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Joe Manchin III's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)

Office:
  • U.S. Senate (WV) - Sr, Democratic Majority Vice Chair of Policy & Communications Committee

Key

Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
Inferred Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, but Vote Smart inferred this issue based on the candidate's public record, including statements, voting record, and special interest group endorsements.
Unknown Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, or we could not infer an answer for this candidate despite exhaustive research of their public record.
Additional Information: Click on this icon to reveal more information about this candidate's position, from their answers or Vote Smart's research.
Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.

Joe Manchin III has failed to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2018 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests from Vote Smart and voters like you.

What is the Political Courage Test?

Issue Positions

For Presidential and Congressional candidates who refuse to provide voters with their positions, Vote Smart has researched their public records to determine their likely responses. These issue positions are from 2018.

  • Rated 100% byDemocrats for Life of America (votesmart.org)
  • "As a lifelong abortion opponent, I want to ensure that all West Virginians and all Americans can easily access and independently verify information that not one single federal taxpayer dollar is used to fund abortions in this country" (votesmart.org)
  • "I am pro-life, and always have been. I have also always been committed to helping women get vital health services, like cancer screenings and preventive care. I believe these two principles are not mutually exclusive" (votesmart.org)
  • Voted in favor of H.R. 36 "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act" (votesmart.org)
  • "As your Governor, I was so proud that we were able to cut tax rates […]" (votesmart.org)
  • "I do believe that this bill will provide temporary relief to some working class families, and I will work with the President to make those permanent, so that hard-working Americans can plan for their future like the corporations and very wealthy individuals that are receiving extremely large and permanent tax cuts will do." (votesmart.org)
  • "Forty percent of all the military spending is by our country. I promise you, we are going to make sure that America keeps the strongest defense in the world." (votesmart.org)
  • "Ever since the Supreme Court decision on the Citizens United campaign finance case, we have seen outside groups unleash an unprecedented flood of money to sway elections, and we have seen it time and again in West Virginia over the past several years. […] The people of this country have a right to know who is spending large amounts of money to influence elections." (votesmart.org)
  • "Since the Supreme Court's decision on the Citizens United campaign finance case, we have seen outside groups unleash an unprecedented flood of money to sway elections -- without telling us who their donors are […] The people of West Virginia believe -- as I believe -- that we need openness, fairness and transparency to stay informed and keep our democracy strong, and the DISCLOSE Act would do just that." (votesmart.org)
  • Voted in favor of S. 3369 "DISCLOSE Act" (votesmart.org)
  • "As your U.S. Senator, I will continue to focus on supporting West Virginia's continued economic development, and this fair will serve as an invaluable opportunity to connect our hardworking citizens with employers and resources. The better we build these bridges and foster these connections, the more positive the economic outlook of southern West Virginia will be for decades to come." (votesmart.org)
  • "[...] by investing in our highways, railroads, bridges, as well as water and sewer systems, ARC funding in West Virginia has helped lay the foundation for economic growth in the region." (votesmart.org)
  • "When Secretary Chao and I met she pledged to work with me to begin investing in important infrastructure projects like the King Coal Highway, Coalfields Expressway, Corridor H, upgrades of our roads and bridges, and improvements to airport infrastructure and rural airport service. We also discussed the importance of investing in our digital infrastructure by supporting broadband deployment in hard-to-serve places like West Virginia." (votesmart.org)
  • "I support these Common Core State Standards because they provide clear, consistent guidelines for children across our nation. It is time that we ensure all students -- no matter where they live -- are learning the essential skills they need to succeed and that they are reaching the appropriate benchmarks for their grade. I am pleased to see this major state-led effort come into fruition." (votesmart.org)
  • "Moving forward, achieving true energy independence demands that we not only start realizing the importance that coal has in achieving this goal, it means we must also stop demonizing one resource and start developing a comprehensive plan that utilizes all of our domestic resources -- coal, natural gas, biomass, nuclear, wind and solar - so that we can, once and for all, end our dependence on foreign oil within this generation." (votesmart.org)
  • "To truly achieve an all-of-the-above energy policy, we must use everything we have -- coal, natural gas, nuclear, solar, hydro, and wind -- while also making sure that we are not adversely hurting our economy and taking away people's livelihoods." (votesmart.org)
  • "As West Virginians know, I will stand up against anyone whose policies will hurt our state, our families and our future. It is why I am proud to have stopped the cap-and-trade bill, which would have hurt so many families and businesses in our state." (votesmart.org)
  • "The Clean Power Plan never worked and I commend President Trump for doing away with this harmful regulation and preventing further job losses, increases to consumer energy bills, and more damage to our economy." (votesmart.org)
  • "While I believe that the United States and the world should continue to pursue a cleaner energy future, I do not believe that the Paris Agreement ensures a balance between our environment and the economy." (votesmart.org)
  • Rated 0% by Gun Owners of America (votesmart.org)
  • "As a life-time hunter, sportsman, NRA member, and law-abiding gun owner, I will always fight to protect our Second Amendment and due process rights and against any government overreach and infringement, but I will also fight to prevent radical Islamic terrorists from obtaining weapons." (votesmart.org)
  • Voted in favor of S. Amdt 4720 "Prohibits the Transfer of Firearms to Suspected Terrorists" (votesmart.org)
  • Voted in favor of S. Amdt 715 "Public Safety and Second Amendment Rights Protection Act" (votesmart.org)
  • "I look forward to reviewing the bill in greater detail and working with my Democratic and Republican colleagues to fix the problems with ACA and improve the healthcare system in our country." (votesmart.org)
  • "The Affordable Care Act does some things well, including expanding access to preventative care, protecting those with pre-existing conditions […] Now that the Supreme Court has ruled to uphold the Affordable Care Act, my sincere hope is that we can put the political divisiveness behind us and start working on the necessary improvements to make this law work better for all Americans." (votesmart.org)
  • The Hill "We have the wall. We need to repair the wall. We'll need to build more wall. We need to do whatever we can to secure the border — the borders" (thehill.com)
  • Rated 0% by NumbersUSA (votesmart.org)
  • Rated 25% by Federation for American Immigration Reform (votesmart.org)
  • Voted in favor of S. 744 "Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act" (votesmart.org)
  • Rated 17% by theNational Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (votesmart.org)
  • Despite exhaustive research, Vote Smart was unable to find information about this candidate's position.
  • "After a decade of war in the Middle East, I continue to believe we must carefully consider the implications of any escalation and should only commit American military might if there is a direct threat to our national security […]" (votesmart.org)
  • "Putting more troops on there, kind of rile them all up and ginning them up to go out and recruit and get more people fighting America -- that doesn`t seem to win that war over there." (votesmart.org)
  • "We must learn from our past mistakes and we must not repeat them […] Let me make it clear, I believe ISIS is a grave threat to the region and could become a direct threat to the United States. We must confront and defeat them. I just do not believe that arming the Syrian opposition forces is the correct approach, because I can foresee a Senate debate a few years from now--not that far off--I can see this coming about how to defeat the next group of Islamist terrorists we helped to train and install." (votesmart.org)

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