 | Hillary Clinton Democratic Candidate
New York |
Click here to read Hillary Clinton's response to ASIL's survey.
General - "As President, I will engage our partners in Latin America and Europe who have a strong stake in seeing a peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba, and who want very much for the United States to play a constructive role to that end. The United States must pursue an active policy that does everything possible to advance the cause of freedom, democracy and opportunity in Cuba.
The events of the past three days, including elections in Pakistan and Kosovo's declaration of independence, are a vivid illustration of people around the world yearning for democracy and opportunity." Statement on the Resignation of Fidel Castro
- "I supported the independence of Kosovo because I think it is imperative that in the heart of Europe we continue to promote independence and democracy. And I would be moving very aggressively to hold the Serbian government responsible with their security forces to protect our embassy. Under international law, they should be doing that." CNN / University of Texas Democratic Debate, Austin, TX, 2/21/08
Counter-Terrorism/Detention - "Rather than keeping us more secure, keeping Guantanamo open is harming our national interests. It compromises our long term military and strategic interests, and it impairs our standing overseas. I have certainly concluded that we should address any security issues on what to do with the remaining detainees, and then close it once and for all." Remarks at the Senate Armed Services Committee's Examination of Legal Issues Regarding Guantanamo Detainees, 4/26/07
- "We don't know what we're going to inherent [sic] from President Bush, but there is a big problem looming on the horizon that we had better pay attention to, and that is President Bush is intent upon negotiating a long-term agreement with Iraq which would have permanent bases, permanent troop presence. And he claims he does not need to come to the United States Congress to get permission, he only needs to go to the Iraqi parliament.
That is his stated public position. He was recently in the region, and it is clear that he intends to push forward on this to try to bind the United States government and his successor to his failed policy.
I have been strongly opposed to that. We should not be planning permanent bases and long-term troop commitments." CNN/Congressional Black Caucus Democratic Debate, Myrtle Beach, SC, 1/21/08
- "As we counsel liberty and justice for all, we cannot support torture and the indefinite detention of individuals we have declared to be beyond the law." Hillary Rodham Clinton, "Security and Opportunity for the Twenty-first Century," Foreign Affairs, November/December 2007
- "As a matter of policy [torture] cannot be American policy period." NBC/MSNBC Democratic debate at Dartmouth, NH, 9/26/07
Trade Agreements - "Look, NAFTA did not do what many had hoped, and so we do need to take a look at it and we do need to figure out how we're going to have trade relations that are smart, that give the American worker and the American consumer rights around the world.... It's not only the toys; it's the pet food, it's the medical components and prescription drugs. If we don't impose a third-party, independent investigative arm on our corporations that do business in China as well as the Chinese government, we should not permit any items to be imported into our country until we're sure they're safe." CNN Democratic Presidential Debate, Las Vegas, NV, 11/15/07
- "NAFTA was a mistake to the extent that it did not deliver on what we had hoped it would, and that's why I call for a trade timeout when I am president. I'm going to evaluate every trade agreement. We do need to get back to enforcing the ones we have, which the Bush administration has not done. They have totally abdicated that. But I think we have to get broader than that. We've got to have enforceable labor and environmental standards. We've got the WTO that enforces financial and corporate rights; we need the International Labor Organization and other mechanisms that will be there to enforce labor rights and environmental rights, and that's what I intend to do as president." CNN Democratic Presidential Debate, Las Vegas, NV, 11/15/07
- MR. WILLIAMS: "This evening on NBC Nightly News, our lead story was about the fact that Citigroup and Merrill Lynch have both gone overseas, as some put it hat in hand, looking for $20 billion in investment to stay afloat from, among other things, the government of Singapore, Korea, Japan, and the Saudi Prince al-Waleed, the man -- Rudolph Giuliani turned his money back after 9/11.
This is -- strikes a lot of Americans as just plain wrong. At the end of our report, we said this may end up in Congress. What can be done? And does this strike you as fundamentally wrong, that much foreign ownership of these American flagship brands?" SEN. CLINTON: "Brian, I'm very concerned about this.
