On the Issues

For the record: America should use 20 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020—the same as legislation I sponsored in Colorado.

For the sake of national security, we must change our energy priorities. In Congress I would be a strong supporter of legislation to establish a national renewable energy standard as well as call for stricter fuel efficiency standards. I cosponsored legislation that was signed into law that doubled the renewable energy standard requiring utility company’s of Colorado to get 20 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020—up from 10 percent. America should adopt the same standards nationally and I would like to serve on the Energy and Commerce Committee if elected to Congress. The 2nd Congressional District should be a leader in renewable energy with institutions like the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado providing us with environmental breakthroughs.

My goal is to cut carbon emissions to 80 percent of 2000 levels by the year 2050, a benchmark that the International Panel of Climate Scientists believe we must hit to avoid the inevitability of irreversible global warming. We must reduce our carbon emissions to head off a planetary emergency.

For the Record: Gay rights are human rights. People should be treated fairly regardless of sexual orientation and same-sex couples deserve equal rights.

I have fought my whole life against discrimination of any people. Everyone is made in God’s image and should be treated fairly.

Legal recognition of same-sex relationships is one of the most important issues facing are society today. We must ensure persons who enter into a domestic partnership have similar rights and responsibilities as persons who marry. Marriage should not just be a right for heterosexual couples. It is a fundamental right that should be extended to all Americans. With the full support of the gay community, I sponsored HB 1344 to establish legal domestic partnerships. In recognition of our accomplishment, Boulder County PFLAG honored me with the Legislative Ally Award. I also carried a bill with Rep. Alice Madden to allow for second parent adoption.

Referendum I would have allowed same-sex couples to register their union and receive many of the same legal rights afforded married couples. I was a champion of Referendum I at the state legislature and was the Senate sponsor of the bill to put it on the ballot. Unfortunately the referendum failed, but the fight is not over and I will carry the fight to Congress.

Traveling around the 2nd Congressional District, I hear more and more people speak of their nervousness about their economic future. Rising expenses for mortgages, health care, gas, and educational expenses are increasing the burden on every family. People are working harder and longer for less. Our economic priorities must change.

To be clear: The war in Iraq has dragged the American economy down.

The biggest jumpstart to our economy will be to get the military budget under control and bring our troops home. For what we spend in Iraq in 40 days we could fund coverage of health insurance for 10 million additional children for a whole year. Republicans in the U.S. Congress and the administration have stymied every attempt to constrain military spending.

The Bush administration has run up massive deficits to pay for this ill-conceived war. In the Colorado legislature we had to balance the budget every year. We should bring that same fiscal discipline to Washington.

The war has stripped Colorado of funding for roads and children’s health care. Coloradans paid $7 billion for the war last year that could have otherwise gone back into the economy. Instead it flows to the Middle East and to global private contractors.

The Cost of War to Colorado

For the record: I strongly oppose the war in Iraq and I am the only candidate who has called for swift and immediate withdrawal. Let the diplomatic mission begin.

We must leave Iraq. No excuses. No exceptions. The military mission is over and the diplomatic mission must begin. I will vote to cut all funding for the war in Iraq and bring the troops home immediately. There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and Saddam Hussein is gone. Why are we still there? Our presence is exacerbating the instability in Iraq and in all of the Middle East. We must reestablish America’s place in the world as a leader and reengage our diplomatic corps and allies.

Supporting Veterans: As the child of an injured veteran, I have a strong commitment to men and women who have served our nation. The deplorable conditions at Walter Reed Hospital are unacceptable. Veterans are being discharged without access to follow-up care and physical therapy. The collateral damage from Iraq is being hidden by the Bush Administration and we will not know the true cost of the war until every veteran dies. Count on me to be a champion of benefits and support for our veterans.

For the record: I support a single-payer system as the only way for every American to be insured and save our medical system from ever increasing costs.

The health care system in America is broken. Senior citizens cannot keep up with the ever-rising prescription drug prices and working families are taking on second jobs to keep up with health insurance premiums that are going up much faster than the cost of living. Meanwhile insurance companies are reaping huge benefits by cost containment better known as denial of benefits.

We spend twice as much as other industrialized nations, $7,129 per capita, and have worse overall outcomes. There are 47 million uninsured in America and 700,000 in Colorado. Even more tragic is the number of Americans paying health insurance premiums who, when they need coverage, will be denied benefits. This must change. Every patient deserves a doctor.

A single payer system is the only way to guarantee everyone is insured and at the same time have every American household save money on their health care costs. This means that a single-payer—like Medicare—pays hospitals and doctors instead of hundreds of insurance companies. Doctors and hospitals would compete for your business, not insurance companies by cost containment better known as denial of benefits.

For the record: It is time to end No Child Left Behind.

Our nation faces serious educational challenges to keep America competitive in the world. We need to create an education infrastructure that makes schools safer, and helping all schools be the cutting edge of technology.

In Congress I would work to expand early childhood education for all children.

We must end No Child Left Behind and start over with another program that is appropriately funded and restores local control to school districts. NCLB is tearing apart the seams of our classrooms because standards punish poor schools and reward good ones—further exacerbating educational disparities.

The federal government should be a good partner with states not just hand down penalties to underperforming schools—that do even further harm to those who are at the bottom of the education ladder. It gives a false sense of accountability. The legislation is a failure because the measures of accountability are far too punitive and it fails to recognize schools that make incremental progress.

As the president of the Colorado State Senate, I saw first-hand how NCLB robbed school districts of local control and created unfunded mandates.

I believe we must keep public money in the public school system and have fought efforts to create a voucher system.

For the record: Higher education is the best economic investment we can make. In Congress I will keep our colleges strong and affordable and protect students against unreasonable student loans.

The second congressional district is home to one of the world’s great universities – the University of Colorado at Boulder. We need to do more to support it and the students and faculty who make it great. They are a key to success in retaining an advanced workforce for increased economic development.

Throughout my career, I have worked to protect our institutions of higher education. We know that access to a quality education is the key to success later in life. We also know that higher education is a good investment. For example, every dollar we put into CU-Boulder returns $17 back to us. We must do a better job of supporting our colleges and universities by making sure our scientists have proper federal funding for breakthroughs in medicine, environment, and technology. We must keep the University of Colorado strong.

The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) has hurt access to voting and I opposed when it when it came before the Colorado General Assembly. As the first Democrat and woman elected as Clerk and Recorder of Jefferson County, I ran the most complicated mail ballot in the country and received an award from the National Association of Counties for it. I know what it takes to provide access to voters and to run fraud free and accurate elections.

We must increase and expand the franchise of voting. I would demand uniform standards for conducting elections that guarantee a paper record as the official record for deriving voter intent, support rigorous mandatory testing of electronic voting technology and rigorous mandatory audits of close election results.