Chris Dodd in 2007 Democratic primary debate at Drexel
On Education:
Named “Senator of the Decade” by the Head Start Association
I’m proud to have been named “Senator of the Decade” by the Head Start Association. All the ideas being advocating in early childhood education are critical. The federal government needs to be a better partner in all this, not take away control locally.
A child’s quality of education shouldn’t depend on the accident of birth, and that’s what happens too often. We need to make the kind of investments jointly with our local communities. Higher education community colleges need to be more tuition-free.
Source: 2007 Democratic debate at Drexel University
Oct 30, 2007
On Energy & Oil:
Propose a gasoline rebate and move to energy independence
I offered to provide a direct rebate to consumers across the country to reduce the cost with these increases in the price of a barrel of oil. That would provide some immediate relief, with low-income energy assistance and other programs, to those who are
going to be in desperate conditions. The longer-term answer is obviously to stop what we do every single day and that is borrow $1 billion every single day to buy foreign oil offshore here. We ought to moving more directly to energy independence.
Source: 2007 Democratic debate at Drexel University
Oct 30, 2007
On Foreign Policy:
Pakistan is a more immediate problem than Iran
Q: Would you pledge that Iran will not develop a nuclear bomb while you are president?A: Here’s a deeper question here, because not only the pledge you make, but this audience and others here make a determination which of us here have the experience,
the background here to manage the situation. It’s a critical question. The problem’s not only the Middle East. What’s going on in the Far East, and in Latin America and elsewhere. The more immediate problem is Pakistan, the one that needs to be addressed
Source: 2007 Democratic debate at Drexel University
Oct 30, 2007
On Government Reform:
Reform the current system that locks up two million in jail
We’re locking up too many people in our system here today. We’ve got mandatory minimum sentences, they are filling our jails with people that don’t belong there. My idea is to decriminalize this, reduce that problem here.
We’ve gone from 800,000 to 2 million people, in our penal institutions in this country. We’ve got to get a lot smarter about this issue than we are. And as president, I’d try and achieve that.
Source: 2007 Democratic debate at Drexel University
Oct 30, 2007
On Health Care:
Address medical malpractice with universality
Providing some benefits to people who choose to go into that educational field and profession so we can attract them to work in areas that they are needed. There’s an answer to the medical malpractice issue. Part of a larger health care plan ought to be
a part of that as we consider universality and other elements here to make sure that this profession becomes one, where the cost of insurance, the cost of other items are not going to be so excessive that you’d be discouraged from going in that direction
Source: 2007 Democratic debate at Drexel University
Oct 30, 2007
On Immigration:
Driver’s licenses ought not be given to illegal immigrants
We need to have people come forward. The idea that we’re going to extend this privilege here of a driver’s license I think is troublesome. We need to deal with security on our borders. We need to deal with the attraction that draws people here.
We need to deal fairly with those who are here. But this is a privilege. Talk about health care, I have a different opinion. That affects the public health of all of us. But a license is a privilege, and that ought not to be extended, in my view.
Source: 2007 Democratic debate at Drexel University
Oct 30, 2007
On War & Peace:
A military action resolution on Iran is dangerous
We all learned that by voting for an authorization regarding Iraq, that despite the language of that resolution which called for diplomacy at the time, Bush used that resolution to pursue a very aggressive action in Iraq. What you didn’t learn back in
2002, you should’ve learned by now. You don’t just have to listen to this resolution. There’s been a series of drumbeats by Bush and Cheney and others, clearly pointing in a direction that would call for military action in Iran. It is a dangerous view.
Source: 2007 Democratic debate at Drexel University
Oct 30, 2007
Page last updated: Nov 30, 2018