Issue Position: Promoting Liberty, Equality, and Progressive Values in America

Issue Position

Issue Position: Promoting Liberty, Equality, and Progressive Values in America

Congressman Nadler is perhaps best known as a prominent member of the House Judiciary Committee. It was there that, as a third-term representative in 1998, he rose to national prominence as a vigorous defender of the Constitution during the Presidential impeachment hearings. Congressman Nadler's unwavering demand for bipartisan adherence to the Constitution earned him national praise.

Nadler is currently a senior Democrat on the committee, and he serves as the Chairman of the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Subcommittee, which considers all proposed constitutional amendments and deals with such issues as expression, religious freedom, privacy, due process, civil rights, abortion, and LGBT rights. As Chair of the panel, the Congressman serves as the first line of defense in many of the most crucial ideological battles that take place in the House.

Congressman Nadler's work on First Amendment freedoms is widely recognized. He is one of Congress's most vocal defenders of both the separation of church and state and of Americans' right to exercise their religion freely. He was one of the lead Democratic sponsors of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Democratic sponsor of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which was signed into law by President Clinton in 2000 and was recently upheld by the Supreme Court. Nadler has also been a consistent champion of freedom of expression, fighting against countless efforts to restrict speech and quell dissent. As a leader of the Congressional Arts Caucus, Congressman Nadler was one of the chief defenders against House Republican efforts to destroy the National Endowment for the Arts.

In the face of repeated back-door attempts to outlaw abortion, Congressman Nadler has long led House efforts to protect a woman's right to choose. Kate Michaelman, the former president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, says "Jerry Nadler is at the forefront of the movement to protect reproductive freedom, fighting every day against anti-choice leaders in Congress and the White House. . ." And as a staunch supporter of equal rights, Nadler has spearheaded the opposition to attempts to write discrimination into the Constitution in the form of the so-called Federal Marriage Amendment. He has also authored landmark bills that would grant equal access to immigration and Social Security benefits to all Americans, regardless of sexual orientation.

There is nothing more fundamental to being an American than the assurance against unwarranted government interference in one's personal affairs, and the guarantee of due process under the law. Yet some recent actions by Congress and the executive, in the name of enhancing national security, have threatened those basic rights. Congressman Nadler's legislation to remove the most pernicious elements of the USA PATRIOT Act, and his insistence on constitutional treatment of those suspected of crimes, have won him plaudits across the board.

In addition to his service on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee, Congressman Nadler also serves on the Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security Subcommittee. He previously served on the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, which has jurisdiction over such key issues as consumer protection, bankruptcy law, and the right to competent legal representation. Formerly ranking Democrat on that subcommittee, Mr. Nadler led House opposition to the Republican-backed Bankruptcy Bill, legislation designed to maximize credit card company at the expense of consumer protections.

These accomplishments, coupled with his expansive portfolio of other progressive achievements—from garnering hundreds of millions of dollars for the Section 8 affordable housing program, to shaping the national debate on Social Security by being the first to challenge the Republicans' "doom and gloom" solvency forecast, to the passing of his bill to close the digital divide in education—led Vanity Fair, in its "Hall of Fame" tribute to Congressman Nadler, to say that he epitomizes "liberalism the way it ought to be." And his record has earned him ratings of 100 percent from such groups as the League of Conservation Voters, Planned Parenthood, the NAACP, the Human Rights Campaign, Children's Defense Fund, and the American Federation of Teachers.

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