Editing Paul Wellstone (section)

==Political positions==
[[File:Paul Wellstone.jpg|thumb|Official portrait, {{circa}} 1990s]]
Wellstone was known for his work for peace, the environment, labor, and health care; he also joined his wife Sheila to support the rights of victims of [[domestic violence]]. He made the issue of mental illness a central focus in his career.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wellstone.org/network/issue_page.aspx?catID=2796 |title=About Us {{pipe}} Wellstone Action! |publisher=Wellstone.org |access-date=July 20, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080422062259/http://wellstone.org/network/issue_page.aspx?catID=2796 |archive-date=April 22, 2008 }}</ref> He was a supporter of immigration to the U.S.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://grades.betterimmigration.com/testgrades.php3?District=MN&VIPID=430&retired=1|title=Immigration-Reduction Grades {{pipe}} NumbersUSA – For Lower Immigration Levels|publisher=Grades.betterimmigration.com|access-date=July 20, 2010|archive-date=October 13, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091013044046/http://grades.betterimmigration.com/testgrades.php3?District=MN&VIPID=430&retired=1|url-status=dead}}</ref> He opposed the first [[Gulf War]] in 1991 and, in the months before his death, spoke out against the government's threats to go to war with Iraq again. He was strongly supported by groups such as [[Americans for Democratic Action]], the [[AFL–CIO]], the [[Sierra Club]], the [[American Civil Liberties Union]], and [[People for the American Way]]. He was often called "the conscience of the Senate".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dayton |first1=Mark |title=Tribute to Paul Wellstone |url=https://mn.gov/gov-stat/images/Speech-Tribute_Wellstone.pdf |access-date=27 August 2024 |website=State of Minnesota}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ireland |first1=Mark |url=https://www.northstarpress.com/store/p652/Wellstone%2C_Conscience_of_the_Senate%3A_The_Collected_Floor_Speeches_of_Senator_Paul_Wellstone.html |title=Paul Wellstone: Conscience of the Senate |date=1 Sep 2008 |publisher=North Star Press |isbn=978-0878392902 |location=St. Cloud MN |access-date=27 August 2024}}</ref>

In 1996, Wellstone voted for the [[Defense of Marriage Act]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=104&session=2&vote=00280 |title=1996 Roll Call for H.R. 3396 |publisher=Senate.gov |access-date=December 15, 2011}}</ref> He later asked his supporters to educate him on the issue and by 2001, when he wrote his autobiography, ''Conscience of a Liberal'', Wellstone admitted that he had made a mistake.

Wellstone was one of only eight senators to vote against repealing the [[Glass–Steagall Act]] in 1999.<ref name="106-354.EH">Congressional roll-call: [https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=106&session=1&vote=00354 S.900 as reported by conferees: Financial Services Act of 1999, Record Vote No: 354], November 4, 1999, Clerk of the Senate. Sortable unofficial table: [http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/106/senate/1/votes/354/ On Agreeing to the Conference Report, S.900 Gramm-Bliley-Leach Act, roll call 354, 106th Congress, 1st session] Votes Database at ''[[The Washington Post]]'', retrieved on October 9, 2008</ref>

After voting against the [[Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq|congressional authorization]] for the [[2003 invasion of Iraq|war in Iraq]] on October 11, 2002, amid a tight election, Wellstone is said to have told his wife, "I just cost myself the election".

