Pete Hoekstra Quotes

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Pete Hoekstra

Profession : Politician

Birth : October 30, 1953

The answer as to why ISIS gained power and influence, and why stability in the Middle East has disastrously deteriorated, does not require extensive analysis.

Pete Hoekstra

The Obama-Clinton administration gambled with America's national security by embracing radical jihadists, and the world lost.

Pete Hoekstra

Libya stood as a source of stability in volatile northern Africa in 2011. The administration turned it into a failed state that exposed southern Europe to refugees and terrorist elements, all of which Gadhafi had warned about.

Pete Hoekstra

The forces that rescued Americans on Sept. 11, 2012, were not the U.S. military. They were not the militias that overthrew Gadhafi. They were Gadhafi devotees who were loyal to him and to the U.S. government with whom their leader reached a 'deal.'

Pete Hoekstra

The U.S. must remember - as the Gadhafi loyalists have and Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh are now realizing - that it cannot get into bed with groups affiliated with the jihadist movement.

Pete Hoekstra

Asking presidential candidates whether they support or would change past foreign policy decisions is the most common line of questioning among members of the media. It's also the most pointless.

Pete Hoekstra

Should President Clinton have killed Osama bin Laden when he had the opportunity in 1990s? Should President Bush have sent the U.S. military into Iraq to depose Saddam Hussein in 2003? Should President Obama have withdrawn all troops from Iraq in 2011? Such questions provide no real insight into future considerations.

Pete Hoekstra

The media should probe and challenge candidates to help voters understand their views on foreign policy. Questions should include, 'What lessons have you learned from past foreign policy decisions? How will they shape your vision as commander in chief? What is America's role in the world?'

Pete Hoekstra

No president can amend the past, and the public is tired of candidates who simply point fingers instead of offering their own solutions. They want a leader who will describe the threats as they are and rally the country behind a strategy to defeat them.

Pete Hoekstra

Yes, Gaddafi was a ruthless dictator and supporter of terrorism during his 40-year reign in Libya, but he had become an ally of the United States in the fight against radical jihadism after 9/11.

Pete Hoekstra

America needs to fully grasp the lessons learned from our history of fighting radical jihadists. There have been successes and failures.

Pete Hoekstra

Complying with requests from Congress is not optional. It is mandatory.

Pete Hoekstra

Ensuring that the intelligence community adheres to its responsibilities to report on its activities to Congress is absolutely essential.

Pete Hoekstra

From my experience as Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, if a congressperson is identified as a potential target by a foreign intelligence service, that individual is notified.

Pete Hoekstra

When I came to Congress in 1993, the traditional idea that all politics stopped at the water's edge was alive and well. Americans had been unified for the previous four decades against the threat from the former Soviet Union and communism.

Pete Hoekstra

I will never forget standing with fellow members of Congress on the steps of the Capitol to sing 'God Bless America' on the night of 9/11.

Pete Hoekstra

Americans must step back and realize that an effective foreign policy is very difficult to devise, and we must present a united front to make it work.

Pete Hoekstra

Demanding an end to partisan bickering on foreign policy is not an unrealistic requirement.

Pete Hoekstra

Governing has always been hard.

Pete Hoekstra

Choices abound in the free market. Choice creates real and immediate accountability.

Pete Hoekstra