1996 Republican Party Platform
(27,820 words, 81 pages)
PREAMBLE
We meet to nominate a candidate and pass a platform at a moment of measurelessnational opportunity. A new century beckons, and Americans are more thanequal to its challenges. But there is a problem. The Clinton administrationhas proven unequal to the heritage of our past, the promise of our times,and the character of the American people. They require more and demand better.With them, we raise our voices and raise our sights.
We are the heirs of world leadership that was earned by bravery and sacrificeon half a thousand battlefields. We will soon nominate for the presidencya man who knew battle and so loves peace, a man who lives bravely and sowalks humbly with his God and his fellow citizens. We walk with him nowas he joins one more battle, every bit as crucial for our country's futureas was the crusade in which he served.
Just when America should be leading the world, we have an administrationsquandering the international respect it did not earn and does not value.
Just when America should be demonstrating anew the dynamic power of economicfreedom, we have an administration working against both history and publicopinion to expand the reach and burden of government. Just when Americansare reasserting their deepest values, we have an administration locked intothe counterculture battles of its youth.
Americans are right to say we are on the wrong track. Our prestige inthe world is declining. Economic growth here at home is anemic. Our societygrows more violent and less decent. The only way the Clinton administrationcan magnify its questionable accomplishments is to lower our expectations.Those who lead the Democrat party call America to smaller tasks and downsizeddreams.
That is not the calling of an American president.
Today's Democrat leaders do not understand leadership. They reduce principlesto tactics. They talk endlessly and confront nothing. They offer, not convictions,but alibis. They are paralyzed by indecision, weakened by scandal and guidedonly by the perpetuation of their own power.
We asked for change. We worked for reform. We offered cooperation andconsensus. Now, the asking is over. The Clinton administration cannot bereinvented, it must be replaced.
Republicans do not duplicate or fabricate or counterfeit a vision forthe land we love. With our fellow citizens, we assert the present powerof timeless truths.
This is what we want for America: real prosperity that reaches beyondthe stock market to every family, small business and worker. An economyexpanding as fast as American enterprise and creativity will carry it, freefrom unnecessary taxes, regulation and litigation.
This is what we want for America: the restoration of self-governmentby breaking Washington's monopoly on power. The American people want theircountry back. We will help them to regain it.
This too we want for America: moral clarity in our culture and ethicalleadership in the White House. We offer America, not a harsh moralism, butour sincere conviction that the values we hold in our hearts determine thesuccess of our lives and the shape of our society. It matters greatly thatour leaders reflect and communicate those values, not undermine or mockthem.
The diversity of our nation is reflected in this platform. We ask forthe support and participation of all who substantially share our agenda.In one way or another, every Republican is a dissenter. At the same time,we are not morally indifferent. In this, as in many things, Lincoln is ourmodel. At a time of great crisis, he spoke both words of healing and wordsof conviction. We do likewise, not for the peace of a political party, butbecause we citizens are bound together in a great enterprise for our children'sfuture.
The platform that follows marshals these principles and sends them intoaction. We aim at nothing less than an economy of dynamic growth; a renewalof community, self-government and citizenship; and a national reaffirmationof the enduring principles on which America's greatness depends. We willcount our victories, not in elections won or in economic numbers on a chart,but in the everyday achievements of the American dream: when a man or womandiscovers the dignity and confidence of a job; when a child rejects drugsand embraces life; when an entrepreneur turns an idea into an industry;when a family once again feels the security of its savings and has controlover the education of its children.
None of the extraordinary things about our country are gifts of government.They are the accomplishments of free people in a free society. They areachievements, not entitlements - and are sweeter for that fact. They resultwhen men and women live in obedience to their conscience, not to the state.All our efforts as Republicans are guided by the fixed star of this singleprinciple: that freedom always exceeds our highest expectations.
This is the greatest task before the Republican Party: to raise the barof American expectations. Of the potential of our economy. Of the orderand civility of our culture. Of what a president can be, and what the presidencymust be again.
There is a continuing revolution in the yellowed parchment and fadedink of the American creed...a revolution that will long outlive us. It cancarry the weight of all our hopes. It can reward every dreamer. It is thereason that America's finest hour is never a memory and always a goal.
With trust in God and in fidelity to generations past and generationsto come, we respectfully submit this platform to the American people.
PRINCIPLES OF THE 1996 REPUBLICAN PLATFORM
Introduction
Because Americans are a diverse and tolerant people, they have differencesof opinion on many issues. But as a people, we share a common dream andcommon goals:
A strong America that protects its citizens and champions their democraticideals throughout the world,
An America with a vibrant and growing economy that improves the standardof living for all,
An America with a smaller, more effective and less intrusive governmentthat trusts its people to decide what is best for them,
An America whose people feel safe and secure in their homes, on theirstreets, and in their communities,
An America where our children receive the best education in the worldand learn the values like decency and responsibility that made this countrygreat,
And an America with the compassion to care for those who cannot carefor themselves.
Principles
1. Because the American Dream fulfills the promise of liberty, we believeit should be attainable by all through more and secure jobs, home ownership,personal security, and education that meets the challenges of the centuryahead.
2. Because a dynamic and growing economy is the best way to create moreand better paying jobs, with greater security in the work place, we believein lower taxes within a simpler tax system, in tandem with fair and opentrade and a balanced federal budget.
3. Because wasteful government spending and over-regulation, fueled byhigher taxes, are the greatest obstacles to job creation and economic growth,we believe in a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution and a common-senseapproach to government rules and red tape.
4. Because we recognize our obligation to foster hope and opportunityfor those unable to care for themselves, we believe in welfare reform thateliminates waste, fraud and abuse; requires work from those who are capable;limits time on public assistance; discourages illegitimacy; and reducesthe burden on the taxpayers.
5. Because all Americans have the right to be safe in their homes, ontheir streets, and in their communities, we believe in tough law enforcement,especially against juvenile crime and the drug traffic, with stiff penalties,no loopholes, and judges who respect the rights of law-abiding Americans.
6. Because institutions like the family are the backbone of a healthysociety, we believe government must support the rights of the family; andrecognizing within our own ranks different approaches toward our commongoal, we reaffirm respect for the sanctity of human life.
7. Because our children need and are entitled to the best education inthe world, we believe in parental involvement and family choice in schooling,teacher authority and accountability, more control to local school boards,and emphasis upon the basics of learning in safe classrooms.
8. Because older Americans have built our past and direct us, in wisdomand experience, toward the future, we believe we must meet our nation'scommitments to them by preserving and protecting Medicare and Social Security.
9. Because a good society rests on an ethical foundation, we believefamilies, communities, and religious institutions can best teach the Americanvalues of honesty, responsibility, hard work, compassion, and mutual respect.
10. Because our country's greatest strength is its people, not its government,we believe today's government is too large and intrusive and does too manythings the people could do better for themselves.
11. Because we trust our fellow Americans, rather than centralized government,we believe the people, acting through their State and local elected officials,should have control over programs like education and welfare - thereby pushingpower away from official Washington and returning it to the people in theircommunities and states.
12. Because we view the careful development of our country's naturalresources as stewardship of creation, we believe property rights must behonored in our efforts to restore, protect, and enhance the environmentfor the generations to come.
13. Because we are all one America, we oppose discrimination. We believein the equality of all people before the law and that individuals shouldbe judged by their ability rather than their race, creed, or disability.
14. Because this is a difficult and dangerous world, we believe thatpeace can be assured only through strength, that a strong national defenseis necessary to protect America at home and secure its interests abroad,and that we must restore leadership and character to the presidency as thebest way to restore America's leadership and credibility throughout theworld.
BUILDING A BETTER AMERICA
"This is no time for diminished expectations. This is no time tosell America's potential short. This is a time to let go of the 20th Centuryand embrace the 21st - to seize the promise of the new era by liberatingthe genius of the American people." Bob Dole, September 5, 1995 inChicago, Illinois
Improving the Standard of Living
We are the party of America's earners, savers, and taxpayers - the peoplewho work hard, take risks and build a better future for our families andour communities. Our party believes that we can best improve the standardof living in America by empowering the American people to act in their ownbehalf by:
-- cutting the near-record tax burden on Americans;
-- reducing government spending and its size, while balancing the budget.
-- creating jobs;
-- using the benefits of science, technology and innovations to improveboth our lives and our competitiveness in the global economy;
-- dramatically increasing the number of families who can own their ownhome; and
-- unleashing the competitiveness and will to win of individual Americanson the world trade scene with free but fair trade.
That's not wishful thinking; it's what we, the American people, usedto take for granted before the growth of big government began to shadowour days and smother our hopes. In the 1980s - when we cut taxes, restrainedregulation, and reduced government spending as a share of the nation's economy- prosperity made a comeback. Jobs were created, incomes rose and povertyfell for seven straight years. Then the Democrat-controlled Congress forcedthe tax hikes of 1990 and jammed through Bill Clinton's tax bill of 1993.
Since then, Clintonomics has produced an economy that is squeezing themiddle class between high taxes and low growth. The astounding fact is thatwe were growing 50% faster in 1992, when Bill Clinton described the economyas the worst in five decades. We've managed to avoid a recession only becausethe Republican Congress put the brakes on Bill Clinton's rush to ruin bysubstantially reducing government spending over the last two years. Butwe cannot go on like this. For millions of families, the American Dreamis fading. Our goal is to revive it, renew it, and extend it to all whoreach for it.
Our formula for growth, opportunity, and a better family life is simple:Trust the people, cut their taxes, scale back the size and scope of government,foster job creation, and get out of the way. We've done it before, we cando it again.
Tax Relief for Economic Growth
American families are suffering from the twin burdens of stagnant incomesand near-record taxes. This is the key cause of middle-class anxiety. Itis why people feel they are working harder, but falling further behind;why they fear the current generation will not be as successful as the lastgeneration; why they believe their children will be worse off; and why theyfeel so anxious about their own economic future.
After averaging 1.7 percent growth annually during the expansion followingthe 1981 tax cut, family incomes have failed to grow at all under Bill Clinton.Since 1990, families have actually lost much of the ground they gained duringthe low-tax, high-growth 1980s.
Anemic economic growth under Bill Clinton is largely responsible forthis lost ground. The current economic expansion has not only failed tocompare to the growth seen in the decade preceding his administration, itis the slowest recovery in the last 100 years. Since 1992, the economy hasgrown by only 2.4 percent per year, compared to 3.2 percent in the previous10 years and 3.9 percent between 1983 and 1989.
Bill Clinton has demonstrated that he fails to understand the role excessivetax burdens play on the economy and family incomes. In the first year ofhis administration, he pushed through the largest tax increase in history,raising taxes on families, senior citizens, and small businesses. Confrontedwith Republican attempts to cut family and business taxes, he vetoed the1995 Balanced Budget Act which included the $500 per child tax credit aswell as incentives to increase savings, economic growth and job creation.
The Clinton tax increase has produced the second-highest tax burden inAmerican history. Federal tax collections now consume more than one-fifthof our total economic output. Federal, state, and local taxes take morethan 38 cents out of every dollar the American family earns. The federaltax burden alone is now approaching a record 25 percent of family income.
American families deserve better. They should be allowed to keep moreof their hard-earned money so they can spend on their priorities, as opposedto sending ever-increasing amounts to Washington to be spent on the prioritiesof federal bureaucrats.
In response to this unprecedented burden confronting America, we supportan across-the-board, 15-percent tax cut to marginal tax rates. Fifteen percentrepresents the total increase in the federal tax burden since Bill Clintontook office, and we believe such a cut should be the first step towardsreducing overall tax burdens while promoting the economic growth that willraise family incomes and our overall standard of living.
Another drag on family finances has been government's failure to maintainthe personal and dependent exemption at historic levels. If the personaland dependent exemption that was $600 in 1950 had kept pace with inflation,it would be $3,800 rather than the current $2,500. That is why Republicanshave made the $500-per-child family tax credit one of the primary featuresof our tax cut package.
Job creation and increasing family incomes depend on economic growth,and a precondition for economic growth is a healthy rate of saving and investment.Nevertheless, Bill Clinton vetoed Republican bills to provide these incentives,including expanded and more generous IRAs - and new spousal IRAs - whichcould be used for health care, education, and home-buying. As a result,today's personal savings rate is less than half what it was two decadesago. Republicans support expansion of IRAs and the establishment of spousalIRAs to encourage savings and investment.
Bill Clinton also vetoed provisions to reduce the capital gains tax rate.Excessive taxes on investment cripple the American economy and kill Americanjobs by increasing the cost of capital, locking in resources, and stiflingsmall business growth and entrepreneurial activity. Largely because of theseexcessive taxes, American businesses face a competitive disadvantage withrespect to our major trading partners, hurting their ability to export productsabroad and create jobs. To remove impediments to job creation and economicgrowth, we support reducing the top tax rate on capital gains by 50 percent.
In 1993, Bill Clinton raised taxes on millions of middle-class retireesby dramatically increasing the income tax on Social Security benefits. Thistargeted attack on the economic security of our elderly was unfair and misguided.Republicans believe that this Clinton initiative must be repealed.
These proposals making the current tax code fairer and less burdensomeshould be viewed as an interim step towards comprehensive tax reform. Thecurrent tax code is ridiculously complex and unfair. It is also an unnecessarydrag on the economy. At a time when business investment plans are greatlydiminished and savings rates are unacceptably low, we must reform our taxsystem to remove existing artificial, government-induced bias against savingand investment.
To that end, we firmly commit to a tax code for the 21st century thatwill raise revenue sufficient for a smaller, more effective and less wastefulgovernment without increasing the national debt. That new tax system mustbe flatter, fairer, and simpler, with a minimum of exclusions from its coverage,and one set of rules applying to all. It must be simple enough to be understoodby all and enforced by few, with a low-cost of compliance which replacesthe current stack of endless forms with a calculation which can be performedon the back of a postcard.
It must expand the economy and increase opportunity by rewarding initiativeand hard work. It must foster job creation and end bias against saving.It must promote personal freedom and innovation. It must do all this inorder to boost wages and raise living standards for all of America's workingfamilies.
A simple, fair tax system that is pro-growth and pro-family will notneed today's burdensome IRS. That agency has become a nightmare for law-abidingtaxpayers. It must be dramatically downsized - with resources going to moreimportant efforts like drug enforcement - and made less intrusive.
To protect the American people from those who would undo their forthcomingvictory over big government, we support legislation requiring a super-majorityvote in both houses of Congress to raise taxes.
We also support a government that keeps its word. Retroactive taxation,like Bill Clinton's infamous 1993 tax hike, breaks that word. We pledgea legislative or constitutional remedy to prohibit its repetition. Becauseof their vital role in fostering charity and patriotism, we oppose taxingreligious and fraternal benefit societies. We will not tolerate attemptsto impose taxes by federal judges.
Balancing the Budget and Reducing Spending
"We didn't dig ourselves into a $5 trillion debt because the Americanpeople are undertaxed. We got that $5 trillion debt because government overspends.""The budget deficit is a 'stealth tax' that pushes up interest ratesand costs the typical family $36,000 on an average home mortgage, $1,400on an ordinary student loan, and $700 on a car loan." Bob Dole
Raising tax rates is the wrong way to balance the budget. It enablesthe Clinton tax addicts to wastefully spend the public's money. Republicanssupport a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution, phased in overa short period and with appropriate safeguards for national emergencies.We passed it in the House of Representatives, but Bill Clinton and his allies- especially the Senate's somersault six, who switched their long-standingposition on the issue - blocked it by a single vote. As president, Bob Dolewill lead the fight for that amendment, and in the States, Republicans willfinish the fight for its speedy ratification.
Once and for all, we declare:
-- the budget deficit and high taxes are two halves of the vise thatis producing the Clinton middle class squeeze;
-- a balanced budget and lower taxes go hand in hand, not in separatedirections;
-- reducing the budget deficit by shrinking government produces a fiscaldividend in stronger growth and lower interest rates;
-- ending that deficit will make possible a dramatic return of resourcesto the American people;
-- tax relief is the only way to return the economy to the growth ratesour country enjoyed from World War II to the coming of Bill Clinton; and
-- we will not mortgage our children's future by incurring deficits.
A president should be Commander-in-Chief in the nation's budget battleas well as in military conflicts. Bill Clinton has been AWOL - Absent WithoutLeadership. Congressional Republicans had to fight his Senate allies forover a year just to give him a line-item veto for appropriation bills. Insteadof helping us strengthen the presidency in this way, he set an historicprecedent: vetoing whole appropriation bills because they spent too littlemoney! His vetoes essentially shut down much of the government.
We make this promise: A Republican president will veto money bills thatspend too much, not too little, and will use the line-item veto to leadthe charge against wasteful spending. A Republican president will buildon the achievements of our Republican Congress which has cut spending inexcess of $53 billion over the last two years.