In the 2002 campaign, the [[Green Party (United States)|Green Party]] ran a candidate against Wellstone, a move some Greens opposed. The party's 2000 vice-presidential nominee, [[Winona LaDuke]], called Wellstone "a champion of the vast majority of our issues".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/talking_politics/documents/02397914.htm |title=Talking Politics{{pipe}}Green around the gills |work=Boston Phoenix |access-date=December 15, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301134414/http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/talking_politics/documents/02397914.htm |archive-date=March 1, 2012 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Some liberals criticized the Green Party's decision to oppose Wellstone.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020617/cooper20020607 |title=Red Over Green Party Moves |work=The Nation |date=June 7, 2002 |author=Marc Cooper |access-date=December 15, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070211182638/http://www.thenation.com/doc/20020617/cooper20020607 |archive-date=February 11, 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Wellstone was the author of the "Wellstone Amendment" to the [[McCain-Feingold Bill]] for [[Campaign finance reform in the United States|campaign finance reform]], in what came to be known as the [[Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002]]. The law, including the Wellstone Amendment, was called unconstitutional by groups and individuals of various political perspectives, including the [[California Democratic Party]], the [[National Rifle Association of America]], and Republican Senator [[Mitch McConnell]], the Senate majority [[Whip (politics)|whip]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A54524-2003Dec10&notFound=true|newspaper=The Washington Post|title=McCain-Feingold Ruling Angers Activists on Both Left and Right|date=December 11, 2003|access-date=May 22, 2010|first=David|last=Von Drehle}}{{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Annie Feidt |title=Critics say Wellstone's finance reform amendment may violate freedom of speech rights |url=https://archive.mpr.org/stories/2001/03/27/critics-say-wellstones-finance-reform-amendment-may-violate-freedom-speech-rights |website=Minnesota Public Radio |access-date=31 May 2023 |language=en-US |format=audio |date=27 March 2001 }}</ref> On December 10, 2003, the Supreme Court upheld McCain-Feingold's key provisions, including the Wellstone Amendment. Wellstone called McCain-Feingold's protection of "advocacy" groups a "loophole" allowing "special interests" to run last-minute election ads. He pushed an amendment to extend McCain-Feingold's ban on last-minute ads to nonprofits like "the NRA, the [[Sierra Club]], the [[Christian Coalition of America|Christian Coalition]], and others". Under the Wellstone Amendment, these organizations could advertise using only money raised under strict "hard money" limits—no more than $5,000 per individual.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Mickey Kaus |title=Wellstone's Folly |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2002/04/the-dead-rat-on-campaign-finance-reform-s-kitchen-floor.html |website=slate |publisher=The Slate Group |access-date=31 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107015507/https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2002/04/the-dead-rat-on-campaign-finance-reform-s-kitchen-floor.html |archive-date=7 November 2018 |language=en-US |date=4 April 2002 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In January 2010, in ''[[Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission]]'', the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the McCain-Feingold Act and removed restrictions on the NRA's and others' ability to campaign at election time.

===Gulf War===
Wellstone voted against authorizing the use of force before the [[Gulf War|Persian Gulf War]] on January 12, 1991 (the vote was 52–47 in favor).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=102&session=1&vote=00002|title=U.S. Senate: Legislation & Records Home > Votes > Roll Call Vote|publisher=Senate.gov|access-date=July 20, 2010}}</ref> He also voted against the use of force before the [[Iraq War]] on October 11, 2002 (the vote was 77–23 in favor).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=2&vote=00237|title=U.S. Senate: Legislation & Records Home > Votes > Roll Call Vote|publisher=Senate.gov|access-date=July 20, 2010}}</ref> Wellstone was one of 11 senators to vote against both the 1991 and 2002 resolutions. The others were also all Democrats: [[Daniel Akaka]] of [[Hawaii]]; [[Jeff Bingaman]] of [[New Mexico]]; [[Robert Byrd]] of [[West Virginia]]; [[Kent Conrad]] of [[North Dakota]]; [[Daniel Inouye]] of Hawaii; [[Ted Kennedy]] of [[Massachusetts]]; [[Patrick Leahy]] of [[Vermont]]; [[Carl Levin]] of [[Michigan]]; [[Barbara Mikulski]] of [[Maryland]]; and [[Paul Sarbanes]] of Maryland.

===Other key military action votes===
Wellstone supported requests for military action by President [[Bill Clinton]], including [[Operation Restore Hope]] in [[Somalia]] (1992), [[Operation Uphold Democracy]] in [[Haiti]] (1994), [[Operation Deliberate Force]] in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] (1995), [[Bombing of Iraq (December 1998)|Operation Desert Fox]] in [[Iraq]] (1998), and [[1999 NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Operation Allied Force]] in [[1999 NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] (1999). On July 1, 1994, during the 100-day [[Rwandan genocide]] from April 6 to mid-July 1994, Wellstone authored an amendment to the 1995 defense appropriations bill.<ref name=congress>{{cite web|title=Congress.org|url=https://www.congress.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/?Db=d103&querybd=@FIELD(FLD003+@4((@1(Sen+Wellstone++Paul+D.))+01454))|access-date=July 14, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026083735/http://www.congress.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/?Db=d103&querybd=@FIELD(FLD003+@4((@1(Sen+Wellstone++Paul+D.))+01454))|archive-date=October 26, 2007|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref>