Jim
Jeffords - Former Republican Senator
June 5,
2003
Senator
Jeffords speaks to reporters to commemorate the second anniversary of his
decision to leave the Republican Party and become the Senate's only
Independent.
Statement
of Senator Jeffords, Second Anniversary of Decision to Leave the GOP
-
National Press Club -
Two
years ago, I was big news. I got to know many of you for the first time. I was
followed in airports and recognized on the street. Network news people, who
until then couldn't identify me as a Senator in a police line-up, were now
calling my home number. Subsequent events put me back in my place: September
11th, two wars, the space shuttle disaster and a worsening economy took back
the nation's attention - as they should have done.
Yet the
reasons for my switch, while apparent to me then, have become painfully clear
to me now. The events of the past two years have only heightened my concern
over the President's veer to the right, and the poisoning of our democratic
process of government.
The
promises of candidate Bush, who pledged to bring a new tone to Washington and
packaged himself as a compassionate conservative, are unmet. On issue after
issue the Bush Administration is not what it claims to be. Since coming into
office, the President has dragged the Republican Party into short-sighted
positions that maximize short-term gain while neglecting the long-term needs of
families and the nation.
Pundits
asked after last November's election: will the President over-reach with his
Republican majorities in the House and Senate? Well, President Bush hasn't just
over-reached, he has set a new standard for extreme partisan politics that on
many occasions has been supported by the Republican-controlled Congress.
In place
of thoughtful policy we now have superficial and cynical sound-bites. Instead
of confronting pressing national problems, our President lands airplanes while
Rome burns.
While
our troops search for W-M-D's in Iraq--we have found our own W-M-D's right here
in Washington - at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. They are President Bush's weapons
of mass distortion, or better distraction. The Bush Administration says one
thing and does another to take the focus off the present realities.
Does he
think we don't notice?
In Iraq,
we have seen the inexcusable results of what happens when the Bush
Administration says one thing and does another. Last fall, the President said
UN weapons inspectors would be allowed to do their job, but in reality, he
didn't give them the time they needed. I am pleased to see calls for
Congressional investigations to determine whether the President manipulated
intelligence information to build support for the war. Why the hurry to invade
a country and use military force in such an unprecedented manner? Where was the
imminent threat to the United States? And where are the weapons of mass
destruction?
As he
prepared to invade Iraq and win the support of other nations, the President
promised the world that the US had a plan in place to rebuild that nation. But
it quickly became apparent that there was no plan. While our military guarded
the oilfields, we showed no compassion for the Iraqi people as we allowed their
national treasures to be looted. All we see now is growing unrest with the US
presence in Iraq. Every day we see more lawlessness, more upheaval and more US
soldiers being killed. Is it any surprise that a recent Pell Research Center
survey of 16,000 people from 20 nations shows a dramatic rise in distrust and
skepticism toward the United States?
Does he
think we don't notice?
His
polls and famous advisors tell him to talk about compassion and job growth, and
how he is helping Main Street. But that is all it is, talk.
In
reality he adopts hard right proposals that favor those who need help least and
neglect those who need help the most. In reality we are now in the longest
period of continued job loss since the Great Depression. Since the beginning of
this Bush Administration, 2.7 million private sector jobs have been lost and the
number of unemployed Americans has increased by over 45 percent. In the first
three months of this year alone, America has lost another half-million jobs.
President Bush has said his tax plan is a "jobs growth package." But
the only thing guaranteed to grow is the federal budget deficit.
He says
one thing and does another. Does he think we don't notice?
We will
be paying for his tax cuts with borrowed funds, money borrowed from our
children and grandchildren who will be forced to foot the bill. And, according
to reports, the Bush administration intends to ask for more tax cuts next year.
The effect of these tax cuts will be enduring -- and enormously damaging. These
tax cuts will widen the gap between rich and poor. These tax cuts help those who
need it least and do nothing for those who need it most. These tax cuts provide
a $90,000 tax cut for millionaires, while millions of parents with incomes
under $26,000 will see no benefit from the increased child credit. This is
compassion? Again, he says one thing and does another.
Does he
think we don't notice?
President
Bush is rashly piling up debt our nation can't afford even as he knows the
really big bills are about to come due. The Congressional Budget Office
forecasts a $300 billion deficit this fiscal year -- an all-time record. Some
economists believe the deficit could approach $500 billion dollars in the near
future. That's edging close to a troublingly high percentage of the economy.
But the real problem is not this year or next. Rather, it's the long-term cost,
combined with the budgetary hit coming just around the corner, when the baby
boomers start to retire and put new huge demands on Social Security and
Medicare.
The
administration highlighted this problem in its own budget documents, describing
the real fiscal danger as the 18 trillion dollar shortfall -- yes, trillion
with a "T" -- projected in those two programs.
At the
same time, it was recently disclosed the Bush administration shelved a report
commissioned by its own Treasury Department that shows the U.S. currently faces
future budget deficits totaling at least $44 trillion.
The Bush
tax cut will threaten the country's long-term well-being by starving the
federal government of revenue for essential services, such as homeland
security, transportation infrastructure, education and health care. Our States
are bearing the brunt of our dismal economic conditions, and these cuts will
brutalize them.
One of
the most disturbing effects of the economic downturn is the lack of state and
federal funding for our educational system - where States are laying off
teachers, cutting school days and eliminating early childhood programs - most
of which have only just started. The President's advisors tell him to endlessly
repeat "No Child Left Behind."
But in
the 17 months since that policy became law, we've seen something very
different. Too many children are being left behind. President Bush says the new
law will lead to stronger schools. I say it is all part of a quiet plan to
starve our public schools so this country can move to vouchers and private
school choice.
