Clarke’s Progressive Democrat Vision

"Our COMMUNITY and our NATION are a family; a caring and responsible family. Our America is a place where people care for and about themselves and others. It is an America where people act responsibly with strength and effectiveness..." - Yvette Clarke

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Clarke: Issues Significant To Women

"In the last century, women have been a part of every major social and political movement, often leading in innovative and unconventional ways. From Elizabeth Cady Stanton fighting for the right to vote to Rosa Parks refusing to yield to racial discrimination, there have been brave women challenging unjust laws and policies. We have made great progress but we still have a long way to go and we have to make sure that our past victories are not lost by Bush and his conservative allies." -Yvette Clarke

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Clarke: A Rational Plan for Immigration

I strongly oppose the irrational and racist Sensenbrenner Bill, and I am fighting for a humane immigration policy that does not criminalize those who seek to participate in our society and become Americans, as generations of immigrants have throughout our nation’s history. Legislation currently being considered that will drive the undocumented further underground by increasing the threat of arrest and deportation also threatens our national security, our public health, and the fabric of our communities.

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Clarke Position on Israel

Yvette Clarke strongly supports Israel's right to defend herself and believes the U.S. must take a hands-on approach to ensuring that the Israeli can live in peace and security.

As a member of the New York City Council, Yvette Clarke has visited Israel on a fact-finding mission to view first hand how New York can learn from Israel's decades of experience living with the threat of terrorism.

Background

Since the birth of the Israeli nation, the United States has stood by Israel, both in times of war and times of peace. Today, Israel is our closest ally in the Middle East, and we need to continue to strengthen out ties in order to promote peace and stability in the region.

The great tragedy of the Middle East today is the Israelis have repeatedly shown a willingness to sacrifice for peace – to negotiate with their adversaries – but in too many cases, the other side has either been unwilling or unable to cement a deal.

The irony is that Israel today is being punished for the sacrifices it has made in an effort to secure a just and lasting peace. After the Israelis withdrew from Gaza, Hamas took the opportunity launch attacks from the very territories that the Israelis gave back to the Palestinians. And in recent weeks, Israel was attached from the very regions of Lebanon it withdrew from years ago.

Lebanon and Iran

The recent conflict in Lebanon cannot be viewed separately from Iran. No single nation does more today to threaten the stability of the Middle East than Iran. The Iranian president's statements denying the Holocaust and promising the wipe Israel off the map demonstrate why the United States can not abide a nuclear Iran.

The Fence

The Israeli government has a responsibility to defend its citizens from attack. After innumerable homicide bombers crossed the border from the West Bank into Israel, the Israelis chose to build a fence to protect its citizens. The fence is a reasonable and just defense against the terrorists who might otherwise take the lives of innocent Israeli citizens. When a lasting peace is established, the fence will be dismantled. But for now, until stability and peace reign, it is a crucial non-violent deterrent to terror.

Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Israel. It is high time that the United States recognize that Jerusalem is Israel 's capital, and move its embassy there, as the Congress has directed.

Clarke: Health Care is the Right of Every American

"We need to understand healthcare as a fundamental human right, rather than a commodity. I believe a basic level of healthcare is the right of every American. We should cut costs by investing in better prevention, rather than eliminating or limiting healthcare services and medicines. Healthcare delivery systems must be increasingly public and accountable to the voters and taxpayers, rather than private and accountable to a small handful of shareholders. We must work hard to eliminate disparities in health outcomes based on income levels, race, ethnicity and gender." --Yvette Clarke

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Clarke: Every Child Must Receive an Excellent Education

"The federal mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act have not been supported by federal dollars. We must ensure that every American child receives an excellent education. I will work in Congress to ensure this and every education program is fully funded and I will also work to find new ways to evaluate our childrens' educational abilities, besides just testing alone." --Yvette Clarke

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Labor Rights.

