Dirk Kempthorne on Abortion

Dirk Kempthorne on Budget & Economy

• Voted YES on 1998 GOP budget. (May 1997)
• Voted YES on Balanced-budget constitutional amendment. (Mar 1997)
• Bankruptcy reform: limit Chapter 7; protect states' role. (Feb 2001)
• Uphold commitments to states before other spending. (Sep 2001)

Dirk Kempthorne on Civil Rights

• Voted YES on setting aside 10% of highway funds for minorities & women. (Mar 1998)
• Voted YES on ending special funding for minority & women-owned business. (Oct 1997)
• Voted YES on prohibiting same-sex marriage. (Sep 1996)
• Voted NO on prohibiting job discrimination by sexual orientation. (Sep 1996)
• Voted YES on Amendment to prohibit flag burning. (Dec 1995)
• Voted YES on banning affirmative action hiring with federal funds. (Jul 1995)
• Support principles embodied in the Equal Rights Amendment. (Feb 2001)

Dirk Kempthorne on Corporations

Dirk Kempthorne on Crime

• No new prisons; warehousing people is not the solution. (Jan 2001)
• Drug treatment & education opportunities for inmates. (Jan 2001)
• Voted YES on limiting death penalty appeals. (Apr 1996)
• Voted YES on limiting product liability punitive damage awards. (Mar 1996)
• Voted YES on restricting class-action lawsuits. (Dec 1995)
• Voted YES on repealing federal speed limits. (Jun 1995)
• Voted YES on mandatory prison terms for crimes involving firearms. (May 1994)
• Voted YES on rejecting racial statistics in death penalty appeals. (May 1994)
• Supports flexible federal block grants for crime programs. (Sep 2001)
• Zero tolerance for violence against government employees. (Aug 2001)

Dirk Kempthorne on Drugs

• Target meth with more manpower. (Jan 2001)
• Voted YES on spending international development funds on drug control. (Jul 1996)
• More federal funding for all aspects of Drug War. (Aug 2000)
• States should make drug policy, not feds. (Aug 2001)

Dirk Kempthorne on Education

• Reading Initiative: 90% of 3rd graders reading by 2004. (Jan 2001)
• Exit standards for high school via SAT-like exam. (Jan 2001)
• Supports charter schools and innovative classrooms. (Jan 2001)
• Voted YES on education savings accounts. (Jun 1998)
• Voted YES on school vouchers in DC. (Sep 1997)
• Voted YES on $75M for abstinence education. (Jul 1996)
• Voted YES on requiring schools to allow voluntary prayer. (Jul 1994)
• Voted NO on national education standards. (Feb 1994)

Dirk Kempthorne on Energy & Oil

• Voted YES on approving a nuclear waste repository. (Apr 1997)
• Voted YES on do not require ethanol in gasoline. (Aug 1994)
• Voluntary partnerships reduce greenhouse gases economically. (Aug 2000)
• Kyoto Treaty must include reductions by all countries. (Aug 2000)
• Federal tax incentives for energy, with state decisions. (Aug 2001)

Dirk Kempthorne on Environment

• Supports salmon recovery without breaching Snake River dams. (Jan 2001)
• States’ rights: no grizzly bears; no roadless forests. (Jan 2001)
• Voted YES on transportation demo projects. (Mar 1998)
• Voted NO on reducing funds for road-building in National Forests. (Sep 1997)
• Voted NO on continuing desert protection in California. (Oct 1994)
• Voted YES on requiring EPA risk assessments. (May 1994)
• More state autonomy on brownfields & Superfund cleanups. (Aug 2001)
• Support State Revolving Loan Fund for flexible Clean Water. (Aug 2001)
• Focus on prevention and states for Endangered Species. (Aug 2001)
• Collaborative, incentive driven, locally-based solutions. (Aug 2001)
• Apply "Good Samaritan" rules to abandoned mine cleanup. (Aug 2001)
• State primacy over water quantity & quality issues. (Aug 2001)

Dirk Kempthorne on Families & Children

• Encourage fathers' participation in child-raising. (Sep 2001)
• Federal funds & state involvement in fatherhood initiatives. (Aug 2001)

Dirk Kempthorne on Foreign Policy

• Voted NO on limiting the President's power to impose economic sanctions. (Jul 1998)
• Voted YES on limiting NATO expansion to only Poland, Hungary & Czech. (Apr 1998)
• Voted YES on $17.9 billion to IMF. (Mar 1998)
• Voted YES on Strengthening of the trade embargo against Cuba. (Mar 1996)
• Voted NO on ending Vietnam embargo. (Jan 1994)

