Tancredo the lone GOP candidate to speak to NAACP meeting

Transcript via Congressional Quarterly of Cong. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., appearing July 12, 2007, at the NAACP Annual Convention in Detroit. As the only GOP presidential candidate to appear, Tancredo received a standing ovation from the crowd. When done, Tancredo was followed on stage by the Democratic presidential candidates.

RUSS MITCHELL:

Good morning, everyone. I want to thank the NAACP for inviting me to moderate this interesting morning here in Detroit, Michigan.

The format for this morning's program will allow each of the presidential candidates to make a three-minute opening statement, followed by questions presented by NAACP delegates to this national convention.

Now, these questions have been pre-recorded throughout the convention center this week. They speak to both the NAACP's civil rights priorities, as well as the basic human needs of all Americans.

Representatives from the candidates literally drew numbers from a hat to determine the order in which they would be introduced and subsequently queried.

As noted in your program, and as Leon just pointed out, there will be two segments this morning. First you will hear from the Republican candidate -- have more on that later -- and then from the Democratic candidates.

We're going to begin now with the Republican portion of the program. Although -- as Leon told you, as well -- all of the candidates were invited to participate in today's forum, only one accepted the invitation, the Honorable Congressman Thomas Tancredo, representing the 6th Congressional District of Colorado.

So, it is now my pleasure to call Congressman Tancredo to the podium -- congressman.

(APPLAUSE)

TOM TANCREDO:

Oh, my gosh! This is amazing. Well, thank you. Thank you very much.

I...

MITCHELL:

Oh, wait a minute.

TANCREDO:

OK.

MITCHELL:

Wait a minute.

TANCREDO:

All right.

MITCHELL:

Want to thank you, congressman, for coming. Want to just point out some ground rules here. And you may begin right now, congressman, your three-minute opening statement, to be followed by five questions to which you will have one minute to respond to each, and then a two-minute closing statement.

Congressman, the floor is yours.

TANCREDO:

Well, thank you very much.

But do you think that we should wait a few minutes to see of these other guys show up?

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

I don't know. This is my kind of debate.

I don't know. Do they know something I don't know? Is that it?

I think, actually, the fact is, I know something that they don't know.

(APPLAUSE)

That is, that while we may not agree on all issues, I believe we do have a very common cause. It is to work as hard as we can for an America where the playing field is level for everyone, where the gates of opportunities are open for all, at all times, and where no government-imposed barriers exist to the pathways of success.

There are two reasons why I'm here today. First of all, you were kind enough to invite me. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

And second, because the message of my campaign is not tailored to one party. It's not programmed for one ethnic group. It's for all Americans.

And I know that those in this room love this country and care about it every bit as much as I do and about its future.

Today, we, of course, face many, many challenges. But one in particular must be addressed, because I happen to believe that it is truly one of the most serious domestic policy problems we face in this nation. We have to talk about it, even if it is not politically correct to do so.

It is the issue of massive, uncontrolled, illegal immigration into this country.

Why is this happening?

I will tell you I believe it is because our federal government refuses to do its job. Instead, it tells us that we need illegal aliens to do the jobs that Americans won't do.

Well, I don't know about you, but I am insulted every single time I hear this, because I've done those jobs, you have done those jobs, our kids have done those jobs.

What they're really saying, of course, is that no American is willing to do the job for the price these companies are willing to pay.

(APPLAUSE)

For years our leaders have allowed their corporate friends to violate our laws, bring millions upon millions of illegal aliens to our shores and take jobs and suppress our wages.

I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. Perhaps no other group has been more adversely affected by this crisis than the African-American community.

A recent Harvard study found that, for every 10 percent increase of the illegal immigration labor force, African-Americans suffer a 4 percent decrease in wages and a substantial increase in their unemployment rate. Now they tell us the only solution to the problem that they have created is to give amnesty to 15 to 20 million people living here illegally.

