John Kerry on Homeland Security Jr Senator (MA), Democratic nominee for President

Sub-sections under Homeland Security:
• Anti-terrorism
• Bush Policy
• Voting Record
• Other issues under Homeland Security

Need the best intelligence and cooperation to make us safe

A: The Bush administration has told you and all of us it's not a question of if, it's a question of when. Between the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 or so, and the next time was 5 or 7 years. They people wait. They'll plan. They plot. I agree with Bush that we have to go after them and get them wherever they are. I just think I can do that far more effectively, because the most important weapon in doing that is intelligence. You got to have the best intelligence in the world. In order to have the best intelligence in the world to know who the terrorists are and where they are and what they're plotting, you've got to have the best cooperation you've ever had in the world. We're not getting the best cooperation in the world today. We got a whole bunch of countries that pay a price for dealing with the US now. I'm going to change that.

Our container ports, bridges, & plants are not secure

BUSH: We've tripled the homeland security budget from $10 to $30 billion. We'll do everything we can to protect the homeland. We need good intelligence. Right after 1993 he voted to cut the intelligence budget by $7.5 billion.

KERRY: Pres. Bush just said to you that we've added money. The test is not if you've added money. The test is have you done everything possible to make America secure. He chose a tax cut for wealthy Americans over the things that I listed to you.

Isolate the radical Muslims, not have them isolate the US

Protect loose nuclear materials from the terrorists

Double the number of special forces

BUSH: I agree with Kerry that we shouldn't be committing troops. We ought to be working with the African Union to do so-precisely what we did in Liberia. We helped stabilize the situation with some troops, and when the African Union came, we moved them out. My hope is that the African Union moves rapidly to help save lives. And fortunately the rainy season will be ending shortly, which will make it easier to get aid there and help the long-suffering people there.

Build the strongest network to prevent nuclear proliferation

BUSH: We've decreased funding for dealing with nuclear proliferation about 35% since I've been the president. The biggest threat facing this country is weapons of mass destruction in the hands of a terrorist network. And that's why proliferation is one of the centerpieces of a multi-prong strategy to make the country safer. Over 60 nations involved with disrupting the trans-shipment of information and/or weapons of mass destruction materials.

Expand active duty and Army's forces to security peace

Offer a military modernization plan for the troops

Ensure Americans in uniform receive benefits they deserve

Make better use of the National Guard

Keep our promises to American veterans

Make certain the veterans have benefits

A: Bush has 135,000 veterans waiting six months to get their first visit with the doctor at the VA. 400,000 veterans have had their cutbacks and their accessibility to the VA altogether. He has made our military weaker by overextending them. Our troops deserve a president who's going to keep faith with those who wore the uniform.

Invest billions to secure loose nukes abroad

Instead the Bush administration tried to slash federal funding for these Nunn-Lugar initiatives the moment it took office, an effort it continued well after 9/11 starkly illustrated the potential costs of letting terrorists get control of weapons of mass destruction. More recently the administration has offered more support for Nunn-Lugar initiatives, but we must match that with broader, multilateral framework for identifying & securing nuclear materials wherever they may be and in whatever quantity. As Nunn and Lugar have long argued, we must help those in possession of deadly materials who lack the financial and technical means to control them to become responsible stewards under international supervision.

Supported a federal crime bill that funded 100,000 cops

Need to be smarter about how we wage a war on terror efforts

BUSH: Kerry said Osama bin Laden uses the invasion of Iraq as an excuse to spread hatred for America. Osama bin Laden isn't going to determine how we defend ourselves. I decided the right action was in Iraq. He said I misled on Iraq. I don't think he was misleading when he called Iraq a grave threat in the fall of 2002. I don't think he was misleading when he said that it was right to disarm Iraq in the spring of 2003.What is misleading is to say you can lead and succeed in Iraq if you keep changing your positions on this war. And he has.

Automatic citizenship to immigrants who serves in army

Cast a global net for terrorists

Improve intelligence capabilities to counter terrorism

Cut off terrorists funds

Prevent Afghanistan & others from becoming terrorist havens

Add 40,000 troops and double anti-terrorism special forces

Will lead a global effort against nuclear proliferation

Quickly implement the recommendations of the 9-11 commission

Four new imperatives: alliances, modernize, end Mideast oil

These four imperatives are a response to an inescapable reality: War has changed; the enemy is different - and we must think and act anew.

Today, we are waging a global war against a terrorist movement committed to our destruction. Terrorists like al Qaeda are unlike any adversary our nation has faced. We do not know for certain how they are organized or how many operatives they have. But we know the destruction they can inflict.