The Clinton Administration's tactic of using irresponsible monetary policyto hide the effects of their bad fiscal policies leads to:
-- higher inflation;
-- lower growth;
-- fewer jobs; and
-- scarcity of capital to fund small businesses.
This is not only bad economics; it is a hidden tax against both incomeand savings. We pledge a non-political monetary policy to keep prices stableand maintain public confidence in the value of the dollar.
Creating Jobs for Americans
Our goal is to empower the American people by expanding employment andentrepreneurial opportunities. Fundamentally, jobs are created in the privatesector.
Small businesses are the engines of growth and job creation. They generate75 percent of new jobs and 55 percent of our gross domestic product. TheRepublican Party is committed to the survival, the revival, and the resurgenceof small business. In addition to our overall program of lower taxes, regulatoryreform, and less spending, we will:
-- allow small businesses to deduct the costs of their health insurance;
-- restore the fair home-office deduction so important to start-up businesses;
-- assure that no one who inherits a small business or farm has to sellit to pay inheritance taxes;
-- make the IRS stop its discrimination against independent contractors;
-- enact both legal reform and product liability legislation to shieldsmall businesses and protect jobs from the threat of unfair litigation;and
-- transfer from the public sector services that can be provided by theprivate sector more efficiently and cost effectively.
Small business is a force for enormous progress, socially, politically,and economically. This is both an economic and a civil rights agenda. Smallbusinesses owned by women now employ more people than all the Fortune 500companies combined. Republican-created enterprise zones will offer dramaticopportunities to workers employed by small businesses, particularly minoritiesand the "Forgotten Workers." Republicans support the creationof jobs in all areas of the country, from the inner city to rural America.
We must create the workplace of the future so that it becomes a vehiclefor personal liberation for those who seek a foothold on the opportunityladder. We advocate increased access to capital for businesses to expand,export, and bring new products and technologies to market. We propose toconsolidate federal training programs and to transfer their administrationto the States and local governments.
Restraining the size and spending of government is only part of the job.We must transform official policies and attitudes toward productive Americans.Many of our labor laws and job training programs are out of date and outof touch with the needs of today's workers. Both the Davis Bacon Act andthe Service Contract Act, for example, have come to restrict opportunity,increase costs, and inhibit innovation.
Congressional Republicans have already launched a fight against the unionbosses' ban on flex time and comp-time in private industry. Those innovationsare especially important to families with children. Government has no businessforbidding America's workers to arrange their schedules to suit the needsof their own families.
In the same spirit, we will enact the TEAM Act to empower employers andemployees to act as a team, rather than as adversaries, to advance theircommon interests. (It is opposed only by those who profit from labor conflict,for whom Bill Clinton has vetoed the bill.) Another way to replace conflictwith concerted action is to transform OSHA from an adversarial agency intoa pioneering advocate of safer productivity. We will mesh its activitieswith the work of councils formed under the TEAM Act to advance worker protectionfrom the ground up.
In contrast, the Clinton Administration has produced no regulatory reform,no tax relief, no product liability reform, and no legal reform.
Our vision is that everyone who seeks a job will have a job. We willbreak the "job lock" and bring employment opportunities to allAmericans.
Science, Technology, and Innovation in the 21st Century
Our goal is to empower the American people by using the benefits of advancedscience to improve their quality of life without undue restraint from government.Our bottom line is more jobs, better jobs, and a higher standard of livingfor the families of America.
As we prepare for the dawn of a new century, it is essential that ourpublic policies keep pace with an evolving economy. Increased productivityis essential to expand the economy and improve the standard of living ofall Americans. A recent report by the Office of Technology Assessment attributesat least half of all economic growth in the United States to advances intechnology.
America is expanding its leadership role as a country that fosters innovationand technological advances, the essential ingredients of increased productivity.Leading these efforts are the men and women - and high technology businesses- that foster creative solutions to world problems. We must create policiesthat enable these thoughtful leaders to continue to invest in research anddevelopment. U.S. research and development (R&D);investment has increasedsignificantly over the past two decades and currently accounts for about2.6 percent of the nation's gross domestic product. The private sector hasbeen the main engine behind this growth, contributing over 60 percent ofthe national R&D;investment. Such investment has led to increased employmentand high-quality jobs. Businesses that invest heavily in R&D;tend to createmore jobs, and to employ high-skilled workers in those new jobs at aboveaverage wage levels.
Research and development is our commitment to the future. It is our investmentin the future. We must design tax and regulatory policies that encourageprivate sector research and experimentation, while lowering the cost ofsuch investments.
We believe the marketplace, not bureaucrats, can determine which technologiesand entrepreneurs best meet the needs of the public. American companiesmust use the most advanced production technologies, telecommunications,and information management systems. Technological advance means economicgrowth, higher productivity, and more security. We therefore support privatesector funding of applied research, especially in emerging technologies,and improved education in science and engineering. American workers musthave the knowledge and training to effectively utilize the capabilitiesof those new systems.
Federal science programs must emphasize basic research. The tax codemust foster research and development. These policies will increase the paceof technological developments by de emphasizing the role of government andstrengthening the role of the private sector. We will advance the innovativeideas and pioneering spirit that make possible the impossible.
New discoveries to bolster America's international competitiveness areessential. The fruits of federally funded research led to the creation ofthe biotechnology industry through the Bayh-Dole Act. This is an exampleof innovation and risk-taking, creating 2,000 biotechnology companies employingthousands of employees and selling billions of dollars of products to keepus first and foremost in the global marketplace.
The communications revolution empowers individuals, enhances health care,opens up opportunity for rural areas, and strengthens families and institutions.A Dole-led Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to promotethe full and open competition and freedom of choice in the telecommunicationsmarketplace. In contrast, the Clinton-Gore Administration repeatedly defendedbig-government regulation. This micromanagement of the Information Age isan impediment to the development of America's information superhighway.
We support the broadest access to telecommunications networks and services,based upon marketplace capabilities. The Internet today is the most staggeringexample of how the Information Age can and will enhance the lives of Americanseverywhere. To further this explosion of new found freedoms and opportunities,privacy, through secured communications, has never been more important.Bob Dole and the Republican Party will promote policies that ensure thatthe U.S. remains the world leader in science, technology, and innovation.
Homeownership
Homeownership is central to the American Dream. It is a commitment toa safe and stable community. It is not something government gives to thepeople, but rather something they can attain for themselves in a non-inflationary,growing economy. For most Americans, our home is our primary asset. Mortgageinterest should remain deductible from the income tax.
We applaud Republican congressional efforts to pursue federal budgetpolicies that will result in lower interest rates. Lower interest rateswill open up more housing opportunities for more Americans than any programWashington could devise.
Republicans support regulatory reform efforts that make buying a houseeasy, understandable, and affordable.
We affirm our commitment to open housing, without quotas or controls,and we condemn the Clinton Administration's abuse of fair housing laws toharass citizens exercising their First Amendment rights.
In addition, we support transforming public housing into private housing,converting low-income families into proud homeowners. Resident managementof public housing is a first step toward that goal, which includes eliminatingthe Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD's core functionswill be turned over to the States. Its civil rights component will be administeredby the appropriate federal agency while enforcement will remain with theDepartment of Justice.
With the housing sector representing such a significant segment of theNation's economy, housing policy is and should continue to be a priority.We believe in a federal role which supplements, not directs or competeswith, States and localities. We believe in federal programs which augment,not displace, private sector capital and resources.
The Federal Government should not impose prescriptive solutions on Stateand local governments. Republicans believe that States and localities shouldhave maximum flexibility to design programs which meet the individual needsof their communities. Washington must abandon the "one size fits all"approach and concentrate on adding value to the efforts of States, localities,private and faith based organizations and individuals. Republicans believewe can and will accomplish this without disrupting services to the elderly,disabled and families with children.
Promoting Trade and International Prosperity
Republicans believe that the United States, as the sole superpower in theworld today, has a responsibility to lead - economically, militarily, diplomatically,and morally - so that we have a peaceful and prosperous world.
Republicans support free and fair trade. In the American Century ahead,our country will lead in international trade. American workers will be thewinners in any fair competition, and American technology will drive a prosperityrevolution around the world. Exports already fuel our economy; their continuingexpansion is essential for full employment and long-term prosperity. Thatis possible only within the context of expanding trade, and we can do itbetter without a Department of Commerce.
Our country's merchandise trade deficit exploded to $175 billion in 1995and will likely set an all time record in 1996, siphoning American wealthinto the hands of foreigners. Trade deficits with all our major tradingpartners were worse in 1995 than in 1992. With China alone, the deficitmore than doubled to $35 billion in the last three and a half years. WithJapan, Bill Clinton announced a series of hollow agreements that have donelittle to improve market access. With Russia, he approved a $1 billion Export-ImportBank loan to foster competition with the American aircraft industry. WithCanada, he tolerates discrimination against the United States beverage industryand focused on our lumber crisis too late to help closed logging mills.With Mexico, he ignored injury to American agriculture from massive surgesin imports.
We should vigorously implement the North American Free Trade Agreement,while carefully monitoring its progress, to guarantee that its promisedbenefits and protections are realized by all American workers and consumers.
Republicans are for vigorous enforcement of the trade agreements we alreadyhave on the books, unlike the Clinton Administration that uses United Statestrade policy as a bargaining chip and as a vehicle for pursuing a host ofother social agenda items. Republicans will enforce United States tradelaws, including our antidumping laws, and will use the Super 301 investigationsthat give the President authority to challenge foreign barriers to our exports.And we will use the Export Enhancement Program to boost American farm exports.To advance economic freedom, we insist that United States foreign aid, whetherbilateral or through the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, promotemarket reforms, limit regulation, and encourage free trade. Republicanswill stop subsidizing socialism in the less developed nations. Republicanswill not allow the World Trade Organization to undermine United States sovereigntyand will support a World Trade Organization oversight commission.
Free market capitalism is the right model for economic development throughoutthe world. The Soviet model of a state-controlled economy has been discredited,and neither stage of development nor geographic location can justify economicauthoritarianism. Human nature and aspirations are the same everywhere,and everywhere the family is the building block of economic and social progress.We therefore will protect the rights of families in international programsand will not fund organizations involved in abortion. The cost of turningour back on the global marketplace is the loss of opportunity and millionsof jobs for United States citizens.
CHANGING WASHINGTON FROM THE GROUND UP
"On November 8, 1994, the American people sent a message to Washington....Their message is my mandate: To rein in government and reconnect it to thevalues of the American people. That means making government a whole lotsmaller, a lot less arrogant, and getting it out of matters best left tothe states, cities, and families across America." Bob Dole, March 10,1995 in Washington, D. C.
We are the party of small, responsible and efficient government, joiningour neighbors in cities and counties, rather than distant bureaucrats, tobuild a just society and caring communities. We therefore assert the powerof the American people over government, rather than the other way around.Our agenda for change, profound and permanent change in the way governmentbehaves, is based on the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, norprohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively,or to the people.
For more than half a century, that solemn compact has been scorned byliberal Democrats and the judicial activism of the judges they have appointed.We will restore the force of the Tenth Amendment and, in the process, renewthe trust and respect which hold together a free society. As its first initiativeenacted into law, the new Republican majority on Capitol Hill launched thateffort early in 1995 by forbidding the imposition of new unfunded mandatesupon State and local taxpayers. From now on, if official Washington promisesbenefits, official Washington must pay for them. We will apply that sameprinciple to the ill-conceived Motor-Voter Act, the Democrats' costly invitationto ballot fraud.
To permanently restore balance in the federal system, States must havethe proper tools to act as a counterforce to the Federal Government. Ourcountry's founders attempted to carefully balance power between the twolevels. The Tenth Amendment, as well as the ability of State legislaturesto initiate constitutional amendments, and other constitutional tools givento States to protect their role in the system have now been either erodedaway, given away, or rendered impossible to use. Thus, States lack the toolsnecessary to do their job as a counterbalance to the national government.
We call upon Congress, governors, State legislators and local leadersto adopt structural reforms that will permanently restore balance in ourfederal system. In this Information Era of uncertainty and rapid change,it is government close to home, controlled by neighborhood and communityleaders, that can best respond to the needs and values of all citizens.
As a first step in reforming government, we support elimination of theDepartments of Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, Education, and Energy,and the elimination, defunding or privatization of agencies which are obsolete,redundant, of limited value, or too regional in focus. Examples of agencieswe seek to defund or to privatize are the National Endowment for the Arts,the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting,and the Legal Services Corporation.
In addition, we support Republican-sponsored legislation that would requirethe original sponsor of proposed federal legislation to cite specific constitutionalauthority for the measure.
A Citizens' Congress
Even with these structural changes, a system of government is only asgood as the women and men who serve within it. When the voters of 1994 electedRepublican majorities in both the House and Senate for the first time inforty years, Capitol Hill had been an institution steeped in corruptionand contemptuous of reform. Congressional Republicans changed things, fromthe ground up. They:
-- applied all laws to Congress, so that those who make the rules willhave to live by them;
-- slashed congressional spending and cut back the staff on Capitol Hill;
-- ordered an unprecedented audit of the House of Representatives, withdevastating exposure of the Democrats' four decades of mismanagement;
-- streamlined legislative procedures by reducing the number of committeesand subcommittees;
-- imposed term limits for House committee chairs and Leadership positions- something the Democrats still refuse to do;
-- abolished proxy voting in House committees, ending the scandal ofabsentee Members casting phony votes;
-- required any Representative charged indicted of a felony offense torelinquish positions of authority within Congress until cleared of wrongdoing;
-- ended the Democrats' secret sessions by opening to the press and thepublic all committee meetings;
-- brought to a vote, in both the House and Senate, a constitutionalamendment to impose term limits on Members of Congress. It failed to securethe necessary two-thirds vote in the House, where 80 percent of Republicansvoted for it and 80 percent of Democrats voted against it. Every SenateRepublican voted to allow a vote on term limits, but the Democrats killedit by a filibuster. It will take expanded Republican majorities in the 105thCongress to send to the States a term limits constitutional amendment; and
-- passed historic legislation banning gifts to Members of Congress andtheir staff.
We will continue our fight against gerrymandered congressional districtsdesigned to thwart majority rule. We will eliminate made-in-Washington schemesto rig the election process under the guise of campaign reform. True reformis indeed needed: ending taxpayer subsidies for campaigns, strengtheningparty structures to guard against rogue operations, requiring full and immediatedisclosure of all contributions, and cracking down on the indirect support,or "soft money," by which special interest groups underwrite theirfavored candidates.
Cleaning Up Government
In 1992, Bill Clinton promised "the most ethical Administrationin the history of the Republic." Instead, the Clinton Administrationhas been rife with scandal. An unprecedented four Independent Counsels havebeen appointed since the Clinton Inauguration to investigate various allegationsof wrongdoing by members of this Administration. The Clinton White Househas abused executive power in both the White House Travel Office firingssituation and in the FBI files matter. The FBI Director said there havebeen "egregious violations of privacy" in the gathering of FBIfiles of officials who worked in the White House under Republican administrations.We believe that misuse of law enforcement authorities for partisan politicalends is no trivial matter. Such abuses strike at the heart of the relationshipbetween citizen and government and undermine the rule of law and confidencein our leaders.
Scandals in government are not limited to possible criminal violations.The public trust is violated when taxpayers money is treated as a slushfund for special interest groups who oppose urgently needed reforms. Forexample, the Democrats have denied school vouchers for poor children inthe nation's capital at the demand of special interest unions. They haveblocked urgently needed legal reforms at the command of the trial lawyers,now the biggest source of revenue for the Democrat party. They have rejectedreforms to improve the workplace to please union bosses who committed $35million to aid the Clinton reelection effort.
It is time to restore honor and integrity to government. We propose to:
-- revoke pension rights of public officials who have been convictedof crimes;
-- strengthen citizen privacy laws and reform the FBI to guard againstthe politicization of law enforcement that we have seen by the Clinton WhiteHouse;
-- refuse to allow special interest groups to block innovative solutionsfor the poor or to block workplace or legal reforms that would help allworking Americans; and
-- recruit for public service, at all levels, men and women of integrityand high ethical standards.
We will end welfare for lobbyists. Every year, the federal government givesaway billions of dollars in grants. Much of that money goes to interestgroups which engage in political activity and issue advocacy at the taxpayers'expense. This is an intolerable abuse of the public's money. A RepublicanCongress will enact legislation, currently blocked by Bill Clinton's congressionalallies, to make groups choose between grants and lobbying.
