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Hillary’s Herstory: How Hillary Clinton Is Changing America

By Katie Majka

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We discuss how Hillary Clinton’s achievements have impacted America, and how those successes will multiply if she’s elected to the White House.

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The 2016 election has been something of a circus. This is in large part thanks to the media’s concentration on the human fiasco that is Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton is on the other side to balance out the man’s absurdities with her political experience, activism, and empathy. But all the same, it seems we have a classic case of the skilled Wonder Woman outshining whatever temper tantrum Batman or Superman is having. After all, Clinton certainly illuminates Trump’s failures in light of her own capabilities. While she’s been orchestrating legislation and spearheading change, her opponent’s corporations have been filing for multiple bankruptcies. I guess being a celebrated financial mogul isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton has been spinning the wheel for change throughout the course of her political career. She has lain the foundation for several milestones, even when her original intentions were unsuccessful. These achievements include paid family leave, the Affordable Care Act, and the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, the latter of which wouldn’t have been successful without her. Clinton has been instrumental in the progress America has and continues to make. She focuses on the well-being of the people, which comes to benefit the country as a whole.

This is evident in several of Clinton’s pursuits, as follows:

(Photo by Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)

Disability Rights

Disability rights advocate Anastasia Somoza spoke in support of Clinton, for whom she once interned, at the Democratic National Convention. Somoza said, “Over the past 23 years, [Hillary Clinton] has continued to serve as a friend and mentor, championing my inclusion and access to classrooms, higher education, and the workforce. She has never lost touch with people like me. She has invested in me. She believes in me. And in a country where 56 million Americans with disabilities so often feel invisible, Hillary Clinton sees me.”

I don’t live with the same disability as Somoza, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and spastic quadriplegia at birth, but I can absolutely relate to her words. Part of my vision disability manifests physically in strabismus. This condition often has negative emotional, social, and economical effects on adults who have it. There’s little to be done but to “deal with it,” and personally I’ll put my faith in a leader who seeks to make “dealing with it” an option that yields positive results.

You can read more about Clinton’s relevant legislation here.

(Photo by Steve Pope/Getty Images)

Gun Control

Hillary Clinton is the only 2016 candidate who has put her foot down on the subject of gun violence in America. She has a zero tolerance policy for this rampant brutality, which is the precise level of tolerance the issue needs.

Does this mean that Clinton plans to break into your house and take your guns? No. It never meant that. It just means that you have to prove that you’re capable of handling a deadly weapon. Furthermore, it ensures that those who aren’t will indeed have to give up the goods. Clinton has worked to limit gun violence since the Columbine shooting, and she plans to enforce stricter laws. She will expand background checks, remove protections for those who act illegally or otherwise irresponsibly, and will keep guns away from domestic abusers and other violent criminals.

If any doubt remains regarding the necessity or patriotism of such measures, there are dozens of statistics that would quiet that doubt. But to put it simply: Between Sandy Hook and the massacre at Pulse, there were 998 mass shootings in 912 days in the U.S. Once again, Clinton’s zero tolerance policy in this case is essential to pull America out of this bloody pit.

(Photo by Jamie Rose/Getty Images)

Healthcare

Since 1997, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) works to ensure the well-being of low-income families. The program allots federal funding to states to provide healthcare to more than 8 million children across the country. Hillary Clinton was First Lady at the time. Her involvement may often be overstated, but nevertheless there is no doubt that she played a big role in this act.

The late Senator Ted Kennedy is largely credited for the program’s success, but he vouched for Clinton’s influence. He said, “The children’s health program wouldn’t be in existence today if we didn’t have Hillary pushing for it from the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.”

Clinton has consistently stepped up to improve the issues involved with healthcare. At the time of CHIP’s inception, she didn’t have the pull as president or even that of a legislator, but her tireless encouragement and support of the program aided significantly in its success. That’s pure dedication, which would only aid in future proposals should Clinton win the presidency. She would be able to back her commitments with the power to see them through.

You can find more information on Clinton’s contributions to American healthcare (and other accomplishments) here.

(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Women’s Issues and Rights

Perhaps it’s Clinton’s personal experience as a woman that’s brought the discussion of women’s rights to the forefront, but it’s about time we put a spotlight on this platform. She doesn’t just support women’s issues, she’s lived them. She knows what action is necessary and how to take it, and she doesn’t shy away from the subject of equality.

Hillary Clinton has fought for women her entire career, from equal pay to family leave to reproductive rights. In 1995, Clinton famously said, “Women’s rights are human rights,” a sentiment which echoes throughout her presidential campaign. It’s the blunt, honest, and true fact of the matter. Women should be treated like the human beings they are. Easy peasy, right? And yet we’re still debating this. Clinton cuts to the core and makes her voice heard, thereby amplifying the voices of women everywhere.

Clinton doesn’t sugarcoat these issues in attempts to appease anyone who would oppose them, because these issues don’t revolve around their opposers. Clinton concentrates on the issues themselves, the women they affect, and how to enact the change we need. Haters gonna hate, and Clinton won’t give them the time of day when that time could be better spent on achieving those goals.

Is Hillary Clinton the perfect candidate for presidency? No, but neither is anyone else in the history of America. Looking for perfection in politics only leads to personal disappointment. But the bottom line is that Clinton isn’t just talk—she’s action.

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Her investment in this country and its people is genuine, compassionate, and demonstrates the kind of strength and loyalty integral to the ideal leader.

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