap efforts to distort it. Now, I think we must be moved by that pride and indignation to an all-out effort in the few days that remain: an effort to show that the American idea succeeds in New York, where it as been championed, and across the nation. We are just eight days away from Election Day. There are two candidates. Only one believes, as we do, and as Abraham Lincoln did, that — in Lincoln's words — government is the coming together of the people to do for all the people, collectively, what they can't do as well, or at all, alone. Only one believes with us, and Lincoln, and FDR and a whole galaxy of great Americans, in the ultimate primacy of the dignity of the individual. Abraham Lincoln was one of our greatest leaders. He was liberal. How that great, gangly, craggy-faced martyr to high principle must be embarrassed today, suffering the tyranny of labels that associates him with the candidate that calls himself a "Republican" in this race! A candidate who, faced with the need for housing, health care, education, food — faced with millions of people in pain and distress, says "we can do no more, we have exhausted ourselves. The fortunate are the fortunate ... for the rest of you — all that is left for you is to look upward and pray for the coming of a thousand points of light! I reject it. I reject the selfishness, the shortsightedness. I reject the grubby campaign of slander that the Republicans have waged ... trying to fool the American people into accepting a surrender of the high aspiration and high principle that made us the most powerful, and the most hopeful nation the world has ever seen. We carved a nation from the wilderness. We tamed rivers, we made deserts bloom, we came roaring out of the Great Depression and World War II into one of the most sustained periods of growth and prosperity the world has ever seen. Of course we haven't exhausted ourselves. Of course we can make more room in the circle of opportunity. But first — by whatever name we choose to call it — whether we play the label game or not — we must recommit the nation to that magnificent tradition of generosity, vision and progress which teaches us that our government is not just for the sake of some, it is government for the sake of helping all the people to help themselves. It's government used to create a better, wiser, more just, more generous, more secure society in the tradition of those who have showed us the way, including so many of you here tonight. # # # Now is the moment to make this new commitment. We still have time. The momentum has shifted toward us: we need to make one more great push! Tonight and for the next eight days, we must go into the streets of this city and state. Take every voter we can find by the hand. Look in their eyes and tell them they must vote. To use government intelligently to help them and their families ... to protect their freedom and their right to choose ... to spread the blessings of this place to all those not yet reached by the miracle ... To keep alive the greatest political idea the world has ever produced ... the idea of America ... the American idea ... a liberal idea! Thank you. Remarks by Susan Smartt, President,
California State Parks Association Good morning! Thank you Dr. Nicholas, for that generous introduction, and thank you, Tony and Lorre Brenner, for your extraordinary hospitality throughout this conference. I'm so happy to see you all this morning. I was afraid when I went to bed last night after dancing under the stars in Xanadu, I would wake up and discover it was all a dream. I hope everyone is having as good a time as I am in this magical place. *** I’m truly honored to have been asked to address such a distinguished group. All of you are playing such vital roles in the creation of a new economy, the creation of new jobs, new opportunities and new ways of perceiving and interacting with the world. It’s incredibly exciting. I’m a President myself — in this case, of a non-profit organization. I know "non-profit" is not a term held in high regard in your circles, but I hope by the time I am finished that you’ll see we have more in common than you may suspect. I want to take just a few moments in this magical place, to speak, fittingly, about the subject of magic. Many of you work in industries that the public perceives to be imbued with magic. To most people, the creation of films, television and videos is a magical process. Not many people — except those who live in Los Angeles or New York — ever sit through the credits of a film and see the incredible amount of effort, time, perseverance and financial resources that goes into making a feature film, or even a half hour of television. The public pays its money, or turns on their sets — and like magic, their world is entirely transformed. Thanks to you. It’s the same with the new economy, and the new media. Magically, with a computer, a modem and a few clicks and key strokes, people can enter an ever-expanding world of culture, commerce, and interconnectedness with people all over the world. But hardly anyone outside of this geographic area has any idea HOW this magic occurs. They never see the offices filled with programmers — day and night … the converted warehouses stuffed with technical support people … the fulfillment houses and distribution centers that make up the infrastructure of this new economy. To them, it all appears like magic … effortless, inevitable. But it’s not, as you well know. It’s due to the vision, commitment, and hard work of people like you, and the people who work with you. You may be surprised to hear that I’m in the magic business, too. This year, more than 70 million people will use the 265 parks in California’s State Parks system. They will stroll through magnificent, cathedral-like redwood groves, and ponder their place on this earth. They will experience the breathtaking beauty of Lake Tahoe … the solitude of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park … they will feel the exhilaration of walking on more than 40 state beaches up and down the California coast. They will camp, swim, hike, sing, listen, learn and love in these parks. And, they will experience historic sites like the one we’ve been in these last two days. San Simeon, as many of you already know, is a State Historical Park. Since 1954, the California State Park system has worked hand in hand with the Hearst Estate to keep this historical and cultural treasure intact, and accessible to the public. I think they’ve done a magnificent job, don’t you? These parks I’m speaking of … there are 265 parks that include 280 miles of coastline … 625 miles of lake and river frontage … 18,000 campsites and 3,000 miles of hiking, biking and equestrian trails throughout our Golden State. They include nearly 1.3 million acres — one percent of this state’s land mass. Many of these areas protect sensitive habitats, endangered species, ancient Native American sites, and historic sites. They are stunning natural, cultural and historic treasures that exist today because enough California leaders and enough citizens have cared enough about our state treasures to demand that they be protected. But not quite enough. Many people, like the ones who walk into your movie theaters, or click their way through the world of the Internet, take our State Parks