Chris Dodd for President

U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd sees the middle class as the foundation of the United States.

It’s the middle class, he said Tuesday evening in Fort Dodge, that builds the country, runs the Scout troops and holds its families together.

The Democrat from Connecticut plans to help middle class folks afford their health care and the educations of their children if he becomes president.

Speaking to about 40 people at the Fort Dodge Public Library, Dodd outlined his concept of a ‘‘universal health mart’’ to ensure that every American could go to the doctor.

He said the strategy calls for gradually enrolling everyone in the health care program now available to federal employees. Everyone, he said, would pay into the program and everyone would get benefits from it.

The candidate proposes to reward providers who develop preventive medicine programs that keep people out of hospitals.

Dodd said Tuesday he’d start implementing the program in January 2009 if he’s elected.

As a senator, he’s already moving to help people with their health care. He has just authored an amendment to a federal law that would give family members of wounded veterans six months of leave from work to care for that veteran. He said the amendment passed the Senate unanimously and awaits action by the House of Representatives.

The amendment is to the Family Medical Leave Act that he championed about 10 years ago. . . .

When President John F. Kennedy issued the boldest of challenges in 1961 — to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade — many thought it impossible and some derided it as lunacy. Likewise, when President Ronald Reagan stood at the Brandenburg Gate in 1987 and challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall," many greeted his words as mere Cold War rhetoric, and very few believed in the imminent collapse of communism. Presidents Reagan and Kennedy believed, however, and neither man was afraid to issue bold, sweeping challenges to the American people or to the world.

At this critical moment in our history, as we prepare for life after President George W. Bush, we desperately need to elect a president who is unafraid to issue bold, sweeping challenges to the American people. While many presidential candidates offer high-minded rhetoric, there is one candidate who has stepped forward with the boldest, most sweeping agenda of this campaign season. His name is Chris Dodd.

While he is not as well known as some of the other candidates, Dodd's record eclipses the field. During 26 years in the United States Senate, he has authored and fought for the Family and Medical Leave Act, sponsored legislation to fund autism research and treatment, created the Child Care and Development Block Grant program, and was named "Senator of the Decade" by the National Head Start Association for his efforts to expand the Head Start program.

Moreover, at a time when the next president will need to reach out and mend fences, Dodd has a proven record — and a natural gift — for bringing people together. When he authored the Family and Medical Leave Act, he was joined by Republican Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri. When he created the Child Care and Development Block Grant, he was joined by Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah. When he won passage of the FIRE Act to help our communities equip and train firefighters, he partnered with Republican Sen. Mike DeWine of Ohio.

Regardless of his record, however, this election is about the future, and this is where Dodd truly distinguishes himself — by his willingness to be bold at a time when our nation requires nothing less. . . .

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., became one of first lawmakers to try to enact proposals from the president’s wounded warrior commission, introducing a bill Thursday night to give up to six months of unpaid leave to the family or caregivers of wounded combat veterans.

Dodd’s proposal would extend to military families benefits under the Family and Medical Leave Act, which allows up to 12 weeks of time off work.

Dodd introduced the bill, S 1894, at the urging of former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., one of the architects of the original Family and Medical Leave Act who also was co-chairman of the President’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors. That commission reported its recommendations to President Bush Wednesday.

“Our troops are giving their all on the battlefield,” Dodd said in a statement. “The very least our government owes them is its total support for their family and medical needs.”

U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd is looking to give his signature legislative achievement — Family and Medical Leave — a patriotic boost.
Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, introduced legislation late last week that would give families up to six months of unpaid leave to care for a wounded soldier rather than the 12 weeks now provided.

"Our troops are giving their all on the battlefield," Dodd said. "The very least our government owes them is its total support for their family and medical needs." . . .

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Christopher Dodd's 5-year-old daughter, Grace, was sick Thursday - but Dodd's wife works from home, so she could take care of the child.

"Suppose we both worked outside the home? Do I not go to work? Does she? This is what people grapple with every day," the Connecticut Democrat said at a news conference.

He used his own life to promote his latest effort to expand the Family and Medical Leave Act.

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