Even before her historic run for the presidency, Hillary Clinton had set precedent by becoming the first presidential spouse elected to the U.S. Senate. Sen. Clinton (D-NY), who took office in 2001, was criticized in conservative quarters as a staunch liberal, an image arising in part from her failed effort to pass a universal health care plan through Congress in 1994 and her many years as a children’s rights attorney. Following 9/11, Clinton fell from favor in the eyes of some liberals for her 2002 vote authorizing the use of military force in Iraq, which they called evidence of hawkishness. If elected, she would be the country’s first woman president. A member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Clinton has emphasized her desire to end the Iraq war and drawdown U.S. troop levels. She has also pledged to refocus U.S. foreign policy away from the unilateralism that critics say has characterized the Bush administration. Clinton also says she will attempt to ease tensions with countries like Iran and Syria through direct engagement, while upholding her longstanding support for Israel.

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Campaign Issues

Military Tribunals and Guantanamo Bay

Sen. Clinton (D-NY) says the prison camp at Guantanamo should be closed because it “compromises our longterm military and strategic interests, and it impairs our standing overseas.” Clinton is a cosponsor of Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) bill to close Guantanamo and transfer the prisoners either to their home countries, to an international legal tribunal, or to a civilian or military facility in the United States. The bill also mandates that the prisoners must be charged formally if they are brought to the United States.

Clinton voted against the Military Commissions Act.

U.S. Policy toward India

Sen. Clinton (D-NY) enjoys strong support from the Indian-American community (NY Sun). Indian Americans for Hillary 2008, founded by prominent hotelier Sant Singh Chatwal, plans to raise at least $5 million for the Clinton campaign (Hindustan Times).

With Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), Clinton announced plans in April to form a Senate India Caucus (The Hindu), which she would cochair.

In June 2007, the Barack Obama campaign sparked controversy by circulating a memo accusing Clinton of pandering to the Indian-American community. That memo notes the “tens of thousands” Clinton has received from companies that outsource jobs to India.

Clinton voted for the United States-India Energy Security Cooperation Act of 2006.

U.S. Policy toward Africa

Sen. Clinton (D-NY) stresses the importance of education in ameliorating the rampant poverty throughout Africa. She proposed the Education for All Act in 2007, which would amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to include provisions for financial assistance specifically for promoting universal education in developing countries. She told Vanity Fair that if the act does not pass before her inauguration, it “will be my first priority.”

Clinton advocates a no-fly zone over Darfur, enforced by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces, but said in a June 2007 Democratic debate that she does not believe U.S. troops should be sent there. She also says there should be unilateral airlift and logistical support for peacekeeping operations in Darfur from the United States or NATO.

Clinton cosponsored Sen. Joe Biden’s July 2007 resolution calling for the immediate deployment of an international peacekeeping force to Darfur. She also cosponsored Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback’s 2005 Darfur Peace and Accountability Act. That bill would have placed sanctions on officials who are complicit in the killings in Darfur. With Biden, Clinton cosponsored the HIV Prevention Act of 2007.

Domestic Intelligence

Sen. Clinton (D-NY) criticized NSA surveillance of American citizens, saying the Bush administration should have gone through FISA provisions if they wanted to eavesdrop on domestic communications. Clinton voted against Michael Hayden’s confirmation as CIA director.

War on Terror

Sen. Clinton (D-NY) disagrees with party rival John Edwards’ contention that the war on terror is simply a political slogan and said in the June 2007 Democratic debate that she believes Americans are now “safer than we were.” She says the main priority in the war on terror should be in preventing “Iran, al-Qaeda and the like” from obtaining weapons of mass destruction. When the Jewish Press asked Clinton in October 2006 how she views the war on terror, she responded, “I don't think our strategy is working. Six years ago, North Korea and Iran were not as close as they are today to having nuclear weapons.”

In a 2004 speech at the Brookings Institution, Clinton outlined her ideas on “how best to fight the wider war on terror.” She emphasized the importance of building alliances and doing away with the widespread perception of U.S. unilateralism and arrogance. She also said she supported Sen. Joe Biden’s proposal to establish an “international antiterrorist organization” modeled on NATO and that an increase in the number of troops in the Army, National Guard, and Reserve force is necessary. She also called for increased funding for global education and development programs, which she said would likely reduce anti-Americanism abroad.

