Optimism for the Future of American Families
Speech by Sen. Lugar to the Christian Coalition Conference September 9, 1995 Washington, D.C.
Text of speech obtained from Christian Coalition web page (http://www.cc.org)
Thank you very much. Thank you. Jim Flynn and members of the Christian Coalition, I have a challenge to share with you. But before doing so, I think it appropriate to mention we meet in the same week that Baltimore's Short Stop Cal Ripkin has set a record for the most consecutive major league baseball games played. Cal Ripkin is an outstanding athlete, but much that is being written about him extols his heroism, not as a ball player, but as a man who came to the job everyday. Disciplined! Dependable! Modest! Determined to do his best at all times! And on the very day of his record-setting achievement, an obviously tired Cal Ripkin took his daughter to kindergarten. He loves his wife, his children, enjoys his neighborhood, autographs cards and balls seemingly endlessly. Social observers suggest that he saved baseball from a binge of greed and the destructive lifestyle examples of participants who were involved in drug abuse, spouse abuse, alcohol abuse, gambling addiction, and tax evasion. But Cal Ripkin's achievement came just in time: distaste for professional baseball seemed to be cresting ominously, almost as a metaphor for the general public's frustration with American culture. But here was a quiet, self-effacing iron man playing in his 2,131st consecutive game - and Americans who rarely think about baseball, enjoyed some terrific emotional moments together celebrating a life well-lived, by a man we have chosen, collectively, to honor as a hero of our times. I mention all of this because I have been asked repeatedly by members of the national media about a quality called "charisma". The point of suggestion of the pundits, is that a charisma-deficiency may be just as fatal to an aspiring politician, as vitamin-deficiency may be to a normal human being. We in this room, know the word "charisma" well. For centuries, its meaning changed little from the original Greek charisma - "gift of God". Today, the generic dictionary definition of charisma is "a rare quality or power of individuals who show exceptional ability for winning the devotion for large numbers of people." No doubt we would've celebrated Cal Ripkin's achievement this week, no matter what kind of man he was, but let me suggest that Cal Ripkin meets this generic charisma test, "winning the devotion of large numbers of people" who revere the idea of a person constantly being there, to witness goodness to his family, to witness faithfulness to a lifetime of work, and striving for excellence, to witness fair play, don enthusiasm for the achievement of others, to witness the healthy example of a leader who says "no" to personal vices and to marital infidelity. That America would take such a man to heart and celebrate his virtue is, in my judgment, a cause for great optimism for our country, particularly as we prepare to choose a President. Now, like Cal Ripkin who grew up in a well-churched family that surrounded him last Wednesday, I had the privilege of growing up in the Methodist Church, raised by loving and devoted parents. My wife, Char, and I have raised our four sons in the Methodist Church. We are students of the gospels, and I look forward to filling pulpit responsibilities as a lay minister, in several churches, each year. Char and I have been married 39 years. We found each other at Dennison University, as college sweethearts and co-presidents of the student body. Our sons attended public schools, graduated from universities, and have achieved constructive careers. And we're thrilled to have seven grandchildren to love and to watch over at every possible opportunity. I believe that Americans are not only ready, but eager to have a President who merits their trust, who attempts to lead by example, starting with personal advocacy of strong life and values, and even in the midst of all that perports to be exciting, colorful, entertaining, and supposedly, liberating, I believe Americans are prepared to think again about rules, discipline, recognition of sin, and personal responsibility. Alan Erenhall, a distinguished editor and commentator on American politics has written it well, and I quote "the worship of choice has brought us a world in which nothing we choose seems good enough to be permanent, and we are unable to resist the endless pursuit of new selections, in work, in marriage, in front of the television set. The suspicion of authority has meant the erosion of standards of conduct and civility, symbolized by schools, in which teachers who dare to discipline students, risk a profane response. The repudiation of sin has given us a collection of wrong-doers, who insist that because they have been dealt bad cards in life, they are not responsible for their actions. When we declare that their are no sinners, we are a step away from deciding there is no such thing as right or wrong. Stable relationships, civil classrooms, safe streets, the ingredients of what we call "community", all come at a price. The