Current Green Party Platform
II. SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
see: http://www.gp.org/
A. EDUCATION
The failing report card of American education is troubling for most every American. Who fails to see the connection between our investment in education and our success as a people? Who believes there is no relation between personal achievement and a quality education - an education that teaches creative and critical thinking skills and a respect for lifelong learning? Where can we best make a difference in our future? The Green Party maintains that restoring community is central to expanded opportunity, and access to quality education for all Americans is the difference that will lead to a strong and diverse community. The Green Party seeks fundamental change in our priorities, at the national and local levels, within the public and private sectors, in the classroom and at home, to make education our first priority.
1. Greens support EDUCATIONAL DIVERSITY. We do not hold any dogma absolute. We believe we must continually strive for truth in the realm of ideas. We open ourselves, consciously and intuitively to truth and beauty in the world of nature. We view learning as a lifelong process to which all people have an equal right.
2. Education starts with CHOICE and within public education we believe in broad choices. "Magnet Schools", "Site-Based Management", "Schools within Schools", alternative models and parental involvement are ways in which elementary education can be changed to make a real difference in the lives of our children. CURRICULUM should focus on SKILLS, both basic skills that serve as a solid foundation for higher learning, and exploratory approaches that expand horizons, for example, distance learning, "interactive" education, computer proficiencies, perspectives that bring an enriched awareness of nature ("biological literacy"), intercultural experiences, and languages.
3. We advocate creative and noncompetitive education at every age level, and the inclusion of cultural diversity in all curricula. We encourage "hands on" approaches that encourage a multitude of individual learning styles.
4. PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY should be encouraged by finding ways to help support parents in their efforts to help support their children, as more families confront economic conditions demanding a greater deal of time be spent away from home. Parents should be as involved as possible in their children's education; values do start with parents.
5. STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY is also key to developing intrinsic capabilities. Greens hold strongly to empowerment of individuals and therefore we support each student recognizing his or her own personal responsibility - to strive to achieve their fullest potential as individuals.
6. FEDERAL POLICY over education should act principally to ensure equal opportunity to a quality education.
7. Educational funding formulas at the STATE LEVEL need to be adjusted as needed to avoid gross inequalities between districts and schools. Educational grants should provide necessary balance to ensure equal educational access to minority, deprived, special needs and exceptional children. In higher education, federal college scholarship aid should be increased and aimed at excluding no qualified students.
8. Our teachers find they are underpaid, overworked and that they are rarely supplied with the resources necessary to do the work most are sincerely trying to do to reach their students. It is time to stop disinvesting in education, and start putting education at the top of our social and economic agenda.
9. We call on all Greens to include education as a regular part of our meetings so we can be clear about what unites us as well as what divides us.
10. We call for more equitable state and national funding of school education and the creation of NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS controlled by parent-teacher governing bodies.
11. We support after-school programs for "latchkey" children.
12. We advocate state funding for DAY CARE that includes school children under the age of ten when after-school programs are not available.
13. Classroom teachers at the elementary and high-school levels should be given PROFESSIONAL STATUS, and salaries comparable to related professions requiring advanced education, training and responsibility.
14. Principals are also essential components in effective educational institutions. We encourage State Departments of Education and School Boards to deliver more programmatic support and decision-making to the true grassroots level - i.e., the classroom teacher and school principal.
15. Greens respect the need for a multiplicity of educational alternatives, including PRIVATE, COOPERATIVE and PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS, for which communities should help find resources to support their essential work.
16. We call for the teaching of non-violent conflict resolution at all levels of education.
17. We recognize the viable alternative of HOME-BASED EDUCATION.
18. We support a host of innovative and critical educational efforts, such as BI-LINGUAL EDUCATION, CONTINUING EDUCATION, JOB RETRAINING, MENTORING AND APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS.
19. The teaching of meaningful trades should be given a greater priority within middle and high schools, and students who choose technology training, or school-to-career or school-to-work paths, should be given the same degree of respect given to academic students.
