Topics in the News: Sovereignty
Mike Huckabee on Foreign Policy
: Jan 1, 2008
Law of the Sea Treaty surrenders our sovereignty
My administration will never surrender any of our sovereignty, which is why I was the first presidential candidate to oppose ratification of the
Law of the Sea Treaty, which would endanger both our national security and our economic interests.
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Source: America's Priorities in the War on Terror: Foreign Affairs
Mike Huckabee on Foreign Policy
: Dec 9, 2007
Protect US sovereignty, but earn respect abroad
I don't want to ever give up one ounce of US sovereignty. Our soldiers would never march to the orders of somebody else's generals. I wouldn't give up our territory. I wouldn't give up our rights. I wouldn't give up our strength.In fact,
I'd want to strengthen this country. I think the greatest way to export democracy is not to force it, but rather to build the best possible version of it right here so people are attracted to it.
There is an important role that the
United States has as the most powerful nation on earth militarily and economically, to act in such a way that people respect us and that people also realize that we are a great nation, not one that wants to push ourselves on others.
One of the things that I would do as president is clearly try to make sure we get some better intelligence-gathering, and that we have more consistency, and that we have intelligence with greater credibility than we obviously have now.
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Source: Fox News Sunday: 2007 "Choosing the President" interviews
Fred Thompson on Immigration
: Nov 28, 2007
Pledges to veto any immigration bill that involves amnesty
Q: Will you pledge tonight, if elected president, to veto any immigration bill that involves amnesty for those that have come here illegally?
A: Yes, I pledge that. A nation that cannot and will not defend its own borders will not forever remain a sovereign nation. And it's unfair.
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Source: 2007 GOP YouTube debate in St. Petersburg, Florida
Mike Huckabee on Foreign Policy
: Oct 21, 2007
Law of the Sea Treaty gives away our sovereignty
There's nothing funny about Hillary Clinton being president. Let me tell you why. If she's president, taxes go up, health care becomes the domain of the government, spending goes out of control, our military loses its morale, and
I'm not sure we'll have the courage and the will and the resolve to fight the greatest threat this country's ever faced in Islamofascism. We'll sign crazy bills like the Law of the Sea Treaty and give away our sovereignty.
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Source: 2007 GOP primary debate in Orlando, Florida
Sam Brownback on Free Trade
: Sep 17, 2007
Opposed to North American Union that gives up sovereignty
Q: Will you abolish all plans to promote economic integration of the North American Union?A: I am opposed to open borders. I am opposed to a North American Union that gives up our sovereignty.
I am opposed to doing that. So, yes to trade. No to unions. And yes to enforcing the laws when you have agreements between countries.
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Source: 2007 GOP Values Voter Presidential Debate
John Cox on Free Trade
: Sep 17, 2007
Trade is a weapon of peace
Trade is also a weapon of peace. You know, you're not going to bomb your most important customer. You're not going to invade your most important supplier.
So we've got to make sure that we increase trade around the world, but we also have to make sure we retain our national sovereignty.
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Source: 2007 GOP Values Voter Presidential Debate
Mike Huckabee on Foreign Policy
: Sep 17, 2007
We answer to our Constitution, not to international law
We need a re-understanding that we are a sovereign nation. We do not answer to international law. We answer to our Constitution, and no other authority but our Constitution.
And any attempt to weaken our commitment to our own constitutional form of government is simply unacceptable to me as a president of the United States.
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Source: 2007 GOP Values Voter Presidential Debate
Tom Tancredo on Free Trade
: Sep 17, 2007
Don't diminish sovereignty in hopes of influencing trade
Q: Will you abolish all plans to promote economic integration of the North American Union?A: Recently, Felipe Calderon, the President of Mexico, stated that Mexico does not end at its borders. He said that where there is a Mexican, there is now
Mexico. To hear a president of another country suggest that the borders between you do not exist, and to not have our president turn to them and say, "Are you nuts?"--there is something called a border, and it must be defended.
We are not simply just residents of the North American continent. That is exactly where this thing is going, a sort of an economic union where everybody believes trade is such a good thing--and
I certainly think trade can be good--but why do you have to go ahead and diminish your national sovereignty in the hopes of influencing trade? Never will that happen in my administration.
