Interviews during 2017-2019: on Homeland Security
Jo Jorgensen:
Bring our troops home from foreign bases
Q: What is the best way to maintain peace and protect national security?A: As president, I will make American like one giant Switzerland--armed and neutral. I will order our troops home from the Middle East and
Afghanistan, and will begin the process of bringing our troops home from other foreign bases. This will allow us to dramatically reduce government spending. America will be armed and ready to defend our soil and shores.
I will open trade with foreign countries and eliminate tariff taxes on consumers goods so that Americans pay the lowest prices. I will dramatically reduce government regulations so that
American businesses can be nimble and better financed, which will enable them to compete successfully in world markets. When goods cross borders, troops don't have to.
Source: AFA iVoterGuide on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Nov 3, 2020
Gloria La Riva:
Abolish CIA, NSA, FBI; disband NATO
We call for the abolition of the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and all other institutions of covert warfare. We stand for unconditional disarmament by the United States. We call for the disbanding of
NATO and all other aggressive military alliances, and the closing of all overseas bases. We call for the abolition of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Source: Socialist PSL Platform adopted by 2020 presidential hopeful
Aug 3, 2020
Donald Trump:
Fort renaming: I don't care what the military says
Q: The National Defense Authorization Act, you have threatened to veto it because it would rename bases named for Confederate generals. The military says they're for this.TRUMP: I don't care what the military says. I'm supposed to make the decision.
Fort Bragg is a big deal. What are we going to name it? We're going to name it after the Reverend Al Sharpton? We won two World Wars out of all of these forts that now they want to throw those names away.
Source: Fox News Sunday interview of 2020 presidential hopefuls
Jul 19, 2020
Howie Hawkins:
Abolish nuclear weapons, WMDs, and land mines
Our government should establish a policy to abolish nuclear weapons:- Declare a no-first-strike policy.
- Declare a no-pre-emptive strike policy.
- Declare that the U.S. will never threaten or use a nuclear weapon on a non-nuclear nation.
-
Sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
- Reverse our withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
- End the research, testing and stockpiling of all nuclear weapons of any size.
- Dismantle all nuclear warheads from their missiles.
- We urge our government to sign the Toronto treaty banning the production, stockpiling, use and sale of land mines, and assist other nations in unearthing and disabling land mines buried in their lands.
- We urge our government to end all
stockpiling of chemical and biological weapons and all research, use, and sale of such weapons.
- The U.S. must allow foreign teams to visit the U.S. for verification purposes at least annually.
Source: Green Party Platform adopted by 2020 presidential hopeful
Jul 12, 2020
Howie Hawkins:
Better care & support services for veterans
Provide better care for the wounded, sick and injured soldiers. Ensure that the Pentagon takes all steps necessary to fully diagnose and treat the physical and mental health conditions resulting from service in combat zones, including post-traumatic
stress disorder. Ensure a smooth transition from active military service to civilian life by providing counseling, housing, emergency management, job protection and other support systems.
Source: Green Party Platform adopted by 2020 presidential hopeful
Jul 12, 2020
Don Blankenship:
Terrorism no excuse to violate 4th, 5th amendments
We reaffirm the common-law rule that protects the people from any search or seizure whatsoever when that search or seizure violates the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. We deplore and oppose vigorously legislation
and executive action that deprive the people of their Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights under claims of necessity to "combat terrorism" or to "protect national security."
Source: Constitution Platform adopted by 2020 presidential hopeful
May 2, 2020
Don Blankenship:
Oppose conscription; register for the draft
Conscription deprives a person of liberty without due process of law. This is clearly prohibited by the 5th amendment. Conscription is forcibly taking a person's labor. Allowing conscription removes a critical check on the unconstitutional
expansion of the Executive Branch. Compulsory government service is incompatible with individual liberty. We oppose imposition of the draft, the registration law, compulsory military training or any other form of compulsory government service.
Source: Constitution Platform adopted by 2020 presidential hopeful
May 2, 2020
Don Blankenship:
Opposed to U.S. forces serving under foreign command
Under no circumstances would we commit U.S. forces to serve under any foreign flag or command. We are opposed to any New World Order, and we reject U.S. participation in or a relinquishing of command to any foreign authority.
