The American people have emphatically demanded change. We must heed their call.
We are confronting some of the most severe problems we have faced in generations. They didn’t happen overnight and they won’t be solved in a day, but together we will work to bring about the progress America needs.
Democrats propose a forward-looking agenda. While it would be easy to blame our problems on the last eight years, we believe it is far more productive to look forward to the next eight years as we rebuild and reinvest in America.
There is much work to do, a lot at stake and no time to waste. With our economy in a state of emergency, our top priority is designing an urgent economic recovery plan to create new jobs, save those that are vulnerable, and make carefully targeted investments in America’s infrastructure. President-elect Obama and congressional Democrats will go the extra mile to avoid the partisanship that has undermined progress in the past so that we can reenergize our economy before this mess gets even worse.
In the coming weeks, we will continue working to make life more affordable for the middle class so they can fully participate in the economy and reap the benefits of hard work. By cutting taxes and ensuring equal pay for equal work, we will help families not only address the challenges they face today, but also invest in their future.
Last year’s twin collapses of the credit and housing markets have put our economy in grave peril and badly damaged Americans’ confidence. In this new Congress, we must protect consumers from Wall Street abuses and protect homeowners from foreclosure so that investors, lenders and borrowers once again have faith that they can safely invest in America.
As healthcare costs and the number of uninsured citizens both climb, we remain dedicated to giving Americans more choices so that everyone can afford quality care. We want to protect existing coverage when it is good, improve it when it is not, and guarantee healthcare for the 46 million Americans, including 9 million children, who have none.
Though the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have largely faded from the front pages, we cannot yet stand down. We will continue making America safer at home and abroad by strengthening our military and restoring our standing in the world. And as we transition our strategy in Iraq, we will refocus our resources on Afghanistan, Pakistan, al Qaeda and other emerging threats around the world.
To strengthen both our economy and our security, this Congress will make America more energy-efficient and energy-independent, and significantly increase our investments in clean and renewable energy resources. We have the tools at our fingertips to create green jobs that cannot be outsourced while simultaneously reinvigorating our manufacturing economy and meeting our serious environmental challenges. We must also fulfill our commitment to breaking the nation’s addiction to oil and reducing our dependence on energy supplies from volatile regions of the world.
Ours is an ambitious agenda grounded in simple ideals. If it sounds like a tall order, it is because we have much work to do to restore America’s strength at home and abroad. And if it sounds daunting for only Democrats to pursue, it is because these challenges are too large and important for any one party to tackle alone.
Only by working together in a bipartisan fashion will we move our country forward. Nov. 4 did not represent a mandate for Democrats; it was a cry for bipartisanship.
To answer that call, we need solutions as bold as the challenges we face and the courage to get past our political differences to make them work.
We are still two weeks away from Barack Obama’s long-awaited inauguration. But here at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, the hard work begins anew today.
Reid is the Senate majority leader.