FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 24, 2016
Contact: April Mellody
Dana Vickers Shelley

Democratic National Convention Panel Convenes To Review and Advance Platform Draft

DNCC Hosts Third Regional Event to Engage Public in Party’s Vision for Future

ST. LOUIS – On Friday, June 24th and Saturday, June 25th at the St. Louis Grand Hotel, St. Louis, Mo., the Democratic National Convention Platform Drafting Committee will begin its formal review and deliberations of the preliminary platform document. The third in a series of four regional events will culminate with the advancing of the draft document. Platform Drafting Committee Chair Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Democratic National Convention Committee CEO Rev. Leah D. Daughtry will welcome committee members, Democrats from all walks of life, and the general public, to the meeting where the issues of top concern to Americans will be addressed.

“As Democrats, we are committed to addressing the concerns at the heart of people’s lives: their children’s education and well-being, the health and safety of seniors, the opportunities available in our communities, and our nation’s future,” said Cummings. “The Democratic Party has always fought to create a better way of life for all Americans, and the results of this Committee’s work will amplify our collective vision for our nation’s future.”

During the meeting, the Platform Drafting Committee reviewed a 15,000-word draft document covering 12 themes including: economic security for the middle class; income inequality; protecting democracy; combatting climate change; quality and affordable education; health and safety; confronting global threats; and inclusion and opportunity. Reflecting the most inclusive party platform process in history, the DNCC received in-person testimony from 114 individuals and organizations, and more than 1,000 Democrats provided recommendations by submitting written or video testimony electronically.

“The platform is about the people, and represents a covenant of our collective values,” said DNCC CEO Rev. Daughtry. “It was important to have an open, transparent and engaging process that would capture the energy and the breadth of the Democratic Party. Under the leadership of Chairman Cummings this accomplished group of individuals helped us to bring together the Democrats’ best thinking with a focus on solutions that will put our Party and our nominee on the path to victory in November.”

The Platform Drafting Committee includes appointments by the Clinton and Sanders campaigns, and was announced on May 23, 2016 by Democratic National Committee Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida). In addition to Rep. Cummings, members are: Hon. Howard Berman, Former Member of Congress (D-California); Paul Booth, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME); Carol Browner, Former EPA Administrator; U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota); U.S. Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Illinois); U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-California); Bill McKibben, Author and Environmentalist; Deborah Parker, Former Chairman, Tulalip Tribe (Washington State); State Rep. Alicia Reece (D-Ohio); Bonnie Schaefer, Business Owner; Ambassador Wendy Sherman, Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs, Harvard; Neera Tanden, Center for American Progress; Dr. Cornel West, Union Theological Seminary; and James Zogby, Arab-American Institute. In addition, the Clinton campaign’s Senior Policy Advisor Maya Harris and the Sanders campaign’s Policy Director Warren Gunnels represent their respective campaigns as official, non-voting members of the Platform Drafting Committee.

About the Democratic National Convention
The 2016 Democratic Convention will be held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia July 25-28, 2016.   Working in partnership with the Philadelphia Host Committee, the City of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, our goal is to make this the most engaging, innovative and forward looking Convention in history.  The 2016 Democratic National Convention will leverage technology to take the Convention experience well beyond the hall in an effort to engage more Americans than ever before in the event.  With the birthplace of American Democracy as a backdrop, the 2016 convention in Philadelphia will highlight our shared Democratic values and help put the Democratic nominee on a path to victory.
The Democratic Convention is the formal nominating event for the Democratic candidates for President and Vice President.  At the Convention, the Democratic Party also adopts the official Democratic Party platform as well as the rules and procedures governing party activities including the nomination process for presidential candidates in the next election cycle.
The CEO for the 2016 Democratic National Convention is Reverend Leah D. Daughtry.
The official website of the 2016 Democratic National Convention is www.demconvention.com.

Bernie 2016
June 24, 2016
Contact: Michael Briggs

Clinton Delegates Vote Against Clinton Stands on Trade

Sanders Welcomes Platform Language on Banks, Capital Punishment

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders said on Friday that he was “disappointed and dismayed” that allies of Hillary Clinton beat back Democratic Party platform proposals on trade.

On the other hand, Sanders said he was pleased that the platform drafters adopted language calling for breaking up too-big-to-fail banks and enacting a modern-day Glass-Steagall Act. Sanders also said he appreciated a unanimous vote for a proposal to abolish the death penalty.

Sanders said it was “inexplicable” why Clinton allies on the panel at a meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, voted down proposals on trade that both Sanders and Clinton embraced as candidates. “It is hard for me to understand why Secretary Clinton’s delegates won’t stand behind Secretary Clinton’s positions in the party’s platform,” Sanders said.

The drafting committee rebuffed a proposal by Sanders allies to put the party on record saying Congress this year should not take up a trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Both Clinton and Sanders oppose bringing the measure before Congress this year for an up-or-down vote. Clinton allies nevertheless thwarted the platform proposal.

Delegates also debated a Sanders-backed proposal calling for a $15 an hour federal minimum wage. Clinton's delegates and members appointed by the Democratic National Committee chair voted to strike down the proposed platform plank.

The drafting committee was considering amendments to a document that will go before the full Platform Committee when it meets next month in Orlando, Florida.

“If our pro-worker amendments do not carry in St. Louis we will reintroduce them before the full platform committee in Orlando, Florida. If we do not win in Orlando we can carry them to the floor of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Our job is to pass the most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic Party."

Sanders was in Syracuse, New York, on Friday at a campaign appearance featuring Eric Kingson, a candidate for Congress.

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Hillary for America
June 25, 2016

Statement from Senior Policy Advisor Maya Harris on Democratic Platform

Following yesterday’s meeting of the Democratic Platform Drafting Committee in St. Louis, Hillary for America senior policy advisor Maya Harris, who is the campaign’s official representative to the committee, issued the following statement:

“We are proud that the draft 2016 Democratic Platform, which the drafting committee approved yesterday, represents the most ambitious and progressive platform our party has ever seen, and reflects the issues Hillary Clinton has championed throughout this campaign, from raising wages and creating more good-paying jobs to fixing our broken immigration system, reforming our criminal justice system, and protecting women’s reproductive health and rights. As our Chairman, Congressman Elijah Cummings, directed us at the outset, our platform does not merely reflect common ground—it seeks higher ground.

“For the first time ever, our platform calls for ending mass incarceration, shutting down the school-to-prison pipeline, and taking on the challenges of systemic racism. This year’s platform contains the most ambitious jobs plan on record, including historic investments in infrastructure, pledges to increase American manufacturing and stop companies from shipping jobs overseas, and a robust, stand-alone plank on youth jobs. It contains ambitious, progressive principles on wages, stating that working people should earn at least $15 an hour, citing New York’s minimum wage law and calling for raising and indexing the federal minimum wage. It also calls for the elimination of the ‘tipped’ wage and for the right of workers to form or join a union.  And for the first time, the Democratic Party platform explicitly calls for repealing the Hyde Amendment, which restricts access to women’s reproductive rights, particularly low-income women and women of color.

“Four years ago, the Democratic platform called for an ‘all-of-the-above’ energy strategy. This platform moves far beyond that framework, with a robust commitment to combating climate change and ambitious goals, like generating 50 percent of our electricity from clean sources within a decade. This vision was further strengthened through an amendment offered by representatives of both campaigns to see America running entirely on clean energy by mid-century.

“We are also pleased that there were many issues where committee members worked collaboratively to articulate a bold vision, including making sure Wall Street greed and recklessness never again threatens American families and businesses on Main Street; proposing a surtax on multi-millionaires to ensure the richest among us are paying their fair share to build an economy that works for everyone; and expanding Social Security benefits by raising more revenue above the $250,000 threshold.

“Members also worked together on framing Democrats’ shared commitment to comprehensive immigration reform, with an eloquent unity amendment stating, ‘Immigration is not a problem to be solved, it is a defining aspect of the American character and history to be supported and defended against those who would exclude or eliminate legal immigration avenues and denigrate immigrants.’

“And we are proud the draft 2016 Democratic platform sets forward progressive principles and high standards on trade, including calling for trade agreements to be more protective of workers’ rights, labor rights, the environment, and public health. The draft reviewed by committee members yesterday included a call to review past trade agreements and update them to reflect these principles. An amendment adopted yesterday further emphasized the fact that many Democrats oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership because ‘the agreement does not meet the standards set out in this platform.’ Hillary Clinton is one of those Democrats, and has been strongly and unequivocally on the record opposing TPP. Just this week, she said, ‘We will defend American jobs and American workers by saying ‘no’ to bad trade deals and unfair trade practices, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership.’

“Make no mistake about it: The 2016 Democratic platform represents an ambitious, progressive agenda that all Democrats can and should be proud of.”


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For Immediate Release, June 25, 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 24, 2016
Contact: April Mellody
Dana Vickers Shelley

Democratic Platform Drafting Meeting Concludes

After Hearing Testimony from 114 Witnesses from Across the Country, Final Draft to Advance Progressive Democratic Values

ST. LOUIS, MO – This morning after hearing testimony from 114 witnesses from around the country, the Democratic Platform Drafting Committee concluded its meeting with a final draft approved by the committee. The final draft includes a wide range of policy positions that reflect the depth and breadth of the Democratic Party.

"As Democrats, we believe that our country's greatest strength is its people, and we're committed to the values of inclusion and opportunity for all. Our candidates ran strong campaigns that addressed the priorities of the American people, and I am proud to say that the drafting process has reflected our commitment as a party to elevating their voices," said DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. "I want to thank Chairman Cummings for his measured and principled leadership as well as the committee members and staff who have spent long nights, several weekends and hundreds of hours on a platform draft that advances our party's progressive ideals and is worthy of our great country."

The unprecedented decision to expand the drafting process of our National Party platform is reflective of our commitment to addressing the needs of all Americans,” said Platform Drafting Committee Chair Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD). “From the very beginning of this process I have said that finding common ground is not enough, together we must reach higher ground. We must fight for good paying jobs, reforming our criminal justice system and gun safety. The draft platform we have produced in an open and transparent manner reflects our priorities as Democrats and demonstrates our vision for this nation.”

The final draft will go to the Full Platform Committee for ratification at a meeting in Orlando, Florida on July 8th and 9th. The Platform Committee which consists of 187 members, presents the draft National Platform to the Convention.

Highlights of key progressive policies discussed and adopted in the final draft which will now go to the full committee: 

Ambitious and Progressive Jobs Plan: This year's platform contains the most ambitious jobs plan on record, including historic investments in infrastructure, a strong commitment to small business, a robust technology and innovation agenda, and promises to increase American manufacturing and stop companies from shipping jobs overseas. This platform also includes a robust stand-alone plank on youth jobs, and Democrats’ view that our economic revitalization efforts should have a focus on communities that are being left out and left behind.

Increasing the Minimum Wage:  Acknowledging that the current minimum wage is a starvation wage, the platform draft already included language declaring that Americans should earn at least $15 an hour, that the minimum wage should be raised and indexed, and that all workers have the right to form and join a union.  It also includes a call to end sub-minimum wage for tipped workers and people with disabilities.

Support for Public Education: The draft platform demands strong public schools in every zip code. The Committee approved language that reaffirmed Democrats’ commitment to supporting teachers, schools and communities and providing them with the resources they need to raise achievement for all students.

Abolishing the Death Penalty: Recognizing the death penalty as a cruel and unusual form of punishment, the Drafting Committee unanimously adopted an amendment to abolish the death penalty.  This is the first time in the Democratic Party’s history it has done so.

Trade: The draft strengthens the language on trade by pointing out that trade deals should not boost corporate profits while failing to protect worker’s rights, labor standards, the environment and public health. Existing deals must be continuously re-examined and enforcement of those existing agreements must be tougher.  A higher standard must be applied to any future trade agreements.

Looking out for Working People/The Earned Income Tax Credit: The Platform Committee unanimously agreed on an amendment proposed by Congressman Keith Ellison to expanding the EITC to low wage workers who don't have children and to workers age 21 and older.

Wall Street Reform: The Democratic Platform will make clear that Wall Street cannot be an island unto itself, gambling trillions in risky financial instruments and making huge profits, all the while thinking that taxpayers will be there to bail them out again. The draft calls for defending and expanding Dodd-Frank. The Clinton and Sanders teams brought forward an amendment for an updated and modernized version of Glass-Steagall and breaking up too big to fail financial institutions that pose a systemic risk to the stability of our economy, which the Committee unanimously adopted.

Multi-Millionaire Surtax: Committee members Ellison and Tanden worked together on an amendment calling for a multi-millionaire surtax that was unanimously adopted by the Committee. The Committee also approved language already in the draft that provided additional ways to ensure millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share, including shutting down the “private tax system” for the most fortunate, immediately closing egregious loopholes, restoring fair taxation on multi-million dollar estates, and ensuring millionaires can no longer pay a lower rate than their secretaries.

Expand Social Security: The Democratic Platform makes clear that not only will Democrats fight every effort to cut, privatize, or weaken Social Security, but we will in fact expand it while requiring those at the top to pay more. And pursuant to an amendment crafted by members McKibben and Tanden, the Committee added language that said we would we would achieve this goal by taxing some of the income of people above $250,000.

Immigration:  In addition to re-affirming our commitment to fighting for comprehensive immigration reform, the current draft platform goes significantly further than 2012 to include keeping families together, ending family detention, closing private detention centers, and guaranteeing legal counsel for all unaccompanied minors in immigration proceedings. The Platform Committee also unanimously included language proposed by members of the Sanders and Clinton teams to re-frame the conversation on immigration saying, "Immigration is not a problem to be solved, it is a defining aspect of the American character and history to be supported and defended against those who would exclude or eliminate legal immigration avenues and denigrate immigrants"

Universal Healthcare: The Platform Committee also adopted language strongly re-affirming the Democratic Party’s long held stance that health care is a right.  The passage of the Affordable Care Act was a critical and hard-fought step to achieving this goal. The platform protects and builds on this progress by including access to public coverage through Medicare or a public option.  The Platform Committee also agreed to take forceful action to curb prescription drug costs, including letting Medicare negotiate prices, and to expand community health centers, which offer comprehensive primary care and mental health services to underserved populations.

Honoring Indigenous Tribal Nations: The Platform Committee unanimously adopted the most comprehensive language ever in the party’s platform recognizing our moral and legal responsibility to honor the sovereignty of and relationship to Indigenous tribes— and acknowledge previous failures to live up to that responsibility. 

Climate Change and Clean Energy: Moving beyond the “all of the above” energy approach in the 2012 platform, the 2016 platform draft re-frames the urgency of climate change as a central challenge of our time, already impacting American communities and calling for generating 50 percent clean electricity within the next ten years. The Committee unanimously adopted a joint proposal from Sanders and Clinton representatives to commit to making America run entirely on clean energy by mid-century, and supporting the ambitious goals put forward by President Obama and the Paris climate agreement.  Another joint proposal calling on the Department of Justice to investigate alleged corporate fraud on the part of fossil fuel companies who have reportedly misled shareholders and the public on the scientific reality of climate change was also adopted by unanimous consent.

Reproductive Rights: The platform goes further than previous Democratic platforms on women's reproductive rights.  It champions Planned Parenthood health centers and commits to push back on all Republican efforts to defund it. The platform also vows to oppose, and seek to overturn, all federal and state laws that impede a woman's access to abortion, including by repealing the Hyde Amendment.  It also strongly supports the repeal of harmful restrictions that obstruct women's access to healthcare around the world, including the Global Gag Rule and the Helms Amendment, which bars US assistance to other countries that provide safe, legal, abortion.

Criminal Justice Reform: The current draft calls for ending the era of mass incarceration, shutting down private prisons, ending racial profiling, reforming the grand jury process, investing in re-entry programs, banning the box to help give people a second chance and prioritizing treatment over incarceration for individuals suffering addiction.  The Committee also voted unanimously to recognize the role activists and recent movements have played in putting these issues front and center in the national conversation, as they should be.

Marijuana: Committee members McKibben and Browner worked on an amendment supporting states that choose to decriminalize marijuana.  The amendment also recognized that marijuana laws have had an unacceptable disparate impact, with arrest rates for marijuana possession among African Americans far outstripping arrest rates among whites, despite similar usage rates. The Committee passed the amendment unanimously.

More than 30 pages in length, the final draft that was adopted by the Platform Drafting Committee includes a range of issues previously agreed upon by members of the Platform Committee and were therefore not part of the mark-up discussion. Issues already included in the draft and not discussed include: ending the era of mass incarceration, strengthening unions, support for the Equal Rights Amendment, prohibiting Pay for delay which keeps generic prescription drugs out of the market, drug reimportation and Medicare negotiation, expanding treatment and de-criminalizing drug and alcohol addiction, universal voter registration at age 18, support for programs to improve community - police relations, reproductive justice, gun violence prevention, ending systemic racism, non-discrimination for all LGBT Americans, cracking down on for-profit schools who engage in deceptive marketing, fraud and other illegal practices, opposition to any effort to privatize the VA; continue work to reduce the number of nuclear weapons, opposing drilling in the Arctic ocean or the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, repudiating the use of torture, closing Guantanamo Bay, increasing the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, to name just a few.

The Platform Drafting Committee includes appointments by the Clinton and Sanders campaigns, and was announced on May 23, 2016 by Democratic National Committee Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida). In addition to Rep. Cummings, members are: Hon. Howard Berman, former Member of Congress (D-California); Paul Booth, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME); Carol Browner, former EPA Administrator; U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota); U.S. Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Illinois); U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-California); Bill McKibben, Author and Environmentalist; Deborah Parker, former Chairman, Tulalip Tribe (Washington State); State Rep. Alicia Reece (D-Ohio); Bonnie Schaefer, Business Owner; Ambassador Wendy Sherman, Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs, Harvard; Neera Tanden, Center for American Progress; Dr. Cornel West, Union Theological Seminary; and James Zogby, Arab-American Institute. In addition, the Clinton campaign’s Senior Policy Advisor Maya Harris and the Sanders campaign’s Policy Director Warren Gunnels represent their respective campaigns as official, non-voting members of the Platform Drafting Committee.

About the Democratic National Convention

The 2016 Democratic Convention will be held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia July 25-28, 2016.   Working in partnership with the Philadelphia Host Committee, the City of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, our goal is to make this the most engaging, innovative and forward looking Convention in history.  The 2016 Democratic National Convention will leverage technology to take the Convention experience well beyond the hall in an effort to engage more Americans than ever before in the event.  With the birthplace of American Democracy as a backdrop, the 2016 convention in Philadelphia will highlight our shared Democratic values and help put the Democratic nominee on a path to victory.

The Democratic Convention is the formal nominating event for the Democratic candidates for President and Vice President.  At the Convention, the Democratic Party also adopts the official Democratic Party platform as well as the rules and procedures governing party activities including the nomination process for presidential candidates in the next election cycle.

The CEO for the 2016 Democratic National Convention is Reverend Leah D. Daughtry.

The official website of the 2016 Democratic National Convention is www.demconvention.com.


June 26, 2016
Contact: Michael Briggs

Sanders Statement on Democratic Party Platform

BURLINGTON, Vt. – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders issued the following statement on Sunday on a Democratic Party platform draft:

“The lesson of Brexit is that while the very rich get much richer, working people throughout the world are not seeing the global economy and an explosion of technology benefiting their lives. In fact, in the United States the middle class has been in decline for 35 years while there has been a huge increase in income and wealth inequality. Unfettered free trade has made multi-national corporations more profitable and their CEOs richer, but it also has led to the loss of millions of good-paying jobs in this country and a race to the bottom.

“The challenge for us today is to take on the greed and power of Wall Street and corporate America, and create a government and an economy that works for all of us and not just the 1 percent. In our anger and frustration, we must not succumb to the bigotry and divisiveness of Donald Trump and others like him.

“This is precisely what the struggle over the Democratic Party platform is about. We need to create a Democratic Party which fights for working families and not wealthy campaign contributors.

“I am glad that we have won some very important provisions in the platform drafting process so far, but much more needs to be done.

“There is very good language in the platform that calls for breaking up the largest Wall Street financial institutions and a 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act. I am glad that the platform drafting committee is on record to expand Social Security, to create millions of jobs by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and to end the outrageous tax loopholes that enable the very rich and large profitable corporations to avoid paying their fair share of taxes.

“Unfortunately, however, the platform drafting committee voted down some very important provisions. Despite Secretary Clinton’s opposition, as a candidate for president, to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, her supporters in St. Louis voted down a proposal to keep the trade deal from coming up for a vote in Congress. The Clinton delegates also voted down definitive language to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Despite the growing crisis of climate change, they voted against a tax on carbon, against a ban on fracking and against against a requirement for 100 percent clean energy by 2050."

“The platform drafted in St. Louis is a very good start, but there is no question that much more work remains to be done by the full Platform Committee when it meets in Orlando on July 8 and 9. We intend to do everything we can to rally support for our amendments in Orlando and if we fail there to take the fight to the floor of the convention in Philadelphia. It is imperative that this platform be not only the most progressive in the history of the Democratic Party, but includes a set of policies that will be fought for and implemented by Democratic elected officials.”

Sanders also discussed the platform during an appearance Sunday on “State of the Union” on CNN.

To watch, click here.
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INTEREST GROUP REACTIONS
National Nurses United
June 27, 2016

Nurses Criticize Democratic Platform Committee Vote To Oppose Guaranteed Healthcare/Medicare for All

National Nurses United today condemned the vote of the Democratic Platform Drafting Committee meeting in St. Louis for its vote late Friday night to reject a proposal to place a commitment to “fighting for Medicare for all” in the party’s platform to be adopted at the Democratic convention next month.

The committee rejected the proposal submitted by Dr. James Zogby on a 7-6 vote. Joining Zogby, an appointee of Sen. Bernie Sanders to the committee, in voting for the proposal were the four other Sanders appointees, Dr. Cornel West, Rep. Keith Ellison, Deborah Parker, and Bill McKibben. Committee member Rep. Barbara Lee also voted for the single payer amendment.  All of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s appointees voted against it.

“The committee has turned its back on tens of millions of Americans who continue to have no health coverage, or who are paying for health insurance they can not use because of the prohibitive out of pocket costs,” said NNU Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro.  

A subsequent platform motion to instead endorse the concept of health care “as a right,” said DeMoro, is “meaningless, little more than empty rhetoric, without a specific plan of how to make sure every American will have the guarantee of receiving the care they need, when and where they need it, without fear of going bankrupt or paying for care instead of other basics like housing or food.”

NNU will call on the full platform committee to pass a commitment to Medicare for all, and NNU delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia will also fight for the language, she said.

In presenting the proposal, Zogby noted that the present health care system “is completely out of control” and that “the business of America should be caring for people.”

Ellison pointed out health care costs continue to rise because even with the Affordable Care Act, “we’re still tethered to the private insurance system” and “subject to whatever the private sector wants to do.”

West presented the sharpest critique of the committee vote, for trying to “sanitize and sterilize” what Sanders and his supporters pressed for – universal, guaranteed Medicare for all.

Even with the “breakthrough” of the ACA, said West, health care “is not a right, it’s still a privilege if 29 million fellow citizens do not have access to it. That’s what women were told in 1918 – voting rights are a right, but you don’t have it, sorry about that.”  When healthcare remains “market based” it’s not a universal right, West said.

DeMoro, who was also nominated to be a member of the drafting committee but was vetoed by the Democratic National Committee, did present oral and written testimony to the committee.

“It’s not good enough to blame Republican governors or the Supreme Court” for those who remain uninsured, said DeMoro in her written testimony. “Guaranteed healthcare for all must be a uniform, national obligation that the Democratic Party makes a priority, not a vague concept dependent on the vagaries of which states will pass Medicaid expansion.” 

“We want a national health care system,” DeMoro said in oral testimony to the committee. “We would like the federal government to take responsibility to (paying) for all health care and take the private entities out of it. Here health care is a commodity. We have to have a commitment to provide the care people need and to not charge them for staying alive. That’s our role in society.”

