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Cummings calls for bi-partisanship, creation of Prosperity Commission
December 6, 2006
Pursuant to House Rule 201, it is my honor to address the House.
Thank you to Nominators - John Piotti, Hannah Pingree and Josh Tardy.
For those of you who are standing, you will be relieved to know that I will be reasonable in length today and I’ll tell you why – A few years ago a friend of mine asked me if I remembered anything from any speech that I ever heard --- and I had to think – “Yes, I said. At my college graduation, the speaker, Admiral Crowe, US Head of NATO forces in Europe, said “Think great thoughts – because whatever you think about most is what you become’ And I only remember that line because the fraternity brother next to me said: “Great – I’m either going to be a girl or a sports channel.”
Before I begin today, please allow me to thank those who made it possible; all caucus members who worked so hard to be here; the staff led by Toby McGrath - who have continually exceeded already-high expectations; and the many personal friends and advisors who have provided support and wise counsel.
Clearly the greatest of this support has come from someone who has made this possible. Having taught together, dozens of students have told me she was the greatest teacher they ever had. I never sat in her classroom, but she has taught me the greatest lessons in life by her own example; lead with your heart, be fair, be strong, have fun and protect the ones you love; and of course – “Please, God, don’t be afraid to get a real job!” - my amazing wife - Leslie Appelbaum.
My children, Sir Kiernan and Madame Skyler, are the very best gifts from her - I want to make sure to take this time to thank them for their sacrifices in helping me to be here.
Finally, let me say thank you to my mother, father, brother and sister for their support. You have believed in me so long that I had no choice but to believe in myself. And thank you to my mother especially - a single mother with three children who never missed a day of work… or missed a chance to say how proud she was of all of us.
I want to do three things today: - I want to introduce you to two people who will help us this session, and who have helped me personally. - I want lay out the work ahead of us - I want to remind you to why we can and will do it ---
Let me begin by introducing a 28 year-old man. He has had two failed businesses and one unsuccessful bid for state office. His mother died when he was nine, and there are suspicions of physical abuse from his father, from whom he is essentially estranged. He is largely in debt and suffers from depression so severe that, at times, he spends weeks in bed. He had no formal education and the one woman he loves has informed him that she is moving to another state.
Some of you who know your history well, know this man to be Abraham Lincoln – just over 20 years later, he would be the President to lead America through some of its most painful years in its history.
He was perhaps the greatest Republican in the landscape of American politics. He reminds us of the core Republican principle – that there is no power greater than an honest man determined to improve himself, that one individual committed to betterment is the embodiment of the American dream. It is a value that we must hold paramount.
I want to tell you about another man who has inspired me personally. In 1921, just a few hours east of here, this man got out of the Maine waters on a beautiful July day and he began to feel a numbness in his legs and a profound tiredness.
This man was in the prime of his life - handsome and athletic, Harvard educated and rich beyond imagination. His childhood could not have been more different than that of Lincoln – he was reared in the context of summer homes and European vacations. An only child with private tutors, massive estates, and yachts – everything he could have wanted, could be his.
He was the up and coming star of the Democratic Party – discussed as a future Governor of New York and previously the Secretary of the US Navy. But on this day, he left these Maine waters and could only lie down – and he would never walk alone again.
His wife brought him by train immediately back to New York where his doctor confirmed what the Maine country doctor had said – he had been struck by adult-onset polio. This man was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who would go on to lead our country out of the Great Depression and most deadly war in human history, a war against the depravity of fascism.
Of all that he had in life, and he had much, he would later say, it may have been his polio that brought him the most – for he realized that his countrymen had been struck down – just as he had been struck down –and it brought him empathy and strength. It delivered to him true compassion, a sense of deep community, and a commitment to others. These are the core values of the Democratic Party.
Today, I would ask each legislator to hold the core values of both these great men as equal in their hearts.
Let us reflect and embody these values of Compassion, Community, and Self Determination - not as Democrats and Republicans, but as Mainers. As people committed to our great state - who know that each cannot exist without the other.
II: The Work Ahead
We all recognize that Maine is at a crossroads. Our state is changing quickly. But for those who would too easily disparage the state in which we live – there are new reasons for optimism and hope.
Incomes are on the rise Population is growing steadily And the number of Mainers attaining college degrees is growing Our amazing landscape, our people, and our quality of life have earned us a nationwide reputation But it is also fair to say that Maine has not yet reached its full potential.
In just half a lifetime our world has changed under our feet. When I was a child my mother worked at a shoe factory, like the textile and pulp and paper mills that once lined the great rivers of our state. And my Grandfather was a fisherman at a time when Georges Bank was filled with fish.
