With the threat of terrorism, the rising cost of energy and a national debt that is spiraling out of control, it is imperative that we have leaders who are willing to ask the tough questions and who remain focused on securing our future. We need leaders like Sen. Lincoln Chafee '75, R-R.I., representing us in Washington, and that's why we're forming Students for Chafee, a group dedicated to encouraging students from around the state to come out in support of Chafee's re-election.
Students for Chafee will have a strong and active presence in each of Rhode Island's colleges, in various high schools throughout the state, and among young professionals. Like Chafee, we will draw on a broad range of support. We believe the Republican Party needs and deserves to have a big tent, and we will reach out not only to college Republican groups, but groups that protect civil liberties and personal freedoms and environmental organizations throughout local college campuses. This will be a fiercely contested senatorial election, and Students for Chafee will encourage people of vastly different backgrounds to staff polling places, go door to door, make phone calls and bring their friends into a larger grassroots network of support. Just as Chafee brings different groups together, Students for Chafee will adapt a similar attitude by being a truly inclusive organization, dedicated to protecting our future by promoting policies that work. We are energized, we are committed and we are eager to let you know why Rhode Island needs Chafee.
We respect Chafee's passionate commitment to the environment. As the next generation of leaders, we want to inherit a world that is not marred by pollution and poor stewardship. We care about the environment and support environmental protections, if only because that will determine the quality of the air we breathe and the water we drink. We need to send Chafee back to Washington so he can continue to work for innovative and forward-looking policies that preserve Rhode Island's coastlines, rivers and forests for this and future generations. As senator, he has worked to keep our air and water clean by voting against harmful legislation that would lower emissions standards and imperil our health. Most impressively, Chafee has demonstrated a unique ability to bring together members of the business and environmental communities through his Brownfields legislation, which revitalizes contaminated lands and turns them into vibrant commercial and civic places.
We believe that Chafee has the vision necessary to change our energy policy. Our generation stands to pay the economic and environmental price associated with America's dangerous dependence on foreign oil. If we are going to break this addiction to oil, we must support leaders like Chafee who are working to promote sustainable energy alternatives. Chafee has worked tirelessly to pass legislation that would dramatically reduce air pollution, raise fuel efficiency standards and save hardworking taxpayers' money at the gas pump. Again, these are the kinds of policies we need if America is going to achieve energy independence and these are the kinds of ideas that we, as the next generation of Americans, need to support.
We support Chafee's fiscal conservatism and admire his record as a leading deficit hawk. As tax payers, we are worried about the out-of-control spending in Washington, and we believe that Chafee is the only candidate with the vision to secure our economic future. He is focused on ensuring that our legacy is not one of debt and escalating taxes. That's why he has been the leader in the battle to reinstitute a pay-as-you-go approach to federal spending. The principle is simple - if members of Congress decide to institute new tax cuts or entitlement spending, they have to find a way to pay for them first. Leaders like Chafee need our help so they can keep fighting for policies that will ensure that our generation is not saddled with hundreds of billions of dollars of debt.
Chafee is a proud Republican in the mold of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Theodore Roosevelt, who is able to get results because of his commitment to bringing disparate coalitions together. Chafee's record as a fiscally conservative Republican who believes in protecting personal freedoms and the Bill of Rights uniquely positions him to work from the center. That's important. Because it is only by bringing people together, by rising above partisan rancor and by always talking straight about the problems we face that Rhode Island and this country can achieve its promise.
There is much to do in the fight to re-elect Chafee, and we hope that you will join us. Please visit our website, www.studentsforchafee.org, where you can learn more about Rhode Island's junior senator, sign up to receive e-mail updates and volunteer to work on the campaign. In working to ensure Chafee's re-election, Students for Chafee is standing up for a principled leader who will not mortgage our future for short-term political gain, but will instead shape it through the clarity of his vision and the strength of his character.
Ethan Wingfield '07 and Sarah Highland, a sophmore at Providence College, are the executive director and president, respectively, of Students for Chafee.
