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Democrats
on Homeland Security:
- Implementation
of the Homeland Security Department
- Democrats have sought some civil-service protections for department
employees after the Homeland Security Act granted President
Bush broad authority to hire, fire, promote, discipline, and
block some union activities within the department.
- Leading Democrats, such as Tom Daschle and Hilary Clinton,
have pledged that they will seek to ensure funding for and coordination
with local and state first-responders.
- Democrats have accused the White House and GOP senators of
not properly funding the new department, after a $5 billion
increase was defeated in the Senate in January. Democratic leaders
plan to put forward a bill that includes new programs and funding
they say was left out of the Homeland Security Act passed in
the 107th Congress.
- Missile
defense
- The Democratic Party supports a "limited missile defense
system."
- Democrats object to President Bush's withdrawal from Anti
Ballistic Missile Treaty, which they see as "cornerstone
of global nuclear stability."
Democrats
on Iraq:
- Minority
Leader Tom Daschle believes President Bush must show there is
"compelling imminent danger to the United States"
before taking military action and must provide evidence to U.S.
citizens and the United Nations.
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Democrats contend that all diplomatic efforts must be exhausted
before force is used.
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Democrats have argued the United States should not act unilaterally.
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Democratic legislators have urged that inspectors be given sufficient
time to do their jobs.
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Democrats generally agree that Iraq must disarm.
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Sen. Daschle has said regime change should be a U.S. goal in
Iraq.
Democrats
on North Korea:
-
Some Democrats believe that President Bush exacerbated the problem
by saying North Korea was part of an "axis of evil"
and say the administration has sent inconsistent messages on
the issue.
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Democrats say the U.S. should work with China, Japan, and South
Korea to ensure that North Korea's nuclear capability is dismantled.
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Democrats argue for the need to assure North Korea that the
U.S. has no hostile intentions toward it.
Democrats
on War on Terrorism:
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Some Democrats have said that the Bush administration's focus
on Iraq may be distracting it from terrorist threats.
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Some Senate Democrats are organizing an effort to defeat a Pentagon
data-mining research project, "Total Awareness Information"
run by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and designed
to find ways to better identify terrorist threats, on the grounds
that it will violate Americans' right to privacy.
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Some House Democrats have called on the Justice Department to
suspend a program in which male immigrants from some Middle
Eastern countries are required to register with the Immigration
and Naturalization Service, claiming the program violates the
civil liberties of law-abiding immigrants and has led to the
unlawful detention of innocent men.
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