BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, who is running to represent Palo Alto in Congress, says he wants to send more money to Ukraine, Israel and the Mexican border.
He answered questions about his foreign policy in an interview last week with the Post. His opponent, Assemblyman Evan Low, didn’t respond to requests for an interview.
In Asia, Liccardo said he doesn’t want to wait until China invades Taiwan, and he’s heard speculation that the invasion could happen in 2027.
Liccardo wants to strengthen commitments from India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia, Japan and the EU, so if China violates air space or blocks shipping lanes in the South China Sea, then economic sanctions would be brought immediately and together.
“So China feels the pain instantly … and China knows it will not have a place for its exports if it chooses to be aggressive,” Liccardo said.
Liccardo said that Ukrainian soldiers are fighting NATO’s war for NATO, so they should continue to get money from the United States.
The United States has provided more than $56.2 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russian forces invaded in February 2022.
“It’s better for Ukraine to be fighting on Ukraine’s turf, not for us to be fighting on Poland’s turf,” Liccardo said.
But he’s worried about the amount of Russian coffins going back into Russia, causing frustration among the population that could outlive Putin.
Liccardo supports Israel, a country that he said is fighting a war on five fronts. Hezbollah has 150,000 missiles sitting in Lebanon ready to fire, Iran has been willing to deploy “substantial force,” plus threats from the Houthis, Syrian militias and obviously Hamas, Liccardo said.
Oversight role of Congress
However, Congress hasn’t been fulfilling its oversight role in how American weapons are being used by Israel, Liccardo said. Arms should be used for legitimate self-defense and not gross human rights violations, he said.
“We need a more robust and assertive position about the conditions under which we provide aid … We need to have open, very public conversations,” Liccardo said.
At the border, Liccardo wants to add technology at the ports, like scanners that can detect drugs coming in. He said Congress can pass a bipartisan bill that will add personnel and increase security at the border, without separating families, putting kids in cages or building a giant wall.
Liccardo said he wants to either impose tariffs on Mexico or give Mexico preferential treatment for tech factories, in exchange for the Mexican government reducing the number of crossing at its borders with Guatemala and Belize.
Liccardo wants to boost legal immigration in areas where there’s a need for employees, like agriculture, construction, tech, elder care and child care.
“We have an economy that demands more workers in a lot of different industries,” Liccardo said.
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