Amy Klobuchar in 2019-2021 Town Halls
On Civil Rights:
Collect data on GLBT issues so we can persuade Congress
I put forward a bunch of legal things you can do in the first 100 days. On LGBTQ issues, you can start collecting the data that we want to collect so we understand the issues for the LGBTQ community. Right now, that data is not being collected.
You can actually get that done without Congress. You can, of course, stop this highly discriminatory and anti-patriotic policy of the Trump administration which bans trans people from serving in the military. You can do that yourself.
You can do so many other things when it comes to changing the Department of Education policies and other discrimination policies.
And then I would pass the Equality Act in the first year.
Those are high priorities for me. And you've got to do some by changing the dialogue in those first 100 days and some are the long term to get them done through Congress.
Source: CNN LGBT Town Hall 2020
Oct 10, 2019
On Civil Rights:
Throughout career, fighting hate crimes a priority
Q: Where does the LGBTQ community fall on your list of priorities? KLOBUCHAR: In my first job as the DA in Minnesota's biggest county, I made hate crimes a major priority. I was invited to the White House because of that, to introduce
President Clinton when he unveiled the Matthew Shepherd bill. When I got to the Senate, we actually passed that bill and got all of those other things passed that I mentioned and introduced. So for me, it's a major priority.
Source: CNN LGBT Town Hall 2020
Oct 10, 2019
On Civil Rights:
Ban conversion therapy; it makes no sense at all
Q: Will you support federal and state measures to forever ban so-called conversion therapy practices? KLOBUCHAR: Yes. I think we know this makes no sense at all. We know this isn't the right thing to do. We've seen some of the bad practices,
bad policies. It is role models. It is education. And it is making sure that we fight at every level, yes, at the federal level, but also the state and local levels.
Source: CNN LGBT Town Hall 2020
Oct 10, 2019
On Civil Rights:
Yes to federal law that allows third gender on documents
Q: I identify as non-binary. In California, I am able to change my gender to X. However, on the federal level, there is no such option. Will you recognize third gender markers on a federal level?
KLOBUCHAR: Yes. I will. There is a lot of work we need to do, all over the country, with driver's licenses. Not every state has some of the provisions that California has in place and just work on a state-by-state basis to make those changes.
Source: CNN LGBT Town Hall 2020
Oct 10, 2019
On Crime:
Safe harbor for prostitutes;but don't decriminalize sex work
Q: You co-sponsored the SESTA-FOSTA Act [Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act/Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act], which made it harder for sex workers to protect themselves by vetting clients online and harder for law enforcement to track potential
criminals who may harm sex workers. Will you come out in favor of legalizing sex work? And what will you do to counteract the negative impact this law has had? KLOBUCHAR: I've been a leader on human trafficking. I was actually the lead on the bill
that included my provision for safe harbor. What that meant, of course, was that if you have sex trafficking, either domestic or internationally, that you have to have a safe harbor for young people who are victims, so that they're not prosecuted
themselves. I am not in favor of decriminalizing all of sex work. I'm concerned about the effect that's going to have on young women and violence against women.
Source: CNN LGBT Town Hall 2020
Oct 10, 2019
On Families & Children:
Churches & agencies should follow law on gay rights
Q: Evangelicals are claiming being forced to do business with gay people infringes upon their religious freedom. Isn't our religious freedom being violated by those who wish to discriminate against us?KLOBUCHAR: First of all, our Constitution has
been founded on a separation of church and state. And we can have different faiths in this country, but the law rules. And the law rules when it comes to discrimination and all kinds of other things. And I can just tell you that I will appoint Supreme
Court justices that understand that.
Q: Should the federal government give funding to any religious nonprofit organizations that opposes same-sex marriage, for example, an adoption agency that won't work with LGBTQ parents?
KLOBUCHAR:
I think that you have got to have agencies that follow the law. And that's one of the reasons that I want to pass the Equality Act. I think that's really important. And I also think that you've got to recognize adoption for gay families.
Source: CNN LGBT Town Hall 2020
Oct 10, 2019
On Families & Children:
Make it easier for LGBTQ couples to adopt
I head up the Adoption Caucus in the U.S. Senate and did a lot of work on this topic when I was county attorney to speed up adoptions.
And there are so many loving gay, LGBTQ couples that want to adopt kids, and we should make it easier and not harder.
Source: CNN LGBT Town Hall 2020
Oct 10, 2019
On Government Reform:
Pass Equality Act by marshalling public support
Q: What would be your strategy for getting support from Congress from members who are not pro-LGBT?KLOBUCHAR: It is time to pass the Equality Act. Our problem is you can get married in one state and then you can get fired from your job for being gay.
That's why the Equality Act is so important. It's passed the House. It is sitting in the graveyard of legislation that is Mitch McConnell's desk. What I would do to get it passed is to bring people together to make the case for it.
