With the November elections rapidly approaching, Rep. David Cicilline '83, D-R.I., visited campus Tuesday night to speak at a meeting of the Brown Democrats, the organization he co-founded while an undergraduate at the University. In his talk, Cicilline emphasized the stark differences between the Republican and Democratic parties on critical issues such as health care, access to education, maintenance of social programs and LGBTQ rights.
Cicilline faces Republican challenger Brendan Doherty, a local businessman and the former superintendent of the Rhode Island state police, in the first congressional district race. Cicilline garnered 60 percent of the vote in last month's Democratic primary to defeat opponents Anthony Gemma and Chris Young. Results from WPRI's most recent poll - announced Oct. 1 - put Cicilline six points ahead of Doherty.
"Most of us who are Democrats are Democrats because we think the party shares our values," Cicilline said at the meeting. During his first term in Congress, Cicilline said he focused on five specific areas: bolstering domestic manufacturing, improving infrastructure, increasing access to higher education, ending American presence in Afghanistan and protecting social programs. He cited the work he has already accomplished within these areas as the largest difference between him and Doherty.
Cicilline told The Herald that voters in Rhode Island have the choice between a candidate who has worked in Washington and knows the environment and a candidate who stands for conservative values and will defend the Republican party if elected.
Cicilline told the Brown Democrats that he dedicated much of his first term to facilitating the resurgence of manufacturing on both the national and state levels through legislation that would balance the international playing field for products made domestically. Such policies could bolster economic growth by 500,000 to 2 million jobs if implemented, he added.
"The most important issue in this campaign is figuring out the right strategies to get our economy moving again," Cicilline told The Herald. "How do we strengthen the middle class of this state and country and make the American dream a reality?"
In his speech, Cicilline also addressed the importance of investing in infrastructure, maintaining strong education policies in order to expand access to higher education, working to "quickly" and "responsibly" end U.S. military measures in Afghanistan and protecting Medicare and Social Security from Republican measures that would limit access to the programs. He said conservative forces incorrectly view earned benefits from the government as entitlement measures.
Cicilline called the Affordable Care Act "historic" but not "perfect" in addressing a "basic necessity of life."
Helping the middle class should be the priority in Washington, Cicilline said. He added that the differences between the two parties' ideologies stem from the Republican devotion to trickle-down economic theory, which he said supports their decisions to cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans while ignoring the middle class.
Cicilline told students to be "very proud of the values that we have as Democrats," because they represent "American values."
"We're fighting for the heart and soul of our country in very fundamental ways," he said.
