Excerpts from the 2000 Republican Platform Prosperity with a Purpose
. . . When the average American family has to work more than four months out of every year to fund all levels of government, it's time to change the tax system, to make it simpler, flatter, and fairer for everyone. . . . Replace the five current tax brackets with four lower ones, . . . doubling the child tax credit to $1,000, . . . eliminating the marriage penalty, . . . ending the death tax. . . .

We support legislation requiring a super-majority vote in both houses of Congress to raise taxes.

Government also has a responsibility to protect personal privacy. . . . Citizens must have the confidence that their personal privacy will be respected in the use of technology by both business and government. That privacy is an essential part of our personal freedom and our family life. . . .

Education and Opportunity

. . . Nothing is more important than literacy, and yet many children have trouble reading. . . .

We recognize that under the American constitutional system, education is a state, local, and family responsibility, not a federal obligation. Since over 90 percent of public school funding is state and local, not federal, it is obvious that state and local governments must assume most of the responsibility to improve the schools, and the role of the federal government must be progressively limited as we return control to parents, teacher, and local school boards. . . . The Republican Congress rightly opposed attempts by the Department of Education to establish federal testing that would set the stage for a national curriculum. We believe it's time to test the Department, and each of its programs, instead. . . .

We defend the option for home schooling and call for vigilant enforcement of laws designed to protect family rights and privacy in education. Children should not be compelled to answer offensive or intrusive questionnaires. We will continue to work for the return of voluntary school prayer. . . .

At many institutions of higher learning, the ideal of academic freedom is threatened by intolerance. Students should not be compelled to support, through mandatory student fees, anyone's political agenda. . . .

Republicans recognize the importance of having a father and a mother in the home. The two-parent family still provides the best environment of stability, discipline, responsibility, and character. . . .

We renew our call for replacing "family planning" programs for teens with increased funding for abstinence education, which teaches abstinence until marriage as the responsible and expected standard of behavior. . . . We oppose school-based clinics that provide referrals, counseling, and related services for contraception and abortion. . . . We also encourage states to review their divorce laws and to support projects that strengthen marriage. . . .

Renewing Family and Community

. . . The family is society's central core of energy. . . and that is why . . . we advocate a family-friendly tax code; . . . We support the traditional definition of "marriage" as the legal union of one man and one woman, and we believe that federal judges and bureaucrats should not force states to recognize other living arrangements as marriages. . . . We do not believe sexual preference should be given special legal protection or standing in law. . . . .

We endorse Republican legislation . . . to require schools and libraries to secure their computers against on-line porn and predators if they accept federal subsidies to connect to the Internet. This is not a question of free speech. Kids in a public library should not be victims of filth, and porn addicts should not use library facilities for their addiction. . . . .

We support the First Amendment right of freedom of association and stand united with private organizations, such as the Boy Scouts of America, and support their positions. . . .

We believe rights inhere in individuals, not in groups. We will attain our nation's goal of equal opportunity without quotas or other forms of preferential treatment. . .

The Supreme Court's recent decision, prohibiting states from banning partial-birth abortions . . . shocks the conscience of the nation. . . . The unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to unborn children. Our purpose is to have legislative and judicial protection of that right against those who perform abortions. We oppose using public revenues for abortion and will not fund organizations which advocate it. We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity of innocent human life. . . .

We oppose the non-consensual withholding of care or treatment because of disability, age, or infirmity, just as we oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide. . . .

We defend the constitutional right to keep and bear arms, and we affirm the individual responsibility to safely use and store firearms. . . . self-defense is a basic human right, . . . we oppose federal licensing of law-abiding gun owners and national gun registration as a violation of the Second Amendment and an invasion of privacy of honest citizens. . . .

Another sign of our unity is the role of English as our common language. . . . We support the recognition of English as the nation's common language. . . .

We welcome all new Americans who have entered lawfully and are prepared to follow our laws and provide for themselves and their families. . . . We oppose the creation of any national ID card. . . . We therefore endorse the recommendations of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform: . . . more resources both to border control and to internal operations. Reorganize family unification preferences to give priority to spouses and children, rather than extended family members. Emphasize needed skills in determining eligibility for admission. . . .

