 | Sen. Joe Biden (D) |
| U.S. Senator from Delaware |
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Sen. Joe Biden is an experienced political leader who has stayed in touch with his roots. Throughout his service in the U.S. Senate, Biden has still taken the train home every night to Wilmington, Del., to raise his children and stay in touch with his constituents.
Born in Scranton, Penn., to working-class parents, Biden has pursued a modest life of public service. According to Open Secrets, a nonpartisan campaign watchdog group, Biden is the least wealthy member of the U.S. Senate.
Biden has risen to become the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He’s also been a strong supporter of the interests and values of America’s working families. He’s a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act and a strong voice for making sure government acts on behalf of everyone. Whether it’s access to college education, family and medical leave for workers, fair pay for women, support for our nation’s veterans and their families or funding for police and firefighters, Biden has always been a leader on the issues that affect working people’s lives.
Biden will be a strong governing partner for Barack Obama and a fighter for working families.
ECONOMY
“Under eight years of Bush and McCain, that American dream is slipping away….You feel it in your lives. You see it in your shrinking wages, and the cost of everything from groceries to health care to college to filling up your car at the gas station…we cannot as a nation stand for four more years of this.”
-Vice Presidential Announcement, 8/23/08
Joe Biden:
- Voted for an economic stimulus package that would extend unemployment insurance.
- Supported investing in America’s infrastructure.
- Opposed Bush’s unfair tax cuts aimed at the very wealthy.
WORKERS’ RIGHTS
“The future of our economic stability rests on the growth, not the decline, of the union movement….We have to re-invigorate the middle class, and there’s one clear proven strategy to do that: re-invigorate the union movement in the United States of America.”
-Video Introduction, AFL-CIO Presidential Candidates Forum
Joe Biden:
- Co-sponsored and supported the Employee Free Choice Act.
- Voted in favor of collective bargaining rights for public employees.
- Has written to employers on behalf of workers and their right to bargain for a fair contract.
GOOD JOBS
“To create good American jobs in a global economy, we have to address the cost of health care, insist on labor and environmental standards in trade agreements, invest in education (pre-school through higher education), and invest in innovation and support bringing new technologies to market.”
-AFL-CIO Presidential Candidate Questionnaire
Joe Biden:
- Voted to raise the minimum wage.
- Voted for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
- Voted to ensure prevailing wages and other protections for workers on federal projects.
- Voted against privatizing jobs in Walter Reed and other federal facilities.
- Supporting investing in the energy industry to create jobs and lower energy costs.
HEALTH CARE
“Everyone—adults and children—should have access to health care in this country….Let me be clear—to me it is not a question of if we’re going to provide universal health care—but how we’re going to do it.”
-AFL-CIO Presidential Candidate Questionnaire
Joe Biden:
- Supports a health care plan that offers everyone a chance at affordable, high-quality insurance.
- Voted to allow Medicare to negotiate for lower-cost prescription drugs.
- Voted to re-authorize and improve the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
- Voted against cutting Medicare and Medicaid.
- Supports electronic medial records.
TRADE
“Our trade policy should not reward exploitation of people or low environmental standards….We should guarantee American workers the security they deserve.”
-AFL-CIO Presidential Candidate Questionnaire
Joe Biden:
- Voted against the Central American Free Trade Agreement.
- Voted against bad trade deals with Oman, Singapore, the Domninican Republic and Chile.
RETIREMENT
“No one in this country should work their whole life only to end up with nothing. Retirement security requires three things: Social Security, pensions and personal savings, and affordable health care.”
-AFL-CIO Presidential Candidate Questionnaire
Joe Biden:
- Opposes Social Security privatization.
- Voted for a resolution rejecting any Social Security plan requiring deep benefit cuts.
TAKE ACTION
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Paid for by the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Political Contributions Committee, www.aflcio.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
