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Dick Gephardt on Technology
Democratic Representative (MO-3); Former Democratic Candidate for President
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Space programs shouldn't be a top priority
Q: What would your priorities be in terms of space exploration? A: I think we've got a program now with the space station, and I think we ought to see it through before we go on to something else. And, you know, we've got a big deficit. We've got a
$450 billion deficit this year. When I led the fight for the Clinton economic program in 1993, we had these kind of big deficits. Our first attention was paid to the economy and getting jobs back in this country. And that's what we ought to be doing now.
Source: Iowa Brown and Black Presidential Forum
Jan 11, 2004
Using raw census numbers disenfranchises minorities
Commerce Secretary Evans said yesterday that he-not the census director-will decide how to tally the 2000 Census. At issue is whether redistricting should be based on raw numbers from the census or figures that have been adjusted to compensate for people
who were missed-disproportionately the poor. Gephardt said, “The secretary’s action is a perilous step toward disenfranchising the estimated millions of minorities, children and rural residents who were not counted by the 2000 Census.”
Source: D’Vera Cohn, Washington Post, Page A12
Feb 17, 2001
Fund schools & workplaces to close Digitial Divide
[Gephardt’s education agenda commits to] High Tech Schools/High Skill Students - modern, effective schools for every child.Additional funds for construction and renovation of school buildings and for technology installation to help close
the digital divide and for turning around failing schools. In exchange for these new funds, schools will be held accountable for providing a quality education to every student: boosting the performance of all students and closing the gap between
minorities and non-minorities and between economically disadvantaged students and their peers. Substantial new support for IDEA. High Skill Workers - preparing America’s workers for tomorrow’s technology.New resources
for workforce literacy education, support for technology training partnerships, employer training networks, apprenticeship programs. Incentives for middle-school students to work toward pursuing math, science, and engineering studies in college.
Source: Press Release, “Education Agenda”
Oct 4, 2000
Protect medical privacy via consumer consent
Part of what has made America unique has been our dedication to freedom, and the clear understanding that real freedom requires a certain amount of personal privacy. Today, as medical technology opens up new worlds of possibilities, it also challenges
privacy in ways we might never have imagined just a few years ago. For example, the same genetic code that offers hope for millions can also be used to deny health insurance. The same technology that links distant places can also be used to track our
every move online. Dick Gephardt has advanced a proposal that would protect medical privacy. Specifically, the plan: - requires financial and insurance companies to obtain permission from a consumer before sharing their personal information with a
third party;
- gives consumers a right of access to their medical data, and a right to dispute the accuracy of that data;
- requires consent before a financial institution could use health information in deciding whether to issue credit.
Source: Press Release, “Genetic/Medical Privacy Rules”
Aug 1, 2000
Supports R&D funding for medical and health research
The federal government has an important role in supporting basic health research at the National Institutes of Health. Research [as part of the] Human Genome Project holds out the promise that within a few years we’ll understand the root causes of
many of humankind’s greatest historic enemies. These benefits are the direct result of federal support for medical research. How dare some of my Republican colleagues claim-with a straight face-that government is the enemy?
Source: An Even Better Place, by Dick Gephardt, p.121-22
Jul 2, 1999
Use gas tax for highway infrastructure
We have to rebuild the infrastructure of this country. We have a highway trust fund, but it is out of date. Let us take two cents of the existing gas tax out of the highway trust fund. Let us put it in a new trust fund dedicated to state and
local infrastructure bonds and let state and local governments leverage that two cents tax year after year to build the structures they need at the local level to make their economies work.
Source: United We Stand America Conference, p.263
Aug 12, 1995
Voted YES on allowing telephone monopolies to offer Internet access.
Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act of 2001: Vote to pass a bill that would allow the four regional Bell telephone companies to enter the high-speed Internet access market via their long-distance connections whether or not they have allowed competitors into their local markets as required under the 1996 Telecommunications Act. The bill would allow the Bells to increase the fees they charge competitors for lines upgraded for broadband services from "wholesale rates" to "just and reasonable rates." It also would also allow the Bells to charge for giving competitors access to certain rights-of-way for broadband access. Certain FCC regulatory oversight would be maintained although the phone companies' high speed services would be exempted from regulation by the states.
Reference: Bill sponsored by Tauzin, R-LA;
Bill HR 1542
; vote number 2002-45
on Feb 27, 2002