Increase military by 40,000 troops-but no draft

KERRY: We don't need a draft now and I wouldn't be in favor of it under the current circumstances. All across this country there are families who are suffering greatly because the Guards and Reserves have been called up. They are overextended. Their deployments are too long. If we're going to maintain this level of commitment on a global basis, and for the moment we have to because of what's happened, we need an additional two divisions. One's a combat division and one is a support division. That's the responsible thing to do. That's temporary, because I intend to go back to the UN, rejoin the community of nations, bring other boots on the ground to help us, and reduce the overall need for deployment of American forces in the globe.

Focus more on human intelligence gathering

A: Yes, there is a problem. It's a very serious one. The Bush Administration misled the American people with respect to intelligence related to Iraq. That's very serious and we need to get to the bottom of the White House intelligence gathering process during the lead-up to the Iraq war. We also need to change how we gather intelligence--to increase the focus on human intelligence gathering.

The New War: We are no longer safe at home

The proliferation of international criminal gangs and narco-terrorists in the 1990's-a subject I wrote about I my 1997 book, The New War, was a warning that we were no longer safe at home from the dark underside of a global society. Any lingering doubt about that reality was dramatically dispelled on 9/11.

Modernize the Middle East to prevent future terrorism

There are no full-fledged democracies among the 16 Arab states of the Middle East and North Africa. More than half of Arab women are still illiterate. These countries are among the most economically isolated in the world, with very little trade & investment and little income apart from the oil royalties. With a landscape marked by political oppression, economic stagnation, staggering unemployment, lack of education, poverty, and rapid population growth, is it any wonder these Islamic countries are recruiting grounds for terrorists?

We need more than a one-dimensional war on terror. We must engage in a smarter, more comprehensive, and more farsighted strategy for modernizing the greater Middle East. It's no more ambitious-and no less necessary-a task than the rebuilding of Europe that we undertook at the end of World War II.

Military is overextended and there's a backdoor draft

Bush chose tax cuts for the wealthy over homeland security

KERRY: We just read on the front pages of America's papers that there are over 100,000 hours of tapes from the FBI unlistened to. On one of those tapes may be the enemy being right the next time. And the test is not whether you're spending more money. The test is, are you doing everything possible to make America safe? We didn't need that tax cut. America needed to be safe.

BUSH: Of course we're doing everything we can to protect America. I wake up every day thinking about how best to protect America. That's my job.

Bush is backdoor drafting our National Guards

Bush has cut funding to stop nuclear proliferation

Individual Ready Reserve call-up is used as a backdoor draft

End the backdoor draft of reservists, help is on the way

Bush's foreign policy has not made American safer

A: The overall conduct of the Bush administration's foreign policy - the war included, the management of Afghanistan, the diversion from Afghanistan, away from Al Qaeda, the lack of cooperation with other countries, the lack of adequate attention on homeland security, all together - has not made America as safe as we ought to be given the options available to us in the aftermath of 9/11. There are a whole series of events that have not made America safer.

Exaggeration by the Bush administration should be questioned

A: There is a very legitimate question about what the vice president of the US was doing at the CIA. There's an enormous question about the exaggeration by this administration. But the most important point is the larger issue of how you choose somebody to run and to be president of the US. We deserve leadership that knows how to take a nation to war if you have to

Bush administration is misleading America in a profound way

A: 45 minutes deployment of WMD, number one. Aerial vehicles to be able to deliver materials of mass destruction, number two. Nuclear weapons, number three. I could run a long list of clear misleading, clear exaggeration. The linkage to Al Qaida, number four. They are really misleading all of America in a profound way. This administration's arrogant and ideological policy is taking America down a more dangerous path.

Bush misused the authority Congress gave him

A: Certainly not in its current status. But he has had it both ways. On October 6th, five days before we voted in the Senate, Governor Dean took a public position supporting the Biden-Lugar resolution, which gave authority to the president of the United States to go to war if he found that the diplomatic effort had been exhausted and all he had to do was write a letter. We voted to do it the right way. This president chose to do it the wrong way.

Color-coded warning system needs to be changed

A: No, I would change it. I think a lot of Americans are desperately trying to figure out what the codes mean, what the colors mean. They're kind of struggling to figure out what it means. I think Americans deserve something better. This president is actually playing to the culture of fear in our country. The war on terror is far less of a military operation and far more of an intelligence-gathering, law-enforcement operation.

Focus on first responders instead of duct tape

I've proposed a First Defenders Initiative to help both firefighters and police staff up against crime and terrorism and give homeland security forces the same degree of support we've given our armed forces overseas. This initiative includes efforts to bring 21st century technology to the war on terror so that first defenders can communicate and share lifesaving information.