and historical sites for granted. They act as if these things are supposed to be there — as if the land, the trails, the beaches, the visitors’ centers, the historical restorations all happened by some kind of magic. In fact, just as in your industries, behind the scenes of our enormous park system is a complex web of factors that contribute to the creation and upkeep of these treasures. And one of the key components of that web is our California State Parks Foundation. We are a private, non-profit foundation unaffiliated with our state parks, but intimately involved with their destiny. One of our principal mandates — and one our members remind us of constantly — is to educate the general public and the California state government about the need for more state funding for parklands’ protection and expansion. We do this through the mail, through newsletters, public appearances and materials available in the parks themselves. We are a voice for everyday folks who love their parks and rely on the Foundation to advocate on their behalf. Unfortunately, at the first sign of budget tightening, parks are the first to be squeezed. But by reaching people and mobilizing support, we can usually convince public officials to take a second look at what they are doing. In a state as large as California, that is a really big job. We also contribute extensively to wildlife protection programs, habitat restoration, wilderness conservation, and other natural resource enhancement for thousands of plant and animal species. We look to the future by fostering the use of parks as outdoor classrooms for our school children and families, including developmentally disabled children. Through our Junior Ranger and Family Camping program, we introduce a broad range of families to the fun of camping, the joys of the great outdoors, and the life-changing inspiration of nature. We’re not only helping these people directly, but securing new allies for our parklands in the future. We have been around now for 31 years. In that time, the Foundation has raised more than $90 million from members, businesses and individuals like you that has gone towards park projects and educational programs. Like you, we are the string pullers behind the scenes — the makers of the magic. During times of severe recession and numerous state budget crises, we have been instrumental in maintaining our parks and helping meet their growing needs as the population of California continues to explode. The public may take our parks for granted, BUT WE CAN’T. During the past 30 years, California’s population has doubled, and the use of our State parks increased 8 times. The population of California is now expected to double again in the next 25 years! … the corresponding pressure on our parklands and open spaces will be immense. Last year, we were able to provide more than $3 million to help fund programs like the annual Earth Day Restoration and Cleanup. We also helped protect native species, restore habitat, and maintain historical sites such as San Simeon. We were also instrumental in putting Proposition 12 on the ballot earlier this month — the "Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air, and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2000." We worked more than two years just to get this bond act on the ballot. And believe me, it was hardly magic. It’s said by those most familiar with politics — two things you don’t want to see being made are sausage, and legislation. I don’t know about sausage-making, but it’s certainly true for legislation. But it all turned out wonderfully. This was the first parks bond to come before the voters in twelve years — and they responded with a resounding victory … 58% to 42%. The bond will help our State parks restore and develop existing facilities. It will help buy land from willing sellers to expand our parks. It will provide more than $10 million to acquire and preserve redwood forests … That’s just some of the work WE do behind the scenes that allows people all over the state to experience these magnificent parks. Why do I believe that this is all so important? There’s one practical value I know some of you will appreciate. More than [x#] of films have been shot in California State Parks — everything from "High Noon" to "Unforgiven" … "Beach Blanket Bingo" to "Basic Instinct." All three "Godfather" films used state park settings. So did "Vertigo," "The Birds" and "The Lost World." Several films have been shot right here, at San Simeon — including "Commando" and scenes from "Spartacus." But the value of our parks goes well beyond these practicalities. Our parks provide a refuge for people from the encroaching rings of suburbia and exurbia eating up our open space. They provide a sanctuary for animals and plants facing extinction. They expose people to nature, and inspire them to create their own magic, just as you are. The virtual reality many of you work with is just one part of a greater whole. Our parks, and the educational programs we help fund and sponsor, comprise a larger whole, a larger circle. It’s a circle that connects us with our origins, in nature. It’s a circle that connects us with our history. It’s a circle that connects us with each other, and our future together as fellow human beings. If we are to survive, and continue to thrive, we need parks like the ones we have set aside to be preserved. We need our history to be remembered. And we need nature to be accessible to us all. I wish you all continuing success and much happiness. And I invite you to spend many delightful hours with your families and friends in the state parks we are working so hard to maintain and expand. Thank you all for sharing such a magical time here at San Simeon State Historical Park. # # # # Remarks by Robert
Abrams Thank you, Robin, for your kind introduction. Thank you Vince Sorrentino, John Marino, Anna Jamroscz (JAHM-ROSH) and fellow Democrats for hosting this important and spirited convention. Being here in this region of strong family values reminds me of something my mother asked me when I first told her I was running for the Senate: "Bobby," she said, "What do you know about being a United States Senator? The economy ... jobs ... health care ... what do you know?" And I said, 'Mom, you forget I worked in the family store too. You forget when I was kid and business was slow and Daddy would say 'Hey, nobody's buying these yo-yo's. Go out and play with this yo-yo.' So I'd take this bright red yo-yo and saunter down Pelham Parkway in the Bronx, spinning it around, until a bunch of kids would come up. 'Hey, kid, where'd you get that yo-yo?' they'd ask. 