Kennedys back Clinton as U.S. Senate candidates talk international policy
From CNN Producer Phil Hirschkorn
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The Kennedy family threw its name behind first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in her New York Senate race as the daughter and brother of the late President John F. Kennedy joined Clinton at rallies Tuesday.
Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg appeared first with Clinton at a fund-raising luncheon in Manhattan and praised her for responding to her late father's call to public service. Later in Buffalo, New York, Schlossberg and her uncle, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, appeared at a rally with Clinton and her daughter Chelsea.
Clinton is seeking the Senate seat now held by retiring Democratic Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan. She faces Republican Rep. Rick Lazio, a four-term Long Island congressman.
"I am proud to stand here today to support a candidate who has led her life in the spirit of that challenge. Throughout her career Hillary has committed herself to public service, civil rights and in giving every child a chance to live up to his and her potential," Schlossberg said.
She said "many rights and freedoms" are at stake in this year's elections, especially with expected vacancies on the Supreme Court.
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"The Court will also be called upon to address other issues that define the kind of society that we want to create -- affirmative action, school vouchers, gun control, and questions about privacy in the information age. And there are real differences in this election -- education, health care, keeping our children safe from guns," Schlossberg said, endorsing Clinton's positions on those issues.
Earlier Tuesday, the first lady advocated an expansive U.S. role in world affairs in an address to the Council on Foreign Relations.
"America needs renewed internationalism not an old isolationism," she said, adding that Americans must overcome public apathy toward the rest of the world.
"Our ability to protect our interests abroad depends on creating a stronger constituency of American international leadership at home," she said.
Clinton criticized those who would limit the use of American military force to "splendid little wars that we surely can win, preferably by overwhelming force in a very short period of time."
"To those who believe we should become involved only because it is easy to do, I think we have to say: America has never and should not ever shy away from the hard path if it is the right one," she said. "While the United States can't intervene everywhere, I don't think it's so simple as saying, 'unless our interests are directly threatened we have no stake in using our power.'"
Had she been in the Senate, Clinton said she would have voted for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which the GOP-controlled Senate defeated, and permanent normalized trade relations with China, which passed. She said she supports United Nations peacekeeping efforts "from Sierra Leone to East Timor," and wants the United States to pay its U.N. dues, now more than $1 billion in arrears.
Lazio canceled an appearance before the Council on Foreign Relations earlier this month because of congressional business, but plans a major international policy speech in the days ahead. He campaigned on his native Long Island on Tuesday, addressing an agricultural forum and visiting a seniors center.
Lazio, who supported NATO intervention in Yugoslavia, said U.S. leaders must determine whether vital interests are at stake before committing troops.
"We have to make some very tough decisions. Those decisions include having to say 'no' sometimes when they undermine our ability to properly protect America's vital interests in different parts of the world," Lazio said.
"If you are going to commit our troops all over the world, you better be able to pay for it. You better be prepared to support defense budgets that are large enough to support this inability to say no to any engagement anywhere in the world," Lazio said.
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