2020 Democratic Party Platform
2 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS
4 5 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
4 6 PREAMBLE
5 7 PROTECTING AMERICANS AND RECOVERING FROM THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
8 8 BUILDING A STRONGER, FAIRER ECONOMY
12 9 Protecting Workers and Families and Creating Millions of Jobs Across America
14 10 Raising Wages and Promoting Workers’ Rights
14 11 Enacting Robust Work-Family Policies
15 12 Investing in the Engines of Job Creation
15 13 Building A Fair System of International Trade for Our Workers
18 14 Putting Homeownership in Reach and Guaranteeing Safe Housing for Every American
19 15 Leveling the Economic Playing Field 20 16 Reforming the Tax Code to Benefit Working Families
20 17 Curbing Wall Street Abuses
21 18 Ending Poverty
21 19 Protecting Consumer Rights and Privacy
22 20 Tackling Runaway Corporate Concentration
23 21 Guaranteeing a Secure and Dignified Retirement
23 22 ACHIEVING UNIVERSAL, AFFORDABLE, QUALITY HEALTH CARE
24 23 Securing Universal Health Care Through a Public Option
25 24 Bringing Down Drug Prices and Taking on the Pharmaceutical Industry
26 25 Reducing Health Care Costs and Improving Health Care Quality
27 26 Expanding Access to Mental Health and Substance Use Treatment
27 27 Expanding Long-Term Care Services and Supports
28 28 Eliminate Racial, Gender, and Geographic Health Inequities
28 29 Protecting Native American Health
29 30 Securing Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice
29 31 Protecting and Promoting Maternal Health
30 32 Protecting LGBTQ+ Health
30 33 Strengthening and Supporting the Health Care Workforce
30 34 Investing in Health Science and Research
31 35 PROTECTING COMMUNITIES AND BUILDING TRUST BY REFORMING OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE
36 SYSTEM
32 37 HEALING THE SOUL OF AMERICA
35 38 Protecting Americans’ Civil Rights
35 39 Achieving Racial Justice and Equity
36 40 Protecting Women’s Rights
38 2 1 Protecting LGBTQ+ Rights
38 2 Protecting Disability Rights
39 3 Honoring Indigenous Tribal Nations
39 4 Ending Violence Against Women
42 5 Ending the Epidemic of Gun Violence
43 6 Supporting Faith and Service
43 7 Supporting Press Freedom
43 8 COMBATING THE CLIMATE CRISIS AND PURSUING ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
44 9 RESTORING AND STRENGTHENING OUR DEMOCRACY
49 10 Protecting and Enforcing Voting Rights
49 11 Reforming the Broken Campaign Finance System
50 12 Building an Effective, Transparent Federal Government
50 13 Making Washington, D.C. the 51st State
51 14 Guaranteeing Self-Determination for Puerto Rico
51 15 Supporting the U.S. Territories
52 16 Strengthening the U.S. Postal Service
52 17 CREATING A 21ST CENTURY IMMIGRATION SYSTEM
53 18 PROVIDING A WORLD-CLASS EDUCATION IN EVERY ZIP CODE
56 19 Guaranteeing Universal Early Childhood Education
57 20 Supporting High-Quality K-12 Schools Across America
58 21 Making Higher Education Affordable and Accessible
60 22 Providing Borrowers Relief From Crushing Student Debt
60 23 RENEWING AMERICAN LEADERSHIP
62 24 Revitalizing American Diplomacy
63 25 Rebuilding America’s Tool of First Resort
63 26 Reinventing Alliances
64 27 International Institutions
64 28 Foreign Assistance and Development
65 29 Transforming Our Armed Forces for the 21st century
65 30 Ending Forever Wars
65 31 Securing our Competitive Edge
66 32 Defense Spending
67 33 Keeping Faith with Our Veterans and Military Families
67 34 Civil-Military Relations 68 35 Mobilizing the World to Address Transnational Challenges
68 36 Global Health and Pandemics
68 37 Climate Change
69 38 Technology
70 39 Nonproliferation
70 40 Terrorism
71 41 Democracy and Human Rights
71 42 Advancing American Interests
74 3 1 Global Economy and Trade
74 2 Africa
75 3 Americas
76 4 Asia-Pacific
77 5 Europe
78 6 Middle East
79 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
10 11 12 The Democratic National Committee wishes to acknowledge that we gather together to state our 13 values on lands that have been stewarded through many centuries by the ancestors and
14 descendants of Tribal Nations who have been here since time immemorial.
15 We honor the communities native to this continent, and recognize that our country was built on
16 Indigenous homelands.
17 We pay our respects to the millions of Indigenous people throughout history who have protected
18 our lands, waters, and animals.
19 20 We respectfully acknowledge that we present this Platform at our
2020 Democratic National
21 Convention on the lands of the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians,
22 the Forest County Potawatomi Community, the Ho-Chunk Nation, the Lac Courte Oreilles Band
23 of Lake Superior Chippewa, the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the
24 Menominee Nation, the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior
25 Chippewa, the St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, the Sokaogon Chippewa Community,
26 and the Stockbridge-Munsee Community, Band of Mohican Indians.
27 5 1 PREAMBLE
2 3 America is an idea—one that has endured and evolved through war and depression, prevailed
4 over fascism and communism, and radiated hope to far distant corners of the earth. Americans
5 believe that diversity is our greatest strength. That protest is among the highest forms of
6 patriotism. That our fates and fortunes are bound to rise and fall together. That even when we fall
7 short of our highest ideals, we never stop trying to build a more perfect union.
8 9 When the American people go to the polls this fall, we will be choosing more than a candidate.
10 Character is on the ballot in this election. The character of our President, yes, but more than that:
11 the character of our democracy, our society, and our leadership in the world.
12 13 The challenges before us—the worst public health crisis in a century, the worst economic
14 downturn since the Great Depression, the worst period of global upheaval in a generation, the
15 intolerable racial injustice that still stains the fabric of our nation—will test America’s character
16 like never before.
17 18 The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare deep-seated problems in our society—the fragility of our
19 economy and social safety net, the risks posed by growing inequality, the impacts of racial and
20 economic disparities on health and well-being, and the profound consequences of deepening
21 polarization and political paralysis.
22 23 The bill has come due on the Trump Administration’s hollowing out of our public institutions:
24 the sidelining of experts, the rejection of science, the underinvestment in research, and the gross
25 corruption and abuses of power. President Trump’s dereliction of duty has caused the deaths of
26 tens of thousands of Americans, the loss of tens of millions of American jobs, and lasting harm
27 to our children’s education and future.
28 29 And it has revealed, at tragic economic and human cost, the emptiness of the Republican Party’s
30 “America First” foreign policy. Under President Trump, America stands alone. Friends and foes
31 alike neither admire nor fear President Trump’s leadership—they dismiss and ridicule it. The
32 Republican Party under President Trump has made America small—when we are a people called
33 to do the greatest things.
34 35 Democrats will fight to repair the soul of this nation. To unite and to heal our country. To turn
36 this crisis into a crucible, from which we will forge a stronger, brighter, and more equitable
37 future.
38 39 We must right the wrongs in our democracy, redress the systemic injustices that have long
40 plagued our society, throw open the doors of opportunity for all Americans, and reinvent our
41 institutions at home and our leadership abroad. We do not simply aspire to return our country to
42 where we were four years ago. We know we must be bolder and more ambitious.
43 44 We must once again stop another Republican recession from becoming a second Great
45 Depression. President Trump and the Republican Party have rigged the economy in favor of the
46 wealthiest few and the biggest corporations, and left working families and small businesses out
6 1 in the cold. Democrats will forge a new social and economic contract with the American
2 people—a contract that creates millions of new jobs and promotes shared prosperity, closes
3 racial gaps in income and wealth, guarantees the right to join or form a union, raises wages and
4 ensures equal pay for women and paid family leave for all, and safeguards a secure and dignified
5 retirement.
6 7 We must guarantee health care not as a privilege for some, but as a right for every single
8 American. For a century, Democrats have fought to secure universal health care. In the depths of
9 the COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump and the Republican Party are trying to tear health
10 care away from millions of people who depend on it for survival. Democrats will not allow that
11 to happen. We will not rest until every American can access quality health care and affordable
12 prescription drugs.
13 14 We must steel and strengthen our democracy, not distort and debase it. Democrats believe there
15 is nothing to fear from the voices and votes of the American people. We will restore the full
16 power of the Voting Rights Act and stamp out voter suppression in all its forms. We will curb
17 the corrupting influence of money in politics and protect the integrity of our elections from all
18 enemies, foreign and domestic. We will never accept political gridlock as our fate. We will never
19 tire in our fight to deliver results and create opportunity for all Americans. And we will end the
20 war on government that has politicized our institutions, denigrated public service, and left the
21 American people on their own instead of working to make them whole.
22 23 We must heal our nation’s deepest wounds, not fan the flames of hate. Democrats will root out
24 structural and systemic racism in our economy and our society, and reform our criminal justice
25 system from top to bottom, because we believe Black lives matter. We will ensure that our nation
26 continues to prize diversity and compassion, and welcomes those who yearn to participate in our
27 great democratic experiment by creating a humane, 21st century immigration system that
28 benefits all Americans.
29 30 We will give hate no safe harbor. We will never amplify or legitimize the voices of bigotry,
31 racism, misogyny, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, or white supremacy. Democrats will protect and
32 promote the equal rights of all our citizens—women, LGBTQ+ people, religious minorities,
33 people with disabilities, Native Americans, and all who have been discriminated against in too
34 many ways and for too many generations. We commit ourselves to the vision articulated by
35 Frederick Douglass of “a Government founded upon justice, and recognizing the equal rights of
36 all.”
