 | Tom Tancredo Republican Candidate
California | Counter-Terrorism/Detention - "Torture -- I mean, we get into this debate all the time, and as the -- as to what exactly is the definition of torture. And I'm telling you that we will -- we need to do -- remember, the question that I was originally asked that elicited the response that you've mentioned was, what do we do in the -- in the response to a nuclear -- or the fact that a nuclear device or some bombs have gone off in the United States; we know that there are -- we have captured people who have information that could lead us to the next one that's going to go off; and it's the big one? That was the question that I responded to.
And I told you yes, I would do -- certainly waterboard -- I don't believe that that is, quote, "torture." I would do what is necessary to protect this country. That is the ultimate responsibility of the president of the United States. All of the other things that we do, all of the other things, all of the other powers vested in him are -- pale in comparison to its -- his responsibility to keep these -- the people of this country safe. And that is ultimate.
And yes, I would go to great lengths to keep this country safe." Fox News Republican Presidential Candidates Debate in Durham, NH, 9/5/07
Trade Agreements - "I offered an amendment on the floor of the House during the debate on CAFTA, the Central America Free Trade Agreement, to say that there will be no immigration issues contained inside of a trade package. It was defeated. The speaker -- I mean, the chairman of the committee came down in the House -- to the House floor and raged that I would ever suggest such a thing. There is the problem. We are talking about trade issues that actually begin to impact our national sovereignty. There's the problem. We are reducing the importance of borders and increasing the threat to national sovereignty with the kind of trade programs that we put through up to this point in time." CNBC/Wall Street Journal Republican debate in Dearborn, Michigan, 10/9/07
- "If CAFTA and its successors were really just about trade, the agreements would be little more than a few pages long, setting a schedule for opening markets and phasing out unfair taxes on goods. But they aren't. In reality, these agreements have become vehicles to expand a growing body of international law that threatens to supersede our own national sovereignty." Tancredo for President
Human Rights - "I do not believe we need boots on the ground in Sudan or in Darfur to deal with this issue [of genocide].
But you know what we could do?
We could see whether the United Nations is worth its salt and force them into participating in this issue and getting that -- and in getting that solved." PBS 2007 Republican "All-American Presidential Forum" at Morgan State University, 9/27/07
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