State of Nevada Archives: on Foreign Policy

Bill Richardson: Bad guys like Richardson; he can make peace with enemies

America in the last six years needs to do a lot to recover, especially internationally. I believe the next president is going to have to have experience internationally. I’ve been ambassador to the United Nations. I’ve been secretary of Energy.

President Clinton used to send me around the world to talk to dictators, either to get American service men out or to get American prisoners out. He used to say, “Bad guys like Richardson, so I’m sending him there.”

I was just in Darfur. At a refugee camp, a mother who had lost a child asked me, “What has taken so long for America to help us in this tragedy?”

Foreign policy should not be just about power. It should be about doing something about eliminating poverty and dealing with AIDS and dealing with refugees and sicknesses. That’s how we regain our moral authority.

I would do what Yitzhak Rabin used to say, the great Israeli leader. He said you don’t make peace with your friends, you make peace with your enemies.

Source: 2007 AFSCME Democratic primary debate in Carson City Nevada Feb 21, 2007

Bill Richardson: Set conditions on foreign aid assistance to Musharraf

We say to Musharraf: Security is more important than human rights. If I’m president, it’s the other way around -- democracy and human rights. I would condition the assistance to Musharraf. We give him $10 billion, 60% of that is to his military, if he restores the constitution, holds elections in January, ends the state of emergency, allows Bhutto to run as a candidate, and puts the Supreme Court back. He is supposed to go after terrorists on his border, and has done a very weak job of doing that. Pakistan and the politics of Pakistan, Islamic parties get maybe 15 percent of the vote. So this threat that revolutionary elements are going to overtake him, if he has a fair election, and you take his party and Bhutto’s party, and you get the military. I believe moderate forces can win. If we’re on the side of democracy and human rights, and we’re on the side of Musharraf having elections, then US interests are preserved, and the Pakistani people have a democracy. Source: 2007 Democratic debate in Las Vegas, Nevada Nov 15, 2007

Brian Sandoval: $10M Knowledge Fund, and expand Nevada's global footprint

The job description of Governor has changed. I have led trade missions to China, Korea, and Canada. And, missions to Mexico and Israel are planned to expand Nevada's global footprint. I am committed to leaving no stone unturned--no road not taken.

We must also invest in our Nevada's innovators and entrepreneurs. And tonight, I am proud to announce that we will commit $10 million to Nevada's Knowledge Fund to do just that.

For rural Nevada, we have also placed an item in the budget to support the University Cooperative Extension program, in rural Nevada and we are moving forward on "Nevada Grown," to provide Nevada farm products for Nevadans, and funds to market rural Nevada tourism are increased.

Source: 2013 State of the State address to Nevada Legislature Jan 16, 2013

Catherine Cortez Masto: Supports US-Iran nuclear treaty

Q: On Iran: Support the US-Iran treaty that limits Iran's nuclear capability in return for lifting economic sanctions?

Heck: No

Cortez Masto: Yes

Q: On Iraq: Should the US recommit significant additional ground troops to Iraq to combat the success of ISIS?

Heck: Ambiguous. Supports embedded advisors and targeters. Wary of unlimited troop increases.

Cortez Masto: No

Source: CampusElect Voter Guide to 2016 Nevada Senate race Oct 9, 2016

Catherine Cortez Masto: Led bipartisan opposition to China's election interference

A bipartisan group of 12 senators has written a letter to senior Trump administration officials, urging them to craft a "comprehensive strategy" to counter covert Chinese interference in democracies around the world. Led by Cortez Masto, the lawmakers outlined the growing threat that Chinese Communist Party activities pose to independent democratic institutions.

Democratic heavyweight Elizabeth Warren is a signatory to the letter, as is Chris Coons (D-DE) and Republican centrist Cory Gardner. The letter's wide spectrum of support suggests that, unlike the investigation into Russian meddling, future attempts to uncover Chinese actions in the United States may have a bipartisan character.

Source: The Daily Beast on 2022 Nevada Senate race Jun 11, 2018

Jack Carter: On Axis of Evil: Are you better off today than 4 years ago?

Q: Mr. Carter, on Sept. 1, 2003, your father wrote an op-ed piece regarding North Korea, and he wrote: "An eventual military confrontation between the US and North Korea seems likely if negotiations fail." Do you agree with your father's assessment?

CARTER: My father knows what he's talking about. Let me ask you a question that Ronald Reagan asked some years. When you look at this Axis of Evil, "Are you better off today than you were four years ago?"

ENSIGN: I didn't know we were running for president tonight, but I guess that's ok. I believe this North Korea issue is a very, very serious issue. To have Kim Jong Il have a nuclear weapon is very dangerous, not just for what he would have himself, but also because he's becoming friends with people like Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, and the leader of Iran. These are dangerous, dangerous people in the world and we cannot afford them to get nuclear weapons. The leader of North Korea, he's a lunatic, and what he would do with one is very dangerous.

Source: Nevada 2006 Senate Debate, at KLAS in Las Vegas Oct 15, 2006

Jacky Rosen: Defend Israel Act: U.S. should stand with Israel

I recently met with leaders at the 2017 American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference who are also focused on strengthening the U.S.-Israel relationship. I introduced the Defend Israel Act as one of my first pieces of legislation. This bipartisan bill authorizes expedited funding for Israeli anti-missile defense systems, protecting innocent civilians from attacks which have killed, wounded, or inflicted psychological trauma on countless Israelis. Source: Las Vegas Sun on 2018 Nevada Senatorial race May 3, 2017

Joe Biden: Move from a Musharraf policy to a Pakistan policy

I do not think we should maintain the same aid we're giving. I have made it clear to Musharraf. If he did not take off his uniform, if he did not hold fair and free elections by the middle of January, I would on the floor of the Senate move to take away the aid we're giving with regard to F-16s and P-3s, because that's the biggest leverage you have on him within his military. He is not a sole player. He has to keep his military happy as well. I would use that leverage. We should move from a Musharraf policy to a Pakistan policy. Unlike anyone else, within 5 days of this happening, I laid out a detailed plan. You have to move from military aid to giving to the middle class there. The middle class is overwhelmingly the majority. They get no connection with the US. We have to significantly increase our economic aid relative to education, relative to NGOs, relative to all those things that make a difference in the lives of ordinary people over there, and not be doing it through the military side. Source: 2007 Democratic debate in Las Vegas, Nevada Nov 15, 2007

Joe Biden: Helped with $750M Latin America funding

Look, I'm the only one who's spent hundreds of hours in Latin America. I've met with this president. I've met with the last president, the one before that. I've been deeply involved in making sure that we have a policy that makes more sense than this god-awful president we have now. I'm the guy that put together $750 million to provide help for those Latin American countries that are the reason why people are leaving, because there's nothing for them to stay for. Source: 9th Democrat 2020 primary debate, in Las Vegas Nevada Feb 19, 2020

Joe Heck: Opposes US-Iran nuclear treaty