We will establish Truth in Testimony, requiring organizations which receivegovernment funds and testify before Congress to disclose those funds. Our"Let America Know" legislation will force public disclosure ofall taxpayer subsidies and lobbying by groups seeking grants. We will permit"private attorney general" lawsuits against federal grantees toensure better enforcement of anti lobbying restrictions. A Republican administrationwill impose accountability on grantees, to reveal what the public is gettingfor its money, and will end the process of automatic grant renewal. We willhalt the funding of frivolous and politicized research grants.
Streamlining Government
Republicans believe we can streamline government and make it more effectivethrough competition and privatization. We applaud the Republican Congressand Republican officials across the country for initiatives to expand theuse of competition and privatization in government. It is greater competition- not unchallenged government bureaucracies - that will cut the cost ofgovernment, improve the delivery of services, and ensure wise investmentin infrastructure. A Dole administration will make competition a centerpieceof government, eliminating duplication and increasing efficiency.
Honest Budgets and Real Numbers
We have a moral responsibility not to leave our children a legacy ofmonstrous debt. Spending $1.6 trillion a year should be more than an accountingexercise. Restraining government spending, discussed elsewhere in this platform,is part of the solution. Reforming the entire budget process is the restof it.
Our goal is clarity, simplicity, and accountability in the nation's budget.The keystone of that agenda is the enactment of a constitutional amendmentto require a balanced budget which a majority of congressional Democratshave vigorously opposed. We do not take that step lightly; but then, a $5trillion debt is no laughing matter for tomorrow's taxpayers. We vow tooffer that amendment again and again, until Congress sends it to the Statesfor ratification.
In addition, we must eliminate all built-in biases toward spending. Forexample, the "current service baseline" builds in automatic budgetincreases for inflation and other factors and works like this: If the Democratswant a $1 billion program to grow to $2 billion, they then count an increaseto $1.5 billion as a half-billion dollar cut - and the media dutifully reportsit as such. This is a deceptive and reprehensible shell game that must bestopped.
A Republican president will fight wasteful spending with the line-itemveto which was finally enacted by congressional Republicans this year overbitter Democrat opposition, 120 years after President Grant first proposedit.
Even more important, we will stop the runaway growth of entitlement spending- the programs which automatically grow without any action required by Congressor the President. This spending has jumped 11-fold since 1970 and consumesmore than half the federal budget. We will take entitlements off automaticpilot and make Congress accountable for their funding. To end outdated andwasteful programs, we will make the Government Performance and Results Actan integral part of our budget process.
Regulatory Reform
Regulatory reform is needed more than ever. Bill Clinton promised to"reinvent government," but he returned to the old mindset of controlsand red tape. To make matters worse, he vetoed a comprehensive regulatoryreform bill crafted by Republicans in the House and Senate. That measurewill become law when Bob Dole is President.
We commend House Speaker Newt Gingrich and congressional Republicansin their innovative efforts to rescind, overturn and zero-out absurd bureaucraticred tape and rules through the process known as "Corrections Day."
A Republican administration will require periodic review of existingregulations to ensure they are effective and do away with obsolete and conflictingrules. We will encourage civil servants to find ways to reduce regulatoryburdens on the public and will require federal agencies to disclose thecosts of new regulations on individuals and small businesses. A new regulatorybudget will reveal the total cost of regulations on the American people.
We will target resources on the most serious risks to health, safety,and the environment, rather than on politically inspired causes, and willrequire peer-reviewed risk assessments based on sound science. We will requireagencies to conduct cost-benefit analyses of their regulations and pursuealternatives to the outdated Clinton command-and-control approach. Thesecommon-sense reforms will restore fairness and predictability to governmentrules and, even more important, will enable us to achieve equal or superiorlevels of protection for the public at lower cost.
Just as important, we recognize that all too often, in its ever-presentzeal to expand into every aspect of our daily lives, the federal governmentintrudes into the private economy by establishing new services in directcompetition with already existing private firms. We oppose the use of taxpayerfunds to provide a competitive advantage for government agencies seekingto compete with private firms in the free market.
Restoring Justice to the Courts
"When I am president, only conservative judges need apply."Bob Dole, May 28, 1996, in Aurora, Colorado
The American people have lost faith in their courts, and for good reason.Some members of the federal judiciary threaten the safety, the values, andthe freedom of law-abiding citizens. They make up laws and invent new rightsas they go along, arrogating to themselves powers King George III neverdared to exercise. They free vicious criminals, pamper felons in prison,frivolously overturn State laws enacted by citizen referenda, and abdicatethe responsibility of providing meaningful review of administrative decisions.
The delicate balance of power between the respective branches of ournational government and the governments of the 50 states has been eroded.The notion of judicial review has in some cases come to resemble judicialsupremacy, affecting all segments of public and private endeavor. Make nomistake, the separation of powers doctrine, complete and unabridged, isthe linchpin of a government of laws. A Republican Congress and presidentwill restore true separation of powers and guarantee the American peoplea government of law.
The federal judiciary, including the U.S. Supreme Court, has oversteppedits authority under the Constitution. It has usurped the right of citizenlegislators and popularly elected executives to make law by declaring dulyenacted laws to be "unconstitutional" through the misapplicationof the principle of judicial review. Any other role for the judiciary, especiallywhen personal preferences masquerade as interpreting the law, is fundamentallyat odds with our system of government in which the people and their representativesdecide issues great and small.
No systemic reform of the judiciary can substitute for the wise exerciseof power of appointment vested in the president of the United States. ARepublican president will ensure that a process is established to selectfor the federal judiciary nominees who understand that their task is firstand foremost to be faithful to the Constitution and to the intent of thosewho framed it. In that process, the American Bar Association will no longerhave the right to meddle in a way that distorts a nominee's credentialsand advances the liberal agenda of litigious lawyers and their allies.
Justice is mocked by some of today's litigation practices, which hinderour country's competitiveness, and drain billions of dollars away from productiveAmericans. While we fully support the role of the judiciary in vindicatingthe constitutional and statutory rights of individuals and organizations,we believe the proliferation of litigation hits the consumer with higherprices and cripples the practice of medicine. Despite bipartisan congressionalefforts to enact legal reforms, Bill Clinton vetoed such legislation atthe behest of his financial friends: the trial lawyers. A Republican presidentwill sign that bill, and more. We encourage State governments to adopt reformssimilar to those we propose to restore fairness to the federal system:
-- strengthen judicial sanctions for lawsuits that are substantiallywithout merit, thereby hitting unethical lawyers in their pocketbooks;
-- apply the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law (RICO)as originally intended, to criminal proceedings, not civil litigation;
-- award punitive damages on a fair and reasonable basis after clearproof of wrongdoing, with limits that discourage opportunistic litigation.Since punitive damages are intended to punish egregious wrongdoing, a substantialportion of the amount awarded should go to a crime-victim compensation fundor similar program;
-- restore limited liability to non-profit organizations - churches,civic and community groups, and the volunteers who sustain them - to provideprotection against profit-seeking lawsuits and to encourage volunteerism;
-- increase sanctions for abuses of the discovery process used to intimidateopponents and drive up the costs of litigation;
-- reform medical malpractice to reduce health care costs and keep doctorspracticing in critical areas like obstetrics;
-- eliminate the use of "junk science" by opportunistic attorneysby requiring courts to verify that the science of those called as expertwitnesses is reasonably acceptable within the scientific community, andforbid the practice of making their fees conditional upon a favorable verdict.This action will reduce the practice of so-called hired-gun "experts"who make up theories to fit the facts of the case in which they are testifying;
-- eliminate joint and several liability in order to ensure that responsibleparties pay their "fair share" in proportion to their degree offault; and
-- guard against non-meritorious lawsuits that are designed to have achilling effect on First Amendment rights.
A federal products liability law goes hand in hand with legal reform.Its absence not only penalizes consumers with higher costs and keeps neededproducts off the market, but also gives foreign nations a competitive edgeover American workers. Bill Clinton doesn't mind that. He vetoed Republicanreforms that would have saved the public tens of billions of dollars.
Bill Clinton even vetoed the Securities Litigation Reform Act, a Republicaninitiative to protect shareholders against avaricious litigation. That obstructionismwas too much for even the Democrats in Congress, many of whom joined inoverriding his veto. A Republican president will work with Congress to restorejustice to the nation's courts and fair play to the practice of law.
The Nation's Capital
The District of Columbia should be an example for the rest of the country.Instead, decades of domination by the Democrat party has left the city bankruptand dangerous. Its residents - and all Americans - deserve better than that.
We reaffirm the constitutional status of the District of Columbia asthe seat of government of the United States and reject calls for statehoodfor the District.
We call for structural reform of the city's government and its educationsystem. For both efficiency and public safety, we will transfer water andsewer management in the District to the Army Corps of Engineers or to aregional entity.
We endorse proposals by the congressional Republican Leadership for dramaticreductions in federal taxes - and the city's own outrageous marginal taxrate - within the District. Bill Clinton opposes that idea. A Republicanpresident will make it part of a comprehensive agenda to transform the nation'scapital into a renewal community, an enterprise zone leading the way forthe rest of urban America to follow.
Americans in the Territories
We welcome greater participation in all aspects of the political processby Americans residing in Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the NorthernMarianas, and Puerto Rico. No single approach can meet the needs of thosediverse communities. We therefore emphasize respect for their wishes regardingtheir relationship to the rest of the Union. We affirm their right to seekthe full extension of the Constitution, with all the rights and responsibilitiesit entails.
We support the Native American Samoans' efforts to preserve their cultureand land-tenure system, which fosters self-reliance and strong extendedfamily values.
We recognize that the people of Guam have voted for a closer relationshipwith the United States of America, and we affirm our support of their rightto mutually improve their political relationship through commonwealth.
We support the right of the United States citizens of Puerto Rico tobe admitted to the Union as a fully sovereign state after they freely sodetermine.
We endorse initiatives of the congressional Republican leadership toprovide for Puerto Rico's smooth transition to statehood if its citizenschoose to alter their current status, or to set them on their own path tobecome an independent nation.
INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND PERSONAL SAFETY
"We are discovering as a nation that many of our deepest socialproblems are problems of character and belief. We will never solve thoseproblems until the hearts of parents are turned toward their children; untilrespect is restored for life and property; until a commitment is renewedto love and serve our neighbor.
The common good requires that goodness be common." Bob Dole, May23, 1996 in Philadelphia
Upholding the Rights of All
This section of our platform deals with rights and responsibilities.But it deals also with something larger: the common good, our shared senseof what makes a society decent and noble. That takes us beyond governmentpolicies and programs to what we are as a people, and what we want to be.
We are the party of the open door. As we approach the start of a newcentury, the Republican Party is more dedicated than ever to strengtheningthe social, cultural, and political ties that bind us together as a freepeople, the greatest force for good the world has ever seen. While our partyremains steadfast in its commitment to advancing its historic principlesand ideals, we also recognize that members of our party have deeply heldand sometimes differing views. We view this diversity of views as a sourceof strength, not as a sign of weakness, and we welcome into our ranks allAmericans who may hold differing positions. We are committed to resolvingour differences in a spirit of civility, hope, and mutual respect.
Americans do not want to be afraid of those they pass on the street,suspicious of strangers, fearful for their children. They do not want tohave to fight a constant battle against brutality and degradation in whatpasses for entertainment. We oppose sexual harassment in the workplace,and must ensure that no one in America is forced to choose between a joband submitting to unwelcome advances. We also oppose indoctrination in theclassroom. Americans should not have to tolerate the decline of ethicalstandards and the collapse of behavioral norms. Most important, they shouldnot have to doubt the truthfulness of their elected leaders.
Reversing those trends won't be easy, but our homes and our childrenare worth the effort. Government has a small, but vital, role. But mostof the burden must be ours: as parents, as consumers, as citizens whoseright of free speech empowers us to stand up for the weak and vulnerable- and speak out against the profiteers of violence and moral decay.
That needs to be done, both in our house and in the White House. BillClinton can't - or won't - do it. So we will do it without him, and withnew national leadership of character and conscience.
We are the party of individual Americans, whose rights we protect anddefend as the foundation for opportunity and security for all. Today, asat our founding in the day of Lincoln, we insist no one's rights are negotiable.
As we strive to forge a national consensus on the divisive issues ofour time, we call on all Republicans and all Americans to reject the forcesof hatred and bigotry. Accordingly, we denounce all who practice or promoteracism, anti-Semitism, ethnic prejudice, and religious intolerance. We condemnattempts by the EEOC or any other arm of government to regulate or ban religioussymbols from the work place, and we assert the right of religious leadersto speak out on public issues. We condemn the desecration of places of worshipand are proud that congressional Republicans led the fight against churcharsons. We believe religious institutions and schools should not be taxed.When government funds privately operated social, welfare, or educationalprograms, it must not discriminate against religious institutions, whoserecord in providing services to those in need far exceeds that of the publicsector.
The sole source of equal opportunity for all is equality before the law.Therefore, we oppose discrimination based on sex, race, age, creed, or nationalorigin and will vigorously enforce anti discrimination statutes. We rejectthe distortion of those laws to cover sexual preference, and we endorsethe Defense of Marriage Act to prevent states from being forced to recognizesame-sex unions. Because we believe rights inhere in individuals, not ingroups, we will attain our nation's goal of equal rights without quotasor other forms of preferential treatment. We scorn Bill Clinton's notionthat any person should be denied a job, promotion, contract or a chanceat higher education because of their race or gender. Instead, we endorsethe Dole-Canady Equal Opportunity Act to end discrimination by the federalgovernment. We likewise endorse this year's Proposition 209, the CaliforniaCivil Rights Initiative, to restore to law the original meaning of civilrights.
We renew our historic Republican commitment to equal opportunity forwomen. In the early days of the suffragist movement, we pioneered the women'sright to vote. We take pride in this year's remarkable array of Republicanwomen serving in and running for office and their role in leadership positionsin our party, in Congress, and in the states. Two women serve in our HouseLeadership - a record untouched by the Democrats during their 40 years inpower. The full exercise of legal rights depends upon opportunity, and economicgrowth is the key to continuing progress for women in all fields of endeavor.Public policy must respect and accommodate women whether they are full-timehomemakers or pursue a career.
Under Senator Dole's sponsorship, the Americans with Disabilities Actwas enacted to ensure full participation by disabled citizens in our country'slife. Republicans emphasize community integration and inclusion of personswith disabilities, both by personal example and by practical enforcementof the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Air Carriers AccessAct, and other laws. We will safeguard the interests of disabled personsin Medicare and Medicaid, as well as in federal work force programs. Undera Republican renewal, the abilities of all will be needed in an expandingeconomy, which alone can carry forward the assistive technology that offerspersonal progress for everyone. We support full access to the polls, andthe entire political process, by disabled citizens. We oppose the non-consensualwithholding of health care or treatment because of handicap, age, or infirmity,just as we oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide, which, especially forthe poor and those on the margins of society, threaten the sanctity of humanlife.
The unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannotbe infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution andwe endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protectionsapply to unborn children. Our purpose is to have legislative and judicialprotection of that right against those who perform abortions. We opposeusing public revenues for abortion and will not fund organizations whichadvocate it. We support the appointment of judges who respect traditionalfamily values and the sanctity of innocent human life.
Our goal is to ensure that women with problem pregnancies have the kindof support, material and otherwise, they need for themselves and for theirbabies, not to be punitive towards those for whose difficult situation wehave only compassion. We oppose abortion, but our pro-life agenda does notinclude punitive action against women who have an abortion. We salute thosewho provide alternatives to abortion and offer adoption services. Republicansin Congress took the lead in expanding assistance both for the costs ofadoption and for the continuing care of adoptive children with special needs.Bill Clinton vetoed our adoption tax credit the first time around - andopposed our efforts to remove racial barriers to adoption - before joiningin this long overdue measure of support for adoptive families.
Worse than that, he vetoed the ban on partial-birth abortions, a proceduredenounced by a committee of the American Medical Association and rightlybranded as four-fifths infanticide. We applaud Bob Dole's commitment torevoke the Clinton executive orders concerning abortion and to sign intolaw an end to partial-birth abortions.
We reaffirm the promise of the Fifth Amendment: "nor shall privateproperty be taken for public use, without just compensation." ThisTakings Clause protects the homes and livelihood of Americans against thegovernmental greed and abuse of power that characterizes the Clinton Administration;we will strictly enforce it.
We defend the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. We will promotetraining in the safe usage of firearms, especially in programs for womenand the elderly. We strongly support Bob Dole's National Instant Check Initiative,which will help keep all guns out of the hands of convicted felons. Thepoint-of-purchase instant check has worked well in many states and now itis time to extend this system all across America. We applaud Bob Dole'scommitment to have the national instant check system operational by theend of 1997. In one of the strangest actions of his tenure, Bill Clintonabolished Operation Triggerlock, the Republican initiative to jail any feloncaught with a gun. We will restore that effort and will set by law minimummandatory penalties for the use of guns in committing a crime: 5 years forpossession, 10 years for brandishing, and 20 for discharge.
