2000 Texas Democratic Party Platform

The Democratic Mission

United by a sense of purpose and guided by our core values, Texas Democrats are working to elect public servants who will build a better state and nation for our families and children for generations to come.

Our Core Values

We are people you see in your community: at work, at the store, at the ballpark, and at your place of worship.  We come from all walks of life, but our shared beliefs and values help shape a strong state and nation where every citizen has the opportunity to succeed.

 We believe:

�        In equal opportunity for all citizens.

�        In rewarding, honest, hard work with a living wage and in a tax system that is fair.

�        In values that support and strengthen all families.

�        In quality public education that gives all citizens the opportunity to reach their potential.

�        In freedom from government interference in our private lives and personal decisions.

�        In separation of Church and State to preserve the freedom to pursue our beliefs.

�        That the individual strengths of our diverse population are a benefit.

�        In security in our homes and safety on our streets.  Criminals should face swift and certain punishment.

�        In a strong United States � morally, economically, diplomatically and militarily.

�        In common sense reforms that give us cleaner and safer air and water.

Our Vision

 Keeping the Promise:

�Strong Families for the 21st Century�

 �The Democratic Party is not a collection of diverse interests brought together only to win elections. We are united instead by a common heritage - by a respect for the deeds of the past and a recognition of the needs of the future.�

 - President John F. Kennedy, from a speech to have been delivered
in Austin, Texas, the evening of November 22, 1963

Texas Democrats are working to keep the promise of equal opportunity for all by building a better future.  Our vision is clear. We want a Texas where all people can fulfill their dreams and achieve their God-given potential. 

Texas Democrats are offering new ideas based on our most enduring and sacred American values -- opportunity, responsibility, family and community, freedom and fairness.  These values guide our efforts to help every Texas family succeed in the 21st century.  

Our core Democratic values shape policies that:

�        educate and protect our children;

�        protect families from gangs, drugs and crime;

�        honor work and help workers succeed in a thriving economy;

�        demand personal responsibility;

�        promote healthy families;

�        protect our environment and preserve our natural resources;

�        promote the success of Texas businesses;

�        support limited government that is effective and efficient; and

�        respect the rights of individuals and demand fairness for all citizens.

Texas Democrats are putting these mainstream values into action.  We strongly support a quality public education for every child, access to affordable, quality health care provided by a doctor of the patient�s choice, and strong communities with safe streets and clean air and water.

Texas Democrats believe issues matter because public policy affects our daily lives. Where others favor special interests or seek to have government impose their version of �family values� on everyone, we offer common sense policies that value all our families.

Issue Papers

In addition to the values and principles established here, these issue papers describe the commitments of the Party adopted by its convention to put our principles into practice.

EDUCATION

The Texas Democratic Party believes public education is the key to economic opportunity and effective participation in our democracy.  We believe that family, school, and community share responsibility for providing every child with a quality public education in a safe, secure school.

Texas Democrats have led the fight to improve public education while others have sought to weaken or destroy it.  Through reforms devised and passed by Democrats over Republican opposition, we have:

�        Raised pay for teachers, librarians, counselors and school nurses by $3,000 a year to help retain and attract qualified, talented professionals;

�        Reduced class sizes and built new classrooms;

�        Improved school safety and discipline by ensuring a teacher�s right to remove disruptive students and by establishing and funding alternative schools;

�        Raised student performance;

�        Lowered dropout rates;

�        Guaranteed parents the right to be involved in the operation of their children�s schools;

�        Established and expanded kindergarten and pre-kindergarten programs;

�        Developed a strong state accountability system;

�        Rewarded good work in high school with scholarships to Texas public universities and colleges for students who graduate and maintain good grades; and

�        Provided scholarship help for college students who choose teaching as a profession.

Despite all we have done, there is still much to do to guarantee our children the quality education and safe schools they deserve:

• Texas faces a severe teacher shortage because teacher pay has not been competitive with the private sector;
• Despite the teacher pay increase passed by Democrats, Texas is still below the national average in salary and at the absolute bottom in benefits;
• Too many students are taught by teachers required to teach subjects they are not certified to teach, and the number has been growing rapidly;
• Waivers of the 22-student class size limit have almost doubled the past 5 years;
• Too many students are not provided the programs and resources needed to make them ready for promotion to the next grade;
• Too many old, overcrowded and unsafe school buildings house a growing student population.

