Transcripts For CSPAN Campaign 20240703

On campaign 2024. We continue focusing on the House Speaker with representative tim burchett. And student loan repayments restarting this month. Washington journal, join the conversation live at 7 00 eastern thursday morning on cspan, cspan now or online at cspan. Org. Former vi president mike pence responded to reesentative Kevin Mccarthy being removed from the speaker of the house position and internal strife within the publican party. Following his remarks the former Vice President fieldquestions on his president ial campaign. Foreign policy. And his views on cna. The conversation was hosted by the georgetownnstitute of politics and Public Service and the Associated Press. Mr. Vice president , thank you for joining us today. Thank you to our audience. I want to get right to it, i have questions, our state of the unions have some and people at satellite campuses also have some. I apologize if i move this along quickly. Im just trying to give all our students an opportunity. Vice president pence lets give her a round of applause and for our students leer. Students here. Meg why is it important for the United States to continue to support ukraine . Vice president pence such an important place to start. Im running for president of the United States because i think this country is in a lot of trouble. I think joe biden has weakened our country at home and abroad. I think the disastrous withdrawal at afghanistan has emboldened enemies around the world. Now war is raging in Eastern Europe as russia cons its unprovoked, unconscionable invasion of ukraine. As leader of the free world i believe its incumbent on the United States of america to continue to provide support for the Ukrainian Military so that they can defeat and repel that russian invasion and reclaim their sovereignty. Now the reason for that is not some of the reasons you may have heard. President biden has taken to talking about our need to defend democracy. In ukraine. Ive met president zelenskyy. Im not certain that ukraine doesnt have a lot of progress to make. In democracy. And in combating corruption. I confronted president zelenskyy the first time we met on that very same issue. I think the reason why the United States should continue to support the military in ukraine as they fight to defeat and repel the russian invasion is because its in our National Interest to do it. It was back in 1985, Ronald Reagan articulated a policy that came to be known as the reagan doctrine. It was simply this. If youre willing to fight the communists in your country with injure soldiers well give you the means to fight them there so we dont have to fight them. I will tell you, the young men and women here and those look on, i believe that if Vladimir Putin and the Russian Military overruns ukraine it will not be long before they cross the border of a nato country where our men and women in uniform would be required to go and fight. Meg if i may, getting directly to the assistance youre talking about, and that support. The temporary spending measure passed over the weekend and signed by the president did not include any aid for ukraine. Would you have supported that . Is that the right way to keep the government operating even on a temporary basis . Vice president pence well i think continuing resolutions represent a failure of the congress to do its job. But im going to continue to be a strong voice for american support for weapons for ukraine. Think about this for just a moment, if you can. Its been a year and a half since Vladimir Putin launched his unconscionable and brutal invasion of ukraine. During that time, with 5 of our defense budget, in a year and a half, the military in ukraine has held on to 85 of their soil and russia has gone from the second most powerful military in the world to the second most powerful military in ukraine. Thats what we call progress so i really do believe that whatever the mechanic nations in the congress of the United States, im going to continue to be a strong voice in the Republican Party. America is the leader of the free world. If were not leading the free world, the free world is not being led. I believe that the best way to check chinas ambitions in the asia pacific is to continue to give the Ukrainian Military what they need to repel the russian invasion. As i said in a debate, a quiet, bore degree bait last week, at the reagan library, i really do believe that if russia overruns ukraine thatll give a green light, thatll give a green light to china to move against tie ran. And quite frankly if we dont check the efforts by authoritarian regimes to redraw International Lines by force, the rest of the 21st century could lookic a lot like the first half of the 20th century. Meg were going to talk more about potential issues involving china and taiwan in a moment. But do you feel opposition in the Republican Party to helping out countries like ukraine, does that give putin a window . Does that concern you specifically . Vice president pence isolationism is not a new spot in america. Frankly, it was John Quincy Adams that said america mesh should never go abroad looking for monsters to destroy. That was his quote. We never have. The war in ukraine is not our war but freedom is our fight. I really do believe what i think is undermining the traditional support among republicans for arms for ukraine is the fact that i think President Biden has done a terrible job explaining what our interest is there. His speech is about democracy. His speeches about democracy dont connect with the american public. Frankly also, i think that disastrous withdrawal from afghanistan, undermined Public Confidence