Editing Dan Coats (section)

== Political positions ==

===Gun laws===
On multiple occasions, Coats has supported gun control measures. In 1991, he voted in favor of the Biden-Thurmond [[Violent Crime Control Act]]. This act, which did not become law, would have created a waiting period for handgun purchases and placed a ban on assault weapons.<ref>{{cite web |date=November 21, 1991 |title=Text – S.1241 – 102nd Congress (1991–1992): Biden-Thurmond Violent Crime Control Act of 1991 &#124; Congress.gov &#124; Library of Congress |url=https://www.congress.gov/bill/102nd-congress/senate-bill/1241/text |access-date=January 23, 2017 |website=Congress.gov}}</ref> Subsequently, he supported the [[Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act]] that [[Presidency of Bill Clinton|President]] Clinton signed into law in 1993.<ref>{{cite web |last=Macy |first=Tim |date=February 11, 2010 |title=Dan Coats, Gun Control and the Indiana Senate Primary |url=http://gunowners.org/op02112010tm.htm |access-date=August 10, 2011 |publisher=Gunowners.org}}</ref> The legislation imposed a waiting period before a handgun could be transferred to an individual by a licensed dealer, importer, or manufacturer. This waiting period ended when the computerized instant check system came online. Coats also supported Feinstein Amendment 1152 to the [[Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act]] of 1993.<ref>{{cite web |title=U.S. Senate Roll Call Vote |url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=103&session=1&vote=00375 |access-date=August 10, 2011 |publisher=Senate.gov}}</ref> The purpose of the Feinstein Amendment was to "restrict the manufacture, transfer, and possession of certain semiautomatic assault weapons and large capacity ammunition feeding devices".<ref>{{cite web |date=November 17, 1993 |title=Bill Summary & Status – 103rd Congress (1993–1994) – S.AMDT.1152 |url=https://www.congress.gov/amendment/103rd-congress/senate-amendment/1152 |website=Congress.gov}}</ref>

[[File:President Bush Congratulates Judge Alito on Senate Confirmation.jpg|thumb|Coats with President George W. Bush in January 2006]]
In April 2013, Coats was one of forty-six senators to vote against passage of a bill which would have expanded background checks for gun buyers. Coats voted with 40 Republicans and five Democrats to stop the passage of the bill.<ref>{{cite news |last=Silver |first=Nate |date=April 18, 2013 |title=Modeling the Senate's Vote on Gun Control |work=The New York Times |url=https://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/18/modeling-the-senates-vote-on-gun-control/}}</ref>

===Taxes===
In 1995, Coats introduced S. 568: Family, Investment, Retirement, Savings, and Tax Fairness Act<ref>{{cite web |author=Sen. Daniel Coats [R-IN] |title=Family, Investment, Retirement, Savings, and Tax Fairness Act of 1995 (1995; 104th Congress S. 568) |url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s104-568 |access-date=October 11, 2012 |publisher=GovTrack.us}}</ref> which would provide "family tax credits, increase national savings through individual retirement plus accounts, indexing for inflation the income thresholds for taxing social security benefits, etc".<ref>{{USBill|104|S|568}}</ref> The bill did not become law.

===LGBT issues===
In 1993, Coats emerged as an opponent of President Clinton's effort to allow LGBT individuals to serve openly in the armed forces.<ref>{{cite news |last=Schmitt |first=Eric |date=May 12, 1993 |title=Compromise on Military Gay Ban Gaining Support Among Senators |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/12/us/compromise-on-military-gay-ban-gaining-support-among-senators.html}}</ref> Coats was one of the authors of the [[Don't Ask, Don't Tell]] policy and opposed its 2011 repeal. He does not support [[same-sex marriage]] but opposes interference with "[[alternative lifestyle]]s".<ref>{{cite news |last=Salomon |first=Evie |date=October 8, 2010 |title=Indiana US Senate candidates discuss hot topics of this year's election |work=Indiana Daily Student |location=Indiana University |url=http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=77525 |url-status=dead |access-date=January 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906054313/http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=77525 |archive-date=September 6, 2013}}</ref>

===Russia and Ukraine===
Coats pressed President [[Barack Obama]] to punish Russia harshly for its [[2014 Russian annexation of Crimea|March 2014 annexation of Crimea]].<ref name="CR7117">{{Cite news|date=2017-01-07|title=Donald Trump names Dan Coats national intelligence director |work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38543124|access-date=2023-01-01}}</ref> For this stance, the Russian government banned Coats and several other U.S. lawmakers from traveling to Russia.<ref name="CR7117" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Naylor |first1=Brian |date=January 5, 2017 |title=Trump Picks Ex-Senator, Banned From Russia, As His Intelligence Chief |publisher=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2017/01/05/508417418/trump-picks-ex-senator-banned-from-russia-as-his-intelligence-chief |access-date=June 14, 2017}}</ref>

In January 2019, Coats warned against the alliance between Russia and China.<ref>{{cite news |date=January 29, 2019 |title=Intel chiefs warn of Russia-China alliance as threats grow more complex |work=CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/intelligence-chiefs-provide-updates-on-worldwide-threats-2019-01-28-live-updates/}}</ref>

===Iran and Iraq===
[[File:President Donald J. Trump Signs H.R. 374, H.R. 510, H.R. 873, and H.R. 2430 into Law.jpg|thumb|Coats with President Donald Trump in August 2017]]
Coats supported the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]] on the grounds of uncovering what he believed to be 
Iraq's [[Iraq and weapons of mass destruction|weapons of mass destruction]].<ref name="iraq" />

