‘Meet the Press’ transcript for Dec. 16, 2007

MR. RUSSERT:  How about the Brady Bill?

GOV. ROMNEY:  The Brady Bill has changed over time, and, of course, technology has changed over time.

MR. RUSSERT:  But the idea of a waiting period.

GOV. ROMNEY:  Well, we have, we have a background check.  That's the key thing.  I support background checks to, to--for people who are going into a store or whatever and buying a weapon, I want them to have a background check to make sure...

MR. RUSSERT:  But you stand by your support of the Brady Bill.

GOV. ROMNEY:  ...to make sure, to make sure that the, that the crazies don't buy guns.

The, the current Brady Bill is, is a different measure than the original.  The original had a waiting period because it took a long time to check on people's backgrounds.  Today we can check instantly on backgrounds.  I don't want to cause a waiting period that's not necessary based upon today's technology. But my position is we should check on the backgrounds of people who are trying to purchase guns.  We also should keep weapons of unusual lethality from being on the street.  And finally, we should go after people who use guns in the commission of crimes or illegally, but we should not interfere with the right of law-abiding citizens to own guns either for their own personal protection or hunting or any other lawful purpose.  I support the work of the NRA.  I'm a member of the NRA.  But do we line up on every issue?  No, we don't.

MR. RUSSERT:  Immigration, an issue that is very important in this country and to the Republican primary voters.  The Boston Globe interviewed you two years ago, and there's a tape of that conversation where you expressed support for the policies of George Bush and John McCain on immigration.  Let's watch and listen.

(Audiotape)

GOV. ROMNEY:  I think an amnesty program is what, which is all the illegal immigrants who are here are now citizens,

Unidentified Man:  Mm-hmm.

GOV. ROMNEY:  ...and a walk up and get your citizenship.  What the president has proposed,

Man:  Mm-hmm.

GOV. ROMNEY:  ...and, and what Senator McCain and Cornyn have proposed, are, are quite different than that.

Man:  Mm-hmm.

GOV. ROMNEY:  They require people signing up for a, a, well, registering and receiving, if you will, a number, a registration number, then working here for six years and paying taxes...

Man:  Mm-hmm.

GOV. ROMNEY:  ...not taking benefits--health, Medicaid, food stamps, and so forth--not taking benefits, and then at the end of that period, registering to become a citizen or applying to become a citizen and paying a fee.  And, and those are things that are being, being considered, and I, I think that that's--that those are reasonable proposals.

(End audiotape)

MR. RUSSERT:  Reasonable proposals.

GOV. ROMNEY:  Hm.

MR. RUSSERT:  The Lowell Sun, your home--one of your hometown, state home papers, said this.  "Governor Mitt Romney expressed support for an immigration program that places large numbers of illegal residents on the path toward citizenship.

"`I don't believe in rounding up 11 million people and forcing them at gunpoint from our country.  With these 11 million people, let's have them registered, know who they are.  Those who've been arrested or convicted of crimes shouldn't be here; those that are paying taxes and not taking government benefits should begin a process towards application for citizenship, as they would from their home country.'"

This is George Bush and John McCain.

GOV. ROMNEY:  Now let's, now let's look at those very carefully, OK, and you're, you're a careful reader.  In the interview with The Boston Globe, I described all three programs that were out there, described what they were, acknowledged that they were not technically an amnesty program, but I indicated in that same interview that I had not formulated my own proposal and that I was endorsing none of those three programs.  I did not support any of them.  I called them reasonable.  They are reasonable efforts to, to look at the problem.  But I said I did not support--and I said specifically in that interview I have not formulated my own policy and have not determined which I would support.  And, of course, the Cornyn proposal required all of the immigrants to go home.  The McCain proposal required most of them to go home, but let some stay.  And the Bush proposal I, frankly, don't recall in that much detail.  But they had very different proposals.  My own view is consistent with what you saw in the Lowell Sun, that those people who had come here illegally and are in this country--the 12 million or so that are here illegally--should be able to stay sign up for permanent residency or citizenship, but they should not be given a special pathway, a special guarantee that all of them get to say here for the rest of their lives merely by virtue of having come here illegally.  And that, I think, is the great flaw in the final bill that came forward from the Senate.

