Oregon Democrats/ Bring Peace Back Oregon

Poverty
Submitted by kucinich.us on Thu, 2006-11-16 13:08. Issue Overview | Poverty
America is losing its way at home and in the world. We have no money to rebuild America's cities, but we have money to blow up cities in Iraq. No money to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to shelter the homeless in America, but money to rain death, destruction, and starvation on Iraq.
Once again, the hopes of people of two nations are being smashed by weapons in the name of eliminating weapons. Let us abolish weapons of mass destruction at home. I am from the inner city. I have inspected these weapons.
Joblessness is a weapon of mass destruction. Poverty is a weapon of mass destruction. Hunger is a weapon of mass destruction. Poor health care is a weapon of mass destruction. Poor education is a weapon of mass destruction. Discrimination is a weapon of mass destruction. Let us abolish such weapons of mass destruction here at home. Eight and a half million Americans are unemployed. Bankruptcies are up. The number of uninsured without health care is up. The price of prescription drugs is up. Poverty is up. Crime is up. Homelessness is up. Hopelessness is up. Fear is up. Let us use the trillion dollars which some would cast upon Iraq in bombs and warring troops, instead for the restoration of the American dream, to rebuild our economy, to rebuild our cities and to expand opportunities for all.
Those who say we can have guns and butter do not know the cost of guns and do not know the bread you would put your butter on is being stolen. America may spend over a trillion dollars for war in Iraq. America can give a trillion dollar tax cut to the rich, spend a trillion dollars to put weapons in space, but not a dime more for temporary assistance to needy families.
I believe the American people are people of strength, wisdom, and courage. They have a right to expect their government to be truly representative! It is time to say stop this war. It is time to recognize that the terror we visit on the people of Iraq will bring terror to our own people. Bring our troops home. Come home, America. Come home and fix your broken streets and mend your broken dreams. Come home and rebuild your cities and create full employment, put millions who are unemployed back to work. Come home and establish a living wage, let workers share the wealth they create. Come home and provide affordable housing. Come home and provide single-payer, guaranteed health care for the 41 million Americans who suffer illness with no relief. Come home, America. Come home and provide free public college for all who aspire to attend.
Come home and act affirmatively to make sure that all opportunities are afforded to all Americans.

Patriot Act
Submitted by kucinich.us on Thu, 2006-11-16 14:29. Issue Overview | Patriot Act
It's time for our Party to show some backbone. It's time to stand for the repeal of the PATRIOT Act. As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, I spoke against it, I voted against it, and I introduced legislation for its repeal. From traveling across America, it's unmistakably clear to me that there is an almost universal rejection of the PATRIOT Act.
Just 45 days after the September 11, 2001 attacks, President Bush rammed the "PATRIOT Act" through Congress with virtually no debate. This law poses an unprecedented threat to Americans' individual freedoms and is a violation of our civil liberties. Many provisions of the act had been long sought after by law enforcement and repeatedly rejected by Congress in the past.
Without a warrant or probable cause, the FBI can now search your private medical records or access your library records. Your doctor or local library is forbidden from notifying you when these searches take place. The government may search your home while you are away and in some cases even confiscate your property. Judicial oversight of these measures is virtually nonexistent. These are only a few of the PATRIOT Act's provisions that compromise our civil liberties.
I believe the only way to stop these unconstitutional infringements on basic American freedoms is to revoke the exorbitant powers the PATRIOT Act has granted the government. I voted against the PATRIOT Act. I am working to repeal it.
Along with 20 other members of Congress, I have introduced the Benjamin Franklin True Patriot Act, which would repeal several major sections of the law. It would eliminate the PATRIOT Act's subjective search-and-seizure provision, unwarranted incarcerations, and the authority of federal officials to search our private records without probable cause. The act would restore the fundamental right of attorney-client privilege, revoke various Department of Justice secrecy orders, and repeal provisions harmful to the rights of immigrants. In addition, it would restore transparency to Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security administrative procedures by revoking Freedom of Information Act secrecy orders.
Benjamin Franklin said: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." In eroding our civil liberties, President Bush has taken our freedom while making us no safer, no better protected against terrorism. The "PATRIOT Act" is not what American patriots fought and died for. As Americans, we cannot allow fear and scare-mongering to lead us to a place where we abandon our most precious traditions.

Gun Laws, Gun Rights & Violence
Submitted by kucinich.us on Thu, 2006-11-16 12:18. Gun Laws, Gun Rights & Violence | Issue Overview
There are few topics that divide America more than the issues associated with firearms. For the vast majority of Americans who own firearms, they are a form of recreation in the character of hunting and/or target shooting. For many, they are a method for safety and protection in a society characterized by violence. But all too frequently, they are used for violence.
I have friends who both hunt and shoot. These are good people, they are not criminals, and they lock up their guns when not using them. I support their right to their hobbies, and I support the right to bear arms. I have also talked with widows and children left fatherless due to the improper use of firearms, and I am committed to preventing such tragedies from happening.
By helping to develop a society which does not look to violence as a method of solving problems, my proposed Department of Peace will play a key role in this. Conflict resolution and alternatives to violence will constitute major areas of responsibility within this new Department, so that we can begin to lead by examples as well as by words.
My efforts to lead the fight against assault weapons have been highly recognized by The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. One year after the DC-area sniper attacks, I co-signed a bill, H.R. 2038, to renew and strengthen the federal assault weapons ban. I also attended a recent Save Our Sons and Daughters (SOSAD) event.
While some believe that gun laws should reside at the state level, I respectfully disagree. In this mobile society, national control of guns just is necessary, just as it is with pollution. It is the right of Americans to keep and bear arms; however it is not the right of American felons to arm themselves.
In a time when homeland security is of utmost concern, it is perplexing why anyone would not wish to keep guns out of the hands of those who might do us harm. This is why I would support legislation to require background checks, identical to the background checks currently required for transfers by licensed gun dealers, for firearm transfers by unlicensed gun dealers at gun shows. Sensible laws to prevent guns from winding up in the wrong hands do not infringe on any constitutional rights.
I agree with the Brady Campaign that Congress should end the gun industry's immunity from product safety regulation and that irresponsible dealers who allow weapons to fall into the hands of criminals should be held accountable. President Bush campaigned on the promise to reauthorize the law banning assault weapons. However, in a calculated move to avoid signing the bill, the President has not spoken out publicly or forcefully to make the House Republicans under Rep. Tom DeLay bring the legislation out of committee and pass it. It is a shame that our current President is willing to expend limitless political capital to financially benefit his own campaign contributors with trillion-dollar tax cuts, but will spend nothing to keep assault weapons out of the hands of potential terrorists.