Coats opposed the [[Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action|2015 nuclear deal]] between [[Iran]] and six world powers – the U.S., U.K., Russia, France, China, and Germany.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2015-09-09|title=Sen. Coats: Iran nuclear deal "fatally flawed"|url=https://www.wrtv.com/news/local-news/sen-coats-iran-nuclear-deal-fatally-flawed|access-date=2023-01-01|website=WRTV Indianapolis|first1=Jordan |last1=Fischer |first2=Katie |last2=Heinz}}</ref> He described Iran as the foremost "[[State-sponsored terrorism|state sponsor of terrorism]]".<ref>[http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/10519/Iran-continues-engaging-in-support-for-terrorism-despite-nuclear-deal Iran continues engaging in support for terrorism despite nuclear deal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180214073717/http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/10519/Iran-continues-engaging-in-support-for-terrorism-despite-nuclear-deal |date=February 14, 2018 }}. The Baghdad Post. May 13, 2017.</ref>

During testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee in January 2019, Coats said that [[Iran]] "continues to sponsor terrorism".<ref>{{cite news |date=January 31, 2019 |title=Trump disagrees with his own intelligence team. We catalog the differences |work=[[PolitiFact]] |url=https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2019/jan/31/trump-disagrees-intelligence-team-catalog-differen/}}</ref> According to Coats, "Iran's regional ambitions and improved military capabilities almost certainly will threaten US interests in the coming year."<ref>{{cite news |date=February 5, 2019 |title=4 key takeaways from Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats testimony about Iran |work=USA Today |url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/02/05/dan-coats-iran-intelligence-missiles-nukes-terrorism-syria-yemen-column/2763775002/}}</ref>

===Palestine===
Coats co-sponsored the [[Taylor Force Act]]. The legislation proposes to stop American economic aid to the [[Palestinian Authority]] unless it stops payments to individuals who commit acts of terrorism and to the families of deceased terrorists.<ref>{{cite news |date=23 June 2017 |title=Former Israeli generals warn against US bill slashing funds to PA |work=The Times of Israel |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/former-israeli-generals-warn-against-us-bill-slashing-funds-to-pa/}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Tubbs |first1=Ashlyn |date=28 September 2016 |title=Senators introduce Taylor Force Act to cut terror attack funding |publisher=[[KCBD]] |url=https://www.kcbd.com/story/33272315/senators-introduce-taylor-force-act-to-cut-terror-attack-funding}}</ref>

In September 2016, in advance of a [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334|UN Security Council resolution 2334]] condemning [[Israeli settlement]]s in the occupied [[Palestinian territories]], Coats signed an [[AIPAC]]-sponsored letter urging President Barack Obama to veto "one-sided" resolutions against Israel.<ref>{{cite news |date=September 19, 2016 |title=Senate – Aipac |url=https://www.aipac.org/-/media/publications/policy-and-politics/aipac-analyses/issue-memos/2015/text-of-rounds-gillibrand-letter.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019210759/https://www.aipac.org/-/media/publications/policy-and-politics/aipac-analyses/issue-memos/2015/text-of-rounds-gillibrand-letter.pdf |archive-date=October 19, 2016}}</ref>

===Other===
[[File:Reuven Rivlin at a meeting with Dan Coates Sunday, September 2017 (4990).jpg|thumb|Coats with [[Israel]]i President [[Reuven Rivlin]], September 3, 2017]]
Coats co-sponsored, with former senators [[Edward M. Kennedy]], [[Christopher Dodd]], and [[Jim Jeffords]], S.2206: Coats Human Services Reauthorization Act of 1998. This bill, which was enacted into law, "amended the [[Head Start Act]], the [[Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981]], and the [[Community Services Block Grant Act]]{{nbsp}}... in order to provide an opportunity for persons with limited means to accumulate assets."<ref>{{cite web |author=Sen. Daniel Coats [R-IN] |title=Coats Human Services Reauthorization Act of 1998 (1998; 105th Congress S. 2206) |url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s105-2206 |access-date=October 11, 2012 |publisher=GovTrack.us}}</ref>

In 1996, Coats co-sponsored the [[Line Item Veto Act of 1996]], which President Clinton signed into law. The bill allowed the President to "rewrit[e] legislation by vetoing single items of spending or specific tax breaks approved by Congress."<ref>{{cite news |last=Pear |first=Robert |date=June 26, 1998 |title=The Supreme Court: The Opinion – Justices, 6-3, Bar Veto Of Line Items In Bills; See H.I.V. As Disability; Spending At Issue |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/26/us/supreme-court-opinion-justices-6-3-bar-veto-line-items-bills-see-hiv-disability.html}}</ref> In June 1998, The [[Supreme Court of the United States]] declared the law unconstitutional in ''[[Clinton v. City of New York]]'' in a 6–3 decision.

Coats made headlines in August 1998, when he publicly questioned the timing of President [[Bill Clinton]]'s [[Operation Infinite Reach|cruise missile attacks on Afghanistan and Sudan]], suggesting they might be linked to the [[Lewinsky scandal]]: "While there is clearly much more we need to learn about this attack and why it was ordered today, given the president's personal difficulties this week, it is legitimate to question the timing of this action."<ref>{{Cite news|title=Most Lawmakers Support Clinton's Military Strikes |date=August 20, 1998|url=http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/08/20/strike.react/|access-date=July 10, 2023 |website=CNN}}</ref>