No new generation of nuclear weapons

FactCheck: No, Kerry voted FOR 16 out of 19 defense packages

CNN FACT CHECK:This claim is accurate, although it primarily references his votes on several large spending bills, as opposed to votes on specific programs. It also references old positions that Kerry now disavows. However, throughout his Senate career, Kerry voted to approve 16 of 19 annual Pentagon spending bills, which authorized spending for many of the systems that the Bush-Cheney campaign says Kerry opposed. It is true that Kerry opposed many weapons systems when running for the Senate in 1984, although as a presidential candidate he has said that he should not have taken those positions in 1984. In the Senate, he has voted repeatedly to eliminate the B-2 Stealth bomber program, most recently in 1992.

Zell: Kerry voted against weapons needed for War on Terror

[Zell Miller says]: Kerry has opposed the very weapons system that won the Cold War and that is now winning the War on Terror.
• The B-1 bomber, that Kerry opposed, dropped 40% of the bombs in Operation Enduring Freedom.
• The B-2 bomber that Kerry opposed, delivered air strikes against the Taliban in Afghanistan and Hussein's command post in Iraq.
• The modernized F-14D, that Kerry opposed, delivered missile strikes against Tora Bora.
• The Apache helicopter, that Kerry opposed, took out those Republican Guard tanks in Kuwait in the Gulf War.
• The F-15 Eagles, that Kerry opposed, flew cover over our Nation's Capital and this very city after 9/11.
• I could go on and on and on: against the Patriot Missile; against the Aegis air-defense cruiser; against the Strategic Defense Initiative; against the Trident missile; against, against, against.

Voted YES on adopting the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

Voted YES on allowing another round of military base closures.

Voted NO on cutting nuclear weapons below START levels.

Voted YES on deploying National Missile Defense ASAP.

Voted YES on military pay raise of 4.8%.

Voted NO on deploying missile defense as soon as possible.

Voted NO on prohibiting same-sex basic training.

Voted NO on favoring 36 vetoed military projects.

Voted YES on banning chemical weapons.

Voted NO on considering deploying NMD, and amending ABM Treaty.

Voted NO on 1996 Defense Appropriations.

Establish Maritime Security grants for ports and vessels.

Directs the Secretary of Transportation to:
• identify vessel types and U.S. port facilities that pose a high risk of being involved in a transportation security incident
• assess vulnerability of U.S. port facilities and vessels that may be involved in a transportation security incident.
• Requires owners or operators of vessels or facilities to prepare a vessel or facility security plan for deterring a transportation security incident to the maximum extent practicable.
• Requires such plans to be consistent with the National Maritime Transportation Security Plan.
• Requires transportation security cards for entry into a secured area of a vessel or facility.
• Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish maritime safety and security teams to protect vessels, harbors, ports, facilities, and cargo in U.S. waters.
• Establishes a grant program for port authorities, facility operators, and State and local agencies required to provide security services.
• Directs the Secretary of Transportation to assess the effectiveness of antiterrorism measures maintained at specified foreign ports and make recommendations for improvements for foreign ports that do not maintain effective antiterrorism measures

Federalize aviation security.

Establishes the Transportation Security Administration, including:
• civil aviation security, and related research and development activities;
• day-to-day Federal security screening operations for passenger air transportation and intrastate air transportation;
• policies, strategies, and plans for dealing with threats to transportation;
• domestic transportation during a national emergency, including aviation, rail, and other surface transportation
• management of security information, including notifying airport or airline security officers of the identity of individuals known to pose a risk of air piracy or terrorism or a threat to airline or passenger safety.

Small business in developing homeland security technologies.

Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) small business participation is vital to U.S. defense and should play an active role in assisting the military, Federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies, and State and local police to combat terrorism through the design and development of innovative products; and (2) Federal, State, and local governments should aggressively seek out and purchase innovative technologies and services from, and promote research opportunities for, American small businesses to help in homeland defense and the fight against terrorism. Passed/agreed to in Senate.

Rated 20% by SANE, indicating a pro-military voting record.

Peace Action, the merger of The Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE) and The Freeze, has effectively mobilized for peace and disarmament for over forty years. As the nation's largest grassroots peace group we get results: from the 1963 treaty to ban above ground nuclear testing, to the 1996 signing of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, from ending the war in Vietnam, to blocking weapons sales to human rights abusing countries. We are proof that ordinary people can change the world. At Peace Action we believe...

• That every person has the right to live without the threat of nuclear weapons.
• That war is not a suitable response to conflict.
• That America has the resources to both protect and provide for its citizens.

The ratings are based on the votes the organization considered most important; the numbers reflect the percentage of time the representative voted the organization's preferred position.

School assistance to survivors of injured federal police.

A bill to provide educational assistance to the dependents of Federal law enforcement officials who are killed or disabled in the performance of their duties.

Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to provide educational assistance to the dependents of civilian Federal law enforcement officers who are killed or are permanently and totally disabled in the line of duty.