The Seven-Year Slide

Building on the successes of covering segments of the population through Medicare, Medicaid, the military's Tricare program and the State Children's Health Insurance Program, the next two populations on the road to universal health care should be our two most vulnerable groups: children and early retirees.

Support for the development of new energy-efficient technologies could help make energy less expensive for consumers and businesses, help protect the environment, create millions of jobs, and make our nation energy independent. These new energy technologies have the potential to do what the information technology boom has done for our economy during the past 20 years.

Universal savings accounts would give workers more control over their economic future and their retirement. Like 401(k) plans, these accounts would supplement, not supplant, Social Security. Employers and employees would contribute 1 percent of paychecks on a tax-deductible basis, and workers could make additional contributions if they chose.

Overseas, we must begin a responsible redeployment of troops from Iraq and demonstrate to the world that Iraqis must take responsibility for their own country. The redeployment of troops would help end our readiness crisis and would allow our military to rebuild and refocus its efforts in Afghanistan, where al-Qaeda and the Taliban are reconstituting.

Our foreign policy should include a diplomatic offensive to win back the international goodwill that has been squandered over the past seven years. And America should take a more aggressive role at the United Nations in the fight against global warming.

Implementing the New Deal for the New Economy, restoring our position on the world stage and changing direction in Iraq won't be easy. Change won't happen overnight. But after eight years of George W. Bush, enacting these domestic initiatives and repairing our foreign policy are essential if we want America to get out of the corner and back to the center of the ring.

The writer, a Democratic representative from Illinois, is chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.