Beto O`Rourke in Democratic Primary Debate
On Drugs:
Decriminalize opioids; legalize marijuana
I remember a veteran telling me that he bought heroin off the street because he was originally prescribed an opioid at the VA. Imagine that veteran instead had been prescribed marijuana, because we made that legal in America, ensured the
VA could prescribe it, and made sure that he was not prescribed something to which he would become addicted. Drug addiction is not a problem for the criminal justice system. They're an opportunity for our public health system.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
On Gun Control:
No door-to-door enforcement, but reduce weapons of war
Q: In the last debate you said, "Hell yes, we're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47." But you said police wouldn't be going door to door. So how exactly are you going to force people to give up their weapons? O'Rourke: AR-15s and AK-47s are weapons
of war, designed to kill people efficiently on a battlefield. So if the logic begins with those weapons being too dangerous to sell, then it must continue by acknowledging with 16 million AR-15s and AK-47s out there, they're also too dangerous to own.
Q: Your website says you will find people who don't give up their weapons. Exactly how are you going to take away weapons from people who do not want to give them up?
O'Rourke: If someone does not turn in an AR-15 or an
AK-47, or brings it out in public and brandishes it, then that weapon will be taken from them. If they persist, there will be other consequences from law enforcement. But the expectation is that Americans will follow the law.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
On Homeland Security:
Renew alliances like Kurds; they make America stronger
Q: A report by the Senate Democrats says the next president could fight back by publicly revealing what the US knows about Putin's corruption, and work with allies to freeze his bank accounts. Would you take either of those actions?O'Rourke: Yes, we
must be unafraid in ensuring that we hold Russia accountable for invading the world's greatest democracy, and being able to do it, thanks to Donald Trump, functionally, with impunity so far. So if there are not consequences, we will continue to see this
problem going forward.
Q: How do we stand up to Russia on the global stage?
O'Rourke: We do that by renewing our alliances and our friendships. That is what makes America stronger. There isn't enough money in this country to do everything that we
want to accomplish militarily. And the Kurds are case in point. In fact, because we turned our backs on them, those Kurds who fought for us in Syria, helped to defeat ISIS, not just for themselves, but for the United States of America.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
On Principles & Values:
1600 miles with Republican led to finding common ground
I remember being in San Antonio. I found that my flight had been snowed in Washington, D.C. Happened to be in the elevator with a Republican member of Congress, Will Hurd, and on a whim said, "Do you want to just rent a car and drive from
San Antonio to Washington?" And he called my bluff. We drove 1600 miles across the country. By the end of that trip, not only had we formed a friendship, but we had formed trust. We worked with each other on each other's bills.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
On Principles & Values:
Impeachment: Can't fail those who sacrificed for our country
I think about everyone who's ever served this country in uniform. Those who have willingly sacrificed their lives to defend this country and our constitution. We are the inheritors of their service and their sacrifice and we have a responsibility to be
fearless in the face of this President's criminality and lawlessness. If you do not hold them to account, not only have we failed this moment, we have failed everyone who has sacrificed and laid their lives down on the line and we cannot d
Source: October Democratic Primary debate on impeaching Trump
Oct 15, 2019
On Technology:
We don't allow lies in books; why do we allow Facebook?
We need to set very tough, very clear transparent rules of the road. The kind of rules that we do not have today. That allow these social media platforms, where we the people have become the product, to abuse that public trust.
Right now we treat them as a utility, when in reality they're more akin to a publisher. They curate the content that we see. We would allow no publisher to do what Facebook is doing. Treat them like the publisher that they are.
Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Oct 15, 2019
Page last updated: Feb 09, 2020