'Hardball's' College Tour with John McCain

MATTHEWS:  Welcome back to Iowa State University, home of the cyclones with Senator John McCain.  We‘re taking questions from the students.  Let‘s—we‘re going to let that applause subside, and we‘ll go to the next question.  There you are, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  My name is Don McDowell (ph), I‘m the chairman of the Iowa State College Republicans and since this is Iowa and Iowa State University and the next Congress will be taking up the farm bill, what sort of provisions do you see in terms of renewable energy, as well as subsidies in the next farm bill?

MCCAIN:  Well Don, thank you for your magnificent work.  You‘re a great American, being chairman of the College Republicans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  Thank you.

MCCAIN:  I—on the issue of the farm bill, we‘re going to re-authorize it.  I am against some subsidies.   don‘t think ethanol needs a subsidy.  I think we ought to make sure that the people who need subsidies, the most, which are the small farmers, not the big agro businesses, not the big huge farms that get millions of dollars.  So I think we ought to look at an area of need, as opposed to size and I think that some of that has to be looked at very carefully.

Could I just mention one other thing?  On the issue of the gay marriage, I believe that people want to have private ceremonies, that‘s fine.  I do not believe that gay marriages should be legal.

(BOOS)

MATTHEWS:  Next question. 

MCCAIN:  Obviously some disagree with that last comment.  Thank you, it‘s nice to see you.

MATTHEWS:  They love the ethanol one, though.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:  I‘m Micha Peterson (ph), I‘m a microbiology major and I‘m a freshman and I‘m originally from Arizona, I lived there for 10 years, and I was wondering what you thought about building a fence on the border between the United States and Mexico.

MCCAIN:  Thank you for the question.  Obviously, we must secure our borders.  They are broken and since 9/11, it‘s a national security issue.  But I believe we also need to do other things besides secure our border.  I think we need a temporary worker program.  And I think we need to address the issue of 11 or 12 million people who are here illegally.  I think we better be humane about it and I think we ought to be sensitive.  But I also think national security is our first priority and I think we can work out an agreement on that issue.  And I think we should all sit down, because it‘s a major issue in America today, and a cause of great concern.  If some bad people came across our border, we would all regret it very badly.  And so we need to secure our border, but I think, as our president does and many others do, we need a comprehensive approach as well. 

MATTHEWS:  Do you expect a lame duck bill? 

FREE VIDEO McCain: Shut down GITMO Oct. 18: Sen. John McCain answers questions about subsidies, border security and U.S. credibility abroad posed by Iowa State students at “Hardball’s” College Tour. Hardball

MCCAIN:  I hope so.  I hope we can work it out, the sooner, the better we can address the issue sooner. 

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  Thank you both coming. 

Senator, with the passage of the Military Commissions Act, do you think this is just going to hurt our credibility abroad? 

MCCAIN:  I don‘t think so, because I think you‘re going to see people go on trial very soon, and I think that their cases are going to be addressed, which is one of the problems.  As you know, they‘ve been there without having the proper tribunals.  I think you will see that torture is not practiced.  I think that you will see that we are addressing the issue of these people in a way that is both humane but also preserves our national security. 

I think that Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo are terrible for our image.  I would want to shut down Guantanamo Bay if at all possible. 

MATTHEWS:  We‘ll be right back with our next break.  We‘re going to have more questions from the audience from Iowa State University, home of the Cyclones.  We‘ll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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