Did anyone else get this email? I guess I'm on their mailing list cuz of the bike access stuff I send them. Anyway, it's worth reading.
Dear Friend:
Before the President's State of the Union message, I addressed my colleagues
about issues that I think are important to the American people. You will find a
copy of my comments below. I would, of course, be happy to hear from you about
this or any other issue. Please feel free to email your comments to
http://boxer.senate.gov/contact/webform.html.
Sincerely,
Barbara Boxer
United States Senate
Tonight we will all take part in a ritual that has become an annual milestone in
the life of our national government. Members of the Senate will gather here and
march across the Capitol to join our colleagues in the House to hear the
President of the United States report on the State of the Union.
In advance of the President's message, I would like to offer my own report on
what I am hearing about the state of our nation from my concerned constituents
in California. With a sense of urgency and with all due respect, I would like
to direct my remarks to the President of the United States.
Mr. President, I must tell you that the state of the Union today is anxious ...
anxious about the twin threats of war and terrorism, about the health of our
economy and our environment, about our children's education and our families'
health care, and about our basic civil rights, including the right to privacy
and the right to make personal decisions without government interference.
Mr. President, the people are worried that you are leading us prematurely down a
lonely path to war while ignoring other serious threats to peace, and that you
have lost your focus in the war on terrorism. They haven't heard a word about
Osama bin Laden, whom you placed at the top of your terrorist list.
Many believe that you are heading down the wrong path on the economy, that you
are leaving too many children behind, that you are sacrificing our environment
at the altar of special interests, and that you are failing to address the
crisis in health care. People worry that you are actively seeking to reverse
the Constitutionally protected right to privacy - two examples of this are your
attacks on the right to choose and your selection of Admiral Poindexter, who was
convicted of lying to Congress, to lead the Total Information Awareness Program
in collecting vast amounts of personal information and intelligence about
ordinary American citizens.
One year ago, the entire world stood with you and with the American people as we
struggled to recover from the terrorist attacks and prevent their recurrence.
Your focus then was on al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden - you barely mention them
now.
Today, America stands far too alone in its seemingly inexorable march toward war
with Iraq. Mr. President, many thoughtful Californians of both political
parties are telling me that U.N. inspectors should have more time to do their
work. When you say that war is a last resort, they want you to mean it.
Yes, Iraq must disarm. But more arms were destroyed by the weapons inspectors
in Iraq in the 1990s than by the Persian Gulf War. We have a great deal of
information that we have yet to give the inspectors. As long as it is the focus
of such worldwide attention, Iraq does not pose an imminent threat, and we have
time to avoid the devastation of war.
In other parts of the world, your foreign policy is one of deliberate neglect.
Your inclusion of North Korea in last year's State of the Union has complicated
a crisis that grew out of this neglect.
So, except for Iraq, the emerging Bush Foreign Policy Doctrine appears to be a
policy of "designed neglect": disengage from the world's problems and wait for
the next crisis to come along. This modus operandi is already causing serious
unrest in Latin America and the Middle East.
Closer to home, your administration's failure to follow up on your initial
efforts to improve relations with Mexico has allowed this promising initiative
to collapse from neglect.
Here at home, people are anxious and worried that America remains vulnerable to
terrorist attacks. Though you agreed in the end to create a Department of
Homeland Security, you have yet to offer a strategy for securing the homeland.
By failing to fully fund antiterrorist measures, your administration has left
state and local governments to fend for themselves and deal with unfunded
federal mandates.
Instead of spending many billions of dollars on untested antiballistic missile
systems, we could spend a fraction of that amount on proven technology to
protect every U.S. commercial aircraft from attack by shoulder-fired missiles
and still be able to give state and local governments the assistance they need
to protect our people and infrastructure from attack.
Along with their anxiety about war and terrorism, people are anxious about the
state of the economy, which has spiraled down for two years with no relief in
sight. The unemployment rate, which was 4.2% when you took office, now stands at
6% nationwide - and at a five-year high of 6.6% in my home state of California.
More than 2.4 million private-sector jobs have disappeared, mortgage
foreclosures have reached a record high, the stock market has lost trillions of
dollars in value, and we have gone from budget surplus to budget deficits as far
as the eye can see on our way to the worst economy in half a century. In
California, last month alone, the state lost 25,800 jobs. Your economic
policies have made a bad situation worse, and your prescription for the future -
to "leave no millionaire behind" - is, frankly, reckless. We need a short-term
stimulus in the form of immediate tax cuts for working Americans and small
businesses along with aid to the states.
And people are anxious about their pensions and retirement security. Your
proposal to privatize Social Security would tear apart America's most successful
safety net, and the bureaucratic costs associated with your plan will put us
deeper and deeper into the red. Social Security is not about getting rich
quick - it's about a safe monthly retirement check.
