FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 10, 2003

CONTACT: Brendan Daly (202)225-0100

Pelosi Address to the Children’s Defense Fund

Washington, D.C. -- This morning, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi spoke before 2,000 people attending the Children’s Defense Fund’s annual conference. Below is a transcript of her remarks:

“Carol Biondi, thank you for your kind words, but more importantly, thank you for your lifelong commitment to America’s children, both in our home state of California and all the children of America, indeed the children of the world. Carol Biondi is a great leader.

"Thank you to the distinguished members of the Children’s Defense Fund Board for your service and your leadership.

"Thank you to all the advocates for children here today, especially those who traveled so far from California, including CDF California Director Deena Lahn.

"The Children’s Defense Fund and Marian Wright Edelman are the nation’s strongest voices for children. No one has spoken with more consistency or with more passion for those who cannot speak for themselves.

"If you ask me what are the three most important issues facing the Congress, I always say the same thing: our children, our children, our children. And no one has done more for our children, our children, our children than Marian Wright Edelman, Marian Wright Edelman, Marian Wright Edelman.

"For more than 30 years, Marian has been speaking out for children. There are literally millions of children and families who may never know her name but who have benefited from Marian’s dedication.

"Head Start, education, after-school programs, child nutrition and gun violence prevention are just some of the issues where Marian has made a difference in the world. In fact it’s impossible to name any issue connected with children that Marian hasn’t made a difference.

"Because of you, Marian, America’s children are healthier, stronger and safer. Thank you, Marian.

"Congratulations to the Children’s Defense Fund on your 30th anniversary. It is an honor and a privilege to join you today.

"Today, the thoughts and prayers of all Americans are with our forces in Iraq and their families here at home.

"We pray for the swift disarmament of Iraq with the least possible loss of life. We pray for the families who have lost a loved one, especially the children who have lost a father or a mother. And we pray for the safe return of the missing, our prisoners of war, and all of our forces into the loving arms of their families.

"Their service reminds those of us in Congress of our mission - to build a future worthy of their sacrifice - to build a future worthy of America’s children.

"They are the messengers to a future that we will never see. They are the heirs to the world that we are shaping for them.

"I view my role in politics as an extension of my role as a parent -- I want to help make the future better for my children and grandchildren and for all our children.

"Unfortunately, our children’s future is threatened by the reckless Republican policies in Washington.

"Marian is right: 'This is the most dangerous time our children have faced' in the past 30 years.

"We have a President who campaigned in the cloak of compassion, hijacking your mantra 'Leave No Child Behind.' We have a President who leaves millions of children behind while pushing a trillion-dollar tax cut that 'Leaves No Millionaire Behind.'

"This is indefensible. Thank God you are here. Your visits to Capitol Hill yesterday were very important for children. I don’t like to use military analogies that much, but you really are the cavalry coming to take the hill - to help us in this struggle for children.

"There is a large credibility gap between the President’s and the Republican’s lofty rhetoric, and the reality of their harsh policies as demonstrated in their budget.

"Time and again, the President has said, 'Every child who goes to school . . . must be ready to learn.'

"But the President and Republicans in Congress are doing things that could undermine the 40-year success story of Head Start, slashing funding to levels that could cost thousands of children their position in the program.

"The President has said, 'Education reform costs money, and this Administration is willing to spend it.'

"Yet for two years running, the President and the Republicans have been unwilling to fulfill their own education bill, shortchanging by billions of dollars the critical programs students need to learn.

"Good teachers, modern technology and smaller class sizes are key to improving the educational system. But President Bush and the Republicans cut millions of dollars to recruit more teachers and bring technology into the classrooms. In addition to that, slashing funding for after school programs.

"As far as their health is concerned, President Bush claims - now again the difference between the rhetoric and the reality - that, 'We’re getting a lot of health coverage to low-income Americans through Medicaid and…through children’s health insurance programs.'

"And yet, the President and the Republicans fail to restore $2.7 billion in funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program that expired last year and he puts at risk 10 million children with his proposal to block over a billion dollars in their proposed budget, denying them the opportunity they deserve.

"More than 12 million children in our country live in families with incomes below the federal poverty line.

"Democrats have an economic plan that will give families the opportunity they deserve by putting families back to work and strengthen the economy, and it can be summed up in three words: jobs, jobs, jobs.

"Unlike the President’s plan, our plan would create one million new jobs this year and would focus tax relief on those who need it the most - low and middle-income workers. Are we to include in our long-term economic plan an expansion of the child credit and hopefully we can do that.

"In addition, to help states bear the increasing burden of health care; Democrats propose a one-year, one-time increase of $10 billion in the federal share of Medicaid.

"The federal budget should be a statement of our national values. What is important to us should be what we allocate our resources to. So when Republicans passed a budget with deep and dangerous cuts to health care and education, we had to fight back.

