America's middle class is under siege and ready for a change. People are working harder and longer for less and less. Corporate profits are up. CEO pay is up. Wages are lagging. Household debt is soaring. At the same time, health care, energy, and education costs are rising. Last year, more people went bankrupt in our country than graduated from college.
Hillary's American Health Choices Plan covers all Americans and improves health care by lowering costs and improving quality. It speaks to American values, American families, and American jobs. It puts the consumer in the driver's seat by offering more choices and lowering costs. If you're one of the tens of million Americans without coverage or if you don't like the coverage you have, you will have a choice of plans to pick from and that coverage will be affordable. Of course, if you like the plan you have, you can keep it.
America is ready for a leader who will end the war in Iraq and a president who will respect our Armed Forces by properly planning for the missions we ask our troops to undertake. If the Bush administration won't, as president and commander in chief, Hillary will end this war.
America is ready for energy independence. Hillary is ready to lead the charge. The choices we make about energy touch nearly every aspect of our lives. Our economy, our national security, our health, and the future of our planet are all at stake as we make a choice between energy independence and dependence on foreign sources of oil.
Americans have demanded change after seeing what happens when our veterans return from service only to become invisible to the leaders who called for their sacrifices. But Hillary has been a champion for proper treatment of our troops -- while they are serving and when they return -- since long before America learned about the abuses at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
America is ready for a president who fights for our children. Hillary has spent her lifetime as an effective advocate for parents and children. From her first job out of law school at the Children's Defense Fund to her time as First Lady of Arkansas and of the United States to her service in the Senate, helping children has been at the center of Hillary's public life.
Americans are ready for a leader who will restore America's reputation in the world, and Hillary is prepared to lead America back in the right direction. The next president's most urgent task will be to restore America's standing in the world to promote our interests, ensure our security, and advance our values.
Hillary's historic statement at the United Nations Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 that "women's rights are human rights" still echoes worldwide. As a lawyer, advocate, First Lady, and senator, Hillary has fought for issues important to women here at home and around the world for decades.
Americans are ready for a government that puts competency ahead of cronyism. Government certainly isn't the answer to all our problems. But good government -- smart government -- can be a partner for progress. It can help solve problems and accomplish things together we could never accomplish alone.
America is ready for a leader who will make fair and honest elections a priority. As a senator, Hillary has fought to restore integrity to our elections. She will bring the same commitment to the White House.