Guest Comment

by Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI)
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives

Five years ago, working families across this nation were dealt a terrible blow. In November of 1994, Newt Gingrich and his band of right-wing revolutionaries rode into Washington with fire in their bellies and an anti-worker agenda in their hands.

King Newt led one of the most extreme congressional majorities in history, ruthlessly decimating the great progress that our country has made on behalf of our workers over the past three generations.

They tried to slash Medicare and Medicaid to pay for tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans. They tried to make the largest education cuts in our nation's history. They tried to roll back basic worker protections. They tried to make it easier for corporations to raid their workers' pensions. They tried to raise taxes on working families making modest wages. They tried to do everything in their power to reward their wealthy special interest friends while raiding programs that are critical to ordinary working families. They tried to turn back the hands of time to an era where profits came first and workers came last.

But we wouldn't let them. House Democrats stood firm, fighting every day to make sure that the American people understood what Gingrich and his cronies were trying to do.

We exposed them for what they were, and voters voiced their approval at the polls - giving Democrats substantial gains in the last two election cycles, and putting us on the path to a Democratic majority this fall.

Democrats have an aggressive, pro-working family agenda that will make a real difference in the lives of ordinary Americans in search of good jobs with fair wages and decent benefits, world-class schools for their kids, a secure retirement for their elderly loved ones and quality health care for their families.

We are going to fight to ensure that the budget surplus American workers made possible goes right back to those working families - saving Social Security and Medicare for generations to come.

We are going to fight to pass a real patients' bill of rights - one that keeps medical decision-making in the hands of patients and doctors rather than insurance company bean-counters.

And we're going to fight to give our children the world-class education they need to compete in the global economy of the 21st century.

We're just five House seats away from securing the majority status we need to make that pro-worker agenda a reality. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is working hard to produce a workable, detailed blueprint for winning those five seats and then some.

Poll after poll shows that voters strongly agree with the Democratic agenda: strengthening Social Security, adding a prescription drug benefit to Medicare, improving education, protecting patients' rights, increasing the minimum wage and targeting tax relief for working families.

Our candidate recruitment, our fundraising and our momentum have never been stronger. And we're not going to slow down until Denny Hastert hands the gavel to Speaker Gephardt.

But we're not there yet. We need help.

Organized labor needs to continue the grassroots organizing that brought pro-worker candidates historic victories in the past two election cycles.

We need you to talk to your co-workers, your neighbors, your family and your friends.

We need you to remind people what's at stake in the fall elections: Do we continue to let the Republican majority cut backroom deals that sell out our nation's workers and threaten our way of life, or do we elect a Democratic majority that is committed to making right-wing extremism a thing of the past and putting working families first?

Make sure that they know what a Democratically-controlled Congress would stop cold: saying "no" to the TEAM Act; saying "no" to bogus comp time bills; saying "no" to unfair striker replacement bills; and saying "no" to paycheck reduction efforts.

Make sure they know just what a Democratically-controlled Congress would make happen: creating smaller class sizes and safer schools for our children; offering better access to quality child care and affordable health care for families; ensuring equal pay for equal work; and providing a secure retirement and improved long-term care for our seniors.

In other words, the 2000 Elections are about much more than blocking the GOP's anti-worker agenda. They are about passing our own agenda - an agenda that will really make a difference in people's everyday lives.

If we are to be successful in this mission, we must work today like it's October rather than January.

We need to register new voters, knock on doors and work the community centers and churches and homes in every city, small town and rural area.

We beat the other side in 1998 by beating them on the ground. If we are to continue our success into the new millennium - and secure a Democratic majority this fall - we must continue to make the ground war our war.

Organized labor knows that 10,000 determined footsoldiers will trump 100 powerful elites every time. And it is that determination and hard work that will produce pro-worker victories this fall.

Over the past five years, American workers and Democratic members of Congress have made significant progress climbing the mountain back to control of the House.

Unfortunately, with the end in sight and a great distance behind us, the final climb to the peak is the most steep and treacherous. We only need to gain five more seats to control the House, but there is no room for mistakes -- and there is no time to relax.

So as we enter the new millennium, House Democrats will work hard to ensure that every American knows just what is at stake in the 2000 elections: keeping Congress in the hands of the right-wing extremists and wealthy special interests - or electing a Democratic majority that will put working families first.

Working together, we can and will make the U.S. House, once again, the people's house.

© 2000 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers