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Strickland speaks about principles, policies at Cleveland City Club

Tuesday, November 22, 2005
 

STRICKLAND SPEAKS ABOUT PRINCIPLES, POLICIES AT CLEVELAND CITY CLUB

Cleveland, Ohio--Ohio Gubernatorial candidate Congressman Ted Strickland today talked about the principles he'll follow and the broad policy priorities he'll pursue as governor in a speech to the Cleveland City Club.

Following is the prepared text of the speech:

Thank you City Club for your invitation. Cleveland is one of America's great cities. And the City Club is a noble and enlivening forum for spirited public discussion and debate--the kind of public discourse that I believe Ohioans are thirsting for.

Since many of you may not know much about me, I'd like to begin by telling you a little bit about who I am.

I grew up along a small dirt road called Duck Run in Scioto County. I'm the son of a steelworker and one of nine kids. I was the second in my family to finish high school and the first to go to college.

Like many Ohioans, my values are the product of two primary influences: the Church and mom. Where I grew up in southern Ohio, church was more than just where you went to hear a sermon on Sunday, it was the center of the community, a place of fellowship and laughter and good food.

My mother was good beyond description. Her generous spirit of kindness, her unending gift of love to us nine kids showed us how to stand up for each other and look out for those around us. She and dad raised us in very tough times.

One of my earliest memories is of a fire that destroyed our home. I vividly remember my sister carrying me out of the burning house in the middle of the night. We were all safe, but the house and everything in it was lost. My folks had nothing. No shoes, no clothes, no insurance. Nothing, save nine kids. Dad ended up taking the old chicken shack and creating a place where we could live until he converted our barn into a permanent home.

But through all the hardship we faced growing up, my mother never showed a hint of bitterness, never once felt sorry for herself, and never gave up on us. What she did was accept the struggle and faced each day with kindness, warmth and love.

That moral grounding has charted the course of my life. From my early years in the ministry, to caring for neglected and abused children, to treating the mentally ill, to serving in the United States Congress, the thread that connects my life is a desire to lift up, support and, in some way, to share the burden of others. I don't think that makes me noble. I'm just doing what I was taught.

And now I'm running for governor because my past experiences give me confidence in the power of the human spirit and the conviction that things can be better for all Ohioans. (And believe me; if you learn anything from living in a chicken shack, it's that things can get better).

So what is it that Ohio wants from its next governor?

More than anything else, Ohioans want a governor who understands them and who will work to give them the opportunities to succeed.

But sadly, too many Ohioans do not have those opportunities.

This is Ohio right now.

It's an Ohio where young people are eager to make their mark, but too often find that the road of opportunity leads them out of our state.

It's an Ohio where families work hard and struggle to meet their obligations, but find the cards are stacked against them.

We must not continue in this direction. A society that can't provide hope to its young people is a society without a future. And, societies that give up on their children, soon find that history gives up on them.

So what is it that we need to do to get ourselves back on track?

What kind of leadership will be effective in calling Ohioans to work together in common purpose for the common good?

I try to be a Golden Rule Democrat. I believe we should treat each other like we ourselves would like to be treated and that government should be rooted in that principle.

If you look at Ohio's history, you see from our beginning that we were a Golden Rule state. A state where we were taught to look out for each other. Where the first settlers came not alone, but banded together in common purpose and common hope.

Ohio is a state that hasn't been characterized by extremes, but one where - throughout its history - a broad middle class has banded together to build a variety of civic institutions that have enriched the lives of all Ohioans, regardless of their economic status in life.

And that is reflected in the life of this great city. A city with a world-class orchestra. Where the arts flourish, where cutting-edge medical research sets the pace. Where great corporations have prospered.

The question is: are we going to stick by those traditional Ohio values of common purpose and shared responsibility? Or are we going to turn our backs on each other and pursue an every-man-for-himself agenda?

Let's remember that Ohio began with the Northwest Ordinance and its commitment to public education. At the turn of the 20th century, Ohio became the heart of our nation's greatest economic transformation, the Industrial Revolution. Ohio gained a national reputation for the work ethic of our labor force and the welcoming attitude it brought to a diverse cross-section of newly relocating Ohio families.

Why are so many of our political leaders willing to walk away from our core values?

This failure is from a lack of vision as much as bad decisions, from a lack of leadership perhaps as much as from a leadership of self-enrichment.

Right now, two of the Republican candidates for governor are tripping over themselves to offer competing constitutional amendments that will limit our ability to work together for the common good.

It reminds me of the P.J. O'Rourke line: "The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then gets elected and proves it."

Now, that's a joke and I'll admit not entirely fair. But I am puzzled why someone would run for governor and harbor such deep doubt about their ability to make a positive difference in the lives of our citizens.

The challenge is this: will Ohio have the leadership in the coming years to empower our people to use their talents, their hearts, and their minds to save our state?