"Is it a statement of your values to slash funding for education of our children in order to give a tax break to the wealthiest in our country, those who need it least? I don’t think so.

"Would it be a statement of your values not to fund adequately a prescription drug benefit for the grandparents of our children in order again to have inappropriate priorities in the budget that relate to who benefits from the tax cut. If we want to have a future worthy of our children, we just have to make the decision to do it.

"We are working to restore $200 billion in critical investments for the most vulnerable of all Americans - our children. We are fighting for the State Children's Health Insurance Program; school lunches and student loans; food stamps that help low-income families; aid to working families and the disabled, specifically, Unemployment Insurance and the Earned Income Tax Credit; and, Medicaid.

"Much has been said about the disparity in income in our country, and we’ve worked on it, we must reduce that. But there’s also a tremendous disparity in equity in ownership in our country. A huge number live in households with equity of less than one thousand dollars. Many minority children are being raised in those households. We must approach our economy in a way that is helpful to children to get people in the financial loop, to lift them up economically not only by increasing their pay, but increasing savings and resources so that children can take advantage of opportunities that are presented to them.

"The environment in which they live is so important. Every child has the right to live in an environment free of deadly pollutants and toxic waste, and every child has a right to be born free of exposure to toxic chemicals. Environmental toxins begin affecting the lives of our children long before other health risks.

"For example, 2 percent of all children between the ages of 1 and 5 have too much lead in their bodies, according to the CDC. Exposure to lead has been associated with an array of neurodevelopmental effects in children, including attention deficits, decreased IQ test scores, and hyperactivity. I could go on and about how the environment where children live affects them, especially poor children who live in communities near environmental health hazards.

"Last year, we Democrats introduced legislation to create a Nationwide Health Tracking Network to comprehensively track when and where exposure to lead and other environmental pollutants leads to disease. In addition, I have secured $46 million over the past two years in the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education appropriations bill for pilot programs to begin developing the capacity for comprehensive health tracking. We have to establish models for states to copy. We have to establish standards to protect our children from environmental dangers.

"The issue of environmental health for children is not only an environmental issue and a health issue, it’s a civil right. This is really an issue of environmental justice.

"In order for our children to thrive, they must live in a world that is at peace. Decisions about going to war are very difficult. It’s very important for decision makers to recognize that when they make that decision to go to war, they must consider what the impact of war is on children. Certainly it is associated with the values and the message that we want our children to learn in their personal lives.

"These are only some steps, but I promise you that Democrats will keep fighting for our nation’s children and their families.

"I have been proud to work with the Children’s Defense Fund and my good friends Senator Christopher Dodd and Congressman George Miller. I am proud to co-sponsor your legislation that will be the real and true and authentic Leave No Child Behind.

"While I thank you all for your leadership, for your enthusiasm for children. They have no lobbyists really. They’re in competition with entities that do. You are their advocates. You know how to advocate well for them. You are a model of advocacy for them. Because of your leadership, it is easier for us, but we still have a lot of work to do to give every child a healthy start - expanding food programs and ensuring access to health insurance.

"We need to give every child a head start - expanding preschool programs and ensuring every child reads by the end of the third grade.

"We need to give every child a fair start - lifting half of all children from poverty by 2004. We must set goals. We must establish a plan to meet them. And we must provide families leaving welfare with the health care, childcare, and transportation they need to succeed in the workplace.

"And we need to give every child a safe start - ensuring safe and affordable housing and providing the after-school and summer programs that keep students out of trouble and in school, and allow their parents to work.

"We are under no illusions. These are ambitious goals. You would think that because they’re about children and we all agree that they are a good idea, excellent ideas in fact, and they were important to the future, that it would be easy to get these things done. We like to think that the strength of our country is not only measured in our military might, but the health and well-being of our people - the health and well-being of our children.

"We are under no illusions. These are ambitious goals as I said. But step-by-step, piece-by-piece, we can achieve them - and we will.

"But we cannot do it without you. My message is a simple one - know thy power. There is nothing more eloquent to a member of Congress than the voice of his or her own constituents. You are our bosses. Think of it that way when you go there and tell the person who works for you these are our priorities, these are our values. How are you helping us to meet them? Again, you are the cavalry come to storm Capitol Hill. You could not have come at a better time. We need you so desperately.

"You are the voice of the voiceless, the lobby of those who cannot vote or make campaign contributions.

"You know in Congress, I would say no good thing happens unless we can maneuver on the inside effectively. But that isn’t anywhere near enough. The outside mobilization is essential to the success of any good initiative we want to take. So your outside mobilization is not only essential, it is a source of strength and inspiration and leadership.

"Thank you for standing up for America’s children. Thank you for helping make America the better nation it ought to be.

"Together, we will keep fighting for America’s children.

"God bless you. God bless all of the children of America."

“ Democrats are united in presenting a New Direction for America, one that will make our nation as strong as its people, one that brings opportunity, security, and prosperity to all Americans. ”

Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi