Hillary Clinton stirred a crowd at Millersville University in Pa. into a near-frenzy Tuesday night

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Wed Mar-19-08 12:20 PM
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Hillary Clinton stirred a crowd at Millersville University in Pa. into a near-frenzy Tuesday night

Edited on Wed Mar-19-08 12:27 PM by bigtree

from Lancaster Online: http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/218397

Hillary Clinton stirred a crowd at Millersville University into a near-frenzy Tuesday night when she promised to scrap the federal No Child Left Behind Act if she's elected president this November.

"I know we can do better than that," she said. "I know we can have a better partnership between our president and our teachers and our families and our communities. I do not think we get the best educational outcomes by turning our children into little test-takers."

Clinton, the junior senator from New York and former first lady, swung through Lancaster County on Tuesday, holding a sometimes raucous rally in MU's packed Pucillo Gymnasium, which can hold about 3,500 people.

"The economy has been stalled," she said. "It's not creating new jobs. Last month, we lost 63,000 jobs in America. We don't have a strategy to start creating jobs and making sure prosperity is shared. That should be our goal � shared prosperity, not unequal wealth, which is what we've had the last seven years."

She talked about creating jobs by investing millions in new energy development, rebuilding America's infrastructure and ending "George Bush's war on science," which also drew loud applause.

She also advocated ending the "stigma on mental health" by including coverage in her health care plan, and said she wants to make it illegal for insurance companies to deny coverage based on a pre-existing condition.

"In America, it's unconstitutional to discriminate on the basis of race or gender or religion or ethnic origin, but it's OK for insurance companies to discriminate based on sickness," Clinton said. "And we're going to end that."

Clinton told a group of young veterans Tuesday that one lesson of the Iraq War is not to commit troops "unless you are prepared to go all the way and are prepared to be successful."

She said the Iraqi government has failed to create a stable political system despite the U.S. effort. "Does that mean we stay for 10 years, 30 years, 50 years? And if at the end of it the Iraqis still haven't gotten their act together, we're going to be facing the same tough questions."

The New York senator made her comments at a discussion to be broadcast by MTV to mark the fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein from power. The show is sponsored by The Associated Press and MTV.

Seven of the eight said they suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, and Clinton promised to increase spending on Veterans Administration programs to help them and millions like them.

One of the veterans, Christina Correa, asked Clinton if she had any special concern about a president's duties as commander in chief.

Clinton said it was daunting. "I watched my husband do it. I know from a lot of firsthand observation what goes into making those decisions, because any time you commit our forces to military action you're taking a risk."

Hillary Clinton used Philadelphia's City Hall yesterday as the backdrop to renew her call to change tactics and withdraw troops from Iraq, saying money spent on the war could be better used to help the national mortgage crisis and this week's shutdown of part of Interstate 95 here.

Clinton, D-N.Y., was joined by former CIA agent Valerie Plame and former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson. Plame's undercover identity was leaked to reporters by Bush administration staffers after her husband criticized the war in Iraq.

"I will tell you right up front that it is totally unfair and misleading to try to characterize George Bush's war as Hillary Clinton's responsibility," Wilson told a crowd of reporters.

"The fact is there is no military solution to Iraq's civil war," Clinton said. "A well-planned withdrawal is the one and only path to a political solution."

Clinton added that she thinks additional U.S. troops sent to Iraq last year helped quell the violence there but that Iraqi leaders had taken "very meager" steps to take control of their country. She predicted that those leaders would not step up unless they are certain U.S. troops are leaving.

Ending the Iraq war would curtail about $10 billion to $12 billion in U.S. spending each month, Clinton said. She clearly has ideas where that money could be used.

She pointed to Monday's discovery of a severely cracked bridge support column that forced the closure of two miles of I-95 as a "failure to deal with our infrastructure" akin to the failures of levees in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and the collapse of a Minneapolis bridge last August.

"Issues of race and gender in America have been complicated throughout our history, and they are complicated in this primary campaign," Clinton said during her appearance at City Hall.

"There have been detours and pitfalls along the way, but we should remember that this is an historic moment for the Democratic Party and for our country," Clinton said. "We will be nominating the first African-American or woman for the presidency of the United States, and that is something that all Americans can and should celebrate."