Sept. 26 Democratic debate transcript

Russert: Is there anybody here who's in favor of a national law?

(Crosstalk)

Richardson: I would...

Biden: One other point I want to make on this...

Dodd: 3,000 kids start smoking every day in this country...

Russert: OK.  So Biden, Dodd, Richardson.

Richardson: I did it in New Mexico.

Russert: A national law.  Kucinich and Gravel?

Kucinich: Wait a minute.  I've been breathing in a lot of second-hand smoke here tonight.  You bet I'll go for a national law.

(Laughter)

(Applause)

Russert: All right.  So Biden, Dodd, Richardson, Gravel, and Kucinich in favor of a national law.

Allison, you're up.

Edwards: Wait, wait, wait.  And Edwards.

Russert: And Edwards.

King: Susan Remacle (ph) of Canaan, New Hampshire, the mother of two young adult sons, believes that the legal drinking age of 21 is counterproductive and unrealistic, especially, she says, because...

(Applause)

Especially because we trust people at this age to make life and death decisions in our military.

King: Would you as president remove the requirement that a state have a legal drinking age of 21 in order to receive federal highway funds, thereby returning the drinking age back to the states?

Senator Biden?

Biden: Absolutely, no.  I would not.  You've got to calculate the costs here.  The costs of alcoholism in America, the costs of accidents that flow from drunkenness are astronomical.  There are 300,000 babies born deformed every year in this country because of women who are alcoholics while they're carrying those children to term.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a gigantic problem, just like the drug issue.  And the idea that we're going to suggest that it makes good sense to move the age down to 18 I find to be counterproductive. I would not do that.

And the last point I'll make is, presidents are supposed to lead. How do you go out and negotiate, use health care and the Social Security system as a negotiating tool to deal with the federal deficit?

You're supposed to lead.  You lay out what you want to do.  You're not negotiating with yourself.  You're negotiating to protect the system, and you can't use the system as a negotiating tool to get to a balanced budget any more than you can turn around and suggest that somehow lowering the drinking age to 18 is going to make anything better in America -- anything.

King: I'd like to hear from a few more of you on this, if you could keep it to 30 seconds.

Senator Dodd?

Dodd: No, I agree with Joe on this.  Look, the problems associated with alcohol are significant in our country.  The evidence is overwhelming.  And the idea that we're going to lower the drinking age -- we know that -- and that age group here -- and, again, you can -- we have significant statistics of the problem.  Fifty-thousand people lose their lives in automobiles every year in this country, many of them because of the use of alcohol.

But let me also add here as well on that smoking issue -- because it is important and it's related -- with 3,000 young people starting to smoke every single day, one of the major causes of the health care issue, Tim, that you were raising earlier and Medicare, is because of chronic illnesses associated with things like smoking.

So the idea that we wouldn't draft a national law to stop this in public places is one of the things you're going to have to do if you're going to deal with rising health care costs.

King: Thank you.

Senator Richardson?

Dodd: And the same is true of alcohol.

Richardson: No, I wouldn't lower it.  In fact, at this moment my wife is hosting in New Mexico with the surgeon general a forum on underage drinking.

I think what you need, though, is a dual approach.  Yes, we need to have strong law enforcement against DWI, against so many other law- related issues, but you also have to have treatment, you have to have substance abuse treatment, you have to have education, you have to have rehabilitation.

And the federal government to the states is not providing the resources and the leadership that we need.

So just as much as we don't lower the drinking age, you have to have more of a national commitment to rehabilitation and to research.

We need to have more research for diabetes, for cancer, for stem cell research, for heart disease.

We're a nation -- let me just make one final point -- we spend $6 billion on cancer research.  That is two weeks of the Iraq war.  That shows the mistaken priorities that we have in this country.

Russert: In interest of time, is there anybody here, from Obama down to Gravel, who thinks we should lower the drinking age back to 18?

Gravel: I think we should lower it so anybody that could go fight and  die for this country should be able to drink.

(Applause)

Russert: Kucinich -- Congressman Kucinich?

You said -- yes.

Kucinich: You know, I think not only about service, but we have to have confidence in young Americans.  And a president who reaches out to them and talks to them about drinking responsibly is much better than a president who tells them "Thou shalt not," because young people will do what they do.

But they're looking for leadership from a president.  I'm ready to provide that leadership.

Of course, they should be able to drink at age 18 and they should be able to vote at age 16.

Russert: Obama, Edwards, Clinton are all "no" on 18?

(Unknown): No.

(Unknown): What was the question?

Russert: Lower the drinking age to 18?

(Unknown): I would not.

Russert: We're going to take a break and come back with our lightning round.  Thirty seconds to answer your question.

Gravel: It never got to the real round.

(Laughter)

(Commercial break)

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