in the president s leadership as commander in chief. And thats why we need new leadership in the white house. Leadership that can marshal the energies and resources of the American People. And the last thingis there are voices in our party, meg, that suggest we have to choose between securing our border, or reviving our economy, or unleashing american energy, or being the leader of the free world. I think thats a false choice. I think we can do both. Anyone that says we cant solve our problems here at home and be the leader of the free world has a pretty small view of the greatest nation on earth we can do both. If im president of the United States, i promise you we will. Meg to follow up on that specifically, thats a good idea, focusing on the domestic and foreign. Even as evidenced today as were seeing play out in the house of representatives with issues surrounding republican speaker Kevin Mccarthy, whether hes going to maintain that position, then when theres that level of Division Within the Republican Party, how do you really seek to unite some of those voices . You can accomplish what you say youd like to do. Vice president pence i still believe the majority of republicans, a Strong Majority of americans, understand were the leader of the free world. And want to see america continue to provide support for the military in ukraine with accountability. No blank checks. But to continue to give them the means to repel that russian aggression. But i dont know if whats happen on capitol hill suggests a great deal of division in the Republican Party. I think what youre witnessing is a handful of republicans, partnering with democrats in congress, to create chaos and oust a sitting speaker of the house. Its i must tell you this is one of the days that i dont miss being in congress. Truth is, the truth is the chaos were seeing on capitol hill today is just one more reason why the American People want to see new leadership. Look, weve got to have leadership in the white house. Weve got to have leadership at every level in this country thats focused on what the American People are focused on. This is a very difficult time. In the life of our nation. Its an increasingly dangerous time in the life of the world. And im term erm im determined to bring the kind of leadership that can marshal the energies of the American People to meet that moment. Meg another issue id like to switch to, as alluded to earlier, is china theres thought that xi jinping has a centralization of power unmatched in recent history. How would you work with him . As president , how would you effort to change his mind on issues that you would view as important to the United States . Vice president pence as you said before these things are inextricably linked. Its one big world. And i really do believe the most effective way to check chinas ambitions in the asia pacific is for the United States and the western world to stand strong. With the military in ukraine. Weakness arouses evil. And i really do believe the president that president xi who called himself an unlimited partner of russia, who there is apparently no amount of war crimes, no amount of brutality the Russian Military could commit, as they have in ukraine, i was there a few months back, i stood where there was once a mass grave of 550 people buried. Outside of a church in bucha. I saw froofs men, women and children who were literally gunned down in the street while they were coming back from shopping and groceries. Then they were left in the street and when family members came out to collect their remains, the family members were shot. I mean china has said were an unlimited partner. Of course iran is continuing to provide weaponry and drones. Look. I led the administrations effort in articulating a new policy toward china in 2018. You can go look it up. I gave a speech in 2018 at the Hudson Institute in which we said, after years of trade abuses, after years of intellectual property theft, after years of military provocations in the asia pacific, and human rights abuses against Muslim Uighurs and christian pastors in china, we said 250 pl in tariff on china we made record investments in our military to make it clear wed see to our interests in the asia pacific. It is a cliche but cliches are grounded in truth. Peace comes through strength. The best way we can confront china, which is the greatest economic and strategic threat the United States faces in the 21st century is with strength. And as i said in a followon speech a couple of weeks ago at the Hudson Institute, went to the same place six years later, i said weve got to build a military fitted to the times. Still the most powerful military in the world. China is working every day to catch up and pass us by. Weve had build out a navy. Weve got to build out a military that will deter military ambitions of china. And secondly, i think we need to use access to our economy to bring china to the table. To end the intellectual property theft and trade abuses and leave aside their provocation and human rights abuses in recent years. So we are the most powerful economy on earth. Most powerful military on earth we need to use that american strength to continue to invite china into the family of nations. But to make it clear that america is prepared to defend our economy and defend our interests wherever theyre challenged in the world. Meg speaking of that strength then, would you see your administration as moving more away from strategic ambiguity to strategic clarity when it comes to taiwan and potentially getting involved with u. S. Forces there . Vice president pence strategic ambiguity is one of those peculiar oddities in history negotiated