37 38 We must lead the world in taking on the climate crisis, not deny the science and accelerate the
39 damage. From Houston, Texas, to Mexico Beach, Florida; from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to
40 Davenport, Iowa, the last four years have seen record-breaking storms, devastating wildfires, and
41 historic floods. Democrats will rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement and go further, building a
42 thriving, equitable, and globally competitive clean energy economy that puts workers and
43 communities first, and leaves no one behind.
44 45 We must provide a world-class education in every ZIP code, to every child, because education is
46 a critical public good. Democrats believe in universal early childhood education, and affordable,
7 1 high-quality child care. We will shut down the school-to-prison pipeline, and build a school-to
2 opportunity pipeline in its place. We will make college affordable again, and give Americans
3 relief from crushing student debt.
4 5 We commit to a foreign policy that accelerates our domestic renewal, not undermines it. We will
6 focus on what matters most to Americans—more and better jobs, greater security, a cleaner
7 environment, and a more inclusive and resilient society. Democrats will lead with diplomacy as
8 our tool of first resort and mobilize our allies and partners to meet the tests none of us can meet
9 on our own. We will stand up to the forces of authoritarianism, not aid and abet their rise, and we
10 will speak and act with clarity and purpose on behalf of human rights wherever they are under
11 threat. And we will honor our sacred covenant with our women and men in uniform, our
12 veterans, and our military families who have carried the burdens of wars that must—at long
13 last—come to an end.
14 15 Above all, Democrats still believe in the American idea—its principles, its purpose, and its
16 promise. We know that four more years of the crass, craven, corrupt leadership we have seen
17 from Donald Trump and the Republican Party will damage our character and our country beyond
18 repair. We pray, as Langston Hughes did, “O, let America be America again—the land that never
19 has been yet—and yet must be—the land where every man is free.” Democrats call on all
20 Americans to come together and seize this last, best chance to restore the soul of our nation—and
21 vote this November to ensure our greatest days are still to come.
22 23 8 1 2 PROTECTING AMERICANS AND RECOVERING FROM THE COVID-19
3 PANDEMIC
4 5 When we do not have competent, experienced, compassionate leaders in government, the
6 American people suffer. That is the case with the novel coronavirus. President Trump and his
7 Administration missed multiple opportunities to protect the American people from this deadly
8 pathogen. Instead of recognizing the danger and confronting it head-on, President Trump lied to
9 the American people about the disease’s severity, its transmissibility, and the threat it posed to
10 lives and livelihoods.
11 12 Make no mistake: President Trump’s abject failure to respond forcefully and capably to the
13 COVID-19 pandemic—his failure to lead—makes him responsible for the deaths of tens of
14 thousands of Americans.
15 16 COVID-19 has laid bare deep fault lines in our economy, our society, and our health care
17 system. Disparities in health care access, in environmental quality, in the employment market,
18 and in housing have contributed to disproportionate rates of infection and death among Black
19 Americans, Native Americans, and Latinos.
20 21 President Trump’s failure to pay attention to early intelligence reports about the pandemic
22 wasted critical weeks in which we could have prepared for the outbreak. Once the pandemic
23 began spreading in the United States, the President’s failure to lay out clear, consistent guidelines
24 for cities, states, businesses, and school districts to control the spread of COVID-19 created
25 widespread confusion and chaos. His reckless disregard for the advice of public health experts
26 has made it harder for mayors and governors to protect the American people. Rather than surge
27 the production of personal protective equipment and other critical supplies where they were
28 needed most, the Administration held life-saving resources hostage for political obeisance.
29 Instead of bringing Americans together, President Trump tried to divide us, using racist and
30 xenophobic rhetoric that has contributed to an increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans
31 and Pacific Islanders. And in the midst of the pandemic, the Trump Administration is arguing in
32 court to invalidate the Affordable Care Act and rip health coverage away from tens of millions of
33 people.
34 35 President Trump and his Administration have also failed to drive an economic response that is
36 commensurate with the scale of the challenge before us, preferring to act as though the recession
37 caused by his incompetent mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic will correct itself. He has
38 hung small businesses out to dry while cutting blank checks to the largest corporations; failed to
39 enact adequate support for public school systems, colleges, universities, and state and local
40 governments to maintain public services and jobs; endangered the health of essential workers by
41 failing to enact workplace safety standards; and neglected to protect working families from
42 economic ruin.
43 44 Democrats will save lives by using every available tool to beat back this pandemic, which
45 continues to sicken and kill hundreds of Americans per day, and lead a global effort to prevent,
46 detect, and respond to future pandemic threats.
9 1 2 We must start by making COVID-19 testing widely available, convenient, and free to everyone.
3 We must also expand funding so state and local public health departments can hire sufficient
4 staff to conduct contact tracing for everyone who tests positive for the novel coronavirus. Only
5 through widespread, regular testing and tracing can we hope to understand the scope of the
6 pandemic and contain it.
7 8 In a public health crisis, we all have to rely on each other. That’s why Democrats support making
9 COVID-19 testing, treatment, and any eventual vaccines free to everyone, regardless of their
10 wealth, insurance coverage, or immigration status. We are all only as safe from this disease as
11 are the most vulnerable among us.
12 13 It has always been a crisis that tens of millions of Americans have no or inadequate health
14 insurance—but in a pandemic, it’s catastrophic for public health. The current crisis would be
15 even worse without the Affordable Care Act in place. But in the COVID-19 pandemic,
16 Americans need even more help, which is why Democrats will take immediate action to preserve
17 and expand health insurance coverage. We will provide direct, increased support to states to
18 enroll eligible adults in Medicaid, have the federal government cover a higher percentage of the
19 bill, and add incentives for states which have not yet expanded Medicaid to do so.
20 21 For people who risk losing their insurance coverage if they lose their jobs in this pandemic and
22 in President Trump’s recession, Democrats believe the federal government should pick up 100
23 percent of the tab for COBRA insurance, which keeps people on their employer-sponsored plans.
24 We will re-open the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, even outside of the normal open
25 enrollment season, and expand subsidies to make it easier for people to buy health coverage.
26 Democrats will also make available on the marketplace a public option administered through the
27 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) which includes a platinum-level choice,
28 with low fees and no deductibles. Low-income Americans will be automatically enrolled in the
29 public option at zero cost to them, though they may choose to opt out at any time.
30 31 We will keep these emergency measures in place until the pandemic ends and unemployment
32 falls significantly. And should the United States find itself in another pandemic or severe
33 economic downturn in the future, these protections will be made automatically available, so
34 Americans are never again left to fend for themselves in times of crisis.
35 36 Democrats are appalled that President Trump failed to act on the advice of Congress to maintain
37 a strong stockpile of critical medical supplies, including personal protective equipment, or
38 adequately surge U.S. manufacturing of needed equipment through tools like the Defense
39 Production Act. The resulting equipment shortages endangered millions of lives, including those
40 of our brave frontline health care workers and other essential workers. Such shortages are
41 unacceptable and must never happen again. Democrats will direct the federal government to
42 work with private-sector manufacturers to dramatically scale up the United States’ domestic
43 manufacturing capacity for both personal protective equipment and essential medicines. We will
44 restore federal leadership to ensure medical supplies are distributed according to need, not
45 political favoritism, and never put states in the position of having to compete against each other
46 for life-saving materials.
10 1 2 Democrats will aggressively enforce non-discrimination protections in the Americans with
3 Disabilities Act and other civil rights laws, especially when designing emergency management
4 systems and new facilities and services in response to the pandemic, and prohibit rationing of
5 health care that refuses or diverts hospitalization, treatment, or supplies based on a patient’s
6 disability. We recognize people with disabilities living in group homes and other care facilities
7 are at greater risk of contracting COVID-19. We will improve oversight and expand protections
8 for residents and staff at nursing homes, which have seen some of the worst COVID-19
9 outbreaks. And we will expand support for telemedicine, so Americans do not have to go without
10 essential health care during the pandemic.
11 12 America must never again be left vulnerable to a global pandemic. Democrats believe we must
13 follow the informed advice of scientists and public health experts, and will take steps to protect
14 federal scientists from political influence. Democrats will act swiftly to stand up a
15 comprehensive, national public health surveillance program for COVID-19 and future infectious
16 diseases. We will recruit at least 100,000 contact tracers with support from trusted local
17 organizations in the communities most at risk to help state and local health departments use
18 culturally competent approaches to identify people at risk of contracting or spreading the
19 coronavirus.
20 21 Democrats believe we must reverse decades of underinvestment in America’s public health
22 infrastructure. We will substantially increase funding for the Centers for Disease Control and
23 Prevention (CDC) and for state and local public health departments, many of which suffered
24 deep budget cuts during the Great Recession and are at risk of further cuts as a result of President
25 Trump’s recession. Democrats will support medical and public health research grants for
26 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority-Serving Institutions
27 (MSIs), which are particularly well suited to research health disparities in the context of COVID
28 19.
29 30 Solving the public health crisis posed by the pandemic is the surest way to get the economy back
31 on track. Countries that have taken aggressive measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic and
32 stop chains of infection from spreading are poised to have stronger, faster recoveries than the
33 United States.
34 35 But containing the pandemic won’t be enough to repair the damage President Trump has done to
36 our economy and to the American people—or to build back better.
37 38 During acute economic downturns, Democrats believe that we must take care of our workforce
39 and aim to keep workers whole. We will reform the current unemployment insurance system to
40 enable more workers to remain attached to their jobs, including by promoting payroll support
41 and work-sharing programs with generous rates of wage replacement and requirements that
42 employers maintain workers’ benefits. For those workers who do lose their jobs, we will expand
43 the unemployment insurance system to cover more workers, including independent contractors
44 and gig, part-time, and tipped workers; make sure platform companies and companies that
45 misclassify employees as contractors pay in to support the system like other employers do; and
46 raise wage replacement rates, which are far too low in many states. We will expand, not cut,
11 1 nutrition assistance and food security programs that millions of Americans are relying on in this
2 crisis. Democrats will also make long-overdue investments to upgrade and modernize states’
3 unemployment system technology and ensure the Department of Labor conducts strong oversight
4 of state unemployment systems to make sure that unemployed workers can quickly and
5 efficiently access the benefits they are owed.
6 7 To prevent President Trump’s recession from becoming a depression, Democrats believe we
8 must act immediately to make ambitious investments that will support and create jobs. We
9 urgently need to support state and local governments, which are suffering severe budget
10 shortfalls due to declines in tax revenues while being asked to shoulder the burden of COVID
11 related services and rising unemployment. State and local budget cuts translate quickly into lost
12 jobs in education, health care, and social services—all fields where we need to be adding jobs to
13 meet the needs of the American people. Democrats will extend significant aid to state and local
14 governments, school districts, and public and nonprofit colleges and universities, including
15 HBCUs and MSIs, to address these budget shortfalls and secure jobs. We will condition state and
16 federal aid on maintaining and expanding public-sector employment, including provisions to
17 protect workers’ rights.
18 19 In states and cities across the country, too many parents are being forced to choose between
20 keeping their jobs and keeping their children safe. Democrats believe that making child care
21 affordable and widely available is essential to recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. We
22 will provide funding to stabilize the sector and ensure child care and educational settings are able
23 to meet the highest possible public health and worker safety standards to protect the health of
24 care workers, children, parents, and the broader community.
25 26 The COVID-19 pandemic has hit small businesses especially hard. Democrats support making
27 significant, immediate grants and loans to help small businesses make payroll, pay rent and other
28 expenses, and keep their doors open when possible. Some estimates indicate as many as 40
29 percent of Black-owned small businesses may not survive President Trump’s recession.
30 Democrats will prioritize support for Black entrepreneurs and other entrepreneurs of color, as
31 well as women entrepreneurs, including by expanding funding for Community Development
32 Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and other proven programs that invest in low-income communities
33 and communities of color.
34 35 We will impose rigorous oversight on big corporations seeking financial assistance to weather
36 the pandemic and President Trump’s recession, to ensure that federal dollars support keeping
37 workers on payroll, not enriching CEOs or shareholders. Taxpayer money should not be used to
38 pay out dividends, fund stock buybacks, or give raises to executives.
39 40 No one should have to choose between protecting their health and earning a living. Paid sick
41 leave is a necessity even under normal circumstances, but in a pandemic, it’s a matter of national
42 security. We will immediately enact robust paid sick leave protections as part of the COVID-19
43 response for all workers in the economy, including contractors, gig workers, domestic workers,
44 and the self-employed. And Democrats will take immediate action to protect workers on the job
45 where the Trump Administration has neglected them, from meatpacking plants to hospitals,
12 1 including by issuing and enforcing effective infectious disease workplace safety standards
2 through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
3 4 As millions of Americans have stayed at home to prevent the spread of the pandemic, it is plain
5 to see that in the 21st century, the internet is not optional: it is a vital tool for receiving an
6 education and for participating in the economy, and all Americans need access to high-speed,
7 affordable broadband service. Democrats will take action to prevent states from blocking
8 municipalities and rural co-ops from building publicly-owned broadband networks, and increase
9 federal support for municipal broadband. We will increase public investment in rural, urban, and
10 Tribal broadband infrastructure and offer low-income Americans subsidies for accessing high
11 speed internet, so children and families can fully participate in school, work, and life from their
12 homes. And Democrats will restore the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) clear
13 authority to take strong enforcement action against broadband providers who violate net
14 neutrality principles through blocking, throttling, paid prioritization, or other measures that
15 create artificial scarcity and raise consumer prices for this vital service.
16 17 President Trump and his Administration have not only failed the American people, they have
18 failed the world. In past public health crises, including the Ebola epidemic, disciplined American
19 diplomacy shaped and led a common global response, rallied public and private resources,
20 accelerated research into treatments and vaccines, and directed global emergency aid. In the
21 COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump not only failed to lead, he actively sabotaged global
22 efforts to slow the pandemic. He refused to work with our partners to identify and coordinate
23 manufacture of potential vaccines; allegedly tried to poach exclusive rights to a vaccine
24 candidate from our ally Germany; cut CDC and State Department programs for early
25 identification of infectious pathogens; withdrew funding and support for the World Health
26 Organization (WHO); and tried to distract from his dereliction of duty by drawing from the
27 authoritarian playbook he so admires—using racist rhetoric to blame “outsiders” and stoke
28 divisions at home.
29 30 Democrats will take the opposite tack by restoring American leadership, driving a coordinated
31 global health and economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and ensuring that we’re far
32 better prepared for future global health emergencies.
33 34 35 BUILDING A STRONGER, FAIRER ECONOMY
36 37 The economy is not working for the American people. In a matter of weeks, the abject failure of
38 President Trump and his Administration to competently respond to the COVID-19 pandemic
39 erased all the job gains made since the Obama-Biden Administration pulled the country out of
40 the Great Recession, and plunged the economy into recession once more.
41 42 President Trump inherited the longest economic expansion in American history from the Obama
43 Biden Administration, and he squandered it. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, President
44 Trump was presiding over a recession in the manufacturing sector, after years of growth in the
45 Obama-Biden Administration. He had the audacity to pay for a permanent tax cut for big
46 business by raising taxes on working families. He launched a reckless trade war with China that
13 1 cost more than 300,000 American jobs and sent farmers into bankruptcy, decimating the
2 American heartland. He has left our communities vulnerable and exposed to the impacts of
3 climate change, let other countries outpace us in the clean energy revolution America should be
4 leading, and completely failed to fulfill his campaign promise to the American people to invest in
5 rebuilding and modernizing our nation’s crumbling infrastructure.
6 7 But our economy was rigged against working families and the middle class even before the novel
8 coronavirus sickened millions and killed more than 140,000 Americans. Working families’
9 incomes have been largely stagnant for decades, while the cost of basic needs—from housing to
10 health care, higher education to child care—keep rising at precipitous rates. Meanwhile, the rich
11 have been capturing a larger and larger share of the economic pie, with incomes for the top one
12 percent growing five times faster than those of the bottom 90 percent.
13 14 America bills itself as the land of opportunity, but intergenerational mobility has plummeted;
15 children born in the United States are less likely to move up the income ladder than those in
16 Canada, Denmark, or the United Kingdom. Women still earn just 82 cents to every dollar men
17 earn, with even greater disparities for women of color. Median incomes are lower and poverty
18 rates are higher for Black Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and some Asian Americans
19 and Pacific Islanders, compared to median white households. And there is a persistent,
20 pernicious racial wealth gap that holds millions of Americans back, with the typical white
21 household holding six times more wealth than the typical Latino family and 10 times more
22 wealth than the typical Black family. President Trump’s recession threatens to deepen existing
23 inequities, as Black and Latino workers are less likely to work in jobs that can be done safely
24 from home, less likely to have savings to fall back on, and less likely to be able to access
25 unemployment insurance and other emergency programs electronically.
26 27 That’s bad for our economy, bad for our democracy, and bad for the soul of our nation.
28 29 That is why Democrats commit to forging a new social and economic contract with the
30 American people—a contract that invests in the people and promotes shared prosperity, not one
31 that benefits only big corporations and the wealthiest few. One that affirms housing is a right and
32 not a privilege, and which makes a commitment that no one will be homeless or go hungry in the
33 richest country on earth. A new economic contract that raises wages and restores workers’ rights
34 to organize, join a union, and collectively bargain. One that at last supports working families and
35 the middle class by securing equal pay for women and paid family leave for all. A new economic
36 contract that provides access for all to reliable and affordable banking and financial services. A
37 new social and economic contract that at last grapples honestly with America’s long and ongoing
38 history of racism and disenfranchisement, of segregation and discrimination, and invests instead
39 in building equity and mobility for the people of color who have been left out and left behind for
40 generations.
41 42 Democrats stand ready to take immediate, decisive action to pull the economy out of President
43 Trump’s recession by investing in infrastructure, care work, clean energy, and small businesses
44 to put Americans to work in good-paying jobs; shoring up state and local budgets to save jobs
45 and protect public health in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; and enacting fundamental
14 1 reforms to address structural and systemic racism and entrenched income and wealth inequality
2 in our economy and our banking system.
3 4 Protecting Workers and Families and Creating Millions of Jobs Across America
5 6 Americans deserve an economy that works for everyone—not just for the wealthy and the well
7 connected. But our system has been rigged against the American people. Democrats believe that
8 it is a moral and an economic imperative that we support working families by rebuilding the
9 American middle class for the 21st century, making sure this time that everyone can make it and
10 thrive, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, disability status, age, or ZIP code.
11 12 Raising Wages and Promoting Workers’ Rights
13 14 Democrats will fight to raise wages for working people and improve job quality and security,
15 including by raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. We know that strong American
16 labor unions help increase wages and job standards for workers across the economy, which is
17 why Democrats will prioritize passing the PRO Act and restoring workers’ rights, including the
18 right to launch secondary boycotts. We will repeal so-called “right to work” laws that undermine
19 worker power and lead to lower wages and less protection for workers across the economy, and
20 ensure those who have been left without wage and hour protections for decades—including
21 domestic workers and farmworkers—have the same rights as other workers. And we will take
22 action to rein in anti-competitive corporate power by rewriting the rules that have undermined
23 workers’ ability to advocate for themselves, including non-compete clauses, no-poaching
24 agreements, and contracts that force workers into mandatory arbitration to resolve violations of
25 employment laws.
26 27 Democrats will recognize unions with majority sign-up—via “card check” processes—and ban
28 captive audience meetings, which employers use to bully and browbeat workers. We will hold
29 executives personally accountable if they interfere in workers’ efforts to organize, including
30 issuing criminal penalties for intentional obstruction. We will take action to guarantee that when
31 workers come to the table, they are able to bargain with the employers who actually hold the
32 power, including franchisors, and penalize companies that bargain in bad faith with their
33 workers. Democrats will vigorously protect all private-sector workers’ right to strike without fear
34 of coercion, interference, and undue delay. We will also establish the federal government's role
35 in promoting and facilitating collective bargaining and helping the parties bring their
36 negotiations to a rapid and successful conclusion, committing to a high standard for intervening
37 in strikes, including under the Railway Labor Act.
38 39 Democrats believe taxpayer dollars should never flow to employers who steal workers’ wages,
40 violate labor laws, or engage in union-busting. We will increase funding and staffing at the
41 Department of Labor to aggressively enforce wage, hour, health, and safety rules across the
42 economy. Democrats believe employees who are being misclassified, including gig and platform
43 workers, deserve wage and workplace protections including minimum wage and overtime pay,
44 and we support using the ABC test to determine employee status.
45 15 1 Democrats will strengthen labor rights for the more than 20 million public-sector employees in
2 the United States by passing the Public Sector Freedom to Negotiate Act, which would provide a
3 federal guarantee for public-sector employees to bargain for better pay and benefits and the
4 working conditions they deserve.
5 6 We cannot hope to raise wages without taking on the profound racial biases at work in our
7 employment system. The wage gap between Black workers and white workers is higher today
8 than it was 20 years ago. It takes a typical Black woman 19 months to earn what a typical white
9 man earns in 12 months—and for typical Latinas and Native American women, it takes almost
10 two years. Democrats believe we need to be much more proactive and aggressive in rooting out
11 discrimination in our employment system. We will increase funding to the Equal Employment
12 Opportunity Commission and increase its authority to initiate directed investigations into civil
13 rights violations and violations of the rights of people with disabilities. Federal contractors
14 should be required to develop and disclose plans to recruit and promote people of color, women,
15 people with disabilities, and veterans—and be held accountable for delivering.
16 17 Enacting Robust Work-Family Policies
18 19 The United States is alone among advanced economies in guaranteeing neither paid sick leave
20 nor paid family leave for all workers. This puts excessive burdens on working families, and
21 especially working mothers, even in the best of times, and is catastrophic for public health in the
22 midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
23 24 Democrats will implement a high-quality paid family leave system that protects workers from
25 the unfair choice between attending to urgent health or caretaking needs and earning a paycheck.
26 We will fight to ensure all employers provide at least 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave
27 for all workers and family units, to enable new parents to recover from childbirth and bond with
28 their newborns or adopted children and allow all workers to take extended time off to care for
29 themselves or an ailing relative.
30 31 Finding and paying for high-quality child care is an emotional, logistical, and financial tightrope
32 for too many parents, and that needs to change. Working parents shouldn’t have to choose
33 between keeping their kids safe and earning a paycheck. Democrats will make major investments
34 in quality, affordable child care, including by significantly increasing the Child and Dependent
35 Care Tax Credit and providing access to affordable, high-quality child care on a sliding scale by
36 boosting funding for grants to states to help low-income and middle-class families afford child
37 care. We will improve compensation and benefits for child care providers and enact universal,
38 high-quality pre-K programs for three- and four-year-olds.
39 40 Investing in the Engines of Job Creation
41 42 Democrats believe the COVID-19 pandemic, and President Trump’s recession, demand
43 unprecedented, transformational federal investments to create family-sustaining and union jobs.
44 45 We believe that the world’s richest nation should have the world’s best infrastructure system.
46 That’s why we will invest in resilient, sustainable, and inclusive infrastructure. Democrats will
16 1 launch a clean energy revolution through historic investments in clean energy, clean
2 transportation, energy efficiency, and advanced manufacturing.
3 4 We will repair, modernize, and expand our highways, roads, bridges, and airports, including by
5 installing 500,000 public charging stations for electric vehicles, ensuring our passenger
6 transportation systems are resilient to the impacts of climate change, and using safe, modern
7 design approaches that allow drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, and others to safely share the road.
8 We will launch our country’s second great railroad revolution by investing in high-speed rail,
9 and commit to public transportation as a public good, including ensuring transit jobs are good
10 jobs. Democrats will invest to ensure passenger transportation, including public transit, is
11 affordable to all and accessible to people with disabilities. We will help transform Amtrak from a
12 laggard to a leader in passenger rail accessibility and ensure people with disabilities can receive
13 compensation when disability equipment, like wheelchairs, are lost or damaged by transportation
14 carriers.
15 16 Democrats will upgrade our nation’s ports, lock and dam systems, and freight infrastructure to
17 accommodate 21st century cargo, reduce air and water pollution, and create and maintain high
18 quality, good-paying jobs. We will increase demand for American-made ships by ensuring U.S.
19 cargo is carried on ships flying our flag. We will make sure that every community in America
20 has access to clean, reliable drinking water and safe wastewater systems in their homes,
21 including by replacing dangerous lead pipes. We will increase investment in innovative water
22 technologies, including water use efficiency, water conservation, and water reuse and recycling,
23 that reduce water waste and consumer bills. We will modernize and green our public schools,
24 and ensure they are accessible to students with disabilities. And Democrats will close the digital
25 divide that deprives more than 20 million Americans of high-speed internet access by investing
26 in broadband and 5G technology, including rural and municipal broadband, and restoring the
27 FCC’s authority to take strong enforcement action against internet service providers who violate
28 net neutrality principles.
29 30 All federally supported infrastructure projects, whether financed through grants, loans, or tax
31 incentives, should create good, union jobs that expand the middle class. That is why Democrats
32 will ensure labor protections, Davis-Bacon wage standards, project labor agreements, and
33 domestic sourcing requirements are included in any infrastructure legislation, and will block
34 anti-worker provisions, including forced arbitration. Democrats support transparent, accountable,
35 and sound management of publicly owned infrastructure and assets, and will ensure that local
36 jurisdictions are adequately protected from partisan power grabs seeking to strip them of those
37 assets. We will ensure robust federal oversight of any proposed transfers of ownership or
38 operations.
39 40 Democrats believe more products in our homes, stores, workplaces, and communities should be
41 stamped “Made in America” and will expand support for American manufacturing. We will end
42 policies that incentivize offshoring, and instead accelerate onshoring of critical supply chains,
43 including in medical supplies and pharmaceuticals. We will expand effective tax credits that
44 support domestic manufacturing and grow rural manufacturing jobs through investments in bio
45 based manufacturing. We will invest in innovation hubs and government programs to provide
46 small manufacturers with technical and business expertise so they can grow their revenues and
17 1 their workforces. Democrats support robust Buy America and Buy Clean standards for federally
2 supported projects, which help increase demand for domestically produced and low-pollution
3 raw materials.
4 5 To ensure all workers can access the good jobs that will be created and supported by these
6 investments and build a diverse pipeline of talent across the economy, Democrats will invest in
7 career and technical education and high-quality job training programs with formal worker
8 representation in program development, including pre-apprenticeship opportunities and
9 registered apprenticeships. We believe in the value of lifelong learning, and will increase
10 investments to support adult literacy and other skills development programs.
11 12 Democrats know that small businesses are among the best job creators in our country. We will
13 significantly boost funding for state small business grant and lending initiatives that generate
14 tens of billions of dollars of private-sector investment, especially for small businesses owned by
15 women and people of color. We will increase access to credit for small businesses in low-income
16 and rural areas, including for unbanked or underbanked businesses. And we will increase
17 funding for programs supporting businesses owned by women and people of color, including
18 ending the Trump Administration’s effort to starve the Minority Business Development Agency,
19 improving and expanding Small Business Administration (SBA) programs that most effectively
20 support women- and minority-owned businesses, and increasing opportunities for women- and
21 minority-owned businesses to obtain or participate in federal contracts.
22 23 Democrats will invest in the American heartland and rural communities. We will make it easier
24 for new and beginning farmers, ranchers, and foresters, including returning veterans, to start and
25 grow their operations by expanding U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) ownership and
26 operating loan programs. Recognizing the history of racial discrimination in USDA’s core
27 farming programs, Democrats will continue the reform efforts started under the Obama-Biden
28 Administration to ensure USDA takes a more proactive approach to supporting training and
29 resources for farmers of color. We will protect family farms and promote food security,
30 including by taking steps to limit foreign ownership of U.S. farmland and reforming agricultural
31 subsidies to better support small- and mid-sized farms. Democrats believe farmers should have
32 the right to repair their own farming equipment, rather than being forced to rely on large
33 corporations for even the simplest fixes. And we will expand domestic markets for family
34 farmers and ranchers by developing and growing regional food systems to deliver fresh,
35 American-grown produce to schools, hospitals, Department of Defense installations, and other
36 major public institutions, so small, mid-size, and traditional farmers can stay competitive.
37 38 Democrats will partner with America’s farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners to make the
39 U.S. agriculture sector the first in the world to achieve net-zero emissions, which will spark a
40 revolution in agriculture and open up new revenue streams for farmers in energy and waste
41 products, and grow bio-based manufacturing jobs. We will grow the nation’s biofuels
42 manufacturing sector, including by strengthening the Renewable Fuel Standard, supporting E15
43 blends, and supporting research, development, and deployment of advanced biofuels. We will
44 expand popular, voluntary programs for sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices that
45 help protect clean air and water and support wildlife habitats.
46 18 1 America’s farmworkers are essential to our economy, our communities, and our security. We
2 will enforce labor and environmental protections for farmworkers, including overtime and safety
3 rules protecting workers from exposure to pesticides and extreme heat, and ensure farmworkers
4 are able to exercise their right to bargain collectively. Democrats will empower small and mid
5 size family farms by tackling market concentration in agriculture, including by strengthening
6 enforcement of the Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Acts and the Packers and Stockyards Act.
7 8 The United States has long been a world leader in science, technology, research, and innovation.
9 Democrats oppose the Trump Administration’s efforts to undermine federal scientific research
10 institutions, apply political screens to research grants, and interfere with the work of career
11 scientists—actions which have a chilling effect on scientific discovery and are damaging to
12 America’s economic competitiveness. Democrats will support historic federal investments in
13 research, development, demonstration, and deployment, which will break new frontiers of
14 science and create jobs across the country in aerospace, artificial intelligence, advanced
15 materials, biotechnology, and clean energy and clean vehicles.
16 17 Democrats continue to support the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and
18 are committed to continuing space exploration and discovery. We believe in continuing the spirit
19 of discovery that has animated NASA’s human space exploration, in addition to its scientific and
20 medical research, technological innovation, and educational mission that allows us to better
21 understand our own planet and place in the universe. We will strengthen support for the United
22 States' role in space through our continued presence on the International Space Station, working
23 in partnership with the international community to continue scientific and medical innovation.
24 We support NASA's work to return Americans to the moon and go beyond to Mars, taking the
25 next step in exploring our solar system. Democrats additionally support strengthening NASA and
26 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Earth observation missions to better
27 understand how climate change is impacting our home planet.
28 29 Building A Fair System of International Trade for Our Workers
30 31 For too long, the global trading system has failed to keep its promises to American workers. Too
32 many corporations have rushed to outsource jobs, and too many countries have broken their
33 promises to be honest and transparent partners. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the risks of
34 relying too heavily on global supply chains, as shutdowns and shortages have created chaos for
35 workers and consumers and made our public health response even more challenging. The Trump
36 Administration has failed time after time to deliver for American workers on this crucial issue,
37 siding with corporate interests over our workers and launching a trade war with China that they
38 have no plan for winning—creating incredible hardship for American farmers, manufacturers,
39 workers, and consumers in the process.
40 41 Democrats will pursue a trade policy that puts workers first. We will negotiate strong and
42 enforceable standards for labor, human rights, and the environment in the core text of our trade
43 deals. Future trade agreements should build on the pro-labor provisions added to the United
44 States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) by Democratic members of Congress.
45 19 1 Democrats will take aggressive action against China or any other country that tries to undercut
2 American manufacturing by manipulating their currencies and maintaining a misaligned
3 exchange rate with the dollar, dumping products like steel and aluminum in our markets, or
4 providing unfair subsidies. Unlike President Trump, we will stand up to efforts from China and
5 other state actors to steal America’s intellectual property and will demand China and other
6 countries cease and desist from conducting cyberespionage against our companies.
7 8 We will eliminate President Trump’s tax and trade policies that encourage big corporations to
9 ship jobs overseas and evade paying their fair share of taxes. If companies shut down their
10 operations here and outsource jobs, we’ll claw back any public investments or benefits they
11 received from taxpayers. And we will take immediate action to repair the damage President
12 Trump’s reckless policies have done to American farmers, by working with our allies to stand up
13 to China and negotiate from the strongest possible position.
14 15 Putting Homeownership in Reach and Guaranteeing Safe Housing for Every American
16 17 Homeownership is at the center of the American Dream—and yet it has never been in reach for
18 all. Decades of red-lining, rising income inequality, and predatory lending practices targeting
19 low-income families and people of color have made homeownership all but impossible for
20 millions of working families. Homeownership has long been central to building generational
21 wealth, and expanding access to homeownership to those who have been unfairly excluded and
22 discriminated against is critical to closing the racial wealth gap. We have a nationwide shortage
23 of affordable housing units, and tens of millions of Americans live in homes that pose risks to
24 their health and safety. Homelessness has reached crisis proportions in a growing number of
25 states, and housing costs that rise faster than wages have put the squeeze on renters in many of
26 our biggest cities.
27 28 Housing in America should be stable, accessible, safe, healthy, energy efficient, and, above all,
29 affordable. No one should have to spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, so
30 families have ample resources left to meet their other needs and save for retirement.
31 32 Democrats believe the government should take aggressive steps to increase the supply of
33 housing, especially affordable housing, and address long-standing economic and racial inequities
34 in our housing markets. We will equalize access to affordable credit and improve access to down
35 payment assistance to help families of color, low-income families, and rural buyers purchase
36 homes. We will create a new tax credit of up to $15,000 to help first-time homebuyers, and will
37 make the tax credit refundable and advanceable, so buyers can get assistance at the time of 3
8 purchase, instead of having to wait until they file their taxes.
39 40 Democrats will supercharge investment in the Housing Trust Fund to greatly expand the number
41 of affordable, accessible housing units on the market. We will expand the Low-Income Housing
42 Tax Credit to incentivize private-sector construction of affordable housing, and make sure urban,
43 suburban, and rural areas all benefit. We will make energy efficiency upgrades for millions of
44 low-income households, affordable housing units, and public housing units in metropolitan and
45 rural areas to save families money on their energy bills and provide safe and healthy homes. And
46 Democrats will leverage existing programs, including at USDA, to build more affordable,
20 1 accessible housing and retrofit existing housing in rural areas. We will ensure all federally
2 supported housing projects, from new builds to retrofits, include mandatory requirements for
3 labor standards, accessibility, and civil rights protections.
4 5 Democrats are committed to ending homelessness in America. Democrats commit to providing
6 Section 8 housing support for every eligible family, and will enact protections to keep landlords
7 from discriminating against voucher recipients. We will increase investments in public housing
8 to expand availability for the first time since the 1990s, and improve and upgrade existing public
9 housing to ensure safe living conditions for residents, protecting tenants’ rights to return if
10 extensive renovations are needed. Democrats support a housing-first approach to ending
11 homelessness, because having a stable and safe place to live is essential to helping a person
12 tackle any other challenges they may face, from mental illness to substance use disorders to post
13 traumatic stress disorder. We will act swiftly to end homelessness among veterans and will enact
14 strong protections for LGBTQ+ youth, especially Black, Latino, and Native American LGBTQ+
15 youth, who too often find themselves on the streets.
16 17 Democrats will enact a new Homeowner and Renter Bill of Rights to protect families from
18 abusive lenders and landlords. We will empower renters by working to establish a national tenant
19 right to organize, and support outreach and education to help tenants advocate to preserve and
20 expand affordable housing. And Democrats will provide legal support to fight wrongful
21 evictions.
22 23 America’s history of using public policy and private lending restrictions to close neighborhoods
24 off to Black families and other people of color and strip equity from their communities is long,
25 painful, and unresolved to this day. The Trump Administration has made matters worse by
26 gutting fair lending and fair housing protections for homeowners. Democrats will vigorously
27 enforce the Fair Housing Act, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, the Affirmatively Furthering
28 Fair Housing rule, and the disparate impact standard, and hold lenders accountable for
29 discriminatory practices. We will use the federal government to enforce settlements against
30 discriminatory lenders, and require communities to proactively review housing patterns and
31 remedy local policies that have a discriminatory effect. Democrats will give local elected
32 officials tools and resources to combat gentrification, penalize predatory lending practices, and
33 maintain homeownership, including exploring targeted rental relief when exorbitant rent
34 increases force long-term residents from their communities and tackling persistent racial bias in
35 appraisals that contributes to the racial wealth gap.
36 37 Leveling the Economic Playing Field
38 39 The U.S. economy is rigged against the American people. Time after time, President Trump and
40 the Republicans have rewarded big corporations and their wealthy donors, and left working
41 families behind. Democrats will take decisive action to level the playing field for people of color,
42 working families, women, and others who have been left on the sidelines.
43 44 Reforming the Tax Code to Benefit Working Families
45 21 1 Our tax system has been rigged against the American people by big corporations and their
2 lobbyists, and by Republican politicians who dole out tax cuts to their biggest donors while
3 leaving working families to struggle.
4 5 Democrats will take action to reverse the Trump Administration’s tax cuts benefiting the
6 wealthiest Americans and rewarding corporations for shipping American jobs overseas. We will
7 crack down on overseas tax havens and close loopholes that are exploited by the wealthiest
8 Americans and biggest corporations. We will make sure the wealthy pay their fair share in taxes.
9 We will make sure investors pay the same tax rates as workers and bring an end to expensive and
10 unproductive tax loopholes, including the carried interest loophole. Corporate tax rates, which
11 were cut sharply by the 2017 Republican tax cut, must be raised, and “trickle-down” tax cuts
12 must be rejected. Estate taxes should also be raised back to the historical norm.
13 14 Democrats will reform the tax code to be more progressive and equitable, and reduce barriers for
15 working families to benefit from targeted tax breaks, including the Earned Income Tax Credit
16 and the Child Tax Credit. Our program of reform will provide immediate, marked relief for
17 working families, including more generous, refundable tax credits to benefit low- and middle
18 income families, and easier and more equitable access to tax provisions that help working
19 families build wealth, including by equalizing tax benefits for retirement contributions and
20 providing more accessible tax breaks for homeownership.
21 22 Curbing Wall Street Abuses
23 24 The scars of the financial crisis that triggered the Great Recession are still present in our
25 economy and our society. Banks should never be “too big to fail.” Democrats will work to
26 reverse the over-financialization of the American economy and curb Wall Street speculation by
27 maintaining and expanding safeguards that separate retail banking institutions from more risky
28 investment operations, and ensuring Wall Street investors pay their fair share in taxes.
29 30 We will strengthen and enforce the Obama-Biden Administration’s Dodd-Frank financial reform
31 law, including the Volcker Rule, to protect American workers from the impacts of future
32 financial crises, and will support an updated and modernized version of Glass-Steagall. And
33 when justified by the law, we will back criminal penalties for reckless executives who illegally
34 gamble with the savings and economic security of their clients and American communities.
