Thread: Duncan Hunter: Enforce borders-Level playing field for trade

Duncan Hunter: Enforce borders. Level the playing field for trade.
Duncan Hunter • November 14, 2007

The issues and challenges facing America today require experienced leadership and clear vision. The next American president will assume difficult responsibilities immediately upon taking office, and the challenges facing our nation demand innovative solutions and a commitment to strengthening America's traditional values and ideals.

To be successful, our nation must maintain its commitment to expanding freedom and protecting free institutions around the world. We must also stay focused on promoting the safety and security of the American people, which includes securing our borders and enforcing our nation's laws. And it is important that the American people, with their enormous creativity and tireless work ethic, be given a chance to compete in the global marketplace.

Today's American workers are losing to foreign competition, primarily because of the unfair advantages that have been afforded to our trading partners. An uneven playing field has been created, and our nation's manufacturing base, once referred to as the Arsenal of Democracy, continues to deteriorate at an alarming rate.

The same Arsenal of Democracy that carried Eisenhower's forces to Berlin and brought an end to the Cold War can now be found far from America's shores. The massive production of textiles, steel and machine tools are no longer found in the factories of South Carolina, Ohio and Iowa. This great arsenal can now be found in other industrial countries around the world and, perhaps most ominously, China.

China is cheating on trade, and, in the process, it is buying ships, planes and missiles with American trade dollars, demonstrating that this is not merely a trade issue, but also a security issue. And how is China cheating?

When we enter into a trade deal with China, its manufacturers are given a 17 percent subsidy for exporting their products to the United States. When American products arrive on China's shores, they are immediately levied with a 17 percent tax. Then China devalues its currency by 40 percent.

In order to remain competitive, we must eliminate this disparity and level the playing field for U.S. manufacturers. My administration will stand up to China and other nations by placing countervailing duties against their products when they break the rules. Further, my administration will engage in what I call "mirror trade." A nation that places a 20 percent tariff against U.S. goods will see a reflection of their tariffs when its products reach our shores.

I also believe we must secure our borders and aggressively enforce our nation's immigration laws. As a representative of a border community for more than 26 years, I can offer more than lip service when it comes to addressing the issues associated with illegal immigration and the necessity for border security.

Most notably, I built the San Diego Border Fence - which has reduced the smuggling of people and narcotics by more than 90 percent in our sector - and I wrote the provision of the Secure Fence Act that extends this infrastructure 854 miles across the smuggling routes of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. From our experience in San Diego, we know that fencing works.

As president, I will therefore complete the 854 miles of security fencing presently required by law in six months. The enforcement of existing immigration laws will also be one of my top priorities.

It is equally critical that we enact policies that protect human life and the rights of the unborn. And when we appoint judges, we are handing great power, including the power of life and death, to individual people. Judges must demonstrate discernment and an understanding that the unborn are worthy of protection, or they should not receive an appointment to the bench.

America's continued success demands that we take the steps necessary to strengthen our nation's security, restore our nation's industrial base and protect individual rights, including those of the unborn. This vision, which I will pursue as president, will ensure our nation remains strong and prosperous for future generations of Americans.
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs. ... 36/Opinion

The enforcement of existing immigration laws will also be one of my top priorities.

BINGO! That's exactly what most of us are demanding.

Man .... I LOVE THIS GUY

Duncan Hunter kicks ass!

I would totally be in favor of cloning him a couple dozen times over.

Shapka wrote:

I would totally be in favor of cloning him a couple dozen times over.

Yep, a couple dozen Hunter's in the U.S. Congress would definitely make things interesting, very interesting.

Duncan Hunter is really the one we need. Tom Tancredo is great, but I think Duncan would handle foreign policy better. Duncan walks, talks and carries himself like a United States President, unlike the squably, self serving traitorous chicken s--t boys we see who are wannabe Presidents, including that thing currently OCCUPYING OUR White House.

Rockfish wrote:

Duncan Hunter is really the one we need. Tom Tancredo is great, but I think Duncan would handle foreign policy better.

I agree, both these gentleman would be great for our country as President of the United States, and I could support either one of them. However, I do think Hunter is more in tune with other issues that will be critical to getting America headed in the right direction again.

There are only three that are not same ole, same ole.

Of those three, Hunter probably is the more electible (able?), but he wouldn't be my first, for any other reason.

I haven't read his views on interior enforcement - and whether he thinks it will take more laws to accomplish it or not.

The fence is good - but it's only a part - and its only a maybe right now.

nntrixie wrote:

I haven't read his views on interior enforcement - and whether he thinks it will take more laws to accomplish it or not.

Hunter has said repeatedly that we must enforce and, as necessary, tighten our immigration laws and secure our border.

The fence is good - but it's only a part - and its only a maybe right now.

It won't be a "maybe" if Hunter is elected President of the United States. Here's what he had to say in an inteview about the fence:

Excerpt:

ON BUILDING A FENCE ALONG THE BORDER WITH MEXICO:

"I built the border fence in San Diego and I wrote the law that mandates its extension 854 miles across Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. And that law was signed by President Bush Oct. 24 of last year. Now, so far the administration has only built, at this point … 30 miles of that 854 miles of fence. My commitment to the American people is this: As president, I will build the border fence -- all 854 miles -- in six months.

"In fact, I've talked to the major contractors who would be constructing the fence. There are hundreds of fence contractors in this country who are capable of building fence, but what you do is, you give multiple contractors multiple sections of fence to construct. For example, contractor A -- you give mile one to mile two, contractor B you give mile two to mile four -- depending on the size of the company, and you build all those sections at the same time. You don't have to start at one end of the country -- like it's a railroad in 1880 -- and build it in a consecutive manner; you build all these sections concurrently. So I would have major construction projects going on in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas all at the same time."

If Hunter is elected, he will get the fence built. Actually, I believe he'll have the entire border fenced before he leaves office.

Here's a couple of other things he said in the same interview that you might find interesting:

ON HOW HE WOULD DEAL WITH ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CURRENTLY IN THE U.S.:

"They have to go home. And you know, most of them have homes and maintain homes in their parent countries. That's one reason politicians in Mexico like the idea of an open border. Because people that are up here, for example, send billions of dollars in cash to their real homes each year in Mexico. Same in Central America and the same in Europe. Folks have to know that if they want to come into this nation, they are going to have to wait in line and they are going to have to knock on the front door."

ON WHETHER CHILDREN BORN TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS SHOULD BE U.S. CITIZENS:

"There's a debate whether the Constitution means that people who are born to folks who are here illegally are automatically citizens or whether it's people who are here legally. [Rep.] Brian Bilbray of California has a bill that would clearly differentiate those two types of folks. So, that's a question of law, as I understand it. I think people -- for children to be automatic citizens of the U.S. -- their folks should be here legally. And I think if we do that, that will take away one of the magnets that moves people to come into the United States illegally."

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