DeMoro cited the recent Gallup poll showing 58 percent of Americans support Medicare for all, the very plan proposed by Sen. Sanders, and urged by NNU for decades.

“I’m asking the Democratic Party to go back to its roots, to find its commitment, and fight for Americans. While the ACA was an expansion, it’s not good enough. Premiums are going up, people are still having to ration their healthcare, people are afraid to use the system.

“Every life matters. I want to see the political will of the Democratic Party to fight for single payer, period. I don’t think we can piecemeal it. I don’t want to have it on my conscience that anyone died or suffered because I did not have the political will to fight, and I will use my position forever to fight for people to have a single payer healthcare system.”


LCV Action Fund
Contact: Hannah Blatt
June 28, 2016  

LCV Action Fund Statement on the DNC Platform Draft

Washington, D.C. - LCV Action Fund Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld issued the following statement on the 2016 Democratic National Committee (DNC) platform draft:

“This DNC platform draft is the most pro-environment ever and is a reflection of how far we have come in just four years. We commend the Platform Drafting Committee for doing away with the “all of the above” energy strategy of 2012, and instead, making the fight against climate change and the transition to a clean energy economy a top priority.  This platform draft stands in stark contrast with Donald Trump’s appalling rhetoric on climate change and underscores the urgency of ensuring that we elect climate champion Hillary Clinton our next president. It’s imperative that we not only defend but quickly build on the incredible progress of the last year, including the finalization of the Clean Power Plan in August, the rejection of the dirty and dangerous Keystone pipeline in November, the historic international climate agreement in Paris in December, the moratorium on new coal-leasing on federal lands in January, the protection of the East Coast from offshore drilling in March, and the first-ever standards to cut methane pollution from the oil and gas industry in May.”             

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Anti-Defamation League
July 29, 2016

ADL Praises DNC Draft Platform Language on Israel

New York, NY, June 29, 2016 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today praised the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) draft platform for affirming America’s “longstanding commitment to Israel’s security, to Israel’s existence as a Jewish,  democratic state,” the pursuit of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and for breaking new ground in opposing the BDS movement.

The platform draft breaks important new ground in opposing ‘any effort to delegitimize Israel, including at the U.N. or through the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement’ and further confirms Democratic support for Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel.

“The platform committee rightfully affirmed the Democrats’ and America’s longstanding commitment to Israel’s security and to Israel’s fundamental rights and enshrined key principles of its quest for peace with the Palestinians through a directly negotiated two-state solution,” said Marvin D. Nathan, ADL National Chair. “A debate in which progressive values loomed large appropriately produced a platform highlighting shared values like ‘democracy, equality, tolerance and pluralism’ as undergirding U.S. support for Israel’s rights and security.”

“The draft platform rightly frames a negotiated two state solution as in the interests of both Israel’s ‘future as a secure and democratic Jewish state’ and a Palestinian future of ‘independence, sovereignty and dignity,’ said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “We urge the full platform committee and Democratic National Committee delegates to support it.” 

ADL looks forward to similarly strong and unifying language in the Republican platform so that both platforms reflect America's strong bipartisan support for Israel.

As a 501c3 nonprofit organization, ADL takes no position on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for office.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.


NARAL Pro-Choice America
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 5, 2016

NARAL PRAISES DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM DRAFT AS "STRONGEST PLATFORM FOR REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM"

NARAL Pro-Choice America president Ilyse Hogue released the following statement in support of the Democratic Party Platform draft released today:

"The Democratic Party platform is unequivocally the strongest platform for reproductive freedom we have ever seen. Not only does the platform reaffirm a commitment to access to contraception and affordable health care for all regardless of gender, it supports lifting some of the most harmful restrictions on abortion care. The Hyde amendment and Helms amendment have prevented countless low-income women from being able to make their own decisions about health, family, and future. These amendments have ensured that a woman's right to a safe and legal abortion is a right that's easier to access if you have the resources to afford it. That's wrong and stands directly in contrast with the Democratic Party's principles, and we applaud the Party for reaffirming this in the platform.

"Hillary Clinton's support for this platform draft reaffirms what we've known all along - that she's a true champion for reproductive freedom. She knows that in order for women and families to get ahead, we need policies that support access to the full range or reproductive health care, including abortion access. That's reflected in this document, and we are thrilled.

"NARAL Pro-Choice America is proud to be a part of the open platform drafting process, and we look forward to approving the platform in Orlando next week."


NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates are dedicated to protecting and expanding reproductive freedom for all Americans. NARAL works to guarantee that every woman has the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive choices, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion. In recognition of its work defending our constitutional right to choose, Fortune Magazine described NARAL as "one of the top 10 advocacy groups in America."

