Hilleary's Leadership Vs Corker's Caution
Posted on March 02, 2006
NASHVILLE, TN -Former Congressman Van Hilleary, the Republican frontrunner for Tennessee's open U.S. Senate seat, today issued the following statement highlighting the difference between his approach and Bob Corker's approach to the Dubai World Port issue.
"Bob Corker says it is possible the Dubai port deal is acceptable. I do not. This is a difference between him and me. Being a leader means knowing the difference between right and wrong and I can tell you as a Desert Storm veteran who volunteered to go to the Middle East to fight the aggression of the world's biggest terrorist and was stationed in the United Arab Emirates, this deal is wrong. You don't give a key to the front door of our country to a nation whose record on terror is as mixed as the UAE's. Period.
"I say revoke the ports deal with Dubai right now. Bob Corker says we should wait and study it some more. There is nothing we can possibly learn in the next 45 days that will change the fact that the United Arab Emirates as a matter of principle should not control our ports.
"Bob Corker says 'I think we should err on the side of being cautious as it relates to our national security'(The Tennessean, 3/2/06). What a delicate way to put it. I don't think there's any erring to it. I think we protect and defend America at all costs and in this case that means stopping this ports deal right now.
"If you want a Senator who will use mushy language or always want to commission a study, I'm not your guy. But if you want a Senator who knows right from wrong and is willing to stand up and say so, I'm your man."
Dubai Ports World is owned by the government of the UAE. Some of the September 11th hijackers used the UAE as an operational and financial base. The UAE was used to wire money to terrorists and served as an important transfer point of smuggled nuclear components sent to Iran, North Korea and Libya by a Pakistani scientist.
Van Hilleary, a Desert Storm veteran and a four-term Congressman has built a reputation as a straight-talking sincere conservative who stands his ground. In Washington, he was a leader in Class of '94, which enacted a conservative agenda that lowered taxes, reformed welfare and balanced the federal budget for the first time in a generation. Van opposed President Clinton's left-wing agenda on the Budget and Armed Services Committees. Van has always been an advocate of private property rights and of the pro-life cause. At home in Tennessee, Hilleary has been one of the state's leading and most outspoken conservatives - standing up to Don Sundquist and Jimmy Naifeh when they tried to impose a state income tax, even as many other prominent Republicans stood by in silence. Van is a long-time grass-roots party leader. He campaigned for legislative challengers across the state, including challengers to Democrat leaders John Wilder and Jimmy Naifeh, while other leading Republicans refused to help in those tough races.
Hilleary starts out the race in the strongest political position. Scientifically sound polling conducted on August 15, 2005 shows Hilleary at 33%, Ed Bryant 15%, and Bob Corker 4% in the GOP primary race.
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