The following blog post was taken from an August 11 post on ACLU Liberty Watch, a website of the ACLU Liberty Watch 2012 campaign being run by the American Civil Liberties Union. Visit aclulibertywatch.org to learn more about the ACLU’s civil libertarian take on all of the news surrounding the Presidential election campaigns.
In response to Mitt Romney’s announcement of his vice presidential pick of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the American Civil Liberties Union Liberty Watch 2012 campaign released a brief report that reveals an appalling civil liberties record for Ryan.
The report finds that Ryan, the congressman representing Wisconsin’s 1st District, holds almost uniformly harmful views on five key civil liberties issues including a humane immigration policy, LGBT equality, reproductive rights, torture and indefinite detention and fair voting access. The report is based on the white paper released by ACLU Liberty Watch 2012, which can be viewed here.
The report was also cited in a recent opinion piece in The Nation where writer Ben Adler called Rep. Ryan out for not really following Ayn Rand’s philosophies on freedom when it came to his staunchly social conservative agenda.
“Paul Ryan may end up a heartbeat away from the presidency but he’ll be light years from civil liberties,” said Anthony D. Romero, ACLU executive director. “Paired with Romney’s already-abysmal record on civil liberties, Ryan’s positions only take this ticket further from the vision of our founding fathers.” Romero also issued a statement about how Vice Presidential hopeful Ryan would have a plan to unravel civil liberties.
The report found that Ryan held anti-civil liberties positions across all five issue areas. Below are some highlights from the report.
On immigration, Ryan voted in favor of the Secure Fence Act, a bill that authorized the building of a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border. On LGBT equality, he voted against repealing the military’s discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. In 2011, Ryan voted to reinstate the D.C. abortion ban and the Global Gag Rule, defund Planned Parenthood, and eliminate funding for Title X family planning programs. In addition, he believes discriminatory voter ID laws are important and improve integrity in elections.
- Believes efforts should be focused on border security and that pursuing the DREAM Act at this time would be a “serious mistake” (2012).
- Voted in favor of the Secure Fence Act, a bill that authorized the building of a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border (2006).
- Voted against repealing the military’s discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy (2011).
- Supports the 2006 amendment to the Wisconsin constitution banning marriage equality (2006).
- Voted in favor of the Federal Marriage Amendment (2004, 2006).
- Voted to reinstate the D.C. abortion ban and the Global Gag Rule, defund Planned Parenthood, and eliminate funding for Title X family planning programs (2011).
- Cosponsored a bill that exempted any employer from providing contraceptive coverage as part of their employees’ health care and opposed the Obama administration’s compromise to require insurance companies to cover contraception (2011).
- Cosponsored and voted to pass the Protect Life Act (2011).
- Cosponsored and voted to pass the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (May 2011).
- Voted to prohibit federal funding for abortion care training in health care centers. (May 2011)
- Voted against defense legislation that authorizes the president to send the military anywhere in the world to imprison civilians without charge or trial (2011).
- Believes discriminatory voter ID laws are important and improve integrity in elections (2012).
ACLU Liberty Watch 2012 is the voice for the Constitution in the this year’s presidential election. Follow Liberty Watch on Twitter: @ACLULW, or ‘Like’ the Facebook page: Facebook.com/ACLULibertyWatch.