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Change We Can
Believe In
I want to thank
LATINA Style
for the opportunity
to contribute to
this issue. As I
travel across
America, I have been
inspired by the
diversity of the
crowds we’re seeing
— young and old;
Democrat and
Republican, black,
white, and Latino.
These folks are
coming out – and I’m
running for
president – because
we believe that if
we can overcome what
divides us and join
together as
Americans, then we
can transform this
country.
It’s a lesson I
learned more than
twenty years ago as
a community
organizer on the
South Side of
Chicago, helping
turn around
neighborhoods that
had been devastated
by the closing of
nearby steel plants.
I learned that
change isn’t easy,
but I also learned
that it’s impossible
without bringing
folks together. So I
built a coalition
between Latino and
Black leaders on
issues from failing
schools to illegal
dumping. Together,
we set up job
training and after
school programs. We
didn’t walk away
from injustice then,
and we won’t walk
away from it now.
That’s why when I’m
President, I will
put comprehensive
immigration reform
back on the nation’s
agenda during my
first year in
office, and I will
not rest until it is
passed once and for
all. We must create
an immigration
system that
strengthens our
security while
reaffirming our
heritage as a nation
of immigrants — a
nation dedicated to
giving weary
travelers from
around the world the
chance to achieve
their dreams. That’s
the America that
answered my father’s
letters and his
prayers and brought
him here from Kenya
so long ago. |
 |
|
Barack
Obama is
currently
the
Senator
of
Illinois
and a
Democratic
Presidential
Candidate.
Photo by
Stanley
Hu. |
|
But the
struggle does not end there. We
need to close the achievement
gap between Latino and other
students, reduce the high school
dropout rate, and finally enact
the DREAM Act so that every
child can have the chance to
attend college. And I will sign
a universal health care bill
into law by the end of my first
term. It’s a plan that will
cover every American, including
the 15 million uninsured
Latinos, and cut the cost of a
typical family’s premiums by up
to $2,500 a year.
But it is
going to be hard to do any of
this until we finally bring an
end to the war in Iraq, a war
I’m proud I opposed in 2002 at a
time when it was not popular to
do so. We shouldn’t compound the
original mistake of going in by
waiting any longer to pull our
troops out. That’s why I’ve been
fighting in the U.S. Senate to
end this war and have called for
us to begin withdrawing our
combat troops not in six months,
not in a year – now.
When this war is over, we can
begin refocusing our attention
on the challenges we face in
other parts of the world,
including Latin America. I will
move beyond rhetoric to renew
relations in the hemisphere. We
are neighbors and what happens
in Latin America matters to the
United States. We need to be
close partners for opportunity
and security in the years to
come.
An Obama
administration will also reflect
the great diversity of our
nation, and I’m proud that my
campaign team is similarly
diverse. I am lucky to have the
support of Gloria Romero,
Democratic Majority Leader of
the California State Senate, and
Norma Torres, Mayor of Pomona,
California. I have worked
closely with Congressman Luis
Gutierrez here in Illinois to
ensure that immigration
application fees are reasonable
and fair. Federico Peña, former
Energy Secretary, serves as a
National Campaign Co-Chair.
Let me
just make one final point.
Changing this country starts
with putting an end to the
policies of the Bush
administration, but it doesn’t
end there. If we really want to
meet our challenges – from
universal health care to
comprehensive immigration reform
– we need to challenge
conventional thinking in
Washington and put an end to the
partisan and special interest-driven
politics that’s stopped us from
solving our problems for too
long. We need to unite Americans
in a coalition that Washington
can’t ignore. I believe I am the
one candidate who has the
experience to do that. I brought
Republicans and Democrats
together in Illinois to expand
health care to 150,000 Americans.
I stood up to leaders of both
parties to push a landmark
ethics bill through Congress.
And I believe that if you join
me, we will not just win an
election, we will transform a
nation.
By Barack
Obama |