I ask that because a governor - by himself--can't lift our state out of its economic morass, but our people, with the right opportunity, working together and fueled by their dreams can.

A governor - by himself - can't modernize our schools, but with the right state support our communities and teachers and students can.

A governor - by himself--can't save our public universities from becoming just a place for the privileged well-to-do, but with the right political support from the people we all can.

What we need is political leadership willing to put away the distractions of self service and self-promotion and work to empower the people of Ohio.

The Hebrew Scripture says: "Where there is no vision, the people perish."

In Ohio right now we lack a vision, and the dreams of our people are perishing moment by moment.

My vision is of an Ohio once again rooted in the teaching of the Golden Rule.

Where everyone who needs a job can have living-wage job.

Where young people are given a solid education and have the ability to go to college if they choose.

And where everyone has access to high quality and affordable health care.

I'll be a governor who empowers people. And, I feel strongly about this because without the opportunity for a good education, I would not be standing here today.

To pursue this vision, I will be guided by five principles:

1. I will hold myself and my administration to a high standard of public service.

We must demand that our public servants begin acting like servants again.

During my time in office, I have tried to make sure that I never forget who I'm working for.

For example, my wife Frances and I have refused to take the government-provided health insurance that all Members of Congress qualify for. Instead we pay the total cost of our health care coverage.

We do this for a very simple reason. I felt it wrong for me to take inexpensive coverage while congress had failed to address our nation's health care crisis.

And, believe me; America's health care crisis wouldn't last two weeks if all Members of the House and Senate were forced to go without health care coverage like some 40 million Americans do.

To date, Frances and I have given back - from our own personal resources - $49,000 in pay raises and health care contributions to the United States treasury.

2. I will focus on the core issues that are important to the well-being of every Ohio family.

It's clear that our political discourse has been hijacked by the extremes in this state and nation.

There are some things in a free society that we may never be able to agree upon. For example, views on stem cell research and abortion vary from person to person, and I certainly have well-known positions on both. But everyone agrees on the importance of a good job.

I'm not suggesting that these other issues shouldn't be debated, but as governor I will pursue a more common-sense guiding principle: Most of our time should be spent on what most Ohioans are worried about: creating jobs, improving our schools and increasing access to health care for all Ohioans.

3. I will build on Ohio's Strengths

We need to focus on what has made Ohio strong in the past, both in terms of our values and in terms of the industries that have and continue to flourish here. We know that the road ahead is difficult, but much of our path has already been blazed for us.

Ohio has so much to offer. We have an unparalleled number of high quality colleges and universities, world-renowned medical facilities and a mighty engine of industry. We are a crucial part of the nation's breadbasket. And our abundant resources make us a major energy producer.

Right here in Cleveland, we have NASA, the Cleveland Clinic, a vibrant arts community, ground-breaking colleges and universities and some the greatest museums in the world, just to name a few resources.

Northeast Ohio's biotech advancement efforts, the Advanced Manufacturing Program, Wire-net, and the Northeast Ohio Software Association, are all focused on supporting entrepreneurs in those industry sectors that will create the jobs of the future for Cleveland. COSE has pioneered ways to support entrepreneurs and small businesses through discounted and pooled business services and health insurance, setting the pace for the entire state.

Our challenge is to move into this next century fueled by the gifts our history has given us. Our challenges seem almost impossible to overcome, but our skills, our resources, our history and the talent and hard-work of our people is stronger. I will be a governor who will build on Ohio's strengths.

4. I'll be an active governor who will be accessible to the people of our state.

I won't just hear, I will listen and act.

Being a good governor requires a lot of things: good judgment, wisdom, a clear vision of where you want to take the state. I hope to bring all of those attributes to my service if I'm elected.

I don't think you can have a clear vision if you're not looking first-hand at what Ohioan's are going through in their daily lives.

I don't think you can be truly wise if you're ignorant of the details of day-to-day life for most Ohioans.

I don't think you can have good judgment if you don't know first-hand the problems in need of attention.

I was first elected to the congress when I was 53. My wife Frances and I had already had full careers. Myself as a minister, as a college professor, as an administrator at a children's home, and as a psychologist. When I was elected in 1992, I didn't feel joy. I didn't feel elation. I felt awesome responsibility.

And I've tried to respond to that responsibility by being as close to the people I represent as I could. I spend most Tuesdays through Thursdays in Washington. And I come home to Ohio Fridays through Monday.

I almost never take a day off. If I'm not in Washington for votes, I'm here in Ohio traveling the state, learning what I can and offering my help in any way I can.

As your governor, I will take that call extremely seriously. I will not forget that the good judgment, wisdom and clear vision this state needs in a governor can only come from being on the ground and deeply involved with our communities.

There are a lot of things in life you have no control over. But one thing you can control is how hard you work. And I'll make this pledge to you as a candidate and as a governor: I'll never be outworked.