You know, about a month and a half or so ago, I raised this concern because these are called sovereign wealth funds. They are huge pools of money, largely because of oil and economic growth in Asia. And these funds are controlled often by governmental entities or individuals who are closely connected to the governments in these countries. I think we've got to know more about them. They need to be more transparent. We need to have a lot more control over what they do and how they do it. I'd like to see the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund begin to impose these rules. And I want the United States Congress and the Federal Reserve Board to ask these tough questions." MSNBC Democratic Debate, Las Vegas, NV, 1/15/08
- "I believe we can support and promote smart trade policies that truly enforce strong labor and environmental standards." Economic Policy speech, 5/29/07
International Security and Non-Proliferation - "I will also seek Senate approval of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty by 2009, the tenth anniversary of the Senate's initial rejection of the agreement. This would enhance the United States' credibility when demanding that other nations refrain from testing. As president, I will support efforts to supplement the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Establishing an international fuel bank that guaranteed secure access to nuclear fuel at reasonable prices would help limit the number of countries that pose proliferation risks." Hillary Rodham Clinton, "Security and Opportunity for the Twenty-first Century," Foreign Affairs, November/December 2007
- "Today we face intense extremist efforts to buy or steal either a bomb or the material to make one and it doesn't have to be very big. We are also seeing increased interest in peaceful uses of nuclear power on the part of many legitimate states. In response, we need to modernize the non-proliferation treaties and related agreements. Last year, we had the chance to start talking about what a stronger regime would look like at the Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference. But while other countries sent foreign ministers or senior ambassadors, the Administration sent a mid-level official -- a clear signal it just wasn't interested. Our influence has already been eroded by our abandonment of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the administration's interest in developing two new small nuclear weapons, including the robust nuclear earth penetrator, the so-called bunker buster. The wholesale abandonment of non-proliferation efforts is a dangerous mistake. The more countries that have fissile material, the more opportunities there are for terrorists to acquire it." Speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, 10/31/06
International Criminal Court - "Europe must acknowledge that the United States has global responsibilities that create unique circumstances. For example, we are more vulnerable to the misuse of an international criminal court because of the international role we play and the resentments that flow from that ubiquitous presence around the world. That does not mean, in my opinion, that the United States should walk out of the International Criminal Court. But it does mean we have legitimate concerns that the world should address, and it is fair to ask that there be sensitivity to those concerns that are really focused on the fact that the United States is active on every continent in the world." Remarks at the German Media Prize Dinner, 2/13/2005
Climate Change and Environment - "The President's failed unilateral energy policy is a part of our failed unilateral foreign policy. It's deprived us of the credibility and the leverage we need to solve the climate crisis. I'll change that by leading the process to develop a new treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which is set to expire in 2012.
One of the worst messages the President sent was when he took office and rejected completely Kyoto. He could have said we don't like Kyoto but we're immediately starting a new process. But that didn't happen.
Well, come January 2009, I'm sending a different message. I want to act quickly to help develop a new treaty. I will engage in high level meetings with leaders around the world every three months, if that's what it takes to hammer out a new agreement. My goal will be to secure a deal by 2010. We can't wait for two more years."Speech on Energy and Climate Change, 11/5/07
- "The United States must reengage in international climate change negotiations and provide the leadership needed to reach a binding global climate agreement."Hillary Rodham Clinton, "Security and Opportunity for the Twenty-first Century," Foreign Affairs, November/December 2007
- "...we must create formal links between the International Energy Agency and China and India and create an "E-8" international forum modeled on the G-8. This group would be comprised of the world's major carbon-emitting nations and hold an annual summit devoted to international ecological and resource issues."Hillary Rodham Clinton, "Security and Opportunity for the Twenty-first Century," Foreign Affairs, November/December 2007
- "As President, Hillary would lead the charge to halt global warming by setting an ambitious target for slashing pollution, investing in clean energy technologies, establishing a national market-based program to reduce global warming pollution, improving our fuel efficiency and returning the United States to a leadership position in international efforts to address the problem."Hillary for President website
- "[The Kyoto Treaty] enables the nations of the world to work collectively to deal with global warming. The fact is, that the treaty is not perfect but I agreed with the approach of the Clinton administration, which signed the treaty and simultaneously announced that it would seek to improve it from within the treaty tent."Remarks at the German Media Prize Dinner, 2/13/2005
International Institutions/UN Reform - Q: "Do you think the peacekeeping forces on the Israeli-Lebanese border will be effective?"
