by Rep. John R. Carter
Following the first Presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, I am reminded why we must not allow Hillary Clinton to become President of the United States.
While I recognize Donald Trump missed a number of opportunities, let me point out some major challenges our great nation faces, and the continued failures of the policies and experiences of Hillary Clinton.
When the moderator asked about cyber-security, it was laughable to me to even take any answer by Secretary Clinton as credible. This is someone who repeatedly put our nation at risk by emailing sensitive and classified information over a private server, outside the security of the State Department’s servers.
This is the same person that had 30,000 emails deleted from that server, whose staff has pleaded the 5th Amendment with the FBI and the House Oversight Committee, and who has been extremely irresponsible with our nation’s secrets. While testifying before the House Oversight Committee, the FBI director pointed out that Secretary Clinton either did not have the capacity to comprehend the classification system, or the knowledge to know the difference between classified information and unclassified information. After being the First Lady of the United States for eight years, a U.S. Senator for eight years and the Secretary of State for four years, I find it outrageous that she would not know any better. She is either totally inept, or just highly reckless with our nation’s secrets.
Additionally, when asked about ISIS, Donald Trump made a good point, that when Mrs. Clinton became Secretary of State, ISIS was but a blip on the radar, six years later ISIS was operating in 18 countries, and wreaking havoc throughout the Middle East. This is not a record of success and accomplishment. This is a consequence of a failed foreign policy, which as Secretary of State, she spearheaded.
Mrs. Clinton brought up the agreement to exit Iraq as a leading cause of the rise of ISIS. That agreement she pointed out was negotiated under the Administration of President George W. Bush, and while she was a U.S. Senator. If the agreement was so bad, and we should not have exited Iraq due to the vacuum it created, then as Secretary of State, Mrs. Clinton should have spoken up, she should have taken the lead, and renegotiated the terms, and kept a number of U.S. troops in Iraq to hold and secure the nation, and thwart the rise of ISIS and cut them off before they spread.
And let’s not forget Libya and Benghazi. As Secretary of State, Mrs. Clinton had the authority and responsibility to protect our diplomats and assets overseas. She failed. Not only did she fail Ambassador Stevens and the three other Americans lost that day, but she failed our entire nation by misleading the American people on the cause of the terrorist attack on our consulate. This is not the experience we need in the White House.
For the past 24 years Mrs. Clinton has been either in the White House as First Lady, a U.S. Senator, the Secretary of State, or a candidate for President. She has had her chance, and she has not led. The experience she brings to the table may be vast, but as Mr. Trump stated, it is bad. Her record of failures proves his point, and that is not the experience we need to lead our nation against the growing global threats to our freedoms.
Rep. Carter represents Texas District 31, which includes Fort Hood, the largest active duty armored military installation in the free world. He serves as Chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Appropriations, co-chairman of the House Army Caucus, is on the Subcommittee for Commerce, Justice and Science and the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.
