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Statement by Governor Mitt Romney on Sen. Clinton And Columbia University

September 23, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Kevin Madden (857) 288-6390

Boston, MA – Today, Governor Mitt Romney issued the following statement regarding Senator Hillary Clinton's (D-NY) refusal to denounce President Ahmadinejad's visit to Columbia University:

"Senator Clinton's refusal to denounce Columbia University for inviting Ahmadinejad to speak demonstrates a fundamental failure of leadership. Under Ahmadinejad, the Iranian regime has spoken openly about the destruction of Israel, has financed terrorism around the world and defied the international community as it pursues nuclear weapons. As Ahmadinejad comes to the United States, now is the time to demonstrate resolve and not vacillate as Senator Clinton has done today."

Background:

On "Fox News Sunday," Sen. Clinton Refused To Speak Out About Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Visiting Columbia University. FOX NEWS' CHRIS WALLACE: "Senator, we've got about 30 seconds left. One final question: you spoke out very clearly when Iranian President Ahmadinejad talked about going to Ground Zero. Now he's going to speak at Columbia tomorrow. Do you think that Columbia should rescind that invitation?" SEN. CLINTON: "Well, I'm going to leave that up to Columbia, but I was outraged that he wanted to go to Ground Zero and did speak out very forcefully and thankfully he will not go to Ground Zero. Obviously, we have a very difficult problem ahead in dealing with Iran, something that I think the Bush Administration put on the backburner for too long, outsourced to the French, the British and the Germans instead of going forward and seeing if there were any ways that we could reign in this regime and certainly prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons. That's going to be my focus as a senator and as president." (Fox News' "Fox News Sunday," 9/23/07)

In September 2006, Governor Romney Ordered Massachusetts State Agencies To Not Support The Visit Of Former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami To Harvard University. "Governor Mitt Romney today ordered all Massachusetts state government agencies to decline support, if asked, for former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami's September 10 visit to the Boston area, where he is scheduled to speak at Harvard University." (Office Of Governor Mitt Romney, "Romney Denounces Khatami Visit To Harvard," Press Release, 9/5/06)

- Governor Romney: "Well, what I say is that on that September 10th and September 11th, on the fifth anniversary of a extraordinary tragedy in America, you don't welcome a person to Harvard with open arms who has preached the destruction of Israel, who has developed nuclear technology, contrary to what he had said, who has jailed dissident students in his country, who has praised Hezbollah. This is a person who's words are worth nothing. And it creates a true farce for Harvard'" (Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor," 9/6/06)

Mitt Romney, Statement by Governor Mitt Romney on Sen. Clinton And Columbia University Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/296017

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