What a Difference a Vote Makes

Gephardt holds the fort until progressives take back the House.

"How powerful each one of you is in the political system!" U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt said, addressing the packed and cheering Convention hall. "Elections ... are a collective decision about where our country is going to go." In November, AFSCME members will help make that decision.

Voters sought change in 1994, the Missouri Democrat said, but what they got were anti-worker extremists who took control of Congress. He went on to list the kinds of changes the extremists want:

• cuts in Medicare to pay for tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans;
• cuts in school lunch programs and in student loans;
• cuts in environmental standards for clean air and clean water;
• cuts in workers' health and safety standards; and
• legalization of "company unions."

"People voted for change," Gephardt said, "but they didn't vote for this kind of change."

AFSCME action. Through it all, he noted, AFSCME has been there fighting for working families. "Nobody, no organization ... has done more than this union" to help win the Congress back for working people.

If pro-worker candidates are to win, the continued support of AFSCME members is crucial. He urged members to get involved in campaigns and make sure their voices are heard.

"Human will-your will-is the most important power on earth. [If you apply it,] we will take this country back to the values of working people," he said.

Main street. Pres. Gerald W. McEntee introduced Gephardt as a man who "speaks out, not for Wall Street, but for Main Street." The congressman's middle-America agenda includes increasing the minimum wage, improving access to health care and education, and decreasing crime.

He hopes to push this agenda in the upcoming Congress, once again wielding the gavel given to the Speaker of the House. "When I take that gavel, I'll be thinking of all working people-but first I'll be thinking of AFSCME."