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DNCC
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
 July 1, 2016
Contact: April Mellody
Dana Vickers Shelley

DEMOCRATIC PARTY RELEASES MOST PROGRESSIVE, INCLUSIVE AND AMBITIOUS PLATFORM DRAFT IN ITS HISTORY

Platform Draft to be reviewed by the Full Platform Committee in Orlando includes a wide range of policy positions that reflect the depth and breadth of the Democratic Party

PHILADELPHIA - The Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) today released the most progressive, inclusive and ambitious platform in the Democratic Party’s history.  Based on the Party's core values and the belief that we are stronger as a country when we work together and everyone has a role to play in building our future, the platform draft puts forward a bold vision and specific proposals to address the challenges we face today and a progressive blueprint for our country’s future.  From historic investments in infrastructure, to stating that working people should earn at least $15 per hour, to ending mass incarceration and the school to prison pipeline, to reforming our broken immigration system, to protecting women’s health and repealing the Hyde Amendment, to abolishing the death penalty and a robust commitment to climate change that includes America running entirely on clean energy by mid-century, the document speaks to the concerns at the heart of people's lives.  

This current draft platform was voted on and adopted on June 25th in St. Louis and reflects hours of robust debate, in-person testimony from 114 activists, policy experts, practitioners and ordinary Americans from all across the country.  Comprised of representatives from the DNC, the Clinton and Sanders campaigns, the platform committee worked together to put forward what represents a covenant of our Party’s collective values based on issues and progressive policy proposals both Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders have championed and the concerns of the American people. The full 187-member platform committee will gather July 8-9 in Orlando, Florida to review and adopt the draft. The link to the draft document is available at demconvention.com/platform.  

“Thanks to the leadership and commitment from the Clinton and Sanders campaigns we started this process with a strong progressive platform,” said Platform Committee Chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland). “Over the past few weeks we've worked together to not only seek common ground, but higher ground. The result is the most progressive, inclusive and ambitious platform draft in our party’s history that speaks to the very choice our country will face in the 2016 election, and the future we want to build for our children and grandchildren.”

“As Democrats, we are committed to addressing the concerns at the heart of people’s lives: their children’s education and well-being, the health and safety of seniors, the opportunities available in our communities, and our nation’s future,” said DNCC CEO Rev. Leah Daughtry. “This election is about more than Democrats and Republicans. It is about who we are as a nation, and who we will be in the future. We can and we will build a more just economy, a more equal society, and a more perfect union. It is a simple but powerful idea: we are stronger together.”

The platform draft addresses issues and topics under 13 key themes: Raise Incomes and Restore Economic Security; Create Good Paying Jobs; Fight for Economic Fairness and Against Income Inequality; Bring Americans Together and Remove Barriers to Create Ladders of Opportunity; Protect Voting Rights, Fix Our Campaign Finance System and Restore Our Democracy; Combat Climate Change, Build a Clean Energy Economy, and Secure Environmental Justice; Provide Quality and Affordable Education; Ensure the Health and Safety of All Americans; Principled Leadership; Support Our Troops and Keep Faith With Our Veterans; Confront Global Threats; Protect Our Values, and; A Leader in the World.

Highlights Include:

Making corporations pay their fair share and investing in American jobs. The draft Democratic platform contains progressive proposals to make corporations pay their fair share in taxes and invest in America, including a "claw back" of tax breaks received by companies that ship jobs overseas and an "exit tax" on corporations that relocate their headquarters abroad to skip out on paying taxes at home. The platform also contains the most robust investment in creating good-paying jobs in history, with proposals to build 21st century infrastructure, revitalize manufacturing, and support small businesses.

Strong commitment to work-family policies. Even before the St. Louis markup, the draft Democratic platform contained a commitment to at last securing equal pay for women and guaranteeing 12 weeks of paid leave and 7 earned sick days for all workers. The platform also recognizes the need to make child care more affordable, raise wages for childcare workers, and strengthen the home care workforce. 

Stopping corporate concentration. Even before the markup in St. Louis, the draft Democratic platform contained strong language identifying the emerging problem of excessive market concentration among big corporations, and pledging to strengthen antitrust enforcement and protect and promote competition. 

Lifting up communities left out and left behind. From the beginning, the draft Democratic platform recognized the need to make deliberate investments in communities that have been left out and left behind, from coal country to Indian Country to our inner cities. The draft Democratic platform specifically identifies policy approaches like "10-20-30," in which 10 percent of funds are directed to communities where 20 percent of the population have been living below the poverty line for 30 or more years, as important to reaching communities struggling with persistent poverty.

Protecting women's reproductive health. The draft Democratic platform pledges to stand up against Republican efforts to defund and undermine Planned Parenthood and recognizes that reproductive health care is core to the health and well-being of women, men, and young people. For the first time, the platform calls for repealing the Hyde amendment, which impedes access to reproductive health care for women, particularly low-income women and women of color. 

