Get Involved!
2008 Elections
Address to AAI: Sen. Hillary Clinton
Posted on Friday December 7, 2007
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Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton www.hillaryclinton.com 1717 K Street, NW |
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Sen. Hillary Clinton's Full Address to the AAI National Leadership Conference
Hello and thank you to my friend, Dr. James Zogby and to George Salem, to the hard-working staff of the Arab American Institute, and to all of you here today, for everything you do to represent the interests of Arab Americans and to promote Arab American political participation.
I wish I could be with you in person today, but I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you by video. And I thank my friend Bill Shaheen for being there to represent me and for serving as a national co-chair of my campaign.
Like all Americans, Arab Americans have so much at stake in 2008 and I would like to share some thoughts with you today about how we can move our country forward.
First, we need to restore our standing in the world. That starts by beginning to end the war in Iraq. As President, I will convene my senior National Security advisors to draw up a clear, viable plan to bring our troops home, starting within the first 60 days of my inauguration, and to replace our military involvement with an intensive diplomatic initiative in the region.
Getting out of Iraq will also enable us to play a constructive role in a renewed Middle East peace process that would mean security and normal relations for Israel and the Palestinians. Whether or not the United States makes progress in helping to broker a final agreement, consistent US involvement can lower the level of violence and begin to restore our credibility in the region, and reengaging in this process will be a priority of my administration.
Here at home, we need to get our economy moving and growing again, and I propose creating a $50 billion strategic energy fund that will create jobs and fight global warming. We’ll also have a healthcare plan that covers every single American. My plan lets you keep your insurance if you like it, but if you don’t, you’ll have the access to the same choices that members of Congress have.
We also have to get serious about education, at every step of the way, from universal pre-kindergarten to affordable college.
We’re going to fight for comprehensive immigration reform that honors our best traditions, as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.
And finally I will renew our nation’s commitment to civil rights and civil liberties. I’ve released an agenda to restore and strengthen the civil rights mission of the Department of Justice-- to restore professionalism and remove politics, and to recommit the Department to the fundamental priorities that this Administration has ignored.
We’ll fight discrimination in the workplace; protect the right to vote for every eligible American, and end racial profiling. We must modernize and strengthen the federal hate crimes law because we are all victimized when someone is targeted because of who he or she is or what that person believes.
We have so much to do as a nation, but I wouldn’t be running for President if I weren’t confident and optimistic we were up to meeting any challenge. Thank you again for the opportunity to speak with you, and best wishes for a very successful conference, and I hope to have the opportunity to see many of you along the campaign trail. Thank you.
