Elizabeth Warren in September Democratic candidates debate


On Families & Children: Universal childcare for every baby aged 0 to 5

I think [that universal childcare] is ultimately about our values. I have proposed a 2-cent wealth tax on the top 1/10% in this country. That would give us enough money to start with our babies by providing universal child care for every baby age zero to five, universal pre-K for every 3-year-old and 4-year-old; raise the wages of every childcare worker and preschool teacher in this country; cancel student loan debt; and strengthen our unions. This is how we build an America that reflects our values.
Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston Sep 12, 2019

On Foreign Policy: Restore help to Central America, to reduce border crisis

Q: How would you stop hundreds of thousands of Central Americans who want to migrate to the U.S.?

Sen. Elizabeth WARREN: I think we have to look at all the pieces. Why do we have a crisis at the border? In no small part because we have withdrawn help from people in Central America who are suffering. We need to restore that help. We need to help establish and re-establish the rule of law so that people don't feel like they have to flee for their lives. We have a crisis that Donald Trump has created and hopes to profit from politically. We have to have the courage to stand up and fight back.

CEO Andrew YANG: This country has been a magnet for human capital for generations. If we lose that, we lose something integral to our continued success. And that is where I would lead as president.

Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston Sep 12, 2019

On Free Trade: Giant corporations set our trade policy; add in activists

Q: President Obama signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership. In part, it was designed to rein in China. What do you think he got wrong?

WARREN: So our trade policy in America has been broken for decades, and it has been broken because it works for giant multinational corporations and not for much of anyone else. These are giant corporations that, shoot, if they can save a nickel by moving a job to a foreign country, they'll do it in a heartbeat.

And yet for decades now, who's been whispering in the ears of our trade negotiators? Who has shaped our trade policy? It's been the giant corporations. It's been their lobbyists and their executives.

The way we change our trade policy in America is, first, the procedures. Who sits at the table? I want to negotiate trade with unions at the table. I want to negotiate it with small farmers at the table. I want to negotiate it with environmentalists at the table. I want to negotiate with human rights activists at the table.

Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston Sep 12, 2019

On Free Trade: Everybody wants access to American market; so leverage China

Q: How would you pressure China?

Secretary Julian CASTRO: I would immediately begin to negotiate with China to ratchet down that trade war. We have leverage there.

Q: What leverage can America bear to pressure China?

Senator Elizabeth WARREN: Are you kidding? Everybody wants access to the American market. That means that we have the capacity to say right here in America, you want to come sell goods to American consumers? Then you got to raise your standards. You've got to raise your labor standards. You've got to raise your environmental standards, so our companies can compete on a level playing field. We can use trade not to undermine American workers and not to undermine American farms and not to undermine small businesses in this country. We can use trade to help build a stronger economy.

Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston Sep 12, 2019

On Gun Control: People support gun control but Congress is corrupt

The question we need to ask is, when we've got this much support across the country, 90 percent of Americans want to see us do--like registration--want to see us do background checks, want to get assault weapons off the streets, why doesn't it happen? And the answer is corruption, pure and simple. We have a Congress that is beholden to the gun industry.
Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston Sep 12, 2019

On Health Care: How to pay for it? Wealthy people & corporations pay more

Q: Are single-payer plans such as those by Senators Warren and Sanders pushing too far?

V.P. Joe BIDEN: I think we should have a debate on health care. I think Obamacare worked. I think the way we add to it, replace everything that has been cut, add a public option, guarantee that everyone will be able to have affordable insurance, number one. Number two, I think we should look at cost. My plan costs $740 billion. It doesn't cost $3.4 trillion a year. How are we going to pay for it? Thus far, Senator Warren has not indicated how she pays for it.

WARREN: We owe a huge debt to President Obama, who transformed health care. Now, how best can we improve it? I believe the best way we can do that is we make sure everybody gets covered by health care at the lowest possible cost. How do we pay for it? Those at the very top, the richest individuals and the biggest corporations, are going to pay more. And middle class families are going to pay less.

Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston Sep 12, 2019

On Health Care: Medicare-for-All means rich pay more, middle class less

What families have to deal with is cost. On Medicare for All, costs are going to go up for wealthier individuals and costs are going to go up for giant corporations. But for hard-working families across this country, costs are going to go down and that's how it should work under Medicare for All in our health care system.
Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston Sep 12, 2019

On Immigration: Expand legal immigration, including for visa overstays

Q: You want ICE, the agency, in charge of rounding up undocumented immigrants. So how would you deal with the millions of immigrants who arrive legally but overstay their visas?

WARREN: Well, I start with a statement of principles, and that is, in this country, immigration does not make us weaker, immigration makes us stronger. I want to see us expand legal immigration and create a pathway to citizenship for our DREAMers, but also for their grandparents, and for their cousins, for people who have overstayed student visas, and for people who came here to work in the fields. I want to have a system that is a path to citizenship that is fair and achievable.

Down at the border, we've got to rework this entirely. A system right now that cannot tell the difference in the threat posed by a terrorist, a criminal, and a 12-year-old girl is not a system that is keeping us safer, and it is not serving our values.

Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston Sep 12, 2019

On Immigration: We're not going to give up DACA, or any protections

Q [to V.P. Biden]: The Obama administration deported 3 million people. Did you do anything to prevent those?

Joe BIDEN: What Latinos should look at is comparing [Obama policy to Trump policy]. We didn't lock people up in cages. We didn't separate families. [Obama] came along with the DACA program. No one had ever done that before. [Obama] wanted to find a pathway for the 11 million undocumented. This is a president who's done a great deal.

CASTRO: My problem with Vice President Biden is every time something good about Barack Obama comes up, he says, oh, I was there, and every time somebody questions part of the administration that we were both part of, he says, well, that was the president. I was the first candidate to put forward an immigration plan. We're not going to give up DACA. We're not going to give up protections for anybody.

Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston Sep 12, 2019

On War & Peace: No one can describe what winning looks like in Afghanistan

Q: How do we exit Afghanistan, which you suggest?

WARREN: We're not going to bomb our way to a solution in Afghanistan. We need to treat the problem of terrorism as a worldwide problem, and that means we need to be working with all of our allies, our European allies, our Canadian allies, our Asian allies, our allies in Africa and in South America. We need to work together to root out terrorism.

Q: U.S. military leaders on the ground in Afghanistan say you can't do it without a deal with the Taliban. You said you would bring them home [without that].

WARREN: I was in Afghanistan with John McCain two years ago this past summer. We asked, "Show me what winning looks like." And what you hear is a lot of, "Uh," because no one can describe it. And the reason no one can describe it is because the problems in Afghanistan are not problems that can be solved by a military. The military will do anything we ask them to do. But we cannot ask them to solve problems that they alone cannot solve.

Source: September Democratic Primary debate in Houston Sep 12, 2019

The above quotations are from ABC News and Univision Democratic candidates debate.
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Page last updated: Dec 01, 2021