many, many years ago with china. One of my competitors in the republican primaries primaries said wed whaik a commitment to defend taiwan until 2028 when we got our microchip back and then go back to ambiguity. That doesnt seem ambiguous to me. That seems like a flashing green light for china to move on taiwan. Im someone who believes you never tell the enemy what youll never do. The point is you want a military Strong Enough that the taiwan that taiwan work whom we provide military support, is fully armed. Fully capable of defending themselves. And that our allies in the region are fully prepared to seek the interest of free nations. And then you never have to answer that question. Meg we have a lot of young voters joining us today here in gaston hall as well as across the country. I cant move off of issues related to china without asking you about tiktok. Tiktok plans claims 150 million u. S. Users. A recent survey Shows Nearly Half of americans 1834 have opened accounts on the platform is it realistic then, you talked about wanting to ban tiktok. Sit realistic to ask those millions of users to just give it up . Vice president pence well i dont know about realistic but its the right idea. If youre comfortable with the Chinese Communist Party Gathering personal information on you through tiktok go right ahead. But thats what theyre doing. I mean, tiktok is controlled by the Chinese Communist party. It is penetrating our economy. It is gathering private information on americans. Every single hour of every single day. And look, ive got three kids. Theyre all married two of them have families in the service. So i know about your generation. Im all about it. Right. Im still kind of a dad, you know, still catching up with social media every day. So i know how much you li on that communication with each other. But i just tiktok is different. Theres a reason we banned it from the federal government. Theres a reason why we have states around the country banning it. It compromises privacy. And china today, you need to understand. We can document the chi that china steals billions of dollars of intellectual property every year from the United States. And so if you dont think that theyre not gathering, collect, collating and preserving information about you, you have, as we like to say, another thing coming. My word to young people and turnover american is ta tiktok is not consistent with the privacy rights of americans. I wont tell you what platforms to use. Where to post your videos. But ill do what i can as if im president of the United States to make sure we dont have a platform operating in america that compromises the privacy rights of americans. Meg one last question before moving on to something else. Ive done reporting around tiktok and its use by one of your rivals, vives ramaswamy, the only g. O. P. Hopeful on tiktok. When we reached out to the company to ask about concernus noted about the platform their argument is banning it is in the a conservative move at all. Something more con severtive, they argue, would be more along the license of a National Privacy law. What do you make of that assertion . Vice president pence i got to know vivek a few years ago, hes a good man, a good family man, but hes wrong about a lot. Hes wrong about tiktok. Of course he wasnt always wrong. About six months ago he said tiktok was, quote, digital fentanyl for americas youth. And then a couple of weeks ago he had din we are the tiktok executive and signed up for tiktok. I just believe in telling people the truth whether its comfortable or no. Thats one of the reasons why im one of the few candidates running for president thats telling the American People we are facing a debt crisis. And i know were here to talk about Foreign Policy but you have to but i have to tell you, i think we have to produce leadership at the National Level thats willing to be honest with younger americans, those here and those looking on, and tell you that that 33 trillion National Debt is, if you dont like the president thats if you dont elect a president willing to reform Social Security and medicare, thats going to grow by a factor of five in the next 20 years. If you think inflation is bad today with 33 trillion in debt, buckle up. When its 150 trillion. The tiktok issue ill just be honest with people. I dont see how there is no private enterprise in china. The Chinese Communist party, under chinese law, has access to all the data of every company in china. And so if you think you can be involved every day, sharing private information and funny videos and memories of your day with friends and neighbors and not understand that thats being collected somewhere and saved somewhere in the event it might be useful, youve got to think harder about it. Meg thank you for that. Im going to move along to discussing army general mark mil lee who recently concluded his term as chairman of the joint chiefs. He has emphasized what he sees as the importance of taking his oath to the constitution and not to a specific leader. Thats the same kind of notion you discussed a lot. Even the title of your book, so help me god, you reference that. Its the constitution, not anyone else. I have some further questions but first how would you evaluate general milleys various as chairman of the joint chiefs . Vice president pence i havent agreed with every recent decision made at the pentagon during his tenure as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff but i honor his service to the country. Four decades in the uniform of the United States. Frankly what donald trump said about him in that tweet about treason and death was utterly inexcusable. I truly do believe we owe