What is Senator Cardin's position on Israel and Palestine?

I support a two state solution for Israel and Palestine. However, whether the Palestinian Authority is led by Fatah or Hamas, if they ever wish to receive full international recognition they must renounce violence, recognize Israel's right to exist and honor all past peace agreements.

What is Senator Cardin's position on the Darfur genocide?

As both Co-Chairman of the Helsinki Commission and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, action on the Darfur genocide is a high priority for me. I will continue to urge our government and the United Nations to increase pressure on Sudan to accept the UN authorized force and I will press the administration to marshal international support for applying more diplomatic and economic leverage on Sudan. The United States has played the leading role in responding to the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, providing over $1 billion dollars. These funds will also help to strengthen the existing African Union peacekeeping force as it transitions to a stronger UN force with the mandate to protect civilians. We must continue to raise awareness of the crisis in Sudan and to find a peaceful resolution.

What is Senator Cardin doing to improve the Vietnamese or Guatemalan adoption process?

Does Senator Cardin support opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil drilling?

I do not support opening ANWR to oil drilling. Currently, there are 68 million acres of leased federal lands that are not producing oil and just 23.6 million actually producing. There are 33.5 million acres of the federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) lands that are under lease but are NOT being drilled. There are 34.2 million acres of the federal onshore lands that are under lease but are NOT being drilled. Rather than tap current sources - 68 million acres of land - this Administration's answer to our energy crisis is make an issue of opening an additional 1.5 million acres of protected, environmentally sensitive land in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska.

What is Senator Cardin doing to clean up pollution in the Chesapeake Bay?

Maryland's most treasured resource is the Chesapeake Bay. Nitrogen, phosphorous, and other pollutants from sewage systems, agricultural runoff and residential sprawl enter the Bay, fueling biological processes that remove oxygen from the water and kill marine life. To address this problem, Senator Mikulski and I introduced S. 1346, the Chesapeake's Healthy and Environmentally Sound Stewardship of Energy and Agriculture Act of 2007 (CHESSEA), which would promote clean water in the Chesapeake Bay, while providing approximately $200 million a year to Maryland farmers to implement a host of farmland conservation practices that are popular with farmers and highly effective.

For further information on how the Chesapeake Bay is doing check;

• http://www.chesapeakebay.net/
• http://www.cbf.org

What is Senator Cardin doing to preserve public lands, national parks, and wilderness area in Maryland and around the country?

I have been working on a range of management issues, from protecting coastal waters from offshore oil drilling to preserving the Alaska's pristine Bristol Bay and Utah's magnificent Redrock Wilderness. In addition, I am working to increase funding for our National Park System including the new Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail, as well as to secure approval for a new Star Spangled Banner National Historic Trail that will commemorate America's struggles in the War of 1812 including the critical battle at Fort McHenry. I believe the federal government has a responsibility through its management and acquisition of public lands to be a steward of our environment for future generations.

What is Senator Cardin doing to protect the rights of animals and pets?

I am a strong supporter of legislation that would prohibit unnecessarily cruel treatment of animals, and believe we need measures in place to protect the welfare of our pets. I have co-sponsored legislation along these lines in the past, including the Pet Safety Protection Act, the Downed Animal Protection Act, and the Horse Slaughter Prevention Act. I am also a supporter of the Animal Fighting Prohibition Act which would outlaw cock and dog fighting for commercial uses.

What is Senator Cardin doing to ensure the financial sustainability as well as improve the public transportation in Maryland?

Access to good public transportation is important to our state's future economic development and prosperity. I am the original sponsor of the Washington Area Transit Bill which increased funding for Metro. I have also previously sought and secured funds for both the Washington Metro and the MARC train because I believe that quality public transportation is vital. I am a strong supporter of upgrading the MARC system as well as the building of the Purple Line, the Intercounty Connector in the Washington region, and the Red and Green transit lines in Baltimore.

What is being done to relieve the traffic problems associated with BRAC in Montgomery County?

For the new Walter Reed to succeed and for its neighboring communities to maintain their quality of life, we must all work to create a world-class medical facility for our troops that does not negatively impact the surrounding neighborhood. I worked along with other members of the Maryland Congressional Delegation to ensure that the Consolidated Appropriations bill that the President signed into law on December 26, 2007 included over $1.69 million in directed spending for BRAC-related Improvements in Montgomery County, including MD 355 improvements between Woodmont Avenue and I 270, near the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. For further information see http://governor.maryland.gov/BRAC/

What is Senator Cardin doing to help Maryland's farmers?

The Farm Bill contains important provisions concerning farms, nutrition assistance, land conservation, and rural economic development - including over $400 million that I fought for which will aid conservation efforts in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. As crop yields and prices are subject to natural volatility and fluctuation, many farmers face financial risk during times of economic recession or when crop yields have been poor. The direct and counter-cyclical payment programs, which were both re-authorized this year in the Farm Bill, and passed into public law, are central components of the support for our farmers. Farmers are provided with a steady and reliable source of supplemental income that ratchets up as commodity prices drop.

What earmarks has Senator Cardin supported?

You can find a list of Maryland projects requested by Senator Cardin that were included in the Fiscal Year 2008 Appropriations Bills and signed into law by the President here: http://cardin.senate.gov/legislation/appropriations.cfm The list of projects is updated as more of my earmarks are passed.