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385 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
######## updated format
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CLINTON/GORE ON AMERICAN FAMILIES
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Washington has abandoned working families. While
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taxes fall and incomes rise for those at the top of
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the totem pole, middle class families have worked
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harder for less money and paid more taxes to a
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government that failed to produce what we need:
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good jobs in a growing economy, world-class
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education, affordable health care and safe streets
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and neighborhoods.
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The Republicans have lectured America on the
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importance of family values. But their policies
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have made life harder for working families: They
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have forced parents to choose between the jobs they
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need and the families they love, and they've
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slashed funding for programs that prepare kids for
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kindergarten, send teens on to college, and save us
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all money. They have stood idly by as neighborhoods
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collapse, violent crime rises, and health costs
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skyrocket.
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A Clinton/Gore Administration will demand more from
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families, but it will offer more, too. It will
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demand that parents pay the child support they owe.
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But it will offer their children the pre-schooling
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they need. It will demand that young people stay
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in school and off drugs. But it will offer all
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Americans safer streets and the chance to borrow
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for college. A Clinton/Gore Administration will
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demand that people work hard and play by the rules.
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It will honor and reward those who do.
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We cannot afford another four years of a President
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who doesn't have a plan to help Americas families
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and who backs down from the promises he does make.
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It is time for a change -- time to put people
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first.
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Treat families right
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* Grant additional tax relief to families with
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children.
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* Sign into law the Family and Medical Leave
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Act, which George Bush vetoed in 1990, so that
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no worker is forced to choose between keeping
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his or her job and caring for a newborn child
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or sick family member.
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* Create a child care network as complete as the
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public school network, tailored to the needs
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of working families; give parents choices
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between competing public and private
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institutions.
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* Establish more rigorous standards for
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licensing child care facilities and implement
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improved methods for enforcing them.
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* Crack down on deadbeat parents by reporting
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them to credit agencies, so they cant borrow
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money for themselves when they're not taking
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care of their children. Use the Internal
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Revenue Service to collect child support,
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start a national deadbeat databank, and make
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it a felony to cross state lines to avoid
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paying support.
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Educate our children
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* Send children to school ready to learn by
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fully funding pre-school programs which save
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us several dollars for every one we spend --
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Head Start, the Women Infants and Children
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(WIC) program, and other critical initiatives
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recommended by the National Commission on
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Children.
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* Develop national parenting programs like
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Arkansas Home Instructional Program for
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Pre-school Youngsters to help disadvantaged
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parents work with their children to build an
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ethic of learning at home that benefits both.
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* Dramatically improve K-12 education by
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establishing tough standards and a national
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examination system in core subjects, leveling
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the playing field for disadvantaged students,
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and reducing class sizes.
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* Give every parent the right to choose the
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public school his or her child attends, as
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they have in Arkansas; in return, demand that
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parents work with their children to keep them
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in school, off drugs, and headed toward
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graduation.
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* Establish a Youth Opportunity Corps to give
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teenagers who drop out of school a second
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chance. Community youth centers will match
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teenagers with adults who care about them, and
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will give kids a chance to develop
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self-discipline and skills.
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* Give every American the right to borrow for
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college by scrapping the existing student loan
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program and establishing a National Service
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Trust Fund. Those who borrow from the fund
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will be able to repay the balance either as a
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small percentage of their earnings over time,
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or through community service as teachers, law
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enforcement officers, health care workers or
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peer counselors helping kids stay off drugs
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and in school.
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Guarantee every family the right to quality,
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affordable health care
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* Control costs, improve quality and cover
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everybody under a national health care plan
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that requires insurers to offer a core
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benefits package, including pre-natal care and
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other important preventive treatments.
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* Take on the insurance industry by simplifying
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financial and accounting procedures; banning
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underwriting practices that waste billions
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trying to discover which patients are bad
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risks; and prohibiting companies from denying
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coverage to individuals with pre-existing
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conditions.
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* Stop drug price gouging by eliminating tax
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breaks for drug companies that raise their
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prices faster than Americans incomes rise.
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Make our homes, streets and schools safe again
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* Crack down on violence against women and
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children by signing the Violence Against Women
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Act, which would provide tougher enforcement
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and stiffer penalties to deter domestic
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violence.
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* Put 100,000 new police officers on the streets
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by establishing a National Police Corps drawn
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partly from military veterans and active
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military personnel.
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* Expand community policing to stop crimes
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before they happen by taking officers out of
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patrol cars and putting them back on the beat.
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* Sign the Brady Bill to create a waiting period
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for handgun purchases and allow authorities to
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conduct background checks to prevent guns from
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falling into the wrong hands; work to ban
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assault rifles that have no legitimate hunting
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purpose.
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* Launch a Safe Schools Initiative to help
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schools take back their facilities as places
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of learning: make schools eligible for federal
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assistance to pay for metal detectors and
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security personnel if they need them;
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encourage states to get tougher with in-school
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crime; and fund mentoring, counseling, and
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outreach programs so kids in trouble with
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crime, drugs or gangs have some place to turn.
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Reward working families
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* Expand the Earned Income Tax Credit to
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guarantee a working wage so that no American
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with a family who works full-time is forced to
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live in poverty.
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* Put an end to welfare as we know it by making
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welfare a second chance, not a way of life;
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empower people on welfare with the education,
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training and child care they need, for up to
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two years, so they can break the cycle of
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dependence after that, those who can work will
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have to find a job either in the private
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sector or in community service.
