CQ Transcriptions, March 2, 2007

Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO)
Conservative Political Action Conference
Washington, DC

March 2, 2007

REP. TANCREDO: (Cheers, applause.) Thank you. I think that's the—thank you very much.

I think that's the theme song from "Rocky," if I'm not mistaken, they were playing. I can understand that. There are so many similarities here between myself and Sylvester Stallone. Well, there are a couple, now I come to think of it. At least both of us would be considered at the time he started out as huge long shots, I'm sure of that.

There are some dissimilarities, as if you can't tell, but probably one would be that I think one of us would have to actually walk up the stairs to the Museum of Art in Philadelphia; one could run up the stairs. And the other one is that probably Sylvester Stallone does not smoke cigars.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yeah! Yo! (Scattered applause.)

REP. TANCREDO: But I do! (Laughs.)

And although we are in the midst of — we are in the middle of a place that's run by what I refer to as the "lifestyle Nazis" here in Washington, D.C., that don't let you do things like smoke, even in public places, for God's sake, I want to tell you that in my office, anyway, in the Capitol, you can smoke. (Cheers, applause.) The smoking lamp is lit, even if my next-door-neighbor doesn't like it.

Well, today I want to talk to you about a couple of things. You know, there are — as you probably know, I have talked about my concerns with regard to what is happening in the United States today; the fact that, among other things, there are so many people willing to identify themselves with a hyphen before they get to the word "American," you know, a hyphenated American. And it is disconcerting. There are implications for that that I think are troublesome.

But I'm also troubled, and maybe you are too, by the recent influx of what I would call hyphenated conservatives: neo- conservatives—(audio break)—

(In progress following audio break)—president of the United States, is some kind of conservative. But for those of us who have been conservatives even before Al Gore invented the Internet—(laughter)—I am—I find that this is all mildly sort of amusing. What I want to know is since when is conservatism itself not enough? When exactly has it helped our party, either in politics or in policy, to qualify our commitment to a limited government, the rule of law, a strong national defense, and traditional values?

As best as I can tell, every effort to hyphenate conservatism has led to both policy and electoral catastrophe.

Remember "kinder, gentler" conservatism? Well, that gave us the largest tax increase in the nation's history, and eventually Bill Clinton.

Remember "compassionate" conservatism? That's given us No Child Left Behind; Medicare prescription drugs, which is the largest increase in government since the creation of Medicare. We did it, you know, we, quote, "compassionate conservatives." I was not party to that event, as you might understand. But that happened on our watch. So it gave us that. It gave us open borders. And eventually it gave us Nancy Pelosi as the speaker. (Boos.) Exactly!

Well, all of this is not a coincidence. Throughout the last three decades, a simple yet maybe inconvenient truth has emerged. (Laughter.) When conservatives run on principle, we win. When conservatives run from principle, we lose. (Applause.)

Now, for years conservatives have been warned by political professionals of the cost of standing too strongly on principle. Well today, ladies and gentlemen, we're paying a price for not standing on principle at all. That's why this curious fetish for hyphenated conservatism is so troublesome. Implicit in that is an admission of, and maybe an apology for some inhumanity inherent in the ideas of John Adams, Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan.

Well, you know, what? The only adjective that I will accept on the word "conservative" for me, anyway, is "unapologetic." (Cheers, applause.) Because I, for one—I, for one, am not sorry that we won the Cold War. I am not sorry that we reduced tax rates and created economic opportunities for millions. I am not sorry that we reformed welfare and put millions of people back to work. And I will never, never apologize for America! (Cheers, applause.) It is the last best hope for Western civilization. Let's face it, no one flees for a better life from the United States to, say, Pakistan—(laughter)—or anywhere, for that matter. Why is it so hard for us, why is it so difficult for us to take pride in the fact of, you know, who we are, what we have created, what Western civilization really means?

You know, a little tiny aside, just a tiny little anecdote here because I understand perfectly well it's a small thing, but I think somewhat indicative of what's happening. You know, my wife and I do not enjoy the same type of movies, so we always are in this conflict. So we don't see many movies, frankly. We just—you know, we're always arguing about what we want to see. Well, not too long ago, we finally found —and the only thing we can do now is go to where there's like, you know, 25 pictures playing at the same time so I can find one I like, she finds one she likes, we buy the tickets, we go to the separate shows. That's what we do. Well, so we finally found a show she liked, and I thought, well, I'll go see this Superman picture. It's a brainless little thing, and I'll go. So I go sit down and I'm watching, you know, and it's exactly that, it's, you know, mind-numbing in many ways. But they get to this one part—now, some of you in this audience are old enough to remember this, when—during the early '50s, late '50s early '60s, let's say, when there was a television series called "Superman." And you remember at the beginning of it there was a guy standing there, you know, in his cape, Superman was there and this big flag flying behind him.

And it always started out: "Superman. Able to leap tall buildings with a single bound. Faster than a speeding bullet." And he stands for—(with audience members chiming in) — "truth, justice and the American way," right? Glad you remember that.

In the movie—in this movie, I'm just sitting there listening to it, and the guy is introducing or he's talking about Superman, and he says to somebody who doesn't —he says, "Well, what's this guy all about?" He says, "Well, you know, he stands — he's that guy that says stands for truth, justice and all those other things." You know? You could not put—in the movie shown in the United States of America, you could not put that line "truth, justice and the American way" because we might offend somebody. We're not talking about offending somebody in another country. We're talking about offending people here. How could we say a thing like that? "Truth, justice and the American way" all in one—all in the same sentence. Again, I say, it's a little, tiny thing; I understand it. But I'm—I am concerned about the fact that we are constantly essentially apologizing for who we are and what we are and what we believe in. And I'm never going to do that. (Applause.)

Likewise, genuine conservatism has nothing to apologize for itself. And it's got nothing to lose by making itself heard in this campaign. Conservatism has won before. It will win again, but only when we decide once and for all to discard these meaningless qualifiers.

Conservatism doesn't need an adjective. It needs a leader. (Applause.) And it needs a leader who opposes abortions not because Iowa caucus-goers oppose abortions. It needs a leader who opposes abortions because he knows that God said, "I knew you when you were in the womb." (Applause.)

It needs a leader who believes in a strong national defense because he knows that our enemies are psychopaths, and that our allies are the French. (Laughter, applause.) Conservatives need a leader that believes in enforcing our immigration laws because the first part of "illegal immigrant" is "illegal." (Cheers, applause.)

We need one that understands that there is nothing compassionate about giving amnesty to millions of people who have broken into our country. (Applause.) My compassion — my compassion goes out to the millions of people who have done it the right way, who have stayed in lines, who have paid sometimes thousands of dollars to do it the right way. That's who I feel compassion for. (Applause.)

Well, we should not be too surprised by the rush to the right for the host of new conservative converts during a Republican presidential primary. It happens all the time. It's just that conversions are supposed to be made on the road to Damascus, not the road to Des Moines. (Laughter, applause.)

Now, there are ways, of course, to test candidates to see really if they're committed to some of these concepts. Let's take immigration for a moment. Let's take what kind of a test question we could think of, or several, that you could ask a candidate to see whether they really are committed to immigration reform. Ask them if they believe, as certainly I do, that massive immigration of millions of people—many of whom who do not want to be Americans, by the way—combined with what I certainly call, and I believe we have in this country, call the cult of multiculturalism. Ask them if they believe, number one, that's happening, and number two, if they believe that that is creating in this country sort of a linguistic and cultural tower of babel. I believe it is.

Or I guess you could also just ask them whether they think Miami is becoming a Third World country—(laughs)—as I stated not too long ago. (Scattered applause.) And I did state that, and I reiterate it. I mean, I got in a lot of, well, hot water; what's new about that? We got into a lot of controversy about the fact that I said, you know, I believe Miami is becoming a Third World country. I got a letter back from the governor of Miami—I mean governor of—excuse me—well, because here it is, you know; it's a state, is it a country? (Laughter.)

Well, the governor of the state, and he said, "Congressman Tancredo, you know, here in Florida, and especially in Miami, we cherish the idea, we celebrate the idea of diversity." And I said, "It is great to celebrate diversity. I'm all for celebrating diversity. But when you make a state religion out of it, that's when you have a problem." And that is exactly what is happening in this country. (Applause.)

In a Time magazine article, I will never forget there was a quote by a leader in—he was identified as a leader in the Cuban exile community in Florida.

And certainly not all of the folks there feel as this guy does. But here's what he said —I will never forget it. He said he loved Miami because it was a city in which you never felt any pressure to be an American. (Moans.) Isn't that something to be proud of, I asked the governor?

These are the things that I am concerned—you ask other—and I want you to put people to the test: Do they believe that we are risking something very, very important in this country by this—by the creation of this linguistic and cultural Tower of Babel? And I believe most of them will run away from the question.

Ask them if they agree with me that we should be doing everything possible to confront the Bank of America—or as I say, "Banco de Las Americas." (Applause.) Because of their willingness to aid and abet—which is exactly what they are doing. When you create an account that is specifically designed for people who are not in this country illegally (sic\legally)—which is exactly what they have done—then you are aiding and abetting. That is actually against the law. Not that anybody in this administration is going to actually enforce it, but it is against the law. (Applause.) Will they confront this issue?

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: No!

REP. TANCREDO: No, I don't believe so.

Will any of these top-tier candidates—and I know—I know, by the way, that Duncan Hunter has been really heavily involved in this issue, and God bless him for it. I will tell you, I admire and respect him tremendously for his efforts in this area. But how many others will go to the point of actually defending Ramos and Compean? How many people will join us in asking the president for a pardon? How many people will say this was a travesty of justice that these two people are serving in prison today, and the guy who was bringing in the drugs is free and suing the United States of America for $5 million! (Cheers, applause.)