35 36 Democrats will expand access to credit by creating a public credit reporting agency to provide a
37 non-discriminatory credit reporting alternative to the private agencies, and will require its use by
38 all federal lending programs, including home lending and student loans. And we will strengthen
39 banking regulations, including the Community Reinvestment Act, to ensure equitable access to
40 credit and banking products for all Americans, and reinvigorate the Consumer Financial
41 Protection Bureau (CFPB) to ensure that banks and lenders cannot prey on consumers.
42 43 Ending Poverty
44 45 Democrats remain committed to ending poverty and enabling all Americans to live up to their
46 God-given potential. We recognize that the official poverty rate, as measured and communicated
22 1 by the federal government, fails to capture critical needs like housing, education, health care,
2 transportation, energy, and other necessities, and therefore understates the true share of
3 Americans living in poverty. We will support the 10-20-30 funding approach, to direct at least 10
4 percent of federal funding to communities where 20 percent or more of the population has been
5 living below the poverty line for 30 years or longer. Directing more federal investment to the
6 communities most in need will help create jobs; improve and expand housing; modernize and
7 expand transportation, clean water, wastewater, energy, and broadband infrastructure; and
8 promote shared prosperity.
9 10 We will raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and guarantee equal pay for women, two
11 measures that in combination will pull millions of families out of poverty. We will make it easier
12 for working families to benefit from targeted tax breaks, including the Earned Income Tax Credit
13 and the Child Tax Credit, which too often go unclaimed by the lowest-income tax filers. We will
14 significantly expand affordable housing and build new public housing for the first time since the
15 1990s, and guarantee Section 8 benefits to all who qualify—all of which will help reduce
16 housing costs and increase housing availability for low-income families.
17 18 Democrats believe health care is a human right. We will incentivize states to expand Medicaid
19 and enroll low-income people who do not otherwise have health insurance in a new, high-quality
20 public option without premiums. We will double investments in community health centers and
21 rural health centers, and expand mobile health units, to make it easier for low-income people to
22 access health care.
23 24 In the wealthiest country on earth, it is a moral abomination that any child could ever go to bed
25 hungry. Democrats will increase funding for food assistance programs, including SNAP, WIC,
26 and school meals. We will also remove barriers that keep the formerly incarcerated from
27 accessing food assistance.
28 29 Democrats will provide substantially higher levels of support for programs and institutions that
30 boost economic development in America’s most impoverished communities, including by
31 doubling funding for CDFIs, expanding the Community Development Block Grant, increasing
32 the number of Rural Business Investment Companies, and expanding and making permanent the
33 New Markets Tax Credit.
34 35 One in four American households are either unbanked or underbanked, putting them at risk of
36 losing money due to exorbitant fees or usurious interest rates. Democrats will support and
37 encourage efforts in Congress to guarantee affordable, transparent, and trustworthy banking
38 services for low- and middle-income families, including bank accounts and real-time payment
39 systems through the Federal Reserve and easily accessible service locations, like postal banking.
40 41 Protecting Consumer Rights and Privacy
42 43 Consumers, workers, students, retirees, and investors who have been mistreated by businesses
44 should never be denied their right to fight for fair treatment under the law. Democrats will
45 support efforts to eliminate the use of forced arbitration clauses in employment and service
23 1 contracts, which unfairly strip consumers, workers, students, retirees, and investors of their right
2 to their day in court.
3 4 In the 21st century—and especially in the COVID-19 pandemic—it is all but impossible for
5 consumers, students, and workers to opt out of using the internet to shop, socialize, learn, work,
6 bank, and live. Democrats are committed to policies that will protect individuals’ privacy and
7 data rights while continuing to support and enable innovation in the technology sector. We will
8 update the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights proposed by the Obama-Biden Administration,
9 including adding strong national standards to protect consumers, employees, patients, and
10 students from data breaches, and work with Congress to pass it into law. Democrats will take
11 additional steps to protect student data privacy, particularly in preschool and K-12 settings where
12 most students are under 18, and ensure that data collected in schools is used only for education,
13 not for commercial purposes. And we support updating the Electronic Communications Privacy
14 Act, which has not been significantly amended since the 1980s, to afford the same protections to
15 digital content as physical content.
16 17 Tackling Runaway Corporate Concentration
18 19 Democrats are concerned that the increase in corporate concentration across a wide range of
20 industries, from hospitals and pharmaceutical companies to agribusiness and retail chains, could
21 be stifling competition and innovation and creating monopoly conditions that harm consumers.
22 We will direct federal regulators to review a subset of the mergers and acquisitions that have
23 taken place since President Trump took office, prioritizing the pharmaceutical, health care,
24 telecommunications, and agricultural industries, to assess whether any have increased market
25 concentration, raised consumer prices, demonstrably harmed workers, increased racial
26 inequality, reduced competition, or constricted innovation, and assign appropriate remedies.
27 Democrats will direct regulators to consider potential effects of future mergers on the labor
28 market, on low-income and marginalized communities, and on racial equity, as well as on
29 consumer prices and market competition. And as a last resort, regulators should consider
30 breaking up corporations if they find they are using their market power to engage in anti
31 competitive activities.
32 33 Guaranteeing a Secure and Dignified Retirement
34 35 Democrats are proud to be the party that advocates retirement security for all. We are the party
36 that created and strengthened Social Security, and defended public and private retirement plans
37 that provide a decent monthly income. And we are fighting to make sure that all workers have
38 the ability to save at work for emergencies and for retirement.
39 40 Social Security is the most enduring thread in our nation’s social safety net. We will enact
41 policies to make Social Security more progressive, including increasing benefits for all
42 beneficiaries, meaningfully increasing minimum benefit payments, increasing benefits for long
43 duration beneficiaries, and protecting surviving spouses from benefit cuts. We will eliminate
44 penalties that unfairly reduce public sector workers’ earned Social Security benefits. In light of
45 weakened retirement security for unpaid caregivers and caregivers for family members, who
46 sacrifice not only wages but Social Security benefits when they swap paid labor for unpaid care
24 1 work, Democrats support Social Security reform which better accounts for the challenges facing
2 unpaid caregivers—including incremental reforms to the benefit formula to mitigate the penalty
3 for unpaid care.
4 5 Democrats will reject every effort to cut, privatize, or weaken Social Security, including attempts
6 to raise the retirement age, diminish benefits by cutting cost-of-living adjustments, or reduce
7 earned benefits. We will ensure Social Security will be there forever.
8 9 Democrats will protect Americans’ retirement security, especially in the midst of the COVID-19
10 pandemic, and take action to protect public and private pensions to ensure workers keep the
11 benefits they have earned, including through multiemployer plans. We support amending federal
12 bankruptcy laws to protect workers’ earned pensions from being taken away by employers going
13 through bankruptcy.
14 15 We will also make it easier to save for retirement beyond core Social Security programs. We will
16 support approaches to retirement saving that enable workers and retirees to prepare for and
17 prosper in retirement, including reforms that will allow states and municipalities to create public
18 individual and pooled retirement account options that are easy for workers to access and
19 understand. We will advocate federal legislation to make it easy for all workers to save, not just
20 those in states or municipalities that have established their own programs. Democrats believe that
21 when workers are saving for retirement, the financial advisors they consult should be legally
22 obligated to put their client's best interests first. We will take immediate action to reverse the
23 Trump Administration's regulations allowing financial advisors to prioritize their self-interest
24 over their clients' financial wellbeing. And Democrats will equalize the network of retirement
25 savings tax breaks so that working people can build their nest eggs faster, while also providing
26 more equitable access to these accounts through automatic enrollment and relaxed contribution
27 restrictions for unpaid caregivers.
28 29 30 31 ACHIEVING UNIVERSAL, AFFORDABLE, QUALITY HEALTH CARE
32 33 Democrats have fought to achieve universal health care for a century. We are proud to be the
34 party of Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act. Because of the Obama-Biden
35 Administration and the Affordable Care Act, more than 100 million Americans with pre-existing
36 conditions, from heart disease to asthma, are secure in the knowledge that insurance companies
37 can no longer discriminate against them. Women can no longer be charged more than men just
38 because of their gender. And more Americans are able to get health coverage than ever before.
39 40 Democrats will keep up the fight until all Americans can access secure, affordable, high-quality
41 health insurance—because as Democrats, we fundamentally believe health care is a right for all,
42 not a privilege for the few.
43 44 Unfortunately, at every turn, Democrats’ efforts to guarantee health coverage have been met by
45 obstruction and opposition from the Republican Party. It has been Republicans who have
46 embraced junk plans that undermine protections for pre-existing conditions. It was Republican
25 1 state attorneys general who sued to block Medicaid expansion and Republican governors who
2 refused to extend Medicaid coverage to their citizens, leaving millions of low-income
3 Americans, disproportionately people of color, unable to access health coverage. And in the
4 midst of the worst global pandemic in generations—one that has left more than 140,000
5 Americans dead—the Trump Administration is fighting in court to invalidate the entirety of the
6 Affordable Care Act and eliminate insurance for tens of millions of people. Overturning the
7 Affordable Care Act remains a central plank of the Republican Party platform. The difference in
8 values between the two parties on this life-or-death issue could not be more stark.
9 10 The COVID-19 pandemic has made this difference in values painfully, brutally clear. President
11 Trump has repeatedly downplayed the threat of the coronavirus, bullied governors for enacting
12 life-saving public health measures, and left our frontline health care heroes without the
13 equipment they need to protect themselves and the American people. The burdens of this
14 pandemic have not been borne equally, as communities of color have suffered higher rates of
15 infection and death, and struggled to access life-saving care when they need it most. Our
16 essential workers have been deemed expendable by the President and his Administration.
17 18 As Democrats, we say with one voice: no more.
19 20 We are going to at last build the health care system the American people have always deserved:
21 one that finally provides universal health care coverage; reduces prescription drug prices,
22 premiums, and out-of-pocket costs; reins in overall health care expenses; and tackles the deep
23 seated inequities in our health care system. We will build a health care system that is driven by
24 the needs of patients and the people who care for them, instead of the profit motives of
25 corporations. We will tackle entrenched racial disparities in health care, reduce prescription drug
26 prices by standing up to big pharmaceutical companies, and make it easier to access mental 27 health and substance use disorder treatment and long-term services and supports in metropolitan
28 and rural areas alike.
