Deborah A. Vollmer
<lst>
54, born January 15, 1948
7202 44th Street
Chevy Chase
Maryland
20815
(301) 652-5762
No fax
dvollmer@bellatlantic.net
Website: http://www.deborahvollmer.com
8th Congressional District of Maryland
Democrat
Attorney. Full time as a candidate.
Graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in 1966.
B.A.in Government from Clark University in 1970.
J.D. from University of Maryland School of Law in 1973.
I'm not sure at this time where I will be on the evening of September
10. Late in the evening, I will probably be reachable at my home
number.
1. I am running because I like people, I like solving problems, and I
am motivated to work to achieve goals such as universal health care and
the public financing of campaigns.
2. Probably some of my legal work when I lived in California, including
appellate work that resulted in several published opinions at the
appellate level expanding the rights of the accused (a case involving a
Spanish language Miranda warning), rights of those who were victims of
employment discrimination, and tenants' rights to habitable dwellings.
I was also part of a legal team that stopped a cement plant near Mojave,
California, from polluting the environment by burning tires.
3. Health Care-- over 40 million people in the U.S. lack health care
coverage. I would work to enact a national program of comprehensive,
high-quality, publicly financed, universal health care.
Campaign finance-- I would enact the public financing of campaigns and
rules requiring the media to provide candidates with free and low-cost
air time. The air waves, we should not forget, do belong to the public.
Transportation-- I would work to get Federal money to improve and expand
the Metro system, including the addition of a Purple Line that preserves
the integrity of the Georgetown Branch Hiker-Biker Trail and linear
Park, either by placing the rail line underground or at a location other
than the Georgetown Branch.
Education-- I would work to get adequate federal funding for all levels
of public education, including early childhood education, pre-school,
Head Start, elementary, middle, and high school, and continuing through
the college level, and also including funding to help kids with special
talents and special needs.
Environment. I would work for clean air, clean water, and preservation
of green space on a local level, and I would also work to preserve our
national forests, and other pristine areas such as the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge on a national level. I would work to reduce auto
emissions, and other sources of pollution to the atmosphere. I would
work to provide incentives for new technologies that make us less
dependent on fossil fuel, including tax incentives for the purchase of
hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles (I drive a Prius), and also give
incentives to carpooling, telecommuting and the like. I would try to
get us involved again with international efforts to end global warming,
such as the Kyoto treaty.
4. My experience as a community activist and as a lawyer has helped me
develop skills in working with people, and has enabled me to be skilled
in articulating issues, advocating positions, and negotiating
settlements, and also to think on my feet. These are all skills that
will help me be an effective member of Congress.
5. There are several issues where I differ from my opponents. I am
focusing my campaign on the issues of universal health care, and the
public financing of campaigns. I am the only candidate who has come
out, for environmental reasons, against the Intercounty Connector, and
against the study of the ICC. I am also the only candidate who will
support an Inner Purple Line if, and only if, the rail line is put
underground, so that the Georgetown Branch hiker-biker Trail and linear
park can be protected. I am also the only candidate who has taken a
strong position against the strong build-up towards waging a war
against Iraq.
6. I will not lie to or intentially mislead my constituents on any
issue of public policy.
7. We may well have some problems, and not be able to achieve goals in
meeting the needs of our citizens without some changes. I will work
to1) roll back the Bush tax cuts designed to benefit the very rich, 2)
increase the minimum wage signifcantly, thereby giving workers in this
society the ability to buy more goods and services, which would have the
benefit of stimulating the economy, and 3) work on achieving universal
health care, which would benefit the economy by providing our country
with a healthier and therefore more productive workforce.
8. I will work to get Federal funding to improve and expand the Metro
system, including either an underground Inner Purple Line, or an Outer
Purple Line.
9. No, I am not for a Potomac River crossing, or the study.
10. See my previous answers addressing these issues.
11. I support reasonable restrictions on gun ownership. We require
people to have a license to drive a car. Guns, too, are dangerous, and
if we are to permit ownership of handguns, we should at least require
all owners to pass a safety course, before owning or having access to, a
gun.
12. I do not believe that we are really at war, but we are still at a
heightened level of security, resulting from the tragedies of September
11. For many reasons, I do not believe that we should wage war against
Iraq, the simplest being that there is really no evidence that Iraq had
anything to do with the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York,
or the attack on the Pentagon.
13. I'm not sure to what extent we are at risk. We need to take
reasonable measures for security, but not be driven by excessive fear
of unknown risks.
14. I am very concerned about threats to our civil liberties occasioned
by the federal response to September 11. I am concerned that the U.S.
Patriot Act, was enacted in haste, and without due concern for its
effect on civil liberties. I am concerned whenever I read about people
being detained indefinitely and without access to counsel. I am also
critical of the resolution passed by Congress that gave the President
the authority to move militarily against any person, organization, or
nation that he determines to have been associated with the terrorist
attacks on New York and Washington. This resolution gave the President
too much power. I would have joined Representative Barbara Lee of
California, who voted "no" to this resolution.
15. I am the daughter of a retired Federal employee with experience as
a labor lawyer (for the United Farm Workers, AFL-CIO). I would support
the rights of Federal employees and retired Federal employees. Unlike
Representative Morella, who sometimes casts her vote in the House on
some issues to benefit Federal employees, I would back up such
individual votes on particular issues with my vote at the opening of the
session, for the Democratic leadership in Congress.
I have position papers on a variety of issues, including but not
limited to those discussed here, and my biography, and campaign news on
my website at http://www.deborahvollmer.com . I invite everyone voting
in the Democratic primary for the 8th Congressional District on
September 10 to take a look!