The
Campaign Announcement
February 17, 2004
The Senate Chamber
Cheryl Rivers’ Announcement for Lieutenant Governor
of the
State of Vermont
I’m humbled and honored by the presence
of each one of you here today, and I want to take a moment
to thank my husband, Richard...the source of a great deal
of my strength...the rock that anchors me, and “the
wind beneath my wings.” Without his unqualified support
I would not be entering this race. Rick. You are my best
friend: I love you, and I couldn’t do it without you.
I am pleased to announce that I am a candidate
for Lieutenant Governor of the State of Vermont.
For as long as I can remember I’ve been in love with
Vermont. It’s a love affair that began as a young
girl growing up on the UVM Morgan Horse Farm in Weybridge.
My love for Vermont has grown stronger as Rick and I have
raised our son and our own Morgans, and as I served for
11 years as the first Democratic woman Senator from Windsor
County.
I am running for Lieutenant Governor because
I care deeply about the future of our state. I am committed
to making that future brighter and I am committed to helping
our state forward to become an even better place.
I’m running for Lieutenant Governor because I’ve
learned that with love comes responsibility. I’ve
learned that being deeply concerned isn’t enough...we
also need to be passionate in the pursuit of our goals and
ideals. I’m blessed to be surrounded by people who
share that passion, and today I invite you to join me on
a journey forward.
In the last couple of years I’ve traveled
the country working as Executive Director of the National
Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Prices, working
for a fair shake for all Americans who are currently being
fleeced by the high cost of pharmaceuticals. I’ve
become recognized as somewhat of a national expert. As your
Lieutenant Governor I will continue to play a leadership
role in the fight for fair prescription drug prices, but
my heart is in Vermont, and I’m convinced that the
best way to advance national issues is to make sure Vermont
leads the way. Unfortunately...we’ve been falling
behind as of late.
I want to look back at my life and know that
I did my share, in my time, to help preserve what is most
precious about our state and our way of life. Each generation
has a responsibility to make it an even better place. I
understand clearly that life is too hard for too many of
our people. I care deeply about all Vermonters, and I want
to help make sure that as we move our state forward, we
leave no one behind.
I know what it’s like to worry about
having a place to live, about keeping warm, and putting
food on the table. I understand that sometimes even in hardworking
families, like the one I grew up in, not only the adults
but also the children worry.
I never forget where I came from, and while
I’ve had to work hard for everything I’ve ever
had, I am grateful for the wealth of opportunities I’ve
been provided in Vermont. I want even better opportunities
for all our children. But without a strong, responsive state
government, children born into poverty will not have a way
out as I did.
We didn’t have a lot of money growing
up, but we received many precious gifts from my parents.
One of them was my Dad’s love for the poetry of Robert
Frost which he often recited to us by heart. As I think
about the future of our state one of my Dad’s favorite
poems is on my mind. In “The Road Not Taken,”
a traveler pauses where two roads diverge in a yellow wood,
before choosing a direction.
Vermont is at a critically important crossroads,
and we can’t afford to choose the wrong way. We can’t
afford a narrow vision of the future...one that asks us
to settle for less...where universal health care is unrealistic...where
we watch more and more jobs move off shore.
But we’re not going backward, we’re
moving forward.
I’m asking you to join me on the road
less taken, on a journey that moves us forward, that embraces
possibilities and makes critical investments in our state’s
future.
I believe that the best economic development
and jobs program for the future of Vermont is the implementation
of a universal health care system. And I will use my experience,
my passion and my commitment to see that it happens.
We must move ahead toward a vibrant, self
sustaining local economy where all of us have the opportunity
for jobs which pay a real living wage. We must confront
the challenge of Bush’s “jobless recovery “
head on. We need Vermont leadership which recognizes that
the real threat facing us as we strive for a better life,
is not Vermont’s environmental protections, it is
that cheap foreign labor and the off shoring of jobs has
spread from the blue collar sector to the professional sector.
Today, too many corporations have no more than a transitory
commitment to their workers and to Vermont. We need a smart
strategy to nurture and value the efforts of our small businesses.
They are the backbone of our state, and they are most often
led by people who have a real commitment to the state of
Vermont and to the workers they employ.
I have a strong record of helping to create
jobs in Vermont. Just to name a few areas where I’ve
been a leader in job creation and retention: Job start,
Sustainable Jobs Fund, Downtown Bill, a new model for technical
education, elimination of the sales tax on clothing and
shoes, responsible targeted tax credits, and elimination
of the machinery and equipment tax.
Vermont needs a strong, independent Lieutenant
Governor who understands the interdependence of the important
issues facing our state. We need a Lieutenant Governor who
realizes that economic security, universal health care,
fair prescription drug prices, a healthy environment, a
thriving agricultural sector, and a world class cradle to
grave educational system are all vital to our state’s
future.
Vermont has a long tradition of independence
in the Lieutenant Governor’s Office. One memorable
example that comes to mind is Republican Lieutenant Governor
Thomas Hayes who went on to be a Vermont Supreme Court Justice.
While acting as chief executive when the Governor was out
of state, Tom Hayes lowered the flag to half mast when the
students at Kent State University were shot and killed.
I remember being grateful to him for that, and although
he drew criticism from the Governor of the day, I was proud
that he was strong enough in his conviction to do what he
felt was right.
Vermonters need a new Lieutenant Governor
who shares their values, and who will be a strong leader
on issues of critical importance to Vermont’s future.
As your Lieutenant Governor I will play a
leadership role inside and outside the Statehouse. Over
a decade of Legislative experience, including five years
as Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, has prepared me
well for the day to day duties of presiding over the Senate,
making committee appointments and assigning bills to committees.
