As President, I will restore the essential balance between the security we demand and the liberties we cherish. I worked as a state Senator to bring together law enforcement and civil rights advocates to reform racial profiling tactics -- this is not a reliable tool for our law enforcement, and it is not reflective of core American values.As a United States Senator, I co-sponsored legislation that would expand federal jurisdiction to reach violent hate crimes motivated by race, colour, religion, or national origin -- because there can be no justification for these heinous acts. And I helped craft comprehensive immigration reform that would have fixed our broken immigration system by securing our borders while reaffirming our legacy as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.
Instead of policies that make Indian Americans feel targeted or excluded from the American story, I will be a President who draws upon the energy and expertise of the Indian-American community. Together, we can restore and revitalise America's innovation-based economy so that we create jobs and meet our most pressing domestic challenges: a comprehensive energy plan that enhances our national security and saves our planet; a universal health care plan that cuts costs for every American; and a stimulus for our economy that invests in innovation and infrastructure, and provides a tax cut to the middle class, struggling homeowners and seniors.
To succeed, we need to make use of technology, a sector where so many Indian Americans have thrived. Our campaign has already demonstrated the power of technology to connect people, foster grassroots organisation, and build a movement for change from the bottom up.
When I am President, I am committed to implementing a broad technology agenda that will allow us to open up the federal government, put more information online, and create a new level of transparency so that we change the way business is done in Washington. Americans should be able to harness the power of new tools that enable them to view and participate in their government's deliberations and decision-making.
We must also utilise the power of technology to achieve key national goals like energy independence, universal health care, and a world-class education for all of our children. That is why I will work for the deployment of a 21st century communications infrastructure all across America.
Image: Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton debate at the University of Texas, Austin, February 21. Photograph: Ben Sklar/Getty Images
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