price is limits on the choices we can make as individuals, rules we must obey and authorities who can enforce them. And a willingness to accept the fact that there are bad people in the world, and that sin exists - even in the best of us. The price is not low, but the life it makes possible is no small achievement." Well, let me translate Alan Erenhall's general wisdom into specific thoughts that guide my life: First of all, I celebrate life, and specifically, the miracle of human birth. I oppose abortion, except in instances of rape and incest and where the life of the mother is at stake. Secondly, I affirm the responsibility of Government to provide personal safety. As Mayor of Indianapolis, I secured the support of fellow citizens to increase our police force by 30%, from approximately 850 officers, to 1,100, to help provide for higher educational opportunities for police officers, and to let the officers take home their cars to their neighborhoods. There was no federal aid to spur our successful fight against crime. We made decisions locally and raised money locally, because we were determined to achieve greater personal safety and lawfulness during deeply troubled years of 1968 - 1975. I strongly support higher wages and incomes for all Americans through saving, investment, risk-taking, good management, hard work, and higher productivity. I favor the end of the Internal Revenue Service. I favor the end of all Federal income taxes. I favor ending 5 billion hours of annual and voluntary labor spent complying with the tax code, Federal withholding and IRS audits, and I would substitute a national Sales Tax on retail sales and services. Americans would be taxed only when they buy such goods and consume such services, and we would gain control of our money and the pace and the amount of our taxation. As a school board member, I understand the importance of keeping school decisions in the community, and the need to protect the independence of private, parochial and home schools. To this end, I support closing the Federal Department of Education. I've addressed additional major issues at important national meetings, recently. At the Dallas meeting of United We Stand, I drew attention toward the major national security issue of nuclear smuggling, and the steps that we must take immediately to prevent a disastrous nuclear event from occurring in an American city. At the Ames, Iowa, Republican Straw Vote Assembly, I suggested a Twelfth Commandment for Republican statesmen, namely "Do not speak ill of other Americans". We must stop using devices, negative campaigning, and so-called wedge issues designed or to portray minority groups, or immigrants as responsible for various public problems. Today I ask your thoughtful consideration of still another major problem that threatens the fabric of family and community strength in our country. Throughout our nation's history, the popularity of gambling has come, gone and come again. Public outcry against casinos and state-sponsored lotteries during the post-Civil War period led to a ban on all gambling in the United States by 1920. But today, gambling is legal in 48 of the 50 states. The gambling industry in America is experiencing unparalleled growth. Gambling revenues have grown faster than our nation's manufacturing industries. And by 1994, revenues for gambling totaled $40 billion. Why is gambling expanding at such a rapid rate? The first reason is that state and local governments facing budget shortfalls are desperate for revenue. Second, the gambling industry has an insatiable appetite for expansion and growth. And third, and most disheartening, is my failure, your failure, our failure as concerned community of Americans to raise important questions about the reckless spread of legalized gambling. Even if a state or community is reluctant to host a gambling establishment, they can sometimes be drawn over the edge by the threat that gambling operations may locate in a nearby town, or neighboring state. Studies have shown that gambling operations impact neighboring communities. For many local officials, the legalization of gambling becomes an economic survival issue, rather than a question of sound public policy. The spread of gambling, in my judgment, is a measure of the moral erosion taking place in our country. It is a disturbing sign - not because it's our biggest problem or because it causes the most human grief, but because so many do not even regard it as a problem. A single, seemingly harmless wager or spin of the wheel may not be a moral failing, but the accumulative, and highly addictive effects of gambling can devastate families and communities. Cities with casinos have seen sharp increases in organized crime activity - theft, alcoholism, prostitution, illegal drugs, family abuse, personal bankruptcy, divorce, pathological gambling and suicide. Gambling among children is growing at a startling rate. Forbes Magazine estimates that 7% of minors in America today may be addicted to gambling. The Christian Science Monitor reports that gambling is the fastest growing teenage addiction - increasing at twice the rate of the adult