Candidate for
United States Representative; District 45

written by TED CRISELL, CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS FEBRUARY 1, 2000

In the year 2000, Californians will make a crucial choice about the course of our state and nation into the 21st century.

One choice is to stay on the course we have been on during the past 18 years of Republican control. That course has taken our schools from first to last in the nation, left our highways more congested, ended overtime pay for 8 million workers, threatened our environment, and condoned bigotry and hatred in politics. In the next millennium, the California Republican Party promises to end a woman's right to choose, limit the right of working men and women to participate in politics, drill for oil off our coastline, and dismantle our public school system.

I am a proud Democrat that will take a stand for women's rights, children's rights, worker's rights and support our schools, our rights to fair and just pay and support policies that protect our environment. My Republican opponent in over 10 years as a career politician has shown consistently that he does not support our schools, the arts, the working man or woman. Please read on to know exactly how Ted Crisell stands on the important issues of concern to all Californians and to know and understand Ted Crisell's philosophy of leadership.

Ted Crisell proposes for the next century to make our California schools once again the best in the nation, expand medi-care benefits for working Americans in their early 60's who have no health insurance, restore overtime pay, expand child care, protect a woman's right to choice, protect our environment and keep our beaches open and clean and give bigotry and discrimination no quarter in California. We must have fair policies for all Californians, no matter what race, color, religion or gender.

TED CRISELL'S PHILOSOPHY REGARDING BUSINESS AND THE ECONOMY

The major difference between Ted Crisell and his opponent is that Ted Crisell puts people first, believes in fair balance between business and labor, views workforce diversity as a strength in a global economy, and supports trade agreements that include labor, child protection and envornmental protection. Ted Crisell also has a practical and workable program based on over 30 years in business -- Ted Crisell has real world experience and is not a career politician. Ted when elected will work for and support policies that are fair to business, to small business owners and to labor.

We must invest in lifelong learning, create incentives for small businesses, streamline regulatory processes, support aerospace and high-technology business sectors. And, we must encourage new, clean industry to locate in the 45th Congressional District -- I promise in my first term in office to do more in this area for the district than my opponent has done in his whole 10 years in office.

CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE AND THEIR FAMILIES

Children are our most valuable natural resources. I believe in the youth of California. Thank you to those who believed in me when I was growing up in California. Tragically, too many of our children go to be hungry and wake up to an uncertain and unstable future. We can and must change that and as your Congressman and representative in Congress I will work hard and tirelessly for you and your children -- this will be one of my very top priorities. I pledge half my salary when elected to Congress to loans and scholarships for helping students to progress in their education in our district. I will support and lead initiatives to expand education, enrichment and job readiness programs. I will help maintian the safety net for children, young people and families most in need and will help ensure that all children and young adults have access to conprehensive health care and health education. I will support positive programs in the media that support our children and I will do all I can to bring about an end to the war on drugs. This war is not working and is paying large, special interests to expand a one sided, suppressive program across America that has targeted certain ethnic and minority groups that has cost our country not only financially but morally. We can not keep building prisons housing our youth and creating new I.P.O.'s that put profit and dollars in the pocket of investors that reap rewards for housing prisoners -- we must create programs for education, not furthering punishment and revenge. We need drug education centers and treatment centers. Other countries in Europe enjoy greater success in this area than we do and we must be willing to follow their lead and example -- our continuing policy will destroy our country. We can not go on building more and more prisons. Since 1984 in California 24 state prisons have been built and only 1 state university. This is a crime against all Californians. This policy must end. Each prison cell built is the sign of our failure to educate our youth, to care about our youth. WE MUST SUPPORT OUR SHCOOLS, OUR ARTS PROGRAMS, OUR SPORTS PROGRAMS. WE MUST HAVE THE FUNDS FOR THE BOOKS IN OUR SCHOOLS AND WE MUST PAY OUR TEACHERS A FAIR AND LIVABLE WAGE.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Every law enforcement agency in our state must be strong, caring, competent and well-equipped to face the monumental challenges of a diverse constituency.

Ted Crisell when elected to Congress will support the rights of victims of crime, support the reduction of drug abuse and addiction, support gun control, help to eliminate the roots of crime, promote equal justice, suppress white collar crime, help to modernize law enforcement agencies, and support community-based law enforcement.

CULTURE AND THE ARTS

The arts provide opportunities for building community and understanding, while expressing and celebrating our diversity. The arts stimulate the intellect, contribute to emotional health, encourage creative thought and behaviour, reflect social change, and attest to our humanity. In keeping with its onslaught on our entire system of Democratic values, the Republican majority Congress and especially my opponent Rohrabacher have assaulted our country's vibrant artistic communities by slashing arts grants and advocating censorship. We must turn back this attack. It is time to retire my opponent that has made every attempt to prohibit all funding for the National Endowment for the Arts in the U.S. We must support the arts and we must support growth of our culture, a culture that encourages thinking, openness, exploration, questioning and diversity.

