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Rep. Barbara Lee called the proposed platform of the Democratic party a "truly progressive platform draft." | AP Photo Former Progressive Caucus co-chair hails DNC draft as 'imperfect' but 'truly progressive'

Rep. Barbara Lee, a former co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, is praising the draft of the 2016 Democratic Party platform as a "truly progressive platform draft" even though it doesn't include everything she wanted.

Lee's comments, shared first with POLITICO on Monday, follow the Democratic National Convention Drafting Committee approving the draft early Saturday. Fourteen of the 15 members of the committee supported the draft. Cornel West, a Sanders-backed member on the committee, abstained. The draft now goes before the entire platform committee in July during a meeting in Orlando.

Both former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders lauded the committee, made up of members picked mostly by the two candidates, for producing a draft satisfying most of their policy goals. Clinton senior policy adviser Maya Harris called the draft "the most ambitious and progressive platform our party has ever seen."

The draft includes language opposing the death penalty (which Clinton supports under certain circumstances), supporting a $15 minimum wage, and calls for new legislation similar to the Glass-Steagall Wall Street reform Act, all of which have been priorities for Sanders and his liberal allies. It also pushes for expanding Social Security and improving the nation's infrastructure.

"We were able to unite around many progressive issues including the need to make sure all Americans earn at least $15 an hour and can join a union; asking the wealthy pay their fair share through a multi-millionaire surtax; breaking up too big to fail financial institutions that pose a systemic risk to the stability of our economy; expanding social security; helping those in poverty, in part through an expansion of the earned income tax credit for childless workers and expanding the child tax credit to lift more children out of poverty; increasing resources for community health centers; declaring our opposition to the Hyde and Helms amendments which restrict women’s access to safe abortions at home and abroad; and abolishing the death penalty," Lee said in the statement set to go out Monday morning.

Sanders himself praised the draft as a "very good start" but said there's still more changes to be made.

"The platform drafted in St. Louis is a very good start, but there is no question that much more work remains to be done by the full Platform Committee when it meets in Orlando on July 8 and 9," Sanders said in a statement on Sunday. Sanders also noted that the Clinton-backed allies on the drafting committee voted down a provision opposing Congress vote on the Trans-Pacific Partnership."

Lee conceded that the draft wasn't perfect as well and noted she opposed TPP but that overall it was a move in the right direction.

"I recognize there are bound to be some who are disappointed with the outcome. But our Party’s platform has always been both aspirational and imperfect. In fact, on issues like climate change, I voted with Senator Sanders, and didn't get everything I was hoping for. This is how our democracy functions. Additionally, as a member of Congress, I will continue to oppose TPP," Lee said.



