New Jersey Gov Chris Christie, Republican candidate for president, talked with about 50 persons at the Uptown Café in Jefferson Dec. 4. Christie was up close and personal, using a conversational style as he stood in the center of the room surrounded by potential voters.
Christie is in his second four-year term as governor of New Jersey.
He led his comments with the Dec. 2 mass shooting in San Bernardino, CA. Prior to being elected governor of New Jersey, Christie was a federal prosecutor for seven years. He was sworn in Sept. 10, 2001, and prosecuted many cases dealing with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Christie said he recognized the San Bernardino attack as an act of terrorism immediately, while that information didn’t become available until hours before Christie’s Jefferson visit. “Whether you’re here in Jefferson, IA, or whether you’re in my hometown of 5,000 people in Menden, New Jersey, or whether you live in New York City or Los Angeles, California, if a center for the developmentally disabled in San Bernardino, California, is a target for an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack, then every place in America is a target for an ISIS terrorist attack,” Christie said.
He said the nation is at “great risk,” that the President and some Republican members of Congress took tools away from the intelligence community, and a “general sense of complacency” has led us to become more insecure and vulnerable. “What’s added to that is a president who doesn’t understand these things,” he said.
Christie called terrorism “the next world war,” with radical Islamic jihadism the enemy, “that through violence wants to impose on us their religion, their point of view, and do so by force. We need to fight back. We need to fight back in every way we can,” he said.
About the campaign, Christie said the entertainment portion is over. “It’s been fun, a lot of interesting folks, a lot of colorful characters, a lot of interesting and good fun. But it’s over now. The attacks at Paris and the attacks at San Bernardino tell us that the job of the president of the United States is not the Entertainer in Chief. It’s not the guy who makes us laugh the most. It’s not the guy who’s necessarily the best on television. It’s the person who’s most prepared to take on the awesome responsibilities that the presidency places in your lap, if it’s bestowed upon you,” he said.
He asked voters watching the Dec. 15 presidential debate on CNN to ask three questions before any of the candidates speak: “Based on what you’ve observed and watched already, and what you know of the world, who’s the most tested, Who’s the most mature, and who, based on their experience, is the most ready to be president of the United States?”
According to Christie, the first job of the president is to protect the safety of the American people. “Our nation is under siege, whether the President wants to believe it or not. We need someone who’s going to be willing to stand up and fight that fight and lead the country in that fight,” he said.
Christie then responded to questions. To a question about his strategy against ISIS, Christie said he would protect the US by increasing intelligence capability and providing more tools to law enforcement, and that he would pull together an alliance of NATO countries and our Arab allies to fight ISIS. The U.S. would lead the fight, but would not fight alone. He said cutting off oil and the supply of arms, and disrupting ISIS’ financial networks would be part of the strategy.
When asked about international relationships, Christie characterized China as a school bully trying to claim the spot of Number 1 economy in the world. “They’re competing with us and sometimes that competition goes over the line. When it does, we’ve to push back. They need to know not only what we aspire to be, but they need to know the limits of our patience.”
“When the hack the Office of Personnel Management, remember, they’re a closed society. They hide lots of things from their people. I’d find the things that are the most sensitive to them, I’d hack it, and then put it into the newspaper,” he said.
About Russia, Christie said we have allowed Vladimir Putin “out of his cage” as evidence by his actions in Crimea, Ukraine and Syria. “We need to let Putin know that he cannot act without violent impunity against people around the world and expect to remain our friend.” He suggested economic sanctions against Russia to get Putin “back under some kind of control.”
About Hillary Clinton and her emails, Christie said he is confident the Justice Department will handle any possible criminal charges and he reminded the questioner that people are considered innocent until proven guilty. He said that as U.S. attorney, he prosecuted Republicans and Democrats alike. “Justice isn’t Republican or Democrat. Justice is enforcing the law, and if a Republican breaks the law, it’s just as wrong as when a Democrat does,” he said.
To a question about his vision for public education, Christie answered that there must be more accountability from parents, teachers and administrators, and that schools need to update their technology. He said the federal government would not increase its role in setting standards and that we would abolish any core curriculum. Funding would come as block grants with all decisions made locally, but there would be financial penalties for districts that did not demonstrate sufficient results with federal dollars received.
About the cost of higher education, Christie said college graduates should be allowed to refinance their student debt to their best advantage, and that students should be able to engage in non-military national service as a way to earn loan forgiveness. Colleges and universities should have to detail all their fees up front and itemize their bills, allowing students not to pay for services or facilities they do not use. Enforcement would come through denying access to the federal student loan program and federal grants to students to schools who refuse to unbundle their charges.
To a question about immigration, Christie said he would work to secure the border, using a wall or fence in the most populated areas; embed FBI, DEA and FTA agents with border patrols; put cameras and drones in the remote sections of the border; and require all employers to use e-Verify to ascertain employment status and levy heavy fines against employers who hire illegal residents. “They’re part of the problem,” he said about those employers. “If they weren’t hiring those folks, they wouldn’t come.”
Finally, we would develop a visa program “that makes sense.” He said 40 percent of the 11 million illegal residents came into the country with valid visas but did not leave when the visa expired. He said fingerprint technology allows for better “tracking” of people.
He also said that Christie said it would be impossible to deport the 11 million illegal residents over two years’ time. “Beware of people who say they have quick solutions to problems,” he warned.
He suggested that his plan is realistic and reasonable, and would decrease the number of illegal residents gradually over time, and not with enormous expense.
In closing, Christie said, “I believe in the 120,000 or so Iowa Republicans who are going to caucus. I believe in your wisdom. I believe in your ability to discern who the folks are who really deserve a chance at the presidency. I think in the next 60 days you’re going to hear a lot of stuff from us, both on TV and in person, but take your time with that. Pick the person you think will do the best job. I want your vote, by the way.”