29 30 Democrats will always fight to save Americans’ lives by making it easier and more affordable to
31 go to the doctor, get prescription medicines, and access preventive testing and treatments.
32 33 Generations of Democrats have been united in the fight for universal health care. We are proud
34 our party welcomes advocates who want to build on and strengthen the Affordable Care Act and
35 those who support a Medicare for All approach; all are critical to ensuring that health care is a
36 human right.
37 38 Securing Universal Health Care Through a Public Option
39 40 Democrats believe we need to protect, strengthen, and build upon our bedrock health care
41 programs, including the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Veterans Affairs
42 (VA) system. Private insurers need real competition to ensure they have incentive to provide
43 affordable, quality coverage to every American.
44 45 To achieve that objective, we will give all Americans the choice to select a high-quality,
46 affordable public option through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. The public option will
26 1 provide at least one plan choice without deductibles; will be administered by CMS, not private
2 companies; and will cover all primary care without any co-payments and control costs for other
3 treatments by negotiating prices with doctors and hospitals, just like Medicare does on behalf of
4 older people.
5 6 Everyone will be eligible to choose the public option or another Affordable Care Act
7 marketplace plan. To help close the persistent racial gap in insurance rates, Democrats will
8 expand funding for Affordable Care Act outreach and enrollment programs, so every American
9 knows their options for securing quality, affordable coverage.
10 11 The lowest-income Americans, including more than four million adults who should be eligible
12 for Medicaid but who live in states where Republican governors have refused to expand the
13 program, will be automatically enrolled in the public option without premiums; they may opt out
14 at any time. And we will enable millions of older workers to choose between their employer
15 provided plans, the public option, or enrolling in Medicare when they turn 60, instead of having
16 to wait until they are 65.
17 18 Democrats will also empower the states, as laboratories of democracy, to use Affordable Care
19 Act innovation waivers to develop locally tailored approaches to health coverage, including by
20 removing barriers to states that seek to experiment with statewide universal health care
21 approaches.
22 23 We also know that finally covering every American through the public and private insurance
24 system alone is not enough to guarantee universal access. That is why Democrats support
25 doubling investments in community health centers and rural health clinics, including increased
26 support for dental care, mental health care, and substance use services like medication-assisted
27 treatment, and why we will increase support for mobile health clinics. We will enact longer,
28 multi-year funding cycles for these critical health services so they can operate with greater
29 certainty, and will leverage innovative payment options through Medicare and Medicaid to help
30 rural health clinics keep their doors open. We will expand the National Health Service Corps to
31 address critical shortages of health care providers in rural areas, including primary care nurses,
32 dental professionals, and mental health and substance use counselors.
33 34 Bringing Down Drug Prices and Taking on the Pharmaceutical Industry
35 36 Too many Americans struggle to afford the prescription drugs they need to get or stay healthy.
37 No American should find themselves foregoing or rationing medications because they can’t
38 afford to pay—especially when taxpayer money underwrites research leading to the development
39 of many prescription drugs in the first place.
40 41 Democrats will take aggressive action to ensure that Americans do not pay more for prescription
42 drugs than people in other advanced economies. We will empower Medicare to at last be able to
43 negotiate prescription drug prices for all public and private purchasers—for families and
44 businesses, as well as older Americans—no matter where they get their coverage. We will also
45 prevent the price of brand-name and outlier generic drugs from rising faster than the inflation
27 1 rate. We will cap out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors, and ensure that effective treatments for
2 chronic health conditions are available at little or no cost.
3 4 For too long, prescription drug companies have gamed the system to justify their price increases
5 by any means available. Democrats will crack down on anti-competitive efforts to manipulate the
6 patent system or collude on prices. And we will eliminate tax breaks for prescription drug
7 advertisements.
8 9 Reducing Health Care Costs and Improving Health Care Quality
10 11 The United States spends more per capita on health care than any other advanced economy, and
12 has less to show for it. Health care costs have been increasing for decades, with average
13 premiums for an employer-provided family plan topping $20,000 in 2019. Democrats know we
14 can reduce out-of-pocket costs for families while improving the quality of health care for all. We
15 will make it easier for working families to afford high-quality insurance in the Affordable Care
16 Act marketplaces by ensuring that no one pays more than 8.5 percent of their income in
17 premiums and eliminating the cap on subsidies.
18 19 Democrats believe that when Americans are in the hospital or an emergency room, they
20 shouldn’t have to worry about whether their health care providers are in-network or not, which is
21 why we will outlaw the predatory practice of surprise medical billing. We will work to increase
22 price transparency in the health care system across all payers, and reduce paperwork through
23 uniform medical billing. And we will vigorously use antitrust laws to fight against mega-mergers
24 in the hospital, insurance, and pharmaceutical industries that would raise prices for patients by
25 undermining market competition.
26 27 Excessive prescription drug cost-sharing and voids in coverage such as dental, vision, and
28 hearing services can lead to severe health consequences for Medicare patients. Democrats will
29 fight any efforts to cut Medicare benefits, and support finding financially sustainable policies to
30 expand Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing.
31 32 Democrats will support policies that increase the number of primary care practitioners, registered 3
3 nurses, dentists, and dental therapists, especially in rural and low-income metropolitan areas, so
34 it’s easier for every American to access preventive and primary health care.
35 36 Expanding Access to Mental Health and Substance Use Treatment
37 38 Every American who needs it should be able to access mental health care or substance use
39 disorder treatment, no matter where they live. Democrats will aggressively enforce the federal
40 mental health and substance use disorder parity law and ensure that health insurers adequately
41 cover mental health and substance use treatment. We will also invest in training and hiring more
42 mental health providers, substance use disorder counselors, and peer support counselors,
43 including by expanding funding for health clinics, especially in rural areas, and increasing access
44 to these services through Medicaid. Trauma has a profound effect on both mental and physical
45 health, and Democrats will support increased training for health care professionals, educators,
28 1 social workers, and other care workers in trauma-informed care and practices. We will oppose
2 efforts to weaken HIPAA and FERPA privacy rights of people with mental illness.
3 4 The opioid epidemic has devastated American communities, and the Trump Administration has
5 completely failed in its response, leaving millions of families desperate for help. Democrats will
6 make medication-assisted treatment available to all who need it, and will require publicly
7 supported health clinics to offer medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction and approved
8 treatments for other substance use disorders. We believe we must stop over-prescribing while
9 improving access to effective and needed pain management. Democrats recognize that
10 incarcerated people suffer from serious mental health and substance use disorders at higher rates
11 than the general population, which is why we will support expanded access to mental health and
12 substance use disorder care in prisons and for returning citizens. We will ensure no one is
13 incarcerated solely for drug use, and support increased use of drug courts, harm reduction
14 interventions, and treatment diversion programs for those struggling with substance use
15 disorders.
16 17 Expanding Long-Term Care Services and Supports
18 19 The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerabilities of people who reside in institutional
20 settings, such as nursing homes, and made clear that biases within Medicaid create undue
21 barriers to home- and community-based long-term services and supports. Democrats will work to
22 eliminate waiting lists for home and community-based care and the institutional bias within
23 Medicaid, making investments in building the capacity of the Medicaid system to provide home
24 and community-based services. We will also help Americans pay for long-term care by creating
25 a tax credit for informal and family caregivers and increasing the Child and Dependent Care Tax
26 Credit. Democrats will also pursue policies to improve nursing home staffing and quality
27 standards, strengthen accreditation processes, and combat corporate abuses in nursing homes.
28 And Democrats are strongly committed to protecting and enforcing the Americans with
29 Disabilities Act and fulfilling the promise of the Olmstead v. L.C. decision, which found
30 institutional segregation of people with disabilities to be unconstitutional.
31 32 Eliminate Racial, Gender, and Geographic Health Inequities
33 34 The national statistics on American health care mask profound disparities in insurance rates,
35 access to primary and specialized care, and disparate health outcomes, which are a symptom of
36 those disparities in access. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the uninsured rate was nearly
37 three times higher for Latinos and nearly twice as high for Black Americans as it was for whites.
38 Some segments of the Asian American and Pacific Islander population faced uninsured rates
39 rivaling those of Black Americans and Latinos, and more than one in five Native Americans and
40 Alaska Natives was uninsured. Black children are far more likely than white children to suffer
41 from asthma. Latinos, Native Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and Black
42 Americans are diagnosed with diabetes at higher rates than whites. And average life expectancy
43 is more than two years lower for rural Americans compared to those who live in metropolitan
44 areas. 45
29 1 We recognize it is not enough to have a commitment to eliminating health disparities: we must
2 have a plan. That is why Democrats will launch a sustained, government-wide effort, with
3 leadership at the highest levels, to eliminate racial, ethnic, gender, and geographic gaps in
4 insurance rates, access to quality care, and health outcomes. That includes tackling the social,
5 economic, and environmental inequities—the social determinants of health like poor housing,
6 hunger, inadequate transportation, mass incarceration, air and water pollution, and gun
7 violence—that contribute to worse health outcomes for low-income Americans and people of
8 color. 9 10 We can and must fix these inequities by expanding coverage, making health care more
11 affordable, and tackling implicit bias in our health care system. Democrats will ensure federal
12 data collection and analysis is adequately funded and designed to allow for disaggregation by
13 race, gender, geography, disability status, and other important variables, so that disparities in
14 health coverage, access, and outcomes can be better understood and addressed.
15 16 We will expand access to health care for people living and working across the United States by
17 extending Affordable Care Act coverage to Dreamers, and working with Congress to lift the
18 five-year waiting period for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program eligibility for
19 low-income, lawfully present immigrants.
