(Page 1)

BILLS TO BE FINISHED BEFORE ADJOURNMENT
ALL APPROPRIATION BILLS EXCEPT AGRICULTURE WHICH HAS BECOME LAW URBAN AID BILL (TAX BILL)
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BILL MOTOR VOTER VETO MESSAGE MFN FOR CHINA
ABORTION RIGHTS BILL GOVERNMENT SPONSORED ENTERPRISES BILL
CABLE TV BILL
CAFE STANDARDS BILL
ENERGY BILL
RCRA BILL
RUSSIAN AID BILL
START TREATY
CRIME BILL
PARENTAL LEAVE BILL

(Page 2)

Congress of the United States Washington, DC 20513
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, August 12, 1992
STATEMENT OF SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE THOMAS S. FOLEY, SENATE MAJORITY LEADER GEORGE J. MITCHELL, AND HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER RICHARD GEPHARDT
The Congress has made good progress on important issues so far. Much remains to be done in the final work session. Our focus has been the well-being of the American family and the need to help improve their lives.
Examples of key legislation we have already enacted this Congress include :
The Higher Education Act - to expand college aid to the children of middle income Americans;
..
Unemployment benefits extensions - to assist families hardest hit by this drawn out economic downturn;
Highway legislation - to make overdue transportation improvements and create jobs;
Civil rights bill - to restore the historical American tradition of equal opportunity and equal treatment in the workplace; and,
Veterans legislation package - to keep faith with those who risk their lives and health in behalf of all of us.
The Congress is now moving on (Underline: family leave legislation.) We hope President Bush will uphold his campaign promise to support family leave and sign it into law. It will be more practical help for families in today's work environment than any number of speeches about family values.
1

(Page 3)

(Underlined: The economic growth package,) including urban aid, is also making good progress. It's worth noting that Congress passed an economic growth bill in March to spark the economy, but President Bush vetoed it. So the anemic recovery continues. This time, we hope the President will sign the bill to help the economy and our cities.
A great post-Cold War task we face is to make a sound, sustainable conversion from an economy heavily invested in the weapons of war to an economy based on peacetime needs and economic growth and expansion. Both the Senate and House are making progress on economic conversion provisions to turn the skills learned in the military sector to the service of the civilian sector.
The Congress is moving forward on the (Underlined: elementary and secondary education legislation.) The time for talk about education reform is past. The bill before the Congress provides for reform and makes resources available to all American schools, not just a few.
Title X The House recently passed and the Senate will soon consider (Underlined: family planning legislation,) the bill that does more to deter the need for abortion services than any other. The bill would repeal the Bush Administration's gag rule, which interferes with the doctor-patient relationship, and prevents women from learning about their options.
Democrats remain committed to passage of the (Underlined: Freedom of Choice Act.) Last night, the President asked who else but the woman should make a decision regarding pregnancy. We agree and we invite him to put his support behind his words.
2 

(Page 4)

A long-awaited and essential (Underlined: energy bill) is headed to conference. It is vital that our nation has a comprehensive energy policy which encourages increased energy efficiency and use of domestic resources.
A (Underlined: housing re-authorization) bill and a cable TV regulation bill for consumers will soon see final action. .
We will also make every effort to move forward with meaningful (Underlined: health care legislation) that focuses on controlling soaring health care costs to American families.
Appropriations bills are on track for final action by the beginning of the Fiscal Year, October 1. The House has completed action on all 13 appropriations. The Senate has finished with 7 of them; one is already on its way to the President for his signature. So far in the Appropriations process, the House has approved spending that is $12.5 billion less than the President requested. We will conclude these bills promptly. In addition, Congress acted swiftly on the President's request for spending rescissions. In fact, Congress went beyond his request and reduced spending by $8.2 billion dollars.
Legislation that should be passed regrettably remains stalled by partisan opposition. Final action on the crime bill has been blocked by Republican Senators. Among other things, the bill includes enhanced sentences for drug and gun crimes and $3 billion in essential local aid for law enforcement. But the bill is blocked because it will help stop convicted felons from purchasing handguns. This bill deserves to be passed.
3

(Page 5)

The 102nd Congress knows the people are demanding change in the operations of government. We've responded to that demand. Campaign finance reform legislation would reduce the influence of big money from politics and to make a real change in the way Americans elect their leaders. But our bill met with a veto.
We've passed the Motor Voter Act, a bill to give hard- working Americans a convenient way to register to vote when they receive or renew their drivers' licenses. It met with a veto.
We've put in place a bipartisan mechanism for reform of the way Congress operates. A Senate-House Commission will be looking for ways to let the Congress perform its functions efficiently.
We face a very busy period at the close of this session. We invite cooperation from Republicans to act in the national interests to pass needed legislation. The interests of our people and our nation's future are our most important responsibility and we owe it to them to discharge it well.
-30-
For further information, contact: Jeff Biggs (Foley) 225-5604 Diane Dewhirst (Mitchell) 224-2939 David Dreyer (Gephardt) 225-0100
4

(Page 6)

U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee
Don Nickles, Chairman Kelly D. Johnston, Staff Director
Policy Analysis
September 8, 1992
The Republican and Democrat Platforms Side-By-Side Comparison
The Role of Family

Republican Platform	Democrat Platform
Tax Relief for Families
“President Reagan and Bush led the way to increase the personal exemption for dependents. We pledge to go father to restore the value, as a percentage of average household income, it had 50 years ago. The value of the dependent deduction has eroded to a fraction of its original worth to families. Republicans call for a complete restoration, in real dollars, to its original values	The Democrat platform does not discuss the personal exemption.
“When the Democrats establish tax policy that makes marriage more expensive than living together, they discourage traditional commitment and stable home life. We will remove the marriage penalty in the tax code, so a married couple will receive as large a standard deduction as their unmarried counterparts.”	The Democrat platform does not discuss the marriage penalty.
“The President also advanced equity for familied that forego a second income to care for their children at home through the young Child Tax Credit. Congressional Democrats already trying to repeal it… We want to expand the Young Child Tax Credit to $500 per child and make it available to all familied with children under the age of ten.”	The Democrat platform is silent on the Young Child Tax Credit.

(Page 7)
Child Care
"George Bush secured the American family's most important victory of the last four years: his child care bill. He won landmark legislation - a voucher system for low-income households, allowing parents to choose what's best for their children, including care given by neighbors and churches. The Democrat Party opposed that legislation and instead sought government control of child care and fewer choices for parents."	"We will ... guarantee all children access to quality, affordable child care."
Working Families
"Republicans advocate maximum flexibility in working and child care arrangements so that families can make the most of their schedules. We support pro-family policies: job sharing, telecommunicating, compressed work weeks, parental leave negotiated between employer and employees, and flextime. We reject the Democrats' one-size-fits-all approach that puts mandates on employers and takes choices away from their employees."	Government-mandated "family and medical leave will ensure that workers don't have to choose between family and work."
Adoption
"We will advance adoption through significant tax credits, insurance reforms, and legal reforms. We encourage adoption for those unprepared or unwilling to bear the emotional, financial, or physical demands of raising a child and will work to revive maternity homes to ensure care for mothers and babies."	The Democrat platform is silent on adoption.

Education

Republican Platform	Democrat Platform
Higher Education
"The Bush Administration has put a college education within reach of millions more students, young and old. The President has proposed allowing families to deduct the interest they pay on student loans, and penalty-free withdrawal of IRA funds for educational expenses."	"A domestic G.I. Bill will enable all Americans to borrow money for college, so long as they are willing to pay it back as a percentage of their income over time or through national service addressing unmet community needs."
2

(Page 8)

Alternative Certification
"We support efforts to open the teaching profession by reforming the certification system now barring many talented men and women from the classroom."	The Democrat platform does not mention alternative certification, but does call for higher pay for teachers.
School Prayer

"Mindful of our country's Judeo-Christian heritage and rich religious pluralism, we support the right of students to engage in voluntary prayer in schools and the right of the community to do so at commencements or other occasions. We will strongly enforce the law guaranteeing equal access to school facilities. We also advocate recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in schools as a reminder of the principles that sustain us as one Nation under God."	The Democrat platform does not mention these issues.

Health Care

Republican Platform	Democrat Platform
Health Care Reform
"The President's plan will make health care more affordable through tax credits and deductions that will offset insurance costs for 95 million Americans; and make health care more accessible, especially for small businesses, by reducing insurance costs and eliminating workers' worries of losing insurance if they change jobs. . .. The President aims to make coverage available to all. guaranteed. renewable, with no preconditions. Under his plan, no one will have to go broke to get well."	"We will enact a uniquely American reform of the health care system to control costs and make health care more affordable." [Under the Democrat plan, Congress would determine how much could be spent on health care, whether publicly or privately provided. Congress also would require businesses to provide health insurance to their employees or be assessed a new tax.]
AIDS
"AIDS should be treated like any other communicable or sexually transmitted disease, while at the same time preserving patient confidentiality. We are committed to ensure that our Nation's response to AIDS is shaped by compassion, not fear or ignorance, and will oppose, as a matter of decency and honor, any discrimination against Americans who are its victims. .. . We reject the notion that the distribution of clean needles and condoms are the solution to stopping the spread of AIDS. Education designed to curb the spread of this disease should stress marital fidelity, abstinence, and a drug-free life- style. .. Our fellow citizens with HIV/AIDS deserve our com- passion and our care, and they deserve our united commitment to a cure."	"We must be united in declaring war on AIDS and HIV disease, implement the recommendations of the National Commission on AIDS and fully fund the Ryan White Care Act; provide targeted and honest prevention campaigns; [and] combat HIV-related discrimination." [NOTE: Among the recommendations of the National Commission on AIDS is the establishment of needle- exchange and condom distribution programs.]
3

(Page 9)

Other Issues Related to Family
Republican Platform	Democrat Platform
Issues Affecting Older Americans
"Because the intergenerational family is a vital element of social cohesion, we urge greater respect for the rights and roles of grandparents. ... We reaffirm our commitment to a strong Social Security system .... We pledge to continue the Republican crusade to end the earnings limitation for Social Security recipients. . . We pledge support for greater availability of long-term care and for research to combat Alzheimer's disease. Republicans also took the lead in expanding home health care in government programs, and we want to build on that accomplishment."	"We support the needs of our senior citizens for productive and healthy lives, including hunger prevention, income adequacy, transportation access and abuse prevention."
Homosexual Rights
"We oppose efforts by the Democrat Party to include sexual preference as a protected minority receiving preferential status under civil rights statutes at the federal, State, and local level. We oppose any legislation or law which legally recognizes same-sex marriages and allows such couples to adopt children or provide foster care."	"We will reverse the Bush Administration's assault on civil rights enforcement and instead .. . provide civil rights protection for gay men and lesbians and an end to Defense Department discrimination."
Federal Funding for the Arts
"We ... condemn the use of public funds to subsidize obscenity and blasphemy masquerading as art. The fine arts, including those with public support, can certainly enrich our society. However, no artist has an inherent right to claim taxpayer support for his or her private vision of art if that vision mocks the moral and spiritual basis on which our society is founded. We believe a free market in art - with neither suppression nor favoritism by government - is the best way to foster the cultural revival our country needs."	"We believe in public support for the Arts, including a National Endowment for the Arts that is free from political manipulation and firmly rooted in the First Amendment's freedom of expression guarantee."

Individual rights and Community Needs
Republican Platform	Democrat Platform
Individual Rights
"We renew the historic Republican commitment to the rights of women .... Because legal rights mean little without opportunity, we assert economic growth as the key to the continued progress of women in all fields of American life."	"We support the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment."

(Page 10)

"We support the Bush administration's vigorous enforcement of statutes to prevent illegal discrimination on account of sex, race, creed or national origin. Promoting opportunity, we reject efforts to replace equal rights with quotas or other preferential treatment."	The Democratic platform will "ensure that no Americans suffer discrimination or deprivation of rights on the basis of race, gender, language, national origin, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, or other characteristics irrelevant to ability ... " The platform further supports civil rights protection for gay men and lesbians.
Welfare Reform
"We call for strong enforcement and tough penalties against welfare fraud and insist that work must be a mandatory part of public assistance for all who are able to work .... Families on welfare with school-age children must be required to send them to school or provide adequate home education in keeping with various state in laws in order to continue receiving public assistance."	"We will continue to help those who cannot help themselves. We will offer people on - welfare a new social contract. We'll invest in education and job training, and provide the childcare and health care they need to go to work and achieve long-term self-sufficiency. We will ... require people who can work to go to work within two years in available jobs either in the private sector or in community service to meet unmet needs."
Crime Control
"Congressional Democrats reject Republican reform of the exclusionary rule that prohibits use of relevant evidence obtained in good faith and allows criminals, even murderers, to go free on a technicality. They reject our reform of habeas corpus law to prevent the appellate process from becoming a lawyers' game to thwart justice through endless appeals and procedural delays. They refuse to enact effective procedures to reinstate the death penalty for the most heinous crimes. They reject tougher, mandatory sentences for career criminals."	"We will create a Police Corps, in which participants would receive college aid in return for several years of service after graduation in a state or local police department ... Democrats support more community policing, which uses foot patrols and storefront offices to make police officers visible fixtures in urban neighborhoods. We will combat street violence and emphasize building trust and solving the problems that breed crime."
"We decry efforts by congressional Democrats to slash international anti-narcotics funding .. . . Drug users must face punishment, including fines and imprisonment, for contributing to the demand that makes the drug trade profitable."	The Democrat platform does not address international anti-narcotics funding or punishment for users.
"Republicans defend the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. We call for stiff mandatory sentences for those who use firearms in a crime."	"We support a reasonable waiting period to permit background checks for purchases of handguns, as well as assault weapons controls to ban the possession, sale, importation and manufacture of the most deadly assault weapons."
5

(Page 11)

Economic Opportunity
Republican Platform	Democrat Platform
Guiding Economic Principle
Republicans believe "free markets expand opportunity and wealth for all." In "all that people can individually do as well for themselves, Government ought not to interfere."	Democrats support a "national plan for restoring our economy through a partnership of government, labor, and business."
Taxes
"We will oppose any attempts to increase taxes." "We believe the tax increases of 1990 should ultimately be repealed." "Just as history shows that tax increases destroy jobs and economic growth, it also shows that the proper path to create jobs and growth is tax rate reduction." "We will cut the capital gains tax rate to 15 percent-zero in enterprise zones and index it so government cannot profit from inflation by taxing phantom capital gains, literally stealing from savings and pensions." "We support further tax simplification." "We oppose taxing religious and ethnic fraternal benefit societies because of their vital role in fostering charity and patriotism."	"We will relieve the tax burden on middle class Americans by forcing the rich to pay their fair share." Instead "of a sweeping capital gains windfall to the wealthy and those who speculate, we will create an in- vestment tax credit and a capital gains reduction for patient investors in emerging technologies and new businesses."
Balancing the Budget
"Republicans vigorously support a balanced budget, a Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment, and a line-item veto for the President." The budget should be balanced "not by increasing taxes to match spending, but by cutting spending to current levels of revenue." Republicans "will consider non-Social Security mandatory spending portions of the federal budget when looking for savings." "Privatization is an important alternative to higher taxes and reduced services."	The Democrats will have a "future budget" for new spending, and a "present budget" which will continue spending at current levels. "We will create a 'future budget' for investments that make us richer." "We will rebuild America by investing more in transportation, environmental technologies, defense conversion, and a national information network." "We must tackle spending by putting everything on the table ... limit in- creases in the 'present budget' to the rate of growth in the average American's paycheck ... and make the rich pay their fair share in taxes."
Economic Growth
"Lower taxes and an expanding economy depend on long- term, consistent restraint in the growth of federal spending." Republicans support "a reduction in the capital gains tax; an investment tax allowance; a $5,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers; a needed modification of the "passive loss rule"; a $500 increase in the personal income tax exemption; a permanent extension of the research and development tax credit; and passage of federal enterprise zone legislation."	"The only way to lay the foundation for renewed American prosperity is to spur both public and private investment." Democrats "vow to create a far better climate for firms and independent contractors of all sizes that empower their workers, revolutionize their workplaces, respect the environment, and serve their communities well."
6

(Page 12)

Regulation
"Regulation is a hidden tax on American families, costing each household more than $5000 per year." "We support President Bush's freeze on new regulations." Republicans support regulatory reforms, including "market-based regulation. cost-benefit analysis of all new rule-making, and a Regulatory Budget that will make Congress admit-and correct-the harm it does by legislation that destroys jobs and competitiveness."	The Democrats do not address the issue of regulation.

Reforming Government and the Legal System
Republican Platform	Democrat Platform
Congressional Term-Limits
"We reaffirm our support for a constitutional amendment to limit the number of terms House Members and Senators may serve. We want a citizens' Congress, free of bloated pensions and perpetual perks."	The Democrat platform is silent on term limits.
Balanced Budget Amendment
"Republicans vigorously support a balanced budget, a Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment, and a line-item veto for the President."	The Democrat platform is silent on a Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment and a line-item veto.
Voter Registration
Voter Registration
"We crusade for clean elections. We support State efforts to increase voter participation but condemn Democrat attempt to perpetuate vote fraud through schemes that override the States' safeguards of orderly voter registration. And it is critical that the States retain the authority to tailor voter registration procedures to unique local circumstances."	"We need new voter registration laws that expand the electorate, such as universal same-day registration .... "
Campaign Finance Reform
"[W]e condemn the Democrats' shameless plots to make tax- payers foot the bills for their campaigns. Their campaign finance bill would have given $1 billion, over six years, in subsidies to candidates. President Bush vetoed that bill. Campaign financing does need reform. It does not need a hand in the public's pocketbook."	The Democrat platform is silent on their plan to use tax dollars to pay for congressional campaigns.
"We will eliminate political action committees supported by corporations, unions, or trade associations. .. . "	"We must ... limit the disproportionate and excessive role of PACs."
7

(Page 13)

Product Liability
"[W]e support a federal product liability law. The cost of product liability protection is a great expense to the American consumer and seriously impedes our national competitive- ness."	The Democrats' platform is silent on the issue of liability reform.
D.C. Statehood
"We oppose statehood [for the District of Columbia] as inconsistent with the original intent of the Framers of the Constitution and with the need for a federal city belonging to all the. people as our Nation's Capital."	The "District of Columbia .. . deserves and must get statehood status."

Agriculture
Republican Platform	Democrat Platform
The Role of Agriculture
"Agriculture and energy remain building blocks of modern life ... While supporting conservation, we reject the notion that there are limits to growth. . . . The Republican Party is the home of the farmer, rancher and forester. We have long championed their right to pursue growth, efficiency and competitiveness through market incentives, diversification and personal ingenuity."	"A sufficient and sustainable agricultural economy can be achieved through fiscally responsible programs."
"We stand with farmers against attempts by liberal Democrats to repeal the laws of economics by dictating price levels and restricting production. We stand with them against agriculture embargoes. We reject the notion that elected officials and bureaucrats make better farm managers than farmers themselves."	The Democrat platform does not encourage nontraditional uses for agricultural products.
" .. . The Republican Party supports continued expansion in the growth of American agriculture through exports, development of new products and new markets, and it supports increased re- search and development to reduce ethanol production costs and expand its use in motor fuel markets."	The Democrat platform supports "expanding trade in agricultural and other products. . .. [In] completing the GATT negotiations, our government must assure that our legitimate concerns about environmental, health and safety, and labor standards are included."
"We pledge to fight unfair competition and to bring down the walls of protectionism around the world that unfairly inhibit competitiveness of U.S. farm exports. . . We affirm that there will be no GATT agreement unless it improves opportunities for U.S. farmers to compete in world markets."	The Democrat platform avoids discussion of this topic.



" .. . we will work to achieve greater efficiencies within the U.S. maritime industry and to decrease the cost to agriculture of shipping services."	
8

(Page 14)

Energy
Republican Platform	Democrat Platform
Energy Supply
"Our goals address our fundamental needs: an energy supply available to all, that remains reasonably priced, secure, and clean, produced by strong energy industries on which the country can rely, operating in an environmentally responsible manner, and produced from domestically available energy resources to the maximum extent practicable."	"We will make our economy more efficient, by using less energy, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and producing less solid and toxic waste."
Production and Conservation
The Republican platform supports balanced energy program of energy production as well energy conservation and renew- able initiatives.	The Democrat platform addresses our energy challenges by emphasizing energy efficiency and spending on renewable energy sources.
Nuclear Power
Support is stated for acceleration of the next generation of safer nuclear power plants	The Democrat platform does not mention nuclear power.
Incentives for Oil and Gas Producers
The Republican platform supports incentives for all domestic oil and gas exploration and development, including relief from the alternative minimum tax, in the President's energy bill.	The Democrat platform makes no mention of fossil or nuclear energy production, other than for incentives for domestic oil and gas operations. [Note: some congressional Democrats attempted to strike tax relief for oil and gas producers in the President's energy bill during Senate Floor consideration.]
Clean-Coal Technologies
"We support clean-coal technologies to allow greater use of America's most abundant fossil fuel within standards required by the Clean Air Act. We encourage the export of U.S. coal. We support acceleration of the international transfer of coal-related technologies to boost exports for U.S. coal, in order to capitalize on America's leadership in these technologies."	The Democrat platform limits its support for coal to promoting clean-coal technology.
9

(Page 15)

Energy Exploration in Frontier Areas
The Republican platform favors allowing access, under environmental safeguards, to the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and selected areas of the Outer Continental Shelf.	The Democrat platform is opposed to oil or gas production or mining extraction in "our nation's many environmentally critical areas."
Renewable Energy Sources
"We endorse development of renewable energy sources and re- search on fuel cells, conservation, hydro, solar, hydrogen, and windpower as components of our overall plan for energy security and environmental quality."	The Democrat platform mischaracterizes the Republican position as believing that "energy efficiency and environmental protection are enemies of economic growth."

Transportation
Republican Platform	Democrat Platform
Mass Transit
"Wherever possible, the market should allocate investment in transportation, steering the development of passenger rail, mass transit and highways to best suit consumers. States and localities should have discretion in using Highway Trust Fund revenues to construct new roads, expand existing ones or invest in mass transit facilities, as they see fit."	"We will adopt a coordinated transportation policy, with a strong commitment to mass transit ... " That is all the Democratic Plat- form states with regard to transportation.
Improving Transportation Technology
"We advocate development of high-speed rail systems,. . .short-haul aircraft,. . . intelligent highway systems, an efficient battery for electric cars, perfected natural gas vehicles, greater private investment in space travel and removal of regulatory impediments to intermodal transport."	The Democrat platform does not address advanced modes of transportation.
Mandates on the Auto Industry
The Democrats' "national nominees want to require a 45 miles-per-gallon standard. That means unsafe vehicles, reduced consumer choice, higher car costs and a loss of 300,000 jobs in the auto industry here at home."	"We will make our economy more efficient by using less energy .... " [Note: Both Gov. Clinton and Senator Gore have been supporters of a 40-percent increase in mandatory federal fuel economy standards on automakers.]
10

(Page 16)

Environment
Republican Platform	Democrat Platform
Environmental Progress and Economic Growth
"Environmental progress must continue in tandem with economic growth. Crippling an industry is no solution at all. Bankrupt facilities only worsen environmental situations. Unemployment is a form of pollution too, poisoning families and contaminating whole communities."	" .. . We must protect our environment ... and vigorously prosecute environmental criminals. We will oppose Republican efforts to gut the Clean Air Act in the guise of competitiveness."
Carbon Dioxide Limits
The Republican platform opposes any treaty that moves environmental decisions beyond our own democratic processes. It opposes any attempt to impose a carbon tax as proposed by liberal Democrats. It condemns Democratic candidates for advocating what our foreign competitors have refused to do: adopt tax policies to curb carbon dioxide that would abolish up to a million U.S. jobs for a modest world-wide reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.	The Democrat platform declares the U.S. should join our European allies in agreeing to limit carbon dioxide emission to 1990 levels by the year 2000. [Our European allies have not agreed to undertake measures to accomplish this goal.]
Biodiversity Treaty
The platform commends President Bush for standing up to the international bureaucrats at the Rio Conference and refusing to accept their anti-American demands for income redistribution [one of the two reasons the U.S. refused to sign the biodiversity treaty; the other reason was the treaty's attack on intellectual property rights, especially for the biotechnology industry, in which the U.S. is a world leader].	The Democrat platform condemns the Bush Administration for failure to negotiate a biodiversity treaty at the Rio Earth Summit.
Hazardous Waste Cleanup
"It is time to replace knee-jerk reactions with the kind of scientific analysis that helps businesses, individuals, and com- munities contribute to economic and environmental progress through flexible application of laws." "We will legislatively overhaul the Superfund program to speed the clean up of hazardous waste and more efficiently use Superfund dollars."	"We will ... insist that private polluters clean up their toxic and hazardous wastes and vigorously prosecute environmental criminals."
11

(Page 17)

Wetlands
"We value our nation's real wetlands habitat and the diversity of our native animal and plant life. We oppose, however bureaucratic harassment of farm, ranch and timber families under statutes regarding endangered species and wetlands ... [P]rior to the implementation of a recovery plan for a species declared to be endangered, we will require the Congress to affirm the priority of the species on the endangered list and the specific measures to be taken in any recovery plan ... With regard to wetlands, following our principle that environmental protection be reasonable, land that is not truly wet would not be classified as a wetland."	"We will protect our old growth forests, preserve critical habitats, provide a genuine 'no net loss' policy on wetlands .... "
U.S. Influence on Developing Nations
"We will work with U.S. industry and labor to identify promising markets abroad where America's environmental know- how can carry our success story to the rest of planet earth.	"We must fashion imaginative ways of engaging governments and business in the effort to encourage developing nations to preserve their environmental heritage."



