Al Gore in Democrat debate in Los Angeles, California
On Abortion:
Right to choice, regardless of economic circumstance
Q: What is your opinion on the controversial issue of abortion?
A: I will defend a woman’s right to choose, regardless of her economic circumstances. I will not allow Roe v. Wade to be overturned.
Early in my career, I opposed public funding for abortions. I never supported the criminalization of abortion. In those days, many of us saw the phrase pro-choice as referring to supporting Roe v. Wade.
Source: Democrat debate in Los Angeles
Mar 1, 2000
On Civil Rights:
Investigate racial profiling at the federal level
Q: Comments on racial profiling?
A: We have a problem with racial disparities in law enforcement. You see it in the sentencing differences for crack versus powder cocaine. The experts say you can’t justify that wide disparity. We are now investigating
to see whether or not there is a pattern of racial discrimination and distortion in federal law enforcement. [We should] collect information to see whether or not racial profiling is common, anecdotal evidence would have us believe that it is.
Source: Democrat debate in Los Angeles
Mar 1, 2000
On Civil Rights:
Stop discrimination against same-sex domestic partnerships
Q: Do you support California Prop 22? If passed, only marriages between a man and a woman would be recognized.GORE: I oppose it. Under current California law, only marriages between a man and a woman are recognized. Frankly, I think that we should
have legal recognition for domestic partnerships that have legal protections. I do not favor changing the definition of a traditional marriage as it has always been understood between a man and a woman. But this Knight initiative, Prop 22, is in part a
kind of a mean-spirited wedge initiative and I just think it’s time for us to put this discrimination against gays and lesbians behind us. I think that it’s time just to leave people alone because of the way God made them and stop the discrimination.
BRADLEY: I don’t support the Knight initiative. Like Al, I don’t support gay marriage, but I do support domestic partnership legislation that would provide to gays and lesbians all the legal and financial rights that accrue to a state of marriage.
Source: Democrat debate in Los Angeles
Mar 1, 2000
On Civil Rights:
Pass the Employment Nondiscrimination Act
GORE: We need the Employment Nondiscrimination Act to end discrimination in the workplace. [In ‘98] we came within one vote of passing it.BRADLEY: [I agree & would include] gays & lesbians in the military openly, [as part of] adding sexual orientation
to the Civil Rights Act. Gays and lesbians are no different than the rest of us. They just have a different attribute, like a different color hair, or it’s no different. And we have to accord them the dignity that every person in this world deserves.
Source: Democrat debate in Los Angeles
Mar 1, 2000
On Civil Rights:
Constitution evolved for women & blacks; & will evolve more
The proof that the Constitution should be a living and breathing document can be seen in the progressive unfolding of the American dream throughout the last 211 years of our republic. Jefferson wrote the powerful words of our declaration
but didn’t absorb them in his heart enough to free his slaves. Our founders created a work of genius in the Constitution, but didn’t absorb the meaning deeply enough to give women the right to vote. We now understand that these
things are part and parcel of the Constitution. The right of privacy, just to take one example, was found by Justice Blackmun in the Constitution, even though the precise words are not there. And the next president will appoint
probably three justices of the Supreme Court and that makes this court one of the major issues in this election.
Source: Democrat debate in Los Angeles
Mar 1, 2000
On Crime:
Hate crimes are fundamentally different than other crimes
BRADLEY [to Gore]: There is an anti-hate crime bill pending before the Texas Legislature. It was a hate crime bill in the wake of the James Byrd murder and the Matthew Shepard murder and it said that there will be additional penalties for hate crimes
based on race, gender, sexual orientation and disability. And the governor of Texas let it be known he did not want to see that bill come forward. I told the governor’s press corps that if I’m the nominee of the Democratic Party and he’s the nominee of
the Republican Party, and he has failed to support this legislation, that I would make it an issue in the presidential campaign and I will. GORE: I think it will be an issue in the presidential campaign and it should be. I met two weeks ago with Judy
Shepard, the mother of Matthew Shepard. What suffering that family went through when that young man was crucified on a split-rail fence by bigots. Yes, we need hate crimes legislation. Those crimes are fundamentally different.
Source: Democrat debate in Los Angeles
Mar 1, 2000
On Foreign Policy:
Do not reveal strategy and inflame China or Taiwan
Q: Would you commit American military power to defend Taiwan?
A: The last 4 presidents in both political parties have purposely refrained from spelling out the details of what would trigger a direct military action by the US in the Taiwan Straits. That
ambiguity is not due to a failure to think it through, it is due to a considered judgment that we do not want to give the hotheads on either side of the Taiwan Straits an ability to drive circumstances toward American involvement for their own purposes.
Source: Democrat debate in Los Angeles
Mar 1, 2000
On Government Reform:
Free TV and radio for candidates during campaigns
Q: Do you support campaign finance reform?