On education, you have talked the talk but failed to walk the walk. Your have
broken your admirable pledge to Leave No Child Behind. You have failed to fund
the programs you endorsed, and you have burdened states and school boards with
national goals and tasks that they cannot possible meet without federal support.
I wrote the after-school piece of Leave No Child Behind with Senator John
Ensign. Since you have flat-funded this program, we have 770,000 kids who were
promised after-school having to go without these programs. It isn't right to
break promises to our children.
And Mr. President, why are you trampling on the environmental legacies of
Presidents past - Democrats and Republicans alike? Your administration has
worked to roll back more than 200 laws and regulations that protect our public
health and environment. Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Nixon, Clinton - they all
made the environment stronger. But at every turn, we see laws that protect our
air, water, forests, parks, and wildlife under attack in order to promote
exploitation for a few special interests. A clean environment is an American
value, and you should value it too, not with photo ops but with policies.
Mr. President, anxious is the word to describe how people feel about health
care. Millions of Americans lack affordable health insurance, and most
Americans lack prescription drug coverage. Those who do have insurance are
often at the mercy of HMOs. Instead of untested proposals, why don't you act to
preserve Medicare - not by weakening it but by strengthening it and allowing
those between 55 and 64 to buy into it. And why not make it a goal to insure
every child in America, and in doing so reach out to their uninsured parents,
too?
Mr. President, your attitude and actions regarding reproductive health care are
hostile to women and their families. On your first work day in office, you
reinstated the notorious Mexico City policy on international family planning,
consigning thousands of women to suffer and die from inadequate health care
before and during their pregnancy. This policy denies family planning to women
around the world by withholding assistance to international groups who use their
own funds to provide abortion services, counsel abortion, or lobby for the right
to choose.
Now, 30 years after the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade guaranteed women's
Constitutional rights to privacy and reproductive health care, you are working
to pack the federal courts with judges who will reverse this basic reproductive
rights.
Mr. President, on all of these issues and a host of others, the State of the
Union is anxious and concerned; worried and nervous. When you report to
Congress tonight, you have a chance to alleviate those anxieties by offering
real solutions to America's problems and a real path to peace in the world.
That would be wonderful for our nation. But let me be clear as one Senator. I
will work every day to get us on the right track, by joining forces with you or
by using every legislative tool at my disposal to stop your programs and
policies that I believe will turn anxiety into fear and hopelessness.
Dear Friend:
Before the President's State of the Union message, I addressed my colleagues
about issues that I think are important to the American people. You will find a
copy of my comments below. I would, of course, be happy to hear from you about
this or any other issue. Please feel free to email your comments to
http://boxer.senate.gov/contact/webform.html.
Sincerely,
Barbara Boxer
United States Senate
Tonight we will all take part in a ritual that has become an annual milestone in
the life of our national government. Members of the Senate will gather here and
march across the Capitol to join our colleagues in the House to hear the
President of the United States report on the State of the Union.
In advance of the President's message, I would like to offer my own report on
what I am hearing about the state of our nation from my concerned constituents
in California. With a sense of urgency and with all due respect, I would like
to direct my remarks to the President of the United States.
Mr. President, I must tell you that the state of the Union today is anxious ...
anxious about the twin threats of war and terrorism, about the health of our
economy and our environment, about our children's education and our families'
health care, and about our basic civil rights, including the right to privacy
and the right to make personal decisions without government interference.
Mr. President, the people are worried that you are leading us prematurely down a
lonely path to war while ignoring other serious threats to peace, and that you
have lost your focus in the war on terrorism. They haven't heard a word about
Osama bin Laden, whom you placed at the top of your terrorist list.
Many believe that you are heading down the wrong path on the economy, that you
are leaving too many children behind, that you are sacrificing our environment
at the altar of special interests, and that you are failing to address the
crisis in health care. People worry that you are actively seeking to reverse
the Constitutionally protected right to privacy - two examples of this are your
attacks on the right to choose and your selection of Admiral Poindexter, who was
convicted of lying to Congress, to lead the Total Information Awareness Program
in collecting vast amounts of personal information and intelligence about
ordinary American citizens.
One year ago, the entire world stood with you and with the American people as we
struggled to recover from the terrorist attacks and prevent their recurrence.
Your focus then was on al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden - you barely mention them
now.
Today, America stands far too alone in its seemingly inexorable march toward war
with Iraq. Mr. President, many thoughtful Californians of both political
parties are telling me that U.N. inspectors should have more time to do their
work. When you say that war is a last resort, they want you to mean it.
Yes, Iraq must disarm. But more arms were destroyed by the weapons inspectors
in Iraq in the 1990s than by the Persian Gulf War. We have a great deal of
information that we have yet to give the inspectors. As long as it is the focus
of such worldwide attention, Iraq does not pose an imminent threat, and we have
time to avoid the devastation of war.
