Offices of Clark Bredesen

[Clark Bredesen]

U.S. Senator Clark J. Bredesen
Washington

Voting Record

Aye


Nay


Sponsored
Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act
Intelligence Wiki Act

Co-Sponsored

[Clark Bredesen]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BREDESEN ELECTED TO U.S. SENATE

Seattle, Washington - State Senator Clark J. Bredesen soundly defeated Republican Cathy McMorris and Libertarian candidate Gerald Ross in one of the most stunning upsets of the night. He celebrated his election victory in Washington‘s largest city. He delivered the following remarks:

"Today, the people of Washington chose by a large margin for change. This was not a victory just for me. This was not a victory just for Democrats. This was a victory for the future. And we won it the old and hard way – we earned it. Nearly eight months ago, we started on this road. By coming to you, where you reside and worship, by talking and listening to you, by showing that we could disagree with each other without being disagreeable, by asking you to your political party aside for our country‘s sake, by refusing to build myself up by destroying someone else career, by challenging you to see your stake in your children’s dreams as well as your own, we built what history will record as on the most successful grassroots campaigns in Washington history.

Look around, turn to your neighbors. Every kind of person is here. You come from every corner of this district. You come from wealth and poverty. You are black and you are white. You are Democrats and Republicans and Libertarians. You are socialist and moderates and arch-conservatives. You see in how our patriotism has been broken and our unity fractured. You see how our homeless are moving toward hunger and middle-class families just two-months-away from the local shelter. You know that a government of wealthy individuals are no longer in touch with everyday Americans. You know we could do much better. And for a chance at a better and more brighter future, we‘ve build a bridge tonight, defeating all challenges— and we’ve really accomplished the mission.

You are small businessman looking for a larger margin and carpenter looking to be valued. You are college students working for a successful life and high-school drop-out looking for assistance. You are single mothers trying to feed your children and grandparents deciding between food and medicine. You are family farmers wondering why is your government selling you out on trade agreements. And the thing is, you came together not as Democrat or Republican. But as neighbors and voted not only for the interest of yourself, but for your neighbors. This has never been my campaign. It has been Florida campaign. The real workers here are you, here and at home, most of you have volunteer for a political campaign, who set aside what you were doing to get involved, and tonight I must say, Mission Accomplished.

I have been blessed with the best campaign manager on earth, Ted Todd. I have been blessed with an extraordinary staff, who stand with me tonight as they have for many months now. I have been blessed with volunteers, donors, and supporters. And I have been blessed with the love of my life, Hillary. I love you sweetheart. I have also been blessed by the people of Washington. A people so honorable, so optimistic, so bright, so hardworking. A people of integrity and determination. A people of love and happiness. A people from a tradition of high standards and high expectations. This is the people of Washington. You‘ve showed that character throughout this campaign.

Let me start by congratulating Gerald Ross. He showed his vision and presented a real platform to the voters, and subject it to cleanness and positivism. He deserve our gratitude and respect for the thoughtful contributions he made to society. Let me also thank Cathy McMorris for her honorable service. We have had differences throughout this campaign, and sometimes we got off topic. But every resident of state owes his a debt of gratitude for her contributions to society. I thank her for serving.

Celebrate tonight. But soon we‘ve got to go to work. We now have an important responsibility. We have a revive our broken economy, to assure excellence in our public education, and to deliver on the promise of affordable healthcare. We have a to make American streets safe. God Bless you. Thank you so much."

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[Clark Bredesen]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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BREDESEN SPONSORS INTERNET FREEDOM ACT[/center]

Washington D.C. - U.S. Senator Clark Bredesen today sponsored the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act. He held a press conference in his office to discuss the merits. Here are his following remarks:

"I am pleased to introduce such bipartisan initiatives in Congress,” said Sen. Bredesen. The Internet has provided our country economic rewarded, and has become a everyday thing for millions of Americans. By keeping Internet access tax-free and affordable, Congress can encourage commerce, and long distance telecommunications.

Many Americans, consider the internet essential to opportunity. This bond of creativity and technology has opened windows for job creation, assessable health care, and economic opportunity. This is critically important in a technology state like Washington, where the Internet has proven vital in overcoming challenges and enabling economic advancement. Sadly, some individuals on Capitol Hill see the Internet has another opportunity – an opportunity for taxation. This isn’t the argument of rather states should control the taxation of goods sold through the internet, but taxing internet access - throughout America’s schools, homes, and small businesses.

I am pleased that Republicans and Democrats has joined into taking the, Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act into consideration. A moratorium on Internet access taxes was originally enacted in 1998 and has since been extended twice, in 2001 and 2004. Under the law, state and local governments are prohibited from levying access taxes on Internet connections, although purchases can be subject to applicable state taxes. We the representatives on the people, must work together in accomplishing this vital goal.

The future of the Internet – and the ability of Americans to seize its opportunities are depending on this bill. The effect of taxing access to the Internet would be felt by middle class Americans and struggling small businesses. In addition to higher Internet taxation for Americans who can least afford it, the consequences of Internet access taxes would be decreases investments in technology, declines in job creation, and affordable and assessable health care."

[Clark Bredesen]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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BREDESEN SPONSORS INTELLIGENCE WIKI ACT[/center]

Washington D.C. - U.S. Senator Clark Bredesen sponsored the Intelligence Wiki Act in the Senate. He held a press conference in his Russell Senate office to discuss the merits of the bill.

"Good Afternoon, thank you for attending. I have been thinking long and hard about the intelligence community and increasing collaboration. We have all heard about the FBI with holding essential information from the CIA. While they are obviously exaggerated, it did strike me how difficult it could be to share information among all of the agencies in our intelligence community.

This bill would establish a wiki for the intelligence community. All of the members of the U.S. intelligence community are involved with different projects and could edit the central wiki with their own information. Let us take a hypothetical example of Iran's nuclear program. The CIA could edit the page to reflect new human intelligence they received regarding the program, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency could add some new satellite photographs, and the Department of State might post about a diplomatic encounter they had. Information from all of these agencies has then been centralized.

Now a nuclear expert from the Department of Energy might be able to look at all of the data that he might not have easy access to before and edit the wiki to reflect an expert analysis. The intelligence wiki would help to ensure that all of our intelligence agencies have the information the other ones have, and would consequently promote collaboration. I hope my colleagues from both parties join with me in passing this essential piece of legislation. Thank You."