5. I will demand results

One of the failures of government, quite frankly, is that it is too often self-perpetuating. Bureaucracies, though staffed with many hard-working public servants, have, without strong leadership and vision, a powerful tendency toward self-survival, not necessarily getting the job done.

The response to this has been just as self-defeating. The response from the other side is just simply: give up, cut investment in crucial areas and say it can't be done.

The "Can't Do-ism" of the Ohio Republican party has severely limited our ability to meet the challenges of this new century. We need vibrant colleges and universities - we just need ones that work at an affordable price. We need schools with the best equipment and the best-trained teachers - we just need them with accountability and proper funding. We need a cutting-edge health care system, but we need a system that doesn't bankrupt our small businesses in the process.

My standard will be simple: does it work? And, to make sure that we can meet that standard I'll require the executive branch - wherever possible--to establish numerical goals and to develop standards to determine whether those goals - and the work of the people - are being met.

Not only will this allow us to determine what parts of our government are doing best, but which ones are doing things efficiently.

Now, I'll be laying out more specific, detailed policy proposals during the course of the campaign, but I want to offer a few thoughts about what we can do to address our pressing concerns on jobs, education and health care.

Jobs

I think there are four things we can do right now to help improve conditions for Ohio's economic revival.

First, small business should have the tools they need to succeed, including access to affordable health care coverage

Second, we need to retain our best jobs by building on Ohio's regional strengths. We should use state resources to leverage local angel capital, support regional economic development networks, and link them to quality workforce training and Ohio's education system

Third, as I said earlier, we need to build on Ohio's strengths. I see energy at the heart of Ohio's future. We are the third largest user of ethanol fuel products, and we are the sixth largest corn producer in the US. And not a drop of ethanol is produced in our state. Our state is home to huge reserves of coal, which, with new technologies can produce high quality, clean fuel. Investing in our energy industry can create long-term, living wage jobs. Our goal should be to make Ohio a net energy exporter. We should no longer be dependent on high-priced foreign sources of oil.

Last, we should ensure that every working Ohioan has access to the training resources and skills they need to secure a high-quality job that will pay a living wage. We should broaden Ohio 's commitment to science and technology to foster innovation and unleash the potential of Ohio's great universities to create the jobs of the future. And we should bring order and accountability to Ohio's economic development and workforce training programs.

Education

First, I will be a law-abiding Governor and will make Ohio a law-abiding state by finally obeying the Ohio Supreme Court and funding our schools fully and fairly. Obviously, that will take intensive negotiation with the legislature, no matter which party has control after next year's elections.

But this much is clear: we need to shift away from an over-reliance on the residential property tax and shift to a more fair way for our state to bring a floor of basic quality funding to all of our schools.

Second, we need to ensure that all schools that receive public money are held accountable to the same high-quality standards. And, we need to raise our expectations for our schools and teachers, for our young people and for ourselves as parents, grandparents and community members. Ohio schools can only be successful if we all contribute.

Third, I want to work to make sure that every Ohio high school graduate can afford to attend a publicly-funded college or university.

And last, I want work with Ohio's colleges and universities to strengthen their mission of partnering with the private sector in job training.

Health Care

I believe there are several things we can do in concrete ways to help bring down the cost of health care, expanding coverage and protecting jobs in the process.

Number one, we can provide developmental, financial and technical support to industries seeking to establish insurance purchasing groups. COSE, right here in Northeast Ohio, has tremendous expertise and success in doing this and that needs to be shared with other regions of our state.

Number two, we should allow companies with low-income employees to buy in to Medicaid, allowing the state the increased affordability to help provide lower cost health care to an expanded group of our working uninsured.

And three, we need to lead an effort in this state to focus on the growing success of health care management, disease management and more direct preventive medicine programs. Many private businesses are slowing the rising price of their health care plans by including data-driven care management in their insurance contracts. This not only saves money but it leads to a better quality of life for our citizens.

At this very moment, across the fields of our farms, quietly echoing through the canyons of our cityscapes, winding through a thousand Ohio Main Streets is the echo of hope.

Muted hope. Hope without words. Raw hope ready to be put to purpose. And what does this hope say?

It says we can do better. It says that all the victories, all the invention, all the blinding light of innovation in Ohio's past are just a prelude to what is to come.

This is a silent hope. One that is still just whisper. A hope Ohio parents say to themselves when they put their children to sleep. This is a hope some of us may even be shy to admit, because in this world cynicism is always safer than the risk of hope.

But what are the dividends of cynicism? More corruption? Fewer jobs? Less vision? What are the dividends of hope? Life. Light. Laughter.

An expanding future, filled with opportunity.

If we trust our future to the hope and dreams of the average Ohioan, the dividend we'll see will be the return of Ohio's greatness.

Some might think this is just a dream. But look where the dreams of Ohioans have taken us before: to the horizon and beyond.

My name is Ted Strickland. I'm proud to be an Ohioan. And I am ready to be your next governor.

God Bless you and God Bless the Great State of Ohio.