'Over in that candy store on [Street].' And for a couple of hours, there'd be a run on yo-yos. So you see, I told my mom, I was kind of an expert on demand side economics before I got out of grade school! And mom, I said, I also know a lot about the most important issue in this Senate campaign: jobs and economic opportunity — and I learned it from you and Daddy. My mother and father ran our small family candy store in the Bronx. They worked every night until eleven o'clock, six days a week. I worked there, too, nights and weekends, and so did my younger sister. It was a hard life but a good life. The whole idea was to work hard and help us kids have a better future. No one in my family had ever gone beyond high school. So I remember the day when the letter arrived in our mailbox from Columbia University, telling me I'd been accepted, and how proud I was for somebody in our family to have a chance to attend college, let alone an Ivy League school. But it was a real issue for me whether or not I could say yes. Could we afford it. My father settled it, saying, "Of course you'll say yes. You don't turn your back on an opportunity like this. We'll find a way to get the money." The way, of course, was hard work — for mom and dad and me. When I went to Columbia I had four different jobs: delivering newspapers; selling magazines. I worked two hours a day at the serving line in the dining room so I could get my three meals a day for free; and on Saturdays when there weren't any classes, I went back to the Bronx to work in my family's candy store. Then came law school at NYU. To finish that, I worked as a waiter in the Catskills, nine weeks straight, three meals a day, no days off, to have that tuition money at the end of the summer. Saturday night when the meal would be over I took off my jacket and put on another one because I'd go to work at the night club — a big show, it was Saturday night. And then when I finished there I'd put on another jacket and go to the canteen because it was a chance to earn another 35 bucks in tips, where people would be getting coffee and bagels and lox to sober up a bit. So I know about hard work. I've seen how a hard-working family can turn their dreams into reality by saving for a good education, landing a good job, buying a home and building a better future for themselves. But the tragedy today is, this isn't enough anymore. It's like the Connecticut woman who had the chance recently to express her feelings to the President said: "I've worked hard all my life; no one ever gave me anything. I'm well-educated. I have a job as a writer and a marketing contractor and I can't even pay for health insurance. I'm 46 years old and why am I still struggling? Why is it getting harder?" Why is it getting harder?' I find that kind of pain and confusion everywhere I go across this state. We see it here in Buffalo and Niagara Falls, in Jamestown, Dunkirk, and Fredonia, in every industrial city and suburb, in every rural town and agricultural area in western New York: this recession, which the Bush Administration first denied, then ignored, then said had ended — is deeper, and broader, and more devastating than anyone had ever imagined. Unemployment in New York State is now 8%. Each point of that cold statistic represents tens of thousands of human tragedies — tens of thousands of capable hands idled, of families threatened, of dreams no longer being dreamed. And the fact of the matter is, what's so apparent now has been quietly happening for three years in households and communities all over America — George Bush is the only President in American history under whom the average standard of living has declined. The President tells us to wait: everything will be alright. But we've waited long enough. People are hurting, the middle class and the poor people of this country are hurting. We see the rotting fruits of the Republicans' policies everywhere ... In young and growing families who can't afford to buy a home of their own. In the record one million individuals and businesses who filed for bankruptcy last year. In the millions of homeless people — men, women, children — sleeping on the streets of our towns and cities, or in temporary, demeaning shelters devoid of minimal services or hope. We see it in the shells of our once mighty factories, our steady, good-paying jobs disappearing as America keeps losing competitive ground to Japan, Korean, Brazil and dozens of other countries. We see it in the troubled faces of the one million young people who drop out of our schools every year — and the millions more who graduate without really knowing enough to qualify for the jobs of the 21st century. And for those who do finish high school, the cost of higher education is going through the ceiling — a hopeless burden for more and more struggling families today. Our cities are plagued with poverty, crime and drug addiction. Our schools don't teach, and our health care system doesn't heal. There's probably not a person in this room — or in all of Western New York — who doesn't have good reason to be afraid of a debilitating illness that would rob them not only of their health, but their life-savings as well. The problem is especially acute here in New York. Last year, the average health care bill for a New York State family was $5,585 — the highest in the nation! By the end of the decade, the average New York family can expect to pay $12,690 ... for health care alone! Everywhere we look our middle class is working harder and harder — those lucky enough to have jobs — just to keep their heads above water. On top of all this, the Reagan-Bush administration has tried to turn back the clock on civil rights, and women's rights, even on children's rights. Today children ... children! ... constitute the largest class of poor people in our country today ... the first time in history — the first nation in history — where this has been true. It doesn't take a genius, not even a United State Senator, to figure out why this is so. For twelve straight years the Reagan-Bush administration has deliberately bankrupted our cities, deliberately tried to break our labor unions, deliberately isolated and attacked our minority groups and women — while lining their pockets in the greatest orgy of greed and corruption in history. Just a dozen years ago, America was the largest creditor nation in the world. Today, after a decade of the Reagan-Bush borrow-and-spend plan, we are the world's largest debtor, with the biggest debt in world history. Every year now, the federal government must pay 200 billion dollars just in interest ... nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars a day! That's a lot of jobs lost, a lot of libraries and health clinics never opened, a lot of roads and bridges never built or repaired, and a lot of children never educated in the counties, cities, towns and villages of this state. Interest on that debt is now the third largest item in the budget after defense and Social Security/Medicare — and more than all the federal dollars for health care, education, transportation, energy and environment, housing and agriculture combined! Meanwhile, the Republicans have lowered the taxes for the richest of America's rich, and raised them for the middle class — creating the largest gap between American incomes since before the Great Depression. These policies have left our country divided and confused, and incredibly vulnerable to international economic competitors. There's an old Abbott and Costello joke where Abbott asks, 'If you have $50 in one pocket and $100 in the other, what do you have?' 