Reply #153: Kucinich on Homeland Security - Please add to this one!

[Tinoire]

$550B defense budget implies more taxes
make the connection between the rising deficit and the war in Iraq. Because unless we commit ourselves to get out of Iraq-get the UN in and get the US out-we're going to see rising deficits. Are we going to have tax cuts for the wealthy and then ask people later on to increase their taxes? Are we going to have the Pentagon budget go to $550 billion within eight years and ask the people to pay more taxes? I think we have to reorder our priorities. It begins with getting out of Iraq.
Source: Debate at Pace University in Lower Manhattan Sep 25, 2003

Cut defense budget by 15%, even if unpopular
Q: As president, what would be the least popular, most right thing you would do?
KUCINICH: I would move to cut the Pentagon budget by 15%, which would in no way affect adversely our national defense, and put the money into child care. And I would move to create a Department of Peace which would seek to make nonviolence an organizing principle in our society and to work with the nations of the world to make war itself archaic.
Source: Debate at Pace University in Lower Manhattan Sep 25, 2003

End the ban on gays in military
End the ban on openly gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals serving in the US armed forces.
Source: Campaign website, www.Kucinich.us, "On The Issues" Aug 1, 2003

Terminating ABM treaty was unconstitutional
Kucinich filed a lawsuit in federal district court to block the President from withdrawing from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972. The President's termination of the ABM Treaty represents an unconstitutional repeal of a law duly enacted by Congress.
Source: Campaign website, www.Kucinich.us, "On The Issues" Aug 1, 2003

Violence and war are not inevitable
Violence is not inevitable. War is not inevitable. Nonviolence and peace are inevitable. We can make of this world a gift of peace which will confirm the presence of universal spirit in our lives. We can send into the future the gift which will protect our children from fear, from harm, from destruction.
Source: Campaign website, www.Kucinich.us, "On The Issues" Aug 1, 2003

Confront the bloat and waste in Pentagon budget
The US military is the strongest in the world by far, and will remain so. But Democrats cannot lead the nation without being strong enough to confront the bloat and waste in the Pentagon budget. Our military budget is almost as big as that of all other countries combined. I don't agree with other Democrats that we can continue to increase military spending, and still deliver on our domestic agenda for middle class and working Americans. We can't. That's voodoo budgeting.
Source: Campaign website, www.Kucinich.us, "On The Issues" Aug 1, 2003

Hometown Security: social spending instead of military
I plan to make a major issue of hometown security -- healthcare, jobs and education for all -- and misspent Pentagon dollars, even as other Democratic candidates join President Bush in pressing for still more exorbitant military budgets.
Source: Campaign website, www.Kucinich.us, "On The Issues" Aug 1, 2003

Abide by Non-Proliferation, ABM, and Test Ban Treaties
We must abide by the principles of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, stop the development of new nuclear weapons, take all nuclear weapons systems off alert, and persist towards total, worldwide elimination of all nuclear weapons. Our nation must revive the Anti Ballistic Missile treaty, sign and enforce the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, abandon plans to build a so-called missile shield, and prohibit the introduction of weapons into outer space.
Source: Campaign website, www.Kucinich.us, "On The Issues" Aug 1, 2003

Bush's foreign policy of preemption is destabilizing
KUCINICH : You and Dick Gephardt were two of the biggest supporters of President Bush's war against Iraq. You both endorsed his proposal for unilateral first strike. The president's ever-changing reasons for going to war have not been justified by the evidence. Now how can we as Democrats win this election if we simply rubber stamp this president's destabilizing foreign policy of preemption, and nuclear first-strike, without offering a serious alternative?
LIEBERMAN: I'd say how can we win this election if we send a message of weakness on defense and security after September 11, 2001? Protecting the American people's security, giving them a sense of safety, making sure people in this country are not worried when their loved ones go out to the mall, or take a train, go to a movie theater--that is the first goal of our government, and that means being strong on defense and homeland security.
Source: Democratic Debate in Columbia SC May 3, 2003

Voted NO on $266 billion Defense Appropriations bill.
Vote to pass a bill appropriating $266 billion in defense spending for FY 2000. Among other provisions the bill would allot $1.2 billion for research and development for next-generation tactical aircraft, yet would not include $1.8 billion in procurement funds for the new F-22 Raptor combat aircraft. The bill would also fund a 4.8 percent pay increase for military personnel. The bill would also allot $93.7 billion for operations and maintenance to be used to maintain military properties and spare parts that have been reduced due to overseas military combat missions.
Reference: Bill introduced by Lewis, R-CA; Bill HR 2561 ; vote number 1999-334 on Jul 22, 1999

Voted NO on deploying SDI.
Vote to declare it to be the policy of the United States to deploy a national missile defense.
Reference: Bill introduced by Weldon, R-PA; Bill HR 4 ; vote number 1999-4 on Mar 18, 1999

Take US nuclear missiles off high alert.
Kucinich sponsored the MX Missile Stand-Down Act:
Title: To take the 50 Peacekeeper (MX) missiles off of high-alert status.
· Requires the Secretary of Defense, during FY 2002, to remove the warheads from the 50 Peacekeeper (MX) intercontinental ballistic missiles.
· Urges the Secretary to take measures to lengthen the time for launch of U.S. nuclear weapons while remaining consistent with national security.
· Requires an annual report from the Secretary on the inventory of Russian nuclear forces, their alert status, and the condition of Russian early-warning systems.
Source: House Resolution Sponsorship 01-HR2718 on Aug 2, 2001

End the use of anti-personnel mines.
Kucinich sponsored the Landmine Elimination and Victim Assistance Act:
Expresses the sense of Congress that:
1. the Department of Defense should field currently available weapons and other technologies, and use tactics and operational concepts, that provide suitable alternatives to anti-personnel mines and mixed anti-tank mine systems; and
2. the United States should end its use of such mines and join the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction.
3. Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 to make permanent (currently terminates on October 23, 2003) the prohibition on the transfer of anti-personnel landmines.
4. Directs the President to establish an interagency working group to develop a comprehensive plan for expanded mine action programs, including victim rehabilitation, social support, and economic reintegration.
Source: House Resolution Sponsorship 01-HR948 on Mar 8, 2001

http://ontheissues.org/2004/Dennis_Kucinich_Homeland_Security.htm