Campaign Statements — Newt Gingrich

Thursday January 26, 2012

“There has been an increasingly aggressive war against…Christianity in this country.”

“But I would say, third, one of the reasons I am running is there has been an increasingly aggressive war against religion and in particular against Christianity in this country, largely by a secular elite and the academic news media and judicial areas. And I frankly believe it’s important to have some leadership that stands up and says, enough; we are truly guaranteed the right of religious freedom, not religious suppression by the state. ”

CATEGORIES: Civil Liberties | Newt Gingrich |

Thursday January 26, 2012

“I will…move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.”

“On the first day that I’m president, if I do become president, I will sign an executive order directing the State Department to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to send the signal we’re with Israel.”

CATEGORIES: Israel/Palestine | Newt Gingrich |

Thursday January 26, 2012

“The Palestinian people…can achive [peace if] they are prepared to…give up the right of return.”

“My goal for the Palestinian people would be to live in peace, to live in prosperity, to have the dignity of a state, to have freedom. and they can achieve it any morning they are prepared to say Israel has a right to exist, we give up the right to return, and we recognize that we’re going to live side-by-side, now let’s work together to create mutual prosperity.

And you could in five years dramatically improve the quality of life of every Palestinian. But the political leadership would never tolerate that. And that’s why we’re in a continuous state of war where Obama undermines the Israelis.”

CATEGORIES: Israel/Palestine | Newt Gingrich |

Thursday January 26, 2012

“No one should be trapped in a linguistic situation where they can’t go out and get a job.”

“What I said was, we want everybody to learn English because we don’t—and I didn’t use the word “Spanish.” We do not want anyone trapped in a situation where they cannot get a commercial job, they cannot rise, and virtually every parent of every ethnic group—and by the way, they are 94 languages spoken at the Miami-Dade College—94 languages. And that’s why I think English should be the official language of government, and that’s why I think every young American should learn English.

And my point was, no one should be trapped in a linguistics situation where they can’t go out and get a job and they can’t go out and work.”

CATEGORIES: Immigration | Newt Gingrich |

Thursday January 26, 2012

“If there is some level of humanity for people…we can pass legislation.”

“[Mitt Romney is the most anti-immigrant candidate] because, in the original conversations about deportation, the position I took, which he attacked pretty ferociously, was that grandmothers and grandfathers aren’t going to be successfully deported. We’re not—we as a nation are not going to walk into some family—and by the way, they’re going to end up in a church, which will declare them a sanctuary. We’re not going to walk in there and grab a grandmother out and then kick them out.

We’re not going—and I think you have to be realistic in your indignation. I want to control the border. I want English to be the official language of government. I want us to have a lot of changes.

I am prepared to be very tough and very bold, but I’m also prepared to be realistic, because I’ve actually had to pass legislation in Washington and I don’t believe an unrealistic promise is going to get through, but I do believe, if there’s some level of humanity for people who have been here a long time, we can pass legislation that will decisively reduce illegality, decisively control the border and will once again mean the people who are in America are here legally.”

CATEGORIES: Immigration | Newt Gingrich |

Thursday January 26, 2012

“I offered a proposal, a citizen panel to review…”

“You should have a guest worker program, probably run by American Express, Visa or MasterCard so they minimize fraud, which the federal government won’t do. And you should have much stronger employer penalties at that point because you can validate it. I actually agree that self-deportation will occur if you’re single. If you’ve only been here a short time. And there are millions of people who faced with that, would go back home, file for a guest worker program and might or might not come back.

The one group I singled out, were people who have been here a very long time who are married, who may well have children and grandchildren. And I would just suggest that grandmothers or grandfathers aren’t likely to self-deport. And then you’ve got a question. I—I offered a proposal, a citizen panel to review whether or not somebody who had been here a very long time, who had family and who had an American family willing to sponsor them, should be allowed to get residency, but not citizenship so that they would be able to stay within the law, but would not have any chance of becoming a citizen, unless they went back home. I don’t think grandmothers and grandfathers will self-deport.”

CATEGORIES: Immigration | Newt Gingrich |

Monday January 23, 2012

“[If] you are prepared to join the American military, you can…earn the right to citizenship.”

“I would work to get a signable version [of the DREAM Act] which would be the military component. I think any young person living in the United States who happened to have been brought here by their parents when they were young should have the same opportunity to join the American military and earn citizenship which they would have had from back home.

We have a clear provision that if you live in a foreign country, and you are prepared to join the American military, you can, in fact, earn the right to citizenship by serving the United States and taking real risk on behalf of the United States. That part of the DREAM Act I would support. I would not support the part that simply says everybody who goes to college is automatically waived for having broken the law.”

CATEGORIES: Civil Liberties | Immigration | Newt Gingrich |

Monday January 23, 2012

“I think it is essential to have a central language that we expect people to learn.”

MODERATOR: “Why is it OK for you to court voters in Spanish, but not OK for the government to serve them in Spanish?”

NEWT GINGRICH: “Well, first of all, you immediately jump down to a very important language, but not the only language. The challenge of the United States is simple. There are 86 languages in Miami Dade College, 86. There are over 200 languages spoken in Chicago.

Now, how do you unify the country? What — what is the common bond that enables people to be both citizens and to rise commercially and have a better life and a greater opportunity?

I think campaigning, historically, you’ve always been willing to go to people on their terms in their culture, whether it’s Greek Independence Day or something you did for the Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. And I’m perfectly happy to be on Radio Mambi, and I’m perfectly happy to have a lot of support in the Hispanic community.

But as a country to unify ourselves in a future in which there may well be 300 or 400 languages spoken in the United States, I think it is essential to have a central language that we expect people to learn and to be able to communicate with each other in.”

CATEGORIES: American Exceptionalism | Immigration | Newt Gingrich |

Monday January 23, 2012

“The Iranians think that…this president is so weak, they could close the Straits of Hormuz.”

“The American people have no interest in going to war anywhere. We had no interest in going to war with the Japanese when they bombed Pearl Harbor. We had no interest in going to Afghanistan when jihadist’s destroyed the World Trade Center. The fact is, we’ve historically been a country that would like peace, we’d like stability. But we also have a historic commitment to — to freedom of the sea. And I would say that the most dangerous thing, which by the way, Barack Obama just did, the — the Iranians are practicing closing the Straits of Hormuz, actively taunting us, so he cancels a military exercise with the Israelis so as not to be provocative?

Now, dictatorships respond to strength, they don’t respond to weakness and I think there’s a very grave danger that the Iranians think that in fact this president is so weak, they could close the Straits of Hormuz and not suffer substantial consequences.”

CATEGORIES: Iran | Newt Gingrich | War on Terror |