We affirm the right of individuals to participate in labor organizationsand to bargain collectively, consistent with State laws. Because that participationshould always be voluntary. we support the right of States to enact Right-to-Worklaws. We will restore the original scope of the Hobbs Act, barring unionofficials from extortion and violence. We will vigorously implement theSupreme Court's Beck decision to ensure that workers are not compelled tosubsidize political activity, like the $35 million slush fund extorted thisyear from rank and file members by Washington-based labor leaders. We willreverse Bill Clinton's unconscionable Executive order that deprived workersof their right to know how their union dues are spent.
A Sensible Immigration Policy
As a nation of immigrants, we welcome those who follow our laws and cometo our land to seek a better life. New Americans strengthen our economy,enrich our culture, and defend the nation in war and in peace. At the sametime, we are determined to reform the system by which we welcome them tothe American family. We must set immigration at manageable levels, balancethe competing goals of uniting families of our citizens and admitting speciallytalented persons, and end asylum abuses through expedited exclusion of falseclaimants.
Bill Clinton's immigration record does not match his rhetoric. Whiletalking tough on illegal immigration, he has proposed a reduction in thenumber of border patrol agents authorized by the Republicans in Congress,has opposed the most successful border control program in decades (OperationHold the Line in Texas), has opposed Proposition 187 in California which60 percent of Californians supported, and has opposed Republican effortsto ensure that non-citizens do not take advantage of expensive welfare programs.Unlike Bill Clinton, we stand with the American people on immigration policyand will continue to reform and enforce our immigration laws to ensure thatthey reflect America's national interest.
We also support efforts to secure our borders from the threat of illegalimmigration. Illegal immigration has reached crisis proportions, with morethan four million illegal aliens now present in the United States. Thatnumber, growing by 300,000 each year, burdens taxpayers, strains publicservices, takes jobs, and increases crime. Republicans in both the Houseand Senate have passed bills that tighten border enforcement, speed up deportationof criminal aliens, toughen penalties for overstaying visas, and streamlinethe Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Illegal aliens should not receive public benefits other than emergencyaid, and those who become parents while illegally in the United States shouldnot be qualified to claim benefits for their offspring. Legal immigrantsshould depend for assistance on their sponsors, who are legally responsiblefor their financial well-being, not the American taxpayers. Just as we require"deadbeat dads" to provide for the children they bring into theworld, we should require "deadbeat sponsors" to provide for theimmigrants they bring into the country. We support a constitutional amendmentor constitutionally-valid legislation declaring that children born in theUnited States of parents who are not legally present in the United Statesor who are not long-term residents are not automatically citizens.
We endorse the Dole/Coverdell proposal to make crimes of domestic violence,stalking, child abuse, child neglect and child abandonment committed byaliens residing in this country deportable offenses under our immigrationlaws.
We call for harsh penalties against exploiters who smuggle illegal aliensand for those who profit from the production of false documents. Republicansbelieve that by eliminating the magnet for illegal immigration, increasingborder security, enforcing our immigration laws, and producing counterfeit-proofdocuments, we will finally put an end to the illegal immigration crisis.We oppose the creation of any national ID card.
From Many, One
America's ethnic diversity within a shared national culture is one ofour country's greatest strengths. While we benefit from our differences,we must also strengthen the ties that bind us to one another. Foremost amongthose is the flag. Its deliberate desecration is not "free speech,"but an assault against our history and our hopes. We support a constitutionalamendment that will restore to the people, through their elected representatives,their right to safeguard Old Glory. We condemn Bill Clinton's refusal, onceagain, to protect and preserve the most precious symbol of our Republic.
English, our common language, provides a shared foundation which hasallowed people from every corner of the world to come together to buildthe American nation. The use of English is indispensable to all who wishto participate fully in our society and realize the American dream. As BobDole has said: "For more than two centuries now, English has been aforce for unity, indispensable to the process of transforming untold millionsof immigrants from all parts of the globe into citizens of the most openand free society the world has ever seen." For newcomers, learningthe English language has always been the fastest route to the mainstreamof American life. That should be the goal of bilingual education programs.We support the official recognition of English as the nation's common language.We advocate foreign language training in our schools and retention of heritagelanguages in homes and cultural institutions. Foreign language fluency isalso an essential component of America's competitiveness in the world market.
We will strengthen Native Americans' self-determination by respectingtribal sovereignty, encouraging a pro-business and pro-development climateon reservations. We uphold the unique government-to-government relationshipbetween the tribes and the United States, and we honor our nation's trustobligations to them. In fulfillment thereof, we will ensure that the resources,financial and otherwise, which the United States holds in trust are well-managed,audited, and protected. We second Bob Dole's call for legislation authorizingtribal governments to reorganize the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the IndianHealth Service. We endorse efforts to ensure equitable participation infederal programs by Native Americans, Native Alaskans and Native Hawaiiansand to preserve their culture and languages.
Getting Tough on Crime
"Women in America know better than anyone about the randomness andruthlessness of crime. It is a shameful, national disgrace that nightfallhas become synonymous with fear for so many of America's women." BobDole, May 28, 1996 in Aurora, Colorado
During Bill Clinton's tenure, America has become a more fearful place,especially for the elderly and for women and children. Violent crime hasturned our homes into prisons, our streets and schoolyards into battlegrounds.It devours half a trillion dollars every year. Unfortunately, far worsecould be coming in the near future. While we acknowledge the extraordinaryefforts of single parents, we recognize that a generation of fatherlessboys raises the prospect of soaring juvenile crime.
This is, in part the legacy of liberalism - in the old Democrat Congress,in the Clinton Department of Justice, and in the courts, where judges appointedby Democrat presidents continue their assault against the rights of law-abidingAmericans. For too long government policy has been controlled by criminalsand their defense lawyers. Democrat Congresses cared more about rights ofcriminals than safety for Americans. Bill Clinton arbitrarily closed offPennsylvania Avenue, the nation's Main Street, for his protection, whilehis policies left the public unprotected against vicious criminals. As asymbol of our determination to restore the rule of law - in the White Houseas well as in our streets - we will reopen Pennsylvania Avenue.
After the elections of 1994, the new Republican majorities in the Houseand Senate fought back with legislation that ends frivolous, costly, andunnecessarily lengthy death-row appeals, requires criminals to pay restitutionto their victims, speeds the removal of criminal aliens, and steps up thefight against terrorism. Congressional Republicans put into law a truth-in-sentencingprison grant program to provide incentives to states which enact laws requiringviolent felons to serve at least 85% of their sentences and replaced a myriadof Democrat "Washington knows best" prevention programs with blocgrants to cities and counties to use to fight crime as they see fit. Theyput an end to federal court early-release orders for prison overcrowdingand made it much harder for prisoners to file frivolous lawsuits about prisonconditions.
There's more to do, once Bill Clinton's veto threats no longer blockthe way. We will establish no frills prisons where prisoners are requiredto work productively and make the threat of jail a real deterrent to crime.Prisons should not be places of rest and relaxation. We will reform theSupreme Court's fanciful exclusionary rule, which has allowed a generationof criminals to get off on technicalities.
Juvenile crime is one of the most difficult challenges facing our nation.The juvenile justice system is broken. It fails to punish the minor crimesthat lead to larger offenses, and lacks early intervention to keep delinquencyfrom turning into violent crime. Truancy laws are not enforced, positiverole models are lacking, and parental responsibility is overlooked. We willstress accountability at every step in the system and require adult trialsfor juveniles who commit adult crimes.
In addition, not only is juvenile crime on the rise, but unsupervisedjuveniles (especially at night) are most often the victims of abuse in oursociety. Recognizing that local jurisdictions have a clear and concise understandingof their problems, we encourage them to develop and enact innovative programsto address juvenile crime. We also encourage them to consider juvenile nocturnalcurfews as an effective law enforcement tool in helping reduce juvenilecrime and juvenile victimization.
Juvenile criminal proceedings should be open to victims and the public.Juvenile conviction records should not be sealed but made available to lawenforcement agencies, the courts, and those who hire for sensitive workin schools and day-care centers.
Because liberal jurists keep expanding the rights of the accused, Republicanspropose a Constitutional amendment to protect victims' rights: audio andvisual testimony of victims kept on file for future hearings, full restitution,protection from intimidation or violence by the offender, notification ofcourt proceedings, a chance to be heard in plea bargains, the right to remainin court during trials and hearings concerning the crimes committed againstthem, a voice in the sentencing proceedings, notice of the release or escapeof offenders. Bill Clinton hypocritically endorsed our Victim's Rights Amendmentwhile naming judges who opposed capital punishment, turned felons loose,and even excused murder as a form of social protest. Bob Dole, the nextRepublican president will end that nonsense and make our courts once againan instrument of justice.
While the federal government's role is essential, most law enforcementmust remain in the hands of local communities, directed by State and localofficials who are closely answerable to the people whose lives are affectedby crime. In that regard, we support community policing; nothing inhibitslocal crime like an officer in the neighborhood. Bill Clinton promised 100,000more police officers on the beat but, according to his own Attorney General,delivered no more than 17,000. He ignored local law enforcers by tying theprogram in knots of red tape and high costs. Now he is diverting millionsof its dollars, appropriated by congressional Republicans to fight streetcrime, to state parks and environmental projects. It's time to return thoseanti-crime resources to communities and let them decide what works bestto keep their homes, schools, and workplaces safe. This would result infar more new police officers than Bill Clinton's program and give communitiesadditional crime fighting resources they need.
We will work with local authorities to prevent prison inmates from receivingdisability or other government entitlements while incarcerated. We supportefforts to allow peace officers, including qualified retirees, to assisttheir colleagues and protect their communities even when they are out oftheir home jurisdictions to the extent this is consistent with applicablestate and local law. We will amend the Fair Labor Standards Act so thatcorrections officers can volunteer to assist local law enforcement.
Crimes against women and children demand an emphatic response. UnderBob Dole and Dick Zimmer's leadership, Republicans in Congress pushed throughMegan's Law - the requirement that local communities be notified when sexoffenders and kidnappers are released - in response to the growing numberof violent sexual assaults and murders like the brutal murder of a littlegirl in New Jersey. We call for special penalties against thugs who assaultor batter pregnant women and harm them or their unborn children. We endorseBob Dole's call to bring federal penalties for child pornography in linewith far tougher State penalties: ten years for a first offense, fifteenfor the second, and life for a third. We believe it is time to revisit theSupreme Court's arbitrary decision of 1977 that protects even the most viciousrapists from the death penalty. Bob Dole authored a tough federal statutewhich provides for the admissibility of prior similar criminal acts of defendantsin sexual assault cases. This important law enforcement tool should serveas a model for the states. We continue our strong support of capital punishmentfor those who commit heinous federal crimes; including the kingpins of thenarcotics trade.
We wish to express our support and sympathy for all victims of terrorismand their families. Acts of terrorism against Americans and American interestsmust be stopped and those who commit them must be brought to justice. Werecommend a Presidentially appointed "blue ribbon" commissionto study more effective methods of prosecuting terrorists.
Only Republican resolve can prepare our nation to deal with the fourdeadly threats facing us in the early years of the 21st Century: violentcrime, drugs, terrorism, and international organized crime. Those perilsare interlocked - and all are escalating. This is no time for excuses. It'stime for a change.
Solving the Drug Crisis
The verdict is in on Bill Clinton's moral leadership: after 11 yearsof steady decline, the use of marijuana among teens doubled in the two yearsafter 1992. At the same time, the use of cocaine and methamphetamines dramaticallyincreased.
That shocks but should not surprise. For in the war on drugs - an essentialcomponent of the fight against crime - today's Democratic Party has beena conscientious objector. Nowhere is the discrepancy between Bill Clinton'srhetoric and his actions more apparent. Mr. Clinton's personal record hasbeen a betrayal of the nation's trust, sending the worst possible signalto the nation's youth. At the urging of the Secret Service, the White Househad to institute a drug-testing program for Clinton staffers who were knownto be recent users of illegal narcotics. At the same time, he drasticallycut funding for drug interdiction. The Office of National Drug Control Policywas cut by 80 percent, and federal drug prosecutions dropped 25 percent.His Attorney General proposed to reduce mandatory minimum sentences fordrug trafficking and related crimes, and his Surgeon General advocated legalizationof narcotics. Hundreds of suspected drug smugglers have been allowed togo free at the border. Simultaneously, the use of marijuana, cocaine, andheroin has increased, especially among young people. Now narcotics are againfueling the acceleration of crime rates, putting the nation on a collisioncourse with the future.
Bill Clinton's weakness in international affairs has worsened the situationhere at home. One case in point: He certified that Mexico has cooperatedwith our drug interdiction effort when 70 percent of drugs smuggled intothe U. S. come across our southern border - and when the Mexican governmentignored 165 extradition orders for drug criminals. Discredited at home andabroad, he lacks both the stature and the credibility to lead us towarda drug-free America.
A war against drugs requires moral leadership now lacking in the WhiteHouse. Throughout the 1980s, the Republican approach - no legalization,no tolerance, no excuses - turned the tide against drug abuse. We can doit again by emphasizing prevention, interdiction, a tough internationalapproach, and a crack-down on users. That requires reversing one of BillClinton's most offensive actions: his shocking purge of every U. S. Attorneyin the country shortly after he took office. This unprecedented firing destroyedour first line of defense against drug traffickers and other career criminals.Our country's most experienced and dedicated prosecutors were replaced withClintonite liberals, some of whom have refused to prosecute major drug dealers,foreign narcotics smugglers, and child pornographers.
In a Dole Administration, U. S. Attorneys will prosecute and jail thosewho prey upon the innocent. We support upgrading our interdiction effortby establishing a Deputy Commissioner for Drug Enforcement within the CustomsService. We will intensify our intelligence efforts against internationaldrug traffickers and use whatever means necessary to destroy their operationsand seize their personal accounts.
We support strong penalties, including mandatory minimum sentences, fordrug trafficking, distribution and drug-related crimes. Drug use is closelyrelated to crime and recidivism. Drug testing should be made a routine featureof the criminal justice process at every stage, including the juvenile justicesystem. Test results should be used in deciding pretrial release, sentencing,and probation revocation.
A safer America must include highways without drunk or drug-impaireddrivers. We support the toughest possible State laws to deal with driversimpaired by substance abuse and advocate federal cooperation, not compulsion,toward that end.
The Bottom Line: From The Top Down
Making America safe again will be a tremendous undertaking, in its ownway as heroic as was the liberation of Europe from a different kind of criminalhalf a century ago. At the grassroots, that crusade already has enlistedthe men and women of local law enforcement. Now they need a leader worthyof their cause - someone whose life reflects respect for the law, not evasionof it. Bill Clinton need not apply.
Bob Dole will be a president committed to the protection and safety ofall Americans. However, his strength is diminished without a court systemsupportive of the national fight against violent crime. That is the bottomline of this year's presidential election: Who should chart the course oflaw enforcement for the next generation by naming as many as an additional30 percent of our federal judges and the next several justices to the U.S. Supreme Court? Bill Clinton, the master of excuse and evasion? Or BobDole, whose life has been an exercise in honor and duty?
FAMILIES AND SOCIETY
"The alternative to cold bureaucracy is not indifference. It isthe warmth of families and neighborhoods, charities, churches, synagoguesand communities. These value-shaping institutions have the tools to reclaimlives - individual responsibility, tough love, and spiritual renewal. Theydo more than care for the body; they restore the spirit." Bob Dole,May 23, 1996, in Philadelphia
Stronger Families
We are the party of the American family, educating children, caring forthe sick, learning from the elderly, and helping the less fortunate. Webelieve that strengthening family life is the best way to improve the qualityof life for everyone.
Families foster the virtues that make a free society strong. We relyon the home and its supportive institutions to instill honesty, self-discipline,mutual respect and the other virtues that sustain democracy. Our goal isto promote those values by respecting the rights of families and by assisting,where appropriate, the institutions which mediate between government andthe home. While recognizing a role for government in dealing with socialills, we look to mediating institutions - religious and community groups,private associations of all kinds - to take the lead in tackling the socialills that some government programs have only worsened.
This is the clearest distinction between Republicans and Clinton Democrats:We believe the family is the core institution of our society. Bill Clintonthinks government should hold that place. It's little wonder, then, thattoday's families feel under siege. They seem to work harder with less rewardfor their labor. They can no longer expect that life will be better fortheir children than it was for them.