"I don't have a lot of confidence in what the peacekeeping forces will do, because nobody's willing to say that they're willing to disarm Hizbullah. That's the problem. UN Resolution 1701 [which ended the war] originally said that you had to go in and disarm Hizbullah -- but there was no effort to do this at the time, and now we're trying to play catch-up. They initially said the Lebanese army's going to do it, but that's not going to happen." Meeting with the Editorial Board of The Jewish Press, 10/25/06
- "A perfect example of this is Magen David Adom. I've long supported the MDA and for decades it was denied admission to the International Committee of the Red Cross despite the fact it had deployed its volunteers and resources to help victims of disaster worldwide, whether victims of the tsunami in Southeast Asia or victims of Hurricane Katrina right here in our own country. When I learned the MDA was excluded from the ICRC, I was outraged by the injustice. And despite its international, non-political, life-saving work, it was being singled out because it was Israeli. So I joined with many of you in the struggle to try to obtain recognition and we have been in this together for a number of years, some of you for a long, long time. I worked with you to advocate for full inclusion, I sponsored legislation placing limitations on the US contributions to the ICRC until it recognized MDA. And after years of brokering negotiations, and writing letters, and making calls, and passing legislation, after years of urging the Swiss to find a solution to enable the MDA full participation, all of our collective efforts finally paid off when, this summer, the ICRC righted this historic wrong and admitted MDA into the International Committee of the Red Cross." Remarks to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), 2/1/07
- "Number one, the Levin amendment, in my view, gave the Security Council of the United Nations a veto over American presidential power. I don't believe that is an appropriate policy for the United States, no matter who is our president." Appearance on Meet the Press, NBC, 1/13/08
- "Well, [the 'Clinton Doctrine'] will be a doctrine of restoring America's leadership and moral authority through multilateral organizations, through attempts to come to agreements on issues ranging from global warming to stopping the proliferation of nuclear weapons and other dangerous weapons. It will be a doctrine that demonstrates that the United States is not afraid to cooperate; that through cooperation in our inter-dependent world, we actually can build a stronger country and a stronger world that will be more reflective of our values." NPR Democratic Presidential Debate, 12/4/07
- BLITZER: "So, Senator, just to be precise, you want a United Nations international tribunal or commission of inquiry, whatever you want to call it, along the lines of the investigation into the assassination of Rafik Hariri?"
CLINTON: "Well, there are other institutions that are international that have credibility, like Interpol and others. So, it doesn't have to be the exact model of the Hariri investigation, but it needs to be international. It needs to be independent. It needs to have credibility."Appearance on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, CNN, 12/28/07,
- "Contrary to what many in the current administration appear to believe, international institutions are tools rather than traps. The United States must be prepared to act on its own to defend its vital interests, but effective international institutions make it much less likely that we will have to do so. Both Republican and Democratic presidents have understood this for decades. When such institutions work well, they enhance our influence. When they do not work, their procedures serve as pretexts for endless delays, as in the case of Darfur, or descend into farce, as in the case of Sudan's election to the UN Commission on Human Rights. But instead of disparaging these institutions for their failures, we should bring them in line with the power realities of the twenty-first century and the basic values embodied in such documents as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights." Hillary Rodham Clinton, "Security and Opportunity for the Twenty-first Century," Foreign Affairs, November/December 2007
- "First, and most obviously, we must by word and deed renew internationalism for a new century.... We can deal with climate change together now or excuse its calamitous consequences later. We can turn our back on international institutions, or we can modernize and revitalize them, and when needed get about the hard work of creating new ones." Speech 10/31/06
- "It could well start with what our founders had in mind when they pledged "a decent respect for the opinions of mankind" in the Declaration of Independence. I think it's fair to say we are now all internationalists and we are all realists. This Administration's choices were false choices. Internationalism versus unilateralism. Realism versus idealism. Is there really any argument that America must remain a preeminent leader for peace and freedom, and yet we must be more willing to work in concert with other nations and international institutions to reach common goals?" Speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, 10/31/06
- "Hillary knows that America must remain a preeminent leader for peace and freedom, willing to work in concert with other nations and institutions to reach common goals." Hillary for President website
- "A reinvigorated, reformed United Nations can play an important role going forward. A reinvigorated NATO can be a powerful force for peace and stability. NATO remains as important to our future as it was to our past. And so I hope that my country will engage in the process of revamping these international and multilateral organizations and will do so with a deep understanding of their continuing value to our country and to the interests of a more peaceful world." Remarks at the German Media Prize Dinner, 2/13/2005
Human Rights - "And in an increasingly interdependent world, it is in our interests to stand for human rights, to promote religious freedom, democracy, women's rights, social justice, and economic empowerment. But reality informs us we cannot force others - nations and peoples - to accept those values. We have to support those who embrace them and lead by example." Remarks to the Council on Foreign Relations, New York, 10/31/06
- "The suffering of children and families in Darfur must stop, and I urge all parties to immediately cease hostilities... The Administration must create consequences for those perpetrating these atrocities or allowing them to go on, and Congress' vote today is an important step in ensuring that our government is giving this crisis the attention it requires." Hillary Clinton, 12/14/2007, as reported by the States News Service
- "...the United States, along with governments in Europe and the Middle East, must agree to accept asylum seekers and help them return to Iraq when it is safe for them to do so." Hillary Rodham Clinton, "Security and Opportunity for the Twenty-first Century," Foreign Affairs, November/December 2007
|
| | |