Democracy Promotion in the Arab World

Sen. Clinton (D-NY) says she supports efforts to promote democracy in the Middle East. “We want to continue to export democracy, but we want to deliver it in digestible steps,” she said in reference to Iraq in a January 2007 interview with the New Yorker. Clinton has also criticized the Bush administration’s democracy promotion efforts; at a speech given at CFR in 2006, she said “we’ve done a good job talking about democracy, but we sure haven’t done a comparable good job in promoting the long-term efforts that actually build institutions after the elections are over and the international monitors have gone home.”

Energy Policy

Sen. Clinton's energy policy focus has been reducing U.S. consumption of foreign oil. In May 2006, Clinton said that the United States should decrease its foreign oil consumption by 50 percent (WashPost), or eight million barrels per day, by 2025. In 2001, she voted against the Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE) Act. That bill passed, allocating $15 billion for tax incentives for fuel production and conservation and creating an energy program for Native American tribal lands. Like Biden, Clinton initially supported the 2005 Energy Policy Act, but voted against it after it was revised in a conference report, saying that the bill “ignores our biggest energy challenges, subsidizes mature energy industries like oil and nuclear, and rolls back our environmental laws.” Clinton has proposed the creation of a $50 billion “Strategic Energy Fund” that would provide increased funding for clean coal technology and tax breaks for fuel efficient hybrid and clean diesel vehicles. Clinton did not attend the vote on the Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act of 2007. That bill passed.

Clinton also advocates a 20 percent renewable energy standard for power companies by 2020. She says all federal buildings should be carbon neutral by 2030. In a Foreign Affairs article, she said there needed to be "formal links" created between the International Energy Agency and China and India to create an 'E-8' international forum modeled on the G-8.

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Though her advocacy (NYT) for Palestinian statehood in the 1990s drew criticism from American Jewish groups at the time, Sen. Clinton (D-NY) generally has aligned herself with pro-Israeli interests throughout her political career. In a February 2007 speech before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Clinton said Hamas, which took control of the Palestinian Authority in January 2006 and formed a coalition government with Fatah in February 2007, should not be recognized “until it renounces violence and terror and recognizes Israel's right to exist.” Clinton also supports Israel’s “security wall,” which divides Israel from the West Bank with the declared purpose of preventing terrorist attacks.

Clinton cosponsored the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006. She also sponsored a Senate resolution in 2007 “calling for the immediate and unconditional release of soldiers of Israel held captive by Hamas and Hezbollah.” That resolution was approved. Since taking office in 2000, she has regularly supported military and financial aid packages to Israel.

North Korea Policy

In January 2006, Sen. Clinton said failure to hold direct talks with North Korea gave Pyongyang an “open invitation” to process plutonium. She advocates direct contact with North Korea and, in a letter she cosigned to President Bush in June 2006, described multilateral Six-Party Talks as “fruitless” (PDF) in their goal of controlling North Korea’s nuclear program.

During a talk at the Council on Foreign Relations held weeks after the nuclear test, the senator said UN sanctions against Pyongyang are “not as tough as I would want.”

Cuba Policy

Sen. Clinton “is going with the status quo” on Cuba policy, said Sergio Bendixen, an expert in Hispanic public opinion research, in the Washington Post in 2007. In a recent Senate vote, Clinton supported maintaining funding for TV Marti, television programming that the U.S. attempts to broadcast in Cuba. The Castro government has been successfully blocking the signal for this programming, and viewership of TV Marti in Cuba is estimated to be extremely low.

In a 2000 speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, Clinton said she was opposed to lifting the economic embargo (NYT) on an undemocratic Cuba.

U.S. Policy toward China

Sen. Clinton, unlike many of her fellow candidates, has chosen to focus a significant portion of her campaign rhetoric on China’s economic impact on the United States, which she says is causing “a slow erosion of our own economic sovereignty.”

In February 2007, after the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 416 points as a result of a “scare in the Chinese stock market,” Clinton wrote a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson urging them to take action to reduce Chinese-owned debts.

She is also concerned about China’s economic practices, including the revaluation of the yuan, saying in a CNBC interview that she wants “the countries with whom we do business to have protections for intellectual property; I want them to have a rule of law that is enforceable; I want them to not manipulate their currency.” With fellow candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) Clinton will cosponsor a bill to penalize China (FT) if it does not act to revalue its currency.

Clinton has been critical of China ’s human rights record as well.

Defense Policy

Sen. Clinton (D-NY) sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee. In 2003, Clinton criticized the structure of forces in Iraq, saying that there was not the “right mix of troops” to succeed. Her main grievance at the time was a shortage of U.S. troops (Scotsman). That year, she also said more troops were needed in Afghanistan. “What the force structure (BosGlobe) is and where it comes from I'll leave to others to decide,” she said.

