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Rep. Duncan Hunter of California brought his presidential campaign back to the Upstate after a lengthy absence with an appearance Nov. 29 at Tommy’s Ham House in Greenville.
Hunter, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, is in the low single digits in polls, yet he reminded reporters that in the Spartanburg straw poll earlier this year he tied for first place with Rudy Giuliani and Sen. John McCain with 22 percent of the vote.
Even though the man on the street may not know his name, Hunter said, “when we get our message out: strong national defense, enforceable borders, bringing back high-paying manufacturing jobs, we do well.” He said that when he can get groups of Republicans together for several minutes he can convince them he is the candidate they should support. Hunter is the author of legislation that President Bush signed to build a border fence with Mexico.
Hunter commented on a couple of items in the news. He recommended that Israel not give up any land in negotiations with the Palestinians.
In the aftermath of the Chinese not allowing the USS Kitty Hawk and other U.S. Navy ships to dock in Hong Kong, Hunter said he had sent a letter to President Bush that morning asking the president to meet with leaders of the defense and intelligence committees to discuss an American response to “this new belligerent policy of China.” He noted that the emerging Chinese military capability is financed by American trade dollars.
Hunter joined with Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) to introduce a bill that keeps China from cheating on trade, stems the erosion of American jobs, and stops the displacement of the American industrial base from the United States to China. He noted that China has taken nearly 30,000 jobs from South Carolina alone.
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