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The Home Stretch
It’s a “Super Bowl for political junkies” and an “All-Star night” combined; Congressman Jim Ramstad speaks to Senate District 41
On a night replete with sports analogies, over 80 Edina and West Bloomington residents could have easily been mistaken for gathering for a two-week-out pre-election tailgate party. Preparing for what Rep. Jim Ramstad described as “the Super Bowl for political junkies,” Senate District 41 co-chair Jerry Paar set the mood by noting the turnout of GOP greats in the region, including former St. Sen. Roy Terwilliger, current Education Commissioner Alice Seagren, and Hennepin County Sheriff candidate Rich Stanek, meant for an “All-Star night” of political speakers.
But the night’s MVP was speaker Jim Ramstad, who was thrilled to be back in Senate District 41, the “the rock of Gibraltar” and “the heart and soul” of Minnesota Republicans. Ramstad noted the “truly great tradition of public service” in the district which he felt mirrored his own “call to public service, not higher office.” It’s a sense of duty Ramstad has carried since his days as a young boy in Jamestown, North Dakota when at the age of only 10 he campaigned for President Dwight D. Eisenhower by pulling his little red wagon holding Eisenhower signs.
That sense of duty and responsibility has molded Ramstad’s views on U.S. current foreign policy, a topic the eight-term Congressman covered extensively in his discussion. Viewing nuclear proliferation as the greatest threat to American security, Ramstad reiterated the need to keep such weapons out of the hands of dictators as North Korea’s Kim Jong Il, noting that should terrorists obtained Weapons of Mass Destruction, the casualty figures will be much higher than the 3,000 lost on September 11th. Ramstad also spoke favorably of the Bush administration’s embrace of benchmarks in Iraq, stating of the conflict that “we owe it to the Iraqis and to ourselves to see Iraq through.”
What isn’t a potentially contentious issue for Ramstad is the improved security on the home front, emphatically answering with a ‘Yes’ his own question of “Are we safer now than five years ago?” Homeland security is increasingly coordinated and while border security “still isn’t perfect”, its improving and getting better. Port security is vastly improved, with 95% of cargo containers being inspected.
A big part of the reason for the success of such security, Ramstad maintains, is because of information garnered from detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Ramstad spoke passionately against those who have attempted to define the activities at Guantanamo as anything less than legal. “Don’t let our friends on the left tell you that’s torture,” Ramstad said, noting that terrorist defendants have more rights than other unlawful international combatants and more due process than their fellow terrorists gave Americans on the morning of September 11th.
Ramstad spoke glowingly of jobs growth over the past few years - but not so glowingly of those who have downplayed the effects. “This President and this Congress aren’t getting enough credit for the economy,” citing that the current residents of Washington understand much like John F. Kennedy in the 60s or Ronald Reagan in the 80s that tax cuts help the economy. The choice this election, Ramstad said, was simple - more tax cuts or more tax increases. With much of the tax relief set to expire over the next two years, without re-passing legislation, rates are due to return to their previous levels by 2011.
The Congressman closed with an issue of major importance to him - immigration reform. With “12 million [illegal immigrants] here and already marching for amnesty,” Ramstad had profound concerns about granting citizenship to “lawbreakers.” “It’s a slap in the face to those people who come here legally,” Ramstad said, talking about his frequent trips to naturalization services, not to mention a massive drain on the country’s educational and health care resources. “It’s also a national security issue,” he reminded his audience.
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