As the
President pushes tax cut after tax cut, his Administration still can not find
the funding to fulfill the federal government's commitment to special education
- where we still fall $12 billion short on a commitment we made to the States
more than 25 years ago, to help them finance this federal constitutional
mandate. According to school boards across the nation, the number one thing the
federal government can do to support education is fully fund special ed.
While
pretending to have compassion for our schoolchildren, the approach of No Child
Left Behind is heartless. It chronically under-funds our schools, it sets
unattainable goals for our teachers and it steals from schoolchildren the
quality education they deserve. Once again, the Bush administration says one
thing and does another.
Does he
think we don't notice?
A recent
New York Times report noted that combined budget deficits for 50 states are
estimated to be between $52 billion and $82 billion, and the schools are taking
the worst hit. In Oregon, 84 school districts closed their schools ahead of
schedule - some by as much as a month -- because the money ran out. This comes
at a time when schools are faced with mounting pressure to meet the
requirements of No Child Left Behind or face penalties.
Now we
see that states are cutting back on testing standards to avoid sanctions. In
the President's home state of Texas, the State Board of Education voted to
reduce the number of questions that students must answer correctly to pass the
standard test, to 20 out of 36, from 24, for third-grade reading. And Texas is
not alone. Michigan's standards had been among the nation's highest, which
caused problems last year when 1,513 schools there were labeled under the law
as needing improvement, more than in any other state.
So
Michigan officials lowered the percentage of students who must pass statewide
tests to certify a school as making adequate progress. That reduced the number
of schools "in need of improvement" to 216. In other words, we are
dumbing down our standards so the Bush Administration can say we have
strengthened our schools.
Saying
one thing, doing another.
In my
home state of Vermont, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives
passed a resolution last week expressing its concerns over the policies and
mandates of No Child Left Behind. They noted that the law could cost Vermont up
to three times more to implement than the federal government provides - and
maybe more - "thereby placing a major burden on the state's strained
financial resources"
If this
wasn't all bad enough, we learned last week that the U.S. Department of
Education plans to spend a half-million dollars - yes, a half-million dollars!
- on a public relations campaign aimed at quieting the critics of No Child Left
Behind. During three decades in Congress, I have never heard of such an ad
campaign. Yet as schools are cutting early education programs for lack of
money, the President has no problem with assembling an eight-person
"communications" team to try and make a bad plan look good.
Saying
one thing, doing another.
In an
age now driven by scientific and technological advances, American students are
falling behind. This is inexcusable. But despite warnings that have spanned
three decades, we have done nothing to respond. "Before It's Too Late: A
Report to the Nation from the National Commission on Mathematics & Science
Teaching for the 21st Century," released in 2000, highlighted that
problem. Recent reports of the performance of our country's students from both
the Third International Mathematics and Science Study and the National
Assessment of Educational Progress echo a dismal message of lackluster
performance.
In
December of 2000 I met with President-elect Bush at his ranch in Crawford,
Texas to discuss education. He assured me that education would be his top
priority. But his actions speak louder than his words and that promise clearly
fell to the wayside long ago.
The
President says one thing, but does another.
Perhaps
this is most apparent when it comes to the environment. With a straight face he
talks about protecting resources for our children -- even as he abandons the
federal protection of land and air and water as fast as he can.
Does he
think we don't notice?
The Bush
Administration continues to protect special interests and ignore public support
for strong environmental protections and conservation measures. Candidate Bush
said in September of 2000:
"With
the help of Congress, environmental groups and industry we will require all
power plants to meet clean air standards in order to reduce emissions of sulfur
dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury and carbon dioxide within a reasonable period
of time." Those were heartening words for many of us.
Unfortunately,
just two months into his term, President Bush backed away from that statement,
and abandoned his commitment to seek reductions in carbon dioxide which is the
leading cause of global warming and climate change. And there has been no
working together on anything.
Saying
one thing, and doing another.
From the
beginning, this Administration has relaxed environmental laws through
de-regulation and lack of enforcement, and put forward legislative proposals
long on public relations and short on substance. What Americans really need now
is relief from air pollution, and swift and serious action to avert global
warming. We have a right to breathe air that is not contaminated by pollution.
At a minimum, we have a right to full and vigorous implementation of laws
already on the books, such as the Clean Air Act.
The
devastation caused by dirty air is staggering. As many as sixty thousand
premature deaths each year are linked to air pollution, according to an
American Cancer Society study and researchers at the Harvard School of Public
Health.
I was
proud to work with the first President Bush on the Clean Air Act amendments of
1990, when I was a Republican. I was proud to be chosen by the first President
Bush as one of the lead Senate negotiators on that bill. He called our work,
"a new chapter in our environmental history, and a new era for clean
air." That was an example of what we could do - together - when we made a
shared commitment to our environmental future. Now this President Bush insists
on moving us backward, undoing his father's legacy and weakening our nation's
environmental laws.
This
Bush Administration has put forward a plan mislabeled "Clear Skies."
This bill weakens or eliminates current clean air programs, accelerates global
warming, and saves only one-third of the lives that could be saved by the Clean
Power Act. Worse, the Administration bill takes 20 years before its reduction
targets are achieved.
Does he
think we won't notice?
Well, we
do notice. We do care. And it does matter.
Some
people might not have agreed with my decision to leave the GOP two years ago,
but at least I did it for the reasons I said I did. I was honest about what
brought me to that decision.
What
makes the actions of the Bush Administration so troublesome is the lack of
honesty.
It
amounts, in the end, to a pattern of deception and distortion; ultimately that
does not respect the wisdom of the American people.
Thank
you