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Dick Gephardt on Technology

Former Democratic Representative (MO-3); Former Democratic Candidate for President


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.
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

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