A: I proposed complete public financing of federal elections more than 20 years ago. I don’t accept PAC contributions in this race. I called two years ago for the elimination of so-called soft money
from campaigns. I proposed legislation 10 years ago to require broadcasters, radio and TV to give free time in election years to qualified candidates as a condition of their license. I will put this in the highest priority category and make it happen.
Source: Democrat debate in Los Angeles
Mar 1, 2000
On Government Reform:
Supreme Court nominees should interpret the Constitution
Q: What criteria would you use to select the new Supreme Court Justices?GORE: I would look for justices of the Supreme Court who understand that our Constitution is a living & breathing document, that it was intended by our founders to be interpreted
in the light of the constantly evolving experience of the American people. The right of privacy, just to take one example, was found by Justice Blackmun in the Constitution, even though the precise words are not there.
BRADLEY: Other than war & peace,
Supreme Court appointments are the most lasting contribution that a president ever makes. It is imperative to find people of real integrity and unquestioned ability, somebody that’s able to see a context in the times in which they live. Not someone who’s
locked into a original interpretation of the Constitution as if 1787 is the year 2000. But someone who sees the law as something that moves to adjust to the times and can do so in a way that furthers the deepest values of our country.
Source: Democrat debate in Los Angeles
Mar 1, 2000
On Gun Control:
Take on the NRA with presidential leadership
BRADLEY. We make a mistake when we take a tragic incident and we look at that one individual case [instead of] a much broader case. Everybody was struck by Columbine. Why? Because we saw our own kids, they looked like our kids, we thought. But 13 kids
are killed every day in America with a gun and 800,000 kids took a gun to school last year. Now that is not going to change unless there’s concerted leadership from the national government that’s willing to marshal public opinion to overcome the vested
interest, the special interest that’s embodied in the NRA. GORE: I agree with that. I was a co-sponsor of the Brady Law. I cast the tie-breaking vote to close the so-called gun show loophole. The NRA has targeted me as a result.
We have got to take them on strongly and pass new gun control legislation-not aimed at hunters and sportsmen, but at these handguns that are causing so much distress in our country.
Source: Democrat debate in Los Angeles
Mar 1, 2000
On Gun Control:
Tough gun laws & so much more, to stop child tragedies
Q: Your comments on the shocking incident of the 6-year-old boy shooting a girl in a 1st-grade classroom?BRADLEY: How many lives will have to be taken by gunfire, how many families will have to be marred for life? We need very tough gun legislation,
registration and licensing of all handguns, gun dealers out of residential neighborhoods, trigger locks, background checks, but above all, what we need is a leader who’s committed to this every day he’s in office. Otherwise, you’ll never beat the NRA.
GORE: I feel so deeply for the family of this little girl who was killed. The boy [lived in] a flophouse, [with] guns laying around. We need child-safety trigger locks. We need to ban junk guns. We need to reinstate the 3-day waiting period. We need
to also deal with drugs. That was part of this problem. We need more psychologists and guidance counselors in our schools and more teachers with smaller classes so they can keep track of these students and their family situation. And so much more.
Source: Democrat debate in Los Angeles
Mar 1, 2000
On Health Care:
Enable the disabled to work
Q: What would you for disabled people who want to work and need to keep their federal health benefits?
A: I proposed a new national program as part of my campaign called the disability to work program.we have millions of disabled Americans, 7 million,
who want to get into the work force but can’t because they will lose their health benefits. Now we just passed the Jeffords Kennedy legislation to extend for seven years the health benefits and you won’t have to lose them if you go into the work force.
Source: Democrat debate in Los Angeles
Mar 1, 2000
On Immigration:
More immigrants to alleviate labor shortage
Q: Now that we have a shortage of workers, do you think we should open our doors to more immigrants?
A: Yes, I think that we should allow more immigrants to come in. We are a nation of immigrants and with pride.
It is what has made us a great nation. All of us, save the Native Americans, need only count back the generations to find when our families immigrated here or when they were brought here in chains.
Source: Democrat debate in Los Angeles
Mar 1, 2000
On Technology:
Regulate Internet privacy & child access, but not content
Q: Should the government regulate the Internet?
A: The government’s role should not be to regulate content, obviously. The government should give parents more tools to protect their young children, give citizens more protections against violations
of privacy. We should keep the moratorium on taxing transactions on the Internet while the questions are dealt with. And we’ve got to close the digital divide so that everybody, regardless of income or social circumstances has access to the Internet.
Source: Democrat debate in Los Angeles
Mar 1, 2000
On War & Peace:
New technologies will reduce dependence on foreign oil
Q: What would you do to bring down gas prices?
A: Both the producers and the consuming nations have an interest in stable prices over time. But we have an interest in being less dependent on sources of oil from [the Mideast]. I helped to put in place
a program called the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles, which commits the big three auto makers in our country to getting new vehicles into the marketplace that have three times the efficiency of today’s vehicles. That’s part of the answer.
Source: Democrat debate in Los Angeles
Mar 1, 2000
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