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Specific Civil Rights Issues
As a civilized society, we must end discrimination based on sexual orientation: I fervently believe legal recognition should not be denied same-sex couples. In Congress I will re-examine our federal laws, including the tax code, to ensure our national laws are not unfair to same-sex couples, and that committed adults who are adopting are not discriminated against because of sexual orientation. I support letting states determine how to recognize civil unions and define marriage. I will advocate the abolition of our military's "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy. Twenty-four of the nations that have served alongside U.S. forces in Iraq permit open service, and it has no negative impact on their forces or the morale of the soldiers. I believe turning away patriotic Americans who volunteer to serve solely because of their sexual orientation is wrong. I support the philosophy of equal work, equal pay! Today, with women still earning 77 cents for every dollar a man makes doing the same work; I would work to prevent pay discrimination by strengthening penalties should it occur. I will continue the fight to end discrimination at work. While workplace discrimination is not as obvious as it once was, today minorities, women, and gays hear excuses like, "she won’t fit in," or "he’s too qualified," as employers pass on them. It may be subtle, but it’s hate in the heart, nevertheless. I support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to prohibit job discrimination of any kind. I also support the Fair Pay Restoration Act to overturn a Supreme Court decision that makes it more difficult for women to bring pay discrimination cases. I am a strong supporter of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act to expand federal and state coordination to fight hate crimes. Every year more than 7,000 hate crimes are committed. I believe these acts not only hurt victims, they damage the values that are America. The Act would enable the Justice Department to assist local agencies in investigating and prosecuting crimes, and would expand the definition of hate crimes to include offenses based on sexual orientation, gender, or disability. I also support the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act which would dedicate resources at the Department of Justice and FBI to re-open unsolved murders from the civil rights era. I will continue the fight for equal access at the ballot box. Today, there are more than 9,000 black and 6,000 Latino elected officials, largely due to the Voting Rights Act that put an end to literacy tests and poll taxes in the 1960s. I believe that more must be done to stop misleading voters, and to ensure votes are counted. As your Representative, I will work to put a stop to deceptive practices like passing out fliers telling people to vote on the wrong day; require electronic voting systems to have a paper trail; and make sure states adequately train poll workers. I feel strongly that Congress should protect a workers right to bargain collectively. I will work to ensure workers can form, join, or assist labor unions without interference from employers. Congress must continue helping Americans with disabilities. I am a strong supporter of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In Congress, I will champion efforts to allow Medicaid to provide home and community-based support services needed by disabled individuals to remain out of institutions. As your Representative, I will protect against genetic discrimination. I will continue the fight to prohibit employers and insurance companies from collecting or using genetic information when making decisions about hiring, providing health coverage, or discriminating in the pricing of an insurance policy. I will continue the preservation the privacy of your medical records. I know how important it is to patients that their personal medical information be kept private. I support making sure individuals' medical information is not used against them or unknowingly sold for commercial profit, and ensuring that as we move toward more efficient, cost-saving electronic medical records. As your Representative, privacy interests will remain a priority. I feel strongly that Congress must protect Affirmative Action. Given the tiny number of minority Republicans in either state legislatures or the Congress, it is both amazing and amusing to listen to Republican Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics argue that Republicans believe in a color-blind society in which all ethnic/racial groups have equal opportunity. How this solidly White party, in both substance and belief, could possibly lead America into color blindness defies all logic. There are few things more annoying than to listen to privileged, middle-class whites declaim how they achieved their socioeconomic position through their own unaided efforts. It is time, once and for all, to expose the fallacy of the argument that extending affirmative action to minority groups is an artifact of White guilt. For those Whites who believe in a decent society, affirmative action for minorities arises from a sense of justice and a belief that, as far as possible, Americans should maintain - and compete on - a level playing field. A basic tenet of those who argue against affirmative action is that it leads to less qualified persons taking jobs from the more qualified. As far as most jobs are concerned, this is a specious argument. It assumes there is a measurable continuum of persons from the "less qualified" to the "more qualified" for all jobs. This is true in very specialized occupations. It is definitely not the case for most of the world's work, where large numbers of people are qualified for every job and candidates are chosen for reasons other than merit - often related to race, class, and gender. Civil rights laws have narrowed the wage gap between Blacks and Whites, but the only way this gap will continue to diminish is through vigorous enforcement of existing laws, and the upholding of affirmative action. Even then, I worry it will take a century to end the differential between Black and White wages. Electing me will ensure this effort continues. |
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