Private Property Rights	
Republican Platform	Democrat Platform
"We reaffirm our commitment to the Fifth Amendment ... We support a strong Takings Clause to keep citizens secure in the use and development of their property." "We will require federal agencies to promptly compensate ... for any taking of private property, including the denial of use."	The Democrat platform has no such section or even mention of private property rights. The only passage dealing with changing the attitude of the Democratic Party with respect to government's relationship to people is the following: "We favor [putting] government back on the side of citizens who play by the rules. We believe that by what it says and how it conducts its business, government must once again make responsibility and instrument of national purpose."
12

(Page 18)

Foreign Policy	
Republican Platform	Democrat Platform
Gulf War
"Americans will never forget that, of the 323 Congressional Democrats, only 96 voted to support Operation Desert Storm and 227 voted against it. If the Democrats had prevailed, Saddam Hussein would still be in Kuwait, armed with nuclear weapons."	The Democrat platform does not address Desert Shield or the Persian Gulf War.
Middle East/Palestinian State
"We oppose the creation of an independent Palestinian state."	The Democrat platform is silent on this.
Middle East/Security Assistance to Israel
"Consistent with our strategic relationship, the United States should continue to provide large-scale security assistance to Israel, maintaining Israel's qualitative military advantage over any adversary or coalition of adversaries."	The Democrat platform does not mention providing security assistance to Israel.
Middle East/ Loan Guarantees for Israel
"Republicans are proud to have maintained our historic and moral commitment to the resettlement in Israel of persecuted Jews. We congratulate President Bush and Secretary Baker on the agreement with Israel for a generous package of loan guarantees that will provide new immigrants with needed humanitarian assistance."	The Democrat platform does not address loan guarantees for Israel.
Europe/Yugoslavia
The platform specifically condemns the violence in former Yugoslavia as an "affront to humanity." The Republicans "condemn" those responsible for "carnage" and "atrocities" there, and support U.N. peacekeeping, a cease-fire, and respect for international law and human rights.	The Democrat platform briefly mentions the need to "support freedom, diminish ethnic tensions, and oppose aggression in the former communist countries, such as Bosnia-Hercegovina."
Africa/Somalia
"We support responsible efforts by the international community to help end the anarchy in Somalia and to address the plight of the people of that country suffering from drought and starvation. We condemn those who are using armed force to impede food distribution."	The Democrat platform does not address Somalia.
13

(Page 19)

Latin America/Panama
"We ... salute the people of Panama on their recovery of free institutions after Operation Just Cause. We commend Presi- dent Bush for the decisive military action that led to the end of the corrupt Noriega regime and freedom for democratically- minded Panamanians. We will uphold free and unencumbered U.S. access to the Canal."	The Democrat platform does not address Panama.
Latin America/Central America and Caribbean
"We hail the patriots of El Salvador and Nicaragua, whose bravery thwarted Communism and Castro despite the inconstancy of Congressional Democrats." The platform states the need "to restore democracy to Haiti." "The Monroe Doctrine remains a cardinal principle of our foreign policy, and we continue to strive toward the day when the alien ideology of Communism and Fidel Castro's regime will be purged from Cuba, and Americans can welcome the Cuban people back into the family of free nations." Radio and TV Marti and "the spirit of Cuba Libre" are supported.	Under "Human Rights," there are brief mentions of the need to "resist oppression in Cuba" and "promote the principle of sanctuary for Haitian refugees."
POW/MIA
"We demand the fullest possible accounting for America's POWs and MIAs in Southeast Asia. We will seek complete information in all forums and from all sources. Our President has put the government of Vietnam on notice: improved relations depend upon this goal."	The Democrat platform is silent on POW/MIA issues.

Defense Issues
Republican Platform	Democrat Platform
Nuclear Test Ban
The platform pledges to continue testing nuclear weapons to ensure their safety, reliability and effectiveness.	The Democrat platform supports a comprehensive test ban as an incentive to outlaw countries to stop producing nuclear weapons.
Defense Spending and Conversion
"Republicans call for a controlled defense drawdown. not a freefall." Democrats want to cut defense outlays over the next four years by nearly $60 billion beyond the President's cuts, throwing as many as one million additional Americans out of work. The President's efforts to help people and communities adversely affected by the defense builddown include more than 30 defense adjustment programs already in place and over $7 billion committed in just the next two years.	The specific amounts of additional cuts to the defense budget are not specified; however, according to the platform "savings from defense must be reinvested to research, education and job training."
14

(Page 20)

Nuclear and Ballistic Missile proliferation
"We will use missile defenses to assure threatened nations that they do not need to acquire ballistic missiles of their own." Arms accords and the development and deployment of ballistic missile defenses will be used to counter proliferation. Toward this end, we will field the next generation of the Patriot missile to defend against the Scuds of tomorrow, and, in cooperation with our former allies, we will move beyond the ABM Treaty toward effective ballistic missile defenses.	Proposes that the U.S. "get tough with companies that peddle nuclear and chemical war- fare technologies, strengthen the International Atomic Energy Agency, and enforce strong sanctions against governments that violate international restraints."
Defense Against Ballistic Missile Attack
The Strategic Defense Initiative is now designed to provide the U.S. and our allies with global defenses against limited ballistic missile attacks. "SDI is the greatest investment in peace we could ever make. This system will be our shield against technoterrorism."	The Democrats platform is silent. (No mention of strategic defenses in Democrats plat- form; however, Clinton plans on cutting SDI funding to bankroll his "deficit reduction package."
Women in Combat
"We applaud the advancement of women in the military and single out for special recognition the outstanding contribution of women in Operations Desert Shield/Storm. However, we oppose liberal Democrat attempts to place women in combat positions just to make an ideological point."	This is not directly addressed, but the platform supports ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment implying support to lift the ban on women in combat.
Veterans
"We affirm our support for veterans preference in federal employment and for sufficient funding to maintain the integrity of the veterans hospital and medical care system. We strongly endorse programs to meet the needs of unemployed veterans. Indeed, it was the Republicans who proposed and created a Department of Veterans Affairs so their concerns would be represented at the Cabinet level."	"We will honor and support our veterans"; however, the Democrat platform does not give any specifics.
15

(Page 21)

September 8, 1992
STATUS REPORT MITCHELL WISH LIST
BILLS TO BE FINISHED BEFORE ADJOURNMENT
ALL APPROPRIATION BILLS EXCEPT AGRICULTURE WHICH HAS BECOME LAW
URBAN AID BILL (TAX BILL) - pending - White House very mixed on bill - may prefer not to see
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BILL - likely dead (SDI big issue)
MOTOR VOTER VETO MESSAGE - pending in Senate - Mitchell may never pursue MFN FOR CHINA - 38 votes solid - unclear what Burdick replacement would do. Could be as early as next week.
ABORTION RIGHTS BILL
- (FREEDOM OF CHOICE ACT) very controversial - on calendar GOVERNMENT SPONSORED ENTERPRISES BILL - both Houses have passed bills - Gramm trying to block because of roll up provisions. Attempt to move bill likely to recur.
CABLE TV BILL - sent to conference waiting convening - White House would sooner not see the bill
CAFE STANDARDS BILL
- very unlikely - at most could be floor amendment
ENERGY BILL
- in conference - conclusion likely -
RCRA BILL - on calendar but considered dead. Portions of bill like the Coats interstate trash provisions keep appearing on separate vehicles
RUSSIAN AID BILL
- conference scheduled for 3rd week of September. Byrd raising jurisdictional problems.
START TREATY



(Page 21)

September 8, 1992
STATUS REPORT MITCHELL WISH LIST
BILLS TO BE FINISHED BEFORE ADJOURNMENT
ALL APPROPRIATION BILLS EXCEPT AGRICULTURE WHICH HAS BECOME LAW
URBAN AID BILL (TAX BILL) - pending - White House very mixed on bill - may prefer not to see
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BILL - likely dead (SDI big issue)
MOTOR VOTER VETO MESSAGE - pending in Senate - Mitchell may never pursue MFN FOR CHINA - 38 votes solid - unclear what Burdick replacement would do. Could be as early as next week.
ABORTION RIGHTS BILL
- (FREEDOM OF CHOICE ACT) very controversial - on calendar GOVERNMENT SPONSORED ENTERPRISES BILL - both Houses have passed bills - Gramm trying to block because of roll up provisions. Attempt to move bill likely to recur.
CABLE TV BILL - sent to conference waiting convening - White House would sooner not see the bill
CAFE STANDARDS BILL
- very unlikely - at most could be floor amendment
ENERGY BILL
- in conference - conclusion likely -
RCRA BILL - on calendar but considered dead. Portions of bill like the Coats interstate trash provisions keep appearing on separate vehicles
RUSSIAN AID BILL
- conference scheduled for 3rd week of September. Byrd raising jurisdictional problems.

(Page 22)

START TREATY
- reported out of Foreign Relations and Armed Services - problems with some conservatives. Not White House priority at this time
CRIME BILL
- IN NEVER-NEVER LAND - AG & Biden continue to negotiate - probably dead
PARENTAL LEAVE BILL - Conference Report awaiting House action - action expected Thursday - could have veto back next week.
OTHER POSSIBLE ISSUES:
- SAUDI (F-15) ARMS SALE - announcement expected imminently - APAC says no problem but who knows
- TAIWAN (F16) ARMS SALE - Administration has announced intention to proceed - serious opposition unlikely
NEW ADDITIONS TO THE WISH LIST:
HOUSING REAUTHORIZATION
- on calendar
EDUCATION REFORM
- awaiting appointment of Conferees - White House would like to veto - not sure this is good strategy - checking with Nancy Kassebaum
FAMILY PLANNING (GAG RULE)
- Conference Report passed by House - awaiting Senate action
HEALTH CARE RE FORM - No vehicle yet - Democrats still divided - Mitchell anxious to move something to embarrass us
OLDER AMERICANS ACT
- Both Houses have passed - MCCAIN earnings limitation on bill
EQUAL REMEDIES ACT
- House Bill - pending in committee - Senate bill - on calendar

(Page 23)

POLICY LUNCHEON AGENDA TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1992
PENDING:
Motion to proceed to Product Liability. Cloture will be filed today and vote will be Thursday.
Carnes Nomination was debated this morning and cloture will be voted on the nomination tomorrow morning following 1 hour of debate.
TONIGHT:
VA / HUD Appropriations will be considered beginning tonight following completion of debate on the Motion to Proceed to Product Liability. There is a U.C. limiting amendments.
THIS WEEK:
Treasury / Postal expected to be the next item of business.
BALANCE OF THE YEAR:
This morning, Senator Mitchell again stated he would like to adjourn sine die by October 3. Counting today, that leaves 19 weekdays. One may be used for the funeral for Senator Burdick, and there will be no votes on September 28 in honor of Rosh Hashanah.
** WISH LIST FOR THE YEAR IS ATTACHED **

(Page 24)

SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEK OF SEPT. 7, 1992
TODAY, TUESDAY, SEPT 8
THE SENATE WILL RECONVENE AT 2:15 P.M., AND BEGIN 2 HOURS FOR DEBATE ON THE MOTION TO PROCEED TO THE PRODUCT LIABILITY BILL. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT PRIOR TO THE CONCLUSION OF THE 2 HOURS FOR DEBATE, THE MAJORITY LEADER WILL FILE A CLOTURE PETITION ON THE MOTION, PROVIDING FOR A CLOTURE VOTE ON THURSDAY. AT 4:15 P.M., IT WILL BE THE MAJORITY LEADER'S INTENTION TO BEGIN CONSIDERATION OF THE HUD/VA APPROPRIATIONS BILL, UNDER A PREVIOUS UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT. VOTES COULD OCCUR WITH RESPECT TO AMENDMENTS TO THAT BILL.

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 9
AT 9:00 A.M. THE SENATE WILL RESUME EXECUTIVE SESSION TO CONSIDER THE CARNES NOMINATION, TO BE U.S. CIRCUIT JUDGE, FOR 1 HOUR OF DEBATE, TO BE FOLLOWED AT 10:00 A.M. BY A CLOTURE VOTE ON THE CARNES NOMINATION. IF CLOTURE IS INVOKED, A VOTE WILL OCCUR IMMEDIATELY ON THE CONFIRMATION OF MR. CARNES. FOLLOWING THE CARNES NOMINATION, IT IS EXPECTED THAT THE SENATE WILL RESUME CONSIDERATION OF THE HUD/VA BILL. THEREFORE, VOTES WILL OCCUR.

THURSDAY, SEPT. 10
IT IS EXPECTED THAT THE SENATE WILL CONDUCT A CLOTURE VOTE ON THE MOTION TO PROCEED TO THE PRODUCT LIABILITY BILL. ALSO, THE SENATE CAN BE EXPECTED TO COMPLETE ACTION ON THE HUD/VA BILL AND POSSIBLY BEGIN THE TREASURY/P.O. APPROPRIATIONS BILL. THEREFORE, VOTES WILL OCCUR.

FRIDAY, SEPT 11
RESUME THE PENDING APPROPRIATIONS BILL. VOTES CAN BE EXPECTED TO OCCUR.

(Page 25)

-2-
NOTE:
ALL SENATORS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT OUR COLLEAGUE, SENATOR BURDICK PASSED AWAY AT APPROX. 3:00 A.M. THIS MORNING. THE FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS HAVE NOT YET BEEN FINALIZED, HOWEVER, THE SENATE IS NOT EXPECTED TO BE IN SESSION ON THE DAY OF THE FUNERAL. YOU WILL BE NOTIFIED VIA THE HOTLINE WITH DETAILS OF THE SERVICE FOR THOSE WHO MAY WISH TO ATTEND.
IN ADDITION, PLEASE NOTE THAT EACH SENATOR HAS BEEN GIVEN A COPY OF THE MAJORITY LEADER'S AGENDA FOR THE SENATE PRIOR TO SINE DIE ADJOURNMENT, WHICH WAS READ IN TODAY'S RECORD. IN ADDITION, THE MAJORITY LEADER REMINDED EACH SENATOR THAT VOTES CAN BE EXPECTED TO OCCUR EACH DAY OF SENATE SESSION, THAT IS MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF MONDAY, SEPT. 28, ON WHICH NO VOTES WILL OCCUR IN OBSERVANCE OF ROSH HASHANAH.

(Page 26)

BOB DOLE KANSAS
United States Senate OFFICE OF THE REPUBLICAN LEADER WASHINGTON, DC 205 10-7020
TO: ALL REPUBLICAN SENATORS
FROM: BOB DOLE
DATE: SEPTEMBER 8, 1992
RE : LEGISLATIVE AGENDA PRIOR TO SINE DIE
THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF THE MAJORITY LEADER'S LEGISLATIVE AGENDA PRIOR TO SINE DIE ADJOURNMENT OF THE 102ND CONGRESS: (AS STATED IN THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD OF SEPTEMBER 8, 1992)
ALL APPROPRIATION BILLS DISASTER RELIEF
URBAN AID/TAX PACKAGE D.O.D. AUTHORIZATION ENERGY CONFERENCE REPORT HOUSING REAUTHORIZATION BILL CABLE T.V. CONFERENCE REPORT EDUCATION BILL
FAMILY PLANNING BILL (REPEALS GAG RULE)
FREEDOM OF CHOICE BILL
HEALTH CARE LEGISLATION MOTOR VOTER VETO VOTE OLDER AMERICANS ACT
CRIME BILL CONFERENCE REPORT
PRODUCT LIABILITY REFORM EQUAL REMEDIES ACT
ANY OTHER LEGISLATIVE ITEMS THAT MAY BE CLEARED BY UNANIMOUS CONSENT
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR NOMINATIONS

(Page 27)

Poll Watch A Review of Recent National Polling Data
From the Office of the GOP Conference Secretary Bob Kasten, Secretary
Bill Canfield, Staff Director Rick Dearborn, Deputy 202-224-3496
Contents
9/8/92
1) Clinton Leads by 15 Points (CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll: 1,007 RVs surveyed 8/31-9/2; margin of error +/- 3%; rel. CNN 9/3)
2) The Country's Mood (Wirthlin Poll: 1,006 adults surveyed 8/13-16; margin of error +/- 3.1%; rel. 9/92)
3) The Top Issues: Bush vs. Clinton (CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll: rel. CNN 9/3)
4) Rate the Economy (CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll: rel. CNN 9/3)
5) The Government & Family Values (CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll: rel. CNN 9/3)
6) Bush vs. Clinton: Ideology & Opinion (CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll: rel. CNN 9/3)
7) The American Dream (Wirthlin Poll: rel. 9/92)

(Page 28)