Safe Schools for Every Child

Texas Democrats believe protecting students, teachers, and other school personnel from acts of violence is a fundamental responsibility of school officials.  We support swift and sure enforcement of disciplinary standards. Teachers must be supported when they exercise their right to take a disruptive student out of the classroom. Those students referred to disciplinary and alternative education programs should be provided strong academic instruction and not just be warehoused in low quality programs. School campuses and functions must be weapon and drug-free.

An Excellent Public Education for Every Child

Every Texan knows that our children come first.  To make our state�s education policy reflect that number-one priority, we should:

�        Raise teacher pay and provide a quality state paid health insurance program for every educational employee;

�        Guarantee that every class has a teacher certified to teach the subject of that class;

�        Enforce class-size limits and construct sufficient classroom space to improve discipline and learning by ending overcrowding;

�        Guarantee every child the educational programs and services he or she needs to succeed;

�        Provide sufficient and fair state funding so that the cost isn�t passed on to local property taxpayers;

�        Provide resources for students with special needs or challenges, including those students who live in districts that use distance learning or alternative education centers or that have declining enrollment or fast growth;

�        Commit the necessary resources to early-intervention programs so that every child can read at their grade level;

�        Improve our accountability system by relying on a more complete evaluation than just one standardized test score;

�        Involve parents in education with appropriate, innovative programs, such as letting parents choose public schools that best meet the needs of their children;

�        Ensure teacher and parental input into local educational decision-making;

�        Support the continuing efforts of school districts to lower dropout rates;

�        Strongly encourage the recruitment of teachers who reflect the state�s diversity, because Texas is a multi-ethnic state and education is enriched through diversity;

�        Respect and safeguard the rights and benefits of education employees, so that we can recruit and retain our best;

�        Reject Republican efforts to destroy bilingual education and support bilingual education and dual language programs that help move students to English-language instruction and also allow English-speaking children to learn a second language.

�        Oppose any form of private school vouchers because vouchers would drain resources essential to guarantee a quality public education for all our children.

Post-Secondary and Adult Education

The Texas Democratic Party believes all Texans must have the opportunity to attend public universities and colleges, and we support innovative approaches to ensure diversity in every Texas institution of higher education.  Texas Democrats developed the Texas Tomorrow Fund to allow families to pre-purchase college tuition and created scholarship programs to make college a real option for students who make good grades. We passed the law to assure admission at Texas colleges and universities for students who graduate in the top 10% of their class. These efforts have paid off.  Colleges and universities are now more accessible than at any time since the Hopwood decision.

Higher education provides the higher-level skills that are crucial to competitiveness in a global economy marked by rapid technological change.  Texas Democrats:

�        Support funding to assure sufficient classes and adequate financial aid for all

      students; adequate compensation, security, professional status and benefits for

      faculty; and research to spur economic development; 

�        Support the role of community colleges in providing lifelong educational opportunity;

�        Encourage enhanced support for both Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern and higher-education opportunities in South Texas and all border communities; and

�        Condemn intolerance on Texas campuses and encourage universities

to develop and offer culturally diverse curricula, student activities, and    

student recruitment policies that promote understanding and tolerance.

State Fiscal Policy

Government exists to help us achieve as a community what we cannot achieve as individuals. Good, responsible government need not cost more. In fact, it can cost less. Texas Democrats continue working to make state government operate efficiently and effectively through the efforts of well-trained, well-paid state employees at all levels.

Texas Democrats were at the forefront of efforts to protect the interests of Texas families in our state budget.  Democratic legislators ensured that over-the-counter medicines were exempted from state and local sales taxes.  Democratic legislators ensured that the State of Texas provide a three-day sales tax �holiday� on clothing and other items prior to each school year.   Democrats also stood up to defend day-care, economic development and job creation, and other critical needs for Texas families. 

Through good times and bad, Texas Democrats have implemented good budget and debt management practices.  Democratic leadership paid off debts early and saved taxpayers millions of dollars in interest payments.  And, though Republican legislators opposed the lawsuit against tobacco companies, Democrats made certain that when victory was achieved, the proceeds of the tobacco settlement were invested in permanent funds to provide a perpetual source of revenue for the future.