"I have always and will continue to defend the rights of working men and women to organize. I will oppose free trade agreements that do not fully protect jobs and workers in the United States and abroad. I support card certification processes in order to form unions. I support the rights of public employees to strike and to have some bargaining power with their employers. I will work to support and strengthen prevailing wage laws. I believe we must find a solution for the growing failure of pension funds. We must establish an FDIC type of federal guarantee of pensions. I come from a union family and I understand that for so many, organized labor has been a pathway into the middle class and has led the way on workplace health and safety issues. " -- Yvette Clarke

Affordable Housing Crisis

"On January 20, 1941, President Roosevelt declared, "A nation, like a person, has a body - a body that must be fed and clothed and housed, invigorated and rested, in a manner that measures up to the objectives of our time." And in his State of the Union Address of 1945, FDR motivated the nation with this call: "The provision of a decent home for every family is a national necessity, if this country is to be worthy of its greatness." - Yvette Clarke

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Clarke: Common Sense Budget Act

"Advocating cuts to the defense budget may seem strange while America is at war in Iraq, but the "dirty little secret" is that tens of billions of dollars are wasted annually by the Pentagon. With record deficit spending, Congress is working to find ways to responsibly manage the federal budget." - Yvette Clarke

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Homeland Security

"We must ensure the security of our airports, seaports, utilities and communication systems, and we must enforce strict control over those public and private research facilities that have access to biological and chemical agents. We also must provide the personnel required to meet our security needs and facilitate better communication among all agencies. These investments should be made now if we are to protect ourselves." - Yvette Clarke

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Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

"We must commemorate the historic steps taken by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President Lyndon Johnson and other leaders of that era who worked to guarantee equal opportunities for all citizens. We best honor the struggle of the civil rights movement by keeping vigilant in our efforts to build a society that reflects our values of fairness and liberty." Yvette Clarke

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Election and Governmental Reform

"We have to reduce the cost of campaigns. Abramoff did and now other Lobbyist run Washington and both political parties, because of the high costs of campaigns. I support public financing of congressional campaigns. This will not only stop Congress from catering to the special interests, it will do a lot to reform the Democratic Party and bring it back to fighting for the average citizen" -- Yvette Clarke

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Energy Environment and Health

"This generation must find a good reliable alternative to fossil fuels to save the ozone and stop America's dependency on Middle East oil. We must push improvement in Hybrid car technology and make alternative fuels easily available so people will buy them. We must block a Republican-led attempt to allow drilling for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)" Yvette Clarke

Clarke: Judicial Reforms in Brooklyn

"I supported Judge Margarita Lopez Torres for Surrogate Court because of her courage of standing up for an independent judiciary in Brooklyn. Her victory in that race and Federal Judge Gleeson decision on Judge Lopez Torres lawsuit against Judicial Conventions who Gleeson ruled only select Supreme Court Judicial candidates chosen by the democratic party bosses, will change who runs for judge and how they elected for years to come in Brooklyn. But more reforms are needed to ensure our courts and judges remain independent." - Yvette Clarke

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LGBT Rights and Protection

"After a 17-year struggle by Democrats in the State Assembly and advocacy groups such as the Empire State Pride Agenda, the historic Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act, or SONDA was adopted into law. SONDA is the first step in bringing state law into the 21st century with regard to LGBT rights in housing, employment, public accommodations, education and credit. I will work in congress to make sure that all of our citizens have equal economic, civil and legal rights regardless of sexuality, gender or gender preference." - Yvette Clarke

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It is Time to End Our Fix on Fossil Fuel

"I will work in Congress to pass legislation which emphasizes energy efficiency and sustainable energy, protects our environment and our national security and most importantly reduce he cost of Fuel." Yvette Clarke

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Clarke Urges Congress to Act on Pension Bill

"With America's pensions under attack, Congress is considering bi-partisan pension reform. The must pass legislation to mandate that pensions are not under-funded and make sure that companies that short change their workers pension are heavily fined.

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Clarke: Senior Citizens Must Have an Acceptable Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit

"I have watched with complete amazement as the Bush Administration, the Republican Congress and pharmaceutical and insurance lobbyists have forced a disastrous prescription drug scheme on America's greatest generation.

Everywhere I go in Brooklyn, I hear from concerned seniors. Many of them cannot access lifesaving medicines, some have seen their drug prices increase, and others are so confused by all the mass mailings and phone calls they cannot figure out which plan is best for them and their family. No one can. My staff and I have taken hundreds of calls from desperate seniors who did not deserve to have their own government do this to them.