1) CLINTON LEADS BY 15 POINTS (CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll: 1,007 RVs surveyed 8/31-9/2; margin of error +/- 3%; rel. 9/3
NOW
8/22
8/20
8/12
8/1
HARD VOTE
SOFT VOTE
NEVER SUPPORT
PEROT VOTERS
Clinton
54%
52%
51%
56%
57%
43%
10%
32%
47%
Bush
39
42
39
37
32
29
10
45
41
2) THE COUNTRY'S MOOD (Wirthlin Poll: 1,006 adults surveyed 8/13-16; margin of error +/- 3.1%; rel. 9/92)
오: "Would you say that things in the country are going in the RIGHT DIRECTION, or have they pretty seriously gotten off on the WRONG TRACK ?"
8/92
7/92
6/92
5/92
3/92
1/92
12/91
8/91
Right Direction
17%
15%
12%
14%
18%
20%
17%
35%
Wrong Track
79
79
81
83
76
72
75
57
3) THE TOP ISSUES: BUSH VS. CLINTON CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll: rel. 9/3)
오: "What are the most important issues facing the Presidential candidates, and who is better to handle the issues ?"
Issue
Very Important
Who best to handle?
Bush
Clinton
The Economy
89%
34%
55%
Education
84
35
54
Federal Deficit
77
32
53
Health care
75
27
62
Taxes
69
38
50
Environment
62
30
58
Family values
52
47
38
Foreign affairs
42
67
24
Abortion
38
32
52
2
4 ) RATE THE ECONOMY TODAY (CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll: rel. 9/3)
NOW
6/14
4/12
1/6
Excellent
1%
1%
1%
--
Good
9
11
11
12%
Only fair
37
47
40
46
Poor
53
41
48
41
NOTE:
59% say the economy is getting worse
5) THE GOVERNMENT & FAMILY VALUES (CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll: rel. 9/3)
Government should promote family values Government should stay out 67
28%
6) BUSH vs. CLINTON: IDEOLOGY & OPINION (CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll: rel. 9/3)
Best Describes ....
Bush
Clinton
Display good judgement in crisis
57%
34%
Bring about changes country needs ...
30
56
Clear plan for solving
the country's problems ...
24
47
More likely to raise taxes ...
36
49
Shares view on religion in politics .
42
38
Shares your values ...
42
45
Can be trusted ....
41
38
Would appoint good Supreme Court justices ...
40
46
Ideology ?
Bush
Clinton
Too conservative
40%
4%
Too liberal
13
33
About right
42
56
3
7) THE AMERICAN DREAM (Wirthlin Poll: rel. 9/92)
오: "What comes first to your mind when you hear the phrase 'The American Dream' ?"
Non-Materialistic Ideals:
49%
Freedom
9%
A good job
8
Achieving one's goals
5
Family and children
5
Happiness
5
Equality
3
Peace
3
Other (responses < 3%)
11
Material Accomplishments:
46%
Owning your own home
21%
Achieving financial security
13
Having a comfortable lifestyle Other (responses < 3%)
9
NOTE: Acquiring material possessions was the main object of the dream. And acquiring them meant the dream had become a reality.
U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee
Don Nickles, Chairman Kelly D. Johnston, Staff Director
Talking Points
September 8, 1992
What the Democrat Platform Left Behind Over 8,500 words. . . . and the following never appeared. .. .
ABM Treaty
Deregulation/Regulatory Reform
Adoption (of children)
Desert Storm/Desert Shield
AFL-CIO/labor union
Doctor
ANWR
Draft
Apartheid
Drought
Arkansas
Dukakis
Army
Egypt
Asian-American
El Salvador
Balanced Budget
Endangered Species
Beck Decision
Ethanol
Berlin Wall
Excellence
Bill of Rights
Experience
Billion
Federal land/public land
Block grant
Fourth of July
Bottom-line
Free World
Cabinet
Gerrymander
CAFE standards
God
Cambodia
Gorbachev
Canada
Gore
Carter
Governor
Castro
Health Insurance
Charity
Hispanic
Christian
Hostages
Church
House of Representatives
Clinton
Ideology
Commerce
Individual rights
Compassion
Industrial Policy
Condom
Industry
Confidence/confident
Integrity
Consensus/consent
Intellectual
Consequences
Interest Rates
Conservative
IRA'S
Conviction
Iraq
Cost effective
Iron Curtain
Death Penalty
Kennedy
Decency
Kuwait :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected: :unselected:
Lawyer
Privatization
Lebanon
Procurement
Legal/Tort Reform
Profit
Liberal
Property tax
Libya
Property rights
Limited Government
Protectionism
Lincoln
Proverb
Line-Item Veto
Quotas
Litigation
Radio Marti
Love
Rancher
Madrid
Reagan
Maritime
Russia
Marriage
Scud
Marxist
SDI
Merit pay
Senate
Merit
Single-Parent
Mexico
Social Security
Missile
Socialist
Mondale
Special interests
Monetary policy
Spending Limits
Monroe Doctrine
Spiritual
Morality/moral
Stability
Navy
Starvation
Nicaragua
Statesmanship
Nonpartisan
Super Conducting Super Collider
OPEC
Superfund
Optimism
Supreme Court
Panama Canal
Taiwan
Panama
Tax Simplification
Paternalistic
Taxpayer
Patriot Missile
Telecommunication
Patriotism
Term limits
Patriotism
Terrorism
Peace through Strength
Totalitarian
Perks
Trucking
Philippines
Vice President
Philosophy
Victory
Play-or-pay
Virtue
Pledge of Allegiance
Wholesome
PLO
Wilderness/wildlife
Pork
Workfare/Learnfare
Pornography
Worship
POWs/MIAs
Yeltsin
Prayer
Private property
Source: Bush Quayle '92 Primary Committee, Inc. 1030 15th St., NW, Washington, DC 20005
U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee
Don Nickles, Chairman Kelly D. Johnston, Staff Director
No. 96
Legislative Notice
Editor, Judy Gorman Prinkey
September 4, 1992
S. 640 - Product Liability Fairness Act
Calendar No. 653
Reported: From the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on November 14, 1991, by a vote of 13-7, with Republican Senators Burns, Danforth, Gorton, Kasten, Lott, McCain, Pressler and Stevens voting yea, and Senator Packwood voting nay. On June 26, 1992, the bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee for a period not to extend beyond August 12, 1992. The Judiciary Committee held a hearing on August 5, and on August 12 the bill was discharged from committee and placed on the calendar. No changes were made to the bill. S. Rept. 102-215.
NOTEWORTHY
· Under a unanimous consent agreement, on Tuesday, September 8, 1992, upon the conclusion of Morning Business, the Majority Leader will be recognized in order to move to proceed to S. 640. Once that motion is made, it will be set aside for debate on the Carnes nomination. At 2:15 p.m., the Majority Leader intends to continue consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 640. It is expected that there will be a cloture vote Thursday morning on the motion to proceed to S. 640.
· If cloture is not invoked on the motion to proceed, the opportunity to consider S. 640 will once again be lost because under the unanimous consent agreement, no other motion or amendment relating to the subject of S. 640 would be in order for the remainder of this Congress.
· S. 640 would revamp the nation's product liability laws. It would establish a more rigorous standard for punitive damages and streamline the process by establishing new court procedures to encourage settlement and less costly methods of dispute resolution. Another essential reform is the limitation of joint and several liability to strictly economic damages.
· On May 12, 1992, a product liability amendment was offered by Senator Kasten to S. 250, the Motor-Voter Bill.
BILL SUMMARY
I. Whoever Creates Harm Should Take Responsibility For It.
Joint and Several Liability. The bill abolishes joint and several liability with respect to noneconomic damages, such as pain and suffering. Under current law, an individual may be required to pay 100 percent of damages when he is only 1 percent responsible.
Product Sellers. Product sellers will be liable only for their own negligence, failure to comply with an express warranty, or if the manufacturer cannot be brought into court or is unable to pay a judgment.
Alcohol and Drugs. The defendant has an absolute defense if the plaintiff's drunk or drugged condition was more than 50 percent responsible for his injuries.
II. The Bill Reduces Legal Costs.
Incentives for Expedited Settlements. Either Party may make a settlement offer. If the offeree refuses the offer and would have done better under the proposed settlement than he did in litigation, the offeree will pay the other party's legal fees and costs. This expands Rule 68 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to cover both costs and attorneys' fees.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Either party may offer to participate in an approved ADR procedure. If a party refuses to participate and later has a verdict entered against it, that party will pay the opponent's legal fees and costs.
Punitive Damages. In order to recover punitive damages, a plaintiff must prove conscious, flagrant indifference to the safety of those who might be harmed by clear and convincing evidence. Trials may be bifurcated so that the punitive damages phase of the trial is separate from the proceedings on compensatory damages. Food and Drug Administration or Federal Aviation Administration pre-market approval or certification is a defense against punitive damages except in cases of bribery or if the manufacturer withholds information required by regulators.
Workers' Compensation Offset. Eliminates exployer's right to recapture benefits from employees. A product liability award will be reduced by the amount of workers' compensation benefits. Manufacturers may not sue an employer to contribute to an award. The employer loses this protection if he sues to recapture workers' compensation benefits.
III. The Bill Protects the Right of Injured Persons to Receive Compensation.
Statute of Limitations. Would run two years after an injured person discovers the injury and its cause. Some statutes begin to run when a person is injured, even if injury's cause is discovered years later.
{[This summary was provided by the Senate Commerce Committee, Minority Staff]}
2
BACKGROUND
Traditionally, product liability has been a matter left to State law, but today the morass of product liability law is a problem of national concern that requires congressional action. The system of compensating people injured by defective products is costly, slow, inequitable, and unpredictable.
Many consumers who are injured by defective products and deserve compensation are unable to recover damages or must wait years for recovery. The product liability litigation system can produce startlingly different results in identical cases. Moreover, injured victims with the severest injuries tend to receive far less than their actual economic losses, while those with minor injuries are overcompensated.
The inefficiency and unpredictability of the product liability system have made it difficult for manufacturers of products, such as machine tools, medical devices, or vaccines, to buy adequate insurance coverage. This unpredictable patchwork of State laws has had a chilling effect on the introduction of new products to market. Moreover, the current U.S. product liability system has hurt our competitive position in world markets because the excessive costs of the system result in higher prices for American products. It also limits job opportunities. Adverse impacts based on actual liability experience include closed production plants, laid-off workers, discontinued product lines, decisions against introducing new products, decisions against acquiring/merging, discontinued product research, and lost market share.
Thus, the present system has an adverse impact on plaintiffs and defendants, manufacturers, product sellers, and consumers. The individual States cannot fully address the problems of the product liability system. Proponents claim reform at the Federal level is urgently needed.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Proponents of product liability reform have been trying to enact legislation since 1980. Since then, the Commerce Committee has held 22 days of hearings on product liability and reported six broad product liability bills. S. 640 was reported by the Senate Commerce Committee on November 14, 1991, by a vote of 13-7 (S. Rept. 215). As of May 7, the bill had 39 cosponsors. On June 26, 1992, the bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee at their request for a period not to extend beyond August 12, 1992, and on that date the bill was discharged from committee and placed on the Senate Calendar.
In May 1992, Senator Kasten offered the product liability bill as an amendment to S. 250, the Motor-Voter Bill. On May 12, 1992, the Senate failed by a vote of 58-40 to invoke cloture on the amendment so the bill and the pending Kasten amendment were pulled from the Floor. There were 39 Republicans and 1 Democrat voting against the motion. Two days later, on May 14, the Senate voted 53-45 on a Rockefeller motion to table the Kasten amendment: 39 Republicans and 6 Democrats voted against the motion.
3
ADDITIONAL VIEWS
Senators Exon and Lott
"We voted to report S. 640 the Product Liability Fairness Act of 1991. However, we have grave concerns about the implications to employers, particularly small business employers, of Section 305, known as the workers' compensation offset provision. Unlike other sections of the bill, this section does not directly involve product liability lawsuits. Rather, section 305 involves the economic relations between employers and manufacturers in the aftermath of such lawsuits."
{[NOTE: An amendment is expected to be offered to Section 305 of S. 640 to reflect discussions between the manufacturing community and the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB). The amendment would preserve the right of employers to recover workers' compensation benefits in product liability lawsuits, unless a manufacturer proves that the employer caused the injury. This provision creates incentives for employers to maintain a safe workplace.]}
MINORITY VIEWS
Senators Hollings and Gore
"Contrary to the claims of the bill's supporters, the Committee's work on this issue has demonstrated that (1) there is no litigation explosion, and the number of most kinds of product liability cases is decreasing; (2) the insurance crisis (which has not ended) was not due to product liability; (3) the current system generally works properly to fairly compensate injured victims; (4) the competitive position of U.S. business is affected very little, if at all, by product liability; and (5) products kept off the market by product liability concerns are not necessarily safe, innovative products, but rather are examples of the product liability system deterring unwarranted risks to the consumer. Each of the issues discussed above has been the basis over the years for the almost frenzied cry for Federal product liability law, but none of them withstands scrutiny. . .
"A Committee of the United States Senate should not report legislation to federalize product liability tort law without any comprehensive data to demonstrate (1) that such legislation is necessary, and (2) that such legislation will work. .. . The bill should be rejected."
Senator Ford
"S. 640 should be rejected because it would unjustifiably intrude upon settled State laws and significantly burden employers-particularly small businesses. The proponents of S. 640 argue that it is a 'procompetitiveness' bill uniformly backed by the business community and opposed only by consumer groups and trial lawyers. However, we have seen significant opposition to the bill within the business community and particularly among small employers."
4
Senator Breaux
"I oppose S. 640. . . . I believe that this bill would be more properly termed the 'Big Government Act of 1991' because of the way the bill tramples State law and State rights. . . . S. 640 is further ill-advised because there is no evidence that it will accomplish the admirable goal of lowering insurance rates."
ADMINISTRATION POSITION
Senator Kasten, in his Floor statement of May 7, said that the Administration supports S. 640. "President Bush and his administration are strongly in support of this measure. The President again called for tort and product liability reform in his State of the Union Address this year. His Competitiveness Council, headed by Vice President Quayle, continues to make this issue its No. 1 priority. All of this is reflective of the concerns that large and small businesses alike have with our current system." [Congressional Record, p. S-6336, 5/7/92]
Staff Contact: Judy Myers, 224-2946
5
THE VISION SHARED A 4
UNITING OUR FAMILY, OUR COUNTRY, OUR WORLD
THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM
1992
We deny the authority of Congress, of a territorial legislature, or of any individuals, to give legal existence to slavery in any territory of the United States.
REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 1860
The Republican party is mindful of the rights and interests of women, and believes that they should be accorded equal opportunities, equal pay for equal work, and protection to the home.
REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 1896
The Republican party is opposed to special privilege and to monopoly. REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 1912
It is the individual, not the government, who reigns at the center of our Republican philosophy. REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 1980
Our country must have all the military strength that is necessary to deter war and protect our vital interests abroad.
REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 1988
THE VISION SHARED
UNITING OUR FAMILY, OUR COUNTRY, OUR WORLD
T hat this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom-and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. ABRAHAM LINCOLN
à 1I
* THE VISION SHARED ¥
A braham Lincoln, our first Republican President, expressed the phi- losophy that inspires Republicans to this day: "The legitimate object of Government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do, for themselves in their separate and individual capacities. But in all that people can individually do as well for themselves, Government ought not to inter- fere."
We believe that most problems of human making are within the capacity of human ingenuity to solve.
For good reason, millions of new Americans have flocked to our shores: America has always been an opportunity society. Republicans have always believed that economic prosperity comes from individual enterprise, not government programs. We have defended our core principles for 138 years; but never has this country, and the world, been so receptive to our message.
The Fall of the Berlin Wall symbolizes an epochal change in the way people live. More important, it liberates the way people think. We see with new clarity that centralized government bureaucracies created in this centu- ry are not the wave of the future. Never again will people trust planners and paper shufflers more than they trust themselves. We all watched as the statue of Soviet hangman Feliks Dzherzhinsky was toppled in front of Moscow's KGB headquarters by the very people his evil empire sought to enslave. Its sightless eyes symbolized the moral blindness of totalitarians around the world. They could never see the indomitable spirit of people determined to be free from government control-free to build a better future with their own heads, hands, and hearts.
We Republicans saw clearly the dangers of collectivism: not only the military threat, but the deeper threat to the souls of people bound in dependence. Here at home, we warned against Big Government, because we knew concentrated decisionmaking, no matter how well-intentioned, was a danger to liberty and prosperity. Republicans stood at the rampart of freedom, defending the individual against the domineering state. While we did not always prevail, we always stood our ground, faithful to our principles and confident of history's ultimate verdict.
Our opponents declared that the dogmas of the Left were the final and victorious faith. From kremlins and ivory towers, their planners proclaimed the bureaucratic millennium. But in a tragic century of illusion, Five Year
2
# PREAMBLE
Plans and Great Leaps Forward failed to summon a Brave New World. One hundred and fifty years of slogans and manifestos came crashing down in an ironic cascade of unintended consequences. All that is left are the ruins of a failed scoundrel ideology.
As May Day lapses back into just another spring festival, the Fourth of July emerges as the common holiday of free men, and women. Yet, in 1992, when the self-govern- ing individual has overcome the paternalistic state, liberals here at home simply do not get it. Indeed, their party seeks to turn the clock back. But their ideas are old and tired. Like planets still orbiting a dying star, the believ- ers in state power turn their faces to a distant and diminishing light.
The Democrats would revise history to rationalize a return to bigger government, higher taxes, and moral relativism. The Democrat Party has forgotten its origins as a party of work, thrift, and self-reliance. But they have not forgotten their art for dissembling and distortion. The Democrats are trapped in their compact with the ideology of trickle-down govern- ment, but they are clever enough to know that the voters would shun them if their true markings were revealed.
America had its rendezvous with destiny in 1980. Faced with crisis at home and abroad, Americans turned to Republican leadership in the White House. Presidents Reagan and Bush turned our Nation away from the path of over-taxation, hyper-regulation, and mega- government. Instead, we moved in a new
Our principles, conservative princi- ples, were always right. And now the whole world can see that what's right is also what works. GEORGE BUSH
3
* THE VISION SHARED x
4
# PREAMBLE
direction. We cut taxes, reduced red tape, put people above bureaucracy. And so we vanquished the idea of the almighty state as the supervisor of our daily lives. In choosing hope over fear, Americans raised a beacon, reminding the world that we are a shining city on a hill, the last best hope for man on earth.
Contrary to statist Democrat propaganda, the American people know that the 1980s were a rising tide, a magnificent decade for freedom and entrepreneurial creativity. We are confident that, knowing this, they will never consciously retreat to the bad old days of tax and spend. Our Platform will clarify the choice before our fellow citizens.
We have learned that ideas do indeed have consequences. Thus, our words are important not for their prose but for what they reveal about the thinking of our President and our Party.
Two years ago, President Bush described the key elements of what he called "our new paradigm," a fresh approach that aims to put new ideas to work in the service of enduring principles-principles we upheld through- out the long twilight struggle, principles George Bush has acted decisively to advance. Thus we honor the Founders and their vision.
Unlike our opponents, we are inspired by a commitment to profound change. Our mission combines timeless beliefs with a positive vision of a vigorous America: prosperous and tolerant, just and compassionate. We believe that individual freedom, hard work, and personal responsibility- basic to free society-are also basic to effective government. We believe in the fundamental goodness of the American people. We believe in tradi- tional family values and in the Judeo-Christian heritage that informs our culture. We believe in the Constitution and its guarantee of color-blind equal opportunity. We believe in free markets. We believe in constructive change, in both true conservatism and true reform. We believe government has a legitimate role to play in our national life, but government must never dominate that life.
While our goals are constant, we are willing to innovate, experiment, and learn. We have learned that bigger is not better, that quantity and quality are different things, that more money does not guarantee better outcomes. We have learned the importance of individual choice-in edu- cation, health care, child care-and that bureaucracy is the enemy of initia- tive and self-reliance. We believe in empowerment, including home
5
THE VISION SHARED *
ownership for as many as possible. We believe in decentralized authority, and a bottom-line, principled commitment to what works for people.
We believe in the American people: free men and women with faith in God, working for themselves and their families, believing in the value of every human being from the very young to the very old.
We believe the Founders intended Congress to be responsive, flexible, and foresighted. After decades of Democrat misrule, the Congress is none of these things. Dominated by reactionaries, obsessed with the failed poli- cies and structures of the past, the Democrat majority displays a "do-noth- ing" doggedness: they intend to learn nothing and forget nothing. Seeking to build a better America, we seek to elect a better Congress.
Finally, we believe in a President who represents the national interest, not just the aggregation of well-connected special interests; a President who brings unity to the American purpose.
America faces many challenges. Republicans, under the strong leadership of President Bush, are responding with this bold Platform of new ideas that infuses our commitment to individual freedom and market forces with an equal commitment to a decent, just way of life for every American.
With a firm faith that the American people will always choose hope over fear, we Republicans dedicate ourselves to this forward-looking agenda for America in the 1990s, transcending old, static ideas with a shared vision of hope, optimism, and opportunity.
First landing of the Pilgrims, 1620.
6
UNITING OUR FAMILY
A t the end of your life, you'll never regret not having passed one more test, winning one more verdict, or closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with-a husband, a child, a friend, or a parent. BARBARA BUSH Wellesley College Commencement Address
* THE VISION SHARED *
A s the family goes, so goes the Nation. Strong families and strong communities make a strong America. An old adage says, "America is great because she is good; if America ceases to be good, she will cease to be great."
Our greatness starts at home-literally. So Republicans believe govern- ment should strengthen families, not replace them. Today, more than ever, the traditional family is under assault. We believe our laws should reflect what makes our Nation prosperous and wholesome: faith in God, hard work, service to others, and limited government.
Parents bring reality to these principles when they pass them on to their children. As the Book of Proverbs proclaims, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
Imagine the America we could create if all parents taught their children the importance of honesty, work, responsibility, and respect for others. We would have less violence in our homes and streets; less illegal drug use; fewer teen pregnancies forcing girls and boys to be adults before they have graduated from high school. Instead, we would have an America of fami- lies, friends, and communities that care about one another.
That kind of future is not a matter of chance; it is a question of person- al responsibility. Barbara Bush captured the importance of that stewardship when she said, "At the end of your life you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a child, a friend, or a parent."
The Republican Party has espoused these principles since its founding. Families built on solid, spiritual foundations are central to our Party's inspiration. At this time of great national and global transition, we renew our commitment to these fundamental principles, which will guide our family, our country, our world into the next century.
FAMILY: THE HOME OF FREEDOM
THE RIGHTS OF THE FAMILY. Our national renewal starts with the family. It is where each new generation gains its moral anchor. It is the school of citizenship, the engine of economic progress, a permanent haven when everything is changing.
8
# UNITING OUR FAMILY Ar
Change can be good, when it liberates the energy and commitment of family members to build better futures. We welcome change that corrects the mistakes of the past, particularly those at war against the family. For more than three decades, the liberal philosophy has assaulted the family on every side.
Today, its more vocal advocates believe children should be able to sue their parents over decisions about schooling, cosmetic surgery, employ- ment, and other family matters. They deny parental authority and respon- sibility, fracturing the family into isolated individuals, each of them dependent upon-and helpless before-government. This is the ultimate agenda of contemporary socialism under all its masks: to liberate youth from traditional family values by replacing family functions with bureau- cratic social services. That is why today's liberal Democrats are hostile toward any institution government cannot control, like private childcare or religious schools.
The Republican Party responds, as it has since 1980, with an unabashed commitment to the family's economic liberty and moral rights. Republicans trust parents and believe they, not courts and lawyers, know
9
* THE VISION SHARED *
Benjamin Harrison, our President 100 years ago.
The family is the sacred institution entrusted with the world's most important work. Society is only as strong as the families who live and grow within it. DAN QUAYLE
what is best for their children. That is why we will work to ensure that the Congress and the States shall enact no law abridging the rights of the family formed by blood, mar- riage, adoption, or legal custody-rights which are anterior and superior to those of government. Republicans oppose and resist the efforts of the Democrat Party to redefine the traditional American family.
THE RIGHT TO A FAMILY. Every child deserves a family in a home filled with love and free from abuse. Today, many children do not enjoy that right. We are determined to change that. While government cannot legislate love and compassion, we can pro- vide the leadership to encourage the develop- ment of healthy, nurturing families. We applaud the fine example of family values and family virtue as lived by the President and the First Lady.
We will promote whole, caring families by eliminating biases that have crept into our legal and tax codes. We will advance adop- tion through significant tax credits, insurance reforms, and legal reforms. We encourage adoption for those unprepared or unwilling to bear the emotional, financial, or physical demands of raising a child and will work to revive maternity homes to ensure care for both mothers and babies.
We applaud the commitment of foster care parents who provide family environments for foster care children. We abhor the disgraceful bureaucratic mismanagement of foster care. Big city mayors have spent billions on social service bureaucrats who have lost track of
10
* UNITING OUR FAMILY *
many children. Many have no health records, no real residence, not even the simplest personal possessions. Shuttled from house to house, they lack discipline and identity and are ripe for lives of crime. We are determined to reform this system to help these children.
Broken homes can have a devastating emotional and economic impact upon children and are the breeding ground for gang members. We urge State legislatures to explore ways to promote marital stability. Because the intergenerational family is a vital element of social cohesion, we urge greater respect for the rights and the roles of grandparents.
Republicans recognize the importance of having fathers and mothers in the home. The two-parent family still provides the best environment of stability, discipline, responsibility, and character. Documentation shows that where the father has deserted his family, children are more likely to commit a crime, to drop out of school, to become violent, to become teen parents, to take illegal drugs, to become enmired in poverty, or to have emotional or behavioral problems. We support the courageous efforts of single-parent families to have a stable home.
CARING FOR CHILDREN. George Bush secured the American family's most important victory of the last four years: his child care bill. He won landmark legislation-a voucher system for low-income households, allowing parents to choose what's best for their children, including care given by neighbors or churches. The Democrat Party opposed that legisla- tion and instead sought government control of childcare and fewer choices for parents.
The President also advanced equity for families that forego a second income to care for their children at home through his Young Child Tax Credit. Congressional Democrats are already trying to repeal it.
The demands of employment and commuting often make it hard for parents to spend time with their children. Republicans advocate maximum flexibility in working and child care arrangements so that families can make the most of their schedules. We support pro-family policies: job sharing, telecommuting, compressed work weeks, parental leave negotiated between employer and employees, and flextime. We reject the Democrats' one-size-fits-all approach that puts mandates on employers and takes choices away from employees.
II
X THE VISION SHARED *
Most parents prefer in-home care of their children but often encounter government obstacles. Republicans will promote in-home care by allowing payment annually, instead of quarterly, of income taxes by employees and withholding taxes by employers. Our proposals for tort reform, now blocked by the Democrat Congress, will prevent excessive litigation that hampers the growth of child care opportunities. By taking care of our chil- dren, we are taking care of our future.
FAMILY SECURITY. Over the last several decades, liberal Democrats have increasingly shifted economic burdens onto the American family. Indeed, the liberal Democrat tax-and-spend policies have forced millions of women into the workplace just to make ends meet. Because of their poli- cies in Congress, fathers and mothers have a tougher time bringing home what they work so hard for.
Between 1948 and 1990, under the Democrat-controlled Congress for most of those years, federal taxes on the average family of four rose from two percent to 24 percent of income. When State and local levies are included, the tax burden exceeds one-third of family income. The increase in the effective federal tax rate since 1950 has now swallowed up an ever- increasing share of a family's earnings. Instead of working to improve their family's standard of living, they must work to feed government's gluttonous appetite.
This is a scandal. In the 1980s, two Republican Presidents kept Democrats from making matters worse. Presidents Reagan and Bush led the way to increase the personal exemption for dependents. We pledge to go farther to restore the value, as a percentage of average household income, it had 50 years ago. The value of the dependent deduction has eroded to a fraction of its original worth to families. Republicans call for a complete restoration, in real dollars, to its original value. Rather than fat- ten government bureaucracies with new programs to "help" families, we want to expand the Young Child Tax Credit to $500 per child and make it available to all families with children under the age of ten.
When the Democrats establish tax policy that makes marriage more expensive than living together, they discourage traditional commitment and stable home life. We will remove the marriage penalty in the tax code, so a married couple will receive as large a standard deduction as their unmar-
12
# UNITING OUR FAMILY
ried counterparts. Together, these changes will empower parents to care for their fami- lies in a way public services never can.
ACHIEVING EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE. In the earliest American communities, pio- neers would establish a church, then a school. Parents wanted their children to have the best possible education, to learn what they needed to know to make a better life. Virtually every newly arrived immigrant fam- ily thought of education as the American way from the back to the front of the line. Americans have come to believe that only a country that successfully educates its sons and daughters can count on a strong, com- petitive economy, a vibrant culture, and a solid civic life.
As a result of this popular demand for education, Americans have created the most extensive and widely accessible educational system in the world. The people have insist- ed that primary responsibility for education properly remain with families, communities,
13
A
THE VISION SHARED #
and States, although, from early times, the national government has played a role in encouraging innovation and access. In the 18th century, the Northwest Ordinance assured that school bells would ring amid frontier forests. In the 19th century, President Lincoln signed the Morrill Act establishing 50 land-grant colleges. In the 20th century, President Eisenhower signed the National Defense Education Act, provid- ing millions with a chance at higher educa- tion; and President Nixon signed legislation that today provides federal grants and loans to half our full-time college students. In the 2Ist century, the promotion of educational excellence will be more crucial than ever before in our Nation's history.
Recognizing what every parent knows, that our current educational system is not educat- ing our children, President Bush is leading an education revolution. We applaud the President's bold vision to change radically our education system. Our parents want it, our communities want it, our States want it, and our children want it-but the Democrat leadership in the House and the Senate con- tinue to thwart the will of the American peo- ple for radical change in the way we educate our children.
The Republican strategy is based on sound principle. Parents have the right to choose the best school for their children. Schools should teach right from wrong. Schools should rein- force parental authority, not replace it. We should increase flexibility from federal regu- lation. We should explore a new generation of break-the-mold New American Schools.
14
# UNITING OUR FAMILY *
USA
Standards and assessments should be raised, not reduced to a lowest com- mon denominator. Communities should be empowered to find what works. The pursuit of excellence in education is a fundamental goal. Good teachers should be rewarded for teaching well. Alternative certification can bring desperately-needed new people into the teaching profession. America needs public, private, and parochial schools.
Education is a joint responsibility of the individual, the family, and the community. Parents are the first and most important teachers of their children. They should have the right not only to participate in their child's education, but to choose for their children among the broadest array of educational choices, without regard to their income. We also support the right of parents to provide quality education through home-based schools.
The Bush Administration has sent to Congress several legislative pro- posals embodying these principles. The proposals, in spite of the fact that 1500 communities across the Nation have developed local committees to support them through the AMERICA 2000 strategy, languish in the Democrat Congress. And they are opposed by special interest unions which have a power-grip on the failed policies of the past.
15
A
THE VISION SHARED *
IMPROVING AMERICA BY IMPROVING OUR SCHOOLS. For America to maintain her preeminence into the next century, our educational system must be revolutionized. Too many schools still teach in an outdated man- ner. Too many government and union rules have burdened our schools. And too much influence by lobbyists has blocked true reform. Even the most inspiring teachers are working within a system that stymies their cre- ativity and fails to challenge their students.
CREATING THE BEST SCHOOLS IN THE WORLD. We applaud President Bush's consistent and determined leadership in setting a new direction for American education. Our overriding purpose is clear: to create the best schools in the world for our children by the turn of the century.
To do so, the President has established a bold strategy, AMERICA 2000, which challenges communities in every State to take charge to achieve our ambitious national education goals. The success of AMERI- CA 2000 will depend upon the local community, where implementation and ultimate responsibility rest.
We have seen real progress. Perhaps most important, though, is that President Bush has fostered a national debate on education that has chal- lenged every American to get involved. He has called forth American traits of ingenuity and ambition to create better lives for our children. As a result, a new generation of break-the-mold New American Schools is tak- ing shape. New and tougher standards and assessments are being estab- lished for what our children should know. The number of strings attached to federal school aid is being reduced.
The President has shown unprecedented leadership for the most impor- tant education goal of all: helping middle and low income families enjoy the same choice of schools-public, private, or religious-that families with more resources already have. The President's proposed "GI Bill for Children" will provide $1,000 scholarships to middle and low income families, enabling their children to attend the school of their choice. This innovative plan will not only drive schools to excel as they compete, but will also give every parent consumer power to obtain an excellent education for his or her child.
Republican leadership has nearly doubled funds for Head Start, making it possible, for the first time, for all eligible four-year-olds to participate,
16
UNITING OUR FAMILY *
Education is our most enduring legacy, vital to everything that we are and can become.
GEORGE BUSH
17
# THE VISION SHARED *
From school choice, to public housing ownership, to welfare reform, George Bush has by far offered the most comprehensive change-oriented, reform-oriented agenda put forward by any administration.
RICHARD N. BOND GOP Chairman
should their parents choose to enroll them. The Bush Administration has put a college education within reach of millions more students, young and old. The President has proposed allowing families to deduct the interest they pay on student loans, and penalty-free withdrawal of IRA funds for educational expenses.
ENSURING HIGH STANDARDS IN KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS. For America to compete in a world where 85 percent of all jobs will require high skills, we believe that students not planning to attend college need better opportunities. America's college graduates set the world pace for knowledge and skills. But we also have a strong com- mitment to the "forgotten half" of the stu- dents in our schools, students who will graduate from high school ill-prepared for work. We must build a well-educated, high- skills workforce to ensure a new century of prosperity for America.
The President has developed a sweeping youth apprenticeship strategy to meet this goal. His plan will ensure that students meet the high standards demanded of all high school students, while training them with a skill as well. We strongly support youth apprenticeships that include a year of college, to encourage a lifetime of learning and opportunity for students.