a debt of gratitude to men and women that serve in uniform. That we can never fully repay. My dad was a combat veteran in korea. My son is a captain in the marine corps. My soninlaw is a lieutenant in the navy. The men and women who put on the uniform of the United States, whether our politics agrees with them or not on any particular issue, deserve the respect of every american. I honor his service to the country. Meg you referenced the former president s comments about general milley. During his retirement ceremony, general milley made comments perceived as him taking a swipe at the former president , going back to the oates oath, he made reference to a wannabe dictator, something perceived as being a reference to President Trump what do you make of that comment . By general milley . Vice president pence i wouldnt have a comment on that characterization or who he was alluding to. But as ive said, i thought he made a very eloquent point, meg. That in the days leading up to january 6, my son, the marine, reminded me of the same thing. January 6 was a tragic day but i must tell you, i believe by gods grace, i did my duty that day. I kept my oath to the constitution of the United States of america. And what jeb milley said that day in his value dictry beyond some of the more covered phrases, he said its important to remember that members of our armed forces, elected officials, we all take the same oath. Its to support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, to bear true faith and allegiance to the same. You take the obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. You commit yourself to well and faithfully execute the duties of the office. It ends with a prayer. So help me god. And as i wrote in that book that i appreciate you mentioning, it was a promise that i made when i was sworn in as Vice President. Its a promise i made when i was a member of congress, when i was governor. Its a promise i made to the American People. And its a promise that i made to god. And i really believe that its important for us to remember that what makes America Special is not who we are or what our background is, what our ethnic background is. Its a set of ideals that are captured in that declaration of independence and the constitution of the United States and i really do believe if we will return our nation to focusing there, well find a way to go forward, heal our land, and build a boundless future on the liberties and principles enshrined there. Meg thank you for that. Were going to go to a question from here at gaston hall at georgetown university. Hi, my name is aaron. My question is, with the decision to add additional members to bricks how should the u. S. Respond to the expanded membership . Vice president pence its a terrific question. Im very impressed with it, because nobody is talking about it. They just met china and russia, the brick countries, just met in africa and added to their numbers. And with the exception of the Associated Press, nobody really covered it very much. And make no mistake about it, nature atbat hors a vacuum. Nature abhors a vacuum. Right now the United States has created a vacuum on the world stage. I think it started with that disastrous withdrawal from afghanistan, but its also the National Debt. You have china and other countries in that coalition, theyre taking steps to try and replace the american dollar as the reserve currency in the world. And theyre pointing to american debt as one of the reasons to d. I do believe that we, number one we need to tackle our challenges here at home. We need to lift the burden of debt off your generation and the ones that follow. But also im somebody that believes that while were very tough on china, i think we ought to put more sanctions and more excuse me, more tariffs on china the table. I believe in free trade with free nations and you see china and russia and other nations beginning to form a coalition among those regimes, we should strengthen our economic ties with free nations around the country. I began discussions with japan over Free Trade Agreement and the Biden Administration has done nothing to pursue it. We were going to have a Free Trade Agreement with u. K. As soon as they got over brexit and the Biden Administration has done nothing to pursue it, same with the european union. To me thats the key Going Forward and the right response to bric. A tremendous question, well done. Meg next we go to the university of New Hampshire with a question from a student there. Hi, im anna anderson. Im a freshman at u h. My question is how do you think the u. S. Should be responding to cyberattacks . Vice president pence anna, thank you. Greetings in New Hampshire. Its good to have yall join us. I appreciate you making time. I love whats implied in your answer which is how should we respond to cyberattacks because theyre continuous and ongoing. When i was governor of the state of indiana we had data silos, this is an example, we had data silos for taxpayers in indiana and ill never forget one of my early briefings was we had roughly half a million hacks a day trying to get into our data systems. We had states around the country thats seen their entire data compromised and we talked about tiktok earlier. There are interests around the world constantly trying to collect information on americans and those cyberattacks happen constantly in Public Institutions and of course weve seen the blackmail thats taken place in business institutions. My answer to your question which i think is a terrific one is the best defense is a good offense. And when it came to cybersecurity in our elections in 2018, we actually authorized elements of the Defense