Remarks by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson at the New Hampshire Democratic Party 100 Club Dinner
REMARKS BY NEW MEXICO GOV. BILL RICHARDSON AT THE NEW HAMPSHIRE DEMOCRATIC PARTY 100 CLUB DINNER
GOV. RICHARDSON: Please welcome the First Lady of New Mexico and a graduate of Colby-Sawyer College in New London, New Hampshire, Barbara Richardson.
(Applause.)
Are you ready to take our country back?
(Applause.)
GOV. RICHARDSON: I want to talk to you tonight about one issue, the most important issue facing America, the issue that divides us more than any other and that is the compelling need to end the war in Iraq and get all of our troops out.
(Applause.)
And I raise the issue again because the national media has kind of put the Iraq war aside and the president continues a drum beat that the surge is working. And the president talks about security improved. And then they cite statistics that only 37 Americans perished in November. And I say that's 37 too many!
(Applause.)
And until we end the war in Iraq, we can not have universal healthcare. Until we end the war in Iraq, America can not become the clean energy nation. Until we end the war in Iraq, we can not have America number one in education and improving our classrooms.
And I say this because America is driven, today, widely apart by this war. The president and the Congress have a dysfunctional relationship where nothing gets done. There's paralysis. And I have a very clear plan. The clearest plan of all the candidates. I would get all of our troops out in one year; one year.
But it would be a plan - it would be a plan with diplomacy. I would be a plan that says there will be a political reconciliation of the three groups in Iraq: the Sunni, the Shi'a and the Kurds. A UN peacekeeping force; a donor conference that would take over the $570 billion that America has spent on this war, money that should to healthcare, to education of our own people.
(Applause.)
And so today, my plan is clear: the troops out in one year. And others are talking about keeping troops to the year 2013. One year from now, I don't want to have to wake up and lower my state's flags for another New Mexican killed in Iraq. Three years from now, I don't want to read in the morning newspaper about bombing attacks against Americans, because our presence in Iraq continues to inflame the Muslim world. Five years from now, I don't want to see kids who are eighth graders today patrolling and dying on the streets of Baghdad. Now is the time for peace. Now is the time to end the war.
And I'm tired of the naysayers - the naysayers who say we can't do it. The naysayers in Washington. They say that it can't be done. All my life I've spent getting people together. As a diplomat, talking to North Korea, to Syria, to Iran, to Iraq, to Saddam Hussein, getting American prisoners out, bringing back the remains of our soldiers, rescuing American servicemen, bringing a ceasefire in Darfur, making sure that America first employs, as a cornerstone of our foreign policy, diplomacy and negotiation and not military options, not preemption.
(Applause.)
And I say to you today, this is what Bill Richardson stands for. I stand for an American revolution on energy to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and to clean up this planet. To say that we must, by a cap and trade system, reduce by 90 percent greenhouse gas emissions on a planet today that is suffering.
(Applause.)
And I say we have to shift from fossil fuels away to solar, wind, biomass, biofuels, biodiesel, distributive generation. We need to make America green. It's green technology jobs, retrofitting homes, making sure that America keeps its compact with the planet.
And so today, I pledge to you that I'll be candid with every American when it comes to preserving our energy future. I will ask every American to sacrifice, to do something about energy efficiency, mass transit, to do something about appliances. And today, the Congress passed legislation that basically brought fuel efficiency standards to 30, 35 miles per gallon. That is pathetic. It should be 50 miles per gallon by the year 2020.
(Applause.)
And we should also make sure that all electricity in America by the year 2020, 30 percent renewable energy. And we can do it with leadership. I've been Energy Secretary. New Mexico is the clean energy nation. We can do it.
I'm going to conclude with education, the forgotten issue in America. This is what we need to do to restore America's leadership in the economic world to bring families together. Education is the key. As president, I will have early childhood preschool for every child under four. As president, we will have full day kindergarten for every child in America. As president, we will have an emphasis on science and math academies to restore America's role in science and math around the world. We're 29th - 29th - behind Europe, behind Japan who are graduating more engineers. We need to upgrade the high school curriculum. And a key way to increase our proficiency in science and math is to have a massive federal "art in the schools" program: music, dance, sculpture, writing, being creative for America.
(Applause.)
And here is my position that I have had for years on No Child Left Behind: end it, scrap it. It doesn't work.
(Applause.)
One size fits all testing is not helping kids who are special needs kids, English learning kids. It's not helping teachers. And the key to a good education is a good teacher. And, in Bill Richardson's administration we will respect our teachers. There will be a minimum starting salary of $40,000 a year for entering teachers.
(Applause.)
And we will have a college education plan where, in exchange for two years, the government pays for tuition and loans for students at a state college, at a private college, at a community college, but in exchange, one year of national service for America.
(Applause.)
I commit to you that if I'm elected president, I will follow the constitution of the United States.
(Applause.)
If I'm elected president, we will not discriminate with anyone on the basis of race, gender or sexual orientation.
(Applause.)
If I'm elected president, we will restore habeas corpus to our legal system.
(Applause.)
If I'm elected president, we will stop eavesdropping on our own citizens.
(Applause.)
If I'm elected president, we will cancel and disabuse any notion of torture as a tool in our foreign policy.
(Applause.)
If I'm elected president, we will end the Patriot Act which violates the human rights of our citizens.
If I'm elected president, I will close down Guantanamo and all the secret prisons that are a symbol of America's role in abusing our civil rights.
I want to just conclude with this. As we move the campaign forward, I want to thank the voters of New Hampshire for being so open to candidates that may not have all the resources of others, for candidates that may not have the political pedigree of others or the glamour of others. But I will commit to you that this race should be about who can change this country with the experience that is needed to make sure that America moves forward.
So today, and the next five days, I want you to take a look at Bill Richardson. I know that New Hampshire is a state that loves underdogs, that loves to shake up the political establishment. The race in New Hampshire should be settled by New Hampshire voters, not by the national media.
(Applause.)
And so today, I thank you for your reception. You'll see me intensively outworking everybody - grassroots all over this great state. But most importantly, I am proud that the main message of the caucus in Iowa was a huge turnout; a huge turnout wanting change in this country. And that's what's going to happen. We, the Democratic Party, are going to take out country back. Are you ready to take our country back?
Thank you. Thank you, so much
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