Voting Record Indicates Lieberman Not as "Conservative" as Media Says
Wednesday, August 9, 2000 (12:00 am)
Voting Record Indicates Lieberman Not as "Conservative" as Media Says
By Rusty Pugh and Bill Fancher
AFR News
August 9, 2000
(AgapePress) – Many politicians and members of the media portray Senator Joseph Lieberman as the ideal Vice Presidential candidate on the Democratic ticket. A spokesman for a pro-life group, however, say Lieberman is far from being conservative–especially when it comes to the lives of unborn babies.
Lieberman's voting record on abortion has been noticeably absent from recent media reports on his being selected as Al Gore's running mate. Some have even called him "conservative," saying he would be an asset to the party. However, Douglas Johnson, Legislative Director for the National Right to Life Committee, says Lieberman is as pro-abortion as a politician can get–even supporting partial birth abortion without restrictions.
"Senator Lieberman's record simply couldn't be any more pro-abortion," Johnson says. "He is even a co-sponsor of a bill called The Freedom of Choice Act, which would invalidate state laws that regulate abortion in minor ways–like a 24-hour waiting period. These minor types of regulations that the Supreme Court has even said are okay, this bill would invalidate."
Johnson says Lieberman is not a "centrist" and that the Senator has taken a very extreme position on pro-life issues.
"During his twelve years in the Senate,," he says, "Senator Lieberman has voted uniformly pro-abortion. He has cast almost 70 votes on the pro-abortion side. He has never voted for a pro-life restriction. He has voted against the ban on partial birth abortion. He has voted for federal funding of abortion on demand, and he has even repeatedly voted against requiring notification of a parent."
Johnson says although sometimes dubbed "the conscience of the Senate," Lieberman was one of only 37 senators to oppose an amendment to protect the conscience rights of medical training programs that object to teaching abortion methods.
Lieberman also is not a popular choice for pro-gun advocates.
"[Lieberman is] anti-gun," John Velleco of Gun Owners of America says. "He's not [a] rabid…anti-gunner, but he certainly has voted consistently against our Second Amendment right."
Velleco concedes that Lieberman is a "good guy" with a lot of common sense, and that he also brings Gore something he needs very badly.
"During the impeachment hearing," he says, "he didn't vote for impeachment–but he certainly was vocal in criticizing the President, and that's going to help Gore in creating some distance between he and Clinton."
Velleco believes the choice of Lieberman will help the Gore ticket, just like the choice of Dick Cheney will help the Bush ticket. According to Velleco, Second Amendment Rights advocates are thrilled with Cheney, who has a very pro-gun voting record.
Copyright 2000, Agape Press. Used with permission.
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