This is justice—this is justice turned upside down and on its ear. This is what makes people so frustrated. And I understand, I understand how they feel. I am—believe me, being in Congress, I am just as frustrated. I remember the comments of a senator once who retired, and they were asking him, "What's the difference now that you're retired?" He was a liberal Democrat. He said, "Well, I was home today and I was reading about these damn Bush tax cuts." And he said, "Boy, I was just so frustrated."

And he said, I told my wife, I don't know whether I'm more frustrated by being here at home, reading about these things, and knowing I can't do a darn thing about it, or being in the Senate and reading about it and knowing I can't do a darn thing about it.

Well, I feel often the same way. I'm in Congress, and I feel frustrated by not being able to do a darn thing about it. But I guarantee you, whoever becomes the president of the United States better do something about it, or we have lost this country.

MR. : Yes.

REP. TANCREDO: It is that simple. (Applause.)

But most of these candidates, most of the candidates and even the top-tier candidates, especially the top-tier candidates—I always say the, you know, tall guys with good hair, but I can't really say that all the time now. (Laughter.) But you know who I mean, okay? The guys with all the money, all the—you know, do you think that they're actually going to join us in this crusade? I don't believe so, and I in fact know so. I know from what they've said that they will run away from this, and they can't. That's why I am going to do everything I can to force them into the position of dealing with this. (Cheers, applause.)

They don't want to acknowledge what millions of Americans know to be true. Millions of Americans see it in their communities every single day. They know what's happening here, but these top-tier candidates don't want to talk about it. They'll use phrases when they talk about immigration like "a comprehensive plan": euphemism for amnesty. When they talk about abortion, they'll talk about the—I am personally pro-life, when they really mean, hey, it's a woman's body, after all, and she has the right to do anything she wants with the other body that's inside of her at the time.

Now if these phrases sound like they're written by political handlers, it's because they are. They're designed to shield politicians from their principles, not to reveal truth but to obscure it, to leave conservatives wondering about what politicians really believe and intend to do. It is from such phrases, from the hacks who write them to the politicians who utter them, that our political process, our party and our movement must be rescued. (Applause.) If you want to call me a single-issue candidate, that's fine, just so long as you know that my single issue is the survival and the success of the conservative movement in America. (Cheers, applause.)

So yes, we have an exploratory committee, yes, and I know that I am as long a shot as there is out there. I know that this is the sort of ultimate David and Goliath experience for me, and with which I am engaged. Hey, but David won. I always think of that. (Laughter.)

And I don't know, if you are like me—and I don't know, I know that there are a lot of folks in the crowd who don't agree with what I'm saying here today and think, oh my goodness, he's just pushing the envelope a little too hard; he's a little too extreme. Okay, it's fine. All I ask of you, all I ask of you, all I hope for you is what I hope for me, and that is that I will have a candidate in this presidential election that I can vote for, if you know what I mean—(applause)—be happy about, be excited about.

I don't—I'm so tired of voting because the person is the lesser of two evils, right? I want to be able to vote for somebody, for somebody that I believe is leading a crusade, for somebody who I want to actually participate in that crusade, because they inspire me to do so.

And I may not be that for you; I understand. But look for that in whoever it is you're going to support. Force that to the top, to the heap of all the characteristics that you're looking for. Be happy about who you're going to support, because there's going to be a lot of work involved with trying to elect them.

And you know what? It may be—it just may be that in a world where presidential campaigns think they have to raise a million dollars a week and ramp up national organizations more than a year in advance—actually, a year before even the first vote is cast—maybe a small band of patriots can't make a difference, not the way it once could. Well, I don't believe it. In a world at war, and with the very survival of Western civilization at risk, with the Supreme Court potentially one death or retirement away from reversing Roe versus Wade, with the baby boomers' budget-busting retirement looming and with Bill Clinton already measuring the drapes in the White House—(laughter)—

AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Off mike.)

AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Whoops.) (Applause.)

REP. TANCREDO:—(chuckles)—we as conservatives cannot afford to sit this one out. We're not supposed to be just another interest group, acting coy, sizing up the potential suitors, holding out for the best deal that our leaders can cut. Conservative movement is not supposed to choose a candidate. It's supposed to produce one. (Applause.)

Well, that's why I'm here today. I want to give voice to every conservative in this country unheard and unrepresented by the current slate of candidates.

I want to sound those first principles of our movement—freedom, security and dignity—as exclamation points in a campaign that's full of hyphens and question marks.

I want to remind our party of the principles upon which all our past victories have been won. And I want to win them again.

So today I ask you all, in one way or the other, whether you join Team Tancredo or not, please do this: Step into the breach. Join me and as many of our countrymen as will follow armed only with the power of our ideas and the humble courage that comes in knowing that the good fight is always worth fighting.

God bless you all. (Cheers, applause.)