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Source: 2007 GOP Values Voter Presidential Debate
John Cox on Free Trade
: Sep 17, 2007
Never surrender the sovereignty of the United States
Q: Will you abolish all plans to promote economic integration of the North American Union?A: I will never surrender the sovereignty of the United States. We absolutely have to secure the borders. We have to address the illegal immigration problem.
We have to do it by putting some CEOs in jail. We have got to start enforcing the law against employing illegal aliens. That's going to solve the problem. But we have to also make sure that we have trade with other countries.
So, I'm not interested in giving up our sovereignty, but I am interested in opening up channels of trade, because, you know what, we benefit when we sell
Microsoft software and we sell cell phones made by Motorola around the world.
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Source: 2007 GOP Values Voter Presidential Debate
Mike Huckabee on Free Trade
: Sep 17, 2007
This country can never yield its sovereignty for any reason
Q: Will you abolish all plans to promote economic integration of the North American Union?A: I believe with all my heart is that this country can never, ever, ever yield its sovereignty to any other country for any reason, under any circumstance, ever
That's why I would agree that we not only need closed and secure borders, but more importantly, we need a re-understanding that we are a sovereign nation, and we do not yield ourselves over.
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Source: 2007 GOP Values Voter Presidential Debate
Fred Thompson on Immigration
: Sep 6, 2007
Protecting our border is part of being a sovereign nation
When we look to Washington, we see a bureaucratized government that is increasingly unable or unwilling to carry out basic governmental functions, including the fundamental responsibility of securing our borders against illegal immigration and enforcing
our laws. A nation that can't protect its border will no longer be a sovereign nation.
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Source: Candidacy announcement speech
John McCain on Immigration
: Jun 3, 2007
No official English; Native Americans use own languages
Q: Is there someone here who doesn't believe English should be the official language of the US? McCAIN: I would like to remind you that we made treaties with Native Americans, such as the Navajos in my state, where we respect their sovereignty and
they use their native language in their deliberations. Everybody knows that English has to be learned if anyone ever wants to move up the economic ladder. That is obvious. And part of our legislation, by the way, is a requirement to learn English.
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Source: 2007 GOP debate at Saint Anselm College
Al Gore on Technology
: May 16, 2007
TV converts well-informed citizenry to well-amused audience
Our Founders' faith in the viability of representative democracy rested on their trust in the wisdom of a well-informed citizenry, their ingenious design for checks & balances, and their belief that the rule of reason is the natural sovereign of a free
people. The Founders made a special point--in the 1st Amendment--of protecting the freedom of the printing press. And yet today, almost 45 years have passed since the majority of Americans received their news & information from the printed word.
Newspapers are hemorrhaging readers. Reading itself is in decline. The Republic of Letters has been invaded and occupied by the empire of television.In the world of TV, the massive flows of information are largely in only one direction, which makes it
virtually impossible for individuals to take part in what passes for a national conversation. Individuals receive, but they cannot send. They hear, but they do not speak. The "well-informed citizenry" is in danger of becoming the "well-amused audience."
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Source: The Assault on Reason, by Al Gore
Fred Thompson on Immigration
: Apr 13, 2007
Nation loses sovereignty if it cannot secure its own borders
Somewhere between 12 and 20 million people had somehow come into this country unnoticed. It's like we went overnight from "no problem" to a problem so big that it now defies a good solution. We know that the overwhelming majority of illegals come
across the Mexican border. Fortunately, we've got someone who is all too willing to tell us what we should do about it -- president Calderon of Mexico.
Pres. Calderon criticizes our efforts to secure the border with things such as border fencing.
He apparently thinks we should do nothing except make American citizens out of his constituents.
I think its time for a little plain talk to the leaders of Mexico. Something like:
Hey guys, you're our friends and neighbors and we love you but it's time you had a little dose of reality. A sovereign nation loses that status if it cannot secure its own borders and we are going to do whatever is necessary to do so.
Click for Fred Thompson on other issues.