OUR EDUCATIONAL BELIEFS. We are con- fident that the United States can, by the end of this decade, reach the six national educa-
18
# UNITING OUR FAMILY
tion goals that President Bush and the Nation's Governors have established: that all children should arrive at school ready to learn; that high school graduation rates should be at least 90 per cent; that all chil- dren should learn challenging subject matter and become responsible citizens; that American children should be first in the world in math and science; that there must be a literate and skilled workforce; and that schools must be disciplined and free of drugs and violence.
We have an uncompromising commit- ment to improve public education-which means assuring that our schools produce well-educated, responsible citizens-not the maintenance of a government monopoly over the means of educating. American fam- ilies must be given choice in education. We value the important role played by our pri- vate, independent, and parochial schools, colleges, and universities. We believe that their quality is best encouraged by minimiz- ing government regulation.
We believe distance learning is a valuable tool in the fight to bring equal educational opportunity to every student regardless of wealth or geographic location. Distance learning provides students access to the vast educational resources of our Nation.
We encourage the use of modern technol- ogy to meet the goal of educational excel- lence. We support policies that provide access for all instructional and educational programmers to permit them to provide the greatest choice of programming and material
CONSTITUTION/A
19
A
THE VISION SHARED *
to schools and teachers. We also support policies which will encourage the use of all advanced technologies for the delivery of educational and instructional programming in order to give schools and teachers the great- est flexibility in providing creative and innovative instruction. We encour- age local school boards to ensure review of these materials by parents and educators.
We support efforts to open the teaching profession by reforming the certification system now barring many talented men and women from the classroom.
Schools should be-as they have been traditionally-academic institu- tions. Families and communities err when by neglect or design they trans- fer to the school responsibilities that belong in the home and in the community. Schools were created to help and strengthen families, not to undermine or substitute for them.
Accordingly, we oppose programs in public schools that provide birth control or abortion services or referrals. Instead, we encourage abstinence
20
* UNITING OUR FAMILY *
education programs with proven track records in protecting youth from disease, pregnancy, and drug use.
The critical public mission in education is to set tough, clear standards of achieve- ment and ensure that those who educate our children are accountable for meeting them. This is not just a matter of plans or dollars. Competency testing and merit pay for teachers are essential elements of such accountability.
We are proud of our many dedicated, professional teachers and educators who have committed their lives to educating America's children. We also believe that powerful unions and liberal special interest groups should not be the driving force in education reform.
Just as spiritual principles-our moral compass-help guide public policy, learning must have a moral basis. America must remain neutral toward particular religions, but we must not remain neutral toward reli- gion itself or the values religion supports. Mindful of our country's Judeo-Christian heritage and rich religious pluralism, we sup- port the right of students to engage in volun- tary prayer in schools and the right of the community to do so at commencements or other occasions. We will strongly enforce the law guaranteeing equal access to school facili- ties. We also advocate recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in schools as a reminder of the principles that sustain us as one Nation under God.
Our ambitious vision for America works,
.
It is an axiom in political science that unless a people are educated and enlightened, it is idle to expect the continuance of civil liberty or the capacity for self-government. TEXAS DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 1836
21
* THE VISION SHARED *
In this country, individuals can be the masters rather than the helpless victims of their destiny. We can make our own opportunities and make the most of them.
GERALD R. FORD
however, only in a society of well-educated citizens. The Democrat Party, beholden to the special interests who resist change, can never accomplish the improvements in edu- cation which our schools and our children so desperately need. Indeed, they have no plan. The Republican Party has started an education revolution. We have presented a detailed plan which is even now becoming reality. The future of our Nation demands no less. The President is leading the country on an education crusade, a crusade the American people have joined.
FOR HEALTHIER FAMILIES: PROMOTE HEALTH, PREVENT DISEASE, REFORM HEALTH CARE. Americans receive the finest medical care in the world. We have the best health care providers, the best hospitals, and the best medical technol- ogy. People come here from Canada, from Europe, from every part of the globe, to seek procedures and treatments that are either unavailable or strictly rationed in their home countries.
But we must do better. Costs are soaring. Many Americans, responsible for children and aging parents, worry about the quality and price of care. The 1992 election pre- sents all of us with a clear choice. Democrats want a costly, coercive system, imported from abroad, with a budget set by Congress and policies set by bureaucrats. That is a prescription for misery. It would imperil jobs, require billions in new taxes, lower the quality of health care overall, drive health
22
# UNITING OUR FAMILY *
care providers out of the profession, and result in rationing.
The congressional Democrats' health care reform proposal would exclude themselves from coverage under their own program. They refuse to live with the scheme they are trying to force on the rest of the country.
Republicans believe government control of health care is irresponsible and ineffective. We believe health care choices should remain in the hands of the people, not government bureaucrats. This issue truly represents a fundamental difference between the two parties.
We endorse President Bush's comprehensive health care plan, which solves the two major problems of the current system-access and afford- ability-while preserving the high quality care Americans now enjoy. The President's plan will make health care more affordable through tax credits and deductions that will offset insurance costs for 95 million Americans; and make health care more accessible, especially for small businesses, by reducing insurance costs and eliminating workers' worries of losing insurance if they change jobs. This plan will expand access to health care by:
Creating new tax credits and deductions to help low- and middle- :selected: income Americans. These tax credits would be available in the form of vouchers for low-income people who work. :selected: Providing insurance security for working Americans by requiring insur- ers to cover preexisting conditions.
Making health insurance premiums fully deductible for the self- :selected: employed.
>> Making it easier for small firms to purchase coverage for their employ- :selected: ees. The proposal would allow small businesses to form health insurance purchasing pools that would make insurance more affordable. It also would guarantee the availability and renewability of insurance for small firms, set premium standards, preempt State mandated-benefit laws, estab- lish minimum coverage plans, and require States to establish risk pools to spread risks broadly across health insurers. :selected: D Addressing the medical malpractice problem by a cap on noneconomic damage recoveries in malpractice claims and an alternative dispute resolu- tion before going to court.
In short, the President aims to make coverage available to all, guaranteed, renewable, with no preconditions. Under his plan, no
23
A
THE VISION SHARED
In this nation, in this decade, there is only one way to deal with an individual who is sick; with dignity, compassion, care, and confidentiality-and without discrimination. GEORGE BUSH
24
# UNITING OUR FAMILY #
one will have to go broke to get well.
The Democrats' plan stands in stark philosophical contrast. Instead of preserving individual options, it would rely on government bureaucrats. Instead of preserving quality care, it would lead to rationing and waiting lines. And instead of enhancing the health care security of American work- ers, it would require a massive increase in payroll taxes that would destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs.
The Democrats' so called "play or pay" proposal would require employ- ers either to provide health insurance for their workers or pay a new tax that would fund in part a new government-run health program. According to a study prepared by the Urban Institute, this mandate would require new federal taxes-or new federal borrowing-of $36 billion in the first year alone. Nearly 52 million Americans who now have private health insurance would be dumped by their employers onto the government-run plan. Additional costs to employers-particularly small employers-would total an estimated $30 billion in the first year. The Republican staff of Congress' Joint Economic Committee estimates that 712,000 people would lose their jobs because of the "play or pay" mandate.
Republicans are also determined to resolve the crisis in medical liability, allowing physicians and certified midwives to deliver babies and practice in underserved areas. Meaningful medical tort reform would assure that doc- tors would not have to practice medicine under a cloud of potential litiga- tion. We will reduce administrative expenses and paperwork by adopting a uniform claim and data system. We pledge our support for rehabilitation and long-term care coverage. We will curb costs through better prenatal and other preventive care. We encourage the application of the Good Samaritan law to protect health care providers who wish to volunteer their time to provide patient care to the community. We encourage coordinated care in public programs and private insurance. We further support regulatory reforms to speed the development of new drugs and medical technology.
The health care safety net must be secure for those who need preventive, acute, and long-term care. Special consideration should be given to abol- ishing or reforming programs which prohibit or discourage individuals from seeking to work their way out of poverty and dependency. We will reduce paperwork burdens and redirect those resources to actual services. We will enhance access to medical care through community health centers,
25
A
= THE VISION SHARED
which provide primary care in medically underserved areas. We will modify outdated antitrust rules that prohibit hospitals from merging their resources to provide improved, cost-effective health care.
We encourage the use of telecommunications technology to link hospi- tals in larger communities with heath care facilities in smaller communities. Advanced communications networks will facilitate the sharing of resources, will improve access to affordable health care through the transmission of medical imaging and diagnostics, and will ensure that Americans living in rural areas have the same access to doctors and the latest medical proce- dures as Americans living in urban areas.
Republicans focus on health, not just health care. We want not only to treat disease and disability, but to reduce and prevent them. Through funding for NIH, we invest in research to cure a range of dis- eases, from cancer to heart disease, from multiple sclerosis to lupus. We support efforts which foster early cancer detection. Even more important, we rely on individuals to lower the incidence of preventable illness and injury. A large part of our health care costs, public and pri- vate, is caused by behavior. Good judgment can save billions of dol- lars-and perhaps millions of lives.
AIDS. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has exploded over the past decade into a crisis of tragic proportions. In our country, AIDS has already claimed more than 150,000 lives, and as many as one million more Americans may have been infected with the virus.
Epidemics have, throughout history, challenged governments, which have too often been powerless to combat them. Science-and human wisdom-have advanced, however, and we have met this crisis not only with a massive commitment of resources but also with a personal deter- mination on the part of the President. That commitment and leadership will continue.
AIDS should be treated like any other communicable or sexually transmitted disease, while at the same time preserving patient confi- dentiality. We are committed to ensure that our Nation's response to AIDS is shaped by compassion, not fear or ignorance, and will oppose, as a matter of decency and honor, any discrimination against Americans who are its victims.
26
UNITING OUR FAMILY
À
We encourage State legislatures to enact legislation which makes it a criminal act for anyone knowingly to transmit the AIDS virus.
We will seek to ensure that medical personnel, and the people who trust in their care, will be protected against infection.
This disease also challenges America scientifically. We must succeed in slowing the epidemic's spread. The Administration has thus placed great emphasis on a variety of prevention efforts to do so. We must recognize, also, that prevention is linked ultimately to personal responsibility and moral behavior. We reject the notion that the distribution of clean needles and con- doms are the solution to stopping the spread of AIDS. Education designed to curb the spread of this disease should stress marital fidelity, abstinence, and a drug-free lifestyle. There must be a means for successfully treating the virus, and this has led to a threefold increase in research and steps to speed the approval process for new drugs that could make a crucial difference to those infected. Above all, a cure must be found. We have committed enor- mous resources-$4.2 billion over the past four years for research alone, more than for any disease except cancer. In keeping with the American spirit, our fellow citizens with HIV/AIDS deserve our compassion and our care, and they deserve our united commitment to a cure.
HEALTHY FAMILIES. Responsible families are the key to wellness. They are the best guard against infant mortality and child abuse. We support programs to help mothers and their babies get a good start in life; and we call for strong action, at all levels of government, to enforce parental responsibility with regard to alcohol, drugs, and neglect.
We applaud the President's initiatives to require the involvement of more women in clinical trials and to create within NIH a center to combat breast and cervical cancer. We also call for expanded research on various diseases, common to both men and women, but whose effects on women have yet to be determined. We call for fetal protection in the workplace and in scientific research.
THE HOMELESS. The Bush Administration has worked vigorously to address this tragedy, believing that involuntary homelessness in America is unacceptable. Accordingly, the Administration has proposed $4 billion in homeless assistance, an amount cut back by the Democrat-controlled
27
A
# THE VISION SHARED
MC
RACE CUR
RACE CUR CUM!
CU
4
5
Congress. We have also implemented a SHELTER PLUS CARE program designed to assist homeless persons who are mentally ill, chemically depen- dent, or stricken with AIDS. Republicans remain determined to help the homeless as a matter of ethical commitment as well as sound public policy.
OLDER AMERICANS. The interests of older Americans are addressed throughout this Platform, for the elderly play an honored role in all walks of American life. From reducing inflation to fighting crime, from quality health care to a cleaner environment, the Republican agenda for all has particular relevance to those who have worked the longest and grown the wisest.
We reaffirm our commitment to a strong Social Security system. To stop penalizing grandparents and other seniors who care for children, we pledge to continue the Republican crusade to end the earnings limi- tation for Social Security recipients. More than ever, our Nation needs older Americans in its schools and workplaces. There should be no bar- riers to their full participation in our country's future. We pledge sup- port for greater availability of long-term care and for research to combat Alzheimer's disease. Republicans also took the lead in expand- ing home health care in government programs, and we want to build on that accomplishment.
28
* UNITING OUR FAMILY xx
PROMOTING CULTURAL VALUES. The culture of our Nation has tra- ditionally supported those pillars on which civilized society is built: per- sonal responsibility, morality, and the family. Today, however, these pillars are under assault. Elements within the media, the entertainment industry, academia, and the Democrat Party are waging a guerrilla war against American values. They deny personal responsibility, disparage traditional morality, denigrate religion, and promote hostility toward the family's way of life. Children, the members of our society most vulnerable to cultural influences, are barraged with violence and promiscuity, encouraging reck- less and irresponsible behavior. This undermines the authority of parents, the ones most responsible for passing on to their offspring a sense of right and wrong. The lesson our Party draws is important-that all of us, indi- viduals and corporations alike, have a responsibility to reflect the values we expect our fellow citizens to exhibit. And if children grow to adulthood reflecting not the values of their parents but the amorality with which they are bombarded, those who send such messages cannot duck culpability.
One example is the advocacy of violence against law enforcement offi- cers, promoted by a corporation more interested in profits than the possi- ble consequences of such a message. We believe, in the spirit of Theodore Roosevelt, that corporations, like individuals, have responsibilities to soci- ety, and that conscience alone should prevent such outrages.
We also stand united with those private organizations, such as the Boy Scouts of America, who are defending decency in fulfillment of their own moral responsibilities. We reject the irresponsible position of those corpo- rations that have cut off contributions to such organizations because of their courageous stand for family values. Moreover, we oppose efforts by the Democrat Party to include sexual preference as a protected minority receiving preferential status under civil rights statutes at the federal, State, and local level.
We oppose any legislation or law which legally recognizes same-sex marriages and allows such couples to adopt children or provide foster care.
We must recognize that the time has come for a national crusade against pornography. Some would have us believe that obscenity and pornography have no social impact. But if hard-core pornography does not cheapen the human spirit, then neither does Shakespeare elevate it. We call on federal agencies to halt the sale, under government auspices, of
29
* THE VISION SHARED x
2
23
pornographic materials. We endorse Republican legislation, the Pornography Victims Compensation Act, allowing victims of pornography to seek damages from those who make or sell it, especially since the Commission on Pornography, in 1986, found a direct link between pornography and violent crimes committed against women and children. Further, we propose a computerized federal registry to track persons con- victed of molesting children. We also believe that the various State legisla- tures should create a civil cause of action against makers and distributors of pornography when their material incites a violent crime.
Government has a responsibility, as well, to ensure that it promotes the common moral values that bind us together as a Nation. We therefore con- demn the use of public funds to subsidize obscenity and blasphemy mas- querading as art. The fine arts, including those with public support, can certainly enrich our society. However, no artist has an inherent right to claim taxpayer support for his or her private vision of art if that vision mocks the moral and spiritual basis on which our society is founded. We believe a free market in art-with neither suppression nor favoritism by government-is the best way to foster the cultural revival our country needs.
30
x UNITING OUR FAMILY #
The first step to solving the problem of crime in America is teaching values in the home. Proper moral values such as honesty, integrity, respect and love for one another are not being taught in our society. SHERWIN WATKINS
Father of murder victim, Brian Watkins, 1992 Republican Platform Committee Hearing, Salt Lake City
INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS, GOOD HOMES AND SAFE STREETS
At a time when the rest of the world has rejected socialism, there are com- munities here at home where free markets have not been permitted to flourish. Decades of liberalism have left us with two economies. The pro- growth economy rewards effort, promotes thrift, and supports strong fam- ilies. The other economy stifles initiative and is anti-work and anti-family. In one economy, people are free to be owners and entrepreneurs. In the other economy, people are at the mercy of government. We are determined to elevate the poor into the pro-growth economy.
Republicans will lead a new national consensus around economic opportunity, greater access to property, home ownership and housing, jobs and entrepreneurship. We must bring the great promise of America to every city, every small town, and to all our people.
31
x THE VISION SHARED *
Your success as a family ... depends not on what happens at the White House, but what happens inside your house. BARBARA BUSH
Our agenda for equality of opportunity runs throughout this Platform and applies to all Americans. There is no such thing as seg- regated success. We reject the Democrats' politics of division, envy and conflict. They believe that America is split into classes and can be healed only through the redistribution of wealth. We believe in the economics of multiplication: free markets expand oppor- tunity and wealth for all.
That is true liberation. It frees poor people not only from want but also from govern- ment control. That is why liberal Democrats have fought us every step of the way, refusing congressional action on Enterprise Zones until Los Angeles burned-and then mock- ing the expectations of the poor by gutting that critical proposal. They can kill bills, but they cannot kill hope. We are determined to pass that legislation for the sake of all who are awaiting their chance for the American Dream.
We will eliminate laws that keep Americans out of jobs, like the outdated ban on home work. The antiquated Davis-Bacon Act inflates taxpayer costs and keeps willing workers from getting jobs in federally-assist- ed projects. It must go. Unlike the Democrats, we believe the private sector, not the federal government, should set prevailing wage rates.
As explained elsewhere in this Platform, low-income families must gain control of their future through choice in their children's education.
32
A
UNITING OUR FAMILY
A
REBUILDING THE DREAM. Our Party has always championed the American dream of home ownership. Abraham Lincoln wanted all families to have access to property, because it would give them a tangible stake in their family's future. As families built homes and improved the land, they built a brighter future for themselves and a legacy for their children. Lincoln's Homestead Act of 1862 did all this without enlarging government. It empowered families.
In the tradition of Lincoln, President Bush has replicated the American dream of home- ownership. For first-time home buyers, he has proposed a $5,000 tax credit. For lower- income families, he has worked to restore opportunity through HOPE, his initiative to help tenants now dependent on federal aid to buy their own homes; Mortgage Revenue Bonds, to assist more than 1.9 million fami- lies to buy a first home; Low Income Housing Tax Credits, already producing more than 420,000 decent apartments at affordable prices; and HOME, a partnership among all levels of government to help low- income families secure better housing.
For everyone, but especially for the poor, the best housing policy is non-inflationary economic growth with low interest rates, the heart of our opportunity agenda.
ENDING DEPENDENCY. Welfare is the enemy of opportunity and stable family life. Two decades ago, decisions about public assistance were taken away from States and communities and given to Washington offi-
It is time to replace the assumptions of the welfare state and help reform the welfare system. [W] ben able- bodied people receive government assistance, they have responsibilities to the taxpayer, a responsibility to seek work, education or job training; a responsibility to get their lives in order; a responsibility to hold their families together and refrain from having children out of wedlock- "and a responsibility to obey the law. We are going to help this movement. GEORGE BUSH
33
A
XX THE VISION SHARED
cials. Since then, almost everything has gone wrong. Since 1965, we have spent $3.5 trillion on welfare. It bought a horrendous expansion of depen- dence, especially among mothers and children.
Today's welfare system is anti-work and anti-marriage. It taxes families to subsidize illegitimacy. It rewards unethical behavior and penalizes ini- tiative. It cannot be merely tinkered with by Congress; it must be recreat- ed by States and localities. Republican Governors and legislators in several States have already launched dramatic reforms, especially with workfare and learnfare. Welfare can no longer be a check in the mail with no responsibility.
We believe fathers and mothers must be held responsible for their chil- dren. We support stronger enforcement of child support laws. We call for strong enforcement and tough penalties against welfare fraud and insist that work must be a mandatory part of public assistance for all who are able to work. Because divorce, desertion, and illegitimacy account for almost all the increase in child poverty over the last 20 years, we put the highest priority upon enforcement of family rights and responsibilities.
Among these responsibilities is the obligation to get an education-a key to avoiding dependency. Families on welfare with school-age children must be required to send them to school or provide adequate home educa- tion in keeping with various State laws in order to continue receiving pub- lic assistance. Young adult heads of welfare households should be required to complete appropriate education or training programs.
SAFE HOMES AND STREETS. One of the first duties of government is to protect the public security-to maintain law and order so that citizens are free to pursue the fruits of life and liberty. The Democrats have forsak- en this solemn pledge. Instead of protecting society from hardened crimi- nals, they blame society and refuse to hold accountable for their actions individuals who have chosen to engage in violent and criminal conduct. This has led to the state of affairs in which we find ourselves today.
Violent crime is the gravest domestic threat to our way of life. It has turned our communities into battlegrounds, playgrounds into grave yards. It threatens everyone, but especially the very young, the elderly, the weak. It destroys business and suffocates economic opportunity in struggling com- munities. It is a travesty that some American children have to sleep in
34
# UNITING OUR FAMILY #
bathtubs for protection from stray bullets. The poverty of values that justi- fies drive-by shootings and random violence holds us hostage and insecure, even in our own homes. We must work to develop community-help pro- jects designed to instill a sense of responsibility and pride.
This is the legacy of a liberalism that elevates criminals' rights above vic- tims' rights, that justifies soft-on-crime judges approving early-release prison programs, and that leaves law enforcement officers powerless to deter crime with the threat of certain punishment.
For twelve years, two Republican Presidents have fought to reverse this trend, along with Republican officials in the States. They have named tough law-and-order judges, pushed for minimum mandatory sentences, expanded federal assistance to States and localities, sought to help States redress court orders on prison overcrowding, and devoted record resources that are turning the tide against drugs. They have repeatedly proposed leg- islation, consistently rejected by congressional Democrats, to restore the severest penalties for the most heinous crimes, to ensure swift and certain punishment, and to end the legal loopholes that let criminals go free.
Congressional Democrats reject Republican reform of the exclusionary rule that prohibits use of relevant evidence obtained in good faith and allows criminals, even murderers, to go free on a technicality. They reject our reform of habeas corpus law to prevent the appellate process from becoming a lawyers' game to thwart justice through endless appeals and procedural delays. They refuse to enact effective procedures to reinstate the death penalty for the most heinous crimes. They reject tougher, mandatory sentences for career criminals. Instead, Congressional Democrats actually voted to create more loopholes for vicious thugs and fewer protections for victims of crime and have opposed mandatory resti- tution for victims. Their crime legislation, which we emphatically reject, cripples law enforcement by overturning over twenty United States Supreme Court cases that have helped to reduce crime and keep violent criminal offenders off the streets.
For too long our criminal justice system has carefully protected the rights of criminals and neglected the suffering of the innocent victims of crime and their families. We support the rights of crime victims to be pre- sent, heard, and informed throughout the criminal justice process and to be provided with restitution and services to aid their recovery.
35
* THE VISION SHARED *
We believe in giving police the resources to do their job. Law enforce- ment must remain primarily a State and local responsibility. With 95 per- cent of all violent crimes within the jurisdiction of the States, we have led efforts to increase the number of police protecting our citizens. We also support incentives to encourage personnel leaving the Armed Forces to continue to defend their country-against the enemy within- by entering the law enforcement profession.
Narcotics traffic drives street crime. President Bush has, for the first time, used the resources of our Armed Forces against the international drug trade. By our insistence, multilateral control of precursor chemicals and money laundering is now an international priority. We decry efforts by congressional Democrats to slash international anti-narcotics funding and inhibit the most vital control efforts in Peru. We support efforts to work with South and Central American leaders to eradicate crops used to pro- duce illegal narcotics.
The Republican Party is committed to a drug-free America. During the last twelve years, we have radically reversed the Democrats' attitude of tol- erance toward narcotics, vastly increased federal operations against drugs, cleaned up the military, and launched mandatory testing for employees in various fields, including White House personnel. As a result, overall drug abuse is falling. We urge that States and communities emphasize anti-drug education by police officers and others in schools to educate young chil- dren to the dangers of the drug culture. Dope is no longer trendy.
We oppose legalizing or decriminalizing drugs. That is a morally abhor- rent idea, the last vestige of an ill-conceived philosophy that counseled the legitimacy of permissiveness. Today, a similarly dysfunctional morality explains away drug-dealing as an escape, and drive-by shootings as an act of political violence. There is no excuse for the wanton destruction of human life. We therefore support the stiffest penalties, including the death penalty, for major drug traffickers.
Drug users must face punishment, including fines and imprisonment, for contributing to the demand that makes the drug trade profitable. Among possible sanctions should be the loss of government assistance and suspen- sion of drivers' licenses. Residents of public housing should be able to pro- tect their families against drugs by screening out abusers and dealers. We support grassroots action to drive dealers and crack-houses out of operation-
36
# UNITING OUR FAMILY
Safe streets also mean highways that are free of drunken drivers and dri- vers under the influence of illegal drugs. Republicans support the toughest possible State laws to deal with drunken drivers and users of illegal drugs, who deserve no sympathy from our courts or State legislatures. We also oppose the illicit abuse of legal drugs.
White-collar crime threatens homes and families in a different way. It steals secretly, forcing up prices, rigging contracts, swindling consumers, and harming the overwhelming majority of business people, who play fair and obey the law. We support imprisonment for those who steal from the American people. We pledge an all out fight against it, especially within the political machines that control many of our major cities. We will con- tinue to bring to justice corrupt politicians and those who collude with them to plunder savings and loans.
NEW MEMBERS OF THE AMERICAN FAMILY. Our Nation of immi- grants continues to welcome those seeking a better life. This reflects our past, when some newcomers fled intolerance; some sought prosperity; some came as slaves. All suffered and sacrificed but hoped their children would have a better life. All searched for a shared vision-and found one in America. Today we are stronger for our diversity.
Illegal entry into the United States, on the other hand, threatens the social compact on which immigration is based. That is, the Nation accepts immigrants and is enriched by their determination and values. Illegal immigration, on the other hand, undermines the integrity of border com- munities and already crowded urban neighborhoods. We will build on the already announced strengthening of the Border Patrol to better coordinate interdiction of illegal entrants through greater cross-border cooperation. Specifically, we will increase the size of the Border Patrol in order to meet the increasing need to stop illegal immigration and we will equip the Border Patrol with the tools, technologies, and structures necessary to secure the border.
We will seek stiff penalties for those who smuggle illegal aliens into the country, and for those who produce or sell fraudulent docu- ments. We also will reduce incentives to enter the United States by promoting initiatives like the North American Free Trade Agreement. In creating new economic opportunity in Mexico, a
37
THE VISION SHARED #
Handicapped persons must be admitted into the mainstream of our society ... we pledge continued attention to the problems caused by barriers in architecture, communi- cation, transportation and attitudes. In addition, we realize that to deny education and employment simply because of an existing disability runs counter to our accepted belief in the free enterprise system and forces the handicapped to be overly dependent on others ... We advocate the elimination of needless barriers for all handicapped persons.
REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 1976
President Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act.
NAFTA removes the incentive to cross the border illegally in search of work.
INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS. The protection of individual rights is the foundation for oppor- tunity and security.
The Republican Party is unique in this regard. Since its inception, it has respected every person, even when that proposition was not universally popular. Today, as in the day of Lincoln, we insist that no American's rights are negotiable.
That is why we declare that bigotry and prejudice have no place in American life. We denounce all who practice or promote racism, anti-Semitism, or religious intolerance. We believe churches and religious schools should not be taxed; we defend the right of religious leaders to speak out on public issues; and we condemn the cowardly desecration of places of worship that has shocked our country in recent years.
Asserting equal rights for all, we support the Bush Administration's vigorous enforce- ment of statutes to prevent illegal discrimina- tion on account of sex, race, creed, or national origin. Promoting opportunity, we reject efforts to replace equal rights with quo- tas or other preferential treatment. That is why President Bush fought so long against the Democrat Congress to win a civil rights bill worthy of that name.
We renew the historic Republican commit- ment to the rights of women, from the early days of the suffragist movement to the pre- sent. Because legal rights mean little without
38
* UNITING OUR FAMILY *
opportunity, we assert economic growth as the key to the continued progress of women in all fields of American life.
We believe the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We therefore reaffirm our support for a human life amendment to the Constitution, and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children. We oppose using public revenues for abortion and will not fund organizations which advocate it. We commend those who provide alternatives to abortion by meeting the needs of mothers and offering adoption services. We reaffirm our support for appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity of innocent human life.
President Bush signed into law the greatest advance ever for disabled persons: The Americans with Disabilities Act, a milestone in removing barriers to full participation in our country's life. We will fully implement it, with sensitivity to the needs of small businesses, just as we have earlier legal protections for the disabled in federal programs. We oppose the non- consensual withholding of health care or treatment from any person because of handicap, age, or infirmity, just as we oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide.
39
* THE VISION SHARED #
We support full access to the polls, and the entire political process, by disabled voters. We will ensure that students with disabilities benefit from AMERICA 2000's new emphasis on testing for excellence and account- ability for results.
Promoting the rights of the disabled requires, before all else, an expand- ing economy, both to advance assistive technology and to create opportu- nities for personal advancement. That is another reason why Republicans are committed to growth.
We reaffirm our commitment to the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution: "No person shall be ... deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." We support strong enforcement of this Takings clause to keep citizens secure in the use and development of their property. We also seek to reduce the amount of land owned or controlled by the government, especially in the western States. We insist upon prompt payment for private lands certified as critical for preserving essential parks and preserves.
Republicans defend the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. We call for stiff mandatory sentences for those who use firearms in a crime. We note that those who seek to disarm citizens in their homes are the same liberals who tried to disarm our Nation during the Cold War and are today seeking to cut our national defense below safe levels. We applaud congressional Republicans for overturning the District of Columbia's law blaming firearm manufacturers for street crime.
We affirm the right of individuals to form, join, or assist labor organi- zations to bargain collectively, consistent with State laws. We support the right of States to enact Right-to-Work laws.
A Republican Congress will amend the Hobbs Act, so that union offi- cials will not be exempt from the law's prohibition against extortion and violence. We call for greater legal protection from violence for workers who stay on the job during strikes.
We support self-determination for Indian Tribes in managing their own affairs and resources. Recognizing the government-to-government trust responsibility, we aim to end dependency fostered by federal controls. Reservations and tribal lands held in trust should be free to become enter- prise zones so their people can fully share in the Nation's prosperity. We
40
A
* UNITING OUR FAMILY
will work with tribal governments to improve education, health, economic opportunity, and environmental conditions. We endorse efforts to preserve the culture and languages of Native Americans and Hawaiians and to ensure their equitable participation in federal programs.
41
At THE VISION SHARED *
ens
42
UNITING OUR COUNTRY
T he prudent, penniless beginner in the world, labors for wages awhile, saves a surplus with which to buy tools or land for himself; then labors on his own account another while, and at length hires another new beginner to help him. This is the just, and generous, and prosperous system which opens the way for all-gives hope to all, and consequent energy, and progress, and improvement of condition to all.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
* THE VISION SHARED *
O :unselected: ver the last four years, the United States has achieved our overrid- ing objective since the end of World War II. Communism and other forms of planned economies lie in the ash heap of history, defeated not only by our military strength but by the force of our ideas- democracy and free enterprise.
Now a huge international market is evolving. Combined with America's low inflation and low interest rate environment, it presents us with unprecedented economic opportunity. We commit to the proposi- tion that the American economy will remain first in the world. This is our goal. Achieving it will ensure that our people will enjoy the jobs, benefits, and economic growth to sustain the American dream for them- selves and their posterity.
