All-American Presidential Forums on PBS" Moderated by Tavis Smiley

FORUM RESPONSES

I am here likewise because I was asked and because I made a commitment on your show. I must admit to you that it is pleasurable and a little bit different to be in this kind of an environment with my colleagues who are here because the last time I was at an event of this nature, it was the NAACP convention and I was the only Republican that showed up.

So I am glad that my colleagues have joined me on the stage tonight.

And I am especially glad to be here to be able to talk about something that was mentioned during the original introduction, something you said, I believe, Tavis, when you talked about – we're here to talk about the promise of America.

And that is what drives me, that's – I think, probably all of my colleagues up here. That is exactly why we can get up, do the next event, go get on the plane, do the next event. It is because the promise of America is something that we all have to actually share in, and we have to explain to everybody that's listening to us how we would fulfill that, what would we do for that promise of America – to every single person in this room and for every person listening on the radio and television tonight.

First of all, I do believe that there are a number of Republican presidents who have done a great deal for Black Americans, because they've done something for all Americans.

Ronald Reagan, from my point of view, did something for every single American by increasing individual liberty.

You know, it is, I think, destructive to only talk about the politics of race, and suggest that all of the actions taken, or all of the specific programs that we identify and talk about tonight should be focused on race.

It really does not do a service, I think, to us as Americans and again, that promise to America. And I'll tell you this, one of the things that I will do as president of the United States, to increase the economic opportunities for every American, especially people in the lower economic rung of the ladder in America, is to reduce the flow of illegal immigration into this country, which depresses wage rates for the lowest-income earners in this country.

And it's got to be dealt with. It's got to be dealt with forcefully. And I tell you, yes, Black America, brown America, white America, all will be enhanced by actually enforcing our laws.

OK, I just cannot agree with this race-baiting kind of comments about the reason why we have these problems.

My friends, I'll tell you that I believe, with all my heart – look, why was it that in the '50s, in the '40s, and actually leading up into the early '60s, the ability for Blacks in the United States to improve themselves economically was working? They were moving up the ladder.

Families were in tact – in better shape, by the way, than most white families of that same period of time. What happened? Two things have happened to – I believe – to devastate the Black community when it comes to economic opportunity.

One, the welfare state; it began to pay people to not be in the home.

And when that happened, what we saw is a decline in wage rates.

And two, of course, is the importation of millions upon millions of low-income workers that depress the wage rates for the lowest income among us. Those two things are responsible, and it's got nothing to do with race.

Twelve million to 20 million people in this country illegally. Then that is the ultimate question, is: What do we do about that situation today, because we can all rave about how we're going to secure the borders – which I'm glad to hear, by the way, these newfound positions with regard to the borders and security?

Great. Happy they're there.

But you're right, what are the þ the real issue is: What do we do about the people here? And I will tell you, when you use phrases like "rounding them up," I mean, it – those are – they are improperly used in this respect. Because we're not talking about rounding people up.

If you, in fact, simply enforce the law – I know that's a scary topic sometimes and a controversial attitude to take – but enforcing the law, especially against hiring people who are here illegally, you will see people returning home, voluntarily.

It's happening today in states all over this nation. That's exactly the key to this. You do not have to round people up. You simply have to enforce the law.

I believe that it was mentioned earlier, and I certainly agree with the fact that first of all, there are far too many criminal statutes at the federal level. The Constitution establishes the roles for the federal government and the state government, and we have taken on far too many things at the federal level, especially drugs laws – mandating certain penalties and that sort of thing.

I do not believe that that is the responsibility of the federal government. That should be at the state level, and I would certainly not support.

And as a way of reform, by the way, I would move the federal government out of that whole business.

Now, let me say one thing other – that, I think, that has to be mentioned here. When you talk about the crime rate, so much of this is connected to another huge problem, and that you cannot take apart and you cannot look at just in segments.

And that is this. The family – what is happening to the Black family in America today and what has been happening for the last 40 years is a disgrace. It is because, of course – as I said earlier, the welfare state has helped create this.

But you know what? The welfare state cannot be the – it can be the breadwinner, but it cannot... it cannot give you morals, values or discipline. And that's what it takes... in America today.

Well, let's first take the issue that you mentioned with regard to the District of Columbia. It is not a state and, therefore, not entitled to representation as a state.

If, in fact, you want – if it becomes the desire of the country to have that kind of representation, then the district – then it should be split up, and the portion that was ceded to the federal government by Virginia should go back to Virginia, the portion that was ceded by Maryland should go back to Maryland. Then they would be represented by states. It would work.

Also, with regard to voting opportunities and the use of a photo ID – let me tell you that it is really not that difficult to obtain. And I don't think that we're asking too much of people when they're doing something that is one of the most sacred duties of anybody in this society, to actually show that they are the person who they say they are. I don't think that's asking too much.

And I think you can get a photo ID and they don't even have to – you don't even need a driver's license. You can get a photo ID, a state ID, you can do it relatively easily.

The important thing, the most important thing to remember about your health care is it's your health care. You have a personal responsibility here, every single person does, to do everything they can to stay healthy.

Most of the things that happen to us are lifestyle problems, and, really, I mean, there are things that we do to ourselves that cause us to then have to access the health care industry.

We have to first look to ourselves, individually. Again, it's kind of a scary thing again to say, but, you know, individual responsibility does work, also in health care.

And, yes, I believe, by the way, in the expansion of health savings accounts because it does put you in the connection – it's you and you're the consumer and the doctor, and there's nobody in between, and that's good.

Also believe, by the way, that you should be able to get your drugs from any place that, in fact, it's cheaper to get drugs. If it's cheaper to get drugs in Canada, get drugs from Canada – it's OK with me. We shouldn't be blocking that.

Again, individual freedom – expand individual freedom and take some individual responsibility for your own health care.

What's the constitutional responsibility of the Congress when it comes to war?

It is, one, declare it; two, fund it; or three, not fund it. That's it.

You know what, when you talk about, Juan, you talk about the number of bills that we have killed because of attempts to, sort of, end this thing?

Well, every one of them has inside of them all these provisions about how have to fight the war, how many people can be dispatched at any particular point in time and who they can fight.

I will tell you this, that the founders of this country knew very well that – what would happen to us if we ended up with 535 generals in the Congress of the United States. And that is, you lose wars.

You need a commander in chief.

And then the Congress has every right – and you know what? It has every right to be involved in it. It has every right to talk about this and to condemn it if you don't agree with it.

But you know what? It ends up with this. If you don't want it, don't fund it. But you cannot micromanage it from the Congress of the United States.

First trip I ever took – the very first trip I ever took as a congressman of the United States was to Sudan. I came back, worked two years to pass the Sudan Peace Act.

I believe we do have a moral responsibility to act. It is not to send troops, believe me. I do not believe we need boots on the ground in Sudan or in Darfur to deal with this issue.

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.

It is, in fact, a state issue, almost entirely. The restrictions that we talked about with regard to the federal government and whether or not we should have a death penalty, I will tell you, I would absolutely support the continuation of a death penalty, especially for crimes like treason.

I mean, we really have to consider the possibility that there is an appropriate penalty for a crime of that nature. It is the death penalty.

I think it's a racist thing to say, to even suggest that the only way that a Black child can learn is sitting next to a white child or any other kind of child.

It can happen. We can teach children of all colors and we've proved it. We can do it by giving choice – choice to parents, choice to pick from a wide array of educational opportunities, and then kids go to those schools. They're all over the country now. There are charter schools and voucher systems. That's what will give that integration – make it a natural phenomena and it will make kids much, much better in terms of their ability to succeed.