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Providing fairness for families
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* Governor Clinton proposed and passed a measure
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which reduced or eliminated state income taxes
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for 374,000 Arkansans. Because of his
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leadership, Arkansas tax burden is the second
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lowest in the country.
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* Directed the Arkansas Child Support
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Enforcement Unit in aggressively enforcing
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child support laws. The Unit has received
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national recognition for its success.
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Collections totalled more than $41 million in
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1991, a 20 percent increase from 1990.
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* Senator Gore cosponsored the Family and
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Medical Leave Act of 1991, which George Bush
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vetoed.
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* Cosponsored the Child Welfare and Preventive
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Services Act which establishes innovative
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child welfare and family support services that
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strengthen families, keep children out of
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foster care, promote the development of
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comprehensive substance abuse programs for
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pregnant women, and provide improved health
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care services for low-income children.
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* Sponsored the Gore/Downey Working Families Tax
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Relief Act for families with children to
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expand the earned income tax credit program to
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help lift working families out of poverty.
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* In 1992 Gore sponsored the Family Reunion
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Conference in Nashville, TN, which brought
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together 600 people including social workers,
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teachers and psychologists to exchange ideas
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and develop solutions to the challenges facing
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our families and children. The conference
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resulted in the formation of the Tennessee
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Family Action Network
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Improving education
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* Governor Clinton established the first
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state-wide Home Instructional Program for
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Pre-school Youngsters in 1986, which helps
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welfare mothers teach their children to read.
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* Fought to establish tough standards for
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teachers, students, and schools; increased
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parental involvement; raised teacher salaries;
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developed a new curriculum, including advanced
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college preparation courses in math and
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science; revoked the drivers licenses of
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students who drop out of school before age 18
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for no good reason.
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* Increased education funding; Arkansas ranks
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fifth in the nation over the last decade in
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percentage increase of funding for higher
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education.
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* Guided Arkansas to the highest high school
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graduation rate in the region; and helped to
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increase the college attendance rate from 38.2
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percent in 1982 to 41.3 in 1991.
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* Created a youth apprenticeship program to aid
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and motivate non college-bound students.
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* Established the Arkansas Academic Challenge
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Scholarship program to provide scholarships to
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middle-income and poor students who maintain a
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minimum GPA, score 19 on the ACT, and stay off
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drugs.
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* Created a college bond program to allow
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parents to buy short- or long-term college
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bonds, not taxed in Arkansas, to finance their
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childrens education.
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* Senator Gore supported the Neighborhood
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Schools Improvement Act, which affirms the
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national education goals and establishes an
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assessment panel to report on reaching these
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goals; improves teacher and school leader
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training; strengthens parental involvement;
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provides for school year and day extension;
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expands dropout prevention efforts; and
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increases the use of educational technology.
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* Voted for legislation to expand Pell Grants
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eligibility, increase grant levels, and
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increase the availability of grants and loans
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to middle-income families.
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* Voted for the Vocational Education which funds
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education in skilled trades beyond high
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school.
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Protecting health
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* Governor Clinton launched Arkansas first
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school-based health clinics. Today there are
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21 such clinics, reaching thousands of
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Arkansas' children who wouldn't otherwise have
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access to health care.
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* Cut Arkansas infant mortality rate almost in
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half through improved pre-natal and post-natal
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care.
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* Proposed and passed a Health Care Access Law
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designed to provide, among other things,
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universal health coverage for all Arkansas
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children under age 16, regardless of family
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income. The law emphasizes preventive and
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primary care.
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* Sharply increased efforts to improve rural
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health: the Rural Physician Recruitment and
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Retention Program encourages physicians to
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locate and practice family medicine in small
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Arkansas communities; the Rural Medical
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Practice Student Loans and Scholarships
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provide support for medical students agreeing
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to practice in rural communities.
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* Senator Gore was the principal sponsor of the
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Infant Formula Act to improve nutrition and
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safety standards.
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* Authored legislation that resulted in FDA
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regulations banning the use of
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life-threatening sulfites on fresh fruits and
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vegetables.
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* Led the successful fight for warning labels on
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alcohol beverages that provide consumers --
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particularly pregnant women -- with critical
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information.
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* Wrote and steered to passage the Cigarette
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Labeling Act to require stronger warning
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labels.
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* In August 1992, Arkansas was one of twelve
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states which received funding as part of the
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Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's State
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Initiatives in Health Care Financing Reform
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Programs. Arkansas was chosen for its
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innovative approach to increase health care
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insurance coverage to residents and to contain
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the escalating costs of care.
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Getting tough on crime
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* Governor Clinton Increased penalties for drug
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dealing and violent crime.
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* Established innovative
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boot camps to instill discipline in non-violent
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first-time offenders.
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* Built more prisons and kept costs down.
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* Senator Gore cosponsored legislation to
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provide a mandatory 5-year prison sentence for
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anyone who used a gun to commit a federal
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crime.
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* Supported the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986
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which attacks drug abuse in our country with
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reinforced interdiction efforts, expanded
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prevention, education and treatment programs,
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assistance to local law enforcement, and
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stiffer criminal penalties.
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Fighting dependency
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* Governor Clinton helped draft and Senator Gore
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supported the most significant welfare reform
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legislation ever, the Family Support Act of
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1988. Arkansas welfare-to-work program,
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Project Success was one of the first three
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such efforts implemented, and has helped
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almost 10,000 Arkansans find work in one year
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alone.
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* Removed a quarter of a million low-income
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Arkansans from the tax rolls.
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