Republicans believe that the greatest engine for social change and eco- nomic progress is the entrepreneurial economy. We believe that America has broken down the lines of class to a greater degree than any society on earth, not because of government but because of an economic system that allows men and women to create wealth for themselves and their commu- nities. We believe that positive change can occur and benefit all Americans if we continue to remove governmental barriers to entrepreneurship and, thus, economic growth.
Our cause embraces traditional ideals and modern realities. It both reforms and innovates. We aim to shape history through faith in one another. Because we look forward, we emphasize saving, investment, and job creation. We encourage innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit that are, together, part of our national character. We both conserve and develop our natural resources. Because we have learned from the past, we are deter- mined to change what desperately needs changing in government.
Government does not have all the answers, but we know where to find them: in the spirit of our people. We know the weapons for this battle: economic and political liberty in the pursuit of happiness. We under- stand that material gain improves life only if it lifts us all to pursue higher ends: self-respect, work and study, a decent life and future for our children, and a useful old age.
So we rededicate ourselves to the truths the Nation keeps coming back to-the simple, spiritual truths about our family, our country, our world-for upon them we will build our more perfect union.
44
* UNITING OUR COUNTRY
SECURITY AND OPPORTUNITY IN A CHANGING ECONOMY
Our economy is people, not statistics. The American people, not government, rescued the United States from an economic collapse triggered by Democrats in the 1970s. Crippled by taxes, robbed by inflation, threatened by controls, stunned by interest rates, the people ended America's decline and restored hope across our country and around our world.
We launched an era of growth and pros- perity such as the world had never seen: 20 million new jobs in the longest peacetime economic expansion in the history of the Republic. We curbed the size and power of the federal establishment. We lowered tax rates. We restored a sound dollar. We unleashed the might of free people to pro- duce, compete, and triumph in free mar- kets. We gave them the tools; they completed the job.
During the 1980s and into the present decade, the U.S. economy once again became the engine of global growth. Inflation has fallen to its lowest level in 30 years. Interest rates dropped 15 percentage points. Productivity has sharply risen. Exports are booming. Despite a global downturn in late 1990, real economic growth resumed last year and has continued for five consecutive quarters. With low interest rates and low inflation, the American economy is poised for stronger growth through the rest of the 1990s. Keeping inflation and interest rates
Growth does more than fill shelves. It permits every person to gain- not at the expense of others, but to the benefit of others .. . prosperity encourages people to live as neigh- bors, not as predators.
GEORGE BUSH
GOP
YELCONE
WE
45
A THE VISION SHARED
It is due to the labor of the nation, that taxation should be equalized and reduced as rapidly as the national faith will permit.
REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 1868
THE WORKINGMANS
BANNER
FOR PRESIDENT
FOR VICE-PRESIDENT
MAfairey
ULYSSES S. GRANT
HENRY WILSON
low and stable through a sound monetary policy is essential for economic growth.
These gains were made in spite of the lead- ers of the Democrat Party. They continue to delay and defeat the President's agenda for growth, jobs, and prosperity. Spending faster than ever, they blocked Republican reforms that would have saved billions of wasted tax- payer dollars. They refused to give the President a line-item veto to curb their self- serving pork-barrel projects.
The congressional Democrat Leadership killed the Taxpayer Protection Amendment for a balanced budget in the Democrat-con- trolled House of Representatives. It was sup- ported by 98 percent of the Republican Members; 57 percent of the Democrat Members voted no. Then they rigged parlia- mentary procedures to forbid a vote on that Amendment in the Democrat-controlled Senate. Every Republican Senator voted twice to end the filibuster, while more than 70 per- cent of the Democrats voted, twice, to keep the filibuster going. Their nominee this year for the Vice Presidency supported the fili- buster and spurned the Balanced Budget Amendment.
They played citizens against one another, wallowing in the politics of hate and envy to smear the wonder of social mobility. They lied about America's achievement in the 1980s, rewriting history to erase the true accomplishments of the American people.
KEEPING WHAT YOU EARN. The test of economic policy is whether it promotes eco-
46
* UNITING OUR COUNTRY *
nomic growth and expands job opportunities. Lower taxes and an expand- ing economy depend on long term, consistent restraint in the growth of federal spending.
In 1990, as the deficit was threatening to balloon and further harm the economy, the President pushed for cuts in government spending overall and for caps on mandatory spending. The Democrat Congress insisted, however, on a tax hike as their price for controlling spending. In short, the Democrats held the U.S. economy-and U.S. jobs-hostage in order to raise taxes, much as they had done to President Reagan.
Just as they did with President Reagan, the Democrat-controlled Congress promised President Bush they would abide by binding controls on federal spending; and just as with President Reagan, they broke their word. Republicans will not again agree to such a program.
This year, to create jobs and promote growth, President Bush submit- ted a program of tax cuts and incentives designed to get the economy moving again-a program very similar to one he had sent to Congress
1.1
47
A
THE VISION SHARED *
in early 1990. The Democrats' response was predictable-instead of cutting taxes, they passed a $100 billion tax increase that would have smothered growth and jobs. The President, true to our Republican phi- losophy, vetoed this tax hike, and sustained his veto with the support of Republicans in Congress.
Now a new Democrat nominee comes forward with his plan for the economy. With a clean piece of paper, and every opportunity to end his party's romance with taxes, he has instead proposed the largest tax increase in American history. His tax increases, his proposed mandated benefits on small firms, and his further reductions in defense would cost the jobs of 2.6 million Americans. With his present spending increases, his plan would greatly increase the federal budget and the deficit.
The simple truth for the American people is this: the only safeguard between themselves and Democrat tax increases is the use of the veto by George Bush and enough Republican votes in Congress to sustain it.
The truth is that the Democrat philosophy of bigger government and rigorous redistribution of income requires them to push for ever increasing spending and ever higher taxes.
The choice is clear-between George Bush, who vetoes tax increases, and his opponent, who proposes a $150 billion tax increase.
Our Republican position is equally clear: we will oppose any attempt to increase taxes. Furthermore, Republicans believe that the taxes insisted on by the Democrats in the 1990 budget agreement were recessionary. The Democrat Congress held President Bush and indeed all Americans hostage, refusing to take even modest steps to control spending, unless taxes were increased. The American economy suffered as a result. We believe the tax increases of 1990 should ultimately be repealed.
Just as history shows that tax increases destroy jobs and economic growth, it also shows that the proper path to create jobs and growth is tax rate reduction.
We commend those congressional and senatorial candidates who pledge to oppose tax rate increases.
As the deficit comes under control, we aspire to further tax rate cuts, strengthening incentives to work, save, invest, and innovate. We also sup- port President Bush's efforts to reduce federal spending and to cap the
48
* UNITING OUR COUNTRY #
growth of non-Social Security entitlements.
Republicans want individuals and families to control their own econom- ic destiny. Only long-term expansion of our economy and jobs can make the American dream a reality for generations to come. That is why we demand that the Congress do what President Bush called for last January: open a new era of growth and opportunity by enacting his comprehensive plan for economic recovery, including a reduction in the capital gains tax; an investment tax allowance; a $5,000 tax credit for first-time home buy- ers; a needed modification of the "passive loss rule"; a $500 increase in the personal income tax exemption; making permanent the research and devel- opment tax credit; and the passage of federal enterprise zone legislation.
We support restoring the deductibility of IRAs for all Americans, including full-time homemakers, and encourage savings for education and home ownership through Family Savings Accounts. The President's Family Savings Accounts will be an impetus to the economy. Let families use their IRAs for first time home purchases, for college education, and for medical emergencies.
We will cut the capital gains tax rate to 15 percent-zero in enterprise zones-and index it so government cannot profit from inflation by taxing phantom capital gains, literally stealing from savings and pensions.
We reject the notion advanced by Democrats that this enhances the wealthy. To the contrary, it would encourage investment, create new jobs, make capital available for business expansion, and contribute to economic expansion.
Reducing the tax on investment will be the biggest possible boost for the new technologies, businesses, and jobs we need for the next century. If government taxes capital gains at such a high rate that there is no incentive to take risks, to build businesses, to invest, to create jobs, or to better one- self, then jobs and small businesses vanish and everyone's opportunities are diminished.
Cutting the rate, on the other hand, will help supply seed capital where it is needed most-in our poorest communities. Refusing to cut it will handcuff America in international competition and will shackle aspiring entrepreneurs in inner cities and poor rural areas. To encourage investment in new technologies, we will make permanent the research and develop- ment tax credit. For the same reason, we want to expand deductibility for
49
* THE VISION SHARED 1
investments in new plant and equipment.
We support further tax simplification. The tax code should create jobs for Americans, not profits for tax lawyers, lobbyists, and tax-shelters. Small businesses should spend more time hiring and producing, not filling out IRS forms.
We oppose taxing religious and ethnic fraternal benefit societies because of their vital role in fostering charity and patriotism.
We also oppose tax withholding on savings and dividends.
We applaud the efforts by President Bush to help workers who change jobs by enhancing the portability of pensions.
Leading Democrat Members of Congress have called for a national sales tax, or European style Value Added Tax (VAT), which would take billions of dollars out of the hands of American consumers. Such a tax has been imposed on many nations in Europe and has resulted in higher prices, fewer jobs, and higher levels of government spending. Republicans oppose the idea of putting a VAT on the backs of the American people.
Republicans believe in expanding the economy. Jobs and growth are our answer to the future.
THE FUTURE IS THE FAMILY. The most dramatic change in the tax code in our lifetime is one that has never been explicitly enacted by Congress or reported as a specific news event. It is the gradual, year by year erosion of the personal exemption, until it was indexed by a Republican Administration in 1986.
Republicans also led the way in the 1980s by increasing the personal exemption from $1500 to $2000. This platform calls for another imme- diate increase of $500, but in the long run we are committed to fully restoring the inflation-adjusted value of the personal exemption. This will require reductions in federal spending, which is why the best hope for tax fairness for America's families lies in a Republican Congress.
LIBERATION THROUGH DEREGULATION. Government regulation is a hidden tax on American families, costing each household more than $5,000 every year. It stifles job creation and hobbles our national competi- tiveness. The "Iron Triangle" of special interests, federal bureaucrats, and
50
* UNITING OUR COUNTRY *
Democrat congressional staff is robbing con- sumers and producers alike.
We support President Bush's freeze on new regulations. We applaud his Competitiveness Council, under Vice President Quayle, for fighting the regulatory mania, saving the public $20 billion with its initial 90-day moratorium on new regula- tions and billions more under the current 120-day freeze. We call for a permanent moratorium until our regulatory reforms are fully in place. They include market-based regulation, cost-benefit analysis of all new rule-making, and a Regulatory Budget that will make Congress admit-and correct- the harm it does by legislation that destroys jobs and competitiveness.
We recognize that property rights are being endangered by government over-regu- lation. We reaffirm the Constitutional right to private ownership of property; this right is paramount in our free society. Every rule that reduces the value of private property is what our Constitution calls a "taking." This under-the-table taxation is unfair, immoral, and economically destructive. We support legislation to require full compen- sation of property owners who are victims of regulatory takings.
HOME OWNERSHIP. The best housing policy is a non-inflationary, growing econo- my that has produced low mortgage rates and has made housing more affordable.
We demand Congress enact President Bush's housing program introduced as part
OUR NATIONAL EMBLEM
Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that their liberties are the gift of God?
THOMAS JEFFERSON
51
* THE VISION SHARED *
¢
David's m
Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it. - Psalms 127:1
of his pro-growth package in January.
Provide a $5,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers and allow them penalty-free IRA withdrawals.
Set a modified "passive loss rule" for active real estate investors.
Extend tax preferences for mortgage revenue bonds and low-income housing.
And allow deductions for losses on personal residences.
The average American's home is his or her primary asset. That asset should be completely shielded from federal taxation, allowing the home- owner to maintain it or access it as he or she sees fit. We call for the com- plete elimination of the capital gains tax on the sale of a principal residence.
Owning a home is not just an investment. It is a commitment to the community, a guard against crime, a statement about family life. It is a cru- cial component of upward mobility. To advance these goals, Republicans
52
* UNITING OUR COUNTRY *
are determined to preserve deductibility of mortgage interest.
Bureaucratic government imposes too many regulatory barriers to affordable hous- ing. These barriers must come down.
We applaud efforts in the States to lower property taxes, which strike hardest at the poor, elderly, families with children, and fam- ily farmers. We advocate repeal of rent con- trol laws, which help the affluent and hurt low-income families by causing housing shortages.
We support the FHA mortgage insurance program, the Government National Mortgage Association, the VA guarantee program, and other programs that enhance housing choices for all. We urge federal departments and agencies to work with the private sector to bring foreclosed housing stock back into service as soon as possible.
We reaffirm our commitment to open housing, without quotas or controls, as part of the opportunity we seek for all.
For low-income families, the Republican Party stands for a revolution in housing by converting public housing into homes owned by low-income Americans. President Bush is eager to work closely with the States to fight and win a new conservative war on poverty. The truest measure of our success will not be how many families we add to housing assis- tance rolls but, rather, how many families move into the ranks of homeownership. But every part of that opportunity agenda has been thwarted by landlord Democrats in Congress. We ask the electorate: end the
President Calvin Coolidge
We demand and the people of the United States have a right to demand a rigid economy in govern- ment.
REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 1924
53
A
THE VISION SHARED *
Not only the wealth , but the indep- dence and security of a country, appear to be materially connected with the prosperity of manufactures. ALEXANDER HAMILTON
1925 Coolidge Inauguration
strangulation of divided government. Give Republicans the chance to move housing pol- icy off the Democrat Party plantation into the mainstream of American life. Resident management and ownership of public hous- ing reflect this American mission, not only to assure political freedom but to allow all our fellow citizens to build a better life for them- selves and their children.
Congressional Democrats have consistently blocked efforts to repeal the earnings test which prevents people over age 65 from keeping their jobs and remaining productive members of the workforce. The Social Security earnings test discriminates against senior citizens. These senior citizens have to pay the highest marginal tax rate of any Americans. We support repeal of the Social Security earnings test.
CONTROLLING GOVERNMENT
SPENDING. For 12 years, Republicans in the White House and Congress have battled a Democrat system corrupt and contemptu- ous of the American taxpayer. Our Republican Presidents have vetoed one reck- less bill after another. But liberal Democrats still control a rigged machine that keeps on spending the public's money.
The only solution is for the voters to end divided government so that a Republican Congress can enact the Balanced Budget Amendment, requiring a super-majority for any future tax increases. And since the Democrat-controlled Congress has consis- tently voted down a line-item veto amend- ment for the President to control specific
54
A
** UNITING OUR COUNTRY
マクドナルド
wasteful pork barrel spending, a Republican Congress will adopt a line- item veto for the Presidency, and restore Presidential power to rescind spending and to lower specific appropriations.
Deficits have grown as Democrat Congresses have converted govern- ment assistance programs into entitlements and allowed spending to become uncontrolled. A Republican Congress, working with a Republican President, will consider non-Social Security mandatory spending portions of the federal budget when looking for savings.
When legislators and bureaucrats waste tax money, they deserve to lose their jobs. When they save money, they deserve praise. When federal pro- grams have outlived their usefulness, they deserve a decent burial. When federal judges dare to seize the power of the purse, by ordering the imposi- tion of taxes, they should be removed from office by the procedures pro- vided by the Constitution.
The latest Democrat scam is to raise taxes for "investment"-a code word for more government spending. A Republican Congress will foster investment where it does the most good, by individuals within the private sector.
55
* THE VISION SHARED *
JOB CREATION AND SMALL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES. The engines of growth in a free economy are small businesses and jobs. Almost 99 percent of all businesses in America are considered small. Small business is the backbone of the American economy. For the past 12 years it has led the way in economic growth.
Small business generates 67 percent of all new jobs. Employment in industries domi- nated by small business increased more than twice as fast as in industries dominated by large businesses. Small business plays a criti- cal role in America's economic health. What happens on Main Street drives what happens on Wall Street.
To create jobs and keep small business growing, the Republican Party supports increased access to capital for business expan- sion, exporting, long term investment, oppor- tunity capital for the disadvantaged, and capital to bring new products and new tech- nology to the market.
The Republican Party enthusiastically encourages the passage of federal enterprise zones. Enterprise zones have been effective programs for promoting growth in urban and rural America. Republicans believe that the concept of enterprise zones is based on unyielding faith in the entrepreneurial spirit of all Americans. Enterprise zones foster individual initiative and government deregu- lation. The States have come a long way in developing successful enterprise zone pro- grams. State programs could only benefit from federal efforts. Congress should follow
56
A
* UNITING OUR COUNTRY
the lead of President Bush and HUD Secretary Jack Kemp in passing the federal enterprise zone program that will empower communities by reducing government regula- tion and taxation.
The implementation of enterprise zones as an incentive for job creation and business development is also essential to further job and business opportunities. These efforts are bolstered by continued support of job train- ing and minority business development pro- grams, which have been created and implemented by the President's Administration within the last three years. This is of special import to women, who own 32 percent of the Nation's businesses, most of them small ones.
Because the regulation of securities mar- kets bars most small businesses from easy access to capital, we also support the Small Business Administration's Section 7(a) loan
REPUBLICAN PARTY
He's pood enough for He and so is the
Whole
Republican Ticket
Election TUESDAY NOVEMBER
1904
57
* THE VISION SHARED *
guarantee program and similar efforts that essentially compensate for the burdens government itself imposes upon entrepreneurs.
LEADING THE INFORMATION AGE. The Nation's telecommunications infrastructure will be essential to growth and competitiveness in the infor- mation age. The most far-reaching transformation of daily life since the harnessing of electricity will mean unprecedented opportunity for rural areas, reduced commuting, health care in the home, and empowerment for the disabled.
Today, however, government policy at both the federal and State levels is standing in the way of this telecommunications progress. Existing judicial, legislative, and regulatory market allocation schemes constitute a counterpro- ductive industrial policy by prohibiting the full participation by all providers in all segments of the telecommunications marketplace. We need to liberate this future-oriented technology and, in turn, empower the American people by giving consumers a truly competitive choice and lower prices.
58
* UNITING OUR COUNTRY #
As a result, we Republicans believe that full and open competition in the telecommunications marketplace is the most effective means for the U.S. to achieve our goal of having the most technologically advanced telecom- munications infrastructure in the world.
JOBS THROUGH SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. We believe technology holds the key to America's future-and the future is bright. America is not in decline. America is still the land of opportunity. The new horizon is sci- ence and technology. New discoveries, new challenges, and new opportuni- ties await us. Science and technology offer us change-exciting, dramatic, and positive change in the well-being of every American.
Scientific research and development in genetics, biotechnology, and elec- tronics will provide better, more affordable health care for all Americans. Distance learning, through technology, will help bring exciting, quality, affordable education to all students, even in rural areas and inner cities. Technology will help us conquer disease, protect the environment, and provide a more abundant, healthier food supply. And technology will lead to better jobs and a better quality of life for all of us-and for our chil- dren and our children's children.
Scientific and technological developments in telecommunications, high performance computers, high speed data networks, digitization, advanced software, biotechnology, high energy physics, advanced materials, super- conductors, manufacturing processes, energy, transportation, agriculture, oceanography, atmospheric studies, geological research, space, and the envi- ronment are some of the keys to increases in productivity. And increases in productivity will create economic growth and a higher standard of living for all of us. Technology is also critical to our national defense.
We believe America must make technological development one of its highest priorities. We therefore support efforts to promote science and technology-providing funding for basic research, supporting invest- ment in emerging technologies, improving education in science and engineering, enhancing tax credits for research and development, elimi- nating unnecessary regulation to create competitive markets, and pro- tecting intellectual property. We further support efforts to increase the pace of technology transfer from the government to the private sector, where the fruits of this research can be used in the free market to cre-
59
* THE VISION SHARED *
ate new processes, products, and most important, jobs.
We believe these policies will make us internationally competitive and will lead to a bright and prosperous future for our Nation.
President Bush has provided leadership in this arena by developing bud- gets allocating major new resources to scientific endeavors. The National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the research and development program in the Departments of Energy and Commerce have all become budget priorities under the President's leadership. The sad fact is, however, that the Democrat Congress has cut steadily and sharply in sci- ence areas in order to expand spending on social programs. This is short- sighted; the truth is that American innovation in science and engineering will expand our economy and jobs to greater social advantage to all Americans. A Republican Congress working with President Bush would reflect our interest in advancing scientific inquiry and assuring the resulting economic benefits for all Americans.
SPACE. We are a pioneer people. Today's telecommunications revolu- tion began with the first satellites of the Eisenhower years. So too, what we now do-or fail to do-in space will determine the future for gen- erations to come.
That is why President Bush established the National Space Council under Vice President Quayle. Together, they rescued a floundering pro- gram, revamped NASA, opened up competition, and engaged the best minds of academia and research in a twofold mission for mankind. Mission to Planet Earth will define and perhaps mitigate effects on our fragile environment. Mission from Planet Earth will open space for science and industry. Especially in this Columbian year, we hail the President's decision "to return to the moon, this time to stay, and then a journey to tomorrow, a mission to Mars."
Investments in space, though aimed at the future, pay dividends right now-in research and medicine, in international competitiveness and domestic opportunity. This must not be diverted to political pork barrels. The journey to the stars used to be a bipartisan adventure, but many Democrat officeholders have jumped ship.
Republicans, by contrast, are determined to complete Space Station
60
# UNITING OUR COUNTRY *
Freedom within this decade. Our agenda is to lower the cost of access to space, and to broaden that access to the private sector, with a family of new launchers; to build and fly sensors for the global environment; and to advance cutting-edge capabilities like the National Aerospace Plane and single-stage- to-orbit rockets, so technological break- throughs can be quickly exploited. We will promote space-based industry and ensure that space remains a frontier for private enterprise, not a restricted preserve for gov- ernment. We will continue international cooperation in space ventures and welcome Russia's cosmonauts and citizens of other nations to fly for freedom.
BANKING AND JOB CREATION. Job cre- ation and economic growth are dependent on a healthy and competitive financial services system that can respond to the needs of the market. The Democrat Congress stalled Republican legislation to prevent the savings and loan crisis. Then, last year, the Congress refused to pass the Republican Administration's comprehensive financial sec- tor reform bill to strengthen our banking industry and let it compete, both domestical- ly and internationally, consistent with the principles of safety and soundness.
We applaud the President's efforts to alle- viate the continuing problems caused by a lack of funds available to creditworthy bor- rowers in small businesses and the housing industry. We endorse his efforts to restrain overzealous regulators, reduce regulatory compliance costs, strengthen financial insti-
Throughout the ages, those nations which have pushed outward to explore new frontiers, which have had a momentum built from optimism and the sense of a promising future, have reaped dividends of commerce, science, engineering, and knowledge as a result of their efforts.
ALAN B. SHEPARD, JR.
61
* THE VISION SHARED *
Today's historic agreement links our future with our past. Five centuries ago, this very month, a man of courage and vision set sail from the Old World in search of new trade routes and opportunities. Christopher Columbus was an entrepreneur, and the journey be started 500 years ago continues to pay off abundantly today. By moving forward with the ... North American Free Trade Agreement, we will replenish that investment, opening up new horizons of opportunity and enterprise in the New World. GEORGE BUSH Announcing completion of the North American Free Trade Agreement, August 12, 1992
Christopher Columbus
tutions through diversification, and reduce unnecessary barriers to lending.
TRADE: A NEW WORLD OF GROWTH. Four years ago, the American people faced an historic decision: compete or retreat. They chose, with President Bush, to compete in the international arena. Rather than retreat with the Democrats to the limits of yesteryear, they decided to attack the international mar- ketplace with characteristic American vigor. Just as George Bush is a proven world leader on the military front, equally he is an eco- nomic world leader.
The results are spectacular. We have cut the trade deficit in half in just four years. The United States is again the world's top exporter. Exports drive our economy. Every $I billion in exports creates 20,000 new jobs for Americans. Exports have created nearly two million new jobs at home since 1988.
We are tough free traders, battling to sweep away barriers to our exports. We are waging the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations to win worldwide reductions in tariffs, elimination of subsidies, and protec- tion of American intellectual property rights. We are fighting to reduce farm subsidies in the European Community and to break up their government-industry collusion in pro- duction of civil aircraft. We firmly endorse President Bush's policy to support the Republic of China on Taiwan in internation- al trade and her accession to GATT. Major market access gains have been made with
62
* UNITING OUR COUNTRY
C
63
THE VISION SHARED *
Japan, with American manufacturing exports tripling since 1985. Throughout the world, we enforced greater compliance with U.S. trade rights. And we are making every effort to bring home a Uruguay Round agreement that is not only good for America, but great for tomorrow's entrepreneurs everywhere.
The free trade agenda for the next four years starts with the signing of a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico, complet- ing the establishment of a free trade area which already includes Canada. NAFTA will create the largest market in the world, greater than the European Community, with 360 million consumers and a total output of six trillion dollars. It means a net gain of hundreds of thousands of American jobs.
We acknowledge the possible effects on regional markets, specifically agriculture. We encourage our negotiators to be sensitive to those market concerns.
We will continue to fill the Pacific Rim with American exports, negoti- ating trade agreements with other Asian economies, and will complete our efforts-such as the Structural Impediments Initiative with Japan-to reduce barriers to American goods and services. And we will continue to negotiate the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative with Latin America as a first step in creating a hemispheric free trade zone.
Congress should report to the American people the cost to workers, consumers, and businesses of every Democrat trade restriction, trade tax, or trade quota bill it considers. We will not tolerate their obstructing the greatest expansion of international trade in history. Republicans welcome this opportunity; for we know America's workers, thinkers, and builders will make the most of it.
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY. Twelve years ago, we unleashed a tidal wave of freedom around the world-not just political, but econom- ic liberty as well. What works in America-personal responsibility, limited government, competition-works throughout the world.
Because the world economy is interdependent, the United States has been affected by downturns elsewhere, particularly since 1990 with the crash of the Japanese stock market and Germany's economic difficulties. Now, as progress resumes, the Republican plan for global growth is vital
64
# UNITING OUR COUNTRY *
for all nations, developed or otherwise. The continuing prosperity of our neighborhoods will depend in part upon the masterful diplomacy we have come to expect from President Bush.
Economic freedom is an essential link to our foreign policy. It means expanded trade, but it also means dynamic growth based on shared values-a coming together of nations in the commonwealth of peaceful progress. To that end, U.S. aid, whether bilateral or through international organizations, should promote market reforms, limit regulation, and encourage free trade.
Chief among these market reforms should be the privatization of state-owned industries such as telecommunications, power, mining, and refining. Privatization should afford American companies the opportunity to pur- chase some of these assets, bring competition to these countries, and substantially reduce our trade deficit. The United States govern- ment should take all possible steps to assist American companies wishing to invest in pri- vatized industries by adopting policies, rules, and regulations that will equitably facilitate these ventures, especially for small businesses.
We will work with developing nations to make their economies attractive to private investment and will support innovations to guarantee repayment of their loans, including debt for equity swaps. Our experience can help them develop environmentally rational strategies for growth.
Because we uphold the family as the building block of economic progress, we pro-
Susan B. Anthony, leader, women's suf- frage movement.
The Republican party is mindful of the rights and interests of women , and believes that they should be accorded equal opportunities, equal pay for equal work, and protection to the home. We favor the admission of women to wider spheres of use- fulness and welcome their coopera- tion in rescuing the country from Democratic and Populist misman- agement and misrule.
REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 1896
65
+ THE VISION SHARED *
The first principle in our new para- digm is that as market forces grow stronger our world becomes smaller. GEORGE BUSH
tect its rights in international programs and will continue to withhold funds from organi- zations involved in abortion.
Most important, we encourage developing nations to adopt both democracy and free markets. The two are inextricably tied and afford all people the greatest opportunities.
REFORMING GOVERNMENT AND THE LEGAL SYSTEM
Two centuries ago, the American people cre- ated a miracle-a system of government, founded on limited authority and the rule of law, a system that made government the ser- vant of the people. Today it is in shambles. Citizens feel overwhelmed by vast bureaucra- cies. Congress insulates incumbents from public judgment. Huge problems get worse while committee chairmen play partisan games. The current legal system tends to breed delay, cost, confusion, and jargon- everything but justice. Many of our once- great cities are controlled by one-party machines that promote and encourage cor- ruption and incompetence.
The Republic has not failed; the Democrat Party bosses failed the Republic.
The Republican Party, now as at its found- ing, challenges a debased status quo. In Congress, the States, our cities, our court- rooms, we fight for the basics of self-govern- ment.
We rely on what works, judging programs by how well they do instead of how much they spend. The Democrats believe in more
66
x UNITING OUR COUNTRY *
government. Republicans believe in leaner, more effective government.
We decentralize authority, returning deci- sions to States, localities, and private institu- tions. The Democrat bosses want to concentrate power on Capitol Hill. Republicans place it in town halls and the American home.
Republicans favor the free-enterprise sys- tem. We choose market forces-consumer rights-over red tape. The Democrats argue that government must constantly override the market. Republicans regard the worst market failure as the failure to have a market.
We replace dependency with empower- ment. The Democrats see an America filled with wards of the State. Republicans see an America peopled by citizens and consumers eager for the chance to chart their own course.
We make électoral systems understandable and accountable to the voter. The Democrats fear proposals that would limit the tenure and hidden power of incumbent politicians. Republicans want the ballot box to prevail over the cloakroom.
CLEANING UP THE IMPERIAL
CONGRESS. The Democrats have con- trolled the House of Representatives for 38 years-five years longer than Castro has held Cuba. They have held the Senate for 32 of those 38. Their entrenched power has pro- duced a Congress arrogant, out of touch, hopelessly entangled in a web of PACs, perks, privileges, partisanship, paralysis, and pork.
NY.COUNTY REPUBLICAN WONEN
Republican women campaigning in New York.
67
* THE VISION SHARED *
Government can't give anybody a dime if it first doesn't take it from someone else.
SENATOR DON NICKLES, Chairman, Platform Committee 1992
68
# UNITING OUR COUNTRY #
No wonder they hid their congressional leaders during the Democrat con- vention of 1992. They didn't want Americans to remember who has been running the Congress.
The Democrats have transformed what the Framers of the Constitution intended as the people's House into a pathological institution. They have grossly increased their staffing, their payrolls, their allied bureaucracies in little-known congressional agencies. Congress has ballooned to 284 con- gressional committees and subcommittees, almost 40,000 legislative branch employees and staff, and $2.5 billion in taxpayer financing, amounting to approximately $5 million per lawmaker per year. Incumbents have abused free mailing privileges for personal political gain. Twenty-two Democrats, with a total of 585 years in power, rule over a committee sys- tem that blocks every attempt at reform.
The Democrats have trampled the traditions of the House, rigging rules, forbidding votes on crucial amendments, denying fair apportion- ment of committee seats and resources. They have stacked campaign laws to benefit themselves. The Democrat Leadership of the House has been tainted with scandal and has resisted efforts to investigate scandals once disclosed. Some in their Leadership have resigned in well-earned disgrace.
The Democrat Leadership of the Congress has turned the healthy com- petition of constitutional separation of powers into mean-spirited politics of innuendo and inquisition. Committee hearings are no longer for fact- finding; they are political sideshows. "Advise and consent" has been replaced by "slash and burn."
Republicans want to change all that. We reaffirm our support for a con- stitutional amendment to limit the number of terms House Members and Senators may serve. We want a citizens' Congress, free of bloated pensions and perpetual perks.
Congress must stop exempting itself from laws such as the minimum wage and the civil rights statutes, as well as laws which apply to the Executive Branch. The Independent Counsel Act is a case in point. It has permitted rogue prosecutors to spend tremendous amounts to hound some of the Nation's finest public servants. If that Act is reauthorized, it must be extended to Congress as well. Safety and health regulations, civil rights and minimum wage laws are further examples of areas where Congress has set itself apart from the people. This practice must end.
69
* THE VISION SHARED *
G
If it be asked, what is to restrain the House of Representatives from making legal discriminations in favor of themselves and a particular class of the society? I answer: the genius of the whole system; the nature of just and constitutional laws; and, above all, the vigilant and manly spirit which actuates the people of America-a spirit which nourishes freedom, and in return is nourished by it. If this spirit shall ever be so far debased as to tolerate a law not obligatory on the legisla- ture, as well as on the people, the people will be prepared to tolerate anything but liberty.
JAMES MADISON The Federalist Papers
Congress must slash its own bureaucracy. Its employees operate in a maze of overlap- ping jurisdictions. A Republican Congress will cut expenses by 25 percent, reduce the number of committees and subcommittees, and assign staff in accurate proportion to party strength.
We will restore integrity to the House of Representatives, reforming its rules, allowing open debate and amendment. The committee system, both in Congress and in Democrat- controlled State legislatures, has been abused by chairpersons who have arbitrarily killed legislation which would have passed. Committees are a place for open and free dis- cussion, not a closet for Democrats to stash Republican legislation. Democracy itself is endangered by these abuses, and Republicans condemn these practices. Both houses of Congress must guarantee protection to whis- tle blowers to encourage employees to report illegality, corruption, sexual harassment, and discrimination.
