Dec. 12 Republican debate transcript

Washburn: Thank you.

Some of our big trading partners commit human rights violations. Considering that poverty and abuse are often blamed for fostering terrorism, should we alter trade policies with those countries?

Senator McCain?

McCain: Well, obviously we don't -- we should make sure that every nation respects human rights. And we should advocate that and try to enforce it.

But I will open every market in the world to Iowa's agricultural products. I'm the biggest free marketer and free trader that you will ever see.

And I will also eliminate subsidies on ethanol and other agricultural products.

They are an impediment to competition. They're an impediment to free markets. And I believe that subsidies are a mistake. And I don't believe that anybody can stand here and say that they're a fiscal conservative and yet support subsidies which distort markets and destroy our ability to compete in the world and destroy our ability to get cheaper products into the United States of America.

Washburn: I'm going to move to the next question.

What specific changes should be made in NAFTA?

Mayor Giuliani?

Giuliani: I think the main thing is that it should be enforced.

And the reality is NAFTA has been a good thing. I was concerned about NAFTA, and I became convinced, watching it, that it's actually helped us.

Our percentage of exports, percentage of our GDP, has gone up dramatically, from something like 9 percent to 11 percent. It's brought more jobs to America.

America should think about free trade, global economy as something we want to embrace. This is what we've always wanted.

And America's a country of entrepreneurs and dreamers and creators. And what we should be thinking about is, how much could we sell to these people, as they're coming out of poverty, 20 million, 30 million people, in India, China? These are new customers for the United States of America.

And then we have to make sure that we have a level playing field. That's very important. But we shouldn't lose the goal of free trade.

We're big dreamers here in this country. We've got plenty we can sell all over the world that'll make up for what we're buying.

Washburn: Senator Thompson, what specific changes would you make to NAFTA?

Thompson: Well, I think free trade and fair trade is the backbone of our economy. I think it's been just as good for us as it has Mexico. In fact, I think Mexico needs to think about that when they criticize us for trying to enforce our border. They export -- or send more people out of the country every year than we do, in terms of illegal aliens.

So it's been a good thing for both countries.

It's a long, complex document. I have nothing in particular to point out. I just think we need to make a commitment to free and fair trade and enforce the agreements that we've got.

The problem is too many people close their markets to us. They won't trade with us but they want to place undue restrictions to our manufacturers and our farmers. We can't stand for that.

Washburn: Congressman Tancredo?

Tancredo: NAFTA has been a disaster for a lot of places and especially Mexico. Southern Mexico, it was a disaster.

It destroyed the entire agricultural economy. Guess what happened? They all came north.

If NAFTA had worked so well, as everybody on the stage appears to think it did, why would we still have so much pressure on our southern border from people trying to escape from a country that does not provide them with the economic opportunities that it -- that NAFTA promised?

What, of course, is also ingrained in this whole discussion is the lack of sovereignty, the fact that our borders are now meaningless, the fact that Mexican trucks can come across essentially without being checked.

These are the problems with NAFTA and they have to be unwound.

Washburn: Congressman Hunter, you want in on that?

Hunter: Absolutely.

You know, when we had a $3 billion trade surplus with Mexico when we passed NAFTA, and the advocates said, "We're going to build on the surplus."

Today, we have a massive trade loss. We went immediately to a $15 billion trade loss. We've had that now for the last many years.

And let me tell you, if you take your product made in Iowa down to the Mexican border right now and try to get it across, you will pay a 15 percent tariff, which they moved into place after we passed NAFTA.

You know, trade deals are business deals between nations, and we haven't made good business deals between nations, and NAFTA is a bad business deal.