The Texas Democratic Party believes:

�                    The Texas Legislature should pass a constitutional amendment banning a sales tax on food and medicine;

�                    Texans should not be subjected to a state income tax; and

�                    Funding for delivery of vital services should always take priority over funding for administrative expenses of state government.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

The Texas Democratic Party believes it is a fundamental duty of government to protect all residents.  Criminals must be punished.  The rights of victims must be ensured.  The accused must be assured due process under law.  Restitution must be made to victims and society.  All Texans are entitled to be safe and secure, free from the fear of violence.  This should be true everywhere, in cities and rural areas, inner cities and suburbs, and in all neighborhoods regardless of ethnic makeup.

Many Texas families do not feel safe in their neighborhoods.  Violent crimes have decreased overall. However, every 4.5 minutes a Texan still becomes the victim of a violent crime. Most people arrested for violent crime are between the ages of 15 and 19. The total number of supervised releases has increased during the tenure of the current Republican governor.  Moreover, sex offenders continue to receive probation or deferred adjudication.  Contrary to law, others are released and placed near schools and children.

Juvenile Justice

We believe prevention is the best solution to the problem of juvenile crime.  We support:

�        Programs that help high-risk kids stay in school and stay positively involved in their communities.

�        Drug prevention programs in our schools, including school-based clinics to provide our children with access to drug counseling, education and outreach programs that stop drug addiction before it begins; and

�        More severe punishment of individuals or groups who corrupt our children by recruiting or enticing them to commit crimes.

The juvenile justice system must teach young people drawn to a life of crime at an early age that they will be held accountable and responsible for their actions.  We support:

�        Tough but appropriate punishment for juveniles who commit crimes;

�        Teaching responsibility to nonviolent juvenile offenders through programs such as boot camps, work camps and restitution centers; and

�        Keeping handguns and other weapons away from children.

Parents and communities must be involved in solutions to juvenile crime.  Efforts to prevent abuse and provide treatment for victims and perpetrators will realize long-term cost savings by reducing prison populations and assuring safer, healthier families.

Adult Corrections

To continue the fight against crime so that our streets and our homes may become safe again, Texas Democrats support tough and smart policies including:

�        Passage of the James Byrd, Jr., Memorial Hate Crimes Act;

�        Ending the mandatory early release of criminals and aggressively appealing any judicial decision which questions the constitutionality of such a statute;

�        Sensitive treatment for the victims of crime and stronger emphasis on compensation to crime victims by the criminals themselves;

�        Severe punishment for repeat and violent offenders, including longer sentences for drug dealers;

�        Doing away with deferred adjudication and probation for sex offenders;

�        More police officers on the streets to fight a real �War on Gangs�;

�        Crime prevention programs addressing drug and alcohol addiction and other root causes of crime and stressing the need for educational opportunity;

�        Ensure availability of adequate prison space;

�        Effective supervision of parolees and probationers, with a certainty of sanctions for violators;

�        Tough anti-stalking laws and laws to protect witnesses and parties from harassment and retribution;

�        Stronger enforcement of Texas� DWI laws;

�        Recognition that rape and domestic violence are crimes of violence, that victims and their families need counseling and support, and that sexual assault and abuse prevention programs for adults and children are needed;

�        Strong enforcement pertaining to and punishment of white collar and corporate criminals;

�        The right of a person to be tried by a jury that broadly reflects the ethnic makeup of the community;

�        Expansion of community anti-crime programs; and

�        Improved pay and benefits for law enforcement and corrections officers who put their lives on the line every day.

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

The Texas Democratic Party endorses the religious freedoms guaranteed by the state and federal Constitutions and calls upon government to scrupulously honor every Texan's right to religious freedom while respecting the separation of church and state. Many Democrats hold political views that are motivated by deeply held personal beliefs.  No political party and no extremist group holds an exclusive lock on such beliefs. We recognize the importance of religion and prayer in the lives of Texans and support every individual�s right to practice his or her own beliefs without imposing them on others.

SECURITY FOR OUR FAMILIES

Texas Democrats are working to build strong communities with safe, healthy and thriving families.  In the same way we support a strong military to ensure the peace and provide national security, we support these initiatives to ensure security for Texas families.