20. We are deeply concerned about the intervention in our schools of corporations that promote a culture of consumption and waste. Schools should not expose children to commercial advertising. Schools must safeguard students' privacy rights and not make available private student information upon corporate (or federal government) request.
21. Within higher education, we oppose military and corporate control over the priorities and topics of academic research.
22. We support tuition-free post secondary (collegiate and vocational) public education.
Greens view learning as a lifelong and life-affirming process to which all people should have access. We cannot state more forcefully our belief that in learning, and openness to learning, we find the foundation of our Platform.
B. HEALTH CARE
Fundamental reform of our nation's health care system is necessary to provide affordable, quality and accessible health care for all Americans. Currently, we are the only industrialized country without a national health care system. Unfortunately we have a private insurance system that insures only the healthiest people, systematically denying coverage to individuals with "pre-existing" conditions and routinely terminating coverage to those who become ill.
The current system's high costs and widely recognized failures demand that bold, not incremental steps, be taken.
1. Alongside the many Americans who are calling for action which makes clear that health care should be a right, not a privilege, the Green Party states with a clear voice its strong support for UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE.
2. We call for passage of legislation at the national and state level that guarantees comprehensive benefits for all Americans. A single-insurer system funded by the federal government and administered at the state and local levels remains viable and is an essential barometer of our national health and well-being.
3. We support maintaining private medical providers including doctors, hospitals, clinics and health maintenance organizations (HMO's).
4. We support cost savings by small business and it is estimated that businesses will save significantly compared to their current premiums, an estimated $900 billion by the year 2000, under a proposed SINGLE-PAYER "National Health Trust Fund" plan.
5. We endorse NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE and demand that Congress again propose and act to support the practical and moral imperative of Universal Health Care. Major features of this health care legislation should include -
a. UNIVERSAL ACCESS without concern for work status or health history;
b. FREEDOM OF HEALTH CARE CHOICE so patients can choose their own clinics, doctors or other health care professionals;
c. substantial COST SAVINGS through annual, global budgets, national fee schedules, and streamlined administration which acts to eliminate the waste of the current system;
d. COMPREHENSIVE BENEFITS, without insurance premiums, deductibles or co-payments, including hospital and physician care, prescription drugs, dental and vision care, reproductive and preventative care, and defined mental health benefits;
e. a focus on RURAL HEALTH SERVICES;
f. and continued support of MEDICAL RESEARCH into the quality, effectiveness and appropriateness of medical care.
6. Medicare provides health care for nearly 40 million Americans over the age of 65. Medicare: Part A is financed by the Medicare Trust Fund which is replenished by payroll taxes. With the Medicare Trustees now reporting that the trust fund will be insolvent in 2002, it is evident that Medicare is at risk. In order to correct this unbalance we would direct initial savings and cuts toward reporting inefficiencies; waste and fraud; toward eliminating costly, unnecessary services that benefit providers more than patients; and toward reining in pharmaceutical industry rip-offs.
7. Medicaid - which pays for basic medical assistance for the disabled, blind, pregnant women, and children in families who have no insurance - also must be protected and put on a firm financial footing.
8. Successful reform of our health care system must start with WELLNESS education; that is, PREVENTATIVE health care. It is each of our responsibilities to tend to our own health through EDUCATION, DIET, NUTRITION and EXERCISE.
9. The US Surgeon General has stated that a large percentage of illness is diet related; therefore improving the quality of our nation's FOOD SUPPLY and our personal eating habits will go a long way toward improving our health care system - by reducing the need for care.
10. We support a wide-range of health care services, not just traditional medicine which too often emphasizes "a medical arms race" relying upon high-tech intervention and surgical techniques.
11. We support the teaching of holistic health approaches and, as appropriate, the use of complementary and alternative therapies such as herbal medicines, homeopathy, acupuncture, and other healing approaches.
12. As a matter of appropriate professional responsibility, we support INFORMED CONSENT LAWS to educate consumers to potential health impacts.