In 2006, Clinton said in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, “I’ve joined with other Democrats and Republicans in proposing that we expand the army by eighty thousand troops, that we move faster to expand the Special Forces, and do a better job of training and equipping the National Guard and Reserves.”

Clinton was one of six Democrats in 2004 to oppose blocking the national missile defense system, USA Today reported. In 2006, Clinton cosponsored a bill to alter the National Guard force structure, citing its lack of resources and its deployment overseas even though it is meant to be “America’s militia.” Clinton famously voted to approve the war in Iraq in 2002 and voted in favor of the $87 billion appropriation for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003.

Iraq

Like Biden, Sen. Clinton (D-NY) supported the invasion of Iraq at its advent, but now opposes it and claims that as president, she would end the war. Clinton opposed the 2007 escalation of the war. In early 2007, Clinton proposed the Iraq Troop Protection and Reduction Act. That bill, which would have prevented an increase in troops in Iraq above the level of January 1, 2007, had no cosponsors and never reached a vote.

Clinton also opposes the establishment of permanent military bases in Iraq, although she, like Biden, does expect there to be a need for a “reduced residual force,” perhaps stationed in Iraqi Kurdistan, even after troop redeployment. Clinton cosponsored Sen. Joe Biden’s Iraq War Policy resolution in January 2007. In 2002, Clinton voted in favor of the invasion of Iraq, and has been widely criticized for her refusal to apologize for that vote. Still, she has said, “If I knew then what I now know, I would not have voted that way.” A new book by Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta Jr. of the New York Times, excerpted here, criticizes her for failing to read the ninety-page October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) report, which contained several caveats about Iraq's WMD capabilities.

Trade

In general a supporter of free trade, Sen. Clinton (D-NY) voted in support of the creation of FTAs with Chile, Singapore, and Oman. But she criticized the FTAs with Chile and Singapore for what she said was their weak enforcement of International Labor Organization (ILO) standards. She said “the labor provisions in the Chile and Singapore agreements should not be used as a model for future trade agreements.” Clinton voted against CAFTA and the Trade Act of 2002. In 2004, Clinton voted for the United States-Australia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, which she said “offers greater access to Australian markets for U.S. manufacturers.” Most recently, Clinton spoke out against the pending FTA with South Korea (Reuters), which she called "inherently unfair," particularly for the U.S. auto industry. She has also criticized FTAs with Colombia and Panama. Clinton expressed support, on the other hand, for the FTA with Peru, which passed in the House in November 2007.

Clinton has parted ways with her husband, former President Bill Clinton, on several trade-related issues. She has expressed skepticism about aspects of the North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, which he supported, and has taken less enthusiastic positions on the benefits of globalization more generally. Clinton also expresses concerns over U.S. trade practices with China. “We just can't keep doing what we did in the 20th century,” she said in a recent interview (Bloomberg).

Homeland Security

Since the 9/11 attacks, Sen. Clinton (D-NY) has repeatedly pressed for higher homeland security funding for anti-terror assistance for her state of New York and other “areas at greatest risk of attack.” In February 2007, Clinton cosponsored the Risk-Based Homeland Security Grants Act of 2007, which, if passed, will amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002, establishing a Homeland Security Grants Board and would ensure that Homeland Security funding is distributed based on risk level and vulnerability of states.

Clinton cosponsored the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act in 2004, which created a Director of National Intelligence and provided for increased security on the northern border of the United States and increased transportation infrastructure security. In 2006, Clinton cosponsored the FEMA Amendment, which would have made the Federal Emergency Management Agency independent from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). That bill was rejected. Clinton voted in favor of the Patriot Act in 2001 and voted to adopt a conference report to reauthorize it in 2006.

Iran

Sen. Clinton (D-NY) has said that if elected, she would “immediately open a diplomatic track” with Iran. She says “no option can be taken off the table” with regard to U.S. policy toward Iran. “We need to use every tool (AP) at our disposal, including diplomatic and economic in addition to the threat and use of military force," she said at a February 2007 dinner of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

In September 2007, Clinton came under fire from some of her Democratic counterparts for her vote in favor of a resolution labeling the Iran Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization.

