On the recordJanuary 9, 2018
The gentleman and I have been to Iraq a number of times together, to Afghanistan, to different places in the world. It seems pretty clear, after our effort to create a democratic republic in Iraq, that if a nation's people have not been properly prepared and educated to maintain a democratic republic, they won't keep it. It seems pretty clear from the places we have been together. I will never forget Christian friends that I made in west Africa, who sat me down at the end of the week and said they wanted me to understand that they were so thrilled when we elected our first Black President. But since he was elected, they said: We have seen America get weaker and weaker, and we wanted to make sure you took a message back to Washington that we are Christians, we know where we go when we die. But our only chance of having peace in this life is if America is strong. I will never forget those words. They said: Please stop getting weaker. We suffer when you are weaker. And most of the people who are pouring across the United States for a better way of life, they are not coming to weaken us. They are coming with their own hopes and aspirations. But I ask: What would be better? What better neighbor would we be to continue until so many come in, our system fails and goes bankrupt, as California is doing now? Or would we be better to say: Let's build a wall where it is necessary. Let's totally secure our border.…