13. PRIMARY CARE, through a renewed attention to family medicine as opposed to increased medical specialization, is appropriate and necessary.
14. Special attention must be given to WOMEN'S HEALTH ISSUES, including reproductive rights and family planning.
15. We believe the right of a woman to control her own body is inalienable. It is essential that the option of a safe, legal abortion remains available.
16. Medical research must be increased, and alternative therapies actively sought, to combat breast cancer.
17. We call for adequate SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES being made available to those who have special needs - the mentally ill, the handicapped, those who are terminally ill.
18. We call for wider implementation of hospice care.
19. We believe an all out campaign must be waged against AIDS AND HIV, and we will press for the implementation of the recommendations of the National Commission on AIDS. We call for prevention awareness and access to condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS. We condemn HIV-related discrimination; would make drug treatment and other programs available for all addicts who seek help; would expand clinical trials for treatments and vaccines; and speed up the FDA drug approval process.
C. WELFARE / WORKFARE
The passage of the 1996 WELFARE ACT by Congress, and its signing by the President, confronts us with hard choices. Democrats and Republicans seem to be saying we cannot afford to care for children and poor mothers. In ending over fifty years of federal policy guaranteeing cash assistance for poor children, Congress has set in motion a radical experiment that will have profound impact on the lives of the weakest members of our society. How will the states, city and county governments, local communities, businesses, churches - all of us - respond?
We believe we have a special responsibility to the health and well-being of the young. Yet we see the federal safety net being removed and replaced with limited and potentially harsh state welfare programs. How will social services be adequately provided if local resources are stretched thin already? We believe our community priorities must first protect the young and helpless. Yet how will state legislatures and agencies, under pressure from more powerful interests, react? We believe local decision-making is important, but we realize, as we learned during the civil rights era, that strict federal standards must guide state actions in providing basic protections. As the richest nation in history, we should not condemn millions of children to a life of poverty, while increasing corporate welfare to historic highs.
The transition of power to states, as both major parties restructure the extent of future welfare for children and the poor, brings great risk as it promises to completely change the welfare system. Although providing alternatives to public assistance through WORKFARE, as it is being called, is postured as the solution to poverty, and blaming the poor for their condition has become a popular political tactic, we ask what of those who cannot find employment because of job unavailability; who cannot work because of disability, because of age, because of illness, or accident? What of mothers who have inadequate skills, no child care, no support from family, or their child's father?
Meaningful employment, education, job training, intervention programs, financial incentives, a parent's ability to stay at home with their child, and affordable, quality child care assistance - these must be the basis of real welfare reform.
Without decent paying jobs for all those able to work, fiscal and monetary policies that promote full-employment and new, creative employment practices including shorter work weeks, welfare reform and workfare will not provide a better way for children, mothers, and impoverished in our communities. We need to increase spending on education, job training, and child care programs. The Green Party challenges both Democrats and Republicans. Blaming the victim is not the answer. Advancing social justice, children's rights and a "Children's Agenda" is.
D. TAX JUSTICE / FAIRNESS
Middle-class and poor people are paying an ever greater proportion of federal taxes, and too often local and state taxes are unfair and regressive. The tax code is a labyrinth of deductions, loopholes, exemptions and write-offs; the result of insider- and industry-lobbying that has damaged our economy as it has served the interests of big business and financial institutions.
1. We call for SYSTEM-WIDE TAX REFORM that acts to simplify the tax system.
2. We call for a tax policy that moves to eliminate loopholes and other exemptions that favor powerful interests over TAX JUSTICE. Small business, in particular, should not be penalized by a tax system which benefits those who can "work" the legislative tax committees for breaks and subsidies.
3. We support substantive and wide-ranging reform of the tax system that helps create jobs, economic efficiencies and innovation within the small business community.
4. We believe fiscal and tax policies should confront and end destructive large "corporate welfare" and subsidies. Smaller businesses are America's great strength - Greens believe government should have a tax policy which encourages small- and socially responsible business.