Social Security and Long Term Care

The Texas Democratic Party believes we must keep the promise of Social Security solid and certain for those who worked and contributed to the system all their lives. We believe the projected federal budget surplus should be used to strengthen Social Security. We support individual savings accounts provided they are not �carved out� from the percentage of workers� payrolls withheld for Social Security.

Texas Democrats support long term care services that promote independent living in the most integrated setting possible for the elderly and the chronically ill and disabled of all ages.  This network of services should include community-based attendant services, in-home health care, adult day care and hospice care.  We support:

�        The transition of our long term care system to home and community care with a funding focus on home and community services as opposed to the current institutionally-biased system;

�        A coordinated network of support services including personal assistance services, respite care, home delivered meals, transportation and homemaker assistance;

�        A goal of providing choice in decisions about where elderly, chronically ill, and disabled Texans live and receive support services;

�        The �de-medicalization� of services to contain costs and allow greater control by the individual;

�        Regulation for board and care homes, as well as stringent inspections of nursing homes, state-supported hospitals and schools and the strict enforcement of laws governing these facilities to ensure safety, cleanliness, nutrition and quality health care for elderly and disabled Texans; and

�        Instituting a tax credit program to encourage the purchase of long-term care insurance.

Safety from Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault

Domestic violence threatens the health and safety of too many Texas families.  We therefore support:

�        Programs, education, and centers for all battered persons;

�        Enhancement of adequate protective services for the victims of child, spousal, adult and elder abuse; and

�        Expansion of sexual assault crisis centers to the unserved and underserved areas of the state.

Hunger

Texas Democrats support public and private endeavors to provide programs and nutrition education to assure the absence of hunger and malnutrition in Texas.  However, private programs alone cannot adequately address this problem.  Texas� ranking as number two among all states in the number of people experiencing hunger is unacceptable.  Texas Democrats support increasing access to hunger prevention programs through simplified eligibility and aggressive outreach.

Child Care that Strengthens Texas Families

Texas families should not have to choose between the job they need and the child they love.  Affordable, quality child care is good for parents, good for children and vital for the Texas economy.  Texas Democrats believe the private sector can do more to improve the availability of affordable child care and we propose the following initiatives to help parents succeed at home and at work:

�        Corporate tax credits, property tax cuts and entrepreneurial assistance to help Texas businesses invest in child care.  We also support the creation of a Texas Child Care Fund to pool local, nonprofit and private dollars to be used to get the maximum available federal child care matching funds for Texas;

�        Expansion of after-school child care services to improve the safety of child care, the use of quicker, more effective criminal background checks for child care workers, and the provision of better information to parents so they can make informed child care decisions; and

�        Targeted tax credits and limited grants for investment in caregiver retention, staff training and educational equipment as well as scholarships to train the next generation of quality child care professionals and continue to improve the quality of child care.

Expanding Economic Opportunities for all Texans

Texas Democrats believe the best program to end poverty and welfare is a job that pays a living wage.  Government assistance should be a transitional effort to help people take responsibility for their own lives and become productive members of society.  Both those who receive public assistance and those who foot the bill for that assistance have a responsibility to find ways to quickly move needy families from welfare to work.  A society that emphasizes personal responsibility must also strive to create jobs, reward work, and provide infrastructure that encourages people to work and to rear children responsibly.

Choice and Family Planning

Texas Democrats believe that people will make sound, healthy decisions for themselves and their families. We believe in every American�s right to privacy and the right to make personal choices for ourselves and our families without fear of unwarranted governmental intrusion.

�        The Democratic Party trusts the women of Texas to make their own decisions about personal matters such as when or whether to bear children. No government, no politician, and no bureaucrat should interfere in an individual�s private and personal decisions; 

�        We will work to guarantee every woman the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive choices, including bearing healthy children and preventing unintended pregnancy; and

�        We must decrease the rate of adolescent pregnancy and the alarming number of pregnant teenagers dropping out of school -- both of which increase the number of Texas children living in poverty.  We must provide child care to allow teenage mothers to continue their education.

Housing and Homelessness

Homelessness is a problem whose solution demands strong commitment to public-private partnerships and coordinated efforts at the federal, state and local levels.  Secure and affordable housing is essential to giving families a sense of security, self-respect, and responsibility as part of a community. 

