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IowaPolitics.com: Clinton pledges to sign union-rights bill
7/20/2007

By Chris Dorsey
IowaPolitics.com

DES MOINES – In a keynote address before a key union audience, Sen. Hillary Clinton on Friday night pledged to sign major union rights legislation.

Talking to about 250 people at the state AFSCME convention at the Airport Hilton, Clinton backed the idea of making it easier to organize and join unions. AFSCME members and leadership are influential in who wins the Iowa caucuses, and Clinton needs many of them to back her in order to beat rival John Edwards, a perceived union favorite.

“I believe labor unions are essential to continuing and growing the middle class,” Clinton said in her keynote address. “I will be the president who signs the employee free choice act. We will get back to leveling the playing field. So, you know the government is not against you and knows the important role you play in society.”

Backers say the proposed federal “Employee Free Choice Act” would ensure workers have a fair chance to form a union. The crowd applauded the senator’s commitment to this pledge. The proposed Employee Free Choice Act would allow workers to make decisions about union representation without interference or coercion from their employers.

Clinton also had harsh words about the Bush administration, saying she couldn’t wait to end the chapter of this presidency.

“There is a lot of work to do in this country,” the Democratic hopeful said. “We are ready to turn the page on George Bush and Dick Cheney. I know a lot of us are ready to turn that page today. As soon as they leave and I am there, we are going to get America on the right track again.”

She closed her address with a hot topic in Washington, D.C. – efforts by the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate to withdraw troops from Iraq.

“We had an experiment in extremism and it sure hasn’t worked, overseas or at home,” she said as she was greeted by a rousing applause from the crowd. “We aren’t giving up (on ending the war). We are going to keep trying. This war is George Bush’s war. He failed to listen to his military experts or any other experts.”

Clinton is leading in many national polls, but in Iowa she still trails former Edwards, who has had a lock on the state top spot since announcing his intentions last December to seek the presidency.

However, with the caucuses still six months out, folks like Russ and Jeannie Pfeiffer of Council Bluffs and Karen Von Behren of Burlington can play a role in seeing if those polls hold true.

“It is always interesting to hear what they all have to say – if you are going to vote,” said Russ Pfieffer, who said he intends to caucus on Jan. 14, 2008. But he has yet to determine his preferred candidate.

This was also the first time Jeannie Pfeiffer saw Clinton in person. She was eager to see the candidate first hand -- especially after she received a glowing report from her sister, who has seen the candidate speak.

Von Behren met Clinton many years ago when former President Bill Clinton was on the campaign trail. She said she liked what she saw nearly 15 years ago, and she was enthused this time to see Mrs. Clinton as the presidential candidate.

“I think she is very intelligent,” Von Behren said. “She researches problem areas, and has the ability to listen and work with the other party to get things done.”

The former first lady also discussed making college affordable for all students, universal health care and restoring a government that promotes and takes care of the middle class.


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