Gary Hart for
President 1984 Campaign Brochure
‘A New Generation
of Leadership’
“America must
decide whether to move forward or stand still”
The world, as we
know it, is cracking under the impact of change. To unite Americans
and lead the world, we must understand the enormous changes
transforming our lives.
"Our economic
challenges are new. Older industries decline in the face of
technological change and international competition. High technology
creates new opportunities, but in different places and for new
skills.
"Our security
challenges are also new. The superpowers face each other with
nuclear arsenals mounted on missiles which can circle the globe in
minutes and are capable of destroying all life on earth. Nuclear
holocaust could be just one human error, terrorist act or mechanical
failure away.
"But as if to deny
this rapid change, too many of our leaders force today's problems
into the framework of yesterdays world. They debate whether to
revive old industries or invest in new ones, when we should be using
today's technology to rebuild the old and develop the new.
"They argue about
which complex new weapons system to buy, when the real question
should be "will any of them work in real combat?" Any leader who
thinks today's world is the same as yesterdays will miss the future.
"Our nation is being
tested in the 1980's. This test should affirm the best of our
national character: our commitment to equal rights and equal
opportunity, to a higher standard of living and quality of life, to
justice and the promise of a better tomorrow for all Americans.
We cannot pass this
test with the tools of the past. The more we care about keeping our
historic commitments and meeting our traditional goals, the more we
must innovate, the more we must create."
Gary Hart gives
us a chance to be for something instead of against; To use change to
build a better future; To choose a bold new leader for tomorrow
"Nothing is more
important to our economic future than investing in our people."
Senator Gary Hart is
the only candidate for President to vote against every element of
Ronald Reagan's supply-side "trickle down" economic program and to
offer his own comprehensive alternative. He believes we must not
only reduce the budget deficit and bring down interest rates, we
must do much more. His detailed plan calls for several new
strategies.
He would help our
basic manufacturing industries meet growing foreign competition by
tying government assistance to investment in plant modernization and
worker retraining.
Emerging growth
industries would be stimulated by removing unnecessary regulations
and creating new sources of investment capital, such as the expanded
use of pension funds.
"Individual Training
Accounts" would be created to fund job retraining for the
unemployed. Tax-deductible contributions by workers and corporations
would help fund these accounts.
Gary Hart would put
hundreds of thousands of Americans back to work rebuilding our
roads, bridges, water systems and other public works through a
15-year "Infrastructure Investment Program."
Gary Hart believes
that to be competitive in the world economy, America must launch an
aggressive export program to open more markets to American products;
increase government investment in research and development to 3% of
GNP; and change our tax laws to reward productive investment and
savings instead of "Tax sheltering."
"Every issue we
face, every goal we set, every dream we have pales before the most
urgent task of our time: preventing nuclear war."
That's why Gary Hart
led the Senate fight to stop the MX.
That's why he wants
to stop the arms race where it starts, by freezing the production of
plutonium worldwide.
And that's why he
has been a leader in the effort to prevent the production of new
chemical weapons.
Sen. Gary Hart
served as a congressional advisor to the SALT II negotiations and
all arms control talks. He supports negotiations with the Soviet
Union toward a mutual and verifiable freeze on all nuclear weapons.
In addition, Gary
Hart is fighting for a comprehensive proposal to prevent the use of
existing nuclear weapons whether by accident or design, human error,
or Third World terrorists.
"If this
Administration thinks education is expensive, wait until it finds
out how much ignorance costs."
The United States
must recommit itself to excellence in education for every American.
Education is a fundamental premise of democracy and the key to
America's future. Yet, public education has been systematically
weakened by Reaganomic budget-cutting. Instead of preparing our
children for the world of the future, we are letting them fall
further behind.
Gary Hart is a
leader in the fight to modernize our schools and fund them
adequately. In 1982 he introduced the American Defense Education
Act, which provides new incentives to local school districts to
expand mathematics, science, foreign languages and computer studies.
The bill helps colleges and universities train and retrain teachers
in these subjects.
Gary Hart fought
vigorously to preserve the school lunch program and Title I programs
for disadvantaged children. "I proposed cutting the tax deduction
for business entertainment from 100% to 70%, and using that money to
fund the school lunch program. But the Administration opposed it,
and so did every single one of the 46 Republican Senators voting
that day," says Hart.
Hart would increase
both the student loan program and enforcement of its pay-back
provisions to make sure that no deserving student is denied the
chance for a college education.
"Our toughest
international battles will pit mind against mind, not might against
might."