Their problem starts in the White House. Bill Clinton has hit familieswith higher taxes, vetoed their tax relief, and given their money to specialinterest groups. He has meddled in their schools, fought family choice ineducation, and promoted lifestyles inimical to their values. He repeatedlyvetoed pro-family welfare reforms before surrendering to the demands ofthe American people. He tried to impose a ruinous government takeover ofhealth care; led a scare campaign against Republican efforts to preserve,protect, and strengthen Medicare; and appointed to major positions in hisadministration social theorists whose bizarre views are alien to those ofmost Americans.
Republicans want to get our society back on track - toward good schoolswith great teachers, welfare that really helps, and health care responsiveto the needs of people, not government. We want to make sure our most importantprograms - like Social Security and Medicare - are there when people needthem. In all those cases, we start with the family as the building blockof a safe and caring society.
Our agenda for more secure families runs throughout this platform. Herewe take special notice of the way congressional Republicans have advancedadoption assistance, promoted foster care reform, and fought the marriagepenalty in the tax code. They have worked to let parents have flex timeand comp-time in private industry, and have safeguarded family choice inchild care against the Democrats' attempts to control it. They passed theDefense of Marriage Act, which defines "marriage" for purposesof federal law as the legal union of one man and one woman and preventsfederal judges and bureaucrats from forcing states to recognize other livingarrangements as "marriages." Further, they have advanced the FamilyRights and Privacy Act - a bill of rights against the intrusions of biggovernment and its grantees.
In the House and Senate, Republicans have championed the economic rightsof the family and made a $500 per child tax credit the centerpiece of theirreform agenda. But that overdue measure of relief for households with childrenwas vetoed.
We salute parents working at the State level to ensure constitutionalprotection for the rights of the family. We urge State legislators to reviewdivorce laws to foster the stability of the home and protect the economicrights of the innocent spouse and children.
Improving Education
"At the center of all that afflicts our schools is a denial of freechoice. Our public schools are in trouble because they are no longer runby the public. Instead, they're controlled by narrow special interest groupswho regard public education not as a public trust, but as political territoryto be guarded at all costs." Bob Dole, July 17, 1996, in Minneapolis
The American people know that something is terribly wrong with our educationsystem. The evidence is everywhere: children who cannot read, graduateswho cannot reason, danger in schoolyards, indoctrination in classrooms.
To this crisis in our schools, Bill Clinton responds with the same liberaldogmas that created the mess: more federal control and more spending onall the wrong things. He opposes family rights in education and opportunityscholarships for poor children. When it comes to saving our schools, heflunks.
Americans should have the best education in the world. We spend moreper pupil than any other nation, and the great majority of our teachersare dedicated and skilled educators, whose interests are ignored by politicalunion bosses. Our goal is nothing less than a renaissance in American education,begun by returning its control to parents, teachers, local school boardsand, through them, to communities and local taxpayers.
Our formula is as simple as it is sweeping: the federal government hasno constitutional authority to be involved in school curricula or to controljobs in the work place. That is why we will abolish the Department of Education,end federal meddling in our schools, and promote family choice at all levelsof learning. We therefore call for prompt repeal of the Goals 2000 programand the School To-Work Act of 1994, which put new federal controls, as wellas unfunded mandates, on the States. We further urge that federal attemptsto impose outcome- or performance-based education on local schools be ended.
We know what works in education, and it isn't the liberal fads of thelast thirty years. It's discipline, parental involvement, emphasis on basicsincluding computer technology, phonics instead of look-say reading, anddedicated teaching.
Abstinence education in the home will lead to less need for birth controlservices and fewer abortions. We support educational initiatives to promotechastity until marriage as the expected standard of behavior. This educationinitiative is the best preventive measure to avoid the emotional traumaof sexually-transmitted diseases and teen pregnancies that are serious problemsamong our young people. While recognizing that something must be done tohelp children when parental consent or supervision is not possible, we opposeschool-based clinics, which provide referrals, counseling, and related servicesfor contraception and abortion.
We encourage a reform agenda on the local level and urge State legislatorsto ensure quality education for all through programs of parental choiceamong public, private, and religious schools. That includes the option ofhome schooling, and Republicans will defend the right of families to makethat choice. We support and vigorously work for mechanisms, such as opportunityscholarships, block grants, school rebates, charter schools, and vouchers,to make parental choice in education a reality for all parents.
On the federal level, we endorse legislation - like the Watts-TalentLow-Income Educational Opportunity Act, which is part of the Community RenewalAct of 1996, and the Coats-Kasich Educational Choice and Equity Act - toset up model programs for empowering the families who need good schoolingthe most.
We will continue to work for the return of voluntary prayer to our schoolsand will strongly enforce the Republican legislation that guarantees equalaccess to school facilities by student religious groups. We encourage Statelegislatures to pass statutes which prohibit local school boards from adoptingpolicies of denial regarding voluntary school prayer.
We endorse Bob Dole's pledge that all federal education policies willbe guided by his Education Consumer's Warranty. The Education Consumer'sWarranty says that all American children should expect to:
-- attend a safe school;
-- be free from educational malpractice at the hands of bad schools,incompetent teachers, timid principals, and intrusive bureaucrats;
-- find out exactly how well they and their school are doing (in termsof achievement) in relation to how well they ought to be doing;
-- learn the three R's through proven methods;
-- learn the nation's history and democratic values and study the classicsof western civilization;
-- attend a school that is free to innovate and isn't tied down by federalred tape;
-- be confident that their high school diploma signifies a solid education,suitable for college or a good job;
-- choose the school that's right for them;
-- know that their tax dollars are reaching the classroom, not beingsiphoned off into overhead and bureaucracy; and,
-- count on being able to arrive at college prepared to do freshman-levelwork.
To reinforce our American heritage, we believe our nation's Governors,State legislators, and local school boards should support requiring ourpublic schools to dedicate one full day each year solely to studying theDeclaration of Independence and the Constitution.
America's families find themselves on a college treadmill: the more theywork to pay tuition, the faster it seems to increase. Tuition has escalatedfar in excess of inflation, in defiance of market factors, and shows nosign of slowing down. Billions of dollars are wasted on regulations, paperwork,and "political correctness," which impedes the ability of thefaculty to teach. We call for a national reassessment of the economics ofhigher education, to stop the treadmill and restore fiscal accountabilityto higher education. Congressional Republicans budgeted a 50 percent increasein student loans while fighting Bill Clinton's intrusion of Big Governmentinto their financing. Heeding the outcry from the nation's campuses, wewill end the Clinton Administration's perverse direct lending program. Wesupport proposals to assist families to prepare for the financial strainsof higher education, like the American Dream Savings Account, passed bycongressional Republicans but vetoed.
To protect the nation's colleges and universities against intolerance,we will work with independent educators to create alternatives to ideologicalaccrediting bodies. We believe meeting the higher education needs of Americawill require new, public and private institutions that are flexible, ableto apply new technologies, willing to provide access to all those who needit, cost-effective and that place no burden on the American taxpayer.
Improving America's Health Care
Our goal is to maintain the quality of America's health care - the bestin the world, bar none - while making health care and health insurance moreaccessible and more affordable. That means allowing health care providersto respond to consumer demand through consumer choice.
That approach stands in stark contrast to Bill Clinton's health planof 1993. "Clintoncare" would have been a poison pill for the nation'shealth care system. Congressional Republicans countered with the right prescription:
-- make insurance portable from job to job;
-- ensure that persons are not denied coverage because of preexistinghealth conditions when changing employment;
-- crack down on Medicare and Medicaid fraud, while preserving the confidentialityof medical records from inappropriate scrutiny and without imposing criminalpenalties for clerical errors and billing mistakes;
-- reform malpractice laws, to reduce the costly practice of "defensivemedicine" and to make it easier for doctors to specialize in fieldslike obstetrics. We also recognize the vital importance of maintaining theconfidentiality of the national practitioners data base;
-- let individuals set up tax-free Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs), sothey can plan for their own medical needs instead of relying on governmentor insurance companies. Republicans believe that Medicare and Medicaid recipientsshould also have the option to utilize Medical Savings Accounts, which wouldresult in huge savings for the American taxpayers;
-- overhaul the Food and Drug Administration to get better products onthe market faster and at less cost to consumers;
-- change IRS rules that restrict coverage: let employer groups offertax-exempt policies and make premiums 100% deductible for farmers, smallbusinesses, and all the self-employed;
-- promote a private market for long-term care insurance;
-- reduce paperwork through electronic billing;
-- change anti-trust laws to let health care providers cooperate in holdingdown charges;
-- avoid mandatory coverages that make consumers pay for more insurancethan they need;
-- allow multi-employer purchasing groups and form "risk pools"in the States to make employee health insurance more affordable;
-- remove regulatory barriers to the use of managed care for those whochoose it.
Traditionally, all Americans have had the freedom to choose their healthcare plans, as well as the providers who treat them. To ensure quality ofcare, it is imperative that patients continue to enjoy the freedoms to whichthey have become accustomed. Communications between providers and patientsshould be free and open, and allow for full discussion of the patient'smedical care. Financial arrangements should not be a barrier to a patient'sreceiving quality medical care;
-- permit families with incomes up to twice the poverty level to buyinto Medicaid;
-- promote rural health care through telecommuni-cations and emergencyair transport; and
-- increase funding for Community and Migrant Health Centers.
Bill Clinton and most congressional Democrats opposed many of these reforms,especially Medical Savings Accounts and changes in malpractice laws. CongressionalRepublicans rallied the nation to win a long overdue victory for consumersand for commonsense. Three months away from the November elections, BillClinton caved in and promised to sign into law the Republican solution toAmerica's health care problems.
But the Clinton Democrats are still blocking Republican efforts to preserve,protect, and strengthen Medicare. Until Medicare is financially secure again,our job is not finished. More than 38 million people depend on Medicare,which is rushing toward bankruptcy even more quickly than predicted. BillClinton doesn't seem to mind. Despite repeated Republican efforts to workwith his administration to save Medicare, his response has been a barrageof propaganda. We proposed Medisave; he indulged in Mediscare. We say thiswith solemn deliberation: Bill Clinton lied about the condition of Medicareand lied about our attempts to save it.
We reaffirm our determination to protect Medicare. We will ensure a significantannual expansion in Medicare. That isn't "cutting Medicare." It'sa projected average annual rate of growth of 7.1 percent a year - more thantwice the rate of inflation - to ensure coverage for those who need it nowand those who will need it in the future. We propose to allow unprecedentedpatient choice in Medicare, so that older Americans can select health carearrangements that work best for them, including provider-sponsored organizationsoffering quality care with strong consumer protections.
Our commitment is to protect the most vulnerable of our people: children,the elderly, the disabled. That is why we are determined to restructureMedicaid, the federal-State program of health care for the poor. Rife withfraud, poorly administered, with no incentives for patient or provider savings,Medicaid has mushroomed into the nation's biggest welfare program. Its staggeringrate of growth threatens to overwhelm State budgets, while thwarting congressionalprogress towards a federal balanced budget. Bill Clinton's response hasbeen to ignore the problem - and attack Republicans for trying to solveit.
We must find better ways to ensure quality health care for the poor.Medicaid should be turned over to State management with leeway for restructuringand reform. Low-income persons should have access to managed care programsand Medical Savings Accounts, just as other persons do, and State officialsshould have authority to weed out substandard providers and to eliminateexcess costs. We endorse Republican legislation extending federal tort claimcoverage to health care professionals who provide free medical servicesto persons who cannot afford them.
Preventive care is key to both wellness and lower medical bills, andstrong families are the most powerful form of preventive care. Responsiblefamilies mean less child abuse, lower infant mortality, fewer unvaccinatedyoungsters, fewer teen pregnancies, and less involvement with drugs, alcohol,and tobacco. To help low-income families toward those goals, we will unifyscattered federal resources into block grants.
We reaffirm our traditional support for generous funding of medical research,especially through the National Institutes of Health, and for continuingfederal support for teaching hospitals and medical schools. We remain committedto, and place a high priority on, finding a cure for HIV disease. We supportincreased funding for research targeted at conditions that touch the familiesof most Americans, like Alzheimer's, breast cancer, prostate cancer, anddiabetes. We call for an increased emphasis on prevention of diseases thatthreaten the lives of women. This requires dramatic expansion of outreachand education to expand public awareness. We call for fetal protection inbiomedical research and will enforce the rights of human subjects in allfederally funded studies.
The value of medical research and preventive care to wellness and lowerhealth care spending can be highlighted by the example of diabetes. Approximately16 million people in the U.S. have diabetes, and 50 percent of people aboveage 65 are at risk for developing some form of the disease. Diabetes isa leading cause of adult blindness, kidney disease, heart disease, strokeand amputations, and reduces life expectancy by up to 30 percent. As muchas 25 percent of Medicare expenditures are incurred in the treatment ofdiabetes-related complications. Scientific discoveries, made possible byfederal funding of medical research, have led to new efforts to preventdiabetes, as well as new treatment strategies to forestall the developmentof its debilitating and life threatening complications. Today, people strickenwith diabetes can, in concert with their health care providers, delay orprevent the serious and deadly complications of the disease. In other words,we now have the opportunity to reduce the burden of diabetes.
Renewing Hope and Opportunity
"Thirty years ago, the 'Great Society' was liberalism's greatesthope, its greatest boast. Today, it stands as its greatest shame, a grandfailure that has crushed the spirit, destroyed the families, and decimatedthe culture of those who have become enmeshed in its web."
Bob Dole, May 21, 1996, in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
Within a few weeks, Bill Clinton will sign into law a Republican reformof welfare. With a straight face, after twice vetoing similar legislation,he will attempt to take credit for what we have accomplished.
So be it. Our cause is justice for both the taxpayers and for the poor.Our purpose in welfare reform is not to save money but to bring into themainstream of American life those who now are on the margins of our societyand our economy. We will, in the words of the Speaker of the House of RepresentativesNewt Gingrich, replace the welfare state with an opportunity society forall. The Clinton administration's "Reinventing Government" programto reform the welfare state bureaucracy has failed. In fact, managementreforms of the Reagan years were repealed and new labor-management councilsthat diluted efficient management were added as additional bureaucracy andred tape. We will revoke these Clinton administration policies and opposethe liberal philosophy that bureaucracy can reform welfare.
The current welfare system has spent $5 trillion in the last thirty yearsand has been a catastrophic failure. Despite this massive effort, conditionsin our nation's poor communities have grown measurably worse. Poverty usedto be an economic problem; now it is a social pathology.
The key to welfare reform is restoring personal responsibility and encouragingtwo-parent households. The path to that goal lies outside of official Washington.In the hands of State and local officials, and under the eye of local taxpayers,welfare can again become a hand up instead of a handout. All able-bodiedadults must be required to work, either in private sector jobs or in communitywork projects. Illegal aliens must be ineligible for all but emergency benefits.And a firm time limit for receipt of welfare must be enforced.
Because illegitimacy is the most serious cause of child poverty, we willencourage States to stop cash payments to unmarried teens and set a familycap on payments for additional children. When benefits of any kind are extendedto teen mothers, they must be conditioned upon their attendance at schooland their living at home with a parent, adult relative, or guardian. Abouthalf the children of today's teen welfare mothers were fathered in statutoryrape. We echo Bob Dole's call to our nation's governors to toughen and enforceState laws in this regard, as well as those concerning enforcement of childsupport.
Restoring common sense to welfare programs is only one side of the Republicanequation for hope and opportunity. The other side is giving low-income householdsthe tools with which they can build their own future. We propose to do thisalong the lines of the American Community Renewal Act, a Republican congressionalinitiative that would establish throughout the nation up to 100 renewalcommunities where residents, businesses, and investors would have unprecedentedeconomic freedom and incentives to create prosperity. School choice forlow-income families is an integral part of that initiative.
We call for the removal of structural impediments which liberals throwin the path of poor people: over-regulation of start-up enterprises, excessivelicensing requirements, needless restrictions on formation of schools andchild-care centers catering to poor families, restrictions on providingpublic services in fields like transport and sanitation, and rigged franchisesthat close the opportunity door to all but a favored few.
Not everyone can make it on their own. Government at various levels hasa role - and some aid programs do work well - and so do private individualsand charitable and faith-based organizations, whose record of success faroutshines that of any public welfare program. To promote personal involvementwith anti-poverty efforts, we call for a Charity Tax Credit that will beconsistent with the fundamental changes we propose in the nation's systemof taxation. To ensure that religiously affiliated institutions can fulfilltheir helping mission, we endorse Republican legislation to stop discriminationagainst them in government programs.
Older Americans
Our commitment to older Americans runs throughout this platform. It strengthensour call for tax fairness, shows in our action agenda against violent crime,and motivates our crusade to preserve, protect, and strengthen Medicare.
The Republican Party has always opposed the earnings limitation for SocialSecurity benefits, a confiscatory tax that discourages older Americans fromactive engagement in all walks of life. While Bill Clinton imposed his newtax on Social Security benefits, he also initially vetoed our legislationto reform the earnings limitation, just as he vetoed our estate tax reform.
