Posted on 09/24/2007 10:14:15 AM PDT by radar101
Duncan Hunter, the Congressman from California, joined other Republican Presidential candidates over the weekend in condemning the upcoming address to Columbia University by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
But Hunter went a step further by pledging that if the speech goes forth he will introduce legislation in Congress to cut off federal assistance from the University. All federal assistance. This would presumably include research and scientific grants for the sciences and medical school.
"If the left-wingers of academia will not support our troops, they, in the very least, should not support our adversaries," Hunter said in a statement accompanying a warning letter he wrote to Lee Bollinger, the president of Columbia.
Bollinger has tried to meet the mounting criticism from Republican politicians head-on.
In a statement on the school's website on September 19th, Bollinger announced that he would introduce the Iranian President with a rebuke to Iran's treatment of women and its stance toward Israel and Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust.
Bollinter went on to say in the statement that hearing all ideas, no matter how "odious" is one of the basic tenets of a full education.
"I would also like to invoke a major theme in the development of freedom of speech as a central value in our society," Bollinger wrote. "It should never be thought that merely to listen to ideas we deplore in any way implies our endorsement of those ideas, or the weakness of our resolve to resist those ideas or our naiveté about the very real dangers inherent in such ideas. It is a critical premise of freedom of speech that we do not honor the dishonorable when we open the public forum to their voices. To hold otherwise would make vigorous debate impossible."
The threat of cutting off federal funds is something the government and Congress have used before when law schools tried to keep JAG lawyers from recruiting on campuses because the military's "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy discriminates against gays, violating university nondiscrimination policies.
The government won the argument in March 2005, when the Supreme Court upheld the so-called Solomon Amendment, a 1996 measure that allowed the government to tie federal funding to military and ROTC recruiting. It is unclear if that law would be applicable in the case of the Ahmadinejad speech, which has nothing to do with military recruiting.
Hunter says the speech and the recent "General Betrayus" Moveon.org ad are emblematic of the emergence of the "extreme left wing."
"Columbia University's hosting of Ahmadinejad is a slap in the face of every one of the 165,000 U.S. troops serving in Iraq. As he speaks, his agents will be moving roadside bombs onto the battlefield to be used against America's military men and women," Hunter wrote
In these tough times we need a tough president - Duncan Hunter!
Bump! In 40 minutes.
“Congressman Duncan Hunter will be appearing on FOX’s Your World with Neil Cavuto today at 4 PM EST, 1PM PST.
Bump! In 40 minutes.”
Thank you bump!!!!
GO DUNCAN HUNTER! :)
“Hunter/Thompson: Dream Ticket”
Absoulutely!!
I hope that Hunter is successful in snatching the comfort rug($$$)right out from under this anti American shithole.
Do you have a link - is it live?
Sorry, I don’t. You might check foxnews.com
What is it with these FNC newscasters who feel it is their prerogative to constantly interrupt Republican Candidates?
In spite of having been so interrupted twice, Congressman Duncan Hunter atuck to his guns, and got his points across very well, make no mistake.
I learned of a new website you all might be interested in today:
http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news.
Typical RINO BS.Why not cut off funding period?He just points out to anyone who doesn't already know the poison behind federal programs."If you don't act as we want you to,we'll not allow you to have any of the money back which you paid in taxes.We'll go ahead and give your neighbor your money because he acts the way we want".
Thank you, Congressman Hunter. Please make this so, and asap. Real Americans will also be quite interested to know how our congresscritters vote on this legislation.
RINO? You can disagree, but calling Hunter a RINO is off the chart. So, who do you think said this, and do you agree:
““China’s record on human rights has been far from perfect, but there aren’t many perfect nations in the world. Even the United States government has been known to abuse the liberties of her own citizens. The important point is that removing MFN status from China will do nothing to improve the lives of the citizens of China, and many believe it could make conditions worse.
It is also inconsistent to deny MFN status to countries like Iran, Iraq, and Libya because of their civil rights positions. For instance, because Iraq grants greater personal freedom, it actually treats its citizens and Christians in a more favorable way than do Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. U.S. sanctions against Iraq have been outrageously immoral by starving children and denying medical care that could be obtained if they were allowed more free trade.
Some complain about the trade imbalance and Red China’s accumulation of American dollars, but this is no threat. If the Red Chinese didn’t buy our debt, the Federal Reserve would have to.”
There are a number of programs set to be axed under President Duncan Hunter. It isn’t a RINO move, it is a promise he will keep.
Don’t believe, ask the Department of Energy what list they have Hunter on :)
um, paul
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are the problem.If the first Bush had understood this,we wouldn’t be in the fix we’re in now.
A number.5? 10? 1357? There are thousands of "programs".There's about 75% of the federal government that should be axed.I only hear one candidated with the guts to say it out loud(and mean it).
I'd rather he sounded more like Paul.There are a number of DEPARTMENTS that should be axed.Easier to count.After that,the programs should take care of themselves.
YES!!!! Go Duncan!
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