More than a dozen Republican candidates talk foreign policy, immigration at New Hampshire forum

On Monday, 14 Republicans participated in the Voters First Presidential Forum, and shared their plans for reforming immigration, combating terrorism, and uniting the country.

The event was held at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, moderated by Jack Heath of New Hampshire Today, and attended by Jeb Bush, Dr. Ben Carson, Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.), Carly Fiorina, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-La.), Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio), George Pataki, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, and Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.). Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) were in Washington, D.C., and appeared via satellite. Donald Trump and Mike Huckabee elected not to attend, and Jim Gilmore announced his candidacy too late to participate.

The forum lasted roughly two hours, and was not a debate. Each person was allowed to speak twice:

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• Sen. Rand Paul said if elected, he would either visit China or Russia first, and said that he doesn't think "we should go to war as a game of risk...it shouldn't be the first resort, it should always be the last resort."
• Sen. Lindsey Graham said as president his foreign policy would be a "clenched fist and an open hand," and he would "push back against China" and Vladimir Putin.
• Sen. Marco Rubio stated that he does not support legalization of marijuana or "any other additional intoxicants," but said he would not be opposed to the FDA doing trials on medicinal marijuana.
• George Pataki said his first three priorities would be getting rid of ObamaCare and Common Core and reducing the size of the federal workforce by at least 15 percent.
• Jeb Bush called ISIS militants "barbarians," and said he wasn't sure if "boots on the ground" were necessary to fight them, but thinks special forces should be embedded and used to train anti-ISIS soldiers. He also said he would grow the economy at 4 percent "instead of this anemic 2 percent...the fact that Paul Krugman disagrees with me warms my heart."
• Dr. Ben Carson spoke out against ObamaCare, saying it "flies in the face of what we are as a nation, a nation that is for and by the people. ... ObamaCare comes along with the government saying, 'We don't care what you the people think, we're shoving this down your throat and if you don't like it, too bad.'"
• Gov. Scott Walker called himself "pro-worker and pro-taxpayer" and said he was against Obama's plan to cut carbon emissions.
• Gov. Bobby Jindal said he would be the one to unite the country, adding, "We're all Americans. We're not hyphenated Americans, we're not African-Americans or Asian-Americans...we're all Americans."
• 
Carly Fiorina said it's time to challenge the status quo, and she has a "proven track record" of doing so in her executive roles.
• Gov. Chris Christie touted the fact that New Jersey was the first state in the country to place non-violent drug offenders in mandatory in-patient drug treatment rather than prison. "The war on drugs has been a failure," he said. "Well intentioned, but a failure."
• Rick Perry said the border with Mexico needs to be secured, and compared illegal immigration to a "serious wound, you want to staunch the flow."
• Rick Santorum told the audience he would focus on restoring manufacturing jobs, and enact a flat tax for corporations and individuals.
• Sen. Ted Cruz said the nuclear weapons deal with Iran is "the single greatest national security threat facing America," and would lead to billions of dollars being sent to "jihadists."
• Gov. John Kasich said he would eliminate sanctuary cities and determine how many people are in the U.S. without documents. "We need to find out who they are, if they're law-abiding, God-fearing folks," he said. "They're going to have to pay a penalty toward legalization, and wait." Catherine Garcia