Student Vote May Determine Shift in Federal Power

In 1968, I sat in a car with three friends and drove for hours to hear Robert Kennedy speak. We had no air conditioning, our quarters were cramped, and we were running late, with no time to get out and stretch our legs.

On the drive back not one of us doubted that the trip had been worth every mile of discomfort. That speech, and others like it, helped clarify the challenges that faced my country and my generation, and helped convince me that I could make a difference. The course that had first been plotted with John F. Kennedy's election had finally led me, and many other members of my generation, to the realization that we had to take an active role in addressing the problems of our world.

I believe the college-aged generation's mission came into greater focus on Sept. 11, 2001. The events of that tragic day shocked and horrified us all, causing an entire nation to wonder how this could have happened, and what we could do to help in its aftermath. Sept. 11 also gave a new generation cause to wonder what differences they could make in the future of our country and our world.

The unity and sense of common purpose that swept the country created an opportunity to strengthen our nation in every sense of the word by working together to promote real, positive change. If the only lasting change in our behavior is our willingness to arrive at the airport earlier, we will have failed to seize that opportunity.

Every elected official, Democrat and Republican, understands that the safety and security of the American people is our first responsibility. Democrats, however, also understand that the challenges we face go beyond national security and homeland security.

They involve the protection of the quality of our air and water, help in affording college tuition, the type of jobs and the strength of the economy waiting for college students when they graduate, the status of women's rights and workers' rights and civil rights, the integrity of our system of capitalism, and the future we're building for today's seniors and tomorrow's workers.

Some students are helping to meet these challenges already, by volunteering their time, by organizing campus events or by mentoring neighborhood children. For all they do, however, there is one simple activity which can influence everything else. This generation can exercise its right to vote.

I was first elected to the U.S. Congress by 14 votes out of a quarter of a million votes cast, so I know in a very personal way how much every vote counts. In the 2000 presidential race, the whole country learned how breathtakingly important just a few votes can be.

And this year, the student vote could be the one that tips the balance of power in Congress and defines the direction of our national policy agenda.

I would argue that, during the past year, Democrats have used our majority in the Senate to enact positive change, and to keep inadequate and even harmful legislation from slowing our national progress.

We have passed tough accounting reform to guarantee accountability in our nation's largest corporations. We have also enacted real election reform, passed a bill that invests in renewable sources of energy, and made real progress on lowering the cost of prescription drugs.

We have also prevented drilling in the protected Alaskan wilderness, and blocked a policy that would prevent students who have several student loans from consolidating them into one loan with fixed interest rates, effectively increasing the cost of college loans-and therefore the cost of college-for the very students who are having a hard time affording it to begin with.

There are real differences to be decided in this election, and real differences between the candidates. More than ever, what course we choose will make a difference -to you, your lives, and your future. So I urge students to get involved in this year's elections, regardless of party preference.

In 1787, near the end of the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin was approached by a woman who asked him, "Dr. Franklin, what have you given us?"

"A republic," he replied. "If you can keep it."

Now is this generation's time to not only keep our republic but to strengthen it. Now is their time to shape America to their ideals, and that work begins at the ballot box.

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