MR. RUSSERT:  But they shouldn't have to go home?

GOV. ROMNEY:  Well, whether they go home--they should go home eventually. There's a set per--in my view they should be--they should have a set period during which period they, they sign up for application for permanent residency or, or for citizenship.  But there's a set period where upon they should return home.  And if they've been approved for citizenship or for a permanent residency, well, thy would be a different matter.  But for the great majority, they'll be going home.

MR. RUSSERT:  The children they had born here are U.S. citizens, so do the children stay here and the parents go home?

GOV. ROMNEY:  Well, that's a choice, of course, the parents would, would make.  But my view is that those 12 million who've come here illegally should be given the opportunity to sign up to stay here, but they should not be given any advantage in becoming a permanent resident or citizen by virtue of simply coming here illegally.  And likewise, if they've brought a child to this country or they've had a child in this country, that's, that's wonderful that they're growing their families, but that doesn't mean that they all get to stay here indefinitely.  We're fundamentally a nation of laws.  And let me underscore something here that I think's awfully important, because this immigration debate can sound anti-immigrant to a lot of people.  It's not intended to be that by myself or, I believe, by the vast majority of others that talk about it.  We value legal immigration.  We welcome people coming here with different cultures and skill and education, but we are a nation of laws.  And our freedoms and our liberty are associated with following the law. We have to secure our border, we have to make sure there's an employment verification system to identify who's here legally and who's not.  And then for the 12 million who've come here, welcome them to get in line with everybody else, but no special pathway.

MR. RUSSERT:  Your views have been complicated by your own situation.  This was The Boston Globe back in December of '06.  "As Governor Mitt Romney explores a presidential bid, he has grown outspoken in his criticism of illegal immigration.  But, for a decade, the governor has used a landscaping company that relies heavily on workers like these, illegal Guatemalan immigrants, to maintain the ground surrounding his pink Colonial house." That was a year ago.  A year later, The Boston Globe came back and the same company and illegal immigrants doing the same work.  Did you report that company to authorities saying--a year ago--saying they're using illegal immigrants?

GOV. ROMNEY:  Oh, it was, it was on the front page of The Boston Globe; a reporting was not necessary.  But I have to clear up the most egregious error in that article.  It said my house is pink.  I would not have a pink house, I assure you.  In an effort to--let me, let me describe the circumstance.  And that is the very issue I just mentioned, which is we need an employment verification system in this country.  I hire a landscaper to take care of my leaves and, and mow the lawn, and, and the landscaping company hires people to work for them.  We're certainly not going to have an America where a homeowner is expected or even thought of going out and saying, "Gosh, I see some workers here who have an accent.  I want them to bring papers so I can inspect them." As a matter of fact, I think that's against the law in this country.  And so, in this case, the, the landscaper, or the contractor has a responsibility to ensure that their workers are legal.

So after the first story came out, I met with the--excuse me, my son met with the landscaper and sat down with him and said, "Look, you're a good person, and you're a friend, and--but we can't possibly have someone working at my dad's house that's not a legal alien, and so you have to be absolutely certain anybody working here is legal." And he assured us that he, he would do just that.  And he failed in that effort.  He, according to the paper, he tried, he got documents, apparently, from all the people who, who he had work at our property.  Apparently one or two of them had falsified their documents. That's the very reason why we so desperately need in this country an employment verification system, so that an employer who's hiring people can know who's here legally or illegally.  If we don't have that, what it's going to say to an employer is, you better not hire someone that has any accent because if you do, it's possible they've counterfeited their documents and you're going to get whacked and the people you work for are going to get whacked.

MR. RUSSERT:  Would you then be in favor of a mandatory prison term for any employer who hired an illegal immigrant?

GOV. ROMNEY:  Of course not.

MR. RUSSERT:  Why not?

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