pathological gambling predicament. Gambling weakens our ability to teach our children the basics - if you will, the Cal Ripkin values of hard work, patience, human achievement and personal responsibility. What is the message that is being sent to our children by clever television and radio commercials for lotteries. They bombard us with the message that wealth, is only a play away. Well the message is: If you play enough, you can hit the jackpot and be free from the discipline of self-support through a job or through a long commitment to on-going education. And this same erosion of personal responsibility is at the heart of family dysfunction, drug abuse, criminal behavior and abortion. We can not tolerate the "get rich quick" symbolism of gambling while pleading with our children to avoid other tosses of the dice that lead to unhealthy living and destructive behavior. Gambling-related employment is not comparable to other forms of employment such as manufacturing - gambling does not produce a value-added product or reinvestment in the market economy. The actions of state and local governments that hope to use gambling as a solution to their economic problems are understandable but fallacious. Yet the quick, ready cash approach is no prescription for revitalizing a city, let me simply say as mayor of Indianapolis, I learned that a community must be built in living rooms, in classrooms, and in churches. During the civil rights movement in the 1960's, especially following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I spent days on street corners and in church basements trying to hold our community together. To strengthen the city's economy, we launched a comprehensive reorganization of our local government consolidating the city and the county. We cut property taxes five times in eight years, attracted businesses - made Indianapolis the amateur sports capitol of the world. Indianapolis is a dynamic, and successful city as a result. It reduced poverty and crime that plagues many other urban areas. A national prohibition of gambling, like the prohibition of alcohol, is probably not a sound option. Some citizens may continue to choose to gamble legally - or illegally, and many states will continue to sanction gambling in some form. But we can educate communities and change public attitudes about the costs of gambling, and those costs can be compared to the corrosive health effects of tobacco, the hazardous results of violence on television and the movies, the hazardous results of alcohol abuse. Gambling is a similar social problem and it should be combated in a similar manner through grassroots activities that raise public awareness and reduce its attractiveness. The first step toward achieving this is better information about the moral economic and social costs of gambling. I am the original co-sponsor of a bill in the Senate proposed by Senator Paul Simon that would establish a national commission to examine legalized gambling. The commission would produce a comprehensive report aimed at providing authoritative and unbiased answers to questions about gambling, such as: What links exist between gambling and organized crime? What is the extent of gambling by teenagers? How does gambling effect suicide rates? What is the impact of gambling establishments on other businesses in a five mile radius, or a fifty mile radius? How does gambling effect crime rates? What is the level of public support for gambling? What has been the effect on communities where gambling has failed? And, how does gambling effect low-income populations? Such a report could alert citizens to the realities of gambling and help states and local communities make more informed decisions about hosting gambling establishments. I'm especially pleased that Ralph Reed has recently signed a letter to Speaker Newt Gingrich that endorses our legislation. Yet this modest bill has been attacked by the gambling industry which does not want a comprehensive examination of the issue to occur. One industry representative recently criticized the proposal saying, "it's a states' rights issue". Well, it's a mistake to think of gambling as a state issue or a federal issue. It is, in fact, a family issue. An American culture that embraces gambling as a quick budgetary and economic fix is not likely to experience a spiritual renewal. We should approach this issue with the confidence and determination that we always approach issues of importance. In some locations, grassroots movements, supported by churches, the Christian Coalition chapters, and other groups have stoutly resisted the introduction of gambling. With little evidence of a popular movement supporting gambling, the Christian Coalition could be more than a match for those attempting to spread this social cancer. Members of the Christian Coalition, it's my judgment, that a President must lead by example and conviction. I believe moral and spiritual renewal must remain at the forefront of our national dialogue. I applaud the Christian Coalition for insisting on this priority. I am prepared to do the same as President of the United States. Thank you and may God bless your work!