We should be the friend of liberty everywhere, but the guarantor and provisioner of ours alone.
Source: Constitution Platform adopted by 2020 presidential hopeful
May 2, 2020
Bill de Blasio:
Coronavirus: We need federalized dynamic as in wartime
We need the federal government to take over the supply chain right now. We have to make sure that that is a federalized dynamic, where those factories that produce those goods are put on 24/7 shifts, and those goods are distributed where they're needed
most, as we would in wartime. If the federal government doesn't realize this is the equivalent of a war already, there is no way that states and localities can make all the adjustments we need to.
Source: CNN "State of the Union" on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Mar 15, 2020
Joe Walsh:
Take seriously the dangers of Islamic terrorism
While Walsh has taken few stances on counterterrorism policy, he has spoken often of the dangers of Islamic terrorism, which he feels policymakers have not taken seriously enough.Walsh previously accused the Barack Obama administration
of skewing intelligence to downplay the threat posed by terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and the self-proclaimed Islamic State.
He has opposed readmitting into the United States former citizens who renounced their citizenship to join terrorist groups.
Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Dec 24, 2019
Gloria La Riva:
Opposed collection of citizens' digital communications
Section 309 of the intelligence bill sets a five-year limit, with many exceptions, on the retention of U.S. persons' communications collected, which was issued well before widespread use of cellphones and the Internet. Members of Amash's staff noticed
the section Wednesday morning, and the Michigan Republican rushed to the House floor, rallied opposition with a letter to colleagues and secured a roll call vote. But opponents failed to defeat the bill.
Source: US News&World Report on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Sep 29, 2019
Justin Amash:
Wants to close Guantanamo prison
Amash has always been something of a wild man compared to the Republican status quo, and a "close, but not perfect" kind of libertarian ally. Not yet 40, he is the son of Palestinan father and a Syrian mother, both Christian. It's almost impressive that
he hasn't fielded more tinfoil-hatted accusations of being a secret backer of Sharia law--though he has been accused of being in the tank for Al Qaeda for wanting to close Gitmo.
Source: The New Republic magazine on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Jul 29, 2019
Mark Sanford:
Biggest national security threat is debt and deficit
Sanford said he was considering a run for the presidency because he believes "we're walking away toward the most predictable financial crisis in the history of man.""There is no discussion of debt, deficit and government spending these days," he
said. "I've watched two Democratic presidential debates and there's been zero discussion on both of them as to this issue. The President said we're not going to touch the very things that drive debt and spending. So I think that we're walking away into
one heck of a financial storm, and there's no discussion, and yet presidential years have historically been the year in which we do discuss these things."
Sanford says America will spend more on interest than on its national defense bill in just three
years. When national security issues are discussed, Sanford says, what's left out of the discussion is a prediction of Adm. Mike Millen, former chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, who called the debt and deficit as the biggest security threat.
Source: MSN.com coverage of 2020 presidential hopefuls
Jul 16, 2019
Mike Pence:
Voted to keep ban on openly gay members of the military
[Pete Buttigieg and Mike Pence traded points online after Buttigieg said that of Pence, "if you've got a problem with who I am, your problem is not with me--your quarrel, sir, is with my creator." Pence responded that he had always held Butigieg "in
the highest personal regard"].Buttigieg said in a tweet of his own, writing, "People will often be polite to you in person, while advancing policies that harm you and your family. You will be polite to them in turn, but you need not stand for such
harms. Instead, you push back, honestly and emphatically. So it goes, in the public square." While he was an Indiana lawmaker, Pence reportedly supported a constitutional ban on gay marriage, voted against repealing the ban on openly gay members
of the military and voted against a ban on LGBTQ workplace discrimination. He has been widely attacked for making a statement on his campaign website in 2000 construed to be supportive of gay conversion therapy--which his team has adamantly denied.