We will reopen Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House. . . .

We support legislation prohibiting gambling over the Internet or in student athletics by student athletes . . . .

We affirm the right of public schools, courthouses, and other public buildings to post copies of the Ten Commandments.

Retirement Security and Quality Health Care

. . . We will promote a health care system that supports, not supplants, the private sector; that promotes personal responsibility in health care decision-making; and that ensures the least intrusive role for the federal government. . . .

The Republican party remains determined to change federal law to give small employers the liberty to band together to purchase group insurance for their employees at reduced rates, . . . we propose an unprecedented tax credit that will enable 27 million individuals and families to purchase the private health insurance that's right for them. We also support full deductibility of health insurance premiums for the self-employed. . . .

Individuals should be free to manage their own health care needs through Flexible Savings Accounts (FSAs) and Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs). . . . MSAs should be a permanent part of tax law, offered to all workers without restrictions, with both employers and employees allowed to contribute. . . .

Conservation and Preservation

. . . Complex and contentious issues like global warming call for a far more realistic approach than that of the Kyoto Conference. Its deliberations were not based on the best science; its proposed agreements would be ineffective and unfair inasmuch as they do not apply to the developing world; and the current administration is still trying to implement it, without authority of law. . . . That is why the Kyoto treaty was repudiated in a lopsided, bipartisan Senate vote. . .

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We will safeguard private property rights by enforcing the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment and by providing just compensation whenever private property is needed to achieve a compelling public purpose. . . .

Government for the People

. . . When the nation felt betrayed by misconduct in high office, the Republican Congress responded with gravity and high purpose. We applaud those Members who did their duty to conscience and the Constitution. . . .

We call for the Legal Services Corporation to return to its original purpose of providing legal aid to the indigent, rather than pursuing political causes and agendas. . . .

Stop the abuses of corporate and labor "soft" money contributions to political parties. Enact "Paycheck Protection," ensuring that no union member is forced to contribute to anybody's campaign . . . .

The need for reform extends to the judicial branch . . . Many judges. . . . make up laws, invent new rights, free vicious criminals, and pamper felons in prison. They have arbitrarily overturned state laws enacted by citizen referenda, . . . A Republican Congress . . . will restore the separation of powers, . . . setting terms for federal judges, for example, or using Article III of the Constitution to limit their appellate jurisdiction . . . Governor Bush pledges to name only judges who have demonstrated that they share his conservative beliefs and respect the Constitution. . . .

We respect the design of the Framers of the Constitution that our nation's capital has a unique status and should remain independent of any individual state. . . .

Principled American Leadership

Republicans are the party of peace through strength. A strong and well-trained American military is the world's best guarantee of peace. It is the shield of the republic's liberty, security, and prosperity. . . .

Sending our military on vague, aimless, and endless missions rapidly saps morale. . . .

We believe the military must no longer be the object of social experiments. We affirm traditional military culture. We affirm that homosexuality is incompatible with military service. . . .

The Republican party created the all-volunteer force and opposes reinstitution of the draft, whether directly or through compulsory national service. We support the advancement of women in the military, support their exemption from ground combat units, and call for implementation of recommendations of the Kassebaum Commission, which unanimously recommended that co-ed basic training be ended. . . .

The administration's failure to guard America's nuclear secrets is allowing China to modernize its ballistic missile force, thereby increasing the threat to our country and to our allies. The theft of vital nuclear secrets by China represents one of the greatest security defeats in the history of the United States. . . .

Over two dozen countries have ballistic missiles today. . . . The new Republican president will deploy a national missile defense for reasons of national security; but he will also do so because there is a moral imperative involved: The American people deserve to be protected. It is the president's constitutional obligation. . . .

International organizations can serve the cause of peace, but they can never serve as a substitute for, or exercise a veto over, principled American leadership. The United Nations was not designed to summon or lead armies in the field and, as a matter of U.S. sovereignty, American troops must never serve under United Nations command. Nor will they be subject to the jurisdiction of an International Criminal Court. . . .