Message of the Day from George W. Bush

www.GeorgeWBush.com GOVERNOR BUSH TRUSTS PARENTS Introduced new initiatives today to help preserve our children's childhood... Tuesday night's presidential debate reinforced the differences in philosophy between myself and Vice President Gore. At tonight's Vice Presidential debate, Secretary Cheney will have an opportunity to once again highlight this difference in philosophy. He will remind voters that Al Gore and Joe Lieberman trust Washington D.C. while he and I trust people. I announced new initiatives today that further emphasize this difference. I believe government has a responsibility to help parents cope with cultural influences that every day seem harder to control, and that those who shape our culture have a responsibility to meet parents' concerns. One of the biggest problems in our society today is that our children are being forced to grow up too soon. I believe no child should be left behind, and no child should be robbed of his or her childhood. My new initiatives, "Tools for Parents," are designed to prevent children from being robbed of their childhood by reforming education, reducing the influence of a culture that is sometimes harmful to children, and preventing drug abuse. I will help parents spend more time with their children by promoting tele-working and by allowing private sector employees to choose Compensatory Time. I will also reduce income taxes, cut the marriage penalty and double the child tax credit that takes, on average, the entire second income of a two-earner family. I propose giving parents the tools to protect children from harmful content on the Internet by requiring libraries and schools receiving federal funds to install filters on computers. To protect children from harmful content on television, I will work to re-establish nightly family programming on TV and challenge all broadcast and cable networks to adopt ratings that give parents meaningful information. I will help parents protect their children from obscenity and cyberstalking by renewing our commitment to enforcing laws. My administration will send clear signals, not mixed messages. We will speak for high standards, and hold to them ourselves. We will pursue practical policies that strengthen the hands of parents in childhood development.   (10/05/00)

Rebuttal from Al Gore: BUSH FOLLOWS GORE'S LEAD ON PLANS TO HELP STRENGTHEN FAMILIES Gore Fought for Family and Medical Leave and to Protect Children from Inappropriate Material George W. Bush is following the lead of Al Gore and the current Administration by proposing initiatives to help parents spend more time with their children and protect their children from inappropriate material. Gore fought for and would expand the Family and Medical Leave Act that has helped 20 million individuals meet important family needs without having to worry about losing their jobs. Gore has been a leader in the fight to protect children online and to give parents the tools to protect their children from inappropriate material on television and in movies. RHETORIC: "Help parents spend more time with their children by promoting tele-working and by allowing private sector employees to choose Compensatory Time." REALITY: Gore and the Administration have supported versions of this policy that include protections for workers, and Gore continues to lead efforts to help working Americans balance work and family. Gore and the current Administration Supported Numerous Proposals to Help Individuals Balance Work and Family; Including a Version of this Proposal that Protected Workers from Abuse. In 1993, the Administration signed the landmark Family and Medical Leave Act which has help 20 million individuals meet important family needs without having to worrying about losing their jobs. The Republican bill to allow employers to substitute comp time for overtime pay would have eliminated the 40-hour week and failed to guarantee employee choice or protection against employer abuse. The Administration supported the Baucus-Kerrey-Landrieu substitute because it met all of the Administration's key principles for comp time legislation: it protected employee choice, it protected against potential employer abuse, and it preserved the 40-hour week. [Fact Sheet on Democratic Comp Time Alternative; letter to Chairman Jeffords from Acting Labor Secretary Cynthia Metzler] Gore Fought for the Family and Medical Leave Act, and He Will Now Work to Expand It. Gore has proposed expanding the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to include businesses with more than 25 employees and to give 24 hours of additional time off for emergencies or school needs. Gore also believes that we need to consider ways to make it more affordable for parents to take time off after the birth or adoption of a child. The Act currently provides workers with up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a new baby or sick relative and became law under the current Administration. As a Senator, Gore co-sponsored an early version of the Act in 1987. Gore currently supports efforts to expand the Act so workers can take time off work for family activities including parent-teacher conferences. [LA Times, 6/25/96; Chattanooga Free Press, 6/24/96; S. 249; 100th Congress; www.whitehouse.gov; www.algore.com; Gore 2000 Policy] RHETORIC: Not allow OSHA to have jurisdiction over standards in home offices. REALITY: Administration Asked OSHA to Halt Its New Regulations on Workplace Safety. Recognizing the constraints that the new regulations would have on employers, the Administration asked the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to halt its new regulations on workplace safety earlier this year. [Wall Street Journal, January 6, 2000] RHETORIC: Establish nightly family television programming and challenge networks to adopt ratings that give parents meaningful information. REALITY: Gore has led efforts to promote voluntary ratings systems and educational programming. Gore Worked with Industry Leaders to Achieve a TV Rating System and Promote Family-Oriented Educational Programming. Al Gore led the administration's efforts to forge a voluntary TV ratings system with the major networks, as outlined in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The plan went into effect on October 1, 1997 and includes a system of content labels warning of violence, sex, offensive language and sexual dialogue to complement an earlier age-based system. The ratings work in conjunction with the