'Someone else's pants,' Costello answers. I know a lot of people who agree that somebody else may soon be wearing America's pants. And the chances are, it will be someone who's speaking Japanese or German. But my point is, we're not finished. The United States is still the greatest and most powerful country in the world. In the aftermath of the events in Europe and what was once the Soviet Union over the past two years, there are incredible opportunities for the U.S., but if only we take bold and immediate action. We can turn this country around ... but not by ignoring the facts and carrying on like it's business as usual. We need some fundamental changes in the way we're doing things ... And the first opportunity we have as New Yorkers to change things is this November — when we have our best chance ever to get rid of the corrupt, ineffectual junior Senator from New York, Alfonse D'Amato. D'Amato has done as much to bring this plague down upon our heads as anyone in our country today. For twelve long years, Alfonse D'Amato has been one of the most faithful rubber stamps of the Reagan-Bush agenda. He supported the Reagan-Bush tax program, to take from the middle class and give to the rich. He approved almost every Reagan-Bush military appropriation — and continues to — pushing billions upon billions of dollars into an already bloated defense budget. It's been like a cruel parody of Roosevelt's New Deal — Reagan, Bush, D'Amato and their right-wing cronies have given us the No Deal: no new money for housing (in fact, they cut the federal housing budget by nearly 80 percent, and wonder why we have a homeless problem) ... no new money for job training, no new money for education, no new money for the environment, no new money for the nearly 30 million Americans shackled by poverty — not because there is no money available, but because they have chosen to give it all away to the tiniest upper stratum ... the richest one percent ... on the totally discredited theory that it will "trickle down" to other Americans. As Senator George Mitchell puts it, Americans are tired of being "trickled on." Al D'Amato says he has brought home the bacon for New York. But as our Governor so rightly pointed out, all D'Amato has brought home is baloney. D'Amato has done more to help his cousins, cronies and contributors than he's ever helped the citizens of New York. Just consider this one fact: since Al D'Amato became the junior U.S. Senator from New York, the gap between what we send to Washington in taxes and what we get back in federal services and dollars has grown from $2.7 billion dollars a year — to $21.2 billion in 1991! That's ten times the revenue shortfall as when D'Amato entered the Senate. All this, and Al D'Amato still has the gall to show up in Western New York and around our state with publicity stunts, posing in front of six foot checks, claiming he's helped you out ... after supporting policies that have raised your taxes, cut your services, and crippled our nation with record debts. All this, and I haven't even started to talk about D'Amato's sordid ethics. This man just doesn't seem to know what the word ethics means. Last August, he was reprimanded by the Senate Ethics Committee for "negligence and improper and inappropriate conduct resulting in the systematic misuse of his office." Today, he's enmeshed in investigations by no fewer than six federal, state and local agencies looking into his involvement in the HUD scandal, improper defense procurements, shady land deals, and association with known organized crime figures. Al D'Amato is a disgrace and embarrassment to a state that has a tradition of sending such distinguished U.S. Senators to Washington as Wagner, Lehman, Kennedy, Moynihan ... and Al D'Amato?? Never in modern times has New York had a Senator so out of step with the concerns of the people of our state. He voted against requiring polluters to clean up their own mess ... against protecting our communities from toxic emissions and waste dumps ... and even against requiring oil companies to double-hull tankers in order to avoid another Exxon Valdez oil spill. He cast New York's vote in the Senate to deny a woman the right to make her own decisions about birth control and abortion — even going so far as to co-sponsor the so-called Human Life Amendment, which would have outlawed all abortions, even those done to terminate a pregnancy after rape, or to save the mother's life. He's voted for every Reagan-Bush Supreme Court nominee, including Robert Bork, Antonin Scalia, and Clarence Thomas. And he cast the deciding vote in support of George Bush's veto of the 1990 Civil Rights Act, which would have protected women and minorities in the workplace. You know ... I know ... that to have our state really represented in Washington, we've got to get Al D'Amato out of the U.S. Senate. And I know how we're going to do it. We're going to Buffalo and the Bronx, to Niagara County and Nassau County, to Jamestown and Smithtown and present a progressive, Democratic program for rebuilding this state and this nation. We're going to do it by adopting a universal health care program like the one Representative Marty Russo has proposed in the Congress — a program that will provide health insurance for every U.S. citizen, much like Social Security guarantees pensions — and end consumer anxiety over the debilitating costs and capricious eligibility requirements of today's insurance system. We're going to do it through an investment tax credit to stimulate business investment in new plants, new businesses, new equipment, and millions of new jobs. We're going to do it by increasing our investment in industrial research and development, investing in our nation's infrastructure, building and repairing roads and bridges, mass transit and communications systems, developing clean, affordable energy ... and training our workers for the jobs of the 21st century. We're going to relieve the tax burden of the middle class. One plan I want to adopt is to extend eligibility for the IRA retirement account to every American, and increase the annual limit to $3,500 per individual — and allow the withdrawal of those funds without penalty to finance the purchase of a primary residence or a child's college education. This could save an average family more than $3,000 on their federal and state income taxes, and save for their future. We want to clean up the environment with tough new laws on air pollution and water pollution and the dangerous dumping of toxic wastes in our communities where we live, work and play ... We want to pass a Freedom of Choice Act, and ensure that no matter what the Rehnquist Court does with Roe v. Wade, a woman's right to choose her reproductive future will be protected! And we want to put education back on the top of America's agenda, and compete with Japan and Germany on today's battlefields — our classrooms and boardrooms. 