Intelligence agency in ways i cant fully talk about but to go on offense against those who would attempt to interrupt our elections. And engage in cyberattacks around our infrastructure around the country. We were largely almost entirely successful in that regard. My short answer to your question is a good offense is a good defense, that we ought to continue to lean in to use our immense cybercapability to keep those that are trying to intrude on our country back on our heels but it takes eternal offense around the world towards individual institutions and private enterprise. Meg thank you. Next we go to a question from iowa state university. Hello, my name is aiden perry and my question has to do about following the events recently, what would your administration do to prevent aggression towards armenia . Vice president pence thanks for the question. I have had people care deeply about this and begin to talk about what amounts to a genocide by starvation is taking place in that region. Its one more example of the need for strong, consistent American Leadership on the world stage. And i know this is unwelcomed to some people that have a different partisan perspective than me but i must tell you that russias invasion of ukraine is Vladimir Putin is responsible for it but i believe it never would have happened without that disastrous withdrawal from afghanistan that literally saw the Afghan Government collapse. Its that vacuum of leadership were continuing to see other nations in the world move against other populations regionally and the armenian population is among them that is going unchecked. And i really do believe its one of the reasons why i like to say this is no time for on the job training, meg. I not only was Vice President of the United States and traveled the world representing our country and met leaders, countries around the world, both our allies and wouldbe adversaries but also i spent 10 years on the International Relations committee in the house of representatives and traveled as well. I have a deep appreciation for these challenges. I was there and recognized the earlier hundred years ago the earlier Armenian Genocide and fought for the recognition when i was in congress and want you to know were watching very carefullily and prepared to exercise leadership on behalf of the armenians and people in that region today. Meg thank you. Now were going to Clemson University for another question. Hello, my name is emily cope, a Young American ambassador at Clemson University. My question is what do you believe the current state of religious liberty is around the world and what would your administrations Top Priorities be in advancing that liberty around the globe . Vice president pence thanks for a wonderful question. Let me say im very proud of our administrations record on behalf of religious liberty. Its rightly understood to be our first freedom, people that came to this country in the early days, came for religious liberty. And making sure that we had appointments for our courts and made sure we had policies that respected the freedom of religion of every american of every faith was a priority for us. But also advancing religious liberty in the world, holding up that beacon of hope, championing the cause of religious liberty in the world also was a priority. Ambassador Sam Brownback was a former governor, former senator who served as our ambassador for religious liberty around the world. He was intimately involved in an effort that i was also very involved in in freeing Pastor Andrew Brunson from incarceration in turkey. Pastor brunson was literally arrested and incarcerated and threatened with decades of time in jail in turkey for simply living out his faith. And we brought not only was ambassador brownback there day in and day out during the trials but we brought economic pressure and threat of sanctions that ultimately resulted in president ered juan president erdogan to releasing brunson. We worked hard to bring hostages home, including three men who were men of profound Christian Faith detained in north korea. Ill never forget at 3 00 in the morning standing at Andrews Air Force base the day those three americans came down the stairs. Ive still got the three by five card, they handed one to meed a and one to the secretary of state and others with a wonderful bible verse about when the captives are set free but they were people of profound faith and i think its absolutely essential the United States defends first our freedom at home and the freedom of conscience of every american to believe or not to believe according to the dictates of your conscience. Im a christian and cherish my bible based beliefs but if im your president ill fight for the right of every american to believe or not to believe. But i think its also important for america to continue as we sought to do to be a champion of religious liberty around the world and we will. Meg thank you. We have another question here from georgetown university. Thank you. And thank for you being here, mr. Vice president. Im a graduate student here. The future of pepfar has been thrown into doubt due to fighting on capitol hill. Whats your views on the future of pepfar . Vice president pence we had a very good vote a few days ago which i was very pleased to see. I was in the congress when president bush passed pepfar, the africa of aids legislation. And it took some doing to get it done. I remember it was one of those things we took up on the International Relations committee. Theres a real concern wanting to provide resources to combat aids would not inadvertently support candidly support abortion across africa. Im prolife and i hold that view very