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Sen. Kerry Addresses PDA Members' Concerns

By Senator John Kerry
June 5, 2008, Boston, MA

On the eve of the Massachusetts Democratic Convention, PDA received the following letter from Sen. John Kerry addressing some of the concerns raised by PDA MA members:

Dear PDA member,

I got into politics as an activist and activist grassroots politics is what brought me to the Senate and what has kept me there. Many of you first got to know me in 1971 when I testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about my conviction to end the war in Vietnam. When I was a 27 year old political novice then, cutting my teeth in the anti-war movement, knocking on doors in Washington that didn't always open, I learned an important lesson. Some people would weigh in against us saying: “My country right or wrong.” Our response was simple: “Yes, my country right or wrong. When right, keep it right and when wrong, make it right.” That belief has guided me ever since and guides me today.

I remind you of where I come from because while I'm not and never have been, a perfect Senator, I want you to hear from me why I believe what I believe, what motivates me, and what I believe is worth fighting for--not myths, not misinterpretations and not second-party distortions. As someone who came up through the activist ranks, I committed to always having a dialogue and always telling my constituents how I have come to any decision. And when I make a mistake, I admit it. 

Having spoken to many PDA officials and members in recent months and listened to what they had to say, I want to address the three issues I heard about most often. I may not be able to sway your opinion or change your mind, but I feel it is important to let you know my take on these issues.

The War in Iraq. In 2002, I voted for Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution. It was a mistake. As I've said before, it was the single worst vote I ever cast. A lot of proud progressives--including Sen. Tom Harkin, Sen. Tom Daschle and Sen. John Edwards--made the same mistake. I made the mistake of taking President Bush and Secretary Colin Powell at their word that the Administration would use the threat of force as leverage for a multilateral response to Saddam Hussein. They broke every promise. You may recall that in 2004 I called Iraq “the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

What have I done since? I've opposed the Bush policy every step of the way. I voted against giving George Bush a blank check on Iraq spending in October, 2003- just one of 11 Senators to do so. I was the first Senator to author and force a vote on legislation demanding the Bush Administration set a deadline to bring our troops home from Iraq. It wasn't easy, and it wasn't popular at the time. When my legislation was first introduced in the Senate in early 2006, just 13 other Senators supported my plan. Today, my plan to withdraw our troops from Iraq has the support of more than 50 of my colleagues and with some Democratic gains in November, this Democratic plan will lead to what is long overdue--the return of our troops to their families.

I was among the first eight sponsors of legislation with Sen. Feingold and Sen. Reid to cut off funding for this Administration's failed Iraq policy and require the President to redeploy American troops. And just last week I voted against any further funding of this Administration's Iraq policy.

Single Payer Health Care. Make no mistake--America's health care system is broken and our most vulnerable citizens are paying the price (literally, with their lives) for years of corporate greed and government indifference. You sent me to Washington to address this issue and I have worked tirelessly to make universal health care a reality for every American. It's a bedrock issue, especially for progressives--and as I said in 2004--I want to make quality health care "a right and not a privilege." The Democratic Party must stand for health care for all Americans--or we don't stand for anything at all.

The question is how do we get there? How do we get quality health care for the 46 million Americans who don't have it?

I could easily write that I support single payer health care and pledge to lead the fight in the Senate. Perhaps that would placate some of you but I'm not in the business of taking the easy way out and you deserve the truth.

In the Senate at this time, there are too many members, both Democrats and Republicans, opposed to single payer health care. It is a conversation-ender not a conversation-starter. I do not oppose single payer health care but I have spoken to my colleagues and I know that today we can't make single payer health care a reality in this country, period. Senator Ted Kennedy-- health care's greatest champion--would tell you the same thing.

But we can get what I care most about: quality health care for every American and to me that's what counts. I think the approach that will be most successful looks something like what I proposed in 2004 and strengthened in 2006: a plan which achieves health care for 96%-98% of Americans immediately - including all children - with a mandate that if by 2012 we haven't achieved universal health care, then another mandate would finish the job.

Impeachment. We have a President who ignores the Constitution and a Vice President who acts as if he never read it. We've had illegal eavesdropping. We've had tremendous abuse of the Patriot Act. We've seen a CIA officer outed as political retribution.

This is why in 2006 I was just one of three Senators to join Russ Feingold on legislation calling for the censure of President Bush.

As for impeachment, it isn't going to happen. With just months remaining until the Bush Administration is out of office and considering the current makeup of Congress, impeachment is an unrealistic option and an unattainable goal for those who support it. There simply is not the support necessary among members of either party to expect impeachment proceedings to commence against either the President or Vice President, let alone succeed.

I've focused my efforts on instead doing what we can best do: investigate, hold the Administration accountable, and try to end a war that never should have started.

I understand that some will regard my answers as unacceptable and not in fitting with their own political views. Anyone involved in the Progressive Democrats of America is going to be politically active and politically knowledgeable and I ask you only to recognize that rather than taking the easy way out and simply parroting PDA's positions on these issues, I have tried to give you an honest, non-spin assessment of where the Senate stands on these issues and where I stand and why I've made the choices I've made.

I've taken position after position which drove the right wing crazy. I do what I think is right. I've never been afraid to be one of a handful of Senators to stand up and vote the right way, no matter how unpopular--whether it was filibustering drilling in ANWR or taking on many in my own party to raise fuel efficiency in 2002, being a thorn in the side of my own caucus leading the filibuster of Judge Alito or forcing a vote to withdraw from Iraq that most in our caucus vehemently opposed. I hope that I'll be judged on these tough, lonely fights as well. I also hope that if what you're looking for is an activist who speaks out and stands up and fights for progressive causes, you'll compare my lifetime of leading those fights to any of the alternatives I face in this or any other election. Our democracy demands nothing less.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

John Kerry

 

 

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