Amy Klobuchar in Interviews during 2017-2019
On Civil Rights:
Government must address integrity of elections
We're going to see Attorney General Barr this next week, in front of the Judiciary Committee, on which I serve. And I'm going to be asking him what is he doing about Russia? Because to me, that's the key thing. We have an election coming up in 2020.
It doesn't matter if you're a Democrat or a Republican. You want to have a fair election.
Source: Meet the Press 2019 interview of 2020 presidential hopefuls
Apr 28, 2019
On Principles & Values:
Hold president accountable with investigations & election
The most-important thing is to hold this president accountable. There are many ways to do that. One is with the process through Congress, which includes these investigations, which the president is already stonewalling.
The second is other investigations that are going on right now, including in the state of New York. And the third is pretty straightforward. That is defeating him in 2020. And that's what I intend to do and will do.
Source: Meet the Press 2019 interview of 2020 presidential hopefuls
Apr 28, 2019
On Social Security:
Proposed new retirement accounts for those without
The Republican tax bill did so much to help the wealthy build up a trillion dollars in debt. All you have to do is make some changes to that that won't hurt everyday Americans and you have the money to literally ensure that
49 million Americans, who have no retirement right now except for Social Security, can start saving. We call it UP savings accounts.
And it is a great idea. 50 cents for every hour someone works in an account that they can take with them, no matter where they work, if they don't have a 401(k), where they can take out the first
$2,500 for emergency expenses, when we've got four out of ten Americans that don't even have $400 for an emergency room bill.
Source: Meet the Press 2019 interview of 2020 presidential hopefuls
Apr 28, 2019
On Homeland Security:
Voted for 95% of military spending bills in Congress
- She has voted for all but one, or 95 percent, of the military spending bills since 2013.
- She has only voted as requested by Peace Action 69 percent of the time, the lowest among senators running for president.
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In January 2019, Klobuchar was the only presidential candidate who voted for S.1, a bill to reauthorize U.S. military aid to Israel that also included an anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions provision.
Source: Truthout.org, "War and Peace," on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Mar 27, 2019
On War & Peace:
Supported regime change in Libya; supports Israeli military
- Klobuchar supported the U.S.-NATO-led regime change war in Libya in 2011, and her public statements suggest that her main condition for the U.S. use of military force anywhere is that U.S. allies also take part, as in Libya.
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In January 2019, Klobuchar was the only presidential candidate who voted for S.1, a bill to reauthorize
U.S. military aid to Israel that also included an anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions provision to allow U.S. state and local governments to divest from companies that boycott Israel.
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She is the only Democratic presidential candidate in the Senate who did not cosponsor Sanders's Yemen War Powers bill in 2018, but she did cosponsor and vote for it in 2019.
Source: Truthout.org, "War and Peace," on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Mar 27, 2019
On Drugs:
Reduce sentences for non-violent drug offenders
One of the things that we are starting to resolve is the federal drug sentences. I was a sponsor of the FIRST STEP Act, a co-sponsor. That was the important law that just passed on a bipartisan basis that brought down the federal drug sentences,
which were much higher than the local drug sentences for nonviolent offenders. It's called the FIRST STEP Act because there has to be a second step act.
Source: CNN State of the Union 2019 on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Mar 17, 2019
On Technology:
Users of social media should be able to control their data
Those companies for so long have said, we have your back. Meanwhile, your data is getting shared. You send an e-mail to someone, and the next thing, you see an advertisement about the thing you sent the e-mail on. So that's why I want privacy
legislation to basically say, hey, we have a right over our data. Stop messing around with us, and then also put in plain language what your rights are, instead of 50 pages. And then, finally, notify us when there's breaches.
Source: CNN State of the Union 2019 on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Mar 17, 2019
On Drugs:
Opioid companies should fund addiction treatment
There is just not enough funding going into addiction. I see it as a money saver in the long haul, because so many times when people get hooked, they end up committing crimes.Why don't we pay for it by getting money from the very drug companies that
got people addicted in the first place? We have a bill right now, the LifeBOAT Act, where we put a fee on those companies that are selling the opioids to help pay for treatment. I'd like to see the Trump administration get behind that.
Source: CNN Town Hall: 2020 presidential hopefuls
Feb 18, 2019
On Education:
Free community college; expand Pell Grants
I think we have to do everything to help our students afford college. My idea is to make it easier to refinance, to start with two-year degrees, the community colleges being free.
We need to make it easier to afford college, by making it easier to refinance these loans, by extending Pell Grants so it includes more students.
Source: CNN Town Hall: 2020 presidential hopefuls
Feb 18, 2019
On Energy & Oil:
Green New Deal opens discussion on climate change
The Green New Deal is so important for our country [despite disagreements] on exactly how and when it will work. This is a discussion that we must have as a country. I will, as first day as the president, sign us back into the international climate
change agreement. I will also bring back the clean power rules that the Trump administration left on the cutting room floor. I will also bring back the gas mileage standards and then propose sweeping legislation to upgrade our infrastructure.
Source: CNN Town Hall: 2020 presidential hopefuls
Feb 18, 2019
On Foreign Policy:
Stand with our allies, invest in diplomacy
I believe that we must stand tall as a beacon of democracy, but I also believe that we must stand with our allies. We have to invest in diplomacy.
The other thing I'd mention is modernizing our military. Cyber is the next arena for warfare.
So working with our allies, investing in diplomacy, modernizing our military, and then taking on those big challenges that are in front of us.
I would list them as the Mideast, the challenge we have with climate change. And, of course, dealing with the nuclear threat that we have with North Korea as well as with Russia's continuing pushing at our country.
