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Senator Phil Gramm at the University of Louisville

By Theresa Fritz Camoriano

On Sept. 9, Senator Phil Gramm spoke in the courtroom at the Brandeis School of Law, primarily to an audience of University of Louisville students, including the McConnell scholars.  Kentucky’s Senator Mitch McConnell introduced Gramm as a university professor, originally elected to the House of Representatives as a Democrat, and then elected as a Republican.  He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1984 and had an impact even as a freshman senator.  McConnell said it is unfortunate that Gramm has decided to retire, as he will leave a huge vacuum in the Senate; it will not be as good a place without him; and he will be missed.

Gramm then took the podium and quipped, “Some will miss me more than others!”  Gramm said he admires McConnell more than any other member of the Senate, especially for his courage and conviction, even when it is tough and unpopular to stand up for important principles.  He said we are very lucky to have the McConnell scholars program, which helps students, the University, and the state of Kentucky.  He also said that he judges universities by their graduates, and, since McConnell graduated from U of L, he has a very high opinion of U of L.

Gramm had originally planned to speak about Capitalism and Democracy, but, due to plans about Iraq and the proposed vote on the Homeland Security bill, he felt he had to talk about that subject.  Gramm made several points:

1.      Terrorism is a great threat to the U.S., because we are a free and open country.  That leaves us more vulnerable than any other country.  Terrorism is an assault on our freedom, and, despite all our power, we are still very vulnerable.

2.      We have two choices in responding to terrorism.  Either we can fortify America, limit our freedom, and reduce the productivity of our economy, or we can seek out terrorism where it lives and eradicate it.  Gramm said he would rather change the lives of terrorists than the lives of Americans, so he supports going out, finding the terrorists, and stopping them.

3.      The Homeland Security Bill would give the President the important ability to respond to terrorism.  It is not a wholesale change of the civil service system, but it would give the President the necessary flexibility to get the job done.  In emergency situations, the President should not be required to enter into lengthy renegotiations of labor contracts, as is the case now.  The President also ought to be able to reward good performance and discipline poor performance.  With respect to how to allocate funds, he thinks the bill may have to be modified in order to for Congress to continue to have the power to approve or disapprove the President’s proposed allocation of funds.

4.      With regard to Iraq, we know that Saddam Hussein is no good, is unstable, and would harm us if he could.  He has tried to build nuclear weapons, has built chemical and biological weapons, and has used them against Iran and against his own people.  He would turn over weapons to terrorists, and the risk is too great.  We will largely have to conduct a war against Iraq alone, probably with support from Turkey and Britain, but that is to be expected, since we are the intended victims.  Gramm expects President Bush to present new evidence concerning Iraq when he speaks to the UN.  He said we will not get UN approval for an attack and should not expect it.

5.      What is the source of the terrorist threat?  Gramm does not think it is necessarily produced by the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.  You do not see Palestinians engaging in this terrorism against us.  Solving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is very difficult, and, even if it could be solved, it probably would not solve the terrorism problem.  The people who are engaged in this terrorism are largely young, educated radicals from successful families.  They are engaging in a battle between the ancient and the modern – a medieval revolt against modern civilization.  We promote self fulfillment and individual achievement.  The rise of the West was a rise of individualism.  That’s what the terrorists reject.  They want to go back to the medieval world.  We should open up relations with Iran, have free trade with Turkey and all the “Stan” countries, expanding their ability to learn our system.  We have the right to act against Iran based on its breach of the settlement to the original war.  The President has the right to defend America and does not need to get the vote of Congress but is wise to ask for its approval. 

In other comments in response to questions, Gramm said that he has dyslexia and didn’t learn to read until he was in the 10^th grade.  As a result, he is a big proponent of reading, and, in raising his children, they had a program called “read or bleed”!  He strongly advocates parents spending intensive time with their children, and giving the children undivided attention.  He is a strong believer in free trade.  He thinks Americans should be able to buy any legal goods we want.  When he began as an economist, all economists believed in free trade, but now economists are for hire and will come up with whatever opinion they are paid to have.  Free trade is important for growth, and he will never compromise on that.  He is a strong proponent of legal immigration and strongly opposes illegal immigration.  He does not believe we should reward illegal immigrants over those who have been waiting in line and following the proper procedures to immigrate legally.  He thinks we should use new technology to keep track of immigrants so that, when their visas expire, something is done about it.  But not everyone can come to America – that’s why free trade is so important.  We need to bring the benefits of our successful system to people living in other countries.

The world is understandably afraid of our power.  As a result, they want the UN to regulate us.  That would not be a good thing, because we must always be free to act in our own interest. 

In a question about campaign fundraising, Gramm said he was a good fundraiser because he didn’t mind asking for money.  He felt he was doing important work, and people who agreed should be happy to contribute to the effort.  He said, when he retires, if he wants to sell his house and use all the money to support McConnell’s campaign, he should be free to do that.  It’s his money, and he should be able to support a candidate as much as he wants with his own money.  He said he doesn’t have sympathy with people who are opposed to letting citizens have a voice in that way, and he doesn’t have sympathy with people who want to run for office who don’t have support from others.  If you can’t muster a base of support, maybe you shouldn’t be running for office!

The questioning ended without everyone having a chance to ask their questions, because Gramm was on a tight schedule and had to leave to catch a plane.

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