The following is a speech I gave against the Fordham College Democrats on the best and worst of the Bush administration:
I would like to thank everyone for coming out tonight and listening to this debate. With any luck, you understand several pertinent issues better and will now use that information to make an educated vote on November 4th. But as we turn our attention now towards a new administration, it seems appropriate to close the chapter on the Bush administration. Surely there have been many ups and downs throughout the last eight years, but in my opinion, two issues stick out as this President’s best and worst.
I believe that the worst decision of the Bush administration has undoubtedly been the “amnesty in disguise” immigration proposal- a plan that completely misses the very point of immigration and awards illegal activity. While immigration is what this nation was founded on and is a valued principal, it also must be done within a legal framework that does not harm the American economy, American workers, and the American way of life.
I fully recognize the need for cheap labor in this country. Many of our farms, restaurants, builders and other enterprises depend upon cheap labor from nations south of the border, but to provide such labor through a broken immigration system and one which from the start teaches people coming to this country that you can break the law and still build a better life for yourself is not only unjust, but dishonest with our American selves.
A temporary worker program instituted with the amnesty which President Bush sought would send a message to potential illegal immigrants all over the world that as long as you can get on to America’s soil and stay there for a little while, the Americans will soon forgive you and eventually start paying for your children’s’ education, provide you with a job and cater to you in ways that only Americans do. If you doubt this, simply look to President Reagan’s illegal immigration amnesty in the 1980’s. It still hasn’t seemed to solve our little problem today, has it?
It is finally time to institute a concrete strategy to protect our border including the fence that is currently being built as well as electronic surveillance and a mix of tried but true techniques. In addition to this, we must streamline the process for legal immigrants who wish to come here and perhaps raise the overall number of legal immigrants allowed in to this nation every year.
While President Bush’s worst was certainly his amnesty plan, I would submit that his best has been his handling of home land security since 9/11. By this I mean the very fact that America has not experienced a terrorist attack on her soil since that fateful day seven years ago.
Through actions both bold and public, but often times secretive and certainly controversial, this President, despite his many, many flaws, can say that he kept the American people safe during his time in office, and that is something he should certainly be proud of.
We can rant about invasions of privacy and losses of civil liberties. We can bemoan the invasion of Iraq. We can complain about water boarding and treating vile, America-hating terrorists a little too rough. We can lose sleep over America’s reputation on the world stage and we can chastise the Administration for hubris. But, my friends, if the primary responsibility of government is to protect its people as I and I hope all of you believe, then damn do we owe this administration a lot.
I’ve been as critical of the Bush administration as even some members of PSJ have and certainly more so than most of my fellow Republicans would permit, but as I’ve reflected on these past eight years, I have to say that I feel a degree of indebtedness to the President; that I feel comfortable enough to go to school in New York City where just a couple miles away 3,000 people were killed; that I don’t worry about family members being killed on American soil by some terrorist with a divine mission from their god; that I can live life as normal as possible considering the times we live in.
Ladies and gentlemen, criticize this administration up and down. Lambaste their policies and protest against their actions. But give them this: we are safe and secure and the terrorists have not won.
Thank you.