Source: CNN Town Hall: 2020 presidential hopefuls
Feb 18, 2019
On Gun Control:
Commonsense gun laws have wide support
I always look at every proposal and say, "Would this hurt my Uncle Dick in the deer stand?" And I would say that these commonsense proposals in front of us do not.
I don't see banning assault weapons hurts in the deer stand. We should join the majority of Americans, and actually many gun owners, in having the courage to pass commonsense gun safety legislation.
Source: CNN Town Hall: 2020 presidential hopefuls
Feb 18, 2019
On Health Care:
Medicare-for-All for the future; public option now
Q: Your opinion on expanding ObamaCare?A: I believe we have to get to universal health care in this country. We have to make sure that we build on the work of the Affordable Care Act. We need to expand coverage so that people can have a choice for a
public option. You can do it with Medicare. You could also do it with Medicaid. This is a bill that I am an original co-sponsor of. It basically says let's expand Medicaid so you can buy into Medicaid and it will bring the prices down and we can cover
more people. The other part of the equation is doing something about prescription drugs. I have one of the original bills to push to have Medicare negotiate prices, lift the ban, bring in less expensive drugs from Canada and stop the practice where
pharma pays off generics to keep their products off the market.
Q: And Medicare for all?
A: I think it's something that we can look to for the future, but I want to get action now.
Source: CNN Town Hall: 2020 presidential hopefuls
Feb 18, 2019
On Jobs:
Minimum wage must be raised
It is an unbelievable thing that we have not increased the federal minimum wage for something like a decade. And it's just stuck where it is.
And we should be increasing the minimum wage. That brings up the wage everywhere.
Source: CNN Town Hall: 2020 presidential hopefuls
Feb 18, 2019
On Social Security:
Address national debt without cutting entitlements
I have long been focused on this debt. I don't think this is the time to make some kind of wholesale changes to Social Security or Medicare. I think on the Social Security front you could lift the cap and basically put a donut hole in there and that
would help to pay for Social Security. That Republican tax bill went so low that once it went under 25 percent, every point was $100 billion. Think what that could pay for, for rural broadband all over this country, which I pledge to do by 2022.
Close the carried interest loophole. Bring the capital gains rate to the rate that we see for personal tax rates. One thing I would add to the mix, comprehensive immigration reform.
The bill we had back in 2013 brought the debt down $158 billion.
Source: CNN Town Hall: 2020 presidential hopefuls
Feb 18, 2019
On Abortion:
Make abortions safe and make them rare
- Believes abortion is between a woman and her doctor.
- Klobuchar views abortion as a decision between a woman and her doctor.
- In 2006, Klobuchar said that "we need to start talking about common ground, and about reducing the number of
abortions--making them safe and making them rare."
- Klobuchar co-sponsored the Women's Health Protection Act. The legislation prohibits states from setting restrictions on abortion.
Source: PBS News hour on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Feb 10, 2019
On Civil Rights:
Anti-gay discrimination is bad for business
When it comes to the LGBTQ community, Klobuchar has said discrimination is "bad for business." In a 2013 report,
Klobuchar detailed how LGBTQ discrimination doesn't just hold moral implications, but can damage the economy as well.
Source: PBS News hour on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Feb 10, 2019
On Energy & Oil:
Rejoin Paris climate deal; meet UN goals
- Climate change: Set goals for cutting greenhouse emissions and rejoin Paris climate deal.
- Klobuchar wants to meet the goals of the
U.N. panel on climate change: cut greenhouse gases by 45 percent by 2030, and increase renewable energy by up to 47 percent by 2050.
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She has not given specifics recently on how she would achieve those goals.
- But in 2008, Klobuchar pushed for a bill to cut emissions 70 percent by the year 2050 via a cap-and-trade market system.
- Klobuchar would also rejoin the Paris accord and push to set national guidelines to boost renewable fuel use.
Source: PBS News hour on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Feb 10, 2019
On Government Reform:
Honest Ads Act: no more foreign meddling in elections
Klobuchar introduced the Honest Ads Act with former Arizona Sen. John McCain and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., in response to Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
The bill requires advertisement buys and publishers to publicly disclose information about the ad in order to ensure transparency and accountability.
Source: PBS News hour on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Feb 10, 2019
On Health Care:
Expand Medicare to age 55
Klobuchar would like to expand Medicare to include Americans age 55 and older, and possibly more. While she has long supported "single-payer, universal" government health coverage, the
Minnesota senator has not yet said if she would back the concept of "Medicare for All," which would replace private health insurance with a government health care system.
Source: PBS News hour on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Feb 10, 2019
On Health Care:
Allow Medicare to directly negotiate prices
Lowering drug prices has also been a policy focus for Klobuchar; she introduced a bill to allow Medicare to directly negotiate prices,
and co-authored a bill with Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to speed up the availability of generic versions of high-cost drugs.
Source: PBS News hour on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Feb 10, 2019
On Immigration:
Increase legal immigration but don't abolish ICE
- Immigration: Path to citizenship for most undocumented immigrants. More temporary work visas. Do not abolish ICE.
- Most undocumented immigrants would get a legal status and path to citizenship under plans Klobuchar has supported.
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She has also said she would increase legal immigration, with a focus on increasing the number of temporary work visas available.
- Klobuchar would reform U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but would not abolish the agency.
Source: PBS News hour on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Feb 10, 2019
On War & Peace:
Keep US military presence in Syria
Klobuchar opposed President's Donald Trump's decision to withdraw troops from Syria. Earlier this month, Klobuchar highlighted her opposition by voting in favor of bipartisan legislation that rebuked Trump's position.
At the time of the vote, all the senators who had already announced they were running in 2020 or had declared their intention to run voted against the bill.
Source: PBS News hour on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Feb 10, 2019
Page last updated: Nov 01, 2021