In other parts of the world, your foreign policy is one of deliberate neglect.
Your inclusion of North Korea in last year's State of the Union has complicated
a crisis that grew out of this neglect.
So, except for Iraq, the emerging Bush Foreign Policy Doctrine appears to be a
policy of "designed neglect": disengage from the world's problems and wait for
the next crisis to come along. This modus operandi is already causing serious
unrest in Latin America and the Middle East.
Closer to home, your administration's failure to follow up on your initial
efforts to improve relations with Mexico has allowed this promising initiative
to collapse from neglect.
Here at home, people are anxious and worried that America remains vulnerable to
terrorist attacks. Though you agreed in the end to create a Department of
Homeland Security, you have yet to offer a strategy for securing the homeland.
By failing to fully fund antiterrorist measures, your administration has left
state and local governments to fend for themselves and deal with unfunded
federal mandates.
Instead of spending many billions of dollars on untested antiballistic missile
systems, we could spend a fraction of that amount on proven technology to
protect every U.S. commercial aircraft from attack by shoulder-fired missiles
and still be able to give state and local governments the assistance they need
to protect our people and infrastructure from attack.
Along with their anxiety about war and terrorism, people are anxious about the
state of the economy, which has spiraled down for two years with no relief in
sight. The unemployment rate, which was 4.2% when you took office, now stands at
6% nationwide - and at a five-year high of 6.6% in my home state of California.
More than 2.4 million private-sector jobs have disappeared, mortgage
foreclosures have reached a record high, the stock market has lost trillions of
dollars in value, and we have gone from budget surplus to budget deficits as far
as the eye can see on our way to the worst economy in half a century. In
California, last month alone, the state lost 25,800 jobs. Your economic
policies have made a bad situation worse, and your prescription for the future -
to "leave no millionaire behind" - is, frankly, reckless. We need a short-term
stimulus in the form of immediate tax cuts for working Americans and small
businesses along with aid to the states.
And people are anxious about their pensions and retirement security. Your
proposal to privatize Social Security would tear apart America's most successful
safety net, and the bureaucratic costs associated with your plan will put us
deeper and deeper into the red. Social Security is not about getting rich
quick - it's about a safe monthly retirement check.
On education, you have talked the talk but failed to walk the walk. Your have
broken your admirable pledge to Leave No Child Behind. You have failed to fund
the programs you endorsed, and you have burdened states and school boards with
national goals and tasks that they cannot possible meet without federal support.
I wrote the after-school piece of Leave No Child Behind with Senator John
Ensign. Since you have flat-funded this program, we have 770,000 kids who were
promised after-school having to go without these programs. It isn't right to
break promises to our children.
And Mr. President, why are you trampling on the environmental legacies of
Presidents past - Democrats and Republicans alike? Your administration has
worked to roll back more than 200 laws and regulations that protect our public
health and environment. Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Nixon, Clinton - they all
made the environment stronger. But at every turn, we see laws that protect our
air, water, forests, parks, and wildlife under attack in order to promote
exploitation for a few special interests. A clean environment is an American
value, and you should value it too, not with photo ops but with policies.
Mr. President, anxious is the word to describe how people feel about health
care. Millions of Americans lack affordable health insurance, and most
Americans lack prescription drug coverage. Those who do have insurance are
often at the mercy of HMOs. Instead of untested proposals, why don't you act to
preserve Medicare - not by weakening it but by strengthening it and allowing
those between 55 and 64 to buy into it. And why not make it a goal to insure
every child in America, and in doing so reach out to their uninsured parents,
too?
Mr. President, your attitude and actions regarding reproductive health care are
hostile to women and their families. On your first work day in office, you
reinstated the notorious Mexico City policy on international family planning,
consigning thousands of women to suffer and die from inadequate health care
before and during their pregnancy. This policy denies family planning to women
around the world by withholding assistance to international groups who use their
own funds to provide abortion services, counsel abortion, or lobby for the right
to choose.
Now, 30 years after the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade guaranteed women's
Constitutional rights to privacy and reproductive health care, you are working
to pack the federal courts with judges who will reverse this basic reproductive
rights.
Mr. President, on all of these issues and a host of others, the State of the
Union is anxious and concerned; worried and nervous. When you report to
Congress tonight, you have a chance to alleviate those anxieties by offering
real solutions to America's problems and a real path to peace in the world.
That would be wonderful for our nation. But let me be clear as one Senator. I
will work every day to get us on the right track, by joining forces with you or
by using every legislative tool at my disposal to stop your programs and
policies that I believe will turn anxiety into fear and hopelessness.
Shrub is a complete tool
