US Senate candidate sounds off on immigration, guns, Trump
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney brought his campaign for U.S. Senate to Price Saturday, which included a discussion with local dignitaries and an interview with the Sun Advocate.
The 2012 Republican nominee for president sat down with local elected officials to discuss issues and concerns over lunch at the Main Street Grill, and then stopped by the Sun Advocate office.
Romney, during a sit-down interview, returned to states’ rights and responsibilities again and again, from health care to gun violence and management of public lands. As governor, Romney helped develop and implement healthcare reform legislation, but he said, “It’s not something that should be imposed as a one-size-fits-all plan by the federal government, but instead allow states to craft their own program.”
In regard to balancing second amendment rights with public safety, Romney said he is not inclined to support new federal legislation other than more enhanced background checks.
“I think we can have pretty broad agreement that people who have mental illness or pose threats to themselves or to others should be restricted in purchasing firearms.”
He said the question of how we protect our schools, “is again approached at the state level. My orientation is, let’s let states deal with issues related to school safety.”
Romney said he was pleased to receive President Donald Trump’s endorsement for his campaign for U.S. Senate. He said despite differences in the past, he and Trump are on the same page on policy, at least in Trump’s first year: lower taxes, lower regulation, and pushing back against government overreach.
“These are all things where we see eye-to-eye; and where I’ve disagreed with him, I have pointed that out. I think the president respects people who say what they feel, who are not politically correct, who call ‘em like they see ‘em. And that’s what I do.”
Romney said there is no question Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. elections, but he said he didn’t believe it determined the outcome of the presidential race. He said Vladimir Putin is “a bad guy” when it comes to principals that we think are enduring and valuable, and he will continue to poke a stick in the eye of America and other great democracies, and that’s something we’re going to have to guard against.
“What he wants is a destruction of the principle of real democracy, and he wants liberal democracy to fade away and authoritarian rule to take its place.”
Romney said leaders in both Russia and China want a model where people don’t have true freedom, where their news is filtered, where opponents are jailed or killed, and where the very few are able to make vast sums of money through their ownership of government structure.
With respect to the civil war in Syria, Romney said we are involved to some degree, but it’s too late for the U.S. to deploy troops. “What’s happening in Syria right now continues to break one’s heart, and I look back and say that actions not taken under the Obama years were largely responsible or partially responsible for the ongoing tragedy there.”
He said the war on terror continues despite gains made against ISIS and other terrorist organizations. He noted, “There will be attacks in free nations as there have been and these attacks have not gone away. They will continue, I’m afraid, and so we will have to continue to vigilant and push against them.” But he said the structure of ISIS has been dealt a blow by taking away their land and their oil revenue.
Romney supports securing the borders and sanctions on employers who hire illegal immigrants. “I do think that if you want to stop illegal immigration in its tracks, the best way to do so is with the e-verify system being upgraded and being made much easier for people to access, so employers can find out whether someone they intend to hire is legal or not legal.” He said if they’re not legal and they are hired anyway, the employer should be sanctioned in a major way and be punished for doing so.
At the same time, Romney said that legal immigration is good for Utah and good for the country, and there is a process for legal immigration that includes visas for temporary workers, agricultural workers and others. There is also a process for permanent legal immigration.
He said the local economy should be built not only on natural resource development, but also on USU Eastern and tourism. He said education is key to keeping young people from migrating to more populous areas to find work, and declared, “Higher education in particular is an extraordinary asset right here in Price.”
The primary election is set for June 26 and the general election will be held on November 6.