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| Rally at Wayne State University, page 2GORE: But here they are - - first, we have a situation in Michigan and in the whole country today where people are given prescriptions and they're given diagnoses and their given recommendations for treatment and procedures by their doctors and then before they can get the procedure, an HMO overrules the doctor and says "No, that's not what we're going to do, because that's a little bit too expensive, and we're going to force you to substitute something else". I believe that it is time, indeed as I said, past time for a national law, the one sponsored by Congressman John Dingell and co-sponsored by a Republican member of Congress, it is bi-partisan although many of the Republicans will not support it. It's time to pass a real health care Patient's Bill of Rights and take the decisions away from the HMOs and given them back to the doctors and the nurses and the health care professionals.
You know, I was in - - I was talking with John Dingell, last year at an open meeting, where a doctor told a story, I've mentioned this story before where he had a man, a patient come into his emergency room, go into full cardiac arrest, the patient's heart stopped right there, and the doctor rushed and got the defibrillator and his nurses and brought this person back to life. They sent the bill to the HMO and the HMO refused to pay the bill because they said it wasn't an emergency. Well, to some - - to those on the other side, maybe the absence of a heart isn't considered an emergency, but to us it is. And that's why we need a health care Patients Bill of Rights.
It's about your heart.
Now here's the second challenge we face that's on the agenda right now. And that is the fact that too many seniors, millions of them in fact, especially those on fixed incomes, have seen in the last decade rapid increases in the prices of their prescription drugs. Many of them are actually every day having to choose between food and medicine. Many of them have told me how they go to the medicine cabinet and take all the pill bottles out and put them on the kitchen table or wherever and go through them one by one, they count the pennies and count the pills. And they make their own unilateral decisions without consulting with a doctor to cut out some of their prescriptions.
Some of them have told me that because they're scared not to take their heart medicine, the go without their pain medicine. I talked to an individual who's nurse told me a few weeks ago, she said "See that walker? He doesn't need to use that walker if he could afford his pain medication for the arthritis. But he's got two other medications he needs to take so he skips the pain medication and uses the walker".
Well, I'm telling you, the storm clouds are coming in, not only here but over the people who cannot afford their prescription drugs. That's why we need a prescription drug benefit for all seniors, under the Medicare program.
And make no mistake about it-the big drug companies, who are charging seniors more than anybody else even though their profits are higher than any other industry's, and the insurance companies and HMOs who are opposed to the Patients Bill of Rights, even though it is hurting the quality of medical care for Americans, both of those industries are supporting my opponent, and they're supporting Debbie Stabenow's opponent. And they are financing a massive advertising campaign that is calculated to try to mislead you into thinking up is down and inside is outside and right is wrong. So pass the word from person to person - - as Debbie says, "from one to one to one" - - to get the truth of this matter out there. The drug companies and the insurance companies and HMOs, the oil companies and others, they have a priority in this election, and it is to make sure that your voice is diluted by their money and power and influence. That's why we need campaign finance reform, my friends. That's why I'll make the McCain Feingold campaign finance reform bill the first one I send to the Congress if you elect me President.
Now, let me talk to you about where I think the future is. And that's in education. We have got to make education the number one priority for our country. I believe it is time to treat teachers like the professionals that they are. I believe it is time to reduce the size of the classes. I believe it is time for new accountability and performance measurements and keep local control - - I agree with my opponent on new accountability and local control. The difference is my plan starts there, it doesn't end there. If we're going to reduce the size of the classroom, we're going to have to recruit more teachers, and test the new teachers, and make sure they're of high quality. We're going to have to give local communities help in building new classrooms and modernizing the schools. We're going to have to have more discipline and character education and more high quality preschool and child care and after school care and help for working parents so all working parents can stand up here and proudly say: "I raised my son" or "I raised my daughter", to be proud of my child. We've got an eagle scout up here! You all want the best for your children, but it's hard if you have a hard time balancing work and family and the schools play the central role. We ought to make sure that every school is an excellent school in this country. We cannot afford to have a single failing school in the United States of America.