The Social Security system remains the cornerstone of personal securityfor millions of the elderly. In 1983, a Republican president, working withthe Republican Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee - Bob Dole - savedthe Social Security system from fiscal disaster. We have a legal and moralresponsibility to America's seniors and will continue to do everything inour power to ensure that government honors our commitment to Social Securitybeneficiaries, now and in the future. We will keep it financially soundand keep politics out of its administration. We will work to ensure theintegrity and solvency of the Social Security trust funds.
Those who are not older Americans now will one day be so. Our commongoal is a secure economic future. To that end, public policy should encouragecooperative efforts by businesses and employees alike to expand the availabilityof savings vehicles for all. We want to expand retirement options so thatindividual choice, not government fiat, steers the decision-making process.We must increase both the amount and the portability of personal savings,especially in today's rapidly changing and unpredictable economy. We salutecongressional Republicans for their landmark legislation simplifying pensionlaw, cutting away the red tape that prevented many businesses from offeringpension plans, and establishing a new pension system designed to meet theneeds of workers in small businesses.
We also salute Congressional Republicans for making long-term care moreaffordable and more available to those who need it. Too many seniors livein fear that they one day will incur long-term care costs that will wipeout their life savings and burden their children. The Republican Congresshas passed legislation giving long-term care insurance policies the sametax-preferred treatment that health insurance policies now receive. Overthe years, this legislation will give millions of Americans peace of mindand the financial wherewithal to obtain nursing home care of the highestquality.
A CLEANER, SAFER, HEALTHIER AMERICA
"Those of us who grew up in rural America grew up with a common setof values, a code of living that stays with us all our lives. Love of Godand country and family. Commitment to honesty, decency and personal responsibility.Self-reliance tempered by a sense of community.... Those values made usthe greatest country on earth. And the secret to getting our country backon track is simply to return to them as a matter of national policy."Bob Dole, August 19, 1995, in Ames, Iowa
We are the party of America's farmers, ranchers, foresters, and all whohold the earth in stewardship with the Creator. Republican leadership establishedthe Land Grant College System under Abraham Lincoln, the National Park Systemunder Ulysses Grant, the National Wildlife Refuge System under Teddy Roosevelt,and today's legal protections for clean air and water in more recent decades.We reaffirm our commitment to agricultural progress, environmental improvement,and the prudent development of our natural resources.
Our goal is to continue the progress we have made to achieve a cleaner,safer, healthier environment for all Americans - and to pass on to our childrenand grandchildren a better environment than we have today. We must recognizethe unique role our States, localities, and private sector have in improvingour environment. The States and communities are the laboratories of environmentalinnovation. Inflexible requirements hurt the environment, add unnecessarycosts, and reduce technology development. While we have made substantialenvironmental progress, we must reject failed approaches created by fearmongeringand centralized control which will not serve our environment well in thecentury ahead.
The Superfund program to clean up abandoned toxic waste sites is a classiccase in point. More than half of the $30 billion already spent on Superfundhas gone for litigation and administration. In other words, trial lawyershave profited from the current flawed and unfair liability scheme, whiletoxic waste sites wait to be cleaned up. Without the opposition of BillClinton, we will fix the broken Superfund law. We will direct resourcesto clean-up sites where there are real risks, and cooperate with citizens,States, and localities who want to help, rather than harassing them withunwarranted lawsuits.
The States have been leaders in returning contaminated sites to productiveuse under "brownfields" programs. These programs tailor clean-upstandards appropriate for expected future use, thus enabling environmentalcleanup and economic development. Accordingly, as an essential componentof our comprehensive Superfund reform, we will remove disincentives in currentFederal law in order to allow States to expand their innovative "brownfields"programs.
Inconsistent Federal policies have created a nightmare for our Nation'sports at a critical time of growth and change in international trade. Wemust protect the environment while recognizing the unique situation of eachport. There must be a coordination of State, local, and Federal roles inencouraging our ports to expand to meet current and future needs.
Republicans trust Americans to honor their shared desire to live andraise their children in a clean and healthy environment. For all environmentalproblems, we propose a common sense approach based on flexibility and consensus,that builds a better future on free enterprise, local control, sound science,and technology development. This is our positive and proactive agenda:
-- assure that the air and water are clean and safe for our childrenand future generations;
-- assure that everyone has access to public outdoor recreation areas;and that historic and environmentally significant wilderness and wetlandsareas will be protected without compromising our commitment to the rightsof property owners;
-- set reasonable standards for environmental improvement that incorporateflexibility, acknowledge geographic differences, and create incentives fordevelopment of new technologies;
-- base all government environmental decisions on the best peer-reviewedscientific evidence, while encouraging advancements in research;
-- achieve progress, as much as possible, through incentives rather thancompulsion, and improve compliance by letting States and localities playa greater role in setting and maintaining standards. Many States have enactedenvironmental education and "voluntary self-audit" laws to encouragepeople to find and correct pollution; the Congress should remove disincentivesfor States to achieve these goals; and
-- assure private property owners of due process to protect their rights,and make environmental decisions in concert with those whose homes, businesses,and communities are directly affected.
Our commitment to an improved environment is best embodied in the recentlyenacted amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act. This Republican initiativewill guarantee all Americans a safe and clean source of drinking water andwill grant local communities the flexibility to avoid unnecessary requirements.
The Clinton Democrats disagree with our principles. They have increasedspending by creating new bureaucratic programs, creating new paperwork requirements,and funding pet projects of their special interest friends. However, theClinton Administration has failed to reduce regulatory burdens on States,localities, and individuals. It has failed to create incentives for environmentalimprovements or use sound science and cooperation to achieve environmentalgoals. Today, they are planning to impose scientifically unsupported, massivenew regulations on ozone and particulates. These rules will impose new requirementson cities, add unnecessary costs, and destroy jobs without adequate justification.
Republicans support the ongoing efforts of the States and communitiesto ensure reliable and safe water supplies. As the Federal government movesaway from its past role as a grant giver and direct lender in the developmentof water-related infrastructure, we will encourage the establishment ofpublic-private partnerships to build and finance our nation's water infrastructure.
We recognize the Great Lakes encompass one-fifth of the fresh water supplyof the entire world and we oppose any diversion of Great Lakes water.
Republicans have always advocated conserving our animal and plant resources,but we recognize the current Endangered Species Act is seriously flawedand, indeed, is often counterproductive because of its reliance on Federalcommand-and-control measures. The adherence of Clinton Democrats to thesediscredited ESA provisions has devastated the environment they pretend toprotect by virtually encouraging landowners to remove habitat for marginalspecies to avoid government seizure of their property. We will improve theESA by implementing an incentive based program in cooperation with State,local, and tribal governments and private individuals to recognize the criticalrelationship between a healthy environment and a healthy economy foundedon private property rights and responsibilities.
Securing Property Rights
Republicans consider private property rights the cornerstone of environmentalprogress. That lesson has been confirmed in the tragic environmental recordof Communist rule and of socialist regimes in the less developed world.By safeguarding those rights - by enforcing the Takings Clause of the FifthAmendment and by providing compensation - we not only stand true to theConstitution but advance sound environmentalism as well. Republicans, ledby Senator Dole, have spearheaded efforts in Congress to protect privateproperty rights.
Improving Public Lands
The nation's public lands - half the territory in the West - must beadministered both for today's multiple uses and for tomorrow's generations.We support multiple use conducted in an environmentally and economicallysustainable manner. We will preserve priority wilderness and wetlands -real wetlands of environmental significance, not the damp grounds of a bureaucrat'simagination.
We support a thorough review of the lands owned by the federal governmentwith a goal of transferring lands that can best be managed by State, county,or municipal governments. This review should ensure that the federal governmentretains ownership to unique property worthy of national oversight. Propertiestransferred from federal control must recognize existing property and mineralrights, including water, mining claims, grazing permits, rights of access,hunting, fishing, and contracts.
We recognize the historic use of public lands for livestock productionin compliance with legal requirements. Our renewable rangeland should continueto be available under conditions that ensure both expanded production oflivestock and protection of the rangeland environment. We condemn the ClintonAdministration's range war against this pillar of the western economy.
We recognize the need to keep our National Park System healthy and accessibleto all. Our National Parks have a backlog of more than four billion dollarsin maintenance and infrastructure repair projects. The nation's naturalcrown jewels are losing some of their luster, tarnished by neglect and indifference.Our park system needs to be rebuilt, restructured, and reinvigorated toensure that all Americans can enjoy and be proud of their parks.
We stand for sustainable forestry to stabilize and provide continuityfor our timber industry and to improve the health of the country's publicforests. This requires active management practices, such as the responsiblesalvage harvesting of dead and diseased trees. The Democrats' hands-offapproach has made our great forests vulnerable to ravaging fires, insects,and disease.
The Democrats' policies have devastated the economy of timber-dependentcommunities across the Pacific Northwest and in the Tongass National Forest,the Nation's largest and most productive, to please elite special interests.We join families and communities in rural America who rely on public forestsfor their livelihood in calling for the federal government to carefullyevaluate the socioeconomic impacts of its actions and to live up to itscommitments to provide an adequate timber supply to dependent communitiesthrough sustainable forest management.
We reaffirm the traditional deference by the federal government to theStates in the allocation and appropriation of water. We deplore the ClintonAdministration's disregard for State primacy through attempts to preemptState law with respect to water usage and watershed protection. We alsorecognize the need to protect adequate supplies of water for agriculturewithout unreasonable government mandates.
We support the original intent of the Mining Law of 1872: to providethe certainty and land tenure necessary for miners to risk tremendous capitalinvestment on federal lands, thus preserving jobs - indeed, whole industries- and bolstering our domestic economy. We support appropriate changes tothe law to ensure the taxpayer will receive a reasonable return for thevalue of extracted minerals. We oppose extremist attempts to shut down Americanmining in favor of our international competitors.
Power for Progress
Our goal is an energy supply available to all - competitively priced,secure, and clean - produced by healthy industries operating in an environmentallyresponsible manner using domestically available resources to the greatestextent practicable.
No one should take that for granted. Today's energy boom was hard wonby Republican reforms in the 1980s, ending more than three decades of ruinousFederal meddling that drove up prices and drove down supplies. Now thatprogress is under attack from the same quarters that brought us energy crises,gas rationing, and dangerous dependence on unreliable supplies of foreignoil. That dependency is 50 percent today, and will be two-thirds in onlya few short years.
It does not have to be this way. The Clinton Administration has learnednothing from the collapse of liberalism. It clings to outdated regulationthat stifles production and drives up consumer prices. Clinton proposeda punishing BTU energy tax that would have penalized consumers and costthousands of jobs. After Republicans derailed that bad idea, Bill Clintonchampioned - and congressional Democrats approved - a 4.7-cent per gallongas tax hike, not to improve roads and bridges, but for general spending.
Now the Clinton Administration demands lighter cars and family trucksto meet its Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) goals, at the cost ofthousands of lives lost every year in auto accidents - not to mention thecost in jobs lost to foreign auto makers.
Nowhere has the failure of presidential leadership been more apparentthan in Clinton's position on finding a reasonable long-term solution toour Nation's nuclear waste disposal problem. We support the federal government'sobligation under contract to take possession of nuclear waste and removeit from temporary storage in over 30 states across the country. At the sametime, we believe that the siting and licensing of both permanent and interimstorage facilities should be based on sound science and not solely uponpolitical expediency.
The Clinton approach hobbles the nation's progress. Our program of energyrenewal, on the other hand, is an essential component of broader opportunityfor all. We must finish the job of preparing America's energy capacity tomeet the challenges of the 21st Century.
Today, Republican Governors and the States are leading the way to trueand meaningful electric utility industry deregulation and competition andlower rates for all consumers. Restructuring the electric utility industrypresents both great opportunities and challenges for our Nation. We supportgreater competition as we move toward a market-based approach, with trueand meaningful deregulation, after an appropriate and fair transition periodthat allows for competitive retail markets while ensuring reliability ofservice in a cost-effective manner for all consumers.
We support elimination of the Department of Energy to emphasize the needfor greater privatization and to reduce the size of the federal government.The Department of Energy's defense concerns should be transferred to anindependent agency under the Defense Department. Other necessary programsshould be farmed out to other departments and offices.
We support environmentally responsible energy extraction from publicand private lands. We will not tolerate poor reclamation or pollution frommining or drilling. We advocate environmentally sound oil production inthe largest known onshore or offshore petroleum reserve in the Nation -the small coastal plain portion of the 19-million acre Arctic National WildlifeRefuge. Oil produced there, traveling through an existing pipeline, willbring billions of dollars in revenues to reduce the federal budget deficit.On the other hand, without ANWR coastal plain development, we will losehundreds of thousands of potential jobs and untold billions of Americandollars will be paid to foreign governments for the oil not produced fromour home reserves.
We continue to support and encourage the development of our domesticnatural gas industry. Natural gas is a clean, abundant, and domesticallyavailable resource, which can be provided, transported, and consumed inan environmentally responsible manner.
We will delegate management and collection of federal oil and gas royaltiesto the States, thereby increasing receipts both to the States and to thefederal Treasury. This action will reduce bureaucratic involvement and administrativecosts to the federal government. We urge the federal government to expediteand streamline the exploration, leasing, and permitting process for thedomestic oil and gas industry.
The coal industry now supplies more than half of all electric generationand is vital for our entire economy. We encourage research for cleaner coalcombustion technologies and will require that objective, peer-reviewed sciencebe the basis for environmental decisions that increase costs for electricrate payers.
Because no single source of energy can reliably supply the needs of theAmerican people, we believe in fostering alternative and renewable energysources to assist in reducing dependence on unreliable foreign oil supplies.We anticipate the continuing development of energy from coal, oil, naturalgas, agricultural products such as ethanol and biodiesel, nuclear, and hydrosources and where economically competitive, from wind, solar, and geothermalpower.
The United States should continue its commitment to addressing globalclimate change in a prudent and effective manner that does not punish theU.S. economy. Despite scientific uncertainty about the role of human activityin climate change, the Clinton Administration has leapfrogged over reasonedscientific inquiry and now favors misdirected measures, such as bindingtargets and timetables, imposed only on the United States and certain otherdeveloped countries, to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Republicansdeplore the arbitrary and premature abandonment of the previous policy ofvoluntary reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. We further deplore cedingU.S. sovereignty on environmental issues to international bureaucrats andour foreign economic competitors.
Energy policy and transportation policy go hand in hand. To prepare theNational Highway System and the National Aviation System for the 21st Century,we will maintain the integrity of the Federal transportation trust fundsand respect the call by Republican governors to ensure those funds are returnedto the States with a minimum of federal red tape. Trusting the people, congressionalRepublicans passed the National Highway System Designation Act of 1995,returning to the States decisions about highway safety. We support reasonablespeed limits, reflecting local needs and geography, and prudent personalsafety measures, but we oppose Washington's one-size-fits-all approach tothe mobility of the American people.
Agriculture in the 21st Century
The moral strength abundant on America's farms and rural communitieshas been the foundation and source of strength for our Nation since itsearliest days. America's settlers built their farming communities on valueslike faith, hard work, dedication, and self-sacrifice.
Republicans see a very bright future for agriculture and rural America.Our program to strengthen rural America will benefit every sector of theeconomy and every part of the Nation. First and foremost, we will reducethe tax burden - both the estate tax and the capital gains levy - on thosewho produce America's food and fiber. This is essential to preserve productionagriculture. Just like urban small businesses, rural producers need fulldeductibility of health insurance premiums and an overall tax structurethat is simpler and fairer.
Deficit spending by government is death by strangulation for agriculture.Our farms are major users of capital, with over $150 billion in currentborrowing. Interest payments are one of their heaviest burdens. The Republicanbalanced budget of last year, vetoed by Bill Clinton, would have saved farmersmore than $15 billion in interest costs by the year 2002. We stand withthe American farmer in demanding an end to the spending excesses in officialWashington.
The elections of 1994 were a resounding victory for American agriculture.The first Republican majorities in both the House and Senate in 40 yearswon an historic breakthrough with the "Freedom to Farm" act. Forthe first time in six decades, Federal policy will allow individual farmersto grow what makes sense on their own land, not what a bureaucrat wantsgrown there. "Freedom to Farm" will permit them to respond toworld trade opportunities for value-added exports that bring new jobs andbroader prosperity to rural America.
Moreover, the Republican "Freedom to Farm" act is the mostpro-environment farm bill ever. By liberating high-tech, high-yield U.S.agriculture to pursue ever greater levels of efficiency, it will enablegrowers to produce more from less land, saving wildlife habitat and fragilesoils from the plow. The new law allows farmers to rotate crops, therebyreducing use of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizer. It continues theConservation and Wetland Reserve Programs and creates a new EnvironmentalQuality Incentive Program to help farmers do what they do best - conservethe land and pass it on, enriched and enhanced, to future generations.
