Brownback Articulates Principled and Balanced Conservative Vision
Lays Out Solutions for Rebuilding the Family, Iraq, Tax Cuts, Foreign Policy
DURHAM, NH - United States Senator and Republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback presented a balanced and principled conservative agenda in this evening's debate. This performance underscores Brownback's position of uniting the Republican Party's social and fiscal conservative wings.
Brownback spoke forcefully about the critical issues facing our nation:
On rebuilding the family: "I'm running saying that the lead thing we need to do is rebuild the family in this country. And I think we need to be clear about our efforts and willingness to do that. ... We shouldn't walk away from family values. And if we're going to solve problems of education, crime, what's taking place in some of our areas where we're not getting the growth, we've got to rebuild the family."
On supporting a constitutional amendment defending marriage as a man and a woman: "When you do these vast, social experiments -- and that's what this is, when you redefine marriage -- it's a vast, social experiment. They're not done in isolation. They impact the rest of the culture around you. When you take the sacredness out of marriage, you will drive the marriage rates down."
On committing to a durable solution in Iraq: "You've got the military that has made a number of progressive steps, particularly in the west -- Al Anbar Province -- they've made progress. But we don't have a political solution on the ground that works in Iraq. Iraq is less a country than it is three groups held together by exterior forces. It's the Kurds in the north, the Sunni in the west, the Shia in the south, and a mixed city in Baghdad... I think we need to recognize that reality. We ought to now push for establishment of a Sunni state in the West. Still one country -- still one country, but separate states. That's a political solution that you can take advantage of what the military has done on the ground. That's what we need to do to move forward now."
On keeping taxes low, protecting free enterprise and his decision to sign the 'No New Tax' pledge: "I think it's not just a pledge to a group that has it. I think it's a pledge to the American public. We're already taxed to the max. In most states, you're working until about the middle of May to pay your taxes. It is too long. You're working too much for the government, and you need to be working more for yourself. And I've pushed these topics based on I think we need to grow the economy, plus I'd like to be able to see families keep more of their money so that possibly maybe one of them doesn't have to go to work instead of both having to go to work, if more families could keep more of their money instead of it going to the government."
On the United States leadership in confronting Iran: "You have to also recognize that the founder of the current Iranian regime, Ayatollah Khomeini, said, if we destroy Israel, Allah will reward us. That was his stated policy. That is something that he stated. I think you have to take the factual setting of what you put forward, take it to the American public and to the Congress, and ask for the authority to use military force for two purposes. Number one purpose is to go after the military forces being developed on the ground and trained on the ground in Iran to attack our people in Iraq, and number two, towards the nuclear weapons development program that the Iranians are working on."
Brownback's balanced conservative approach to the challenges facing our nation is the formula for Republican victory in 2008.
