-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- On Thu, 22 Aug 1996, Declan McCullagh wrote:
But the benefit of having a pro-privacy statement in the platform (which in fact was watered down significantly from that originally proposed by advocates on our side) is that the platform covers Republican Party candidates for any office, not just the presidency.
One Republican staffer sent you an ass-kissing note quoting an ALLEGED piece of the platform WHICH IS NOT ACTUALLY THERE. The platform was finalized on August 12th. The text you quoted is not even in the list of rejected amendments. I assume that either you or the staffer you talked to innocently mistook some Senator's position paper for the platform; it's hard to believe that anyone would intentionally lie about something that is so trivial to check. Even if the text you passed on were part of the platform, I fail to see the importance of a feel-good statement in a platform that the party's presidential candidate CLAIMS NOT TO HAVE EVEN READ. Also from the Republican Platform (perhaps out of context, but unlike the text some anonymous alleged Republican staffer sent you, this is actually in the platform): [...] In a Dole Administration, U. S. Attorneys will prosecute and jail those who prey upon the innocent. We support upgrading our interdiction effort by establishing a Deputy Commissioner for Drug Enforcement within the Customs Service. We will intensify our intelligence efforts against international drug traffickers and use whatever means necessary to destroy their operations and seize their personal accounts. We support strong penalties, including mandatory minimum sentences, for drug trafficking, distribution and drug-related crimes. Drug use is closely related to crime and recidivism. Drug testing should be made a routine feature of the criminal justice process at every stage, including the juvenile justice system. Test results should be used in deciding pretrial release, sentencing, and probation revocation. [...] Terrorist states have made a comeback during Bill Clinton's Administration. He has treated their rulers with undue respect and failed to curb their acquisition of weapons of mass destruction. Although congressional Republicans passed anti-terrorism legislation earlier this year, the Clinton Administration has not implemented many key provisions of the law. It has not been used to freeze terrorists' assets, deny terrorists' visas, cut off foreign aid to supporters of terrorist states, or halt terrorist fundraising in the United States. The Clinton Administration has not implemented the anti-terrorist research program established and funded by Congress in the 1990 Aviation Security Act. [...] Our technological edge is at risk not only because of the Clinton Administration's refusal to sustain an adequate investment in defense modernization, but also its virtual abandonment of national security-related export controls. Acquisition of technology by aspiring proliferators of weapons of mass destruction has been irresponsibly facilitated. A Republican Administration will protect the American technological edge. It will do so by expanding investment in defense modernization, ensuring that the Defense Department has a key role in approving exports of militarily critical technology, and restoring the effectiveness of export control regimes. [...] The intelligence community should be our first line of defense against terrorism, drug trafficking, nuclear proliferation, and foreign espionage. Bill Clinton's neglect of our country's intelligence service is one of his most serious sins of omission. He has underfunded, misutilized, and marginalized critical intelligence missions and capabilities. No wonder his first appointee as Director of Central Intelligence has endorsed Bob Dole. The nation's security - and the personal safety of our citizens - cannot be placed at risk. Effective intelligence can be expensive. But what it costs is measured in dollars rather than lives - an important lesson of the Gulf War. A Republican Administration will reverse the decline in funding for intelligence personnel and operations while better managing the development of futuristic capabilities. We will not constrain U.S. intelligence personnel with "politically correct" standards that impede their ability to collect and act on intelligence information. We will conduct whatever intelligence operations are necessary to safeguard American lives against the terrorists who bomb our airplanes and buildings. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQBVAwUBMhy5wpNcNyVVy0jxAQFvgwH9FR9ZQca520mSuqhDO7OKLe6duAJAQ+HO FP4UPnLWJZtOrI9LvWiX5EHoqG0RtaS2FwwMuwGZQedb8YdkW4QWUw== =XdnD -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----