Valuing the skill, talent and hard work of every American

Sen. Hillary Clinton also took time out of her campaign schedule this week to speak with NUVO. While we were unable to connect by telephone Monday evening, she did provide an e-mail response to our questions just before our deadline Tuesday morning. For complete information on Clinton’s policy positions and plans for her presidential administration, go to http://hillaryclinton.com/issues/.

NUVO: Coal is abundant in our state, and it is also very dirty. Currently, Indiana ranks No. 1 in the U.S. for CO2 emissions from coal-burning power plants. In the past few years, we’ve seen the federal government and our governor give huge tax credits to coal companies for “Clean Coal Technology.” What will be your policy towards tax credits for coal companies and what is your position on “clean coal” as a viable solution for our energy and environmental crises?

Sen. Clinton: I will take swift action to spur the development and deployment of technology and practices that will enable us to capture, store and safely sequester carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants. I will put immediate funding towards 10 large-scale carbon capture and storage projects that utilize a range of coal types, power plant types and storage location, and will move quickly to develop the regulatory framework to ensure that carbon sequestration can be done safely and reliably.

NUVO: Given that costs for automobile and airline travel continue to increase, as well as the environmental problems that continue to plague our most popular modes of transportation, do you have a vision for a national transportation system that provides real energy and cost saving alternatives as well as a lower environmental impact? Could Amtrak, for example, have a bigger role?

Sen. Clinton: I will increase federal funding for public transit by $1.5 billion per year and devote an additional $1 billion to intercity passenger rail systems over five years. I will also invest in cutting-edge technological solutions to the growing problem of traffic congestion. I support full federal funding of Amtrak and will increase federal investment in light rail by $1 billion over five years in order to help finance capital projects. These investments are in addition to the federal commitment to Amtrak.

NUVO: Though same-sex marriage is illegal in Indiana, for the past four years our Indiana Legislature has attempted (and failed) to pass an amendment to the state Constitution that would a) define marriage as between one man and one woman only and b) prohibit the rights of marriage from being conferred upon unmarried couples. Would you support such an amendment in your home state and would you support a federal amendment banning same-sex marriage or civil unions if you were to become president?

Sen. Clinton: I believe that marriage is an issue that should be left to the states and I would not support such an amendment in New York. I support civil unions and will work to ensure that gay and lesbian couples in committed relationships have the same legal rights and responsibilities as all Americans. I was proud to vote against a proposed constitutional amendment that would have defined marriage as between one man and one woman. I spoke out against it on the floor of the U.S. Senate. As president, I will also work to sign hate crimes and employment discrimination legislation into law, and put an end to the failed policy of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

NUVO: Women in America still earn approximately 77 cents on the dollar for doing the same job a male worker does; in Indiana the rate is closer to 72 cents, and for African-American women, the rate of pay is even lower. What concrete steps could you take at the federal level to close the wage gap between men and women?

Sen. Clinton: I am a proud sponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act, which will toughen penalties in enforcing the provisions of the Equal Pay Act and help realize the promise of pay equity. There are heroines standing up for equal pay for equal work. Lilly Ledbetter, whose years of pay discrimination were upheld by the Supreme Court because she did not file a lawsuit before she had evidence of the discrimination, inspired me and my colleagues to introduce legislation to ensure that cases like hers are decided on the merits, not on technicalities.

I will never waver in my support for equal pay for equal work. I’m proud to be the sponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would increase sanctions for violating the Equal Pay Act and provide stronger protections for women whose rights have been violated. I think it’s long past time we put equal pay at the top of the national legislative agenda, to demonstrate that as a nation, we value the skill, talent and hard work of every American, including every American woman.

NUVO: We know that you spent some time here in Indianapolis working for the Jimmy Carter campaign in 1976. What are your memories of the city from that time and, more specifically, your memories of what the Indiana political climate was like for a young person eager to be involved in a presidential campaign?

Sen. Clinton: I wrote about this in my book, Living History. President Carter’s campaign asked me to be the field coordinator in Indiana. Indiana was a heavily Republican state, but Carter thought his Southern roots and farming background might appeal to even Republican voters. I thought it was a long shot, but I was game to try. My job was to set up a campaign in every county, which meant finding local people to work under the direction of regional coordinators, mostly brought in from around the country. The Indianapolis campaign office was in a building that had housed an appliance store and a bail-bonding firm. We were right across the street from the city jail, and the neon sign flashing “Bail Bondsman” still hung above the Carter-Mondale posters in the front windows. I learned a lot in Indiana.

One night I had dinner with a group of older men who were in charge of the Democratic Party’s get-out-the-vote efforts for Election Day. I was the only woman at the table. They wouldn’t give me any specifics, and I kept pressing for details about how many phone calls, cars and door hangers they planned to put out on Election Day. All of a sudden, one of the men reached across the table and grabbed me by my turtleneck. “Just shut up, will you. We said we’d do it, we will and we don’t have to tell you how!”

I was scared. I knew he’d been drinking, and I also knew that all eyes were on me. My heart was beating fast as I looked him in the eye, removed his hands from my neck and said, “First, don’t ever touch me again. Second, if you were as fast with the answers to my questions as you are with your hands, I’d have the information I need to do my job. Then I could leave you alone — which is what I’m going to do now.” My knees were shaking, but I got up and walked out.

Even though Carter did not carry Indiana, I was thrilled that he won the national election, and I looked forward to the new administration.