Texas Democrats are committed to making the dream of home ownership a reality for more Texas families by:

�        Removing barriers, expanding resources, and increasing access to services that support progress toward self-sufficiency;

�        Increasing the range and availability of services used by homeless people in urban and rural areas;

�        Encouraging state and local agencies to work together to broaden the reach and increase effectiveness of housing opportunities and support services for Texans;

�        Eliminating all discrimination in the financing and insuring of homes, including lending practices that prey on the poor and elderly; and

�        Encouraging local officials to make better use of abandoned housing to provide safe, affordable housing.

Consumer Protection

Texas Democrats support the protection of consumers from dangerous products and unfair business practices such as unscrupulous telemarketing and the sale of other goods and services that prey on Texans, especially children, the poor and the elderly.

JOBS & WORKPLACE ISSUES

The creation and retention of private sector jobs and development of the full potential of the Texas workforce remain essential to our economic security. We support:

�        Trade policies that take into account Texas' interests in generating jobs, affording dignity to working people and protecting the environment. While encouraging global trade that meets these goals, a trade policy should oppose tactics that ignore these goals, such as child or slave labor, unconscionably low wages, and environmental degradation;

�        Preference for American and Texas products and protection for local wage standards in government contracts;

�        Competition and accountability in state government, but we oppose wholesale privatization schemes that result in less competition and less accountability in the delivery of services;

�        Programs for retraining workers who are impacted by layoffs and improving and updating the skills of workers who want to advance their careers;

�        Programs that train welfare recipients to acquire skills and allow them to enter the workforce without pitting welfare-to-work participants against other workers in a drive for low wages;

�        Training prisoners for productive careers while avoiding interference with the free-world job market;

�        A strong space program, including continuation and expansion of manned space exploration station program as a cornerstone of investment in scientific research that is essential to our economic future;

�        The right to a diverse and safe workplace, free from injury and exposure to harmful materials, plus meaningful sanctions against employers who knowingly or negligently expose workers to injury or death;

�        A workers' compensation system that provides affordable coverage for employers, meaningful compensation to injured workers, the right of those workers to choose their own doctor, incentives for employers to retain injured employees and due consideration for the rights of workers within the legal system;

�        The right of all employees, public and private, to organize, collect dues, designate their income voluntarily to organizations and agencies of their choosing, and to negotiate freely with their employers through their elected agents;

�        The right of unions to engage in political activity based on majority rule within the union and free from partisan attempts to limit the ability of unions to participate in the political process;

�        Freedom from discriminatory employment practices, including support for the Employment Non Discrimination Act;

�        A meaningful increase in the federal minimum wage aimed at giving all full-time workers the ability to live dignified lives, plus an increase in the $3.35 per hour state minimum wage to guarantee that all farm workers are afforded that same dignity; and

�         Secure public or private pensions that honor the principle that a lifetime of honest work should be rewarded with adequate retirement income.

RURAL TEXAS & AGRICULTURE

Rural Texas faces significant challenges that threaten the existence of a way of life that not only provided the livelihood for generations of Texas families, but also forged basic values Texans still share today. We are strongly committed to meeting the special needs of rural Texas.

Agriculture is unique in terms of its importance to domestic and international trade, its vulnerability to uncertainty, and its lack of control over pricing. We are committed to maintaining the world leadership role of Texas farmers and ranchers by:

�        Reinforcing the value of having large numbers of family farmers and ranchers producing food and fiber;

�        Recognizing the danger of having a few corporations and conglomerates control the processing of food and fiber;

�        Protecting Texas food producers from unfair competition with foreign producers who pay substandard wages and use chemicals banned in this country to increase their yields at the expense of the purity of the product;

�        Ensuring the safety of imported foods not covered by regulations against dangerous chemicals and pesticides that apply to food grown in the United States;

We support the efforts of Texas farmers and ranchers to:

�        Establish appropriate minimum price support levels and restore the economic safety net for family farmers and ranchers which the Republican-controlled Congress effectively eliminated in the 1995 Farm Bill;

�        Utilize market management programs adopted through producer referenda;

�        Maintain an adequate national emergency reserve, isolated from the market.

HEALTH CARE

Texas Democrats believe that every family deserves health care they can count on and a health care system that puts family health first. Access to affordable health insurance should be guaranteed for all Texans by securing all federal and state funds and waivers that would maximize the amount of federal tax dollars returned to Texas.

