Chris Dodd on Families & Children Democratic Sr Senator (CT)

Authored the Family Medical Leave Act

Allow same sex couples to adopt & immigrate

A: Support.

Q: Would you support enabling an American citizen to petition for immigration sponsorship for a same sex partner, and treating opposite and same sex couples in the same manner under the immigration code?

A: Support.

Proudest of authoring the Family and Medical Leave Act

A: While hope and confidence and optimism are clearly very important, I think experience matters a great deal--the experience people bring to their candidacy; the bold ideas that they’ve championed over the years. I’m very proud of the fact that, over my 26 years in the Senate, I’ve authored landmark legislation, the Family and Medical Leave Act, child care legislation, reform of financial institutions. What’s missing, more than anything else right now, is the ability to bring people together to get the job done.

Q: But if someone really wants a change, are you the guy to give it to them?

A: I think they ought to look back. If you want to get a good idea of where someone is going to lead or how they’re going to lead, I think it’s very appropriate to say, “What have you done? Show me. Demonstrate to me the ability to get these things done that you’ve championed in the past.”

Add illness leave to Family and Medical Leave Act

Voted YES on killing restrictions on violent videos to minors.

Rated 0% by the Christian Coalition: an anti-family voting record.

The Christian Coalition was founded in 1989 by Dr. Pat Robertson to give Christians a voice in government. We represent millions of people of faith and enable them to have a strong, unified voice in the conversation we call democracy.

Our Five-Fold Mission:
1. Represent the pro-family point of view before local councils, school boards, state legislatures, and Congress
2. Speak out in the public arena and in the media
3. Train leaders for effective social and political action
4. Inform pro-family voters about timely issues and legislation
5. Protest anti-Christian bigotry and defend the rights of people of faith.

Call for a White House Conference on Children and Youth.

The White House Conference on Children and Youth in 2010 Act - Directs the President to call a White House Conference on Children and Youth in 2010 to: (1) encourage improvements in each state and local child welfare system; and (2) develop recommendations for actions to implement express policy regarding federal, state, and local programs. The Congress finds the following:

1. In 2005 there were over 3,000,000 reports of child abuse and neglect, and only 60% of the children from the substantiated reports received follow-up services and 20% were placed in foster care as a result of an investigation.
2. Almost 500,000 children and youth were in foster care at the end of 2004 and nearly 800,000 spent at least some time in foster care throughout the year.
3. There is an over-representation of certain populations, including Native Americans and African-Americans, in the child welfare system.
4. The State courts make key decisions in the lives of children involved in the child welfare system, including decisions of whether children have been victims of child abuse, whether parental rights should be terminated, and whether children should be reunified with their families, adopted, or placed in other settings.

Sex Ed including both abstinence and contraception.

Authorizes grants to states for sex education programs, including education on abstinence and contraception, to prevent teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Expresses the sense of Congress that states are encouraged, although not required, to provide matching funds to receive such grants.

Requires the Secretary to provide for a national evaluation of a representative sample of such programs for effectiveness in delaying the initiation of sexual intercourse and other high-risk behaviors, preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease, and increasing contraceptive knowledge and behavior. Requires states receiving such grants to provide for an individual evaluation of the state's program by an external, independent entity.