Reforming our criminal justice system. The draft Democratic platform contains the most robust commitment to reforming our criminal justice system in recent years, including ending racial profiling, rebuilding trust between police and communities, investing in police training on de-escalation, and measures to make to investigations of police-involved shootings more transparent and independent. The platform further calls for reforms and new investments to improve re-entry for previously incarcerated individuals, and ending mass incarceration. 

Securing environmental and climate justice. Even before the St. Louis markup, the draft Democratic platform reflected a deep commitment to securing environmental and climate justice, identifying clean air and clean water as basic rights for all Americans. The draft platform further calls the disproportionate impact of air pollution, water pollution, toxic sites, and climate change on low-income communities and communities of color what it is: environmental racism. 

Protecting our public lands and waters. The draft Democratic platform reflects Democrats' shared commitment keeping our public lands public and to standing up against Republican efforts to sell off our natural inheritance to the highest bidder. Even before St. Louis, the platform also included language opposing opening up the Arctic and the Atlantic to fossil fuel production. 

Committing to improving our health system and to universal health care. Even before the St. Louis markup, the draft Democratic platform contained language about pursuing a public option, cracking down on runaway prescription drug prices, expanding medical research, tackling our nation's substance use disorder crisis, and treating mental health as seriously as we do physical health.  It also strongly re-affirms our party's longstanding commitment to securing universal health care for all Americans.

Pledging that war will always be a last resort. The draft Democratic platform commits to pursuing principled leadership on the global stage, including by affirming the belief that war must always be the last resort, never the first choice. 

Banning and condemning torture. The draft Democratic platform praises the steps President Obama took to prohibit torture and condemns Donald Trump for saying he would order American troops to use torture. 

Ending waste in the defense budget. The draft Democratic platform calls for ending waste in the defense budget by auditing the Pentagon, launching a high-level commission to review the role of contractors in defense spending, and taking greater action against those who have been involved in fraud.

Closing Guantanamo Bay. The draft Democratic platform underscores our party's commitment to closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, and identifies the facility as a blemish on our country's record. 

"I commend the Platform Drafting Committee for bringing together the best thinking and ideas from across our party, and for advancing a draft that builds on the progress of the last seven years to keep America moving forward,” said Democratic National Committee Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Florida). “This draft is consistent with our Party’s values, and speaks to the hopes and aspirations of the American people. As Democrats, we believe that our country's greatest strength is its people, and that we have a responsibility to work to expand opportunity, fairness, and build an economy that works for all, not just those at the top. This platform puts us firmly in that direction."

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About the Democratic National Convention

The 2016 Democratic Convention will be held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia July 25-28, 2016.   Working in partnership with the Philadelphia Host Committee, the City of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, our goal is to make this the most engaging, innovative and forward looking Convention in history.  The 2016 Democratic National Convention will leverage technology to take the Convention experience well beyond the hall in an effort to engage more Americans than ever before in the event.  With the birthplace of American Democracy as a backdrop, the 2016 convention in Philadelphia will highlight our shared Democratic values and help put the Democratic nominee on a path to victory.

The Democratic Convention is the formal nominating event for the Democratic candidates for President and Vice President.  At the Convention, the Democratic Party also adopts the official Democratic Party platform as well as the rules and procedures governing party activities including the nomination process for presidential candidates in the next election cycle.

The CEO for the 2016 Democratic National Convention is Reverend Leah D. Daughtry.

The official website of the 2016 Democratic National Convention is www.demconvention.com.


Bernie 2016
July 3, 2016
Contact: Michael Briggs

Sanders Outlines Next Steps on Democratic Platform

BURLINGTON, Vt. – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday said Democratic Party platform drafters made "major accomplishments" but more remains to be done, including clear language opposing a job-killing trade deal, when the full platform committee meets later this week in Orlando, Florida.

One of the key issues that still must be addressed is the opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Sanders said in a column published by The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“The platform calls for a historic expansion of Social Security, closes loopholes that allow corporations to avoid paying taxes, creates millions of jobs rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, makes it easier for workers to join unions, takes on the greed of the pharmaceutical companies, ends disastrous deportation raids, bans private prisons and detention centers, abolishes the death penalty, moves to automatic voter registration and the public financing of elections, eliminates super PACs, and urges passage of a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, among many other initiatives,” Sanders wrote.

“These are all major accomplishments that will begin to move this country in the right direction … But, unfortunately, there were a number of vitally important proposals brought forth by the delegates from our campaign that were not adopted.

“My hope is that a grassroots movement of working people, environmentalists, and human-rights advocates will work with us to demand that the Democratic Party include these initiatives in the platform to be adopted by the full committee in Orlando. We need to have very clear language that raises the minimum wage to $15 an hour, ensures that the promised pensions of millions of Americans will not be cut, establishes a tax on carbon, and creates a ban on fracking. These and other amendments will be offered in Florida.

”Further, one of the most important amendments that we will offer is to make it clear that the Democratic Party is strongly opposed to the Trans-Pacific Partnership,” Sanders wrote.

To read the full column, click here.
To read a summary of major provisions included in the platform, click here.

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