John Kerry

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Senator John Kerry this morning aggressively defended President Obama’s handling of the oil spill in the Gulf Coast, and said the spill illustrated the need for Congress to act on the Massachusetts Democrat’s signature climate change bill. “This is ridiculous folks,” Kerry said this morning at an hourlong breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. “From day one, this administration has had its top personnel all over this issue. They don’t drill wells, companies do. And the oil companies are the people who are supposed to have the technology to shut it down.”

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Israel has “every right” to take action to ensure weapons are not being smuggled into Gaza, Kerry said during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week.” But shipping humanitarian supplies to Gaza remains important, so more clarity is needed on what items can go through Israel’s blockade, he added. “What we need to do in the days ahead is put out a list of things that cannot go in, and have clarity for those groups trying to get things in,” Kerry said.

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At a Christian Science Monitor breakfast on Wednesday, Kerry implied that his fellow Democrats should get over their fears about drilling: "We are not going to stop drilling in the Gulf tomorrow, folks," he said. "Let's be realistic. There are 48,000 wells out there. One of them went sour. About 30 percent of our transportation fuel comes from the Gulf. You think Americans are going to suddenly stop driving to work tomorrow?"

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But there's more we do in the short term. This bill starts tightening up federal law around offshore drilling, adding two major reforms. First, any state can veto drilling less than 75 miles off their coast. Second, each new rig needs to be studied for the effects of any potential spill, and any state that could be affected has the right to call a halt to the project. This creates important local control over the beaches and waterways of our country.

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Democratic Senator John Kerry said: "Elena Kagan has been an extraordinary trailblazer and she will be an extraordinary Supreme Court Justice for a very long time. She brings together a remarkable combination of qualities that the Court needs today: a capable mind, a fresh energy, a proven ability to build consensus across ideological lines, and a real-world understanding of how the law and public policy impacts Americans in their daily lives,” said Sen. Kerry. “The first woman to head Harvard Law School and the first woman to serve as Solicitor General, when she is confirmed by the Senate, for the first time the Supreme Court will look a little more like America with three women serving together on the bench. Massachusetts has been Elena’s adopted home, and a place where she earned the respect of jurists and scholars from across the ideological spectrum

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"I congratulate President Obama on being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. This is an honor of the highest magnitude and all Americans should be proud of this recognition. Since his inauguration, President Obama has taken great strides to elevate America's standing in the world. Under President Obama, America has returned to its true spirit and core values - global engagement, alliance-building, and respect for international human rights and treaties. The Nobel Committee and the world have taken note of America's renewed commitment to responsible leadership."

TPM

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On the Issues

Supports affirmative action now and into the future. (Mar 2004)
Support “mend it, don’t end it” for affirmative action. (Jan 2004)

Rated 100% by the NAACP, indicating a pro-affirmative-action stance. (Dec 2006)

Strongly Favors topic 2:
Require hiring more women & minorities

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Huffington Post

Patrick said he has heard from top Democrats in Washington, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., both of whom support the change allowing an appointee. Senate Democrats say they need as many votes as they can during the debate on President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

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Despite the heroic efforts of our troops and of Afghans like the ones who crossed the river that day, we’ve moved backwards since that hopeful day—away from the stable democracy we promised and toward the failed-state turned Al Qaeda safe haven that harbored the killers who struck us on 9-11. With a new approach, we can finally make good on the many promises we made to the Afghan people back in 2001—and the promise we made to the American people of a safer world.

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Seattle Times

"This is a big moment. When Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party, he was the canary in the coal mine warning of Bush era ideological excess, and Sen. Specter's decision eight years later signals its tipping point." - Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.

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JohnKerry

A nuclear-free world is not something we can (or should) accomplish quickly, by ourselves, or without close consultations with allies. We will need to maintain our military’s overwhelming non-nuclear edge along the way. A series of incremental steps can build on one another to produce a big change.

We also need to strengthen the international non-proliferation regime. The regime’s bargain is that non-nuclear states forswear nuclear weapons, while nuclear states agree to work towards a nuclear-free world and spread the benefits of nuclear energy. As we put pressure on non-nuclear countries to keep their word, we can strengthen our hand by leading by example. That alone will not persuade rogue states to co-operate – but it does maximise our leverage if they do not. America should lead an international effort to freeze, then verifiably ban, all production of nuclear material for weapons.

The president must also lead an effort to provide developing countries with incentives to reject enrichment and reprocessing programmes: establishing a “nuclear fuel bank” that guarantees access to international supplies of reasonably priced nuclear fuel.

In the coming months, the presidential candidates will engage in a fierce foreign policy debate, which I welcome. But when it comes time to govern, let us help the next president breathe life into an emerging bipartisan vision of a nuclear-weapons-free world.

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The Hill

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), a decorated Vietnam War veteran and the party’s 2004 presidential candidate, also called the ban “good policy.”

“Nobody should be selling weapons of war in the streets of our country. It’ll be a tough vote, but it’s the right policy,” Kerry said. “I’m a hunter, I believe in the Second Amendment, and I don’t foresee any efforts to curtail anybody’s rights. But assault weapons? If people want to use them, join the military.”

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NYTimes

Words are important. President Obama has made that clear in devising a new approach to Iran and the wider Muslim world. In offering negotiation and conciliation, he has put the region’s extremists on the defensive.

 

We have seen the results of this new vision already. His outreach may have helped to make a difference in the election last week in Lebanon, where a pro-Western coalition surprised many by winning a resounding victory.

 

We’re seeing signs that it’s having an impact in Iran as well. Returning to harsh criticism now would only erase this progress, empower hard-liners in Iran who want to see negotiations fail and undercut those who have risen up in support of a better relationship.

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From Real Clear Politics:

Well, I don't know where he was when the president went to Cairo and gave a speech and stood up in Cairo and talked about democracy and the rights of women and people to be able to express their views.

I think the president has been more than powerfully heard across the world about his -- his support for those kind of movements.