John Kerry’s Priorities for a Stronger America

Rebuilding Our Economy

The first thing John Kerry will do is fight his heart out to bring back the three million jobs that have been lost under George W. Bush. He’ll fight to restore the jobs lost under Bush in the first 500 days of his administration. Kerry has proposed creating jobs through a new manufacturing jobs credit, by investing in new energy industries, restoring technology, and stopping layoffs in education.

Rejoining the Community of Nations

“This is a time for new American leadership in the world with a progressive internationalism, shaped by our bedrock values and quiet confidence in our strength and in our cause, we must once again demonstrate America’s resolve.” Rejecting the Administration’s “erratic unilateralism,” Senator Kerry has called on America to engage diplomatically in creating alliances that enhance collective security. "America’s safety depends on rallying the forces of freedom,” he said, “engagement to shape a safer world is the urgent imperative of our time.”

Affordable Health Care for Every American

John Kerry believes that your family’s health is just as important as any politician’s in Washington. That’s why he will give every American access to the health care plan that the President and Members of Congress already have. John Kerry has the courage to take on special interests to get health care costs under control. He will stand up to big insurance and drug companies that impede progress. John Kerry’s health care plan takes care of our most vulnerable citizens by covering every child and strengthening Medicare.

Energy Independence

Senator Kerry has proposed a major new initiative to increase America’s security by reducing our dependence on foreign oil. “Our national security is at stake and we have to act today, not wait for decades while new crises threaten or strike,” he said. By increasing energy efficiency and promoting use of alternative energy sources, Kerry’s plan would free America from reliance on oil from Middle Eastern nations that can be unstable and hostile to our interests, while preserving our natural resources and creating thousands of new jobs for Americans. “Today we have an energy policy of big oil, by big oil, and for big oil,” he said. “It may work for their profits, but it will never work for America.”

A Cleaner and Greener America

Throughout his career, John Kerry has been a top leader on the environment, fighting to clean up toxic waste sites, keep our air and water clean, support salmon recovery in the Pacific Northwest and protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  John Kerry has turned a spotlight on the Bush Administration’s rollbacks of our hard-won environmental gains and their outdated, old-economy notions that our environment must be sacrificed in the name of short-term profit. Unlike the Bush-Cheney Administration, where special interests rule and the environment suffers, a Kerry Administration will build its policies around citizens’ needs and aspirations. We owe it to our families, our communities, and to our planet to elect a president who will unapologetically pursue our environmental values.