While promising to modernize farm programs, the Clinton Administrationinstead advanced failed "New Deal" policies. Throughout the ensuingdebate, they fought every effort by Congress to get the hand of governmentout of agriculture. Finally, having agreed to "Freedom to Farm,"Bill Clinton is threatening to repeal this historic legislation, undercuttinglong-term planning by farmers across the country.
In contrast, "Freedom to Farm" ends the command-and-controlpolicies that have choked the entrepreneurial spirit of rural America. "Freedomto Farm" permits experimentation with new crops and new markets, justin time to meet an explosion in worldwide demand for food, fiber, fuelsand industrial products. We reaffirm our historical and continuing supportfor the expanded use of biodiesel and ethanol to improve the rural economyand reduce our dependence on imported oil.
Experts predict the need for U.S. producers to triple their output overthe next 40 years. "Freedom to Farm" positions them to meet thechallenge of feeding a hungry and troubled world.
While "Freedom to Farm" greatly reduced USDA paperwork imposedon farmers, much remains to be done to reduce the regulations that add about$6,000 per farm per year to the cost of farming. Our extensive program ofregulatory reform is explained elsewhere in this platform.
Republicans worked hard for and applaud the repeal of the Delaney Clauseand the reform of food safety laws. These changes allow a responsible approachtoward crop production and ensure the quality of the Nation's food supply,with special protections for our children.
We reaffirm the Republican Party's historic commitment to agriculturalprogress through research and education, starting with the system of landgrant colleges established in 1862. For the new century, as in the daysof Lincoln, farming must look ahead to innovation and constant improvement,especially biotechnology and precision farming techniques.
RESTORING AMERICAN WORLD LEADERSHIP
"It's time to restore American leadership throughout the world.Our future security depends on American leadership that is respected, Americanleadership that is trusted, and when necessary, American leadership thatis feared." Bob Dole
We are the party of peace through strength. Republicans put the interestsof our country over those of other nations - and of the United Nations.We believe the safety and prosperity of the American home and workplacedepend upon ensuring our national security in a dangerous world. This principlewas proven in our long struggle against Communism, and - as recent eventshave tragically shown - it is still true today. The gains we made for democracyaround the world under two Republican presidents are now imperiled by arudderless foreign policy. We vigorously support restoring the promotionof democracy worldwide as a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy. Democracyis the best guarantor of peace and will ensure greater respect for fundamentalhuman rights and the rule of law.
The international situation - and our country's security against thepurveyors of evil - has worsened over the last three and a half years. Today,Russia's democratic future is more uncertain than at any time since thehammer and sickle was torn from the Kremlin towers. With impunity, FidelCastro has shot American citizens out of the skies over international waters.North Korea has won unprecedented concessions regarding its nuclear capabilityfrom the Clinton Administration. Much of Africa has dissolved in tragedy- Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, Liberia. The Clinton Administration objectedto lifting the arms embargo on Bosnia while it facilitated the flow of Iranianweapons to that country. Bill Clinton made tough campaign pledges on Chinabut subsequently failed in his attempt to bluff the Chinese government -diminishing American prestige while not addressing the serious issues ofhuman rights, regional stability, and nuclear proliferation. Bill Clinton'sweakness, indecision, and double-talk, have undermined America's role asleader of the free world.
In 1996, the nation's choice is clear: either we return responsible leadershipto the White House , or Bill Clinton's lack of international purpose resultsin catastrophe. We must keep our country strong and sovereign, and assertthe interests and values of the United States in the international arena.
The Atlantic Alliance and Europe
"Let us begin by reaffirming that Europe's security is indispensableto the security of the United States, and that American leadership is absolutelyindispensable to the security of Europe." - Bob Dole, June 25, 1996
The Atlantic Alliance: Our relations with the nations of Europe mustcontinue to be based on the NATO alliance, which remains the worlds' strongestbulwark of freedom and international stability. Our policy will strive toconsolidate our Cold War victory in Europe and to build a firm foundationfor a new century of peace. In the same spirit that Ronald Reagan calledfor the integration of Spain into the NATO alliance, we call for the immediateexpansion of the framework for peace to include those countries of CentralEurope which demonstrate the strongest commitment to the democratic idealsNATO was created to protect.
With the people of Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary we have specialbonds. These nations - and others - are rightfully part of the future ofEurope. As Bob Dole said, "It is an outrage that the patriots who threwoff the chains of Soviet bondage have been told by Bill Clinton that theymust wait to join the NATO alliance." We strongly endorse Bob Dole'scall for Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary to enter NATO by 1998.
Bosnia: We support America's men and women in uniform who are servingin Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, we did not support the ill-conceivedand inconsistent policies that led to their deployment. In 1992, candidateBill Clinton pledged to lift the arms embargo on Bosnia, but once in officehe ignored his promises. For three years, Bill Clinton upheld the illegaland unjust arms embargo on Bosnia and allowed genocidal aggression to govirtually unchallenged, while Bob Dole successfully led the effort in theCongress to lift the U.S. arms embargo. Once again, Bill Clinton subordinatedAmerican national interests to the United Nations in vetoing bipartisanlegislation that would have lifted the U.S. arms embargo and rendered thedeployment of American forces unnecessary. At the same time Bill Clintonwas opposing congressional efforts to lift the arms embargo, he made a secretdecision to allow the terrorist Iranian regime to supply arms to Bosnia.This duplicitous policy has endangered U.S. and Allied forces and givenIran a foothold in Europe.
We look forward to a timely withdrawal of U.S. forces from Bosnia andrecognize that providing the Bosnian Federation with adequate weapons andtraining is the only realistic exit strategy. We support the democraticprocess in Bosnia and, when conditions exist, the conduct of free and fairelections. We support bringing indicted war criminals to justice. We encouragethe peoples of the region - and in particular those of Croatia, Bosnia andHerzegovina, and Serbia and Montenegro - to play a constructive role infostering peace and stability there. We note with concern that repressionand human rights abuses are escalating in Kosova and support the appointmentof a U.S. special envoy to help resolve the situation there.
Russia: We salute the people of Russia in their quest for democracy anda free market economy. During this crucial period, the Clinton Administrationhas pursued an accommodationist and misguided policy toward Moscow. BillClinton's comparison of Russia's extreme brutality in Chechnya to the AmericanCivil War is offensive. The Clinton Administration's passivity in the faceof Russia's intimidation and economic blackmail against countries of theformer Soviet Union has encouraged the rise of extreme nationalist and undemocraticforces. Its willingness to accept Russian changes to already agreed-to armscontrol treaties has undermined security. Its complacency over Russia'ssale of nuclear technology to Iran and Cuba has contributed to the threatof nuclear proliferation.
Our foreign policy toward Russia should put American interests firstand consolidate our Cold War victory in Europe. We have a national interestin a security relationship with a democratic Russia. Specifically, we willencourage Russia to respect the sovereignty and independence of its neighbors;support a special security arrangement between Russia and NATO - but notMoscow's veto over NATO enlargement; support Russian entry to the G-7 afterits reforms have been achieved; and link U.S. assistance to Russian adherenceto international treaty obligations.
Newly Independent States: We reaffirm our party's historic commitmentto the independence of all former Captive Nations still recovering fromthe long night of Soviet Communism, especially Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia,Armenia, and Ukraine. We endorse Republican legislation to establish inWashington, D. C., funded by private contributions, an international memorialto the one hundred million victims of Communism.
Ireland: We support efforts to establish peace with justice in NorthernIreland through a peace process inclusive of all parties who reject violence.During this difficult period in Irish history, we encourage private U. S.investment in the North, fully consistent with the MacBride principles forfair employment, in order to address the systemic discriminatory practicesthat still exist, especially against Catholics, in the workplace and elsewhere.We call on all parties to renounce terrorism in the Northern Ireland conflict.
Cyprus: We encourage a peaceful settlement for Cyprus and respect byall parties for the wishes of the Cypriot people. Concerned about continuingtension in the Aegean Sea, we will maintain close ties to both Greece andTurkey and urge all parties to refrain from precipitous actions and assertionscontrary to legally established territorial arrangements.
Defending America Against Missile Attack
We face two scandalous situations. First, most Americans do not realizeour country has no defense against long-range missile attack. Second, thecurrent occupant of the Oval Office refuses to tell them of that danger.So we will.
This is the frightening truth: The United States provided the technologyto Israel to protect it from Iraqi missile attacks during the Persian GulfWar, but President Clinton refuses to provide the technology - technologythat is readily available - to the American people to protect our countryfrom the growing threat posed by long-range ballistic missiles. The StrategicDefense Initiative (SDI) of the last two Republican administrations hasbeen dismantled by Bill Clinton, who - contrary to the national securityinterests of the United States - clings to the obsolete Cold War ABM Treaty.Clinton slashed the funding budgeted by past presidents for missile defenseand even violates the law by slowing down critical theater missile defenses.He has pursued negotiations to actually expand the outdated ABM Treaty,further tying America's hands, and hobbling our self defense. He now seeksnew limitations that will hinder the United States from developing and deployingeven theater ballistic missile defenses to protect our troops abroad.
In a peaceful world, such limitations would be imprudent. In today'sworld, they are immoral. The danger of a missile attack with nuclear, chemical,or biological weapons is the most serious threat to our national security.Communist China has mocked our vulnerability by threatening to attack LosAngeles if we stand by our historic commitment to the Republic of Chinaon Taiwan. We are vulnerable to blackmail - nuclear or otherwise - froma host of terrorist states that are now trying to acquire the instrumentsof doom. In the face of those dangers, Bill Clinton has ignored his responsibilities.In the most egregious instance, he directed that a National IntelligenceEstimate focus only on the missile threat to the continental United States,deliberately ignoring the near-term menace posed to Alaska and Hawaii bylong-range missiles now being developed or otherwise acquired by the Communistswho rule North Korea.
America will be increasingly threatened by long-range ballistic missilesin the near future, but there also exists today a more immediate threatfrom the proliferation of shorter-range, or "theater" missiles.Bill Clinton says that theater missile defense (TMD) is a top priority ofhis administration, yet refuses to provide adequate funding for our mostpromising and effective TMD programs. For example, not only has he recentlycut funding by 40% for the Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) program,but he has also failed to request sufficient funds to develop and deploythe Navy Upper Tier system. Republicans will fully fund and deploy theseand other TMD systems to protect American troops and vital interests abroad.
The Republican Party is committed to the protection of all Americans- including our two million citizens in Alaska and Hawaii - against missileattack. We are determined to deploy land-based and sea-based theater missiledefenses as soon as possible, and a national system thereafter. We willnot permit the mistakes of past diplomacy, based on the immoral conceptof Mutual Assured Destruction, to imperil the safety of our nation, ourArmed Forces abroad, and our allies. Arms control will be a means to enhanceAmerican national security, not an end in itself. We therefore endorse theDefend America Act of 1996, introduced by Senator Bob Dole which calls fora national missile defense system for all fifty States by the year 2003.
To cope with the threat of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,the United States will have to deter the threat or use of weapons of massdestruction by rogue states. This in turn will require the continuing maintenanceand development of nuclear weapons and their periodic testing. The ClintonAdministration's proposed Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) is inconsistentwith American security interests.
Rebuilding America's Strength
Republicans are committed to ensuring the status of the United Statesas the world's preeminent military power. We must reverse the decline inwhat our nation spends for defense. In just three and a half years, an amateurapproach to military matters and dramatic reductions in defense spendingunder the Clinton Administration have had a serious negative impact on thereadiness and capabilities of our armed forces. In 1994, three of the Army'sprimary combat divisions reported unacceptably low levels of readiness,and all forward-deployed Army divisions reported below par readiness ratings.Not since the "Hollow Army" days of Jimmy Carter have Army readinesslevels been so low. Funding shortfalls and shortages of spare parts andmunitions are limiting training opportunities and thus the combat readinessof our forces. At the same time, Bill Clinton's peacekeeping operationsand other global ventures have increased the operational demands on thelimited forces available, extended the duration of their deployments, andput immense strains on service members and their families - without anydiscernible benefit to U.S. national security.
Republicans faced a similar situation with a deteriorating military in1981, but then two Republican presidents turned things around and restoredAmerica's world leadership. We must do it again, and quickly. The All-Volunteerforce is composed of the finest military personnel in the world today. Theseoutstanding men and women deserve a civilian leadership committed to providingthem with the resources, technology, and equipment they need to safely andsuccessfully perform their missions. They deserve nothing but the best fromthe people they protect.
We recognize that today's military research and development, as wellas procurement, is tomorrow's readiness. We are committed to readiness notjust today, but also tomorrow. Bill Clinton has decimated our research anddevelopment effort, and slashed procurement for our armed forces. Not since1950 have we spent so little on new weapons for our military. Fortunately,the Republican Congress has restored some of the funding Bill Clinton soughtto cut for research and development and for procurement. Only a Commander-in-Chiefwho fully understands and respects the military can rebuild America's defensecapabilities.
The Clinton Administration's own inadequate defense "strategy"has been underfunded. The mismatch between strategy, forces, and resourcesposes an enormous potential risk to America's military personnel and vitalinterests. This mismatch must be resolved now, before regional crises eruptand find our nation unprepared. A Republican president will immediatelyconduct a thorough review that will require resources and programs to beredirected according to goals set by the President instead by the bureaucracy.
Money alone is not the answer. It must be spent the right way, with long-termefficiencies in mind. We call for reductions in the overhead and infrastructureof the Defense Department and successful demonstrations of weapons and equipmentprior to full scale purchases. Budgetary decisions must be made with aneye to preserving the nation's defense industrial base, accelerating procurementof key military and dual-use technologies, incorporating emerging technologiesinto military operations, and maintaining an adequate, safe and reliablecapability in nuclear weapons.
Only a Republican president and a Republican Congress can fulfill theseduties.
Protecting American Interests
We scorn the Clintonite view that soon "nationhood as we know itwill be obsolete; all states will recognize a single global authority."This is nonsense, but it explains why the Democrat Administration has lurchedfrom one foreign policy fiasco to the next - and why Bill Clinton vetoedthe first legislative restructuring of America's diplomatic institutionsin a half century. A Republican president will reform the Department ofState to ensure that America's interests always come first.
Republicans will not subordinate United States sovereignty to any internationalauthority. We oppose the commitment of American troops to U.N. "peacekeeping"operations under foreign commanders and will never compel American servicemento wear foreign uniforms or insignia. We will insist on an end to waste,mismanagement, and fraud at the United Nations. We will ensure Americaninterests are pursued and defended at the United Nations, will not tolerateany international taxation by the organization, nor will we permit any internationalcourt to seize, try, or punish American citizens. Before his departure fromthe Senate, Bob Dole introduced legislation prohibiting U.S. payments tothe United Nations and any of its agencies if they attempt to implementglobal taxes. We support the passage of the Prohibition on United NationsTaxation Act of 1996 to preserve America's sovereignty and the Americantaxpayer's right to taxation with representation.
A Republican president will withdraw from Senate consideration any pendinginternational conventions or treaties that erode the constitutional foundationsof our Republic and will neither negotiate nor submit such agreements inthe future. We will ensure that our future relations with internationalorganizations not infringe upon either the sovereignty of the United Statesor the earnings of the American taxpayer.
American citizens must retain ownership of their private property, andmust maintain full control of our national and state parks, without internationalinterference.
International Terrorism
Terrorist states have made a comeback during Bill Clinton's Administration.He has treated their rulers with undue respect and failed to curb theiracquisition of weapons of mass destruction. Although congressional Republicanspassed anti-terrorism legislation earlier this year, the Clinton Administrationhas not implemented many key provisions of the law. It has not been usedto freeze terrorists' assets, deny terrorists' visas, cut off foreign aidto supporters of terrorist states, or halt terrorist fundraising in theUnited States. The Clinton Administration has not implemented the anti terroristresearch program established and funded by Congress in the 1990 AviationSecurity Act.
A Republican president will forcefully lead the world community to isolateand punish state sponsors of terrorism. It is vital to our security thatwe actively work to reverse the threat posed by these regimes - throughimposition and enforcement of sanctions, banning investment, and leadingour allies in effective policies. The governments of North Korea, Iran,Syria, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, and Cuba must know that America's first lineof defense is not our shoreline, but their own borders. We will be proactive,not reactive, to strike the hand of terrorism before it can be raised againstAmericans.