5. Where corporations act with corporate citizenship, that is, with "fiduciary responsibility" that includes the interests of their community and employees, as well as shareholders, we support appropriate tax incentives.
6. We call on new approaches to taxation, such as ENVIRONMENTAL TAXES as a partial substitute for income taxes. Taxing industrial pollution is an idea long overdue. Environmental taxes of this type, and "true-cost pricing", will aid in transforming major industries from being non-sustainable in their use of natural resources to being sustainable in character.
7. We believe that we must take a closer look , in addition, at the costs and benefits of consumption and VALUE-ADDED TAX approaches.
8. We do not support a FLAT TAX, but agree that the host of deductions and adjustments to income, dividends and miscellaneous revenue afforded under the current system to those at the top produces cynicism on the part of most Americans toward their tax system and government.
9. Greens support progressiveness in taxation as a matter of principle, believing that those who benefit most from the system have a responsibility to return more, their "fair share."
10. We believe a central goal of tax policy should be "transparency", that is, a system that is simple, understandable, and resistant to the machinations of special interests.
E. MANAGEMENT- LABOR RELATIONS
1. In the PRIVATE SECTOR, we acknowledge the many challenges responsible SMALL BUSINESS must overcome to remain competitive with big business, and we support addressing these obstacles by creating cooperative relationships and effective communication in the workplace.
2. The concepts of ECONOMIC AND WORKPLACE DEMOCRACY must be expanded in management-labor negotiations because the decisions a company makes affects its employees, its consumers, and the surrounding communities. In order to protect the legitimate interests of these various constituencies, as well as the natural environment, people in each of these groups must be empowered to participate in economic decision-making.
3. There should be no compromise of basic WORKER RIGHTS.
4. We support a fair MINIMUM WAGE (at least $1 above the minimum passed in August by Congress, which was at a forty year low in purchasing power.)
5. We endorse federal legislation to address problems associated with large plant closings; WORKPLACE SAFETY and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reform; and National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) reform.
6. We particularly support substantive reforms toward "workplace democracy" in large corporations, especially reform that impacts socially and environmentally irresponsible big business.
7. We endorse legal rights to organize and join unions with democratically elected leadership.
8. We encourage the use of mediation as a tool for resolving disputes in the workplace.
9. We support the right to strike without being "permanently replaced".
10. We support employee stock ownership plans (ESOP's) with functioning, democratic structures; and cooperative ownership and management.
11. In the PUBLIC SECTOR, Greens are concerned with an employees right to join a union, and associated COLLECTIVE BARGAINING rights.
12. "Good" government demands effective and efficient management, that is, wisely spending the people's hard-earned tax dollars. We support initiatives between management and labor that produce "better" government through performance, productivity and accountability.
13. We believe government is truly the "people's business" and serious reform proposals, such as "REINVENTING GOVERNMENT" and "Report on Government Efficiency", should be given close attention.
F. CRIMINAL JUSTICE
1. A plan to revitalize our economy must be a central element of any overall plan to reduce crime. Fear of violent crime is growing and it is our belief that the breaking of the bonds of community, the economic and social root causes of crime, must be addressed in the same way politicians today propose putting more firepower on the streets; threatening criminals with harsher sentences ("three strikes and you're out"); and building more prisons.
2. Any attempt to combat crime must begin with restoration of community; positive approaches that build hope, responsibility and a sense of belonging.
3. Young men and women must have access to work that pays a family a living wage.
4. We would initiate social programs that are alternatives to gangs, such as "Gang Intervention Units." Practical education with a real promise of a future is needed if we are to expect long-term success in this struggle.
5. We encourage our political leaders to remember that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." With the costs of maintaining a prisoner far outstripping the costs of educating a child, or the costs of providing job training, or job creation incentives, or providing adequate social services and a "social net" to those in need, we believe it is only appropriate to focus on where our societal intervention can be most successful and effective.
6. At the same time, we must develop law enforcement approaches that are firm and directly address VIOLENT CRIMES, street crime and hard drug abuse. Violence that creates a climate of further violence must be stopped.