'But alright, Bob,' everyone says, "all this stuff is great — but where's the money going to come from?" I'll tell you where it's coming from — the military budget. The dream we have dreamt for years has come true. The Cold War is over — and we won! The Soviet Union no longer poses a threat to this nation or our allies. In fact, the Soviet Union no longer even exists. Yet Bush and the Republicans are trying to tell us we don't have the time — or the money — to celebrate our victory. They're proposing after our arch-enemy has collapsed that we cut the military budget by just 25%, and stretch that out over the next five years. It's clear that just as the Republicans missed the real impact of this recession, they're missing the end of the Cold War, too. Right now, we have 280,000 troops stationed in Europe, defending Germany — but from what? An attack by Lech Walesa? Vaclav Havel? This administration recommends cutting these forces by only one-fifth, by 1994. I say cut our European troop deployment in half as fast as possible — just as we did after VJ-Day — and then consider phasing out most of the remaining deployment as our European allies begin to provide for their own security. Some of this continued defense spending is just ludicrous. Right now, we're spending $16 billion a year to defend North Norway from Soviet attack. And two billion dollars each to build new Sea Wolf submarines whose mission is to protect America's coastlines from Soviet submarines previously based in Cuba, but that haven't been seen off our coasts for two years. Even after the five-year cuts proposed by Bush, we would be maintaining a fleet of 12 aircraft carrier battle groups, when during the height of the Persian Gulf War we deployed only two of them ... We do need to maintain an efficient, flexible and first-rate military to respond to the threats and crises that realistically can be expected in the post-Cold War world. But the debate in Washington over levels of military spending needed for this sensible vigilance hasn't even started yet! Nobody's going to tell me we don't have the money to do what this nation has to do to be competitive again. But our competition isn't with the Soviet Union anymore — it's with Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Germany. We need a new definition of national security — one that takes into account the fact that our next battleground is not a military one, but economic. To enter that battleground, we need to arm ourselves properly. Our education system is failing. Our infrastructure is rotting. Our health care, job training, and adult literacy rates are among the worst in the industrialized world. Just switching $30 billion — only 10 percent of the current annual military budget — to civilian purposes could mean nearly 200,000 more teachers hired ... $600 million worth of books, computers and school equipment ... a million housing units brought up to federal standards ... full immunization against childhood diseases for every American child ... increased funding for AIDS treatment and education ... half a million new children in Head Start ... and another 1.3 million people enrolled in adult and youth job training programs, among other things. In fact, if we canceled the funding for just four Seawolf submarines, we could extend the Head Start program to every eligible child in America. This vital program is one of the most effective governmental efforts ever. Without it, we risk losing literally millions of children at the very beginning of their lives, condemning them to a lost life of crime, drug addiction, or worse. These, then, are some of the things I know. I know that today, right now, we stand on the brink of enormous challenge and opportunity. But for this country to succeed, we need leaders in Washington with the vision, the strength, and the courage to take us into a new era. And that means retiring Al D'Amato from the U.S. Senate. And that means choosing the strongest Democratic candidate to defeat Al D'Amato this November. And I believe that I am the person who is best able to do that. I am the only candidate in this Democratic primary who has ever won a statewide general election. In fact, I've won six statewide elections — two primaries and four general elections. And right here in Western New York, which I need not tell you is a swing area that a Republican can win — and often does — I have consistently received overwhelming support, winning the Eighth Judicial District in all three of my statewide re-election campaigns. You know me. I've run here, I've won here, and I've been fighting for the people of Western New York for the past 14 years. — We fought utility rate increases by Niagara Mohawk, stopping hundreds of millions of dollars in rate hikes the utility was trying to pass along for cost overruns at the Nine Mile Point One and Nine Mile Point Two power plants. — We established the most successful Lemon Law arbitration program in the nation, and more than four thousand consumers have received 60 million dollars in cash refunds or replacement cars after they bought defective vehicles. — We won back pay for a pregnant Erie County woman who was fired for refusing to work with hazardous chemicals on her job — the first such back pay award under a new Workers Right to Know law. And we won back her job, too. — We've cracked down on bogus abortion clinics, sued employers who discriminated against pregnant women, winning thousands of dollars in back pay, and fought sexual harassment in the workplace by bringing cases against employers. — And we won a precedent-setting decision at Love Canal, when a Federal judge ruled that Hooker Chemical Company should be held liable for the costs of cleaning up this besieged middle class neighborhood. Hooker and its parent company, Occidental Petroleum, were also compelled to clean up five other Buffalo-area toxic waste sites at a cost of over $100 million. I'm an independent ... I'm a fighter. I've been that way since I was 27 years old, when I ran against one of the most powerful members of the State Assembly in Albany, a 17-year incumbent. Believe me, nobody thought I had a prayer ... but I won. Six years later I ran for Borough President of the Bronx against the toughest candidate the other side could throw at me — a popular judge who left the bench to run against me. Few people figured me as the winner that time either — but I won. In 1978, I became the first Democrat elected New York State Attorney General elected in 40 years. And I went on from there, piling up the biggest margins in the history of statewide elections for that office. As Attorney General, I've stood up against the big corporations, the big banks, special interests of all kinds, organized crime. Now I can't wait to get to Washington, and fight for our rightful share of the American dream, to give New Yorkers the tough representation they deserve, to see to it that the ordinary working families of New York and the nation can once again look forward to that better future for their children that our moms and dads saw, and worked hard to achieve, for us. And I can promise you one thing right here and now: I'm not going to Washington to become part of the process, like Al D'Amato, converting legislative favors for powerful lobbies into millions in campaign contributions to cling to his job. I'm going to Washington to shake people up — not shake them down. Thank you. Remarks by Amy Dean,
Chief Executive Officer of the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council, San Jose,