American foreign
policy must have three clear goals: to further our national
security, promote our legitimate economic interests, and foster
peace and democratic ideals.
Sen. Hart has
introduced legislation freezing U.S. troop strength in Central
America unless an increase is approved by a joint resolution of
Congress. As a result of his own tour of this war torn area, he
favors a regional solution to the conflicts there based upon
negotiations and democratic processes.
He considers the
protection and strengthening of human rights to he integrally
related to America's national security. Thus, he strongly opposes
the Reagan Administration's policy of accommodation with South
Africa and other violators of human rights.
Sen. Hart opposed
the sale of AWACS to Saudi Arabia and advanced weapons to Jordan. He
would revive the Camp David process for Middle East peace.
He believes the U.S.
must reduce its dangerous dependence on OPEC oil, with its inherent
risk of military involvement, by increased production of traditional
and renewable domestic energy and by renewed emphasis on energy
conservation.
"Environmental
concerns are no longer luxuries. They are matters of public health
and safety."
What happened to our
national commitment to protect the environment? Our forests are on
the auction block. Toxic wastes threaten to poison the water we
drink, the air we breathe and the land on which we live.
Gary Hart represents
a renewal of our national commitment to protect our environment. He
was the first Member of Congress to call for banning landfill
disposal of extremely hazardous waste. He introduced legislation
expanding the Superfund program to clean up toxic waste dumps by
imposing taxes on hazardous waste products.
As Chair of the
National Commission on Air Quality, he produced the first official
recommendations for reducing acid rain in 1980. He led the forces in
Congress trying to strengthen the Clean Air Act.
Gary Hart believes
we must preserve our dwindling wilderness resources for the future.
He sponsored the parts of the 1980 Alaska Lands Act which tripled
the nation's wildlife refuge system.
"We need defense
reforms to make our military the most effective, not the most
expensive."
Sen. Gary Hart is
nationally recognized as our foremost advocate of military reform.
He believes the defense debate should be about strategy, not just
weaponry, about how we spend, not just how much we spend.
He would strengthen
our national security by redesigning our military for greater
flexibility and efficiency. He would make the training and retention
of military personnel a higher priority. He believes spending should
be shifted from complex and delicate weapons that look good on paper
to systems that are simple and rugged enough to perform on the
battlefield. And he wants to change purchasing practices to make
sure we get our money's worth.
Sen. Hart presented
a comprehensive military reform budget in 1983. It deletes funds for
expensive and ineffective weapons such as big, new nuclear aircraft
carriers, the B-1 bomber and the MX missile. It substitutes larger
numbers of more maneuverable weapons, such as smaller carriers.
Overall, Sen. Hart believes military reform can slow the growth in
defense outlays by over $20 billion per year while improving our
national security with wiser spending.
"There can be no
economic equality for women without equal pay for work of comparable
worth."
Gary Hart proposes
that the nation's largest employer, the federal government lead the
way in designing a system to evaluate and classify its employees to
eliminate discrimination in compensation between men and women.
He is the main
Democratic sponsor of the Economic Equity Act, which would remove
sex bias in insurance, pensions and tax law.
Gary Hart actively
supports passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. In the Senate, he
promotes women's interests in child care, family violence and
reproductive rights.
A New Generation
of Leadership
Committed to
America's traditional values, Gary Hart is impatient with
yesterday's politics. He was the first announced presidential
candidate to renounce campaign contributions from special interest
Political Action Committees.
In 1983, Gary Hart
published A New Democracy, a forward-looking book detailing his
plans for governing the nation.
Gary Hart is the
youngest candidate for President. At 46, he is young enough to bring
vitality and energy to the Presidency. Yet he has served almost ten
years in the U.S. Senate.
Gary Hart was born
in Ottawa, Kansas, and grew up in that small farming community, He
graduated from Bethany Nazarene College in Oklahoma, Yale Divinity
School, and from the Yale Law School.
After working as a
special assistant to Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall, he
joined a law firm in Colorado and a year later established his own
practice specializing in environmental law.
Gary Hart entered
politics as a volunteer in the campaigns of John F. Kennedy and
Robert Kennedy. In 1972, he managed George McGovern's presidential
campaign.
Gary Hart was
elected to the U.S. Senate from Colorado in 1974 and re-elected in
1980, bucking the Reagan tide. He serves on the Senate Armed
Services, Budget, and Environment and Public Works Committees.
Gary and Lee Hart
have been married for 25 years and have two teenage children. Lee is
a real estate agent in suburban Maryland, where the Harts maintain
their Washington, D.C. area home.
©2000-2009 by the 4President Corporation