Source: People e-zine "LGBTQ History," on 2020 Presidential Hopefuls
Apr 9, 2019
Seth Moulton:
Focus on cybersecurity to deal with real threats to US
National security is not just about preventing Russia from invading us with tanks into Western Europe. Russia is trying to hack our elections. China is attacking us through the Internet every single day and stealing our business ideas and
our military -- that's where a lot of American jobs are going. Rather than build this fifth century ridiculous border wall on the southern border, let's talk about a cyber wall that will stop Russia and China from interfering in our business.
Source: CNN State of the Union 2019 on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Mar 31, 2019
Amy Klobuchar:
Voted for 95% of military spending bills in Congress
- She has voted for all but one, or 95 percent, of the military spending bills since 2013.
- She has only voted as requested by Peace Action 69 percent of the time, the lowest among senators running for president.
-
In January 2019, Klobuchar was the only presidential candidate who voted for S.1, a bill to reauthorize U.S. military aid to Israel that also included an anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions provision.
Source: Truthout.org, "War and Peace," on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Mar 27, 2019
Andrew Yang:
Too much military spending focuses in decades-old threats
Yang promises to "bring our military spending under control," to "make it harder for the U.S. to get involved in foreign engagements with no clear goal," and to "reinvest in diplomacy."
He believes that much of the military budget "is focused on defending against threats from decades ago as opposed to the threats of 2020."
Source: Truthout.org, "War and Peace," on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Mar 27, 2019
Beto O`Rourke:
Supported 11th aircraft carrier; opposed 1% military cut
- Beto O'Rourke voted for 20 out of 29 military spending bills (69%) since 2013.
- Had an 84% Peace Action voting record. Most of the votes Peace Action counted against him were votes opposing specific cuts in the military budget.
- He voted
for an 11th aircraft carrier in 2015, and against an overall 1% cut in the military budget in 2016.
- He voted against reducing the number of U.S. troops in Europe in 2013 and he twice voted against placing limits on a Navy slush fund.
Source: Truthout.org, "War and Peace," on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Mar 27, 2019
Cory Booker:
Supports military spending on Foreign Affairs Committee
- Sen. Cory Booker has voted for 16 out of 19 military spending bills in the Senate.
- Despite serving on the Foreign Affairs Committee, he has not taken a public position for ending U.S. wars or cutting its military spending.
His record of voting for 84 percent of military spending bills suggests he would not make major cuts.
- He also describes himself as a "staunch advocate for a strengthened relationship with Israel."
Source: Truthout.org, "War and Peace," on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Mar 27, 2019
Elizabeth Warren:
End stranglehold of defense contractors on military policy
Her campaign website says that she supports "cutting our bloated defense budget and ending the stranglehold of defense contractors on our military policy." But she has voted to approve over
2/3 of the military spending bills that have come before her in the Senate. Her website also says, "It's time to bring the troops home," and that she supports "reinvesting in diplomacy."
She has come out in favor of the U.S. rejoining the Iran nuclear agreement and has also proposed legislation that would prevent the
United States from using nuclear weapons as a first-strike option, saying she wants to "reduce the chances of a nuclear miscalculation."
Source: Truthout.org, "War and Peace," on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Mar 27, 2019
John Delaney:
Voted for 25 out of 28 military spending bills
Former Rep. John Delaney voted for 25 out of 28 military spending bills since 2013,
earning a 53 percent Peace Action voting record.
Source: Truthout.org, "War and Peace," on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Mar 27, 2019
Tulsi Gabbard:
Don't cut military budget; fund weapons systems & ABMs
- She voted for 19 of 29 military spending bills in the past six years, and she has only a 51 percent Peace Action voting record. Many of the votes that Peace Action counted against her were votes to fully fund controversial new weapons systems,
including nuclear-tipped cruise missiles (in 2014, 2015 and 2016); an 11th U.S. aircraft-carrier (in 2013 and 2015); and various parts of Obama's anti-ballistic missile program, which fueled the New Cold War and arms race she now decries.
-
In 2016, she voted against an amendment to cut the military budget by just 1 percent.
- She is still in the military herself and embraces what she calls a "military mindset." She ended her CNN Town Hall by saying that being commander-in-chief is the
most important part of being president.
