CFR tracks U.S. presidential candidates

Recently a tipster e-mailed us to the Council on Foreign Relations’ page tracking the U.S. presidential candidates and their views on different issues. Two sections of note regarding the Americas have to do with U.S. policy on Cuba and immigration.

The following are some excerpts from a few of the candidates on those two sections.

-On Cuba:

“(Senator Hillary) Clinton ‘is going with the status quo’ on Cuba policy, said Sergio Bendixen, an expert in Hispanic public opinion research, in the Washington Post in 2007. In a recent Senate vote, Clinton supported maintaining funding for TV Marti, television programming that the U.S. attempts to broadcast in Cuba.

(Rudy) Giuliani is critical of Castro, which he made clear during the debate over whether or not to return Cuban child Elian Gonzales to Cuba in 2000…His views of the embargo or on other U.S. policy toward Cuba are unknown, however.”

-On immigration:

“Sen. (Barack) Obama proposed three amendments that were included in the Senate Immigration Reform Bill last year, including one that mandates that jobs be offered to American workers at a “prevailing wage” before they are offered to guest workers…Obama opposed an amendment to the Senate immigration reform bill of June 2007 that would prevent immigrants with a criminal record from gaining legal status (AP).

Sen. (John) McCain (R-AZ) has been a moderate voice who supports both increased border security and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. McCain was the only GOP candidate (FOX) to support the recent immigration reform bill.”

Please feel free to examine these and the other “issue trackers” for the U.S. presidential hopefuls.

Sources- Council on Foreign Relations

Images- Fora.tv (Hillary Clinton speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in October 2006)