Elizabeth Warren in 5th Democratic Primary Debate
On Abortion:
Illegal abortions mean only poor women can't get them
Abortion rights are human rights. They are also economic rights. Protecting the right of a woman to make decisions about her own body is what we stand for as a Democratic Party. When someone makes abortion illegal in America, rich women will still
get abortions. It's going to fall hard on poor women. When it comes down to that decision, the one entity that should not be in the middle of that decision is the government.
Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
Nov 20, 2019
On Education:
Student loan debt is worse for African-Americans
Senator Harris raised the question of economic justice. Let me give a specific example. African-Americans are more likely to borrow money to go to college, and have a harder time paying that debt off after they get out. Whites who borrowed money,
94 percent of them have paid off their student loan debt, 5 percent of African-Americans have paid it off. That means everyone on this stage should be embracing student loan debt forgiveness. It will help close the black-white wealth gap.
Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
Nov 20, 2019
On Environment:
Public service for 10,000 people on public lands
This is about building for our entire nation. And I believe we should do that. I also believe we should have other service opportunities in this country. So, for example, what I want to do is for our federal lands, I want to bring in 10,000 people who
want to be able to serve in our federal lands to be able to help rebuild our national forests and national parks as a way to express both their public service and their commitment to fighting back against climate change. We can do this as a nation.
Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
Nov 20, 2019
On Government Reform:
End lobbying as we know it
We know what we need to do. We have a lot of good ideas it, and the majority of Americans are with us on it, and yet we don't change. Why not? Because of corruption. I have the biggest anti-corruption plan since Watergate. It involves ending lobbying as
we know it, blocking the revolving door between industry and Washington, making everyone who runs for federal office put their tax returns online.
Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
Nov 20, 2019
On Government Reform:
Million-dollar donors shouldn't get ambassadorships
How did Ambassador Sondland get there [as Ambassador to the European Union]? This is not a man who had any qualifications, except one: He wrote a check for a million dollars. And that tells us about what's happening in
Washington, the corruption, how money buys its way into Washington. You know, I raised this months ago about the whole notion that donors think they're going to get ambassadorships on the other side.
And I've taken a pledge. Anyone who wants to give me a big donation, don't ask to be an ambassador, because I'm not going to have that happen.I asked everyone who's running for president to join me in that and not a single person has so far.
I hope what we saw today during the testimony means lots of people will sign on and say we are not going to give away these ambassador posts to the highest bidder.
Source: November Democratic primary debate, on impeaching Trump
Nov 20, 2019
On Health Care:
People shouldn't make medical decisions based on cost
WARREN: I see millions struggling to pay their medical bills, 37 million people who decided not to have a prescription filled because they can't afford it. I will bring down the cost of things like insulin and EpiPens. I want to bring in 135 million
people into Medicare for all at no cost to them. Everybody under the age of 18, everybody who has a family of four income less than $50,000. I want to lower the age of Medicare to 50 and expand coverage to include vision, dental and long-term care.
Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
Nov 20, 2019
On Homeland Security:
More Americans should serve in military
Q: About 1 percent of Americans serve in the military right now. Should the number be higher?WARREN: I think it should be. All three of my brothers served in the military. I think the notion of shared service is important. It's how we help
bring our nation together. It's how people learn to work together from different regions, people who grew up differently. It's also about how families share that sacrifice.
Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
Nov 20, 2019
On Immigration:
Stop the man-made "crisis" at the southern border
Q: You've said that the border wall that President Trump has proposed is, "a monument to hate and division." Would you ask taxpayers to pay to take down any part of the wall on the nation's southern border?
WARREN: If there are parts of the wall that are not useful in our defense, of course we should do it. The real point here is that we need to stop this manmade crisis at the border.
Trump is the one who has created this crisis, and he has done it in no small part by helping destabilize the governments even further in Central America. He has withdrawn aid. That means that families have to flee for their lives, have to flee for any
economic opportunity. We need to treat the people who come here with dignity and with respect. A great nation does not separate children from their families. We need to live our values at the border every single day.
Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
Nov 20, 2019
On Principles & Values:
Ignoring Mueller Report means president is above the law
Q: You have said already that you've seen enough to vote to convict the president and remove him from office. Will you try to convince your Republican colleagues in the Senate to vote the same way?WARREN: Of course I will.
Q: How?
WARREN: The obvious answer is to say, "First, read the Mueller report, all 442 pages of it."
That showed how the president tried to obstruct justice, and when Congress failed to act at that moment, and that the president felt free to break the law again and again and again. And that's what's happened with Ukraine.
We have to establish the principle: no one is above the law. We have a constitutional responsibility, and we need to meet it. But I want to add:
Source: November Democratic primary debate, on Mueller Report
Nov 20, 2019
On Tax Reform:
Your first $50M is free and clear under my wealth tax
WARREN: Today, the 99% in America are on track to pay about 7.2% of their total wealth in taxes. The top 1/10 of 1% that I want to say pay two cents more, they'll pay 3.2% in America. I'm tired of freeloading billionaires. I think it's time that we ask
those at the very top to pay more. A two-cent wealth tax is a tax for everybody who has more than $50 million in assets; your first $50 million is free and clear. But your 50 millionth and first dollar, you've got to pitch in 2 cents.
Doing a wealth tax is not about punishing anyone. You built something great in this country? Good for you. But you did it using workers all of us helped pay to educate. You did it protected by police and firefighters all of us helped pay the salaries
for.Sen. Cory BOOKER: We all agree that we need to bring in a lot more revenue in this country. We have a real problem with tax loopholes, tax cheats. I don't agree with the wealth tax, but I agree that we need to raise the estate tax.
Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
Nov 20, 2019
On Welfare & Poverty:
Not enough housing: build 3M units and no discrimination
Our housing problem is on the supply side, and that means the government stopped building affordable housing. I've got a plan for 3.2 million new housing units. They are for families, the poor, for seniors, for people with disabilities, for people
coming back from being incarcerated. The government has subsidized housing for white people and said black people are cut out of the deal. When I built housing, it's about addressing what is wrong about government-sponsored discrimination.
Source: November Democratic primary debate in Atlanta
Nov 20, 2019
Page last updated: Dec 23, 2019