The 2004 platform that the Republican Party ratified Monday includes these positions:

- War in Iraq: "The best intelligence available at the time indicated that Saddam Hussein was a threat. ... While the stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction we expected to find in Iraq have not yet materialized, we have confirmed that Saddam Hussein had the capability. ... Our nation did the right thing."

- Homeland security: Support for the USA Patriot Act; funding for "first responders"--firefighters, police and others; federal screening at airports and ports; and better border security. "Our nation has been enriched by immigrants seeking a better life. ... Ensuring the integrity of our borders is vital. ... We must know the identity of all visitors who enter the United States."

- Intelligence: Support for creating a post of national intelligence director, as well as National Counterterrorism Center.

- Defense: Doubling investment in missile defenses; "dramatically" increasing research and development; and "significant" spending on transformation of the military with programs such as the Army's Future Combat System, the Navy's conversion of ballistic-missile-firing submarines to guided missiles and the Air Force's unmanned combat aircraft.

- Middle East: "We support President Bush's vision of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security. ... Palestinians need a new leadership not compromised by terror."

- Cuban trade embargo: "The current embargo on trade with, and restrictions on travel to, Cuba must remain in place as long as the Cuban government refuses to hold free and fair elections, ease its stranglehold on private enterprise and allow the Cuban people to organize, assemble and speak freely."

- Tax cuts: Supports the president's income tax cuts across the board and urges that they be made permanent.

- Social Security: Endorses the idea of privately held savings accounts to supplement Social Security, enabling individuals to invest some of the money on their own: "Individual ownership of voluntary personal retirement accounts for today's workers will make Social Security more equitable."

- Budget deficit: Maintains the current deficit of more than $400 billion a year must be viewed in relation to the gross domestic product. By that measure, the deficit is 3.8 percent of GDP, "far below" a peak of 6 percent reached in 1983.

- Free trade: There "must be fair trade that advances America's goals and protects American jobs. ... We reject moves toward economic isolationism."

- Tort reform: Supports limitations in awards that juries give for victims of medical malpractice, with a "reasonable" limit to payments for non-economic damages.

- Environment: Supports preservation of wetlands, cleaner air and water and drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Proposes "modernizing" the Endangered Species Act, focusing resources on species in need of preservation.

- Education: Supports "school choice," enabling parents of children in poor-performing schools to move them to other schools--including "faith-based and other non-public school options." Supports prayer in school.

- Stem cell research: Backs the president's ban on federal funding for stem cell research based on new lines developed from embryos.

- Guns: Supports instant background checks for gun purchases and laws stopping "frivolous lawsuits" against firearm manufacturers. Opposes federal licensing and national registration of gun owners as "an invasion of privacy."

- Marriage: Supports a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union of a man and woman, and chastises activist judges for allowing gay and lesbian marriage.

- Abortion: Supports a constitutional amendment protecting the rights of the unborn. Opposes public funding for abortions.

Copyright © 2004