Ted Crisell believes that art is an intrinsic part of our heritage; one that delights, enlightens and sustains us throughout our lives. Ted Crisell is committed to public and private support of the arts and will support when elected to the Congress: fully funding the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities with guaranteed freedom of speech; returning to education the fine arts and humanities programs with teaching curriculums at all levels with introduction to culture and arts that include our diverse communities and teach appreciation and tolerance for the values, beliefs and artistic expression of all heritages and cultures-- California and America are strong because of their acceptance of diverse people and cultures -- we grow and flourish because we support all races, religions and all points of view, sometimes we find things that are unacceptable but suppression is not the way of a free society and we must not allow America to drift towards a country of suppression and intolerance (language of zero tolerance and three strikes you are out is not language that shows a society progressing but a society turning back to times of intolerance and suppression.)

EDUCATION

It is Ted Crisell's belief and philosophy that education is the key to developing and protecting individual freedom, acquiring economic security , and restoring community hope. Ted Crisell believes that all people are entitled to a free quality public education that enables them to achieve their highest potential. Ted Crisell will do all he can to protect free education, quality education in California--education for all the people of California, no matter what religion, what race, what ethnic origin, what sexual preference, what gender or what political party.

California public schoolchildren now speak nearly 100 languages and ar the product of many world-wide cutlures. We must respect all people, all religions and all cultures. We must also respect the disabled.

Ted Crisell supports student well-being and safety; supports quality education and quality faculty, for teaching is a proud and honorable profession. Ted Crisel will support proper school funding, increased educational opportunities and loans and scholarship programs. Affirmative action must remain a vital criterion in the selection of students to admission at the University of California and the California State Universities. We must protect all races equally.

ENVIRONMENT

Significant environmental degradation continue to occur. We must protect our environment. More than ever, the environment is threatened by the radical Republican majority in Congress. Although the "Contract on America" was not successful, its goal -- to build a protective wall around corporate America so that polluters and destroyers are never held responsible for environmental damage -- this is still the Republican intent.

Ted Crisell rejects the Republican majority led Congress's attempt and especially his opponent's attempt to weaken or relax hard-won environmental and regulatory reform. Ted Crisell opposes corporate greed above the needs of the environment.

When elected to Congress Ted Crisell will support a healthy environment that creates jobs, protects natural resources, especially our beaches and mountains in California. Ted Crisell will make coastal protection his top priority.

We must protect our water resources, our habitats, our air and our agriculture.

We must protect our American Indian reservations and the rights of our American brothers. We must protect our animals, our parks and our planet.

We must call fo safer energy policies, better community planning and alternatives to nuclear power.

Ted Crisell, when elected to represent the 45th Congressional District of California further commits to sound ecology, protection of minority groups, protection of freedom of thought and speech, to protection of immigrant' rights, to protection of children and women, to support of all veterans and especially the forgotten and homeless Viet Nam vets that have yet to return home. Ted Crisell commits to support Native Americans, Lesbian and Gay rights, the rights of Seniors, persons with disabilities. Ted Crisell especially commits to help and support the homeless and abused and to those who have not yet returned home from some long term drug trip form the 60's. It is time to come home to a real, loving, caring America, the home of the brave, the honest, the land of the free. It is time to respect individual freedom, individual rights. It is time to care about America again, with no one left out.

HEALTH CARE

Ted Crisell agrees with the Democratic leadership in California that access to quality, affordable health care is a right, not a privelege, for all persons, whether rich or poor. We must remove all discrimination and limited access to good and fairly priced health care.

The failure of the Republican majority Congress to pass meaningful national health care is a crime against the American people. They blocked fair health care to protect limited special interests. We will not be stopped. We will have the best health care available for all the people, whether rich or poor--BECAUSE IT IS RIGHT!

Republicans and especially my opponent have called for limits on the best health care programs. They have called for elimination of programs that help the poor of our society. It is time we stop the Republicans in their non-caring for people. We must strengthen and expand the programs that help the mothers and children of our society. Programs that help the poor and homeless of our society, programs that help those who can not take care of themselves. WE MUST DO THIS BECAUSE IT IS RIGHT!

Ted Crisell supports the working man and woman. Ted Crisell supports labor and the rights to organize. Ted Crisell supports the rights of our unions.

TO BE CONTINUED, PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR CONCERNS AND WHAT ELSE YOU WANT ME TO FULLY ADDRESS OR THE TOPIC YOU WANT ME TO EXPAND ON, JUST CONTACT ME AT tcrisell@adnc.com.