- Gabbard still believes in a militarized approach to counterterrorism.
Source: Truthout.org, "War and Peace," on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Mar 27, 2019
Beto O`Rourke:
Military should welcome transgender recruits
- Discrimination based on sexual preference should be illegal. The military should welcome transgender recruits.
- O'Rourke would make it illegal to discriminate based on sexual preference,
and give same-sex married couples access to all the benefits of heterosexual couples.
- He opposes banning transgender people from the military.
Source: PBS News hour on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Mar 14, 2019
Cory Booker:
Transgender troops should be allowed to serve
- In the Senate, Booker pushed for marriage equality and cheered the 2015 Supreme Court decision making same-sex marriage legal nationwide.
- As mayor of Newark, he refused to officiate any weddings until same-sex marriage was legal;
in his final weeks as mayor, he married seven LGBT couples once the state legalized it.
- One of the first bills Booker co-sponsored in the Senate was the
Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which prohibited workplace discrimination because of sexual orientation or gender identity.
- Booker has said his support for the LGBT community has evolved over time.
- In a column he wrote for
Stanford University's newspaper in 1992, Booker said that he once "hated gays."
- Booker has also said the president's plan to ban transgender people from serving in the military "undermines our national security."
Source: PBS News hour on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Feb 1, 2019
Tulsi Gabbard:
Allow transgender Americans in the military
- Gabbard supports the legal status of same-sex marriage, opposes attempts to bar transgender Americans from the military and supports laws to ban discrimination based on sexual preference.
- Gabbard has changed her position. In 2004,
she opposed a bill allowing civil unions for same-sex couples in Hawaii.
- Hawaii's LGBT caucus withheld their endorsement from her in 2016. She has said that her time in Iraq sparked soul-searching and led to changes in her beliefs.
Source: PBS News hour on 2020 Presidential hopefuls
Jan 14, 2019
Joe Biden:
1991: Favors government "back doors" into encryption
In 1991, Biden introduced two bills aimed at curbing terrorism and crime respectively, both of which featured language mandating that tech companies create "back doors" in their products for law enforcement to snoop through. Biden tried to water
down encryption again three years later with a successful bill that expanded federal wiretap powers, but privacy advocates managed to remove this and other provisions from the bill before it passed.
Source: Jacobin Magazine on 2020 presidential hopefuls
Aug 2, 2018
John Kasich:
Prioritize nuclear agreements like START and INF
As a child of the Cold War, I remember well the schoolroom "duck and cover" exercises, an ever-present reminder of the risk of nuclear war. No threat holds greater consequences for all of humanity than that of the accidental or deliberate use of
nuclear weapons. Containing that risk has to remain our top priority.U.S.-Russian agreements such as the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) were designed to achieve
greater stability and security when it comes to nuclear weapons, and that goal should not be abandoned lightly. With New START expiring in 2021 and the INF Treaty on the verge of being fatally undermined by Russia's noncompliance, we need to think long
and hard about walking away from them. Unless we are convinced that they are unsalvageable, agreements that by and large have worked for the two states holding more than 90% of the world's nuclear weapons should not be allowed to fall apart.
Source: 2020 presidential hopeful Kasich column in Foreign Affairs
Jun 6, 2018
Joe Walsh:
Cut $8.9B from defense bill, and supported 3% more
The FY12 Department of Defense Appropriations bill funds the Department of Defense and represents a cut of $8.9 billion from the President's budget request."Today I was proud to vote to ensure that our troops have the resources they need to defend
American families and our great nation. This bill is also an important step in bringing Washington's spending problem under control. For the first time in 20 years, the House has passed a Department of Defense Appropriations bill that is significantly
lower than the President's budget request. While I unconditionally support our troops, I thought it was imperative to cut some of the bloat out of the President's request. In fact, during the amendment process I also supported several amendments that
would have made further cuts to defense spending, including one that would have made an additional 3% cut across the board. Unfortunately, these amendments did not pass, but I will continue to support hard spending cuts and fiscal responsibility."
Source: 2011 House press release by 2020 presidential hopefuls
Jul 8, 2011
Page last updated: Nov 01, 2021