In only half a lifetime, this has all changed. Today, we are watching a new dream and a new economy take root.
We believe that in this moment of tremendous opportunity - Maine’s best days are yet to come. We come together now, as public policy makers, to make these new dreams, but there are challenges that must be met.
Challenges I:
We have an antiquated tax system that must be changed. This is a task we must share in. And though we have a long tradition of local control, we must work to correct a tax system that rewards duplication and inefficiency. We must ask what is the highest and best use of our taxpayer money.
We must recognize that we live in a state which has among the highest in administrative overhead costs, and among the lowest in economic development investments. As policy makers – we must restore a better balance. Allowing us to make the crucial investments in infrastructure, and in growing economic industries like bio-tech and bio-med.
II:
We are entering an economy where knowledge is the single greatest resource, and the most valuable asset a worker can gain. Yet Maine is 11 percent behind the rest of New England in college degree attainment. Over 4,200 jobs went unfilled last year alone, due to the lack of skilled labor. The greatest social and economic waste is that of human potential.
We must make college more affordable, in order to build our economic strength and ensure that we provide all Maine children with the same opportunity for success.
III:
Maine is also rapidly losing its open space and traditional character. In the last 20 years, development and sprawl have changed the face of 1,300 square miles of the Maine landscape – an area the size of Rhode Island. In some areas of the state, a quarter of an acre of land an hour is being permanently altered by development.
Today, poorly planned development and sprawl are endangering our most valuable and most fragile resource – our landscape… threatening our environment and our economic future. We must make policies that will shape a more sustainable future, and protect the legacy we have inherited and should pass on.
IV: Our country also faces a national crisis in health care. Health care is vital to the health and safety of our families and we must continue to focus our energies and our ingenuity on providing access to affordable health care. We must acknowledge that current national trends are heading in the wrong direction – as more individuals become uninsured, and still more families are forced to pay for coverage that provides no insurance at all.
Some will say that this is an intimidating agenda for the next two years. But as it is written in the Talmud: “It is not up to you finish the work, but neither are you free to ignore it.”
Our unique challenge in this Legislature – is nothing less than to lay the granite stones that will serve as the foundation for a prosperous and sustainable future in Maine.
The President of the Senate and I will work together create a Special Select Committee on Prosperity. This Committee will rely on the direct input of the standing committees of expertise. Through their work, they will report back to the Legislature, and to the people of this great state, with a thoughtful plan that will chart a course for economic growth and broad prosperity for our people.
This roadmap for prosperity will be bipartisan and it will focus on spreading economic development across the state. It will be the responsibility of every member of this Legislature to contribute to this prosperity plan, and to ensure its passage so that our state can finally be equipped with a balanced and long-term plan for social and economic vitality.
III
Finally, I want to tell you why we’ll be successful.
It comes from the inheritance bestowed upon us over 220 years ago. It remains a promise unfulfilled, it is the greatest promise ever made to any people at any time and at its core is opportunity.
It says:
You will not be ...chained by the status of your father …condemned by the substance of your beliefs, religious and political …denied the fruit of this world by the color of your skin or the gender of your body - But rather….
“You will be judged by the quality of your character, - the skill of your hands and mind - and the strength of your work ethic”
The promise of equal opportunity is the greatest promise ever made to a people – and if we don’t believe it, ask the millennia of those of our ancestors that were denied it.
As Mainers, we believed so deeply in this promise of opportunity – this inheritance – We sacrificed thousands of our native children to keep that promise alive in the fight to eliminate slavery and keep our union together that in the years after the civil war, dozens of Maine hamlets and villages were abandoned – left hollow and deserted – when so few men returned to pull the nets, cut the timber, plow the fields of our communities.
It was a sacrifice unparalleled.
In the tiny village of Deer Isle over half of the men between 18 and 40 returned home in caskets…. And are buried today in the south cemeteries of Penobscot Bay and throughout out Maine. And I believe if you could ask them, deep into the ground:
Why would you leave this beautiful, quiet Northern New England village? Why would you kiss goodbye the hands of your children, the lips of your wives? They would tell you: Because that promise was so good and so real and so long in coming.
Today, our generation, this legislature, are the stewards of that promise. If we hold equal the best values of both parties, commit ourselves to honestly facing our challenges and putting forth the best of our talents, of our people, we are destined for success.
Thank you for this tremendous opportunity to serve as your Speaker – it is the one of the greatest opportunities of my life. I offer you my determination and my full commitment, and a promise to hold our strong Maine values as we push forward in crafting a lasting legacy for our state.