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>>The big news this week was that prop 8 was repealed in California, and I see on your
pamphlet that one of the bullet points is that one of the bullet points is defending
constitutional rights and freedoms, and I wanted to know where you stood on that issue.
[Altschuler]Yeah, look I feel, you know, they passed the proposition, I guess the courts
struck down, stuck down, yeah I don't support that decision, so...
>>So you don't believe that an entire part of our population is being denied their constitutional
rights?
[Altschuler]Well, I think California passed Proposition 8, and, you know, I'm not sure
why it was struck down, if the courts have the right to strike that down.
>>Can you be clear about what you're saying, exactly? It's a black and white issue, are
these people being denied their rights, or are they not?
[Altschuler]I believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman
>>So you believe that an entire part of our population should be denied their constitutional
rights because because of a certain group's moral belief? That's what I'm trying to...
[Altschuler]I don't think anybody should be denied their constitutional rights, so
>>Do you think that rights should be legislated, in that regard. Should it be voted on by the people?
[Altschuler] Well there was a vote in California, proposition 8
>>Yeah, but do you believe that inalienable rights [inaudible] should be voted on by the people?
[Altschuler]Well, I think there are...
>>I think the reason that it was struck down is that you don't vote on peoples rights, these rights
are inherent
[Altschuler]I think there are inalienable rights, sure.
>>But if you were voted into Congress, and it was presented as a vote for gay marriage,
you would vote against it.
[Altschuler] I would.
>>So, being a gay man married in the state of Massachusetts, you are saying that this
ring on my hand and the partner I've been with for eight years is ***?
[Altschuler] No, I would never say that. I would never say that. Gay people have the
same relationships that heterosexual people do, which is both good and flawed.
>>Well, I'll let you know this; that I have the same concerns about your family and my
family as you.
[Altschuler] Sure. >>I'm concerned about the taxes that I pay,
I'm concerned about the taxes that I pay to schools so that your children get a good education.
[Altschuler] Sure
>>I'm concerned about the healthcare. I'm concerned that I need to have a stack of legal
papers this to protect my family, my partner, from [inaudible] to, you know, to go to the
hospital, if my partner is hospitalized. Why should I have to spend thousands and thousands
of dollars on legal paperwork that you don't have to? To protect my family.
[Altschuler] I'm not going to disrespect your family, ok. And I think...
>>Well that's what you vote would do. It would disrespect thousands of families, not only
in this area, but hundreds of thousands of families in this country.
[Altschuler] Look, I think the question is here, is, you know... I'm not talking about
if a church or a synagogue, if they want to have, that's a religious issue in terms of
marriage. We're talking about
>>You're talking about voting to ban marriage between a man and a man or a woman and a woman.
[Altschuler] I disagree with you on that. And I understand you have your [inaudible],
I just disagree with you.
>>Let me just, let me go back. I was recently married. It was a completely non-religious
ceremony, so the only thing that I had to do was go to the courthouse and file a marriage
certificate. Now, where in our process does religion come into it? And if it doesn't come
into it, then why is it being brought in on a political level? When it's obviously a civil
matter. Filing for a marriage certificate is no different from filing for a building
permit. Why are your morals interfering with paperwork that I have to file on a municipal level?
[Altschuler] Uhh, look. We have -
>>Why are your morals interfering with my family?
[Altschuler] I don't want to interfere with your family. No, but I mean that.
>>[talking over eachother]
[Altschuler]I understand we disagree, I'm not
>>I think there are other questions in the back of the room.
>>As a christian I can respect that you have certain doctrines, we have certain doctrines
that we follow. But there's a very strong part of me that completely understands that
marriage is a civil contract, and I'm just wondering if you're ever faced with, as we
are here, something where your personal issues may conflict with what is expected of you
in Congress, where you need to be unbiased by your religious principals.
[Altschuler]Look, everybody has a set of values that they have. And everybody's values are
different, and there's always differences there. And as a Congressman my first job is
to represent my district. So to reflect the values of my district. And one of the things
that I think Congressman Bishop has failed in is that a lot of his votes he's representing
what we believe, and I think as a result of that he should be voted out of office, and
I should be voted in. I'm going to come back to answering your question in a minute...
So there are things that I may believe in that conflict with what the district believes
in, and you have the right to decide if my vote record, I will try to be consistent with
what this district is, that's my job. But at some point there may be divergent feeling,
there may be some issues that strike my core that the majority of the folks in this district
disagree with, and if that's the case then they won't vote for me. But I think at some
point each of us has deep down, a core set of values that they believe in and they're
going to conduct their lives like that. We may not agree with them, but I think
>> But I just wonder if Congress is the place for it.
[Altschuler]I don't... I'll tell you, I'll tell you, I'll give you an answer. I don't
think... I think the problem we have is that nobody in Congress has any values. Their values
are simply, what do we do, you know to win re-election, and what do I do that's popular.
So at some point you're going to have to stand up and you're going to have to make decisions
that maybe aren't popular, because it goes against your core belief. You have the right,
when I'm up for re-election or whoever your Congressman is to say 'that was a terrible
decision' you made. I firmly believe that the vast majority of people in this district
were against the healthcare bill. Tim Bishop, for better or worse, stood up and said 'I
support it, I think it's the best thing for Americaā€¯. If we disagree with him on that,
he should be voted out. But if not then he should be voted in. So I think we have to
have some core set of values, at some point you have to be able to say that's what you
believe in. And I don't think that's such a bad thing. You can be reletive about everything,
at some point you have to just stick to your priorities, so...