sedan
04-08-2007, 08:48 PM
WALLACE: Let me bring in Speaker Gingrich.
Speaker, in fairness, when you were speaker, you made a number of foreign trips. You expressed opinions when you were overseas. So have other speakers. Is the outrage here basically political?
GINGRICH: Look, there's a huge difference, and I think Senator Schumer would agree. Every legislator should be encouraged to travel. Every legislator should go on fact-finding. Every legislator should learn about the world.
What I found amazing about Speaker Pelosi's visit to Damascus was, first of all, the exact opposite of what's happening with Governor Richardson.
Governor Richardson has been encouraged to go to North Korea by the Bush administration. Speaker Pelosi was publicly asked not to go to Damascus and rejected it.
Second, she claimed to be carrying a diplomatic message from the Israeli prime minister which the Israeli prime minister promptly disowned and said she got it wrong.
We do not want 535 secretaries of state running around the planet confusing dictators by letting them think that there are two or three or four or five Americas. I think it was a major mistake.
I wish she would just relax, say in the future she's going to go on trips in coordination with the executive branch. I think it's very important not to have two foreign policies. And I think it's very dangerous for America to do what Speaker Pelosi did.
WALLACE: Mr. Speaker, we looked at your record. And let's put up some of the instances.
During a trip to China in 1997, you told leaders there, "We will defend Taiwan, period," when U.S. policy on defending Taiwan was much vaguer than that.
Just before a trip to Israel in 1998, you said, "I think it's wrong for the American secretary of state," Madeleine Albright, "to become the agent for the Palestinians."
In fact, weren't you far more provocative than Speaker Pelosi?
GINGRICH: Look, Speaker Pelosi can be very provocative in the U.S. What I said in China, by the way, was U.S. policy.
WALLACE: Well, not according to the Clinton administration, it wasn't.
GINGRICH: Well, President Clinton had just put U.S. aircraft carriers in the Straits of Taiwan. I mean, the American position has always been we do not recognize Taiwan as an independent country. We would protect Taiwan if there was a Chinese — if the People's Republic invaded Taiwan.
And I think it was very important for the Chinese to understand that there was a unified agreement. They were being very aggressive at that time.
WALLACE: And what about saying that Madeleine Albright was an agent for the Palestinians?
GINGRICH: I think at the time she was taking steps that were very, very pro-Palestinian.
WALLACE: But you understand my point that it looks like there are two foreign policies.
GINGRICH: The one time that I said something that was too strong when I was outside the U.S. — I didn't say anything in the U.S. That's part of the American political system.
The one time I said there was something wrong, I said publicly I'd made a mistake and I pulled back, because I do believe that you have to coordinate.
And I think that both Sandy Berger and President Clinton would tell you that we talked constantly about foreign policy and tried to work together on a whole range of issues on foreign policy.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,264836,00.html
Speaker, in fairness, when you were speaker, you made a number of foreign trips. You expressed opinions when you were overseas. So have other speakers. Is the outrage here basically political?
GINGRICH: Look, there's a huge difference, and I think Senator Schumer would agree. Every legislator should be encouraged to travel. Every legislator should go on fact-finding. Every legislator should learn about the world.
What I found amazing about Speaker Pelosi's visit to Damascus was, first of all, the exact opposite of what's happening with Governor Richardson.
Governor Richardson has been encouraged to go to North Korea by the Bush administration. Speaker Pelosi was publicly asked not to go to Damascus and rejected it.
Second, she claimed to be carrying a diplomatic message from the Israeli prime minister which the Israeli prime minister promptly disowned and said she got it wrong.
We do not want 535 secretaries of state running around the planet confusing dictators by letting them think that there are two or three or four or five Americas. I think it was a major mistake.
I wish she would just relax, say in the future she's going to go on trips in coordination with the executive branch. I think it's very important not to have two foreign policies. And I think it's very dangerous for America to do what Speaker Pelosi did.
WALLACE: Mr. Speaker, we looked at your record. And let's put up some of the instances.
During a trip to China in 1997, you told leaders there, "We will defend Taiwan, period," when U.S. policy on defending Taiwan was much vaguer than that.
Just before a trip to Israel in 1998, you said, "I think it's wrong for the American secretary of state," Madeleine Albright, "to become the agent for the Palestinians."
In fact, weren't you far more provocative than Speaker Pelosi?
GINGRICH: Look, Speaker Pelosi can be very provocative in the U.S. What I said in China, by the way, was U.S. policy.
WALLACE: Well, not according to the Clinton administration, it wasn't.
GINGRICH: Well, President Clinton had just put U.S. aircraft carriers in the Straits of Taiwan. I mean, the American position has always been we do not recognize Taiwan as an independent country. We would protect Taiwan if there was a Chinese — if the People's Republic invaded Taiwan.
And I think it was very important for the Chinese to understand that there was a unified agreement. They were being very aggressive at that time.
WALLACE: And what about saying that Madeleine Albright was an agent for the Palestinians?
GINGRICH: I think at the time she was taking steps that were very, very pro-Palestinian.
WALLACE: But you understand my point that it looks like there are two foreign policies.
GINGRICH: The one time that I said something that was too strong when I was outside the U.S. — I didn't say anything in the U.S. That's part of the American political system.
The one time I said there was something wrong, I said publicly I'd made a mistake and I pulled back, because I do believe that you have to coordinate.
And I think that both Sandy Berger and President Clinton would tell you that we talked constantly about foreign policy and tried to work together on a whole range of issues on foreign policy.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,264836,00.html