Dirk Kempthorne on Free Trade

• Double Idaho’s exports. (Jan 2001)
• Voted YES on renewing 'fast track' presidential trade authority. (Nov 1997)
• Voted YES on imposing trade sanctions on Japan for closed market. (May 1995)

Dirk Kempthorne on Government Reform

• Voted NO on favoring 1997 McCain-Feingold overhaul of campaign finance. (Oct 1997)
• Voted YES on Approving the presidential line-item veto. (Mar 1996)
• Voted NO on banning more types of Congressional gifts. (Jul 1995)
• Reforms must respect state's rights to select electors. (Aug 2001)

Dirk Kempthorne on Gun Control

• Voted YES on maintaining current law: guns sold without trigger locks. (Jul 1998)

Dirk Kempthorne on Health Care

• Voted NO on increasing tobacco restrictions. (Jun 1998)
• Voted YES on banning human cloning. (Feb 1998)
• Voted YES on Medicare means-testing. (Jun 1997)
• Voted NO on medical savings acounts. (Apr 1996)
• No federal pre-emption of employee health plan regulation. (Oct 2001)
• More federal funding for rural health services. (Aug 2001)
• Protect state tobacco settlement funds from federal seizure. (Apr 1999)

Dirk Kempthorne on Homeland Security

• Voted YES on deploying missile defense as soon as possible. (Sep 1998)
• Voted NO on prohibiting same-sex basic training. (Jun 1998)
• Voted YES on favoring 36 vetoed military projects. (Oct 1997)
• Voted NO on banning chemical weapons. (Apr 1997)
• Voted YES on considering deploying NMD, and amending ABM Treaty. (Jun 1996)
• Voted YES on 1996 Defense Appropriations. (Sep 1995)

Dirk Kempthorne on Immigration

• Voted YES on allowing more foreign workers into the U.S. for farm work. (Jul 1998)
• Voted YES on visas for skilled workers. (May 1998)
• Voted YES on limit welfare for immigrants. (Jun 1997)
• Share costs of legal immigration between states & federal. (Feb 2001)
• Federal government should deal with criminal repatriation. (Feb 2001)

Dirk Kempthorne on Jobs

• Family Farm Security Task Force to improve ag conditions. (Jan 2001)
• Voted YES on allowing workers to choose between overtime & comp-time. (May 1997)
• Voted YES on replacing farm price supports. (Feb 1996)
• Create block grants for Agricultural Stewardship. (Aug 2001)

Dirk Kempthorne on Principles & Values

• Religious affiliation: Methodist. (Nov 2000)
• Member, National Governors Association/Economic Development. (Jan 2001)
• Member of Republican Governors Association. (Aug 2001)
• Member of the Western Governors' Association. (Aug 2001)
• Fund the 50 States Commemorative Coin Program. (Dec 1997)

Dirk Kempthorne on Social Security

• Voted YES on allowing Roth IRAs for retirees. (May 1998)
• Voted YES on allowing personal retirement accounts. (Apr 1998)
• Voted YES on deducting Social Security payments on income taxes. (May 1996)
• Maintain long-term solvency of Social Security and Medicare. (Aug 2001)

Dirk Kempthorne on Tax Reform

• Return $140M of surplus to taxpayers. (Jan 2001)
• Voted YES on requiring super-majority for raising taxes. (Apr 1998)
• Voted YES on FY99 tax cuts. (Apr 1998)
• No national sales tax or VAT. (Feb 2000)
• Let states independently determine estate taxes. (May 2001)

Dirk Kempthorne on War & Peace

• Voted YES on ending the Bosnian arms embargo. (Jul 1995)
• Deal with terrorism as a joint federal-state responsibility. (Feb 2001)
• Include states in anti-terrorism planning. (Sep 2001)
• Study terrorist threats against nuclear waste repositories. (Aug 2001)
• Move the US Embassy to Jerusalem. (Nov 1995)

Dirk Kempthorne on Welfare & Poverty

• Voted YES on welfare block grants. (Aug 1996)
• Voted NO on eliminating block grants for food stamps. (Jul 1996)
• Voted YES on allowing state welfare waivers. (Jul 1996)
• Voted YES on welfare overhaul. (Sep 1995)
• Maintain federal Social Services Block Grant funding. (Sep 2001)
• Maintain flexibility & funding levels for TANF block grants. (Sep 2001)