In October 2007, Clinton cosponsored a bill prohibiting the use of funds for military action in Iran without "explicit Congressional authorization." That bill has not yet been voted on. But criticism of her Iran stance intensified after the December 3, 2007 release of the U.S. National Intelligence Estimate, which said Iran appeared to have halted its nuclear weapons program in the fall of 2003. Clinton said during a subsequent debate that she continues to support vigorous diplomacy with Iran and defended her vote against the Revolutionary Guard, saying Iranian arms shipments to Iraq have slowed down since the Senate resolution passed. But her Democratic opponents criticized her for contributing to what they said was Bush administration saber rattling on Iran.

Climate Change

Sen. Clinton (D-NY), who sits on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, has generally advocated for legislation to stop climate change. In a statement upon the release of the IPCC report in February, Clinton said, “I believe that action is both an environmental necessity and an economic opportunity.” She cosponsored the Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act of 2007, which would cut carbon emissions by 30 percent from 2000 to 2050 with a system of “tradable allowances.” In this video, Clinton says she wants to create a program modeled on the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to deal with the threat of climate change.

Clinton recently signed on to the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act, which, if passed, will create a “market-based framework” to reduce carbon emissions. That act was referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works in early 2007 and has not yet been passed.

Immigration

As a New York senator, Sen. Clinton's voting record on immigration has been mixed. In May of 2006, she voted in favor of the Senate Immigration Reform Bill (PDF), which allowed for the establishment of a guest-worker program, increased border security, including a virtual wall along the U.S.-Mexican border. That bill, which never made it into law, also established criminal penalties for immigrants who illegally enter the country and those who employ undocumented workers. Clinton voted for the Secure Fence Act of 2006 but against the separate amendment making English the country’s official language. That bill, which was largely viewed as an anti-immigrant action (Washington Times), eventually passed.

Clinton opposed an amendment (FOX) to the 2007 immigration reform bill that would have prevented criminals from becoming citizens.

United Nations

Sen. Clinton (D-NY) has generally praised the United Nations, and said in 2002 that “whenever possible we should work through it and strengthen it, for it enables the world to share the risks and burdens of global security and when it acts, it confers a legitimacy that increases the likelihood of long-term success.” But, she said, the United Nations “often lacks the cohesion to enforce its own mandates.” In the period before the Iraq war began, Clinton urged the Bush administration to allow the United Nations to complete weapons inspections before invading. Clinton has criticized Bush’s decision to invade before that point, saying that UN inspectors were “the last line of defense against the possibility that our intelligence was false.” In that February 2005 speech at the Munich Conference on Security Policy, Clinton also expressed support for then-Secretary General Kofi Annan’s reform efforts.

U.S. Policy toward Russia

Sen. Clinton (D-NY), like most of her fellow Democrats, favors diplomacy toward Russia with the goal of promoting democracy there and reducing nuclear stockpiles. In a November 2007 Foreign Affairs article, Clinton pledged to “negotiate an accord that substantially and verifiably reduces the U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals.”

She also called for engagement with Russia on “issues of high national importance,” including Iran, loose nuclear weapons, and the status of the Serbian province of Kosovo. She said Washington’s “ability to view Russia as a genuine partner depends on whether Russia chooses to strengthen democracy or return to authoritarianism and regional interference.”

Still, she told the Boston Globe in October 2007, “I'm interested in what Russia does outside its borders first. I don't think I can, as the president of the United States, wave my hand and tell the Russian people they should have a different government.”

U.S. Policy toward Pakistan

Sen. Clinton (D-NY) criticized rival Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) in August 2007 for his pledge to pursue al-Qaeda in Pakistan. She called it “a very big mistake to telegraph that and to destabilize the Musharraf regime, which is fighting for its life against the Islamic extremists who are in bed with al-Qaeda and Taliban.” Still, Clinton said in summer 2007 that if the United States gains “actionable intelligence that Osama bin Laden or other high-value targets were in Pakistan,” she would “ensure that they were targeted and killed or captured” (ABC).

Clinton foreign policy adviser Lee Feinstein said in December 2007 that Clinton has “has opposed the Bush administration’s coddling of President Musharraf, and stood steadfastly with the people of Pakistan in their struggle for democracy and against terrorism.” He issued the statement in response to criticism from the Obama campaign that Clinton’s initial support for the Iraq war in some way contributed to the current chaos in Pakistan (TIME).

In October 2007, Benazir Bhutto discussed the difficulties Clinton could face as a woman head of government in an interview with New York magazine. In early 2007, Clinton met with Musharraf in Lahore, Pakistan, to discuss cooperation on counterterrorism efforts in the region (Reuters). In November 2007, Clinton cosponsored a resolution condemning Musharraf’s imposition of a state of emergency, and calling for an investigation into a prior assassination attempt on Bhutto.