The Democrat rulers of Congress have blocked or stalled Presidential initiatives in many areas, including education, housing, crime control, economic recovery, job cre- ation, and budget reform. They care more about scoring petty partisan points for them- selves and their Party than about achieving real progress for the Nation. To accomplish change, we need a change in Congress.
REFORMING THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET PROCESS. At the heart of the Democrats' corruption of Congress is a fraudulent budget process. They do not want
70
# UNITING OUR COUNTRY #
the public to understand how they spend the public's money. At a time when the Nation's future depends on reduction of deficits, the lords of the Capitol still play the old shell game.
Republicans vigorously support a balanced budget, a Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment, and a line-item veto for the President.
Republicans believe this balancing of the budget should be achieved, not by increasing taxes to match spending, but by cutting spending to current levels of revenue. We prefer a Balanced Budget Amendment which contains a super-majority requirement to raise taxes.
We also propose procedural reforms. We support legislation that would require Congress to pass a legally binding budget before it can consider spending bills. The budget's spending ceilings shall not be exceeded with- out a super-majority vote of both chambers. If Congress fails to pass any appropriation bill, funding for its programs will automatically be frozen at the previous year's level. The key to prosperity for the rest of this century and for the next generation of Americans is a budget strategy that restores sanity to the budget process and checks the growth of government.
Congress should be forced to confront basic arithmetic through Truth in Counting. The Democrats measure all changes in funding against a "current services baseline," with built-in increases for inflation and other factors. If they want a $I million program to grow to $2 million, they then count an increase to $1.5 million as a half-million dollar cut. This is the accounting system of Wonderland, where words mean exactly what the Democrat Speaker says they mean. The double-talk must end with zero- based budgeting. We also support "sunset laws" that require government agencies to be reviewed periodically and reauthorized only if they can be rejustified.
CLEANING UP POLITICS: THE GERRYMANDER. After more than a half-century of distortion by power-hungry Democrats, the political sys- tem is increasingly rigged.
Throughout the 1980s, voters were cheated out of dozens of seats in the House of Representatives and in State legislatures because districts were oddly shaped to guarantee election of Democrats. It was swindle by law. We support State-level appointment of non-partisan redistricting commissions to apply clear standards for compactness of districts, compet-
71
A
THE VISION SHARED x
REFOR NI MANUANY
When parents won't coach Little League teams, when obstetricians won't deliver babies, and when community pools are closed in the summertime, all because of fear of liability, we know that something is wrong. And now is the time for Congress to pass my legislation to fix it. GEORGE BUSH
itiveness between the parties, and protection of community interests.
CLEANING UP POLITICS: CAMPAIGN REFORM. We crusade for clean elections. We support State efforts to increase voter participation but condemn Democrat attempts to perpetrate vote fraud through schemes that override the States' safeguards of orderly voter registration. And it is critical that the States retain the authority to tailor voter registration procedures to unique local circumstances.
Most of all, we condemn the Democrats' shameless plots to make taxpayers foot the bills for their campaigns. Their campaign finance bill would have given $1 billion, over six years, in subsidies to candidates. President Bush vetoed that bill. Campaign financing does need reform. It does not need a hand in the public's pocketbook.
We will require congressional candidates to raise most of their funds from individuals within their home constituencies. This will limit outside special-interest money and result in less expensive campaigns, with less padding for incumbents. To the same end, we will strengthen the role of political parties to remove pressure on candidates to spend so much time soliciting funds. We will eliminate political action committees supported by corporations, unions, or trade associations, and restrict the practice of bundling.
To restore competition in elections by attacking the unfair advantages of incumben- cy, we will stop incumbents from warding off
72
* UNITING OUR COUNTRY
challengers merely by amassing huge war chests. Congressional candidates will be for- bidden from carrying campaign funds from one election to the next. We will oppose arbitrary spending limits-cynical devices which hobble challengers to keep politicians in office.
We will fully implement the Supreme Court's decision in the Beck case, ensuring that workers have the right to stop the use of their union dues for political or other non- collective bargaining purposes.
MANAGING GOVERNMENT IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST. The focus of govern- ment must shift from quantity to quality, from spending to service. Americans should expect measurable, published standards for services provided by government at all levels. Performance standards and rules, common- place in the private sector, must be applied to government activities as well. Because federal government employees should not be a privi- leged caste, we will remove the bar to gar- nishing their wages to ensure payment of their debts.
The Quality Revolution in American busi- ness has quietly but profoundly transformed American culture over the past decade. Millions of American workers have benefited from the more cooperative spirit the Quality Revolution has brought to tens of thousands of workplaces; and every American has bene- fited from the lower costs, higher quality ser- vice, and greater level of competitiveness it has produced. Republicans are proud to have
We hold these truths to be self-evident ...
73
* THE VISION SHARED
played a leading role in this transformation, especially through the annual Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, which recognizes companies that best represent the principles of Quality.
The Quality Revolution in the private sector, with its concepts of Continuous Improvement, Profound Knowledge, and "Doing the Right Thing Right the First Time," stands in stark contrast to the outmoded practices, insensitivity and outright waste, abuse, and corruption endemic in the bureaucratic welfare state. The Republican Party is firmly commit- ted to bringing the Quality Revolution into government at every level by creating a "Quality Workers for a Quality America" coalition whose aim will be to transform the bureaucratic welfare state into a government that is customer-friendly, cost-effective, and improving constantly.
Privatization is an important alternative to higher taxes and reduced ser- vices. If private enterprise can perform better and more cheaply than gov- ernment, let it do so. This is especially true of properties now decaying under government control, such as public housing, where residents should
74
# UNITING OUR COUNTRY #
have the option to manage their own projects. These citizens should have the chance to become stockholders and managers of government enterpris- es and to run them more efficiently as private enterprises. We applaud President Bush's initiative to allow States and localities to privatize facili- ties built with federal aid.
Where it advances both efficiency and safety, we will advocate privatiza- tion of airport operation and management.
We deplore the blatant political bias of the government-sponsored radio and television networks. It is especially outrageous that taxpayers are now forced to underwrite this biased broadcasting through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). We call for sweeping reform of CPB, including greater accountability through application of the Freedom of Information Act, a one-year funding cycle, and enforcement of rigorous fairness stan- dards for all CPB-supported programming. We look forward to the day when public broadcasting is self-sufficient.
Always trusting the initiative of the American people over the ways of government, we will not initiate production of goods or delivery of services by the federal government if they can be procured from the private sector.
We will not initiate any federal activity that can be conducted better on the State or local level. In doing so, we reassert the crucial importance of the Tenth Amendment. We oppose costly federal mandates that stifle innovation and force tax hikes upon States and localities. We require that Congress calcu- late the cost of mandated initiatives upon communities affected and pro- vide adequate financial support for mandates invoked. We will continue the process of returning power to local voters by replacing federal pro- grams with block grants.
REFORMING THE LEGAL SYSTEM. The United States, with five per- cent of the world's population, has two-thirds of the world's lawyers. Litigation has become an industry, an end in itself. The number of civil cases in federal district courts has more than tripled in the past thirty years. It now takes more than a year to resolve the average lawsuit. Delays of three to five years are commonplace.
The current legal system forces consumers to pay higher prices for everything from basic goods to medical treatment. Direct litigation and
75
* THE VISION SHARED *
inflated insurance premiums sock American consumers for an estimated $80 billion a year. All told, our legal system costs, directly and indirectly, $300 billion a year. What it costs us in the world marketplace, by hinder- ing our competitiveness, is beyond calculation.
We therefore endorse the President's proposals for legal reform as devel- oped by Vice President Quayle, and we salute his principled challenge to the American Bar Association to clean up its own house. We support the Fairness Rule, to allow the winning party to a lawsuit to recover the costs of litigation from the losing party. This will discourage needless suits, free- ing legal resources for people with genuine cases.
We believe complainants should have a choice of ways to settle problems through alternative dispute programs that will permit parties to pursue less costly and less complicated ways to resolve conflicts. We also call for greater use of judicial sanctions to stop frivolous lawsuits. We call for changes to the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law to limit its use in civil litigation by requiring proof of all ele- ments by clear and convincing proof.
We seek to restore fairness and predictability to punitive damages by placing appropriate limits on them, dividing trials into two phases to determine liability separately from damages, and requiring clear proof of wrongdoing. This will go a long way to reduce insurance premiums for professional and product liability and for all malpractice, including med- ical, thereby lowering costs for consumers throughout the economy, while preserving the ability of injured persons to obtain damages. It will also fos- ter the creation of new products for the American marketplace, perhaps cures for the diseases we most fear.
The Republican Party commends President Bush and Vice President Quayle for their continued leadership in helping volunteers overcome their concern that their good acts and voluntary donations of time on behalf of civic groups, community organizations, and churches will result in civil lia- bility and lawsuits. We encourage the State legislatures to pass the Administration's model bill, "The Volunteerism Act."
We will throw out "junk science" by requiring courts to verify the legiti- macy of persons called as expert witnesses. To restore integrity to court- room testimony, we will ban the practice of paying fees to experts only if a successful verdict is obtained. We will maintain diversity jurisdiction for
76
* UNITING OUR COUNTRY *
citizens of different States to ensure access to the federal courts when appropriate.
Because four-fifths of the time and cost of a lawsuit involves discov- ery-pre-trial investigation of the facts-we will require automatic disclo- sure, by both sides, of basic information. We will ban abuses of the discovery process used to intimidate opponents and drive up their costs.
We will fight rising health care costs-and equally important, help ded- icated doctors to keep practicing in critical areas like obstetrics-by pro- viding incentives for States to reform their liability laws. This will reduce the practice of "defensive medicine," requiring patients to be tested for every conceivable ailment at their own enormous expense to guard against the mere possibility of a lawsuit.
Recognizing that legal reform can solve only parts of the larger prob- lem, we support a federal product liability law. The cost of product lia- bility protection is a great expense to the American consumer and seriously impedes our international competitiveness. For example, a consumer pays an additional 17 percent to cover the liability insurance of an ordinary stepladder. If thirteen European nations can enact uni- form product liability laws to give them a competitive edge against the United States, we can do it here too-once we break the Democrat hold on the Congress so Republicans can put the interests of workers and consumers ahead of trial lawyers.
Some of the problems in our legal system are rooted in a declining sense of, and respect for, individual responsibility. We reaffirm that all Americans are first and finally responsible for their own behavior.
THE NATION'S CAPITAL. We call for closer and responsible Congressional scrutiny of the city, federal oversight of its law enforcement and courts, and tighter fiscal restraints over its expenditures. We oppose statehood as inconsistent with the original intent of the Framers of the Constitution and with the need for a federal city belonging to all the peo- ple as our Nation's Capital.
A NEW ERA FOR THE TERRITORIES. We welcome greater participa- tion in all aspects of the political process by Americans residing in Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Northern Marianas, and Puerto
77
# THE VISION SHARED #
Rico. Because territorial America is far-flung and divergent, we know that any single approach to the future will not necessarily meet the needs of all. Republicans therefore emphasize respect for the wishes of those who reside in the territories regarding their relationship to the rest of the Union.
We affirm the right of American citizens in the United States territories to seek the full extension of the Constitution with the accompanying rights and responsibilities, and we support all necessary legislation to per- mit them to do so.
The Republican Party supports the right of the United States citizens of Puerto Rico to be admitted to the Union as a fully sovereign State after they freely so determine.
We recognize that the people of Guam have voted for a closer relation- ship with the United States of America, and we reaffirm our support of their right to mutually improve their political relationship through com- monwealth.
We support American Samoa's efforts to advance toward economic self- reliance through a multi-year plan, while ensuring the protection afforded to the people of American Samoa by the original treaty of cession.
We support the full extension of rights and responsibilities under the U.S. Constitution to American citizens of the Virgin Islands.
We commend President Bush for the successful development of self- government in Micronesia and the Marshall Islands and for efforts to con- clude the United Nations' last trusteeship in Palau consistent with the people's right of self-determination.
OUR LAND, FOOD, AND RESOURCES
We hold the resources of our country in stewardship. Our heritage from the past must be our legacy to generations to come. Our people have always known that, as they cherished their land and turned earth and rock into food, fiber, and power. In the process, they built the world's most for- midable economy, sustained by its raw materials, driven by its energy resources. They brought comfort to the home, transformed the Nation, and fed the world.
Agriculture and energy remain building blocks of modern life. Their
78
UNITING OUR COUNTRY *
vitality is crucial to the Nation's growth. Indeed, to its survival. While sup- porting conservation, we reject the notion that there are limits to growth. Human ingenuity is the ultimate resource, and it knows no limits. The true measure of America's economic success is not whether austerity can be shared by many, but whether prosperity can be achieved for all.
We advocate privatizing those government agencies and assets that would be more productive and better maintained in private ownership. We support efforts to decentralize government monopolies that poorly serve the public and waste taxpayers' dollars.
AGRICULTURE. The Republican Party is the home of the farmer, ranch- er, and forester. We have long championed their right to pursue growth, efficiency, and competitiveness through market incentives, diversification, and personal ingenuity. And for good reason. Their industry provides con- sumers with the highest quality food and fiber for the smallest percentage of disposable income of any nation in the history of the world.
They have been pioneer environmentalists. They have turned over to
79
A
THE VISION SHARED *
We endorse the movement inaugu- rated by the administration for the conservation of natural resources ... no obligation of the future is more insistent and none will result in greater blessings to posterity.
REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 1908
their children and grandchildren land that has been nurtured to expand its productivity while conserving this vital resource. Even more important, they have cultivated in their homes strong family life and moral virtues. We endorse American Samoa's time-honored land tenure system which fosters self-reliance and strong extended family values. When we lose farmers, we lose much more than agri- culture. We are committed to bringing our farm families the full benefit of a growing and diversified rural economy.
Our rural families also deserve to be brought into the mainstream of health care, with tax policies that provide all who are self- employed full deductibility of their health insurance premiums.
We stand with farmers against attempts by liberal Democrats to repeal the laws of economics by dictating price levels and restricting production. We stand with them against agricultural embargoes. We reject the notion that elected officials and bureaucrats make better farm managers than farmers themselves.
We remain strong in our support of live- stock agriculture. We believe in the humane treatment of animals, but we oppose attempts by animal rights extremists to impose excessive restrictions on animal hus- bandry practices.
Our Omnibus Farm Bills of 1985 and 1990 gave farmers greater flexibility in deci- sions concerning management of their farms and marketing of their commodities. We have reduced government control and ownership
80
A
UNITING OUR COUNTRY XX
of commodity inventories. Export sales and profitability have improved signifi- cantly. Agricultural debt has fallen by 30 percent. Under this President and sound Republican policies, net farm income has reached record levels.
At the same time, we cut by two-thirds the cost of government commodity pro- grams. Only one-half of one percent of the federal budget is now spent on those programs. By reducing dependency on government, we have created a healthier agricultural sector. We will build upon our 1985 and 1990 legislation and repeal obsolete or unworkable statutes while- continuing to provide a viable base of support for U.S. farmers.
Agricultural prosperity is essential to the Nation's global competitiveness. We will continue to expand the growth of American agriculture through exports, development of new products, and new markets. Commodity exports this year will hit $40 billion, a 50 percent increase over the levels of five years ago. There has never been an annual deficit in our bal- ance of agricultural trade, and the posi- tive balance this year will be $18 billion.
We pledge to fight unfair competition and to bring down the walls of protec- tionism around the world that unfairly inhibit competitiveness of U.S. farm exports. We pledge continued pressure to open world markets through the Uruguay Round, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and bilateral negotiations.
We endorse the prinicple of Federal aid to the States for the purpose of vocational and agricultural training. REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 1920
81
# THE VISION SHARED
A
We affirm that there will be no GATT agree- ment unless it improves opportunities for U.S. farmers to compete in world markets. We repeat our demand for cutbacks in export subsidies by the European Community and elsewhere, and we will fight the use of arbi- trary health and sanitation standards to sabo- tage U.S. exports.
New markets for agricultural products will also be created as producers translate techno- logical breakthroughs into new uses, such as soy oil diesel and biodegradable plastics. We support the widest possible use of ethanol in the U.S. motor fuel market, including in oxy- genated fuels programs and as ethanol blends in reformulated gasolines. In addition, the Republican Party supports increased research and development to reduce ethanol produc- tion costs and expand its use in motor fuel markets. Such use will greatly help American farmers, improve the rural economy, and reduce our dependence on imported oil.
Building our farm economy requires meet- ing our farmers' financing needs. Critical to these needs are competitive, reasonable inter- est rates for U.S. producers. Under George Bush, interest rates have been dramatically reduced, thereby contributing substantially to improving the net income of American farm and ranch families. We will continue working to ensure that farmers have access to credit, with particular consideration to the needs of young and beginning farmers.
We recognize the importance of effi- cient, equitable transportation systems to the economic viability of agricultural
82
* UNITING OUR COUNTRY
A
83
* THE VISION SHARED *
The good earth is the food storehouse for future generations. The tending of the soil is a sacred responsibility. Development of a sound farm program is a high national duty. REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 1952
exports; and we will work to achieve greater efficiencies within the U.S. mar- itime industry and to decrease the cost to agriculture of shipping services.
We support farm conservation efforts, both those pioneered in our 1985 Farm Bill and entirely voluntary undertakings, which result in three times as much erosion control as those mandated by law. We support the Conservation Reserve, with more than 35 million acres now enrolled. It shows what farmers can do through incentives rather than government controls.
We value our Nation's real wetlands habi- tat and the diversity of our native animal and plant life. We oppose, however, bureau- cratic harassment of farm, ranch, and timber families under statutes regarding endangered species and wetlands. When actions are required to protect an endangered species, we recognize that jobs can be lost, commu- nities displaced, and economic progress for all denied. Accordingly, prior to the imple- mentation of a recovery plan for a species declared to be endangered, we will require the Congress to affirm the priority of the species on the endangered list and the spe- cific measures to be taken in any recovery plan. These acts should not rest with the rubber stamp of a bureaucrat.
With regard to wetlands, following our principle that environmental protection be reasonable, land that is not truly wet should not be classified as a wetland. Protection of environmentally sensitive wetlands must not come at the price of disparaging landowners'
84
* UNITING OUR COUNTRY #
property rights. Thus, we endorse, as President Bush has done, legislation to discourage government activities that ignore property rights. We also find intolerable the use of taxpayer funds, through the Legal Services Corporation, to attack the agricultural community.
POWER FOR PROGRESS. Energy sustains life as we know it: our stan- dard of living, the prospect for economic growth, the way our children will live in the century ahead. Republican energy policy, now as in the past, reflects the commonsense aspirations of the American people.
Our goals address our fundamental needs: an energy supply, available to all, that remains reasonably priced, secure, and clean, produced by strong energy industries on which the country can rely, operating in an environ- mentally responsible manner and producing from domestically available energy resources to the maximum extent practicable.
Anyone older than a teenager can remember the energy upheavals of the bad old days, when political games threw_the Nation into a tailspin. Stranded in gasoline lines, shocked by home heating bills, shutting down factory operations, America's motorists, homeowners, and workers rightly blamed official Washington for wrecking something which had always worked so efficiently that it was taken for granted.
Today, after 12 years of Republican reform, we can again have confi- dence in our energy policies. The average household spends II percent less on energy, as adjusted for inflation, than it did in 1980, because of both conservation and lower costs.
We broke the shackles of bureaucratic regulation by ending petroleum price and allocation controls, deregulating natural gas wellhead prices, and repealing restrictions on the use of clean-burning natural gas by industry and utilities. We repealed the Windfall Profit Tax on crude oil that penal- ized investment in domestic oil production. We promoted free competi- tion in an open marketplace and ended the public subsidy to the "synthetic fuels" program. And we broke the back of OPEC, the interna- tional energy cartel.
And, equally important, we undertook a reevaluation of estimates of our domestic energy resource base, which the Carter Administration had deter- mined to be inadequate. The Republican Administration correctly found that we can indeed continue to supply a significant amount of our domes-
85
THE VISION SHARED #
There's something more we owe the generations of the future: stewardship, the safekeeping of America's precious environmen- tal inheritance. GEORGE BUSH
86
* UNITING OUR COUNTRY #
tically available energy resources, including natural gas and coal, for all energy consump- tion needs well into the next century.
When Iraq's dictator moved to seize the world's energy lifeline by controlling the Persian Gulf, George Bush did more than lib- erate Kuwait. He prevented energy crisis and economic shutdown in America. Now his National Energy Strategy leads toward con- tinued growth in the century ahead. It pro- vides the Nation with a comprehensive and balanced strategy for America's energy future. Specifically, it promotes adequate energy sup- plies and reduces consumer costs by relying on market forces, diversifying domestic ener- gy sources, and improving the efficiency and flexibility of energy consumption. We seek to foster greater competition and increased out- put, in the interest of producers and con- sumers alike.
The domestic oil and gas industry saves us from total dependence on unreliable foreign imports. But over the past decade, it has lost more than 300,000 jobs. Drilling rigs are still. Crippled by environmental rules and taxes, independent producers have been dev- astated and major companies are moving operations overseas. We will reverse that situ- ation by allowing access, under environmental safeguards, to the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, possibly one of the largest petroleum reserves in our country, and to selected areas of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). We support incentives to encourage domestic investment for onshore and OCS oil and gas exploration and devel- opment, including relief from the alternative
To waste, to destroy, our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to band down to them amplified and developed.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
87
* THE VISION SHARED
minimum tax, credits for enhanced oil recovery and geological exploration under known geological oil fields and producing geological structures, and modified percentage depletion rules to benefit marginal production. We will ensure that royalty payments on federal lands remain consistent with changing economic conditions.
Most important, unlike Democrat no-growth fanatics, we know what is most at stake in the energy debate: the family's standard of living, including job opportunities, household income, and the environment in which we live.
That is why we have been supporting complete decontrol of wellhead prices for clean natural gas, which have already declined ten percent in the last four years while consumption increased by the same amount. We sup- port replacing government controls with the power of the market to deter- mine transactions between buyers and sellers of natural gas. We encourage the use of natural gas for both vehicles and electricity generation, and the expansion of research, development, and demonstration for end-use natural gas technologies. We will foster more public-private partnerships to advance use of natural gas.
The Republican Party has a deep and abiding commitment to America's mining industry. We support the original intent of the Mining Law of 1872: to provide the security necessary for miners to risk capital investment on federal lands, thus preserving jobs and bolstering the domestic economy.
We support clean-coal technologies to allow greater use of America's most abundant fossil fuel within standards required by the Clean Air Act. We encourage the export of U.S. coal. We support acceleration of the international transfer of coal-related technologies to boost exports for U.S. coal, in order to capitalize on America's leadership in these technologies.
We oppose any attempt to impose a carbon tax as proposed by liberal Democrats.
We endorse major national projects, like the Super Conducting Super Collider, which offer the promise of developing more efficient ways to store, transport, and use energy.
We will hasten development of the next generation of nuclear power plants-one of the cleanest, safest energy sources of all. Republicans back
88
= UNITING OUR COUNTRY x
reform of the nuclear licensing process. We will site and license a perma- nent waste depository and a monitored retrievable storage facility. We reject the scare tactics used against nuclear power by those who want to shut down this essential contributor to the American future.
We endorse development of renewable energy sources and research on fuel cells, conservation, hydro, solar, hydrogen, and wind power as compo- nents of our overall plan for energy security and environmental quality.
PUBLIC LANDS. The millions of acres that constitute this Nation's public lands must continue to provide for a number of uses. We are committed to the multiple use of our public lands. We believe that recreation, forestry, ranching, mining, oil and gas exploration, and production on our public lands can be conducted in a way compatible with their conservation. The United States has some of the richest mineral resources in the world. Our public lands should not be arbitrarily locked up and put off limits to responsible uses.
Approximately 50 percent of the lands in the West are owned by the fed- eral government. These lands are a deeply intermingled patchwork quilt of public and private ownership. In order to provide an economic base for the people of the West, a public-private cooperative partnership on these lands for multiple use in an environmentally sound manner is imperative.
TRANSPORTATION. From its founding, the Republican Party has consid- ered the Nation's transportation system crucial to economic opportunity for all. That is why our 1860 Platform endorsed the Transcontinental Railroad. It is why President Eisenhower signed the Interstate and Defense Highway Act, bringing America closer together and launching a lengthy economic expansion.
Today, America's transportation system is safer, more efficient, more reli- able than that of any other country. It employs one of every ten workers and accounts for $800 billion in spending. It enables us to compete in the world market and gives us more choices in our daily lives.
Under President Bush, that system has been strengthened by revolu- tionary legislation to pave the way into the century ahead. Providing $151 billion for highways and transit systems, it is the most extensive transportation improvement project in our Nation's history-and a
89
* THE VISION SHARED #
tremendous jobs program as well.
Highway death rates have dropped to an all-time low, largely due to bet- ter road design and stronger safety programs. This progress would be wiped out by the Democrats' draconian plan for higher Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. Their national nominees want to require a 45 miles-per-gallon standard. That means unsafe vehicles, reduced consumer choice, higher car costs, and a loss of 300,000 jobs in the auto industry here at home.
To reduce the congestion that still chokes urban areas, we established a National Highway System of 155,000 miles, giving States and localities greater voice in decisions about projects. It will improve connections between ports and highways, airports and railways; spur development of new airports and reduce their environmental impact; promote private investment in transportation; and foster high-tech solutions to congestion.
To keep America on the move, we assert the same principle that guides us in all other sectors of the economy: consumers benefit through com- petition within the private sector. That is why we will complete the job
90
# UNITING OUR COUNTRY
of trucking deregulation. We will also abol- ish the Interstate Commerce Commission, finally freeing shippers and consumers from horse-and-buggy regulation. We applaud the President's executive order that will assist communities to privatize government- controlled ventures, such as airports and toll roads.
Our tough trade campaign, along with regulatory reforms, will assure U.S. air carriers fair access to international routes and allow the U.S. merchant marine to sail over foreign protectionism. The President has proposed and will aggres- sively pursue a comprehensive revision of existing maritime policy.
Regulatory reform of airlines now allows more people to fly more safely, at better prices. Tough laws for drug and alcohol test- ing are making all modes of transportation safer than ever. Disabled persons will have greater access to the entire transportation network under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Wherever possible, the market should allo- cate investment in transportation, steering the development of passenger rail, mass tran- sit, and highways to best suit consumers. States and localities should have discretion in using Highway Trust Fund revenues to con- struct new roads, expand existing ones, or invest in mass transit facilities, as they see fit. We advocate development of high-speed rail systems, through private investment, to serve inter-city travel. We also advocate develop- ment of short-haul aircraft with vertical take-
Resolved, That a railroad to the Pacific Ocean by the most central and practicable route is imperatively demanded by the interest of the whole country.
THE FIRST REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 1856
TAFT
91
* THE VISION SHARED *
92
# UNITING OUR COUNTRY #
off and landing capability, to bring commerce and jobs to communities large and small.
We will continue aggressively to support development of intelligent highway systems, an efficient battery for electric cars, perfected natural gas vehicles, greater private investment in space travel, and removal of regulato- ry impediments to intermodal transport.
Because Republicans advocate personal responsibility, we salute groups, organizations, and individuals that take direct action to improve safe dri- ving and street safety.
ENVIRONMENT. Cleaning up America is a labor of love for family, neighborhood, and Nation. In the Republican tradition of conserving the past to enrich the future, we have made the United States the world's leader in environmental progress.
We spend more than any other country on environmental protection. Over the last 20 years, our country has spent $I trillion to clean its air, water, and land. We increased GNP by 70 percent while cutting lead in the air by 97 percent. Our rivers run cleaner than ever in memory. We've pre- served parks, wilderness, and wildlife. The price of progress is now about $115 billion a year, almost two percent of GNP; and that will grow to three percent by 2000.
Clearly we have led the world in investment in environmental protection. We have taught the world three vital lessons. First, environmental progress is integrally related to economic advancement. Second, economic growth generates the capital to pay for environmental gains. Third, private owner- ship and economic freedom are the best security against environmental degradation. The ghastly truth about state socialism is now exposed in what used to be the Soviet Union: dead rivers and seas, poisoned land, dying people.
Liberal Democrats think people are the problem. We know people are the solution. Respecting the people's rights and views, we applied market- based solutions to environmental problems. President Bush's landmark Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, the toughest environmental law ever enacted, uses an innovative system of emission credits to achieve its dra- matic reductions. This will save $1 billion over the Democrats' command- and-control approach. Other provisions of that law will cut acid rain
93
A
THE VISION SHARED
emissions in half, reduce toxic pollutants by 90 percent, reduce smog, and speed the use of cleaner fuels.
The President's leadership has doubled spending for real wetlands and targeted one million acres for a wetlands reserve through his Farm Bill of 1990. We have collected more civil penalties from polluters in two years than in the previous twenty, begun the phase-out of substances that harm the ozone layer, and launched a long-term campaign to expand and improve national parks, forests, and recreation areas, adding 1.5 million acres. President Bush has dramatically increased spending for cleaning up past environmental damage caused by federal facilities.
Our reforestation drive will plant one billion trees a year across America. Our moratorium on offshore drilling in sensitive offshore areas has bought time for technology to master environmental challenges. Our farm policies have begun a new era in sound agricultural environmentalism.
Because the environment knows no boundaries, President Bush has accelerated U.S. research on global climate change, spending $2.7 billion in the last three years and requesting $1.4 billion for 1993, more than the rest of the world put together. Under his leadership, we have assisted nations from the Third World to Eastern Europe in correcting the envi- ronmental damage inflicted by socialism. We proposed a worldwide forestry convention and gave almost half a billion dollars to forest conser- vation. We won debt-for-nature swaps and environmental trust funds in Latin America and the Caribbean. We secured prohibitions against unilat- eral export or dumping of hazardous waste. We led the international ban on trade in ivory, persuaded Japan to end driftnet fishing, streamlined response to oil spills, and increased environmental protection for Antarctica.
Adverse changes in climate must be the common concern of mankind. At the same time, we applaud our President for personally confronting the international bureaucrats at the Rio Conference. He refused to accept their anti-American demands for income redistribution and won instead a glob- al climate treaty that relies on real action plans rather than arbitrary targets hostile to U.S. growth and workers.
Following his example, a Republican Senate will not ratify any treaty that moves environmental decisions beyond our democratic process or transfers beyond our shores authority over U.S. property. The Democrats'
94
A
* UNITING OUR COUNTRY
national candidates, on the other hand, insist the U.S. must do what our foreign competi- tors refuse to do: abolish 300,000 to 1,000,000 jobs to get a modest reduction in "greenhouse gases."
Environmental progress must continue in tandem with economic growth. Crippling an industry is no solution at all. Bankrupt facili- ties only worsen environmental situations. Unemployment is a form of pollution too, poisoning families and contaminating whole communities.
Some in our own country still refuse to face those facts. They try to hijack envi- ronmentalism, making it anti-growth and anti-jobs. Although the average family of four now pays $1,000 a year for environ- mental controls, liberal Democrats want to tighten the squeeze. They use junk science to foster hysteria instead of reason, demanding rigid controls, more taxes, and less resource production.
However, with billions of dollars at stake in national production and jobs, not to men- tion our quality of life, our decisions to spend on environmental protection must not be determined by the politics of the moment. We will use scientifically respectable risk- benefit assessments to settle environmental controversies. It is time to replace knee-jerk reactions with the kind of scientific analysis that helps businesses, individuals, and com- munities contribute to economic and envi- ronmental progress through flexible application of laws. We must base our envi- ronmental policies on real risks to human
O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain ...
95 :unselected:
x THE VISION SHARED
96
A
UNITING OUR COUNTRY
health, determined by sound, peer-reviewed science, including procedures for what is an acceptable risk.
We will require federal agencies to promptly compensate, from their own budgets, for any taking of private property, including the denial of use.
We will legislatively overhaul the Superfund program to speed the clean up of hazardous waste and more efficiently use Superfund dollars. We will develop greenways of parks and open space in urban areas to further improve the quality of life in our cities. We will work with U.S. industry and labor to identify promising markets abroad where America's environ- mental know-how can carry our success story to the rest of planet earth.
PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS. We reaffirm our commitment to the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution: "No person shall be . . . deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." We support strong enforcement of this Takings clause to keep citizens secure in the use and development of their property.
The right to own, use, and dispose of property inheres in mankind by nature and is a fundamental political tenet of all free nations. We applaud the wisdom of the First Congress for incorporating this guarantee of indi- vidual liberty in the Bill of Rights. We remind all government officials that property rights are not granted by government; rather, government is directed by the governed to protect the rights of private property owners.
The vigilant protection of private property rights safeguards for citi- zens everything of value, including their right of contract to produce and sell the fruits of their labor. The historic collapse of Communism and other command and control economies is absolute evidence of the failure of economic systems that lack a recognition of the natural rights of property owners.
We also seek to reduce the amount of land owned or controlled by the government, especially in the western states. We insist upon prompt pay- ment for private lands certified as critical for preserving essential parks and preserves.
*** -
97
A
THE VISION SHARED *
AMERIQUE
CANADA
DU
NORD
0
mationa du monde
98
UNITING OUR WORLD
T birty-two years ago in Moscow, Khrushchev arrogantly pre- dicted to me, 'Your grandchildren will live under commu- nism.' I responded, 'Your grandchildren will live in freedom.' At the time, I was sure he was wrong, but I was not sure I was right. Khrushchev's grandchildren now live in freedom. RICHARD NIXON
* THE VISION SHARED xx
T the world is now our neighborhood. Its triumphs and tragedies affect our communities, our jobs, and the security of our families. That is why Republicans want America to shape the international future: because we put America first.
Not everyone does. Just twelve years ago, the forces of freedom were in tattered retreat. A failed foreign policy by a Democrat White House and Democrat-controlled Congress had left our allies uncertain, our friends betrayed, our foes emboldened. It was a frightening era, in some ways the worst of times. We all remember the flickering television images of blind- folded Americans being degraded by thugs. When voters make their choice in this year's elections, they should ask themselves: are we safer and stronger today, in 1992, than we were in 1980, when Jimmy Carter was the Democrat President?
Republicans are proud to answer those questions. The Nation's interna- tional position has not just improved since the Democrats left office. It has been transformed. Never in this century has the United States enjoyed such security from foreign enemies. With President Bush leading the free world, the Soviet empire has collapsed, as Ronald Reagan predicted, into the dustbin of history. Eastern Europe is liberated. Germany is peacefully united. The former Soviet armies are returning home. Nuclear arsenals are being cut to fractions of their former size.
A democratically elected Russian president sits in the Kremlin. Ukraine, Armenia, and the Baltic states take their rightful place among the family of nations. Israel and all of its Arab neighbors talk face to face for the first time. Nicaragua and Panama celebrate democracy.
It might very well not have turned out this way. Only the naive believe that history is an inevitable tide or a series of accidents. Our crusade of a half-century, to champion freedom and civilization against the dark night of totalitarianism, is now victorious. An American President led the free world to this great triumph. George Bush was that man.
Freedom's victory begins a new chapter in the epic of America, full of both promise and peril. This different and unpredictable world demands visionary, experienced leadership, tested and strengthened, careful and cool. At stake is nothing less than our security, our prosper- ity, and our children's future. Americans can trust President Bush with that awesome responsibility.
100
* UNITING OUR WORLD xx
THE TRIUMPH OF FREEDOM
No other President in the long history of our country has achieved so many of the endur- ing objectives of American foreign policy in so short a time as has George Bush. He made it look easy, even destined. It was neither.
Building on the legacy of Ronald Reagan, George Bush saw the chance to sweep away decadent Communism. He was the first Western leader to declare his determination to fashion "a Europe whole and free." He took the free world beyond containment, led the way in aiding democracy in Eastern Europe, and punched holes through the rust- ing Iron Curtain. We all remember the joy we felt when we saw the people of Berlin dancing on top of the crumbling Wall that had symbolized four decades of Communist oppression.
He championed Germany's right to become again one nation and orchestrated the diplomacy to make it happen, on Western terms, in one astounding year. Foreseeing rev- olutionary change in the Soviet Union itself, he carefully pushed its rulers to open the way to the democratic future. When crisis came, in August 1991, George Bush, in the words of Boris Yeltsin, "Was the first to understand the true meaning of the victory of the Russian people," and gave his decisive backing to the cause of democracy.
The world had never before faced the dis- integration of a nuclear superpower. Today, thanks in large part to President Bush's ini- tiatives, nuclear weapons are found in only four countries of the former Soviet Union-
Many of you will recall the big military parades that the Soviets used to have there in Red Square, always with a huge portrait of Lenin as the backdrop, on the wall of the State Historical Museum. Well, this year at Easter, there was no portrait of Lenin. Instead, a massive icon of the Resurrection, and atop it, the words Christos Voskrese, Christ is risen.
GEORGE BUSH
101
A
THE VISION SHARED *
This Convention declares its sym- pathy with all the oppressed people which are struggling for their rights. REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 1868
not fourteen. Because of his efforts all but Russia are giving up any claim to these weapons, and Russia has agreed to destroy the most dangerous missiles ever built. The balance of terror is fading away. The ideals of liberty, both political and economic, are the dominant moral and intellectual force around the globe.
George Bush made it happen.
Yet now that we have won the Cold War, we must also win the peace. We must not repeat the mistake of the past by throwing away victory through complacency. A new world beckons, unlike any we have ever known, filled with uncertainties. Old pas- sions have reemerged. New democracies struggle to decide their destiny. Nations are torn asunder. Migrants and refugees strain the social fabric of continents. Tyrants work to build nuclear, chemical, and even biological weapons to threaten us and our neighbors. Drug trafficking and terrorism, often linked, menace Americans at home and abroad.
Great transitions in world affairs are rarely tidy. They challenge statesmanship, require steadiness and wisdom. History teaches that when the United States shrinks from the world, we hasten the emergence of new dan- gers. Republicans remember the lesson taught by our Founders: that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.
MEETING THE CHALLENGE. The Gulf War showed the world how much is at stake when voters choose their President. George
102
# UNITING OUR WORLD
Bush had known war first hand. So he tried the way of peace-months of negotiations and economic sanctions-then did what a President must do. He led from powerful convictions based on American values. The United States, in a preeminent position of world leadership, forged a new strategy of collective engagement which invigorated the United Nations.
This was not the same United States held hostage in 1980, when the Democrats controlled both the White House and the Congress. No help- less giant here. The President charted a path that wrecked Saddam Hussein's dreams of conquest and nuclear aggression while keeping America from the quagmire of indefinite military occupation of Iraq.
President Bush, trusting the military commanders he had chosen, was Commander-in-Chief of one of the finest achievements in the distin- guished history of our armed forces. Americans will never forget that, of the 323 Congressional Democrats, only 96 voted to support Operation Desert Storm and 227 voted to oppose it. If the Democrats had prevailed, Saddam Hussein would still be in Kuwait, armed with nuclear weapons. Everyone discovered what difference a vote for President can make.
LEADERSHIP THROUGH PARTNERSHIP. A new era demands a new agenda. Our post-Cold War strategy both reflects our country's ideals and guards its interests.
Building a commonwealth of freedom differs greatly from the old con- cept of containment. It rests on a stable balance of power but goes beyond it to emphasize, above all, the supremacy of an idea: a common conception of how to make freedom work for all the nations moving with us into a radically changing future.
Republicans understand that objective cannot be pursued by the United States alone. We therefore have harnessed the free world's strength to American leadership. But such a strategy requires a President whose lead others will trust and follow. By forging consensus whenever possible, we multiply the impact of our Nation's power and principles. But if necessary we will act alone to protect American interests. Consistent with our policy and traditions, we oppose any actions that would undermine America's sovereignty, either in political or economic matters. Leadership through partnership allows us to project American ideals and protect American interests abroad, at less cost to our taxpayers.
103
A THE VISION SHARED
The passion for freedom never dies. GREEK PROVERB
Mr. Gorbachev, let these people go, let them travel where they wish, live where they want to, let them bathe in the light of freedom. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall. RONALD REAGAN, Berlin, 1986
That is how we will secure the victory of democracy as the best guarantee of a world without war. It is how we will open the world for American business to ensure prosperity in an open international economy. And it is how we will banish the nuclear nightmare, limit the danger from weapons of mass destruc- tion, and safely manage a critical transition in our Nation's defenses.
SECURING THE VICTORY OF DEMOCRACY. The spread of democracy and economic liberty is the best guarantee of peace. It can mean speaking out or applying economic pressure to encourage peaceful change; aiding democratic forces; or being ready, as a last resort, to take military action
104
* UNITING OUR WORLD
A
where vital American interests are at stake, as when President Bush restored the rule of law to Panama. Republican Presidents have used all these tools in a comprehensive, consistent campaign to promote democracy world- wide.
New tests lie ahead. On past occasions, the tide of liberty has ebbed as dictators recaptured much of what they had lost. We want freedom's wave to roll on to reach countries like China, Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam, and others. We want to keep drawing attention to serious human rights viola- tions around the world, spurring other governments to make and fulfill the promise of liberty to their people. We want to prevent any new ideology of authoritarianism from drawing any of the world's people to a grim and vengeful vision of our future.
This is the challenge we face in the next four years. It is why President Bush led the way in promoting assistance to the fledgling democracies of Eastern Europe. It is why he has persuaded the Congress to invest in the democratic future of nations reborn from Communism. To the peoples of those nations, and to the Russian people in particular, we declare: If you
105
# THE VISION SHARED #
stay on the path to freedom, we stand ready to help.
We rejoice especially with the people of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, whose nationhood we have always upheld in law and in our hearts.
In Western Europe, we reaffirm the NATO alliance. While we reduce our troop commitments on the continent-a thousand soldiers are coming home every week-we must keep a powerful force deployed there. The United States must remain a European power in the broadest sense, able to influence the policies and events that affect the livelihood and security of future generations of Americans.
The violence in what used to be Yugoslavia is an affront to humanity. We condemn those responsible for the carnage there and call for an imme- diate international investigation of atrocities. We support the United Nations peacekeeping effort and urge an immediate cease-fire by all par- ties. The United States should continue to demand respect for interna- tional law and fundamental human rights in this agonizing conflict.
We encourage a peaceful settlement for Cyprus and respect by all parties for the wishes of the Cypriot people.
We urge peace and justice for Northern Ireland. We welcome the newly begun process of constitutional dialogue that holds so much promise. We encourage investment and reconstruction to create opportunity for all.
In the Middle East, prospects for peace have been transformed by the determined statesmanship of George Bush. Without the leadership of President Bush, Iraq would today threaten world peace, the peace and secu- rity of the Middle East, and the very survival of Israel with a huge conven- tional army and nuclear weapons. Direct peace talks, on terms Israel rightly had sought for more than four decades, would not be a reality. Soviet Jewish emigration likely would have been interrupted. The rescue of Ethiopian Jewry might not have happened. And the equation of Zionism to racism still would be a grotesque stain on the United Nations.
Although much has changed for the better, the Middle East remains an area of high tensions-many unrelated to the Arab-Israeli conflict-where regional conflicts can escalate to threaten the vital interests of the United States. As Saddam Hussein's aggression against Kuwait demonstrated, heavily armed radical regimes are capable of independent aggressive action. In this environment, Israel's demonstrated strategic importance to the
106
A
* UNITING OUR WORLD
United States, as our most reliable and capa- ble ally in this part of the world, is more important than ever. This strategic relation- ship, with its unique moral dimension, explains the understandable support Israel receives from millions of Americans who par- ticipate in our political process. The strong ties between the U.S. and Israel were demon- strated during the Gulf War when Israel chose not to retaliate against repeated missile attacks, even though they caused severe dam- age and loss of life. We will continue to broaden and deepen the strategic relationship with our ally Israel-the only true. democra- cy in the Middle East-by taking additional concrete steps to further institutionalize the partnership. This will include maintaining adequate levels of security and economic assistance; continuing our meetings on mili- tary, political and economic cooperation and coordination; prepositioning military equip- ment; developing joint contingency plans; and increasing joint naval and air exercises.
Consistent with our strategic relationship, the United States should continue to provide large-scale security assistance to Israel, main- taining Israel's qualitative military advantage over any adversary or coalition of adversaries. We also will continue to negotiate with the major arms supplying nations to reach an agreement on limiting arms sales to the Middle East and preventing the proliferation of non-conventional weapons.
We applaud the President's leadership in fostering unprecedented direct talks between Israel and its Arab neighbors. The United States is prepared to use its good offices to
We shall support the United Nations and loyally help it to become what it was designed to be, a place where differences would be harmonized by honest discussion and a means for collective security under agreed con- cepts of justice.
REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 1952
E IKE
NEBRASKA FOR IKE
NEBRASKA Fow
IKE
107
# THE VISION SHARED
A
This is a relationship based on a shared commitment to democracy and to common values, as well as the solid commitment to Israel's security ... This is a special relation- ship. It is one that is built to endure.
GEORGE BUSH August 11, 1992
mediate disputes at their request. We do not believe the U.S. should attempt to impose a solution on the parties.
The basis for negotiations must be U.N. Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. Peace must come from direct negotiations. It will be up to the negotiators to deter- mine exactly what is required to satisfy these resolutions, but we firmly believe Israel has a right to exist in secure and rec- ognized borders. As President Bush stated in Madrid, our objective is not simply to end the state of war; rather, it is to establish real peace, one with treaties, security, diplo- matic relations, trade, investment, cultural exchange, even tourism. We want the Middle East to become a place where peo- ple lead normal lives.
A meaningful peace must assure Israel's security while recognizing the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. We oppose the creation of an independent Palestinian
108
# UNITING OUR WORLD
state. Nor will we support the creation of any political entity that would jeopardize Israel's security. As Israelis and Palestinians negotiate interim self-government, no party will be required to commit itself to any specific final outcome of direct negotiations. Israel should not be forced to negoti- ate with any party. In this regard, the United States will have no dialogue with the PLO until it satisfies in full the conditions laid out by President Bush in 1990. We believe Jerusalem should remain an undivided city, with free and unimpeded access to all holy places by people of all faiths. No genuine peace would deny Jews the right to live anywhere in the special city of Jerusalem.
Peace in the Middle East entails cooperation between all the parties in the region. To this end, we have worked to bring all of the states of the area together with Israel to hold multilateral negotiations on issues of common concern such as regional development, water, refugees, arms con- trol and the environment. We support these forums as a means of encour- aging Arab acceptance of Israel and solving common regional problems.
We continue to back legislation mandating that if the U.N. and its agen- cies were to deny Israel's right to participate, the United States would withhold financial support and withdraw from those bodies until their action was rectified.
Republicans believe freedom of emigration is a fundamental human right and that Jews from any nation should be free to travel to Israel. Republicans are proud we have maintained our historic and moral commit- ment to the resettlement in Israel of persecuted Jews. We congratulate President Bush and Secretary Baker on the agreement with Israel for a gen- erous package of loan guarantees that will provide new immigrants with needed humanitarian assistance.
We also should maintain our close ties with and generous aid for Egypt, which properly reaps the benefits of its courageous peace with Israel. We continue to support Egypt and other pro-Western states in the region against subversion and aggression and call for an end to the Arab boycott of Israel. We also support establishment of a strong central government in Lebanon, democratically elected and representative of its citizens.
We salute all the countries in the Middle East who contributed to the success of Desert Storm and share our goal of stability in the region. With them, we hope to build upon that triumph a new future for the Middle
109
A
THE VISION SHARED *
110
* UNITING OUR WORLD #
East, founded on mutual respect and a common longing for peace. To pro- mote this goal, we should settle for nothing less than full, unconditional, immediate, and verified Iraqi compliance with all aspects of the cease-fire laid out in U.N. resolutions.
In the Western Hemisphere, as elsewhere, we must promote democratic values. We will continue to seek cooperation in the common battle against the drug lords. We will also lower barriers to trade and investment, know- ing that our exports to Latin America are helping to lead our economic recovery at home. The President's Enterprise for the Americas initiative and the North American Free Trade Agreement mean, for the United States, billions in new trade, hundreds of thousands of new jobs, and a long-term solution to the economic pressures behind illegal immigration.
We welcome positive changes, economic and political, in Mexico, and salute the people of Panama on their recovery of free institutions after Operation Just Cause. We commend President Bush for the decisive mili- tary action that led to the end of the corrupt Noriega regime and freedom for democratically-minded Panamanians. We will uphold free and unen- cumbered U.S. access to the Canal. We hail the patriots of El Salvador and Nicaragua, whose bravery and blood thwarted Communism and Castro despite the inconstancy of Congressional Democrats. Together with other members of the Organization of American States, we will work to restore democracy to Haiti.
The Monroe Doctrine remains a cardinal principle of our foreign poli- cy, and we continue to strive toward the day when the alien ideology of Communism and Fidel Castro's regime will be purged from Cuba, and Americans can welcome the Cuban people back into the family of free nations. Toward that end, we support Radio and TV Marti and the spirit of Cuba Libre.
In Asia, we remain committed to the spread of political and economic liberty. We will work with Japan for common progress and maintain our military presence in Japan and in Asia. We also will promote greater Japanese responsibility for self-defense and worldwide prosperity.
We reaffirm our commitment to the security of Taiwan and regard any attempt to alter its status by force as a threat to the entire region. We adhere to the Taiwan Relations Act, the basis for continuing cooperation with those who have stood loyally with us for half a century.
III
A
THE VISION SHARED
A
Our policy toward China is based on support for democratic reform. We need to maintain the relationship with China so that we can effectively encourage such reform. We will continue to work toward the day when the Chinese people will finally complete their journey to an open society, free of the deplorable restrictions on personal liberties that still exist.
We will maintain our close relationship with the Republic of Korea, helping to deter aggression from the north. North Korea remains an out- law state and must not be permitted to acquire nuclear weapons.
With the people of the Philippines, we will maintain our special ties of history and affection.
We support the movement in Cambodia toward peace and democracy.
We demand the fullest possible accounting for America's POWs and MIAs in Southeast Asia. The grief of their families touches all of us. We will seek complete information in all forums and from all sources. Our
America's veterans have faced the hellish fires of combat and the chilling presence of mortal danger so that our children and our children's children might dwell in a safer, more peaceful world. The freedom of millions of people around the globe is, in many ways, a living monument of each of them. GEORGE BUSH
112
# UNITING OUR WORLD #
President has put the government of Vietnam on notice: improved relations depend upon this goal.
In Africa, despite opposition from Congressional Democrats, we armed freedom fighters and helped force the withdrawal of Cuban troops. Now we enter the long season of building, trying to revive faith in democra- cy on a continent ravaged by Marxist wars, looted by local dictators, and misled by socialist ideology. Political and economic lib- erty are the keys.
We will support responsible efforts by the international community to help end the anarchy in Somalia and to address the plight of the people of that country suffering from drought and starvation. We condemn those who are using armed force to impede food distribution.
In South Africa, the Republican policy of constructive engagement-opposing apartheid while fostering peaceful change- has been successful. That nation's prospects have been transformed for the better, though many difficulties lie ahead. We condemn all violence against the innocent and applaud those who seek reconciliation to create a new, democratic South Africa. We encourage eco- nomic reform as crucial to both security and prosperity in the new South Africa.
We recognize that foreign aid must have a reasonable relationship to our national interests. We therefore support an ongoing review of such programs so that they can be both effectual and justified. We promote financial contribution from other democra-
My fellow citizens, our nation is poised for greatness. We must do what we know is right, and do it with all our might. Let history say of us, these were golden years- when the American Revolution was reborn, when freedom gained new life, and America reached for her best. RONALD REAGAN January 21, 1985
113
* THE VISION SHARED =
cies of the world to share the cost of the American burden for peace- keeping and foreign aid.
We support efforts by private voluntary agencies to help meet the needs of countries newly liberated from communism, and of the developing world, in such areas as medical, agricultural, educational, and entrepreneurial assistance.
OPENING THE WORLD TO AMERICAN BUSINESS. The triumph of democracy is also a victory for economic freedom. All the world over, people in search of a better life are rejecting politicians' control of their future. This will mean a broader horizon for American opportunity. The whole world has become our marketplace.
The election of 1992 will determine whether our country seizes this tremendous opportunity or retreats from it. Republicans trust individuals and families to make their own economic decisions; Democrat politicians do not. We reject their program of strangled trade, industrial policy, high taxes, and regulation. We reject punitive taxes on foreign businesses in this country that only invite retaliatory taxes against U.S. businesses abroad. Trade war is the road to international depression-and for keeping American workers dependent on government handouts. We do not want to replace the arms race with a subsidies race.
Putting Americans first means keeping the national interest ahead of the special interests. It means opening the world to American goods within a system of free and expanding trade. Just as Ronald Reagan declared in Berlin, "Tear down this wall," so George Bush is dismantling the walls of protectionism in order to continue expanding our exports.
Our strong commitment to free trade also encompasses vigorous enforcement of U.S. trade laws. We expect a fair and level playing field in our trade with other nations and will work to ensure that foreign markets are just as open to our goods as U.S. markets are to theirs. In all negotia- tions concerning trade, we will put the interests of America first.
Throughout the world, as here at home, the Republican Party stands for growth. America's families have nothing to fear-and everything to gain- from the new era of free enterprise and prosperity that will emerge as free people compete, excel, and progress.
114
# UNITING OUR WORLD 1
BANISHING THE NUCLEAR NIGHTMARE. The world has moved from the brink of disaster to the threshold of historic opportunity. For almost half a century, we lived under the shadow of nuclear destruction. Today, that specter is fading. We will not stop here. We will banish the threat of nuclear annihilation from the face of the earth-not by savaging our mili- tary, as some Democrats might insist, but by building on the historic diplomatic achievements of Presidents Bush and Reagan.
This means assuring stable command and control of the former Soviet arsenal, complete acceptance and verified implementation of all treaty obligations by the successor states to the USSR, and achieving the addi- tional 50 percent reduction in strategic forces now agreed upon. We must assist in dismantling weapons, transforming the massive Soviet war machine into an engine of peace and civilian revival. We will cooperate with our former adversaries both to curtail proliferation and to move beyond the ABM Treaty toward effective ballistic missile defenses.
We will not permit the Soviet nuclear nightmare to be replaced by another one. Outlaw nations-North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Libya, and others-lust for weapons of mass destruction. This is the nightmare of proliferation: nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that, together with ballistic missiles, can deliver death across whole conti- nents, including our own.
We will renew and strengthen the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. We will design security policies to counter proliferation dangers. We will rein- force multilateral accords like the Missile Technology Control Regime. And most important, we will develop and deploy global defenses against ballistic missiles. Despite the opposition of the Democrat Party and con- gressional Democrats, we will deploy an effective strategic defense system for the American people.
AMERICA'S SECURITY
Because America won the Cold War, our homes and neighborhoods are more secure than they have been for half a century. Our children are safer. The greatest peace dividend is peace itself. For it, we thank God.
Victory was never inevitable. It was won in blood and treasure, over five decades, by the American people-from the military on the front lines to
115
THE VISION SHARED *
1876
1776.
To prepare for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace. GEORGE WASHINGTON
the taxpayers sustaining the forces of free- dom. It was also secured, and the course of mankind profoundly changed for the better, because two successive Republican Presidents, Ronald Reagan and George Bush, were dedicated to peace through strength.
"Peace through strength" was more than a slogan. It was the calculated Republican plan for, first, the survival and, then, the triumph, of America. But freedom did not come cheaply, and the new world we celebrate today required great sacrifice.
In 198I we inherited from Jimmy Carter and anti-defense Democrats a crippled mili- tary: demoralized, underfunded, ill-equipped. Republicans told the truth to the American people; they heeded our call to arms. We restored our Armed Forces to their proper place in both the budget and the pride of the Nation. Our men and women in uniform today are the equals of the finest soldiers, sailors, and airmen who ever wore the uni- form of our country.
Like earlier generations in 1918 and 1945, they won a great victory. Now, as in the after- math of those earlier conflicts, comes the dif- ficult task of reducing both the size and cost of defense without letting down America's guard. In the past, terrible mistakes were made, and we paid dearly for them when war came to Korea. We will not allow that to happen again.
AMERICA CHALLENGED. The greatest danger to America's security is here at home, among those who would leave the Nation
116
# UNITING OUR WORLD x
OPE
unprepared for the new realities of the post-Cold War world. The ruthless demagogues in rogue regimes are real; and so are the nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons they seek. The danger of nuclear proliferation is real, especially with the dispersal of nuclear know-how after the collapse of the U.S.S.R. That is why the Republican Party, whose leaders like Dan Quayle insisted upon fielding a new Patriot missile in the 1980s, now calls for a new generation of defense against the Scuds of tomorrow.
Rather than admit their mistakes of the past, the same liberal Democrats who sought to disarm America against the Soviet threat now compound their errors with a new campaign-half audacity, half mendaci- ty-to leave the Nation unprotected in a still dangerous world.
Republicans call for a controlled defense drawdown, not a freefall. That is why President Bush proposes to carefully reduce defense spending over the next four years by an additional $34 billion, including $18 billion in outlays, with a 25 percent reduction in personnel. He has already eliminat-
117
A
THE VISION SHARED *
I see that the old flag still stands. Have your troops hoist the colors to its peak, and let no enemy ever baul them down. GEN. DOUGLAS MACARTHUR, Corregidor, 1945
118
# UNITING OUR WORLD t
ed over 100 weapon systems. Around the world, American forces are com- ing home from the frontiers of the Cold War. More than 550 overseas bases are being closed or realigned. Yet U.S. forces retain the ability to meet the challenge of another Desert Storm with equal success.
U.S. defense spending already has been reduced significantly. Five years ago, it was more than a quarter of the federal budget. By 1997 it will be less than a sixth. Spending on defense and intelligence, as a pro- portion of Gross Domestic Product, will be the lowest it has been since before World War II.
Yet any defense budget, however lean, is still too much for the Democrats. They want to start by cutting defense outlays over the next four years by nearly $60 billion beyond the President's cuts, throwing as many as one million additional Americans out of work. And this may be just the beginning, as the Democrats use the defense budget as a bottom- less piggybank to try to beat swords into pork barrels. This is folly. It would take us back to the "hollow military" of the Carter era. Once American defenses are allowed to decay, they cannot be rebuilt overnight. Effective arsenals, like effective leaders, require years of patient develop- ment. And our greatest asset of all, the people on whom our security depends, deserve a constant long-term investment in their quality, morale, and safety. Republicans pledge to provide it.
AMERICA SECURE. Because the U.S. will rely on a smaller force of offensive nuclear weapons to deter aggression in the post-Cold War era, we will maintain the triad of land, sea, and air-based strategic forces. We will continue to test the safety, reliability, and effectiveness of our nuclear weapons.
With a smaller military, modernization of conventional forces is more important than ever. Desert Storm showed the importance of "force multi- pliers" like smart munitions, stealth technology, and night-fighting capa- bilities. We will upgrade existing weapons and selectively procure those that hold the promise of dramatic forward leaps in capability. Under no circumstances will we yield our technological superiority.
We must remain ready to defend American citizens and interests wher- ever they may be threatened. Essential to that readiness is maintenance of a strong, global navy and modernization of vital airlift and sealift capacity.
119
* THE VISION SHARED 1
We remain committed to combating terrorism in all its forms wherever it threatens U.S. citizens or interests.
Republicans will preserve the Nation's access to space for defense, as well as for other purposes, and ensure that space technology does not fall into dangerous hands.
Transformed by the collapse of Communism, our Strategic Defense Initiative is now designed to provide the U. S. and our allies with global defenses against limited ballistic missile attacks. SDI is the greatest invest- ment in peace we could ever make. This system will be our shield against technoterrorism. Russia has agreed to be our partner in it, sharing early warning information and jointly moving forward to stop those who would rain death upon the innocent.
We will use missile defenses to assure threatened nations that they do not need to acquire ballistic missiles of their own. We will move beyond the ABM Treaty to deploy effective defenses with the goal of someday eliminating, not merely reducing, the threat of nuclear holocaust.
We support efforts to reduce armaments, both conventional and other- wise, but the most effective arms control of all over the long run is democ- racy. Free nations do not attack one another. That is why the promotion of democracy on every continent is an essential part of the Republican defense agenda.
MANAGING THE PEACE. A new era in defense requires new approaches to management, to get more out of every dollar in a shrinking budget. That calls for dramatically different ways of doing business. For example, President Bush's reforms in defense management and acquisition already mean massive savings-$70 billion through 1997-without sacrificing combat capability.
Our Armed Forces will still depend on our superb industrial base for everything from belt buckles to submarines. We cannot lose that engineer- ing and manufacturing capability. This is especially true of the high tech- nology, demonstrated in Desert Storm, that made our enemies realize they had been left behind in the race for the future. We therefore pledge to maintain America's technological lead, preserve its defense industrial base, and maintain robust levels of investment in research and development.
120
# UNITING OUR WORLD
We will attack the problem of waste in the military, especially at its root in the pork barrel politics of Capitol Hill. A Republican Congress will end the costly micromanagement of defense programs and reduce the number and scope of oversight committees. We will urge the Department of Defense to encourage a broader constituency for saving and to continue genuine procurement reforms based on performance rather than unreason- able regulations imposed by the Democrat Congress. We will continue the successful effort to eliminate redundancy and streamline all facets of defense management.
We applaud the President's efforts to assist all individuals and commu- nities adversely affected by the ongoing defense builddown, with more than 30 defense adjustment programs already in place and over $7 billion com- mitted to the effort in just the next two years.
THE MEN AND WOMEN OF DEFENSE. Republicans created the all- volunteer Army and we hail its success. We pledge to keep faith with the men and women volunteers and with their families, for they are the back- bone of the Nation's defense. We oppose Democrat efforts to bring back the draft, whether directly or through the subterfuge of compulsory domestic service.
The Armed Forces are a color-blind meritocracy, a model for the rest of our society. Its enlistees should receive preference in federal education and retraining programs. We applaud the advancement of women in the mili- tary and single out for special recognition the outstanding contribution of women in Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm. However, we oppose liberal Democrat attempts to place women in combat positions just to make an ideological point. Unlike the Democrat Party and its candidate, we support the continued exclusion of homosexuals from the military as a matter of good order and discipline.
The Department of Defense will not be an exception to our assertion of family values. Republicans will not tolerate sexual harassment or miscon- duct toward any individual in the ranks. We demand both its prevention and its punishment. To drive home that point, we urge a halt to the sale, in military facilities, of sexually explicit materials. We call for greater consid- eration of the needs of families when parents are called to duty.
We must ensure that all of the various benefits, including medical, that
121
A
THE VISION SHARED *
were promised to the men and women who chose to make the military and the defense of their Nation a career are fulfilled even upon retirement.
In the Republican tradition of support for America's veterans, we pro- posed and created a Department of Veterans Affairs so their concerns would be represented at the Cabinet table. We affirm our support for vet- erans preference in federal employment and for sufficient funding to main- tain the integrity of the veterans hospital and medical care system. We strongly endorse programs to meet the needs of unemployed veterans.
INTELLIGENCE. Desert Storm reminded us that our intelligence commu- nity is a national asset of critical importance to our security.
Assuring the availablity of timely and reliable information on regional threats and unrest, drug trafficking, terrorism, technology transfer, prolif- eration, and a host of other issues-this is one of our highest national pri- orities in the post-Cold War world. U.S. policymakers also must have the best possible understanding of international trade, investment, industrial, financial, and other developments that affect our economic security.
We must and will maintain the full range of our traditional intelligence capabilities, including covert action, to ensure our security in a dangerous and unpredictable world. We reject the Democrat candidate's proposal to cripple U.S. intelligence and decry the deep spending cuts to the intelli- gence budget sponsored by Democrats in Congress.
PROVEN LEADERSHIP. George Bush has been the most important archi- tect of Western aspirations and designs for the challenging world we are now entering. His record is clear. President Bush has shown he understands how to lead in this new era, where the preeminent position of the United States offers new opportunities to build an international consensus on key issues. President Bush, with experienced Republican leadership, has proven he knows how to place our Nation at the center of effective coalitions where our power is multiplied.
The test of international leadership is on the field, not in a playbook. The Oval Office is no place for on-the-job training-not in carrying out the Presidential duty to protect and defend our Nation, not in man- aging the arsenal of the supreme nuclear power. There are those who
122 :unselected:
x UNITING OUR WORLD x
talk and those who perform. George Bush has clearly performed for America, making the right calls in a series of tough decisions that helped transform the world.
Now that we have won the Cold War, we must secure the peace that fol- lows. History has shown that the years following conflict are often criti- cal-where the choices made can either lay the foundation for lasting peace or sow the seeds of future war. In this period of high hopes and great chal- lenges ahead, the Nation needs the tested and experienced leadership of President Bush and the Republican Party.
123