Now let me tell you, I have proposed, not only to make it a number one priority, but to budget a lot more resources within a balanced budget and to focus attention I have regular school days now. If you elect me President, I'll have regular school days as President, to keep the spotlight on our schools, to keep it the number one priority. And I'll tell you want I won't do. I will not support any plan to take tax payer money away from our strapped schools, and funnels it into private schools that don't take all students and are not accountable for public money.
And make no mistake about it. If your top priority - - if priority number one, two, three and four is a massive tax cut, mostly to the wealthy, then you cannot make education priority number one. If you squander the surplus and give all of the available resources to a tax cut mostly to the wealthy, then schools get testing, and not much more. And we need much more. We need testing, yes. But we also need resources. And we need more teachers. And we need more parental involvement. And we need more high quality standards. And we need a bigger commitment to make sure they work.
And here's one other thing. I talked about tax cuts for the middle class, here's one that's part of my program. I want to make college tuition tax deductible, $10,000 per family, per year. So all middle class families can afford to send their kids to college.
Now I want to also tell you that here, in this beautiful city, I have seen the renaissance of Detroit begin under your great mayor, Dennis Archer. We have seen his ability to take the empowerment zone and the resources and the momentum that comes with it to start something here that we need to keep going and finish, with more jobs - - and all over this state. You know, in the last eight years the unemployment rate in Michigan has gone from seven and a half to three and a half, because of the national economic recovery. And Detroit has begun a turnaround that needs continue and spread to other cities. I am for expanding the empowerment zone program nationally, the other side, the Republicans, have been opposed to being generous with that program.
And that's why we need to elect Debbie Stabenow to the United States Senate, to make sure that you have a fighter for working families, she is a fighter for working families par excellence, nobody can do it better. And I want you to know that another mission of mine is to make sure that the chairman of the Judiciary Committee is Congressman John Conyers. And John... ? Where did the Congressman go?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: He's in back.
GORE: He's in back? All right. I just wanted to remind him that my grandson is still younger than his son.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: He's baby-sitting.
GORE: (Laughing) He's baby-sitting? Yeah, that's right.
And I want to thank you for sending a great fighter and I want you to send her back to the Congress, Carolyn Kilpatrick. She does a wonderful job. I want to acknowledge a wonderful, close friend, former Senator Don Reagel and his wife, Lori, and their children, who are here. Thank you Don, a great fighter for the people.
You know, talking about John Conyers, also I wanted to point out to you that he has sponsored a bill that is now in conference committee, to ban racial profiling. I support the ban on racial profiling, whether it's African-Americans, Arab-Americans, whatever, we have got to stop that and we have got to end that practice wherever it takes place. I also want to say that I strongly support the step in the right direction that's been made by John Conyers and David Bonior in the bill - - the current version of a bill that bans the use of secret evidence. We have got to stop that practice in the United States and I strongly support what John is doing there.
Now one other word about Debbie's work. You know, when Debbie Stabenow was in the legislature here, she is the one who was responsible for Michigan joining the compact to protect the water in the Great Lakes. And we have a great environmental challenge in this country, and that also is on the ballot, in a sense, in this Presidential election. I want you to know that I'm strongly in favor of a total ban on any new or increased diversions of Great Lakes water. I am for a moratorium on bulk exports of Great Lakes water. And I will continue to work to get the $50 million appropriation earmarked in the budget this year for Great Lakes remedial action. I'm for clean water and clean air and taking on the global problems like global warming and getting environmental justice in this country.
Now, I want to close with two points.
Number one: in order for us to accomplish these goals that I've outlined here, we have to recognize that all of us have to come together. And that means standing up for one another. When somebody is involved in a struggle to get fairness in the workplace, we need to stand in solidarity with them. I'm for a ban on permanent striker replacements. We need to have the right to organize. It means that when there is discrimination on the basis of race, or ethnicity, or national origin, or who you select as your partner, we have to stand for what is right and what we know in our hearts. In the words of our Founders, who said all of us are created equal, and given by God certain rights that are inalienable. Not given by the government, given by our Creator. That's what I believe. And I believe that means we have to fight against all forms of discrimination, that's why we need a hate crimes law in this country. We've also got to recognize that all of us one under the skin, and that's why the rights as between men and women need to be equalized, and we need an equal day's pay for an equal day's work. Let us vow that never again will we allow ourselves to be divided on the basis of these artificial distinctions that are always used to the disadvantage of working people and middle class families.
