Diane Benson's Speech to the Alaska Democratic Party

“We Must Be the Change”

Lxeis’ yu xaat duwasaakw. Yeil na. Takdeintaan iyaxaat. Gunalcheesh.

Greetings, fellow Democrats. My name is Diane Benson and I am prepared to represent ALL Alaskans in the U.S. House of Representatives.

As candidates we dress for the job, and attempt to look the part while we hope to win. I wonder if I would have gotten a tattoo, or pierced my eyebrow and all those things if I had known I’d run for office someday. To run, I covered the tattoo and took out the eyebrow piercing, but underneath it all what am I? I am a woman who wants to change the face of politics – I want to see women safe, people fed, children educated, and jobs paid well. In my life I left the darkness of despair and walked into the light of hope

We must be the change we wish to see in the world, so are the words attributed to the great humanitarian, Gandhi.

A healthy 23 year old man goes into an Emergency Room with a $1,000 hand injury that he cannot afford – and has no insurance – so he is merely bandaged and sent away. Because he was not properly treated he now has complications qualifying him for disability and requires $100,000 worth of surgery and he’s out of the work force. Wouldn’t it have been better for him and for taxpayers to treat him at the ER? That’s why I support Universal Health Care. It will take Democrats to bring sanity and humanity back to Congress.

An Eagle River family lost their home because their medical bills were too high, and a Vietnam Veteran in the Valley was re-evaluated and lost disability benefits.

Isn’t it in our best interests as a nation to take care of our own? Health care should be a right – not a privilege.

Just recently, another young soldier tells me he doesn’t want to go back, again, he’s been stop-lossed, and I know the look – bombs that shook him too many times – faces of family who need him - I know to the core, what a policy decision may do to him…

I rode on an Air Force aircraft from Germany with my wounded son to Andrews Air Force base; held hands, gave hugs to other wounded – warriors who wished their mothers were there at that moment – Wounded Warriors who prayed openly for my boy. One soldier told me he was putting in a 9 – 1 – 1 call to God for my son.

At some point in our lives we may have a critical life changing moment. That was mine.

When I returned home to Alaska after 3 ½ months at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, I made a choice to run for Congress. I ran for Congress in 2006 when no one else really would. I was willing to take on Don Young and speak to our Democratic principles – I was willing to stand up – even when it wasn’t promising – at all.
Don’t you want a Representative that stands up even when it’s tough?

We must be the change we wish to see in the world.

And it’s going to take a Democrat who can hear ALL the people.

Under my leadership and through my campaign, Democrats did the best in a Congressional race in 16 years.

I never grew up dreaming of being a politician, it’s true. Like most Alaskans I have a varied background. I’m a writer and producer. I’ve worked as a paralegal representing clients in hearings. I’ve been a fisher, dog-musher, public relations director and talent agent. I drove tractor-trailers on the pipe-line, and I paid for my son’s care and my schooling by driving concrete-mixers as a member of Teamsters Local 959. In my life, I have worked on many community events, served on various committees and written and spoken on many issues. Even if I am afraid, I speak up for others. I know how to put principles before personalities, and I know how to contribute rather than divide,

Last week in Bethel – I met with a life-long Republican who has organized the “Republicans for Benson” – he wants real change – in Veteran and health care – and he is fired up with hope through my campaign, it is time for a change,

A picture on a Blog shows me with two supporters; a life-long Peace Activist on one side and a lifelong Navy Veteran on the other –
They know that “these leaders” - have done us wrong and they want a voice that won’t shame either one of them, they want a voice of reason and humanity,
It’s time for a change

In 2006 I felt a call to service and that hasn’t changed. I’m running for that young man refused treatment. I’m running for that family that lost their home because of medical bills, and I’m running for that Veteran in the Valley who lost most his disability. I’m running too… because a war for the wrong reasons took my son’s legs. -A war that we cannot sustain in human or economic costs. I’m running to bring some sanity and humanity back to Congress.

That’s why I, as your Congresswoman, will spend every day fighting for health care. That’s why I, as your Congresswoman will fight to get us out of this war, and will fight to ensure our Wounded Warriors and their families get the support they deserve. That’s why I, as your Congresswoman, will be a voice - for the most silenced among us, and why I will go to Washington D.C.

Democrats are you ready to vote for a true progressive?

I’m ready to promote green technology, development that benefits Alaskans, and clean elections and campaign finance reform, but -

We also need to recognize the external costs to our own society when we make policy. We need to care about the guys behind bars who desire drug and alcohol treatment but can’t get it. We need to care about the folks arrested without Miranda in the name of Home-land Security. We need to care about those without a home and those losing their homes. We need to care about the women suffering at the hand of violence and end this crisis of violence against women. Who else would talk about these things but a woman Democrat?

Are you ready to brave a new day – and vote for a people’s advocate? I ask for your support today. Because I am ready to represent ALL the people – to truly be the change we wish to see in the world.

I am Diane Benson – Your Representative