Source: CNN LGBT Town Hall 2020
Oct 10, 2019
On Health Care:
Take on Big Pharma, to make drugs more affordable
Q: Young black gay men are the most impacted population affected by HIV and AIDS. What are remedies? KLOBUCHAR: Make sure the HIV community can get the drugs they need. That means the PrEP drug and that means to take on pharmaceutical companies
to make drugs more affordable. The second thing is to make sure we keep the protections of the Affordable Care Act. Make it easier for the generics to get online. Bring in less expensive drugs from other countries to start competition.
Source: CNN LGBT Town Hall 2020
Oct 10, 2019
On Health Care:
More mental health resources for LGBTQ
Q: How would you address mental health disparities experienced by the LGBTQ community?KLOBUCHAR: Second cause of death of teenagers right now is suicide, with the numbers for LGBTQ being higher. Get rid of the stigma by treating mental
illness like any other disease. Making sure insurance companies are offering the insurance and coverage. More beds. And prevention lines, hot lines, all of those kinds of things. More counselors in the schools to work with LGBTQ youth.
Source: CNN LGBT Town Hall 2020
Oct 10, 2019
On Drugs:
Use drug courts; diversity in law enforcement
Q: Convictions for non-violent drug crimes impact minorities.A: I have been a big believer in drug courts at the state and federal levels. I've led that effort on the federal level.
The second thing is I think that our offices, both police offices, county attorney's offices need to reflect the population we serve. And I worked very hard to bring people of color into our office and we were a lot better for it.
The other thing is the way we handle cases when they come in. The other thing we need to do is not just pass the first step back and I was proud to be a co-sponsor of that legislation.
But we have to create incentives to bring those sentences down as well on the state and local level.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: 5 candidates back-to-back
Apr 22, 2019
On Education:
Address student debt in ways beyond free college
The first thing I would do is allow students and no matter how old they are, former students to refinance their student loans at that rate that's a little above 3 percent we could even go lower to find some even better rate than that.
But that's what I think we need to do to bring the interest rate payments down for those Americans that still have the student loans.
The second thing I would do is expand Pell Grant and make it easier for people to use Pell Grant. Those aren't loans, those are grants.
Depending on your income level to make that easier as well as the amount of money that you get. The third thing I do is bring back President Obama's plan for free community college.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: 5 candidates back-to-back
Apr 22, 2019
On Education:
Loan forgiveness for those taking public service jobs
People that go into those careers that's loan forgiveness. I strongly support that. I think we can do also expand that into in-demand jobs.
I would target the loan forgiveness at those that -- for instance, I brought up people that went into public service, in demand locations and in demand jobs that we have in our economy.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: 5 candidates back-to-back
Apr 22, 2019
On Energy & Oil:
Would rejoin climate pact & propose new legislation
Climate change isn't happening 100 years from now. It's happening right now, and that's why as your president on day one I would get us back into the international climate change agreement. That's day 1. On day 2 and day 3, I would bring back the clean
power rules that the Obama administration worked out that will make a big dent in this. I will bring back the gas mileage standards that they just left. I would propose sweeping legislations for green buildings and new ideas and we need to do this.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: 5 candidates back-to-back
Apr 22, 2019
On Health Care:
Ensure vets get equal support for mental health
Being sick physically should be treated the same as being sick mentally. That means having the type of psychiatrists and psychologists and counselors that we need.
Insurance companies have got to handle mental health things just like they handle physical health things. When it comes to the veterans, a lot of them go home to small towns.
Sometimes they don't have the kind of access especially if they're in the reserve. So they're just coming back sporadically to our V.A. facilities.
We have to do a lot better job when they're coming back to evaluate them, to see what they need, to touch base with them.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: 5 candidates back-to-back
Apr 22, 2019
On Health Care:
Supports public option for Medicaid & Medicare
First of all, we need to bring down premiums -- and they're affecting everyone. You can do that many ways. One of my major proposals is to bring back that Public Option idea that's been floating around, that should have been put in, in the first place.
That gives you a choice. You could do it with Medicaid, you can do it with Medicare, so that you have a less expensive option to pick from.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: 5 candidates back-to-back
Apr 22, 2019
On Health Care:
Take on Big Pharma on prices & lack of competition
I would bring down the cost of pharmaceuticals. We need competition by having negotiation for Medicare prices. We should bring in less expensive drugs from other countries, like Canada.
We can stop this horrible practice where big pharmaceuticals pay off, they literally pay off generics to keep the prices and the competition off the market. That's bad and we can fix this.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: 5 candidates back-to-back
Apr 22, 2019
On Jobs:
Enact laws to assure equal pay & equal opportunity
Pass the Equal Pay Act. That would be a very good thing. We already passed the Lilly Ledbetter Act. That was something that we were really proud of that made it easier for women to contest these kinds of cases when they're in the work place.
I think also making it easier for women to get the kind of jobs they should. I would love to pass the ERA right. Get that cemented into law across the country and then make sure we have role models across the country.
Source: CNN Town Hall 2020: 5 candidates back-to-back
Apr 22, 2019
Page last updated: Apr 07, 2021