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
cre
T t has been genuinely and always a party of progress; it has never been either stationary or reactionary. It has gone from the fulfillment of one great pledge to the fulfillment of another in response to the public need and to the popular will. REPUBLICAN PLATFORM 1912
* THE VISION SHARED #
COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS
Senator Don Nickles (Oklahoma), Chairman Governor John Ashcroft (Missouri), Co-Chairman Congressman Bill McCollum (Florida), Co-Chairman
Secretary Cheryl Lau (Nevada), Vice-Chairman State Senator Leanna Brown (New Jersey), Vice-Chairman Mayor Greg Lashutka (Ohio), Vice-Chairman Supervisor Gaddi Vasquez (California), Vice-Chairman
SUBCOMMITTEE ON FAMILY VALUES, EDUCATION, AND HEALTH CARE
Joyce Terhes (Maryland), Chairman Ann Wilson (Mississippi), Co-Chairman
SUBCOMMITTEE ON INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS, GOOD HOMES, AND SAFE STREETS
Mary Potter Summa (North Carolina), Chairman Keith Butler (Michigan), Co-Chairman
SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE ECONOMY, TRADE, JOBS, AND THE BUDGET
Supervisor Gaddi Vasquez (California), Chairman Nancy Sheltra (Vermont), Co-Chairman Rita Di Martino (New York), Co-Chairman
SUBCOMMITTEE ON REFORMING GOVERNMENT AND THE LEGAL SYSTEM
Tom Hartnett (South Carolina), Chairman Jan Landis (Illinois), Co-Chairman
126
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A
SUBCOMMITTEE ON OUR LAND, FOOD, AND RESOURCES Ally Milder (Nebraska), Chairman Congressman Joe Barton (Texas), Co-Chairman
SUBCOMMITTEE ON FOREIGN POLICY, DEFENSE, AND INTELLIGENCE
Senator Richard Lugar (Indiana), Chairman Howard "Bo"Callaway (Colorado), Co-Chairman Secretary Cheryl Lau (Nevada), Co-Chairman
The single most important responsibility of society is the transmission of values from one generation to the next. GOVERNOR JOHN ASHCROFT, Co-Chairman, 1992 Republican Platform Committee
Without individual rights and opportunity, there is no freedom. Without limited government, there are no rights or opportuni- ty. Without free enterprise, there is no limited government. When government over-taxes and over-regulates the people, there can be no free enterprise, no individual rights, no opportunity, and no freedom. CONGRESSMAN BILL MCCOLLUM, Co-Chairman, 1992 Platform Committee
127
# THE VISION SHARED
PLATFORM MEMBERS
ALABAMA
IDAHO Sandy Patano, Blake Hall ILLINOIS Jan Landis, Henry Hyde
Vivian Beckerle, Perry O. Hooper
ALASKA
Virginia C. Phillips,
Richard R. Stoffel
INDIANA
AMERICAN SAMOA
Deanna K. Freeland,
Peter Tali Coleman
Richard G. Lugar
ARIZONA
IOWA
Lela Steffey, Leo Mahoney
Teresa Garman, Steve Scheffler KANSAS
ARKANSAS
Carole Baker, Jonathan Barnett
Mary Alice Lair, Michael E. Aylward
CALIFORNIA
Jean Meredith, Gaddi Vasquez
KENTUCKY
COLORADO
Hilda Gay Legg, Tim Philpot
Patricia Miller,
LOUISIANA
Howard "Bo" Callaway
Sandy W. McDade, Jeff Angers
CONNECTICUT
MAINE
Betsy Heminway, Brian Gaffney
Doris M. Russell,
DELAWARE
Charles Summers
Bobbi Breske, Basil R. Battaglia
MARYLAND
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Joyce Lyons Terhes, Richard P. Taylor MASSACHUSETTS Deborah S. Leighton, Dale Jenkins MICHIGAN
Ann Heuer, Raymond J. Howar, Sr.
FLORIDA
Patricia M. Brantley, Bill McCollum GEORGIA
Charlene Hall, Mike Sullivan GUAM
Betsy De Vos, Keith Butler MINNESOTA
Edward M. Calvo
Evelyn Axdahl, Vin Weber MISSISSIPPI
HAWAII
Miriam Hellreich, Mark Spengler
Ann Wilson, Charles Evers MISSOURI Jane Cunningham, John Ashcroft
128
* ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
MONTANA Susan Good, Jack Ramirez
NEBRASKA Ally Milder, Ralph Knobel NEVADA Cheryl Lau, Michael Weber
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Ruth Griffin, Charles G. Douglas III NEW JERSEY
Eleanore S. Nissley, Eugene McCaffrey NEW MEXICO
Vivian S. Petura, John Lattauzio
NEW YORK Rita DiMartino, Gerald B.H. Solomon
NORTH CAROLINA
Mary Potter Summa, Julius A. Dalpaiz
NORTH DAKOTA Connie Nicholas, Bernie Dardis
OHIO Ruth Ann Leever, Paul Mifsud
OKLAHOMA Kay Dudley, Don Nickles OREGON Marylin Shannon, Jim Bunn PENNSYLVANIA Joyce Haas, Robert S. Walker
PUERTO RICO Miriam Ramirez, Baltasar Corrado del Rio
RHODE ISLAND Eilleen Gillespie Slocum, Halsey C. Herreshoff
SOUTH CAROLINA Carole C. Wells, Tommy Hartnett
SOUTH DAKOTA Mary Wiese, Robert K. Fisher TENNESSEE Lillian T. Coker, Byron Bush
TEXAS Diane D. Rath, Joe Barton UTAH Cleo Atkin, Alex Hurtado VERMONT Nancy Sheltra, John Carroll VIRGIN ISLANDS James M. Oliver
VIRGINIA Kathy Hayden, Mark L. Earley
WASHINGTON
Cathy Mickels, Michael Undseth WEST VIRGINIA Donna J. Boley, Benjamin L. Bailey WISCONSIN Mary Kohler, Derek B. Kenner WYOMING Lorraine Quarberg, John Kennedy
129
x THE VISION SHARED *
COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS
William F. Martin, Executive Director Kimra Anderson, Deputy Executive Director Carolyn E. Cleveland, Executive Assistant Beth Modiano, Director, Information Management Marcy S. Kerr, Special Assistant Michael G. Rogol, Special Assistant Theodore B. Olson, Legal Counsel Bob Dove, Parliamentarian
CHAIRMEN'S STAFF Kelly Johnston, Marise Stewart, Don Morrissey
EDITORIAL STAFF William J. Gribbin, Editor-in-Chief Jack Pitney, Deputy Editor Jody B. Baldwin, Deputy Editor Paul Perlow, Art Director, Book Design Marvin Berk, Director, Production
SUBCOMMITTEE STAFF
Doug Badger, James A. Baker IV, Joe Cobb, Juanita Duggan Andrew Ellis, James Geoffrey, Katherine Hazeem, Jim Jatras, Dale Moore, Kate O'Beirne, Lincoln Oliphant Paul Schott Stevens, Mark Whitenton, Philip Zelikow
SENIOR ADVISORS
James W. Cicconi, Bush-Quayle Liaison Robert Blackwill, Condoleezza Rice, Peter Rodman Deborah Steelman, John Taylor
130
x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Republican Platform Committee held four days of hearings in San Diego, California, Kansas City, Missouri, Salt Lake City, Utah and Washington, D.C. We gratefully acknowledge:
Kenneth Adelman
Joseph Coors, Jr.
Ben Ginsberg
Rick Lawson
Helen Alvaré
Elaine Coronado
Janel Goode
Wendy Lechner
Paul Aniboli
Mary Dent Crisp
Judy Gorman
Henry Lee
Eugene L. Ames, Jr.
Norm Cummings
Al Gray
John Leopold
Jeanie Austin
Michael R. Darby
Julie Gregg
Barbara Lindemann
John Junior
Edward David
Ann Mills Griffith
Vicki Linden
Armstrong
Bob Davis
Cheryl Halpern
Carol Long
Pam Bailey
Sam Dawson
Ed Hamburger
Daniel Lungren
Charles Baker
P. Daniel Demko, Jr.
Jill Hanson
Nancy Maloley
Dexter F. Baker
Tony Denny
William Harris
Phillip L. Mann
James Baker
James Denson
Clarence Harmon
Adrien MacGillivray
Jay Banning
Dominic DiFrancesco
Mike Hathaway
Lorene MCClintock
Yvonne Bartoli
Tom Dine
Blaine Hebdon
Andrew McCrea
David Bates
Bob Drake
Tom Hockaday
R.T. McNamar
Gary Bauer
Robert P. Dugan, Jr.
Donald P. Hodel
M. Peter McPherson
Paul Beckner
George Edwards
Alan Holmer
Eldon Merklin
Kathy Bell
Ben Elliott
Peter Huber
Lee Ann Metzger
William Bennett
John Engler
Fred C. Ikle
James C. Miller III
W. B. Bernhardt
Randy Enright
Jerry Jasinowski
Bob Mottice
Milton Bins
Carol Everett
Terry Jeffrey
Terri Murnane
John R. Block
Ernie Feeney
Ronald Jensen
Robert Nooter
Matthew Brooks
Larry Feldcamp
Valerie Johnson
Herman J. Obermayer
Steve Brooks
Don Fischer
Lewis Judd
Terry O'Donnell
Marcia Brown
Mary Fisher
P.X. Kelley
Doug Orth
Rachael Buchanan
Philip Fisher
Breene M. Kerr
Jay Pamer
Scott Campbell
Joe Fleming
Steve Kinney
Lawrence Patrick
William Canary
Bud Frew
Gary Koops
William Perry
Al Cardenas
Craig Fuller
Charles Kruse
Boone Pickens
Linda Chavez
Ruth Ganister
Beverly LaHaye
Jim Pinkerton
Burt Coleman
John Gardner
Sue Lancaster
Mike Powell
Cesar V. Conda
Kim Garten
Kenneth Lay
Heinz Prechter
B. Jay Cooper
Margaret Gifford
Jeff Larson
Marty Quick
131
x THE VISION SHARED *
Cathy Receveur
Phyllis Schlafly
Alan E. States
Adam Walinsky
James R. Reed
William Schneider, Jr.
Richard J. Stegemeier
Robert E. Wallace
Ralph E. Reed, Jr.
Victor Schwartz
Harriett Stinson
Christopher J. Warner
Michael K. Reilly
Ladd Seaberg
Ann E.W. Stone
Ronald G. Wasson
Roger W. Robinson
Gina Segrado
Robert Taft, Jr.
Sherwin Watkins
Elaine Robnett-Moore
Michael Sekora
Nancy Taylor
William Webster
J. Patrick Rooney
Kathleen Shanahan
Mary Testa
Arthur E. Wilmarth, Jr.
Eugene Rossides
Jeremy Shane
Warren Thompkins
James Wray
Allen Roth
Gaston Sigur
Van Trình
Daniel Yergin
George Salem
Robert Sloss
Gerry Todaro
Yung Soo Yoo
Don Santarelli
Fred L. Smith, Jr.
Al Trivelpiece
Joseph C. Zengerle
Jerald R. Schenken
Tony Snow
Ed Vetter
Randy Scheunemann
Raymond Snokhous
Steve Wakefield
132
x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
THE VISION SHARED UNITING OUR FAMILY, OUR COUNTRY, OUR WORLD
The 1992 Republican Platform is set in a Monotype version of Centaur, a typeface designed by Bruce Rogers in 1914 as a titling font only for the Metropolitan Museum in New York City, and modeled on Jenson's Roman.
This book has been art directed and designed by Paul Perlow, New York City, composed by computer consultant Marvin Berk, New York City, and printed by Chas. P. Young Company, Houston, Texas. The cover stock is Lustro Offset Enamel Dull. The text stock is Recovery Matte, a recycled paper.
For information on how to obtain additional copies, please contact: Republican National Committee, 310 First Street, S.E., Washington, DC 20003
C 1992, Republican National Committee
PHOTOGRAPHY AND ART CREDITS
H. Armstrong Roberts: pp. 1,7,9,96,123,125/Camerique: pp.22°; Southern Stock Photo/Melanie Carr: pp.13; Terry Wild Studio: pp. 20,42,83,90,92; Scott Barrow: pp 32°; Kory Addis: pp. 47; Uniphoto: pp. 52,105; Henry Miller News Picture Service: pp. 54°; Culver Pictures Inc .: pp. 3º,10°,33°.46°,53°,62°,65°,67º,70°,80°,84°,91°; Archive Photos: pp. 6,51°,579,72°,116°; Ewing Galloway: pp. 61°; FPG International: cover and pp. 4.13º,45°,73°,102°,107º/Tom Tracy: pp. 57/David Noble: pp. 68/Michael Nelson: pp. 74/Laurence Agron: pp. 108/Hans Jordan: pp. 113°; Woodfin Camp Inc./Bill Weems: pp. 39/Catherine Karnow: pp. 127; Black Star/Rick Freedman: pp. 17,58/Andrew Holbrooke: pp. 21°/Ken Hayden: pp. 63/David Toerge: pp. 24/Robert Krist: pp. 30,118/Larry Barnes: pp. 31,98/Herman Kokojan: pp. 43,110/Ron Sanford: pp. 86; The White House: pp. 15,28,99,112/Joyce C. Nalthayan: pp. 38°/Carol T. Powers: pp. 56°; J. Knott: pp. 79; David Sams/ Texas Inprint: pp. 117 "Photography and art appearing in sidebar
133