7. While toughening penalties for violent crimes, it is inappropriate to have a de facto policy of leniency to "WHITE COLLAR CRIME." We believe broad corporate crime legislation should be enacted and enforced. We support efforts that target the worst cases of corporate (and governmental and defense industry) illegality, and we support resultant sentencing (and fines) that acts "with teeth" as an effective deterrent.
8. We respect the fundamental American principle that law enforcement is primarily local. We support grants for COMMUNITY AND NEIGHBORHOOD POLICING PROGRAMS. Police participation in the local communities they patrol is becoming increasingly popular and helps establish better communication.
9. We recommend establishing CIVILIAN COMPLAINT REVIEW BOARDS and appropriate forums for public input.
10. We believe in a citizen's right to self defense and to bear arms as constitutionally protected - we also believe it is inappropriate for criminals to have access to "killing machines", that is, assault rifles, automatic weapons, armor-piercing and "anti-personnel" ammunition. Therefore, we support the "Brady Bill" and thoughtful, carefully considered GUN CONTROL.
11. We endorse PRISON EDUCATION AND JOB TRAINING.
12. We support innovative approaches to rehabilitation, and transitioning of non-violent criminals back into their communities.
13. We do not support, as a matter of conscience, the DEATH PENALTY.
14. We support JUDICIAL REFORM that opens up the court system, makes it affordable and convenient to ordinary citizens, and provides for more efficient administration of justice.
15. We support tough DWI laws.
16. We call for "zero-tolerance" for, and consistent policy of protection against, VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS.
17. We endorse federal funding for RAPE CRISIS CENTERS and DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS. We call for rape and domestic violence prevention and education programs and stiffer sentences for people convicted of domestic violence.
18. VICTIMS' RIGHTS must be guarded and protected. Victim-impact statements are appropriate vehicles for achieving full justice and restitution should be considered in many cases to ensure victims will not be lost in the complexities of criminal justice.
19. We support initiatives to move toward decriminalization of "VICTIM-LESS" CRIMES, for example, the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
20. We call for a debate on the many productive uses of hemp, for example, as a major potential source of pulp and paper substitute.
21. We oppose the illicit activities of the international drug trade and the illicit money laundering that often accompanies the drug cartels. We call for a revised view of the "drug problem" and the "war on drugs" recognizing that, after over a decade of strident law and order posturing, the problems with hard drugs have only worsened.
22. We call for expanding drug counseling and treatment for those who need it.
23. We believe mandatory drug testing violates civil rights and as a result we oppose mandatory testing.
24. We favor innovative sentencing and punishment options, including community service for first-time offenders and "Drug Court" diversion programs.
G. CIVIL AND EQUAL RIGHTS
The foundation of any democratic society is the guarantee that each member of society has equal rights. Respect for our constitutionally protected rights is our best defense against discrimination and the abuse of power. We should treasure and celebrate our people's differences and diversity.
We recognize an intimate connection between our RIGHTS as individuals and our RESPONSIBILITIES to our neighbors and the planet. The balance between rights and responsibilities is found as we provide for the maximum participation of everyone in the decisions affecting our well-being, our economic security, our social and international policies.
1. We, as Greens, are committed to establishing relationships that honor diversity; that support the self-definition and SELF- DETERMINATION of people; and that consciously confront the barriers of racism, sexism, homophobia, class oppression, ageism, and the many ways our culture separates us from working together to define and solve our common problems.
2. We affirm the right to openly embrace SEXUAL ORIENTATION in the intimate choice of who we love.
3. We support the rights of gay, lesbian, and bisexual people in housing, jobs, civil marriage and benefits, child custody; and in all areas of life, the right to be treated equally with all other people.
4. We affirm the right to worship or not to worship as each one chooses.
5. We support affirmative action to remedy discrimination, to protect constitutional rights and to provide equal opportunity under the law.