We can have a simple Medicare prescription drug benefit, give our seniors low prices just like the Veterans Administration, and save the taxpayers $40 billion a year. If Medicare bargains for lower prices, it will put money back into the pockets of America's seniors, not insurance and pharmaceutical companies, and strengthen the Medicare system." - Yvette Clarke

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INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

Africa

What Can Be Done to Protect Civilians in Darfur?

"I support passage of the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act (H.R. 3127). We have a moral obligation to put pressure on the Sudanese government to stop the slaughter and to support the International Criminal Court in prosecuting those responsible. Our nation, as a humanitarian world leader, must insist on the protection of the destitute and the displaced and there must the leader in humanitarian and peacekeeping aid to end this disaster." - Yvette Clarke

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Clarke: We Must Exit Iraq Now

There is no question that the invasion of Iraq was and continues to be one of our greatest foreign policy mistakes, based on false and misleading intelligence. I believe we must begin to disengage our military from Iraq immediately. In general, we must get out of the business of nation-building and get back into the business of rebuilding alliances with our friends and international institutions. Congress must also begin to fill its constitutional duty by conducting meaningful and effective oversight of the administration's policies in Iraq.

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Yvette Clarke Charges that Vice President Cheney Continues his Iraq Cover Up

"Just like this Administration cherry-picked intelligence to build their case for war, Vice President Cheney today tried to cherry-pick the facts to paint a rosy picture that simply doesn't match the reality in Iraq," said Democratic Congressional candidate Yvette Clarke. "The American people can see the truth for themselves every day. We don't need more of the same permanent commitment to a failed strategy from this Administration. The American people know that we need to change course in Iraq, so 2006 can be a year of transition in which the Iraqi's truly take control of their country."

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Clarke: We Must Strengthen Democracy in Haiti

"I Support an Additional $50 Million for Haiti (March 9, 2005) Yvette Clarke supports Congressman Eliot Engel Ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, to provide an additional $50 million to Haiti in the Supplemental Appropriations bill." -Yvette Clarke

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Endorsements

Hon. Betsy Gotbaum
NY Public Advocate

Hon. C. Virginia Fields
Manhattan Borough Pres.

Hon. Anthony Weiner
U.S. Congress

Hon. Donna Christian-Christensen
U.S. Representative for US Virgin Islands

Hon. Bill de Blasio
Councilmember, 39th CD

Hon. Kendall Stewart
Councilmember, 45th CD

Hon. Melissa Mark-Viverito
Councilmember, 8th CD

Hon. Annabel Palma
Councilmember, 18th CD

Hon. Rosie Mendez
Councilmember, 2nd CD

Hon. Helen Sears
Councilmember, 25th CD

Hon. John Liu
Councilmember, 20th CD

Hon. Melinda Katz
Councilmember, 29th CD

Hon. Helen Foster
Councilmember, 16th CD

Hon. Darlene Mealy
Councilmember, 41st CD

Hon. Alan Gerson
Councilmember, 1st CD

Hon. Miguel Martinez
Councilmember, 10th CD

Hon. James Sanders, Jr.
Councilmember, 31st CD

Hon. Phil Reed

Hon. Mayor Wayne Hall
Mayor Hempstead, LI

Hon. Nick Perry
Assemblymember, 58th AD

Hon. John Sampson
NY State Senator, 19th

Alan Fleishman
District Leader, 52nd AD

Rev. Dr. Paul Smith

Roberta Flack

Emily's List

Women Building for the Future PAC

National Women's Political Caucus

Women's Campaign Forum

Jim Owles Democratic Club

Stonewall Democratic Club

Caribbean American Leadership Summit

100 Clergy for Clarke

Progressive Democrat Political Association

Guyanese-American Workers United

Men and Women Against Domestic Violence

1199/SEIU

32BJ

District Council 9, Painters

Local 420, Hospital Wkrs, DC37 AFSCME

Mason Tenders District Council, LIUNA

United Food and Commerical Workers (UFCW), Local 1500

International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), Joint Council 16

UNITE / HERE!

Hotel Trades Council (NYC)

HERE, Local 6 (Hotel Workers)

Carpenters, Local 926 (Brooklyn)