It's a slap in the face, I think, to everyone who has come here the right way, and every person who is waiting out there to come here the right way.

(APPLAUSE)

And then they have the audacity, the audacity to call amnesty the modern day civil rights movement. There is no comparison.

(APPLAUSE)

I think the melting pot is indeed broken, and it must be repaired if we are to save our nation from those who are selling us out.

I ask you to do only this: Ask every single candidate -- every single candidate that appears before you -- what they are going to do to secure our borders, to reestablish the rule of law and to preserve American jobs for American citizens.

Thank you very much.

(APPLAUSE)

MITCHELL:

OK, congressman, now it's time for questions. And as I said, these are questions posed by members of the NAACP.

We'll watch them on videotape. Congressman, you can see them on the monitor there.

Let's go to our first question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION:

In light of the recent anti-integration Supreme Court decision, please tell us what would you do to promote equal opportunity and integration in America's public schools and universities.

TANCREDO:

You bet.

QUESTION:

And please tell us, how would ensure that the courts would hand down more balanced opinions?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MITCHELL:

A reminder here, you have one minute.

TANCREDO:

The education for all American children depends -- and the quality of that education, from my point of view -- depends on one thing, and one thing only. That is choice -- the availability of choices to individuals.

I know, as president of the United States, as a member of Congress, as a school board member, I do not know what is the best quality education for every single child. The person who knows that is the parent of that child. And I want to invest in them the ability to select that education from anyplace they want.

I mean, how -- wouldn't it be wonderful, wouldn't it be wonderful if we have hundreds and hundreds, really, of Harlem charter academies all over this country?

Again, choice is the answer to education.

MITCHELL:

Let's go to our second question now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION:

As a 21-year-old African-American male, gun violence continues to be the number one cause of death amongst African-American men.

As president of the United States, how would you help to address this problem?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TANCREDO:

I have -- unfortunately, I have a situation that happened in the district in which I live and I represent. I represent a place called Columbine High School.

Gun violence, of course -- the first year I was elected, I had only been in a couple of months -- and it took the lives of many children. It was a horrible catastrophe. It happened again in another school in my district. I am, unfortunately, all too familiar with gun violence.

And don't I wish that simply saying, if we simply eliminate all guns, that will be the answer to the problem. But the answer to the problem lies, frankly, with what's in individuals' hearts.

I wish I could just take the guns away and make that problem go away, but it is in the evil of the hearts of people who commit these crimes that the problem begins. It's not with the guns. It's not with the gun itself.

And so, I must tell you that I believe that the Second Amendment is an important one in ensuring that the opportunity for all Americans. I think all Americans, except for those who have felony records, or are a threat to themselves or others, should be allowed to own a weapon.

(APPLAUSE)

MITCHELL:

Let's go to our third question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION:

As president, what would you do to address the issues of unfair trade and the related global issue of unfair labor practices, and also the need for more aid and health care throughout Africa and the Caribbean?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MITCHELL:

Congressman, one minute. It looks like the first question he's asking addresses outsourcing, one of your issues.

TANCREDO:

The whole problem -- we have really three problems dealing with jobs and the outsourcing of jobs. They are trade policy, they are, in fact, tax policies in the United States and, of course, immigration.

All of these things have an impact on our jobs. And the jobs that we either retain in the United States or ship overseas -- all of them have to be addressed, and addressed individually. Very difficult to do this in one minute, especially when the other part of the question deals with a very important issue.

What do we do about the problems in Africa and the other parts -- in the other Third World -- where we have enormous amounts of poverty and disease?

One of the things we do is improve the Millennium Challenge Accounts. These are great -- there was a great book out recently written by Muhammad Yunus about -- it's called "Lender to the World." Small grants, small grants to individuals throughout Africa and Asia, mostly to women. Small grants that allow them to open up stores, opportunities that they never had before.

These grants, by the way, are repaid with about a 98 percent repayment level. These are exactly the way we should -- this is exactly the way we should go in terms of, quote, foreign aid.

It's the individuals -- individuals -- not writing checks to governments, that then, of course, put them in a bank account someplace in Switzerland.

(APPLAUSE)

MITCHELL:

And now, to question four.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION:

New strategies are being developed and used every day to disenfranchised minority and ethnic voters as they vote in American elections.

As president, what would you do to ensure that all Americans are able to cast a free and unfettered vote, and that that vote be counted?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TANCREDO:

That is -- we have put -- I don't know how many billions of dollars now we have appropriated for the purpose of trying to upgrade the electoral system in order to make sure that people have their vote counted. I don't know that we've accomplished the task.

We have become very high tech in this area, and we assume that the technology will solve the problem. But you know what? I happen to be kind of old-fashioned here.

I don't mind having a machine on which I go in to vote and use some sort of computerized system. But I'll tell you, I'd like to have a paper trail for all of those votes, to make sure that every single one of them is counted.

(APPLAUSE)

The individual vote in this country is not an exercise in futility. It's an expression of freedom, and it has to be taken with great responsibility. And it is the solemn duty of this federal government, especially, to make sure that every single vote is counted.

MITCHELL:

The final question for Congressman Tancredo this morning addresses health care. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION:

As president, what would you do to eliminate health care disparities among American minorities? And what would you do to ensure that all Americans have access to high quality and affordable health care?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TANCREDO:

First of all, I believe that community health centers should be expanded. They should be placed in the areas where they are most needed and, therefore, serve the neediest populations throughout the country.

I believe that they are an excellent way of providing health care in the neighborhoods.

I also believe that we should do everything possible to encourage individuals to have greater control over their own health care. Not just in the things they do for themselves to remain healthy, but also the ability to have, for instance, health savings accounts and choose your provider, using that money that's pre-tax dollars that you put away into a health savings account.

I believe that we should have the ability to pick from insurance companies anyplace in the whole country. It's crazy that, you know, an insurance company -- if you live in Oklahoma, you can't buy insurance from a company that's housed in Georgia. It should be choice throughout that entire system.

Also, allowing businesses, small business associations, to form their own health savings -- I mean, their own insurance companies and their own health care plans.

This would, again, provide much broader insurance and much broader coverage to all Americans.

MITCHELL:

That concludes our questioning for this part of the program.

Congressman, you have a two-minute closing statement now.

TANCREDO:

OK. I just want to close with this.

There's a lady that lives in Denver, Colorado. Her name is Diane Myers. She told me a story I have never forgotten. It happened in Monterey, California, in 2001.

She went into a Wal-Mart store. She was looking for a pair of crew socks for her grandchild. She kept asking people, "Do you know where these socks are," and no one could answer her. No one spoke English.

She kept asking the people at the front of the store, "Where can I find them?" No one could help her.

She finally saw a black lady who was stocking the shelves. She went over to her and said, "Could you help me?"

The lady said, "Of course," took her directly to the place where the socks were that they were looking for.

The woman said, "You know, it's so nice. I'm sorry. I had to come and find you. I asked a lot of people, but they couldn't understand me."

And the lady stopped in her tracks. The black lady turned to her and said, "I always knew something was going to bring us together. Who would have thought it was going to be a language?"

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

Yes. And I thought it was just a great, profound statement.

You know, there are, of course, other things that should bring us together and have brought us together in the past. One is a common sense of identity as Americans. Another is a common set of values and ideas -- yes, ideas and values based on religious principles. We should not be afraid to say that that's the underpinning of our society.

I also believe that we are brought together, because, of course, we are all God's children. And He asks just that we treat each other with respect, with dignity and with compassion.

I thank you very much for the time you've given me to be here today.

(APPLAUSE)

MITCHELL:

Congressman Tancredo, thank you very much.

Now we're going to take a very short break, as the podium is set up again for the Democratic candidates, who will be with you in just a few moments.