Source: Thompson's blog on ABCradio.com, "Southern Exposure"
Tom Tancredo on Free Trade
: Jun 6, 2006
Globalization is replacing "citizens" with "consumers"
During a 2006 debate, Gary Hart said: "globalization is eroding national sovereignty." Globalization, he said, had replaced citizen with consumer in the minds of many people. The US isn't so much a country any more as it is a market.The same thing is
happening throughout the West. Since the Maastricht Treaty finalizing the European Union was adopted, Europeans have become citizens of a union rather than remain sovereign Dutch, German, etc. citizens. For many Europeans, their nation has simply become
a place they reside, no longer a part of their identity.
Multicultural elites now frequently describe themselves as "citizens of the world." If given the chance, they would replace loyalty to any one country to humanity, to Mother Earth, and in some
cases, loyalty to them. This rhetoric has trickled down to impressionable youth. Too frequently they tell me that America is a continent, not a nation. Multiculturalism had advanced so much that it denigrates the value of a national birthright.
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Source: In Mortal Danger, by Tom Tancredo, p.191-192
Barack Obama on War & Peace
: Jul 12, 2004
International voice in Iraq in exchange for debt forgiveness
[We should] confront the challenge of returning sovereignty to the Iraqi people. We must leave behind a government that has enough legitimacy and political support from all three factions-the Kurds, Sunnis and Shia-to survive on its own.
The best path to that is through free and fair elections and a constitution that preserves minority rights. For these elections to take place next year, as scheduled, there must be sufficient security in the country and, therefore,
we must maintain a strong military presence while encouraging the interim government to hold elections as soon as possible. We must also encourage international involvement in this process by giving them a meaningful voice and role
in Iraqi affairs and fair access to multi-billion dollar reconstruction contracts. In return, they must forgive Saddam's multi-billion dollar debts to their countries and help pay the reconstruction costs.
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Source: Press Release, "Renewal of American Leadership "
Dennis Kucinich on Free Trade
: Aug 1, 2003
Review & modify all treaties not respecting human rights
Our country and all nations must review and modify all treaties which reject national sovereignty in the cause of a global corporate ethic which does not respect human rights, workers rights and environmental quality standards.
This means reviewing the practices and the practical impact of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank.
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Source: Campaign website, www.Kucinich.us, "On The Issues"
Dennis Kucinich on Free Trade
: Apr 1, 2003
Don't sacrifice our rights to global corporate ethic
Our country and all nations must review and modify all treaties which reject national sovereignty in the cause of a global corporate ethic which does not respect human rights, workers rights and environmental quality standards.
This means reviewing the practices and the practical impact of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank.
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Source: Campaign website, www.Kucinich.org, "On The Issues"
Mike Gravel on Technology
: Nov 18, 2000
Put entire government-citizen interface online
The Internet portends fundamental changes on the order of those resulting from the Gutenberg Press that ushered in the Ages of Discovery and Enlightenment. The Internet, in my view, will usher in the Age of Democracy, the essence of which will be
republican governance--the majoritarian expression of the popular sovereignty of people. [Incumbents] assess what the Internet offers for the delivery of government information. Much greater benefits however lie in moving the processing of the
interface between citizens and government onto the Internet. My recent online driver's license renewal with the Virginia DMV was unexpectedly convenient and efficient. With little attention or effort, filing of income taxes online is on the rise. Clearly
intra-governmental operations are increasingly going online. It makes sense that the entire government-citizen interface and interaction should begin to be vectored toward Internet facilitation, digital divide aside, which will shortly be marginalized.
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Source: Press release, "The Internet and the Future"
John McCain on Government Reform
: Feb 28, 2000
Replace battle of bucks with battle of ideas
Unless we restore the people’s sovereignty over government, unless we reform our public institutions to meet the demands of a new, we will squander our destiny. Toward that end, I have called for the reform of campaign finance practices that
have sacrificed our principles to the demands of big money special interests. I have spoken against forces that have turned politics into a battle of bucks instead of a battle of ideas. And for that I have been accused of disloyalty to my party.
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Source: Speech in Virginia Beach, VA
John McCain on Principles & Values
: Sep 27, 1999
Restore, renew, reform, & reinvigorate government
Unless we restore the people’s sovereignty over government, renew their pride in public service, reform our public institutions to meet the demands of a new day, and reinvogorate our sense of national purpose, we will deny our destiny; we will abandon
the cause our founding fathers called glorious.
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Source: Candidacy Declaration Speech, Nashua NH