A Patient�s Bill of Rights

Texas Democrats support a Patient�s Bill of Rights to ensure that Texas families have the right to choose the doctor they want for the care they need.  Medical decisions must be made by medical doctors in consultation with their patients, not insurance company accountants.  Families have the right to know all of their medical options, not just the cheapest.

The Republican governor vetoed the 1995 Patient Protection Act.  In contrast, Democrats worked to pass legislation that guaranteed Texans the right to choose their own doctor, secured a woman�s right to choose their own OB-GYN, and gave consumers the right to sue HMO�s for denying necessary care. Democrats also opened the doors of MD Anderson and other premier cancer care facilities to all Texans.

We believe:

�        Doctors, not HMOs or insurance companies, should make medical decisions in consultation with their patients, and HMOs and insurance companies should be banned from restricting a doctor�s ability to tell a patient about all medical options;

�        Texas families need a Patient�s Bill of Rights Amendment to the Texas Constitution that will give every Texas family the right to choose their own doctor;

�        HMO members should have the right to choose any doctor who is willing to accept an HMO�s fee structure;

�        HMOs should be banned from rejecting doctors for reasons other than criminal wrongdoing, fraud or incompetence; and

�        HMOs and insurance companies should be barred from discriminating against pre-existing conditions such as cancer, HIV infection, Alzheimer�s and other chronic diseases.

Protecting Medicare and Medicaid

Texas Democrats support programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, that maintain the safety net for vulnerable Texans.  We support expanding Medicare to provide prescription drug coverage.  We also support a local and state partnership to maximize funds for Medicaid programs that assure coverage to pregnant women, infants and children, as well as people with disabilities and senior Texans.

Texas Democrats also believe our state and federal government should crack down on hospitals and health care providers who file fraudulent Medicare and Medicaid claims that cost billions of tax dollars a year.  The needs of the vulnerable must not fall victim to the greed of a few.

Children�s Health Insurance

Texas Democrats support guaranteeing health care for all 1.4 million uninsured children in Texas. We support utilization of all federal funds available through the Children�s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and simplifying the Medicaid application process so that it mirrors CHIP. We support vigorous outreach efforts to secure access to all available programs.

Mental Health Services

Family preservation is maintained by enhancing the mental health of individual family members.  We support:

�        Comprehensive mental health services;

�        Expansion of community centers, home services, and school-based programs to assist children with emotional and traumatic problems and their parents; and

�        Appropriate acute in-patient services for victims of trauma.

Expanding Opportunities for People with Disabilities 

Texas Democrats support choices that promote full and productive lives and initiatives affording equal opportunities to the physically, developmentally and mentally disabled or impaired. We support the Americans with Disabilities Act.

HIV Education and Services

Texas Democrats support education initiatives and services to address the HIV epidemic, including increased access to treatment and therapy that improves quality of life and encourages return to the workforce.

An Affordable Health Delivery System in Rural Texas

Texas Democrats support improving access to a functioning and affordable health delivery system in rural Texas, including:

�        Programs that bring physicians and health providers to rural areas, including techniques such as telemedicine;

�        Equality of Medicare reimbursements to rural areas to encourage doctors to practice there and to keep rural hospitals from closing; 

�        Improved emergency care systems that provide access to medical care facilities, especially trauma care; and

�        Utilization of nurse practitioners and physician assistants in underserved areas.

THE ENVIRONMENT

The Texas Democratic Party believes a clean environment is part of a safe neighborhood. Today, nearly 70% of Texans live in areas that fail to meet clean air standards, up from 50% five years ago. The Republican governor and his appointees have not developed a workable plan to clean up the air or eliminate water pollution.

