Dover Fourth of July Keynote
July 4, 2001
Thank you for joining me here in our state capitol and my current home to celebrate the Fourth of July.
Today marks the 225th anniversary of the founding of our country. It’s been 225 years since a group of men gathered in a hot, stuffy room in Philadelphia and, with only an idea and words put on paper, changed the course of the world.
So often, history is made by action, through the prevailing of one force over another, such as in a battle or a war. Often history is made by lack of action. Sometimes history is made by accident.
But the birth of our country and all that has flowed from it since then was made possible by an idea. That idea was that all men are created equal.
It was a revolutionary idea at the time, and it would still be considered revolutionary today in some parts of our world and in some less enlightened minds.
And just as years of progress in philosophy and theory led to the statement that “all men are created equal,” we have continued to evolve our understanding since that day in 1776. Now we know that truly what is meant is that “all people are created equal.”
The system of government that flowed from this idea has led the world in advancing human rights and in fulfilling human dreams. America has served as a model for those countries that wished to emulate us, but it has also outlasted and stood over the ashes of those countries that had different philosophies and thus wished to tear us down.
“All people are created equal” is the notion that has allowed a farmer, a teacher, an actor, and at least one failed businessman to become presidents of the United States and leaders of the free world.
It is a notion that allowed me, the daughter of a sharecropping farmer, to become your governor.
It is a notion that is so embedded in many of the actions and initiatives of government today that we don’t even realize it. But it is there, woven through the motivations of our elected officials.
In Delaware, we have just completed the legislative session for the year and I am pleased to report that many of the initiatives that I talked about when I campaigned to become your Governor were achieved.
As an aside, I must say that I owe a great deal of gratitude to the members of the General Assembly who treated my ideas with honesty and respect, so that while we may not have always agreed, we were always able to have a civil discussion.
The civility in government that took place here in Delaware this year is often sought in other state capitols and in Washington, but it is rarely found. The citizens of Delaware should be proud of their leaders.
As I said, this courteous attitude resulted in many parts of the agenda that I had proposed becoming law. It was an agenda that was based on what the people of this state told me was important, not the other way around. And it is an agenda that is derived in large part from the notion of equality.
Education
First, we have committed to improve education in Delaware by focusing on the basic skills that make learning in school and success in life possible. We have funded reading specialists for over half of Delaware’s public elementary schools and will begin pilot academic after-school programs to prevent students don’t fall behind.
These initiatives are important because our public school system is based on the idea that education is the great equalizer in our society. No matter where you are born, where you grow up, or how much money your family has, you have the right to a thorough and quality education. And we will work hard to help overcome any disadvantages that may stem from a child’s background.
If we didn’t believe that “all people are created equal,” we might well have a school system that gives less to low achievers, rather than believing it is our duty to give more.
Patient’s Bill of Rights
Yesterday, I signed into law a Patient’s Bill of Rights that is among the most comprehensive in the country. It aims to shift control of medical care away from insurance companies and HMOs and back to patients, their doctors and their families.
It does this by creating and expanding patient rights in disputes with HMOs over coverage, by requiring coverage of emergency room visits no matter where they occur and visits to specialists if the HMOs network doesn’t have a specialist in that field.
In this country and this state, “all people are created equal.” So adequate health care isn’t just for those who afford it. And it certainly isn’t just for those who can afford attorneys to fight for them when an HMO breaks the agreement they have made with it by paying their premiums. So that is why this new Patient’s Bill of Rights is so crucial.
Environmental Right-To-Know
Another key component of my agenda for the year was called Environmental Right-To-Know. For years, I have heard complaints that when a factory or facility in Delaware has an environmental release, such a discharge of gases in to the air or chemicals into the water, that it may be days or even weeks until the surrounding community finds out.
Now, however, we have created a system that will require a company to notify neighbors inside of 24 hours when an event like that occurs. The intent is not to scare people, but to give them information that allows that to make reasoned decisions.
Business and industry are a crucial part of our state and our country, and we are thankful for their contributions to our communities. But because “all people are created equal,” individuals have the right to know when a plant has an incident that could affect their lives and their health. In other countries and other forms of government, individuals are second to large industry. But not here.
Livable Delaware
The last part of my agenda that I want to talk about is my “Livable Delaware” strategy for controlling growth and preserving our way of life. I am proud to say that we have passed a series of measures aimed at directing development to the parts of our state that are prepared for it, and away from the areas that should be preserved.
We will do this by imposing high impact fees to discourage growth in rural areas, with no impact fees in areas around existing municipalities where we want growth. We will do it by requiring annexations to be well planned, and by continuing to purchase open space for preservation. We will do it by encouraging industry to reusing old industrial sites rather than creating new ones.
Some would say that such measures are unnecessary; that as long as a person or a business has the money to build a home or office or factory, they ought to be able to build wherever they please.
But the truth is that decision has effects far beyond a single property. There is the loss of fields or forest, which was where air and groundwater is recharged. And then there is the cost to the state of providing roads and schools, water and sewer, police and fire service to that area. That is a cost borne by all the taxpayers of our state, not just the owner of that one home or business.
“All people are created equal,” and so all of us have a stake in such decisions. While we must not infringe on individual rights, we must be cognizant of when an individual decision can have far greater effects.
Conclusion
225 years ago, a group of patriots gathered and declared that “all men are created equal.” It was the founding of our country and the birth of a new way of thinking about our role in society and obligations to each other. It is an event that has attained mythic proportions in our minds and our history because it was such a bold step forward.
But I’d like to think that is an idea that still guides us today. It is a notion that still makes its way into the arguments and decisions that take place in this hall behind me and in the ones like it all over the country. Very rarely will you hear someone say that they are making a decision because “all people are created equal.” But very frequently, you will hear them say that they are making a decision because it is “fair.”
Fairness has become our shorthand for equality. It is bred into us from kindergarten on. It seems so basic that we may forget that there are parts of the world and event people in our lives for whom fairness to all is not a consideration.
But I believe the strains of the Declaration of Independence can still be heard in today’s civic discussions. The words may not be the same. But the ideas are. And that is the ongoing testament to our country and our democracy.
Thank you.
