National Security
: Under what conditions is the United States justified in taking pre-emptive military action against targets in another country?
Sen. Kerry: "As president, I will never hesitate to use military force to pre-empt any imminent threat to our nation's security. I will never give any country or any international institution a veto over our national security. I will use all of America's power to defeat terrorists before they strike us."
President Bush: "The United States must work to promote peace around the world by denying terrorists the ability to inflict damage on us. We live in an era where terrorists and rogue dictators are trying to obtain weapons of mass destruction and the means to deploy them. We cannot wait for terrorists to develop these weapons and attack us without warning. The military option is always the last option, but my administration will use all means necessary to deal with any threat to our national security, including military power. To ensure our national security, America must be forward-looking and resolute, and prepared to act whenever it is necessary to defend our liberty and our lives."
Trade
Q: Has the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada been good, on balance, for the U.S. economy?
Bush: "NAFTA has enabled Mexico, Canada and the United States to expand our solid, dynamic and mutually beneficial trading partnership. In its first 10 years, NAFTA has helped increase exports to Canada and Mexico by 85 percent. NAFTA has been a powerful force for increasing the international competitiveness of all three economies, for attracting enormous flows of inward investment and for contributing to the record productivity growth we have experienced for the past decade. My administration has enforced our trade agreements fairly. These agreements are helping to in-source hundreds of thousands of jobs to the United States. More than 6 million Americans draw their paychecks from foreign companies, working right here in the United States. We will continue to pursue free and fair trade agreements that will open foreign markets to American businesses and ensure that our trading partners are abiding by their commitments."
Kerry: "President Clinton was trying to move us in the right direction on job creation and on including labor and environmental standards in trade agreements. I supported him, and I made the right decision. We created jobs and opened markets, but since then we have learned that we need to go even further on labor and environment standards. John Edwards and I will fight so strong, and enforceable labor and environmental standards are included in the core of future trade agreements, like they were in the Jordan Free Trade Agreement. And we will enforce our trade deals, so that NAFTA and future agreements do not allow investment rules to undermine environmental standards either here or in our trading partners"