We pledge to:

�        End �grandfathering� by requiring all polluters to have permits and meet current standards;

�        End the pollution �volume discount� for big polluters;

�        Deny or rescind permits to applicants with bad environmental records;

�        Create an emergency plan for public health crises;

�        Support full implementation of the Clean Air Act and create incentives to reduce air pollution;

�        Enhance and support innovative public notice practices that tell communities about the assessment of fines at hazardous facilities and ensure that poor and minority neighborhoods are not victimized by the siting of hazardous facilities;

�        Continue and enhance registries for birth defects, cancer and environmentally related illnesses;

�        Support efforts to reduce pesticide use and promote less toxic methods of pest control while opposing any attempts to weaken existing pesticide or food safety regulations;

�        Support and enforce �right to know� laws allowing consumers and workers to be informed about possible exposure to pesticides and harmful toxins, the right of persons to fully participate in challenging the issuance of permits and to access the courts for redress for damages caused by polluters, and the requirement that industry work with community stake holders regarding environmental compliance;

�        Protect coastal bays, estuaries and all qualifying wetlands by protecting them from toxic contamination and maintaining freshwater inflows so that there is no net loss of these critical areas;

�        Prohibit transportation and disposal of nuclear waste without absolute safeguards for Texans and their communities;

�        Provide opportunities and incentives for businesses to employ energy-efficient and environmentally sound technologies, and enforce environmental compliance standards so that non-complying businesses do not get a competitive advantage over responsible businesses;

�        Support effective programs to address environmental problems and to construct water and wastewater treatment systems along both sides of the border;

�        Support aggressive measures to reduce hazardous waste production and protect Texans from toxic hazards;

�        Establish a plan to ensure that all toxic and hazardous waste sites in Texas are cleaned up in the next 10 years;

�        Implement aggressive water conservation practices for municipal, agricultural and industrial sectors and provide economic incentives for reduced consumption;

�        Protect Texas rivers, lakes, and streams, and improve current water-quality standards;

�        Support the protection of public lands and national parks and the expansion of the state park system, and oppose indiscriminate clear cutting, leasing, development and commercial exploitation of parklands;

�        Strengthen state programs to protect farmland and conserve precious soil and water resources; and

�        Support research on and use of renewable energy sources.

  CIVIL RIGHTS, ELECTIONS, PRIVACY & ACCESS TO THE COURTS

Full protection and equal opportunity under the law remain a bedrock value of the Democratic Party. To that end, we pledge to:

�        Fight all forms of discrimination. This protection extends to the ability to contract, work, vote, serve in the military, obtain an education or engage in all other legal pursuits of happiness;

�        Enforce laws prohibiting sexual harassment;

�        Promote the right to privacy;

�        Support policies that protect the confidentiality of an individual�s medical and financial records;

�        Reaffirm our unqualified support for the Voting Rights Act, the protection of the right of minority groups to participate fully in the political process, and a fair, complete and accurate census including the use of the most modern statistical methods, as appropriate;

�        Encourage full voter participation in all elections, including continued selection of Party nominees through primary elections;

�        Support open access to the court system for all citizens, including the right to fair and impartial jury trials and respect by the courts for jury verdicts; the right to seek redress for damages inflicted by the irresponsible conduct of others; the continued election of judges while working towards a more diverse judiciary; meaningful judicial campaign finance reform; and the provision of a full range of legal services to low-income Texans; and

�        Support an adoption system based on honesty and integrity which provides adult adoptees a fair opportunity to seek access to their birth, medical, and court records.

ETHICS AND GOVERNMENTAL REFORM

Texas Democrats support comprehensive ethics and campaign finance reforms that restrict undue influence and special interest control of the democratic process.  We support:

�        Continuing revision of state ethics laws to assure full reporting and disclosure of campaign finance, lobbying and other activities that influence the operation of government;

�        Limits on campaign contributions provided those limits are accompanied by campaign spending limits; and

�        Reinstatement of the fairness doctrine of the Federal Communication Commission.

MultiLingualism

We believe that linguistic and cultural diversity present opportunities to develop a competitive edge in a growing global economy. The Texas Democratic Party believes all Texans have a responsibility to be proficient in the English language but opposes the efforts of the extremist "English-Only" movement to curb the use of other languages.

IMMIGRATION

The Texas Democratic Party believes that it is the responsibility and duty of the United States to secure its borders. At the same time, the Texas Democratic Party promotes immigration policies that create economic opportunities for all individuals and businesses, strengthen families, protect members of all communities against discrimination, and protect people from intrusive forms of personal identification.  We believe that the United States has been -- and should always be -- the land of opportunity.

Our strength as a nation lies in our diversity. Immigrant bashing and scapegoating are not only misguided, but inevitably polarize our society while failing to solve problems. We oppose any immigration-control measure that specifically targets children or the elderly for punishment through the denial of public education or health care benefits.