Chris Van Hollen in The Washington Post
On Civil Rights:
Straight, but fought discrimination against gay workers
Van Hollen said that being a straight, white man had not stopped him from standing up for the marginalized. He fought discrimination against gay workers, despite not being gay. He supported abortion rights against a female state senator who did not.
And he helped pass a law creating savings accounts for children with disabilities despite having no one in his family with severe disabilities. "These are human rights issues of equity that everybody should be invested in equally," Van Hollen said.
Source: Wash. Post coverage of 2016 Maryland Senate debate
Mar 5, 2015
On Free Trade:
I oppose TPP; but look at each trade deal individually
On trade, Edwards said that there were "differences in our records." While both oppose an Asia trade agreement currently under negotiation, Edwards has consistently opposed free-trade agreements;
Van Hollen has not. He said he looks at each trade deal individually before deciding whether it will help or hurt U.S. workers.
Source: Wash. Post coverage of 2016 Maryland Senate debate
Mar 5, 2015
On Social Security:
Keep a more generous cost-of-living formula
Edwards hit her rival on retirement programs, saying that "when it was time to cut a deal, Mr. Van Hollen was willing to consider--those are his own words--cuts to Social Security and Medicare." She also noted that he recently endorsed a bill
that would expand Social Security benefits, which she also supports. Van Hollen pushed back, saying he led the effort to persuade President Obama not to cut Social Security by using a less-generous cost-of-living formula.
Source: Wash. Post coverage of 2016 Maryland Senate debate
Mar 5, 2015
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