We denounce terrorist attacks made on American citizens at home or abroad.We must take all legitimate steps to swiftly apprehend and severely punishpersons committing terrorists acts. However, we must also denounce any attemptsto deprive law-abiding citizens of their God-given, constitutionally-protectedrights while fighting terrorism. To take away the liberty of the Americanpeople while fighting terrorism is repugnant to the history and characterof our nation. We firmly oppose any legislation that would infringe uponthe rights of American citizens to freedom of religion, speech, press, andassembly; the right to keep and bear arms; and the right to judicial dueprocess.
Africa
We support those U. S. aid programs to Africa which have proven recordsof success, especially the Child Survival Program of vitamins, immunizations,sanitation, and oral rehydration. We hail the social and economic progressof those nations which have used the free market to liberate the talentand striving of their people. They deserve our attention, but our outreachmust be on a case by-case basis. Our hope for the future of South Africa,for example, stands in contrast with the military rule now imposed on Nigeria,the continent's most populous country.
The Republican Party's commitment to freedom and human rights in Africais as old as the establishment of the Republic of Liberia. Today, the tragicfate of that small nation symbolizes the larger tragedy that has befallenmuch of the continent. The Clinton Administration's dismal performance inSomalia, resulting in needless American deaths, set the stage for internationalpassivity in the face of genocide in Rwanda and Burundi. The Clinton Administrationhas even failed to rally the world against the slave trade sponsored bythe government of the Sudan, whose persecution of Sudanese Christians andothers is nothing short of genocide. A Republican president will not toleratethis unconscionable treatment of children and women.
Asia
Bill Clinton's foreign policy failures loom large in Asia. Four yearsago, most of that continent was rushing toward democratic reform. Todayit threatens to slip backwards into conflict and repression. A RepublicanAdministration will keep the mutual security treaties with Japan and withthe Republic of Korea as the foundation of our role in the region. We willhalt Bill Clinton's efforts to appease North Korea by rewarding treaty-breakingwith American taxpayer-financed oil and nuclear reactors. We will make furtherimprovement of relations with Vietnam and North Korea contingent upon theircooperation in achieving a full and complete accounting of our POW's andMIA's from those Asian conflicts.
China and Taiwan: We support the aspiration of the Chinese people forboth economic and political liberty, which includes respect for the humanrights of the people of Tibet. Our relationship with the Chinese governmentwill be based on vigilance with regard to its military potential, proliferationactivities, and its attitude toward human rights, especially in Hong Kong.The Taiwan Relations Act must remain the basis for our relations with theRepublic of China on Taiwan. We reaffirm our commitment to Taiwan's securityand will regard any threat to alter its status by force as a threat to ourown security interests. We will make available to Taiwan the material itneeds for self-defense, particularly theater missile defense and coastalpatrol submarines. In recognition of its growing importance in the globaleconomy, we support a larger role for Taiwan in international organizations.
Philippines: We reaffirm our historic friendship with the Philippinepeople, which has endured through changing circumstances.
The Middle East
Peace through strength continues to be central in the Middle East. SaddamHussein reminded us just five years ago of the potential for aggressionby radical states in this region. Republicans understand the importanceof maintaining a robust U.S. military capability in the Eastern Mediterraneanand the Persian Gulf, cooperating with our allies to ensure regional stability.Republicans also understand the need to be willing to use force to deteraggression and, where deterrence fails, to defeat it. That is why Republicanswere the bedrock of support for the congressional vote to authorize theuse of force against Iraq's aggression in 1991, while most Democrats votedagainst Operation Desert Storm.
The Middle East remains a region vital to American security. Our enduringgoals there are to promote freedom and stability, secure access to oil resources,and maintain the security of Israel, our one democratic ally in the regionwith whom we share moral bonds and common strategic interests. Most of theworld's oil exports flow from the Middle East, and thus its strategic significanceremains. But it is still the most volatile region in the world. Islamicradicalism, increasing terrorism, and rogue states like Iran, Iraq, Syria,and Libya threaten regional and international stability.
In this environment, Israel's demonstrated strategic importance to theU.S. as our most reliable and capable ally in this part of the world ismore critical than ever. That is why Israel's security is central to U.S.interests in the region. That is why Republican Administrations initiatedefforts with Israel to pre-position military equipment, to conduct jointcontingency planning and joint military exercises. That is why we advocatecontinuing cooperation on the Arrow Missile, boost phase intercept, andthe Nautilus programs. That is why we look toward the greater integrationof Israel into our regional defense planning and wish to explore ways toenhance our strategic cooperation. That is why we have continued to supportfull funding for aid to Israel despite cuts in the foreign assistance budget,and why we applaud the country's commitment toward economic self-sufficiency.
We reaffirm that Republican commitment to maintain Israel's qualitativemilitary advantage over any adversary or group of adversaries. While wefully support Israel's efforts to find peace and security with its neighbors,we will judge the peace process by the security it generates both for Israeland for the United States. In that context, we support Israel's right tomake its own decisions regarding security and boundaries. We strongly opposethe Clinton Administration's attempts to interfere in Israel's democraticprocess.
We applaud the Republican Congress for enacting legislation to recognizeJerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel. A Republican administrationwill ensure that the U.S. Embassy is moved to Jerusalem by May 1999.
We honor the memory of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and expressour support for the new government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.We applaud those leaders in the Arab world, President Mubarak and King Hussein,who have spoken courageously and acted boldly for the cause of peace. Weendorse continued assistance and support for countries which have made peacewith Israel - led by Egypt and later joined by Jordan. Republican leadershipwill support others who follow their example, while isolating terroriststates until they are fit to rejoin the community of nations.
Western Hemisphere
The U.S. commitment to democratic institutions and market economies inthe Western Hemisphere has paralleled our enduring interest in the securityof the region, as laid out in the Monroe Doctrine. The success of Republicannational security policies in the 1980s halted Soviet imperialism and promotedthe process of economic and political reform in Latin America - defeatingtotalitarianism of the right and of the left. During the last decade anda half, Latin American countries have made enormous progress developingdemocratic institutions. We applaud their progress and offer our assistanceto further expand and deepen democratic conditions in the region.
Hemispheric progress toward free and democratic societies has stalledduring the Clinton Administration. A government bought and paid for by drugtraffickers holds power in Colombia. Mexico - with whom we share hundredsof miles of border - is increasingly tainted by narcotics related corruptionat all levels of society. Similarly, there are signs of backsliding on democracyin Latin America, most notably in Paraguay, where a coup was narrowly avertedearlier this year.
We call for a new partnership among the democratic nations of the WesternHemisphere to protect our hard-won victories against dictatorial government.This new partnership must address the most recent and dangerous threat tothe hemisphere - narcotics traffickers and their trade. The emergence ofthe Western Hemisphere as an area - apart from Cuba - which shares our idealsof economic and political liberty must also mean close cooperation withthe United States on a range of security issues. The Clinton Administration'spolicy of denying most Latin American nations the opportunity to replacetheir obsolescent military equipment, raise the professional competenceof their armed forces, and cooperate fully with the United States in jointmilitary training and exercises will be reversed by a Republican Administration.
We cherish our special relationship with the people of Mexico and Canada.In a spirit of mutual respect, we believe the forthright discussion of economicand social issues that may divide us is in the best interest of all threenations.
Bill Clinton's outreach to Castro has only delayed the emergence of "CubaLibre," extending the duration of Communist tyranny. The RepublicanParty has not wavered and will not waver in its goal of a democratic Cuba.We affirm our policy of isolating the Castro regime, including full implementationof the Helms-Burton Act to penalize foreign firms which do business there.
Bill Clinton's awkward and misguided intervention in Haiti has cost Americantaxpayers some $3 billion and risked the lives of American military personnelfor a less than vital interest. We reject Clinton administration claimsof "success" in its military intervention in Haiti. Human rightsabuses by government forces go unpunished, promised economic reforms havenot been made, and the democratic process is deeply flawed.
Security and Foreign Assistance
America is and must remain the leader of the world. We did not win theCold War without allies and friends, and we hope to face future challengeswith them. Our country should not bear world burdens alone. Providing friendlynations with access to U.S. defense equipment can protect American securityinterests abroad and reduce the likelihood that American forces will haveto be directly engaged in military conflict. The Clinton Administrationhas been blind to that wisdom.
We have seen the result in Bosnia, where American ground forces havebeen deployed because the Clinton Administration denied Bosnia the opportunityto acquire defense equipment in the United States.
The Clinton administration has diverted aid from our friends to supportU.N. operations and social welfare spending in the Third World. CongressionalRepublicans have done all they could to resist this folly. Only a Republicanpresident can put an end to it.
The Clinton administration's failure to couple American interests abroadwith foreign aid has produced wasteful spending and has presented an impedimentto achieving a balanced budget. A Republican administration will ensureforeign aid is cost-effective and based on its important role in directlypromoting American national interests.
Protecting America's Technological Edge
American scientific and industrial leadership is one of the criticalfactors sustaining American security. Our technological edge is at risknot only because of the Clinton Administration's refusal to sustain an adequateinvestment in defense modernization, but also its virtual abandonment ofnational security-related export controls. Acquisition of technology byaspiring proliferators of weapons of mass destruction has been irresponsiblyfacilitated. A Republican Administration will protect the American technologicaledge. It will do so by expanding investment in defense modernization, ensuringthat the Defense Department has a key role in approving exports of militarilycritical technology, and restoring the effectiveness of export control regimes.
The Men and Women of Defense
As Commander-in-Chief, Bill Clinton has been out of touch with the needsof the troops under his command. Bob Dole has served in the military andwill protect military families against inflation, restore appropriate fundinglevels for billets and family housing, and ensure an environment where promotionsand awards are made on the basis of military merit. A Republican presidentwho has been on active duty will not casually disrupt military family lifeby sending troops on non-military missions around the world.
We have a solemn obligation to those who fight for America. Our militarypersonnel should not be denied a cost of living increase, as Bill Clintonproposed in his first year in office. A Republican president will ensurea high priority for the quality of life of our military personnel and theirfamilies.
We will maintain the All-Volunteer force and will resist attempts tobring back the draft, whether directly or through Democrat schemes for compulsorynational service. We will maintain our Armed Forces as a meritocracy, amodel for the rest of our society, without special preferences or doublestandards for any group.
We salute the men and women of the National Guard and Reserve, citizensoldiers who have been - and must continue to be - a tradition in America.They perform important military functions as an integral part of our warfightingcapability, and provide a critical link between our national security effortsand every community in the country. Our National Guard and Reserve forcesmust not be treated as an afterthought.
We oppose Bill Clinton's assault on the culture and traditions of theArmed Forces, especially his attempt to lift the ban on homosexuals in themilitary. We affirm that homosexuality is incompatible with military service.
We support the advancement of women in the military. We reaffirm oursupport for the exemption of women from ground combat units and are concernedabout the current policy of involuntarily assigning women to combat or near-combatunits. A Republican president will continue to reevaluate and revise, asnecessary, current policies in light of evidence with regard to the effecton military morale, discipline, and overall readiness. We will not toleratesexual harassment or misconduct toward anyone in the uniform, but we opposepolitically motivated witch-hunts that smear the innocent and destroy honorablecareers. To promote the dignity of all members of the Armed Forces and theirfamilies, we endorse the efforts of congressional Republicans to halt thesale, in military facilities, of pornographic materials.
We deplore Bill Clinton's shameless attempt to use protections affordedactive duty military personnel under the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil ReliefAct of 1940 to protect himself from a sexual harassment lawsuit. We willamend the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940 to make clearthat its protection against civil suits while on active duty does not extendto the occupant of the Oval Office.
The Republican Party has always been the advocate of the nation's veteransand remains unequivocally committed to the faithful fulfillment of America'sobligations to them. We have no greater duty than providing for the courageousmen and women who have risked their lives in defense of our country, a majorreason why we defeated Bill Clinton's plan to replace veterans' health carewith socialized medicine. We will continue to meet the nation's promisesto those who make the military their career. That is why Republicans proposedand created a separate Department of Veterans Affairs, support veterans'preference in federal employment education and retraining programs, andpledge sufficient funding for veterans' hospitals, medical care, and employmentprograms.
Intelligence
The intelligence community should be our first line of defense againstterrorism, drug trafficking, nuclear proliferation, and foreign espionage.Bill Clinton's neglect of our country's intelligence service is one of hismost serious sins of omission. He has underfunded, misutilized, and marginalizedcritical intelligence missions and capabilities. No wonder his first appointeeas Director of Central Intelligence has endorsed Bob Dole. The nation'ssecurity - and the personal safety of our citizens - cannot be placed atrisk.
Effective intelligence can be expensive. But what it costs is measuredin dollars rather than lives - an important lesson of the Gulf War. A RepublicanAdministration will reverse the decline in funding for intelligence personneland operations while better managing the development of futuristic capabilities.We will not constrain U.S. intelligence personnel with "politicallycorrect" standards that impede their ability to collect and act onintelligence information. We will conduct whatever intelligence operationsare necessary to safeguard American lives against the terrorists who bombour airplanes and buildings.
Space
The Republican Party led America into space and remains committed toits exploration and mastery. We consider space travel and space sciencea national priority with virtually unlimited benefits, in areas rangingfrom medicine to micro-machinery, for those on earth. Development of spacewill give us a growing economic resource and a source of new scientificdiscoveries. We look toward our country's return to the moon and to completionof the International Space Station, not just as a unique orbiting laboratorybut also a framework for world cooperation in pursuit of expanding humanknowledge.
Those and other ventures require leadership now lacking at the WhiteHouse. The Democrat Party approaches space issues with a confined visionand misplaced appropriations, encouraging inefficient investments and porkbarrel spending. Bill Clinton gives lip service to our space program butdenies it crucial resources. A Republican president and a Republican Congresswill work together to make space an American frontier again. We will developthe Reusable Launch Vehicle, promote markets for commercial space launchservices, and push technology to its creative limits. Commercial space developmentholds the key to expanding our aerospace industry and strengthening ourtechnology base, but it can be promoted only by removing unnecessary andartificial regulatory, legal, and tax barriers.
Space exploration and exploitation are a matter of national security.Our Armed Forces already rely on space assets to support their operationson earth, and space technology will rapidly become more critical to successfulmilitary operations. Space is the ocean of tomorrow, and we cannot allowits domination by another power. We must ensure that America can work andprosper there, securely and without outside influence. A new Republicanteam will secure the high frontier for peace on earth and for unlimitedhuman opportunity.
The Goal is Freedom
America stands on the brink of a new century. After victory in the "longtwilight struggle" against Soviet Communism, Americans can feel justifiablyproud of the role they played in defeating history's most corrupt and predatoryempire. The end of the Cold War has not spelled the end of history, butit has instead unleashed forces contained for nearly fifty years of superpowerconfrontation. Today America faces new challenges and new threats to ourvital interests which can only be protected by our continued engagementin the world. Our nation must resist the temptation to turn inward and neglectthe exercise of American leadership and our proper role in the world. Willthe 21st Century confer new opportunities and new benefits on America, orwill it prove to be an era of weakness and decline? This will depend onwhether we have a strong, decisive leader like Bob Dole who will protectAmericans at home and abroad and vigorously pursue the nation's interestsaround the globe.
The U.S. Constitution, the finest document for human governance everdevised, establishes the mission of providing for the common defense asa chief purpose of the federal government, in order to secure the blessingsof liberty for ourselves and our posterity. The president's primary constitutionalduty and most sacred responsibility is the role of Commander-in-Chief. Aboveall else, he must be able to ensure that the American people and our interestsare defended. That requires strong, combat ready military forces and a soundforeign policy. If the President fails in this office, then America's freedom,independence, and prosperity will be jeopardized, and all other issues -domestic and economic - become moot.
The bravery, skill, and sacrifice of America's fighting forces; the dedication,industry, and ingenuity of the American people; the superiority of U.S.technology; and the abundance of America's wealth and resources are sufficientto overcome any foreign threat or challenge. But these gifts are cause forgratitude and humility, not complacency. And these national treasures canbe used to safeguard the nation effectively in a time of volatile changeonly if genuine leadership, wisdom, discernment, courage, and honor arepresent in the Commander-in-Chief and in the officials he or she appointsto critical national security posts. With such a president at the helm,America will know a new birth of freedom, security, and prosperity. Andthis nation, and the benefits it has bestowed upon mankind throughout ourhistory, shall not perish from the earth.
Conclusion
As we begin a new era and a new millennium, we deem it essential to reaffirmthe truths of the Declaration of Independence:
That all men are created equal;
That they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;
That government derives its just powers only from the consent of thegoverned.
We close this platform with the wisdom of our forefathers who had the courageto set their names to the Declaration of Independence as they too begana new era. Like them, we appeal to the Supreme Judge of the world for therectitude of our intentions. With a firm reliance on the protection of DivineProvidence, we pledge to each other and to the American people an unfalteringcommitment to restore to America a deep respect for the values of humanfreedom.