Barack Obama on America’s Youth
Barack Obama believes that today’s young
Americans deserve bright futures.
Iraq: Obama opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning, and has a plan to responsibly end the war.
Obama would immediately begin to pull out troops engaged in combat operations and pressure the Iraqi
government to reconcile. He would call for a new constitutional convention with the United Nations. And
he would take immediate steps to confront the humanitarian disaster in Iraq.
Global Warming: Obama supports implementation of a market-based cap-and-trade system to reduce
carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050. He also introduced legislation to require that all U.S.
transportation fuels contain 10 percent less carbon by 2020 and to increase the production of biofuels.
Higher Education Grants and Loans: The first bill Obama introduced in the Senate was to help
make college more affordable by increasing the maximum Pell Grant from $4,050 to $5,100. As president,
Obama would eliminate wasteful subsidies to private student lenders, which will save nearly $6 billion
dollars per year, and invest the savings in additional student aid.
Jobs: Some 7 percent of college graduates are unemployed or underemployed. Obama supports
increasing federal funding for basic research, expanding broadband access, and making the research and
development tax credit permanent so that young people with and without college degrees can thrive in
the job market.
Health Care: In 2004, 13.7 million Americans between the ages of 19–29 lacked health care coverage.
Barack Obama is committed to signing universal health legislation that ensures all Americans have
high-quality, affordable health care coverage by the end of his first term in office.
Support a Woman’s Right to Choose: Obama has been a consistent champion of reproductive
choice and will make preserving women’s rights under Roe v. Wade a priority as president.
Foreign Affairs: As president, Obama will double U.S. funding for foreign aid. Obama is also a leading
voice in Washington urging the end of genocide in Sudan, including work to pass key Darfur legislation,
visiting refugee camps on the Chad-Sudan border and helping secure funding for African Union
peacekeepers. Obama is also a leader in the global fight against HIV/AIDS.