6. We support effective enforcement of the "VOTING RIGHTS ACT", including language access to voting.
7. We will resist discriminatory English-only pressure groups. We call for a national language policy that would encourage all citizens to be fluent in at least two languages.
8. We strongly support the vigorous enforcement of CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS; the aggressive prosecution of hate crimes; and the strengthening of legal services for the poor.
9. We support the full enforcement of the "Americans with Disabilities Act" to enable all people with disabilities to achieve independence and function at the highest possible level. Government should work to ensure that children with disabilities are provided with the same educational opportunities as those without disabilities.
10. WOMEN'S RIGHTS must be protected and expanded to guarantee each woman's right to be a full participant in society, free from sexual harassment, job discrimination or interference in the intensely personal choice about whether to have a child.
11. We support the "EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT".
12. The EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES COMMISSION (EEOC) should actively investigate and prosecute sexual harassment complaints. Women who file complaints must not be persecuted and should be protected under federal and state law. We must enshrine in law the basic principle that women have the same rights as men, and promote gender equality and fairness in the work force to ensure women receive equal pay for jobs of equal worth.
13. Consumers have the right to adequate enforcement of the federal and state CONSUMER PROTECTION LAWS. Health and safety is paramount and we oppose lax or inappropriate regulatory actions.
14. Consumers have the right to participate in decisions that affect their lives and protect their interests beyond simply voting on election day. We support the creation of CONSUMER ADVOCACY AGENCIES (for example, along the model of the Illinois Citizen Utility Board) to protect the interests of consumers against the corporate lobbyists who have essentially (and too often successfully) argued against the rights of consumers before the regulatory agencies. We would require that legal monopolies and regulated industries (for example, electric, gas, water, and telephone utilities) set-up statewide CONSUMER ACTION GROUPS to act on behalf of and advocate for consumer interests.
15. We call for consumer legislation to outlaw the use of animals in cosmetics and household product testing; in tobacco and alcohol testing; and in weapons development or other military programs.
16. We call for reforms to better inform consumers about the products they are buying; and where and how they are made. We endorse "truth in advertising", including the clear definition of words like "recycled" and "natural".
17. We call for the restoration of consumers' rights to file class actions suits against manufacturers of unsafe products and restrictions on secrecy agreements that act to prevent lawsuits by not revealing damaging information.
18. We support "whistleblower rights" laws.
19. We support a citizen's right of access to justice. Our system of justice must be made convenient to rich and poor alike, guarding it against big business attempts to regulate and, in effect, control our civil justice/civil jury system.
H. FREE SPEECH
As we look to the foundation of our freedoms, it should be remembered that the Constitution of the United States is not only "the supreme law of the land", it is also the original source of other laws. In Article I, the Constitution spells out the "legislative powers" that are vested in Congress, which ultimately affect the personal and business lives of us all. In the Bill of Rights, the Constitution sets forth the fundamental rights and freedoms of all people, rights and freedoms that cannot be denied or abridged by Congress, or by any other branch or level of government.
An informed electorate is critical to good government. The scope of the First Amendment is extensive and prohibits any law which would abridge the freedom of speech, or of the press, most clearly in reference to political matters. Our legal right to criticize government is essential to the effective working of democracy.
1. We support openness in government, not secrecy, and endorse the "FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT" (FOIA) as a way of guaranteeing access to government decision-making.
2. We recognize that access to information has profound consequences to our democracy, and we have concerns regarding the concentration of information in the hands of fewer and fewer corporations. The FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (FCC) must promulgate telecommunications policies that assure the First Amendment rights of viewers and listeners. New and existing technologies must provide outlets for scientific and cultural expression and enhance the electoral process. The "affordable access" and "universal access" provisions of the "Telecommunications Act of 1996" should be interpreted by the FCC for what they are - a clear mandate for the telecommunications industry to make advanced communications systems affordable and equitably available to all American schools and libraries.
3. The concentration of power that has characterized the telecommunications industry must be limited. A wide span of programming and information, genuine citizen access, diversity of views, respect for local community interests, news, public affairs and "QUALITY CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING" - the FCC should closely monitor applications for license renewals to the public airwaves to ensure that these public interest criteria are met.
4. Although we see regular assaults on the freedoms of speech enshrined in our Nation's founding documents, we oppose censorship in the arts, media (including the World Wide Web and Internet), and press. We encourage individual and social responsibility by artists, creative media, writers - and all citizens.
I. NATIVE AMERICANS
Native American culture is worthy of protection and special respect. As Greens we feel a special affinity to the respect for community and the earth that many Native peoples have at their roots.
1. We recognize both the SOVEREIGNTY of Native American tribal governments and the government's trust obligation to Native American people.
2. The federal government must renew its obligation to deal in good faith with Native Americans; to honor its treaty obligations; adequately fund programs for the betterment of tribal governments and their people; affirm the RELIGIOUS RIGHTS of Native Americans in ceremonies ("American Indian Religious Freedom Act"); provide funds for innovative economic development initiatives, EDUCATION and public HEALTH PROGRAMS; and respect land, water and mineral rights within the borders of reservations and traditional lands.
3. We support those efforts to broadly reform the BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS (BIA) to make this vast agency more responsible, and responsive, to tribal governments.
4. We support the just settlement of the claims of the thousands of Native American URANIUM MINERS who have suffered and died from radiation exposure. We condemn the stance of secrecy taken by the Atomic Energy Commission during this era and its subsequent claim of "government immunity", taken knowingly (and immorally) at the expense of Native peoples' health and safety.
5. We support the complete clean-up of those mines and tailing piles that are a profoundly destructive legacy of the Cold War era.
6. We recognize that Native American land and treaty rights often stand at the front-line against government and multinational corporate attempts to plunder energy, mineral, timber, fish, and game resources, polluting water, air, and land in the service of the military, economic expansion, and the consumption of natural resources. Therefore, we support legal, political, and grassroots efforts by and on behalf of Native Americans to protect their traditions, rights, livelihoods, and their sacred spaces.
J. IMMIGRATION / EMIGRATION
Our nation was built with a rich tapestry of immigrants and we must continue to respect the potential contributions and RIGHTS of our new immigrants.
1. Preferential quotas based on race, class, and ideology should be abandoned for immigration policies that promote fairness, NON-DISCRIMINATION and family reunification.
2. We support policies that reflect our constitutional guarantees of freedoms of speech, association and travel.
3. We find particular attention should be given those minorities who are political exiles and refugees, including Russian Jews, mid-east Kurds, Tibetans and Haitians.
4. Our relationship with our neighbor to the south, Mexico, needs to be given added attention. Our border relations, and reciprocal economic opportunities, should be a central concern of government that is looking to improved economic, environmental and social conditions for both peoples.
5. We oppose those who seek to divide us for political gain by raising ethnic and racial hatreds, blaming immigrants for social and economic problems.
K. HOUSING
1. Decent, AFFORDABLE HOUSING for every American must be a component of a campaign at the federal, state and local level.
2. We hold that government should play an activist role in the availability of housing. A COORDINATED HOUSING PLAN that is broad and inclusive should devote resources to non-profit community housing projects, private sector investments and appropriate public housing initiatives that encourage individual ownership over time
3. We encourage low-density, low-impact, site-specific designs that encourage human-scale development and environmentally sensitive planning.
4. Pension funds and community development banks can be targeted and can become important sources of new funding. Subsidies, trade-offs with developers, and the creative use of city and county zoning ordinances should be emphasized to increase the affordable housing stock available within local communities depending on need.
L. NATIONAL SERVICE
1. We must create new opportunities for citizens to serve their communities. ALTERNATIVE SERVICE to the military should be encouraged.
2.We advocate the formation of a CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS (CCC) with national leadership, and state and local affiliates, to spearhead efforts to work on the tasks of environmental education, restoration of damaged habitats, reforestation, and cleaning up polluted waterways. Providing land and resource management skills will challenge young people while encouraging social responsibility.
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