dear but i also was deeply concerned about the pandemic that was literally poised to claim millions of lives on the african continent. I honestly think the recent vote in the congress where they found another way to reauthorize that program, and they found a way to do so in a way that respects the values of americans that cherish traditional values and the right to life, was a real accomplishment. I mean, on a day when were seeing a lot of chaos on capitol hill, that vote recently on pepfar was great encouragement. I didnt always agree with president george w. Bush particularly on spending and fought against big republican spending when i was in congress but the pepfar program, the aids of Africa Program was one of the signature is achievements of his administration and demonstrated a passion and care of the American People to the wider world and im pleased to see it reauthorized. Meg thank for you that. Well stick with students here in georgetown. We have another question here in gason hall. Hello, mr. Vice president , my name is namir from azerbaijan. If you were elected into office what would your Foreign Policy be in regards to helping create change and peace in the norbono caraba region . Vice president pence it all starts with engagement and strength and it puts American Values and interests in the forefront. And i honestly believe what i said earlier, if america is not leading the free world, the free world is not being led. If were not marshaling the attention and focus on the free world we miss opportunities profoundly in that region and elsewhere. It will be one of engagement. I want to put alive this notion we have to choose between solving problems here at home and leading and engaging in the world. America can do both. We have done both. And we will do both again. Well get our economy moving and secure our border, we can be a leader in energy in the world again. We can protect our liberties and strengthen our nation and engage the wider world where the needs arise. Meg thank you. Yet again well stick with georgetown with another question from our students here. Howdy, my name is john plumber. Vice president pence hi, john. Howdy. Whats your stance on chinas growing influence on africa . Vice president pence first, thanks for knowing about it. A lot of people dont. Chinas been engaging in something called debt diplomacy for some time. We sought to confront it by making investments in countries in the asianpacific. Debt diplomacy is essentially this notion where china provides funds for oftentimes second and third world countries, knowing full well they cant pay back those funds and then in exchange for that, they garner closer ties and in some cases, military bases. To be built. I mean, were seeing china make these kind of investments, not just on the african continent but in Central America and in south america. I must tell you, the time has come in a real sense to send a message to the world we need a 21st century Monroe Doctrine that says to nations around the world this is a hemisphere of freedom and were not going to only compete but put barriers up that could undermine the long term interest of freedom in the western hemisphere. But to the african continent, to your point, its the Chinese Investment there is significant, one of the reasons why the United States with regard to our posture and our engagement in the world and with regard to foreign aid needs to be prepared to compete because, look, these nations dont want to deal with china. They want to deal with the United States of america. And i believe it with all my heart. Yet in the absence of that, theyll go for the resources even if it means the loss of control over aspects of their own future and sovereignty. Meg thank you. Well go to the university of New Hampshire where we have another question. Vice president pence great. Hi again. My next question would be do you consider Climate Change to be a security issue and how would you address it as such . Vice president pence let me first say the climate is changing, it is. Modest changes over the next 100 years. The question is what do you do about it . Theres a lot of very drastic language that gets thrown around this and one prominent member of congress was talking about the seas rising in the next 10 years if we didnt deal with Climate Change in an aggressive way. For my part, where i do think theres a National Security aspect to this for the free world to prosper, america has to prosper. For america to prosper, we have to make sure what we do in this phase does not hamper the American Economy and American Families and businesses at the expense of our country and the advantage of other countries. We got out of the Paris Climate Accord because it expected immediate things of the United States in terms of reducing our carbon footprint. It required 10 years from now china to reduce carbon and india even farther than that. We got out of the Paris Climate Accord but what you may not know is through innovation and diversifying energy sources, we reduced our carbon output during our administration more than what the Paris Climate Accord required. I think the real answer here is to continue to promote American Innovation and even all the Energy Strategy while we commit ourselves to clean air, water, land, and if america is strong, america will be secure and the world will be more peaceful. Meg thank you. Im going to interrupt with breaking news, mr. Vice president. Democrats have joined with republicans to oust Kevin Mccarthy from the speakership of the u. S. House of representatives. Clearly this is developing as were talking right now. But with a Development Like this, what sort of a message