• Protection of Electoral Processes through:

• Election Reform
• Campaign Finance Reform

• Advancement of Representative Government through Nonpartisan Redistricting
• Preservation of Civil Liberties

• Clean Air
• Social Security
• District of Columbia rights
• Protection of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge

REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT:  Promote an open governmental system that is representative, accountable, and responsive; that

• has a fair and adequate fiscal basis;
• protects individual liberties established by the Constitution;
• assures opportunities for citizen participation in government decision making;
• provides sound agricultural policy; and
• preserves public health and safety through gun control measures.

• Congress.  Support responsive legislative processes characterized by accountability, representativeness, decision-making capability and effective performance.
• The Presidency.  Promote a dynamic balance of power between the executive and legislative branches within the framework set by the Constitution.

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ELECTION PROCESS:

• Selection of the President: Promote the election of the President and Vice President by direct popular vote and work to abolish the Electoral College.

• Support uniform national voting qualifications and procedures for presidential elections.
• Support efforts to provide voters with sufficient information about candidates.

• Apportionment: Support apportionment of congressional districts and elected legislative bodies at all levels of government based substantially on population.

• Support adequate, flexible funding of federal government programs through an equitable tax system that is progressive overall and that relies primarily on a broad-based income tax;
• Promote responsible deficit policies; support a federal role in providing mandatory, universal, old-age, survivors, disability and health insurance.

GUN CONTROL:  Protect the health and safety of citizens through limiting the accessibility and regulating the ownership of handguns and semi-automatic weapons.  The League supports regulating firearms for consumer safety.

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INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS:  Promote peace in an interdependent world by cooperating with other nations, strengthening international organizations, fostering long-term development, negotiating arms control measures and encouraging the successful resolution of conflicts through nonmilitary means.

• U. S. Relations with Developing Countries: Promote U. S. policies that meet long-term social and economic needs of developing countries.

• United Nations: Support a strong, effective United Nations and its efforts to promote world peace and security and meet the social, economic and humanitarian needs of the world’s people.

• Arms Control: Reduce the risk of war through support of arms control measures.

• Military Spending: Work to limit reliance on military force; examine defense spending in the context of total national needs.

• Trade: Support U.S. trade policies that reduce trade barriers, expand international trade and advance the achievement of humanitarian, environmental and social goals.

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• Air Quality: The League supports measures that:

• reduce vehicular pollution;
• regulate and reduce pollution from stationary sources;
• regulate and reduce ambient toxic-air pollutants;
• reduce transboundary air pollutants.

• Energy: The League supports energy goals and policies that acknowledge the United States as a responsible member of the world community and that promote:

• reduction of energy growth rates;
• use of a variety of energy sources;
• the environmentally sound use of energy resources;
• predominant reliance on renewable resources;
• action by appropriate levels of government to encourage the use of renewable resource and energy conservation through funding for research and development, financial incentives, rate-setting policies and mandatory standards;
• mandatory energy conservation measures;
• policies to reduce energy demand and minimize the need for new generating capacity;
• maintaining deregulation of oil and natural gas prices;
• assistance for low-income individuals when energy policies bear unduly on the poor.

• Land Use: The League supports:

• management of land as finite resource not as a commodity;
• land-use planning that reflects conservation and wise management of resources;
• identification and regulation of areas of critical concern;

• fragile or historical lands;
• rare or valuable ecosystems and geological formations;
• significant wildlife habitats;
• unique scenic or historic areas;
• wetlands;
• deserts;

• renewable resource lands;
• natural hazard lands, where development could endanger life and property;
• reclamation of lands damaged by surface mining, waste disposal overgrazing, timber harvesting, farming, and other activities;
• acquisition of land for public use;
• identification and regulation of areas impacted by public or private investment;
• review of environmental, social and economic impacts of major public and private developments;
• review of federally funded projects by all government levels;
• conformance of federal land resource activities with approved state programs.

• Waste Management: The League supports:

• policies to reduce the generation and which promote the reuse and recycling of solid and hazardous/toxic wastes;
• policies to ensure safe treatment, transportation, storage and disposal of solid and hazardous wastes in order to protect public health and air, water and land resources;
• planning and decision-making processes that recognize suitable solid and hazardous wastes as potential resources;
• policies for the management of civilian and military high- and low-level radioactive wastes to protect public health, and air, water and land resources;
• the establishment of processes for effective involvement of state and local governments and citizens in siting proposals for treatment, storage, disposal and transportation of radioactive wastes;
• safe transport, storage and disposal of radioactive wastes.

• Water Resources: The League supports:

• water resource programs and policies that reflect the interrelationships of water quality, water quantity, groundwater and surface water and that address the potential depletion or pollution of water supplies;
• measures to reduce water pollution from direct point-source discharges and from indirect nonpoint sources;
• policies to achieve water quality essential for maintaining species diversity and pollutions of aquatic species, including measures to protect lakes, estuaries, wetlands and in-stream flows;
• stringent controls to protect the quality of current and potential drinking-water supplies.

• Children: The League supports:

• programs, services and policies at all levels of government to expand the supply of affordable, quality child care for all who need it;
• policies and programs that promote the well being, development and safety of all children.

• Equality of Opportunity: The League supports:

• equal access to education, employment and housing;
• ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment and efforts to bring laws into compliance with the goals of the ERA.

• Health Care: Promote a health care system for the United States that provides access to quality care for all U. S. residents and controls health care costs.

• Meeting Basic Human Needs: Supports programs and policies to prevent or reduce poverty and to promote self-sufficiency for individuals and families.

• Income Assistance: Support policies and programs designed to:

• increase job opportunities; increase access to health insurance;
• provide support services such as child care and transportation;
• provide opportunities and/or incentives for basic or remedial education and job training;
• decrease teen pregnancy; ensure that noncustodial parents contribute.

• Housing Supply: The responsibility for achieving national housing goals rests primarily with the federal government, which should:

• assure that our economic system is functioning to produce and maintain sufficient decent housing for citizens at all income levels;
• compensate for any failure or inadequacy of the system by building, financing, renting and selling homes to those citizens whose housing needs are not being met;
• give a variety of incentives to local jurisdictions to encourage them to provide within their boundaries an adequate supply of decent housing for low- and moderate-income groups;
• withhold federal funds from communities that fail to encourage such housing.

• Transportation: Supports energy-efficient and environmentally sound transportation systems that afford better access to housing and jobs and will continue to examine transportation policies in light of these goals.

• Urban Policy: Promote the economic health of cities and improve the quality of urban life.

• Violence Prevention: Support violence prevention programs in all communities.

• Reproductive Choice: The League of Women Voters of the United States believes that public policy in a pluralistic society must affirm the constitutional right of privacy of the individual to make reproductive choices.

• Gun Control: Protect the health and safety of citizens through limiting the accessibility and regulating the ownership of handguns and semi-automatic weapons.