Iowa's Democrats
by Rudina Martini

Iowa, the Hawkeye State, was part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.  Its  capital, which is also its largest city, is Des Moines.  It is a highly agricultural state, having some of the most fertile land in the world and selling $10 billion of crops and livestock annually.   Iowa produces a tenth of the U.S’ supply of food.  Its population of 2,862,447 residents consists of 96.6% White, 1.7% Black, 0.3% American Indian, 0.9% Asian, 1.2%Hispanic and 0.5% of other races.  The female population exceeds the male one a little more than 77,000.  The state has one of lowest divorce, crime and unemployment rates in the nation.            Iowa’s current constitution was adopted in 1897. The state’s governor is elected for a four-year term and can be reelected.  The present governor in Iowa is the Democratic Party candidate Tom Vislack, who was elected on January 1999 and is expected to hold office until 2003.  Its legislature is made up of a Senate with 50 members who are also elected for a four-year term, and a House of Representatives with 100 members elected for a two-year term.  The state of Iowa has 2 Senators and 5 representatives in U.S Congress, equaling 7 electoral votes.  Its motto is “Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain”.            The Democratic Party is the oldest party in United States.  Thomas Jefferson and his followers who opposed a strong central government first created it. The Democratic Party has 20 members in the Iowa Senate, and 44 members in the House of Representatives.  The Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General and Treasurer are all Democrats, elected on January 1999.            The New Democratic Party  of Iowa supports equality in gender, race, religion, ethnicity and those with disabilities, by making local, state and federal laws which would prohibit any discrimination and provide equal opportunity for all Americans.  It is supportive of the Affirmative Action programs that Clinton-Gore Administration has created .  The  Employment non-Discrimination Act, which in order to provide equal employment opportunities to all Americans by prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, and the Equal Rights Amendment are some of the laws that the Iowa Democratic Party supports.  In addition it is supportive of  the federal minimum wage, which it believes prevents people from being poverty stricken.  According to the democrats people with disabilities deserve to be treated equal, and have an equal amount of opportunity in all areas of life.  Because of this belief, they are supportive of the American with Disabilities Act of 1990, which prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities, and the Individuals’ Disability Act of 1975, made to increase education opportunities for children with disabilities.  They believe in helping the women in gaining child support, by tracking the fathers and making them pay, and in punishing the men who cause violence to women through tough laws.            When it comes to social policies, the Democratic Party of Iowa is very supportive of health care, protecting Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, increasing federal funding on breast cancer and HIV/AIDS cure and prevention research.  Both are leading causes of deaths in U.S and something should be done to keep that from happening. As for welfare, they are strong supporters of getting people off welfare and to the work force.  The Democrats consider education in United States a high priority.  They want to create a safe school environment, support bilingual education and oppose English-Only proposals.  They are  also  great supporters of Title IX of the Education Amendment of 1972, which does not allow discrimination based on sex in schools.  They are concerned with the increasing amount of children in United States smoking tabacco, which is the leading cause of death in U.S, using illegal drugs and committing crimes.  They believe that strong laws should be made not just to punish those that commit  the crimes, but to help prevent it from happening in the first place.             The Democratic Party  believes that the economic growth depends on private enterprises, rather than the government, and that the government should  provide help for the “private sector”.  It is supportive of President Clinton’s 1997 Balanced Budget Agreement and the earned income tax credit.  Environment is also a high priority for the Democrats who support the Clinton-Gore Administration’s Updated Public Health Standard.              Iowa Democrats believe in a democratic political process, supporting the McCain Feingold Campaign Finance Reform proposal and the 1993 National Voter Registration Act.  The McCain Feingold Campaign Finance reform tried to reduce money’s influence in politics, by reducing the amount of Political Action Comeettes’ contributions to campaigns from $5,000 to $2,500. With the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, people can register to vote at any Department of Motor Vehicles,  making it easier for people to register to vote, increasing the amount of voters. Although they don’t dwell much on Foreign Policy and America’s global role, the Iowa democrats  believe in an enlarged North  Atlantic Treaty Organization.  They support the  acceptance of Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic into the NATO alliance.           Iowa Democrats agenda is: “World-Class Schools, High-Quality Healthcare, Good-Paying Jobs W/ Retirement Security,” and a “Cleaner Environment”.