do you see Something Like this sending to other countries about the stability of the u. S. Government . The speaker of the house is arguably the most powerful member of that chamber and what do you think it says to countries looking at whats happening here . Vice president pence well, let me say chaos is never americas friend and its never a friend of American Families that are struggling. And im deeply disappointed that a handful of republicans who partnered with all the democrats in the house of representatives to oust the speaker of the house. But i suspect before the week is out there will be more votes on who will be elected speaker of the house. I expect that most of the republicans in the congress will vote again for Kevin Mccarthy, the way they voted 15 times over earlier in the year. What troubles me about this is that none of this and maybe the days and weeks that this will now capture the congress of the United States as doing anything to solve the challenges the American Families are facing in this economy. None of it is doing anything to secure the southern border of the United States, none of it is doing anything to lower the cost of energy putting a tremendous burden on American Families. I think congress will continue to work its will. But for my part, if im president of the United States, im going to work really hard to create an environment in washington, d. C. Where we focus men and women in both Political Parties on the challenges facing our country. I said at the very beginning, meg, the reason im running for president is not because i want to find out what its like to work in the white house. Ive been there, done that. Im running for president of the United States because i think our country is in a lot of trouble, American Families are hurting, the world is becoming more dangerous by the day. And the political performance in washington, d. C. Does little to address the issues the American People are facing. As president of the United States well focus on the needs and challenges and the future of the American People, so help me god. Meg i have one followup. Thank for you that. After the events of january 6, 2021, there were countries abroad who expressed concern about the state of u. S. Government and was unprecedented and something many felt was a symbol perhaps of some instability within the tradition of the United States government. Im not liking the oustership to events of january 6 but events like that, do you think it does signal to our allies and other countries abroad that perhaps the institutions of u. S. Government arent as static or as established as they might seem . Vice president pence well, look, as i said, january 6 was a tragic day, there was a riot at the capitol hill. Thanks to the courage of law enforcement, the riot was quelled. We reconvened congress the very same day and we finished our work under the constitution of the United States. I honestly believe that a day of tragedy with the world watched became a triumph of freedom because our institutions and constitution held. Now whats happening on capitol hill is happening under the rules of the constitution and rules of the congress. For me its still unwelcomed news because at a time so Many Americans are hurting and its the seat of congress turning inward turning inward on divisions which at to rightly be resolved at the beginning of the congress. You elect a speaker and then you move forward. And im disappointed by the news but to your point, i would not liken it to that tragic day 2 1 2 years hence. Meg thank you. Were going to go back to students at georgetown with one more question. Good afternoon, mr. Vice president. Im a student in the school of health, studying Health Care Management and policies. Youve talked today about a lot of many different Foreign Policy issues but my question is it youre elected president , which of those issues is going to be your number one priority . Vice president pence i think the number one priority of any president is to provide for the common defense because a Strong America is a secure america. And a Strong America is the pathway towards a more peaceful world. And as i said early on, i really do believe that while we have the Strongest Military on the planet today, china is working overtime to catch up and cross essentially our military spending is like this and chinas military spending is like this. Those lines will cross and it will not be a good day when they do. If im president of the United States, well see to it we never do. We need to build a 355 ship navy and build out our Ballistic Missile submarine program and modernize our Strategic Forces and bombers. If we do all that, the world is a lot quieter, i promise you. I really do believe that the fact we made historic investments in our military, the largest increase in more than a generation, that we were willing to fire cruise missiles into syria when they used chemical weapons on their own people, we unleashed our military to take down the us us caliphate and their leader and took out salamani, the most dangerous person in the world. I think thats why you didnt see countries like russia try to redraw International Lines during our time because we had American Power and demonstrated a willingness to use american firepower to defend our interests. I go back to this and sounds like im doing politics but im really not, its true. Weakness arouses evil. That disastrous fall from afghanistan has aroused authoritarian people around the world. With regard to chinas ambitions in the asianpacific and with regard to russias war in Eastern Europe, i honestly believe the anecdote to all of that is strength. If im president of the United