California "Housing in the New Economy" Thank you, Arlene, for that generous introduction. I’m honored to be addressing such a distinguished group about one of the most important issues we face today. The challenge I was given for this talk was to find a new way of thinking about housing at a time when the challenges to home ownership — and home rentership — have never been greater. So, that’s what I’m prepared to do. The new way I’d like us to think about housing is to not think about housing at all — not at first, anyway. I want us, for a few moments, to think about economics, and politics, and the livelihoods of the people we are really talking about … the millions of people we hope one day will have the joy and satisfaction and deep sense of security of owning their own home. Because if we look at where we are as just a housing problem, we’re going to miss a huge part of the puzzle that’s right in front of our faces. I’d like to start by taking a close up look at where I call my current home, San Jose, California and its surrounding area, Santa Clara County, the heart of Silicon Valley. Here is the center of the world’s computer industry, the poster child for the New Economy. And for better or worse, what is going on there tells us a lot of what the future has in store for all of us. Because as Silicon Valley goes, I believe, so goes the world. This small geographic area, by itself, comprises America’s largest export market, and is perhaps the principal engine driving America’s historic economic boom. Venture capital financing in Silicon Valey increased from less than one billion dollars in 1990 to 6 billion in 1999. Twenty percent of the valley’s public firms are known as "gazelles" — companies that have grown at least 20% in sales for each of the last four years. Twelve percent of the 500 fastest growing technology firms in the nation are based here. As a result, the opportunities for wealth and economic advancement in this New Economy are unprecedented. Last year, Silicon Valley created 63 new millionaires every day! That’s a New Economy. Today, Silicon Valley boasts one of the highest levels of productivity of any region in the United States. But this success is not reflected in workers’ paychecks, or in their quality of life. The hourly wages of three-quarters of Silicon Valley’s workers were actually lower in 1996 than eight years before. Five of the ten fastest growing occupations in our region today pay less than $10 per hour for entry-level positions. Incredibly, nearly half of Silicon Valley’s jobs pay too little to support a single parent and a child. And more than half the jobs pay too little to support a family of four! And while the average annual compensation of the highest paid 100 corporate executives at Silicon Valley’s largest companies grew by 390% -- the average annual income of production workers declined by 6%. The crisis facing this "other" Silicon Valley can’t be measured only in paychecks. In this land of the future, a one bedroom apartment now costs nearly $1500 a month, well out of the range of the average worker. On New Year’s Day of the New Millenium, the median price of a home was $399,000 — well out of the reach of the average working family. In fact, today in Santa Clara County, the very heart of Silicon Valley, 8 out of ten resident can’t afford to buy a home. In this land of the future, what’s good for business is not necessarily good for our communities. What is going on there — and what has been going nationally since the 1970s — is really a fundamental shift in the structure of our economy. The New Economy is not just about new products, new technologies, and new millionaires. It’s about new organizations and new ways of doing business. Between World War II and the 1970s, we had a largely stable economy that was insulated by national borders. Under the Old Economy, people spent their lives at one job, or at worst, in one career in mass production industries — automobiles, steel, appliances, manufacturing. These large industries were vertically integrated with all the functions of a commercial enterprise falling more or less under one roof — sales, production, marketing, human resources, finances, administration. This structure provided effective economic control, and ensured the stable demand of products through a stable supply of workers who could afford to buy them. These workers enjoyed a relatively high level of workplace security, health care benefits and retirement programs. All of which led to a period of broadly shared prosperity where career paths were more or less predictable. These "wonder years" of the American economy didn’t rise simply from the workings of the market, however. They were made possible by a set of national policies and shared values of community that formed the basis of a long-term Social Contract — a contract which maintained a stable balance between our values and our economic goals. And they were helped by the pioneering legislation of the New Deal:
This Social Contract led to creation of a large middle class base of consumers who served as the most important engine of growth for the next 50 years. American business — prodded by the collective strength of American labor -- recognized that a healthy and prosperous work force, housed in a stable and nurturing community, was an essential asset to sustaining their profitability. American companies had greater freedom to invest, to innovate and to profit than anywhere on Earth — and they did. Over the last 20 years, that relatively stable economy has given way to a strange new economic landscape, characterized by an economy that is increasingly global yet rooted in regions around the world. The structuring of this New Economy has produced a web of business relationships across firms. Gone are the days when all those functions are performed under one roof. Instead, functions of the business, and even business to business, are increasingly externalized — or outsourced -- to a whole cluster of other firms. This new organizational structure is really the hallmark of the New Economy. And while it is a not-so-subtle point, it is a point that is often missed by people when they look at the current economic landscape. It’s a landscape where the boundaries of the economy have shifted. The way we go to work today is very different than it used to be. The way we do business is radically different, with capital and labor moving more freely across borders in an atmosphere of intense global competition. Within this competitive maelstrom, the key to business success is innovation and rapid product development, at a pace unheard of just ten years ago. Moore’s law — a reflection of this focus on innovation — observes that the power of integrated circuits will double every 18 months. Compare this rate with the behavior of an Old Economy industry. If Ford Motor Company developed engine innovations at that rate, a 1999 Ford Taurus Sedan would get over 650,000 miles per gallon of gasoline! [The Ford Expedition would be getting nearly 20 miles to the gallon!] It’s this intense competition that has led to widespread outsourcing. Firms wish to reduce costs, and to focus management’s attention on product development, not production. The consequences of this restructuring to workers, families, communities — and ultimately, to industry itself — are dramatic. Today, nearly 40% of the workforce in Silicon Valley is employed through some type of contingent arrangement. In fact, temporary employment is the fastest rising category of employment in our city of the future. Nationally, temporary employment agencies constitute the industry with the greatest employment growth in the last five years. Employment in this industry expanded by more than 180,000 jobs between 1993 and 1998 — more than the net job growth in the software and electronic component industries combined. The results of this trend aren’t surprising -- lower wages