I have a successful record of bringing Legislators, from
both parties, together to reach agreement on challenging
issues.
But just as important as my experience, is
my passion for what I believe in and my determination and
persistence. I will dedicate the time and resources of the
Lieutenant Governor’s office to help move us forward
n critical issues, starting with my commitment to advance
the cause of a universal health care system in every way
possible.
Currently the health security of all of us
is threatened by out of control costs and we are not making
progress. Every day too many Vermonters defer getting the
preventive health care services and the prescription drugs
they need. Small businesses are at risk and our international
competiveness is diminished. We’ve waited long enough.
We need to think forward and move forward...to meet these
challenges head on.
For generations Vermonters and their leaders
have sacrificed, planned, and acted as responsible stewards
of the land. Our forbears provided us the opportunity to
live in one of the most beautiful places on this planet.
I have a strong record of supporting policies which have
protected air, our water and our land from unchecked and
irresponsible development by fly by night corporations with
no allegiance to Vermont. I treasure this legacy as more
than a commodity to be branded and marketed. The progress
we’ve made over the last twenty years in land conservation,
affordable housing, and the cleaning of our air and water
is threatened. Many of our most important environmental
policies are under direct attack. We cannot afford to go
back to the days when government turned a blind eye to polluters,
and if we want to preserve our legacy, we should never be
willing to have a cash price put on winning state support
for a project. We should send out an unmistakable message
that Vermont is not for sale to the highest bidder.
We need to move forward with smart growth
initiatives which help us grow while maintaining the character
of our state, but we’re not going back on our commitment
to our environment.
If you believe as I do that the best energy
policy would be to keep every dollar possible in our local
economy to create jobs and foster energy independence, then
it’s time for a change. Some would have us believe
that buying large amounts of foreign power is our only option.
Yet if we make the choice now to invest in energy efficiency
and renewable energy as in the current proposal to purchase
dams on the Connecticut River, we can move light years ahead
toward energy independence.
The current Lieutenant Governor’s voice
has been missing in the public debate about the state’s
twenty year energy plan. While Vermonters wait for forward
thinking leadership, our renewable energy policy is stalled,
and our position as a national leader in energy efficiency
is in jeopardy and out of favor with our state’s public
service department.
But we won’t go back. Today we begin
down the path toward energy independence.
We must have a future for Agriculture if we
want to preserve the heart and soul of our state. Family
farms are vital to maintaining the character of Vermont,
yet every day there is a human tragedy being played out
on our family farms. I know because I have lived it. My
husband, Richard, and I worried together about buying feed
for the cows, about having enough money to plant crops in
the spring, and we experienced the heartbreak of selling
off a herd of cows and selling a farm. No matter how hard
our family dairy farmers work today, their future is in
grave danger. Farmers need more than lip service. We need
to build upon Vermont’s strong reputation for purity,
not embrace policies which threaten it. Wholesome healthy
food is an asset we must develop, not squander. If we want
a future for agriculture in our state, we must show our
young people that it is possible to live on the land and
earn a decent living.We’ve seen the results of the
same failed policies.
We need new ideas and a new approach that
moves us forward and saves our family farms from extinction.
Strong cradle to grave educational opportunities are the
best antidote to the off shoring of jobs. Public schools
are the centers of our communities. Yet many of our community
schools are threatened by unsustainable cost increases for
health care, skyrocketing special education costs, and ill
conceived proposals for unfettered school choice.
Early childhood education is the best educational
cost containment strategy. Research has clearly demonstrated
that early childhood education reduces special education
costs. Yet both our Federal and State leaders embrace tax
cutsfor the wealthy over investment in our children. This
is not the Vermont way.
We can make the choice to keep and improve
our community schools. We need state leadership that will
expose the disaster and sham of the “No Child Left
Behind Act.”
We must not go back on our commitment to public
education. Investing in early education and higher education
is the best long term economic development strategy, and
it’s the only way out of poverty for many of our people.
Thankfully the current Lieutenant Governor
has never been called upon to cast a tie breaking vote in
the Senate. If that time ever comes, Vermonters may be in
for a rude awakening.We need a Lieutenant Governor who respects
the right of women to make their own decisions about their
bodies and their destinies.
Vermont is a strongly pro choice state. Today
we begin the journey to elect a fully pro choice Lieutenant
Governor. I am committed to protecting the right of all
of our citizens, including all women, to make their own
medical decisions and I am committed to protecting the privacy
that we cherish.
On reproductive freedom, we will not go backwards.
Today we are moving forward to ensure that all Vermonters
enjoy the freedom to make their own choices about their
future.
Years ago when I first announced I was running
for the State Senate almost no one thought I could win.
Yet with the advice and help of like- minded Vermonters,
I defied the odds and became the first Democratic woman
to win a Senate seat in Windsor County.
Today as I announce my candidacy for Lieutenant
Governor of the State of Vermont, I know there are those
who believe it’s an impossible dream. But while my
father was reciting us Robert Frost, my mother was reading
us “The Little Engine that Could.” That simple
story helped forge my outlook on life, and I know that my
strong resolve andyour inspiration and support will carry
us to victory in November. We are going to move forward
together and we are going to win!
We have enough politicians who read the polls,
test the wind and tell us what we want to hear. Vermonters
deserve better from their leaders, and you can always count
on me to tell you clearly and honestly where I stand and
what I think on the important issues.
I can tell you right now that none of the
goals I have described come without a price, and none of
these goals will be easy to achieve. Yet working together
and with a real vision we can make a difference and begin
the journey that leads to a healthier and more prosperous
Vermont. I ask you to join me on that journey. We’ve
stood longenough looking down the path in the wood.
Forward!
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