States, the first thing im going to do in the oval office is pray because im a man of prayer. The second thing im going to do is im going to bring in leaders of the house and senate in both parties, military leaders, and say what do we need to build a military fitted to the times that will achieve security and peace in the 21st century. Meg thank you. We have time for one final question from here at georgetown. Hello, mr. Vice president. My question has to do with iran. In the past few months iran has continued to increase the enrichment of uranium despite warnings and the crackdown of peaceful protesters, along with the death last year of one of them and how would a Pence Administration handle iran . Vice president pence thank you for bringing up such an important issue. We got out of the iran nuclear deal. And the Biden Administration spent the last 2 1 2 years publicly and privately begging the mullahs in iran to get back into the deal. We talked about bringing home americans that were held hostage overseas. Im always glad to see americans come home but transferring 6 billion to the dictators and tyrants in tehran in exchange for six americans being freed was unconscionable and put americans overseas around the world in danger. I mean, now you should never pay ransom for american hostages. And yet this Administration Just did. I just think its part and parcel of that posture that you see in this administration over and over of seeming to ignore many of our allies around the world while at the same time kowtowing to atheory tear yum regimes authoritarian regimes. I would is sent an aircraft carrier, or maybe two. And with regard to iran, we need to send an unambiguous message that well continue to expand the Abraham Accords and isolate iran diplomatically and economically and theres no bigger message to send in the east that america will stand with israel. Well give israel what it needs to defend itself by itself and that in the event that israel would be faced with a military attack, that america will stand by israel shoulder to shoulder. And defend our most cherished ally. Its that kind of unambiguous message i think made progress in the wider middle east, that we put those heavy sanctions on iran, we isolated them as never before but now with this Administration Sending Mixed signals, for heavens sakes, you just saw saudi arabia and iran just negotiate some kind of a treaty between the two of them. The lines are getting very blurred in that part of the world again. But iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world, not just in that region. And i think its absolutely essential the next president of the United States be clear eyed about that and get back to a policy of isolating iran. Last thought, and the president of the United States needs to send a deafening message to the people of iran that we are with you. The truth is that the majority of people in iran are under the age of 40. Its the young population. Its a population that wants to breathe free. You look at the protests that have taken place in the street and particularly courageous women in iran who have been persecuted and jail over the last two years to be put attempted to be put down in silence by the mullahs. Weve got to send a message to the people of iran were with you, were for you, we want to see you have freedom, but at the same time make it clear to iran we will not tolerate their maligned influence and never tolerate them obtaining a Nuclear Weapon and america will always stand with israel no matter what. Meg thank for you that question. I have one more particularly since you were hitting on that part of the world, the saudis, israelis and the u. S. Had been working on potentially a landmark diplomatic deal that would include saudi recognition of israel. Do you see this as a positive development . Vice president pence i do. I think the dialogue is very positive. What i want to understand is the details of it. And in our case, we saw the first peace deal between arab countries in israel in more than 30 years but it all began by recognizing that america stands with israel, that we send a clear and unambiguous message after decades of america attempting to be a honest broker in the middle east and we said were here with israel and if you want to deal in a fairminded way with israel, well facilitate that and help open up commerce and trade and Cultural Exchange and we did. Ive heard from some Foreign Policy friends about some issues in and around that but i want to keep an open mind and for my part, i mean, the Biden Administration wouldnt even use the words Abraham Accords in the first two years and now theres a little bit of effort to try and expand peace in the region. But at a time when we see saudi arabia signing a Peace Agreement with iran, i think it demands American Leadership and demands leadership with experience who knows who were dealing with and how to bring people to the table and if im president of the United States i promise you well do just that. Meg thank for you that. And that brings us to the end of our conversation here today. I want to thank you for your time and willingness to take questions from me as well as students here and across the country. I thank all of you for joining us for this first installment in what will be a series and collaboration between the Associated Press and georgetown university. Its been really great for me as an alum to be back here on the hilltop and hope youll tune in for the next installment in our series. Thank you so much. Vice president pence thank you all for coming out. Thanks, clemson, New Hampshire and iowa state. 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