V-chip to further empower parents to control what their children watch. One year after the system was created, over half of the parents surveyed in one study stated that they used it. In 1996, Al Gore worked with the television industry to encourage increased educational programming. The agreement that Gore helped achieve has made it easier for broadcasters to receive license renewals if they produce or air three hours of educational programming each week. [The Chicago Tribune, 7/30/96; Austin American Statesman, 5/28/98; Daily News (New York), 7/11/97; World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, 7/10/97; www.familyreunion.org] Gore Strongly Supported V-Chip Technology to Provide Families with Tools to Protect Children. Al Gore has supported V-chip technology to assist parents in controlling what their children watch on TV. Gore led the administration's efforts to pass the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which included a provision mandating the inclusion of the V-chip in new television sets. [The San Diego Union-Tribune, 3/3/96, The Hollywood Reporter, 6/11/97] RHETORIC: Help parents protect children from obscenity by enforcing laws and prosecuting more aggressively. REALITY: Gore and the Administration have increased child pornography prosecutions dramatically. Prosecution of Child Pornography Cases Are up under Gore and the Administration. In testimony before a House Subcommittee, Assistant Attorney General Gershel noted, "In the past five years, we have seen an increase in child pornography cases filed from 127 in fiscal year 1995 to 510 cases filed in FY 1999. We have seen similar increases in cases filed under statutes prohibiting using the internet to entice a child for illegal sexual activity, and traveling in interstate commerce for purposes of meeting a child for illegal sexual activity." [Statement by Alan Gershel, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, Department of Justice, before the Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade and Consumer Protection on 5/23/00] Administration Initiated "Innocent Images" Program to Focus on Sexual Exploitation of Children. Under Gore and the current Administration, the FBI initiated an innovative and proactive investigation, designated as "Innocent Images," to focus on the sexual exploitation of children through the Internet and on-line service. To combat the use of computer telecommunications by pedophiles and sexual predators, the FBI and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Department of Justice jointly developed an investigative and prosecutive strategy to identify subjects who originate, upload, or forward child pornography to other subscribers through the use of on-line service providers. [www.fbi.gov, Statement of FBI Director Louis J. Freeh, Senate Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary and Related Agencies, 4/8/97] RHETORIC: Require libraries and schools receiving federal funds to install filters on computers to make the Internet safer for children. REALITY: Gore has led efforts to make the Internet safe for children and families. Gore Worked to Make the Internet Safer for Children. On May 5th 1999, Vice President Al Gore announced a broad coalition of Internet companies and nonprofit organizations committed to create an easy to find and easy to use online resource that helps parents and caregivers keep kids from unwanted content and contact. In July 1999, the coalition launched GetNetWise.org - a website with new on-line tools to assist parents in making the Internet safer for their children. [AP, 7/29/99, 5/5/00] Gore will work to ensure the Internet is family-friendly. Gore believes we need to give parents the tools they need to protect children from inappropriate material on the Internet in a way that protects the Constitution and builds on industry self-regulation. Gore supports an approach that increases law enforcement resources to crack down on material on the Internet that is clearly illegal - such as child pornography and obscene material. Gives parents and teachers the tools they need - such as blocking and filtering software - so they can choose how best to prevent children from getting access to inappropriate material. Gore has also worked with industry to ensure that these tools are "one click away" from major web sites. Parents must play a role too. Gore believes that we must encourage parents to explore the Internet with their children, and make it easier for them to find the exciting educational content that is on the Internet. [www.algore.com; Gore 2000 Policy] Rebuttal from Howard Phillips: No Constitutional Authority The federal government has no constitutional authority to fund, regulate or control the education of our children. Governor Bush, you propose that the Federal government provide parents 'tools' to help parents 'cope' with negative cultural influences. What you don't apparently realize is that one of the worst cultural influences in our nation today is the intrusion into our private lives, the intrusion into the operation of our schools, the intrusion into our financial affairs and the extraction of our hard-earned personal financial resources by the Federal government. The single largest negative cultural influence in America is the intrusive and unaccountable Federal government. The American people already have the tool we need to deal with it -- the Constitution of the United States. If we were to enforce it, stop violating it, and get the federal government out of operating in areas where it has no lawful jurisdiction, the result would be nothing short of a rebirth of freedom for our nation. Local communities, parents, families, churches, etc. would then stand a much greater chance of successfully restoring the moral fabric of our society. Unfortunately your policy agenda was designed without any real regard for the limits the Constitution places on the federal government. One area where this is made patently obvious is in the area of education. Since Ronald Reagan, the Republican Party platform correctly stated that the federal government had no constitutional authority to fund or regulate education.In light of this, the GOP platform correctly called for the termination of the federal Department of Education. However, the Republican Party platform was changed at the most recent GOP convention to reflect your policy agenda that increases funding for the federal Department of Education. Click here to find out more about the Constitution Party