Now, finally - - the outcome of this election will determine an awful lot. It'll determine the future of our country, the Congress is at stake, the Supreme Court is at stake. You know, some people say it doesn't make any difference who appoints the next three Justices of the Supreme Court. It makes a difference to Women's Rights, it makes a difference to Civil Rights, it makes a difference to the environment, it makes a difference to our federal system, it makes a difference to who we are as a nation.
And the outcome really is up to you. This is a close race. It's close here, it's close nationwide. Even up. So don't let anybody tell you that what you do and what you say will not determine the outcome. You personally might very well make the difference.
Now, as for my role, I want you to know this - - I've said this before, but I want to repeat it. I know full well that if you entrust me with the Presidency, I won't always be the most exciting politician, like Dennis Archer. But I will work hard for you every day and I will never let you down. And I will fight for you. Because I know this in my heart about the job of President. It is the only position in the Constitution that is filled by an individual who is given the responsibility to fight not just for one group or one area of the country or the wealthy and the well connected or the powerful. A President is charged with the responsibility to fight for all of the people, especially those who need a champion, who's willing to stand up and fight for you. That's why I'm running for President.
And I need your help. When you leave this place, I want you to consider it your personal mission to chart the future course of our nation for the next four years. The choice is between diverting the surplus and our resources and our destiny toward the old trickle down approach, or continuing a sound economic plan that will continue the prosperity, create more jobs, balance the budget, and invest in people, education, middle class tax cuts, health care, retirement security.
But it is up to you. When you leave this place, I want you to think long and hard about what you personally will say to one of your neighbors or one of your friends who, in an idle moment says: "I'm not sure who I'm going to vote for, what do you think?" I want you to arm yourselves, I want you to arm yourselves not only with the names Gore and Lieberman and Stabenow and Kilpatrick and all the other candidates that you support. I don't want you to just say "Vote for Al Gore". I want you to arm yourselves with the arguments about these issues that we've discussed here. Take some time to tell them that prosperity itself is on the ballot this fall.
Prosperity itself is at stake in this election. Jobs are at stake. Families are at stake. Health care, our schools, the environment - - they're at stake. Social Security is on the ballot this fall.
CROWD: Gore, Gore, Gore, Gore!
GORE: Medicare is on the ballot this fall. Prescription drugs are on the ballot this fall. Civil Rights are on the ballot this fall.
Now, after you have given your choice and after you have given them your reasons, then I want you to give something else. And this is the last thing I'm going to ask you for. It's something that is difficult for you to give. It's something that people hardly ever give any more. I want to ask you to open your hearts and push past any fear of disillusionment, push past any fear of disappointment, push past any fear of having a broken heart, once you have invested your heart in the outcome of this election and in your choice for the future of our nation. Too many good people with high ideals and strong dreams have themselves decided to remain at arm's length from the political process, because they believe their hearts are brittle. And they don't want to get too involved, because if they get their hopes up, their hopes might be shattered. If they get their dreams invested in a particular outcome, then they think they might be disappointed and they may not be able to handle it.
Hear me well: your hearts are not brittle. Our country is not brittle. Your future is at stake. We need you - - not only to give them your choice and to give them the reasons - - give them your passion. If anybody is cynical, if anybody says it doesn't make a difference who wins, it doesn't make a difference which agenda governs us over the next four years, it doesn't make a difference the direction we take, I want you to tell them: "Wait a minute! I know for a fact that it makes a difference. It makes a difference to me. It makes a difference to you. It makes a difference to your family." And one of the reasons is it makes a difference if you have a President who's willing to fight for you. I ask for your passion, I want your hearts, I want your vote, I want your enthusiasm, because I want to fight for you! I want to fight for your families! I want to fight for Michigan, and Detroit and your future! God bless you. Let's win this election!' - - President Gore, October 14, 2000
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