and fewer benefits for workers as contract firms bid for business from larger corporations … less job stability … faster turnover, or what we call job "churning." While the computer industry grew rapidly from 1993 to 1998, it also had the third largest number of lay-offs nationally. And in this New Economy, even supposedly permanent jobs are lasting shorter periods of time -- the median job tenure in California today is just three years! * * * In the Old Economy, the distribution of households by income tended to be somewhat bubble shaped — a relatively small number of affluent people, a large middle class, and a relatively small number in poverty. In the New Economy, the shape has become an hourglass, with large numbers of high-paying, high-skilled technical jobs and large numbers of low paying, dead end, service occupations — and not much left in the middle. A number of recent studies show this trend accelerating in the land of the future. California now leads the nation in the growth of both high-paying and dead-end jobs — but the number of dead end jobs is far outpacing the high paying ones. The California Employment Development Department projects that 25% of the jobs created between 1993 and 2005 will require a B.A. or higher — whereas 39% will require just a few hours of training. A category of almost permanently unemployable people is also developing — middle age, middle-income people, most with college educations -- who are too skilled for jobs at the bottom of the hour glass, but not skilled enough for the thousands of high-tech jobs that are going begging in Silicon Valley today. A growing contingent workforce and rampant job insecurity may satisfy Wall Street, but it’s not going to help people buy a home on Elm Street. The housing crisis we face today is first and foremost an economic crisis. Wages have failed to grow for most workers, while they’ve gone through the stratosphere for others. The income gap is the widest in history — and still growing larger every day. And the housing market is being driven by the demand of those at the top of the hourglass — pushing up prices and shrinking the supply of affordable housing. The plain fact is, people at the bottom of the hourglass simply don’t have enough money to buy a house. And they don’t have enough political power to change their situation for the better. Most policy today, including housing policy, is mostly being driven by people at the top of the hour glass -- politically powerful suburban voters who are already homeowners, who customarily vote for low housing densities and greenbelts, further eroding our ability to provide housing. Those at the top of the hourglass also vote for lower taxes, which has led to the situation where housing can’t provide enough tax revenues to pay for its own basic municipal services. This post-Proposition 13 phenomena has brought on the oft-noted fiscalization of land use. It encourages cities to zone for commercial and industrial use and to furiously resist increased housing stock. In other words, we are further eroding our ability to expand the housing supply with our own unwise tax polices. The question now is, what do we do about it? If we look at this strictly as a housing policy problem, there are a number of things we can do in the near term. These are aggressive and challenging, but with the support of everyone here today, we can accomplish them. First, we can join housing to regional transportation tax measures, and provide affordable housing along transit corridors. For example, an extension of the half cent sales tax in Santa Clara County that is currently used for transportation projects would yield $4 billion in revenue over the next 20 years. If just 5% of this tax were dedicated to housing, it would yield $200 million — which would mean 5000 units subsidized at $40,000 per unit. That’s a major achievement! Second, we can create inclusionary zoning in urban reserves. For example, San Jose’s urban reserve in the Mid-Coyote Valley, just south of a massive Cisco Systems development, is expected to be approved by the City Council soon. If 20% of the units had to be affordable, it would induce higher densities and could yield 3000 affordable units. Third, the state, and possibly pension funds, could participate in land banking. Under this arrangement, the "banking" institution buys land and agrees to sell it to an affordable housing developer several years later for a moderate return. The developer — perhaps a Redevelopment Agency or a non-profit - is guaranteed future site control and a purchase price likely to be well below market. Once the land is sold, the "banker" can use the capital again for another similar transaction. These measures would immediately help to increase the supply of affordable housing. But they will hardly be enough to get at the economic and political causes at the root of today’s housing crisis — the fact that too many people simply do not have the money to buy a home, or the political clout to bring about the changes that would help ensure an adequate supply. To remedy a crisis, we must expand the horizon of our thinking. The proposal I will suggest is as challenging as it is necessary. The proposition is this: that all us -- labor, business, non-profits, community organizations, academia and think tanks, left, right and center — begin working together today on constructing a new Social Contract. One that re-establishes our national consensus for fairness and equity and community … one that raises up the bottom half of our hour glass by increasing the income, the job stability, and the basic economic security of working families so they too can take on the challenge of home ownership. It’s not going to be easy. It will require new roles for business, labor and government, and a whole new level of cooperation, to create this new Social Contract. But the rewards will be enormous, for all of us. Remember when we had the bubble model of the Old Economy -- teachers, bus drivers, even secretaries bought homes. If you had a regular paycheck … if you had responsible credit … if you had a family or friend or spouse or some savings then you could buy you into the system with that down payment, you could own your piece of the American dream — your own home. We can do that again. First, we can do it by helping workers increase and stabilize their earnings and enlarge their financial assets. In a volatile economy like this, workers cannot rely on income from wages alone. They need additional ways to provide for the necessities of life. Some specific solutions we should pursue include:
Secondly, we can rebuild the Social Contract by providing strong safeguards for the rights of workers to organize at work. I know I’m prejudiced on this issue, but in the context of everything I’ve talked about here, I hope it’s clear to everyone that a low-paid, low-skilled, and lowly regarded work force is not in any sector’s long-term interest! Imagine if there were three times as many workers in unions today as there are actually are — that would mean nearly 50 million union members. Imagine it seriously. Under that scenario, is it likely this country would still be experiencing a housing crisis? Of course not. Because that organized political force would insist on a solution that met its needs. And this is not in any way a call for a roll back of environmental protections. America’s political leadership can multi-task — they can support housing and a sustainable environment. They simply need the political impetus to do so — the pressure that comes from an organized and insistent constituency. * * * While a new Social Contract is admittedly a long tern proposition, I believe important initial steps can be taken to mobilize those constituencies needed to break the current gridlock over housing policy. One of the most promising of these is a potentially historic convergence between the needs and goals of organizations seeking to support Smart Growth and those seeking to achieve equity and economic justice, particularly in our urban centers. Smart Growth advocates have been successful in making the case against sprawl — that is, unsmart growth, and defining unacceptable land use practices such as low density development, development of hillsides, agricultural lands, wetlands and other open space for the past decade, at least. They’ve been successful in setting urban growth boundaries, and devising strategies to block bad growth — EIR’s, greenbelts, hillside zoning and other mechanisms — goals we often support as well. But what they haven’t done is implement the "growth" part of Smart Growth. They’ve done a great job in saying where we can’t build, but they’ve been ineffective in helping direct capital towards development in urban centers — development on the "right" side of urban growth boundaries. This is where our convergence of interests becomes real. We also need to focus on urban development — both commercial and industrial projects to increase economic opportunity and high density housing, particularly along transportation corridors. In addition to a common focus on urban development, I believe advocates for affordable housing and economic opportunity and Smart Growth organizations have common political needs. They both need allies — a lot of them. The Smart Growth forces do have broad popular support, mostly in the suburbs. But since their issues involve major economic losses to developers, they must constantly face a well-funded, persistent set of adversaries. Advocates for housing and economic opportunity have had all too many political defeats — ranging from local battles over infill to the collapse of President Clinton’s urban aid package early in his first term. We could benefit tremendously from some help from suburban legislators. Unlike marriages between people, marriages between communities of interest don’t have to be based on love to last. This one — based on mutual need — has enduring potential. The organization I represent, Working Partnerships USA, has already taken preliminary steps to bring this coalition into being. Working Partnerships is a non-profit research and public policy institute in Silicon Valley. We are designing a project to bring housing and economic opportunity advocates together with Smart Growth organizations around the issue of public subsidies for economic investments. Public investments helped build our suburbs — through highway funds and other transportation subsidies, government-assisted loans and mortgage insurance — thank you, Fannie Mae! — through direct payments, or cheap land, or tax abatements, or provision of infrastructure. We need that same kind of aggressive intervention today to rebuild our cities and employment centers, and to generate substantial quantities of affordable housing. A creative alliance between Smart Growth forces and equity forces can help bring that about. Public subsidies should be focused on firms that provide jobs with adequate pay and benefits in neighborhoods that have been left behind during the past decades. They should be directed towards businesses that participate in training programs to improve workers’ skills. At the same time, infrastructure subsidies and expenditures should be designed to encourage housing — along transportation corridors, in Redevelopment Project Areas, on excess public land, on the campuses of state colleges and community colleges — the list could go on. By emphasizing urban development as opposed to sprawl, we can satisfy the Smart Growth movement with this same set of criteria for the use of public capital. Today, Working Partnerships, in partnership with other regional organizations, is reviewing subsidies that local governments use to attract investment in San Diego, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay areas. We want to determine the number and quality of jobs they produce and the access low income workers have to those job opportunities. We plan to investigate the impact on housing and if — as we suspect — the links between subsidies and positive returns to our communities are weak, we will propose stronger guidelines to govern subsidy programs. Public investment, like any investment, should provide the maximum return for all the parties involved — in this case, the California public. I do not doubt for one moment the difficulty of the task I have envisioned. However, I remain confident we can do it. I have already seen some critical steps towards ensuring that our working class once again earns middle class wages and can even afford the rent. We were instrumental in passing a Living Wage ordinance in San Jose, the most generous in the nation and rightly so in the heart of the world’s region of highest productivity, highest profitability, and highest housing prices. That campaign and others like it around the country have brought back the whole issue of social equity into public discussion — after nearly two decades of not even being near, much less on, the table. Living Wage campaigns like ours across the country have created a whole new web of alliances for social and economic justice, uniting labor and environmentalists, social activists, women's groups, people of color and community leaders of all kinds. This has been a huge part of labor’s new community-based approach to increasing the voice of working people in the public policy arena. This same approach can help us bring affordable housing back on the agenda again as well. * * * This is the cause I’m asking you to join with me today. We need to be concerned not about catching people in a last ditch safety net, but developing sound, comprehensive strategies to raise up as many people as we can. By strengthening our labor force, we strengthen our communities. We give them the income they need to share in the greatest peacetime economic boom in American history … the voice they need to help determine their own destinies in the communities where they live … and the stability for many of them to buy their biggest stake in the American dream, their own home. American Labor was a major player in supporting the housing policies of the 1950s and 1960s. We are ready to play a similar role today in all these ways. But we need the help of others — your help — to build this new Social Contract … house by house, community by community, working family by working family. A contract that will allow America’s working class to be full partners in the New Economy. I thank you for this opportunity to address you, and I look forward eagerly to working with you to house a new generation of working Americans. # # # #
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