20 21 Democrats remain committed to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which disproportionately
22 affects communities of color and the LGBTQ+ community, and will support critical investments
23 under the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program and the Minority HIV/AIDS Fund.
24 25 Protecting Native American Health
26 27 Native American tribes have for too long been forced to cope with insufficient access to health
28 care and mental health services, nutrition services, and modern infrastructure. Democrats are
29 committed to pursuing environmental justice and climate justice, including for Indigenous
30 peoples and communities, and will invest significant new resources in clean water and
31 wastewater infrastructure, clean energy generation and distribution, and sustainable and
32 regenerative agriculture. And we will make mandatory and work toward full funding for the
33 Indian Health Service as part of our commitment to pursuing strong nation-to-nation
34 relationships and honoring the United States’ trust obligations to Native American communities.
35 36 Securing Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice
37 38 Like the majority of Americans, Democrats believe that every woman should be able to access
39 high-quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion. We will restore
40 federal funding for Planned Parenthood, which provides vital preventive and reproductive health
41 care for millions of women, especially low-income women and women of color, and LGBTQ+
42 people, including in underserved areas. Democrats oppose and will fight to overturn federal and
43 state laws that create barriers to women’s reproductive health and rights. We will repeal the
44 Hyde Amendment, and protect and codify Roe v. Wade.
45 30 1 We will address the discrimination and barriers that inhibit meaningful access to reproductive
2 health care services, including those based on gender, sexuality, race, income, disability, and
3 other factors. We recognize that quality, affordable comprehensive health care, evidence-based
4 sex education, and a full range of family planning services help reduce the number of unintended
5 pregnancies and thereby also reduce the need for abortions. We are proud to be the party of the
6 Affordable Care Act, which required insurers to cover prescription contraceptives at no cost to
7 women and has helped significantly reduce teen pregnancy rates.
8 9 Protecting and Promoting Maternal Health
10 11 Black women are more than three times as likely to die from complications of pregnancy and
12 childbirth compared to white women. To save mothers’ lives, Democrats will expand postpartum
13 Medicaid coverage to a full year after giving birth, invest in rural maternal health, promote a 1
4 diverse perinatal workforce, and implement implicit bias training for health professionals. We
5 will support comprehensive solutions to address every dimension of the Black maternal health
16 crisis in America and eliminate all racial and ethnic disparities in maternal health outcomes, and
17 support policies and approaches that will at least halve our nation’s unacceptably high maternal
18 mortality rate.
19 20 Protecting LGBTQ+ Health
21 22 We condemn the Trump Administration’s discriminatory actions against the LGBTQ+
23 community, including the dangerous and unethical regulation allowing doctors, hospitals, and
24 insurance companies to discriminate against patients based on their sexual orientation or gender
25 identity. Democrats will reverse this rulemaking and restore nondiscrimination protections for
26 LGBTQ+ people in health insurance. We will also take action to guarantee that LGBTQ+ people
27 have full access to needed health care and resources, including by requiring that federal health
28 plans provide coverage for HIV/AIDS treatment and HIV prevention medications like PrEP and
29 PEP, gender confirmation surgery, and hormone therapy. Democrats will recommit the federal
30 government to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2025.
31 32 Strengthening and Supporting the Health Care Workforce
33 34 The COVID-19 pandemic has made plain to people across the country that our health care
35 workers are heroes. Our doctors and nurses, our home health aides and physician’s assistants, our
36 public health professionals, our home care workers and nursing home workers, and our cleaners
37 and service workers have shown up to work every day despite dire shortages of personal
38 protective equipment. Far too many of them have lost their lives to this terrible disease, and
39 untold thousands are suffering the mental and emotional strain of losing far too many patients.
40 And yet, despite the critical role they play in our society and our economy, these frontline
41 workers are often underpaid and lack access to paid sick days, health insurance, and other
42 benefits critical for their own health and the health of patients.
43 44 Democrats believe that all jobs in the caring economy must come with family-sustaining wages,
45 good benefits, access to training and professional development, and the ability to join a union
31 1 and collectively bargain. We believe all employers funded by taxpayer dollars must pay their
2 workers at least $15 an hour and protect workers’ rights to organize.
3 4 Although health care jobs are among the fastest-growing in the economy, demand for services
5 still far outstrips supply, especially in primary care. We will invest in community health worker
6 care-forces around the nation proven to prevent, manage, and better treat chronic illnesses, and
7 empower first-time mothers with home visiting. We will close provider gaps and increase
8 diversity in the health care profession by creating a robust pipeline of talent with career ladders
9 for advancement. And we will also increase opportunities for community health workers to come
10 from the communities they serve.
11 12 Investing in Health Science and Research
13 14 Scientific research is at the heart of medicine—and of health care. Democrats want the United
15 States to be at the forefront of scientific research and discovery for the benefit of our people, our
16 economy, and our global competitiveness. We will support increased and sustainable funding for
17 health and medical research and federal grants across agencies, including at the National Cancer
18 Institute and other components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the CDC, and the
19 Agency for Health Care Research and Quality. We will increase the federal investment in
20 research and development for new medications through the NIH, and make sure that there is a
21 return on that investment for taxpayers. We will also build on the foundation of the Obama
22 Biden Administration’s Cancer Moonshot to break down silos and accelerate research into
23 cancer and cancer treatments by creating an agency with the sole mission of finding new cures
24 and treatments for cancer and other diseases.
25 26 Democrats also support increasing funding for research into health disparities by race, gender,
27 age, geographic area, and socioeconomic status, with a particular focus on how the social
28 determinants of health contribute to differences in health outcomes. Democrats will take steps to
29 increase the diversity of principal investigators receiving federal grants, as well as of participants
30 in federally supported clinical trials, to improve the quality and applicability of our medical
31 research for women and people of color, who are too often left out of research on disease and
32 medical responses to treatment options.
33 34 The Trump Administration’s systematic efforts to undermine, discredit, dismiss, fire,
35 disempower, and diminish the contributions of scientists, in health science and other disciplines,
36 have weakened our public institutions, slowed the pace of scientific inquiry, and profoundly
37 damaged America’s standing in the world. Democrats will protect the independence and
38 intellectual freedom of scientists, whether they are employed by the federal government or
39 receiving federal grants in support of their research, and take steps to shield our scientific
40 research agencies from future political interference.
41 42 43 44 32 1 PROTECTING COMMUNITIES AND BUILDING TRUST BY REFORMING OUR
2 CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
3 4 Our criminal justice system is failing to keep communities safe—and failing to deliver justice.
5 America is the land of the free, and yet more of our people are behind bars, per capita, than
6 anywhere else in the world. Instead of making evidence-based investments in education, jobs,
7 health care, and housing that are proven to keep communities safe and prevent crime from
8 occurring in the first place, our system has criminalized poverty, overpoliced and underserved
9 Black and brown communities, and cut public services. Instead of offering the incarcerated the
10 opportunity to turn their lives around, our prisons are overcrowded and continue to rely on
11 inhumane methods of punishment. Instead of treating those who have served their time as full
12 citizens upon their return to society, too many of our laws continue to punish the formerly
13 incarcerated, erecting barriers to housing, employment, and voting rights for millions of
14 Americans.
15 16 Democrats believe we need to overhaul the criminal justice system from top to bottom. Police
17 brutality is a stain on the soul of our nation. It is unacceptable that millions of people in our
18 country have good reason to fear they may lose their lives in a routine traffic stop, or while
19 standing on a street corner, or while playing with a toy in a public park. It is unacceptable that
20 Black parents must have “the talk” with their children, to try to protect them from the very police
21 officers who are supposed to be sworn to protect and serve them. It is unacceptable that more
22 than 1,000 people, a quarter of them Black, have been killed by police every year since 2015.
23 Democrats also recognize that all too often, systematic cuts to public services have left police
24 officers on the front lines of responding to social challenges for which they have not been
25 trained, from homelessness to mental health crises to the opioid epidemic. We can and must do
26 better for our communities.
27 28 Democrats know we can end the era of mass incarceration and dramatically reduce the number
29 of Americans held in jails and prisons while continuing to reduce crime rates, which have fallen
30 steadily from their peak nearly three decades ago. This is the moment to root out structural and 3
1 systemic racism in our criminal justice system and our society, and reimagine public safety for 3
2 the benefit of our people and the character of our country.
33 34 We must start by preventing people from entering the criminal justice system in the first place.
35 Democrats believe we must break the school-to-prison pipeline that sees children of color
36 arrested in their classrooms for misbehavior that ought to be handled in the principal’s office,
37 and build a school-to-opportunity pipeline instead. We support re-issuing federal guidance from
38 the Department of Education and the Department of Justice to prevent the disparate disciplinary
39 treatment of children of color in school and educational settings. Democrats believe every school
40 should have sufficient funding to employ guidance counselors, social workers, or school
41 psychologists to help guarantee age-appropriate and racially equitable student disciplinary
42 practices, rather than turning to police to resolve these issues.
43 44 A growing number of states have recognized it is unjust—and unjustifiable—to punish children
45 and teenagers as harshly as adults. We believe that if you aren’t old enough to drink, you aren’t
46 old enough to be sentenced to life without parole. The federal government will incentivize states
33 1 to stop incarcerating kids, and develop community-based alternatives to prison and detention
2 centers for youth and invest in after-school programs, community centers, and summer jobs to
3 provide opportunities for young people at risk. And Democrats believe that children who do
4 enter the juvenile justice system should be given a true second chance, including by
5 automatically sealing and expunging juvenile records.
6 7 Democrats believe we must ensure real accountability for individual and systemic misconduct in
8 our police departments, prevent law enforcement from becoming unnecessarily entangled in the
9 everyday lives of Americans, and reimagine policing for the benefit and safety of the American
10 people. In recent years, some innovative police departments have enacted evidence-based
11 reforms to change their approach by investing in robust training and putting in place—and, even
12 more crucially, enforcing—strong standards governing conflict resolution, de-escalation,