Politics

Dems: 'One Resolve' In Terror War

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

January 29, 2002 / 7:25 PM EST / CBS

Expressing steadfast support for President Bush's war on terrorism, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt outlined a Democratic agenda Tuesday that differs with Republicans on economic recovery and views the Enron debacle as a summons for reform.

Gephardt, a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2004, delivered the party's response to the president's State of the Union address and called for Democrats and Republicans to stand with "one resolve" to ensure victory against terrorists at home and abroad.

"To our enemies, we say with one voice: no act of violence, no threat will drive us apart or steer us from our course — to protect America and preserve our democracy," Gephardt, D-Mo., said after Mr. Bush's address. "And make no mistake about it: we are going to hunt you down and make you pay."

That unity, however, has not extended to addressing the recession, where most Democrats have opposed Mr. Bush's stimulus proposal for generous tax cuts, including significant cuts for business, as well as unemployment aid. Gephardt said the focus should be on the jobless.

"Our values call for helping the unemployed, not just large corporations and the most fortunate," he said.

But Gephardt added that Democrats need not stand "toe to toe" against Republicans on how to fix the economy.

Gephardt, as he first did last week, again proposed that Mr. Bush host a bipartisan summit on the economy "to figure out how we're going to help businesses create jobs, reduce the deficit and simplify the tax code and grow our economy."

Speech Text

Click here to read the entire Democratic response.

The White House rejected Gephardt's proposal last week, suggesting the potential White House contender was more interested in scoring political points than helping the economy.

The implosion of Enron Corp., the energy giant that declared bankruptcy late last year, should spur changes in pension plans and 401(k)s that would give people more control over investments and greater protection against corporate mismanagement, Gephardt said.

Enron's generous political donations and attempts to influence energy policy should also spark congressional passage of long-stalled legislation aimed at reducing the influence of big money in politics, he said.

"If the nation's largest bankruptcy coupled with a clear exmple of paid political influence isn't a prime case for reform, I don't know what is," Gephardt said. He urged people to write Congress in favor of campaign finance reform and urged Mr. Bush to support the bill.

Gephardt took aim at White House proposals to offer a private investment option for a portion of Social Security benefits.

"Our values call for protecting Social Security - and not gambling it away on the stock market," he said.

On other issues, Gephardt called for an increase in the minimum wage, a tax deduction for up to $10,000 in college or worker training expenses and passage of a Medicare prescription drug benefit for the elderly. He pledged Democratic cooperation on beefing up the U.S. military and increasing spending for homeland security, both Bush priorities.

Gephardt's cooperative words were echoed earlier in the day by Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., who said last year's passage of an important education bill should serve as a model for bipartisan cooperation on a wide range of issues — even in an election year when control of the House and Senate is at stake.

"There have been many occasions when the Congress has come together to deal with critical issues, controversial issues in an election year. This year ought to be no different," Daschle said.