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Tim Walz on Foreign Policy
Democrat
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I am sometimes a knucklehead; I misspoke on Tiananmen
Q: You said you were in Hong Kong during the deadly Tiananmen Square protest in the spring of 1989. But Minnesota Public Radio and other media outlets are reporting that you actually didn't travel to Asia until August of that year. Can you explain that
discrepancy? WALZ: I got the opportunity in the summer of '89 to travel to China, and we would go back and forth to China. And I'm a knucklehead at times...I learned a lot about China. I hear the critiques of this. I would make the case that
Donald Trump should have come on one of those trips with us. I guarantee you he wouldn't be praising Xi Jinping about COVID. And I guarantee you he wouldn't start a trade war that he ends up losing. So this is about trying to understand the world.
Q: The question was, can you explain the discrepancy?
WALZ: No. All I said on this was, is, I got there that summer and misspoke on this, so I will just, that's what I've said. So I was in Hong Kong and China during the democracy protest.
Source: 2024 Vice Presidential debate: Tim Walz vs. JD Vance
, Oct 1, 2024
Taught school in China; speaks Mandarin
- He spent a year teaching in China after college before returning full time to the Army. He traveled to China with one of the first government-sanctioned groups of American educators to teach in Chinese high schools.
- He still speaks Mandarin.
- Both worked at Mankato West High School. "Gwen loved living in southern Minnesota. We jumped at the chance to move to Mankato and start our lives together."
- Walz taught geography and coached high school football. "I don't know if every
high school geography teacher expects to be in this position at some point."
- He was the faculty adviser for the school's first gay-straight alliance chapter in 1999.
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Walz, 60, has drawn criticism for appearing older than his age. Walz responded to this on X, saying that it's because he "supervised the lunchroom for 20 years. You do not leave that job with a full head of hair. Trust me."
Source: Politico.com on 2024 Vice Presidential hopefuls
, Aug 6, 2024
Gaza is horrific situation and Hamas is not a good actor
It's a horrific situation, and many of us have dealt with this issue, traveling to Israel, being in the West Bank and Gaza, as I was a member of Congress. But the President has to handle this as Commander-in-Chief. He doesn't get to step
back and second guess on this. He's making sure that certainly Israel's an ally, but he's showing incredible concern for the Palestinian people, being very clear that Hamas is not a good actor in this. The Palestinian authority has to figure that out.
Source: Meet the Press interview on 2024 Democratic Veepstakes
, Jan 14, 2024
Acknowledge the Armenian Genocide of the early 1900s.
Walz co-sponsored acknowledging the Armenian Genocide of the early 1900s
- WHEREAS the Armenian Genocide was conceived and carried out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, resulting in the deportation of nearly 2,000,000 Armenians, of whom 1,500,000 men, women, and children were killed, and which succeeded in the elimination of more than 2,500-year presence of Armenians in their historic homeland;
- WHEREAS, on May 24, 1915, the Allied Powers issued the joint statement of England, France, and Russia that explicitly charged, for the first time ever, another government of committing `a crime against humanity`;
- WHEREAS, despite the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the failure of the domestic and international authorities to punish those responsible for the Armenian Genocide is a reason why similar genocides have recurred and may recur in the future, and that a just resolution will help prevent future genocides:
- NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Senate calls on the President, in the
President`s annual message commemorating the Armenian Genocide, to accurately characterize the systematic annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians as genocide and to recall the proud history of US intervention in opposition to the Armenian Genocide.
Sen. DURBIN: The definition of `genocide` is `the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group.` Scholars agree that what the Armenian people suffered in 1915 to 1917 fits the definition of genocide. To date, 19 countries and 37 US states recognize the Armenian Genocide. Genocide is wrong. It is evil. It is evil whether its victims are Armenians, Sudanese, Rwandan Tutsis, Cambodians or European Jews. Not to acknowledge genocide for what it is denigrates the memory of its victims. Recognition of genocide is part of the healing process. Official recognition will reaffirm our tradition of protecting the vulnerable and inspire us to not stand by and watch as genocide occurs in our time.
Source: Armenian Genocide Resolution (S.RES.106/H.RES.106) 2007-SR106 on Mar 14, 2007
Acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, as official US policy.
Walz signed Affirmation of US Record on Armenian Genocide
The House of Representatives finds the following:- The Armenian Genocide was conceived and carried out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, resulting in the deportation of nearly 2,000,000 Armenians, of whom 1,500,000 men, women, and children w
President Woodrow Wilson concurred and chartered some $116,000,000 from 1915 to 1930 to aid Armenian Genocide survivors, including 132,000 orphans who became foster children of the American people.
- [Presidential concurrence has been echoed through Presidents Reagan, Clinton, and Bush].
DECLARATION OF POLICY: Congress calls upon the President:- to ensure that U.S. foreign policy reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide documented in the U.S. record relating to the Armenian Genocide and the consequences of the failure to realize a just resolution; and
- in the President`s annual message commemorating the Armenian Genocide to accurately characterize the systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians as genocide, and to recall the proud history of U.S. intervention in opposition to the Armenian Genocide.
Source: H.RES.252 2009-HR252 on Mar 17, 2009
Allow travel between the United States and Cuba.
Walz signed Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act
Prohibits the President from regulating or prohibiting travel to or from Cuba by U.S. citizens or legal residents or any of the transactions ordinarily incident to such travel, except in time of war or armed hostilities between the United States and Cuba, or of imminent danger to the public health or the physical safety of U.S. travelers.
Source: S.428&HR.874 2009-S428 on Feb 12, 2009
Page last updated: Nov 02, 2024; copyright 1999-2022 Jesse Gordon and OnTheIssues.org