Tom Koos        

Continue reading "The war in Iraq" »

My position on this issue is to face it directly, though other politicians run away from it. I agree with the many law enforcement officials and experts in the field that we must find a new way of dealing with illegal drugs.

Continue reading "Drug Policy: Part II" »

As a nation, we must work to implement a drug policy that removes responsible recreational users and medical users of marijuana from the criminal justice system, in order to redirect resources toward the following goals:

• Enforce penalties for those who provide marijuana to minors.


• Enforce penalties for those who endanger the rights of others through irresponsible use, such as driving under the influence.


• Develop drug treatment programs focused on rehabilitation, rather than incarceration.


• Support the efforts of state governments in developing innovative approaches to drug policy.


• Improve drug education by emphasizing science over scare tactics.


• Implement a Department of Justice program that would review the records of, and consider for sentence reduction or release, inmates convicted for nonviolent marijuana offenses.

Continue reading "Drug Policy: Part 1" »

Realistic Immigration Reform

I am committed to implementing comprehensive reforms that secure our borders and our ports and provide for an effective and humane immigration policy.

Building a fence will not increase security, just as attempting to deport 12 million illegal immigrants is not feasible or reasonable. I believe a realistic immigration reform plan must address the problem from all sides -- securing the border, penalizing employers for knowingly hiring illegal workers, offering a tough but reasonable path to legalization, engaging Mexico in the reform process, and improving our current immigration quota system.

Please review my 5 point plan for immigation reform.

Continue reading "Immigration" »

Patriotism wears no political label. In service to others and in sacrifice for our country, there are no Republicans and there are no Democrats - there are only Americans.

America is based on simple principles: everyone should have the same opportunity to get ahead, and everyone has a responsibility to give something back. Since September 11, Americans have been searching for ways to contribute to our country. Yet during this time, we have seen cuts to national service programs like AmeriCorps and broken promises about "armies of compassion."

Tom Koos believe that even as we fight to build an America stronger at home and safer in the world, we should all take heed of what Robert Kennedy once said: "Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."

Continue reading "National Service" »

America is a country of innovators and optimists, and the genius of the American people has always driven the story of American progress.
A few decades ago, entire regions of our country were shrouded in darkness until visionary leadership and the Rural Electric Administration brought light and power to millions of Americans. More recently, leadership that looked beyond the next election to the next generation funded the DNA research that has saved thousands of lives and improved thousands more.
Today, the possibilities for progress are limitless - but they won't be realized under a government that starves science and technology and slashes budgets for future research; that stifles the creativity and entrepreneurship that will produce the next big idea; that lets politics and ideology trump progress and science.

Continue reading "Science and Technology" »

My postion remains consistent thoughout my campagin career. I stated publicly in the 2000 Democratic Primary in New Hampshire and I dare continue to state my unwavering position:

I am AGAINST crime!

Some have said a nations greatness can be measured by the voice of its artists. One of many roles of government in a society as free as diverse and as democratic as ours is to foster and promote the creation and accessibility to the arts and public broadcasting. It is not the role of government to influence or dictate the contents of the medium. On so many occasions our citizens have supported the arts and public broadcasting, and it is time to free these institutions of the vagrities of annual federal budgetary battles, and to establish a trust fund which can be drawn from in perpetuity. It shall be funded by a variety of mechanisms, one of which is to allow public broadcasters to auction off parts of the broadcast spectrum in the free market and to use proceeds for funding. Secondly, I recommend a broadcasting tax on televisions and radios.

While every abortion is complex and often wrenching decision for all of those involved, ultimately this difficult decision rests with the woman who carries the child. I believe it is the fundamental right of each individual, to manage his or her fertility, regardless of the individual's income, marital status, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, or residence.

Continue reading "Reproductive Rights" »

Tom Koos is announcing his plan to make food safer by taking on the big food companies and food importers on behalf of American consumers and producers. First he would finally implement country-of-origin labeling so families can learn the source of their food and have the option of choosing domestically-raised and grown food. He would also strengthen the Food and Drug Administration's oversight over the safety of American and imported food.

Continue reading "Food Safety" »