Honolulu Star-Bulletin
General Election GuideU.S. Congress We asked candidates in this race to address the following subject areas. Their responses are below.
1) What role should the federal government play in providing services to legal immigrants?
2) What would you do in Congress to improve Hawaii's business climate?
3) What role should the United States play in the Mideast peace process?
4) Should the United States spend more or less for missile defense systems?
5) What must be done to combat the growing problem of illegal drugs?
Neil Abercrombie (D) CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 1
Age: 58
Occupation: U.S. representative1. Hawaii's legal immigrants have paid taxes, lived by our laws and contributed to our community for decades. They have earned the right to fair and equal access to government services.
2. a) Overseas promotion of travel to Hawaii and other U.S. destinations; b) Continue the effort to establish quicker, more efficient Customs and Immigration processing at the Honolulu International Airport; c) Restore the business meals and entertainment tax deduction to encourage convention and other business travel to Hawaii.
3. Continued engagement in the Mideast peace process is in the national interest of the United States. We should encourage the parties involved to resolve their differences in direct negotiations. Patience, persistence, and a refusal to be discouraged by setbacks are absolutely necessary for success.
4. Republicans in the House or Representatives recently forced through approval of an outrageously overpriced version of the discredited "Star Wars" system. I support a lower-priced system fully capable of protecting the mainland U.S., Hawaii, and Alaska for much less money.
5. A balanced strategy is the key to success. Our approach should be a mix of interdiction, enforcement, international cooperation, treatment, education and prevention. None of these elements by itself can eliminate illegal drugs. We must maintain a commitment to a balanced mix of all of them.
Nicholas Bedworth (NL)
Age: 45
Occupation: Network information systems consultant1. Legal immigrants are an integral part of society, and should be treated no differently than any other citizen. After all, they are us.
2. While Hawaii's problems are primarily local in origin, the federal government may be able to provide guidance and act as an indirect catalyst for change. Increasing the "network services" infrastructure will lead to economic development, reduce commuting and traffic congestion, and help move us into the high-value-added, information services economy.
3. The United States should continue to exert its good offices in mediating peace, reconciliation and economic development. Recognizing that stressed individuals are the basis of conflict between nations, the U.S. must encourage scientifically-validated programs to reduce individual and collective stress.
4. All these "fear-based" systems of defense are logical in their way, but entirely counter-productive in the long run. Better the money be spent on eliminating the causes of conflict, rather than destablilizing relations between countries by raising the level of fear.
5. Fundamentally, the drug problem is related to stressed individuals who deal with their emotional distress in a self-destructive way. Rather than emphasizing punishment, more police, bigger jails and other superficial approaches, the government must intervene prior to the onset of drug-taking and associated criminal behavior.
Mark Duering (N)
Age: 44
Occupation: Real estateDeclined comment
Orson Swindle (R)
Age: 59
Occupation: Retired lieutenant colonel, USMC1. Minimal. Legal immigrants come to America to work, to be with families and loved ones, and for freedom and opportunity, and we're greater for their presence. Self-reliance is essential for all of us. The welfare state is not the American Dream, nor should it ever be.
2. Promote the concepts of pro-growth, pro-economic opportunity, and hope through lowering taxes, balancing the budget and creating an economic environment where workers and families prosper and keep more of their money rather than sending it to some government bureaucrat in Washington to squander.
3. The United States must play a strong role of mediator in the entire region as a force for peace. Israel is our staunchest ally for democracy in the region, deserving of strong support. Avoid use of American troops in the region. Our European allies must play a significant role.
4. More. With rogue and unstable regions like North Korea and Iraq having access to missile and nuclear technology, we must have a missile defense system. A cheaper, more effective approach to missile defense must be deployed - preferably sea-based and space-based systems rather than relatively ineffective and costly ground-based ones.
5. A nation unwilling to protect its children from the destructiveness of drugs is doomed. I will act to give law enforcement the tools needed to fight illegal drugs. We will go to war against drug pushers with life sentences being the minimum punishment for those convicted of preying on our children.
Nolan Crabbe (N) CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 2:
Age: 38
Occupation: general contractor1. All American citizens are "immigrants" except native Indians, Eskimos and Hawaiians. The federal government should serve all immigrants with its own resources and not through taxation of American immigrants.
2. Expose and prosecute the crooks, utilizing the Constitution of the United States of America, thereby allowing true free enterprise to flourish. The crooks in Congress serve special-interest groups by diverting the people's money into their own pockets and into the pockets of those special-interest groups. The crooks "gotta go."
3. The United States should play the role of a neutral third party as long as the "Mideast Peace Process" remains just that - a process by which peace can be facilitated and maintained between all parties. Let the prophecies of time to occur without jeopardizing lives.
4. It is necessary to defend America. But I thought that what we built to defend America was sufficient for our needs. If more "missile defense systems" are required, then why? What happened to the trillions spent already? How much is enough? When are we going to figure out world peace?
5. Take away demand so that suppliers have no business. Rebuild and refocus on the family unit. Educate our youth, since the old ones won't change, about the value of dealing with stress and pain - through dealing with hurt and avoiding addictions.
James "Jim" M. Keefe
Age: 45
Occupation: Bakery business owner and baker1. The U.S. should welcome immigrants with open arms and a closed purse. Immigrants, or their sponsors, should shoulder all of the financial needs of immigrants.
2. Reduce the size, scope and cost of government at the federal level.
3. U.S. aid has encouraged Israel to seek military "solutions," polarized neighbors, postponed or undermined the peace process, and allowed Israel to pursue economic policies which have crippled its economy and made it dependent. The U.S. needs to stop enabling their destructive behavior by ending all foreign aid.
4. Less. I would remove us from the "entangling alliances" Jefferson warned us against, bring all U.S. troops home, and have a much smaller military to defend the U.S. against attack. A missile defense system would fall within the scope of a proper defense for these United States.
5. American's second Prohibition is producing the same results as the first: enriching organized crime, corrupting police and judiciary, expanding random violence and undermining respect for all law. The solution is to repeal Prohibition (again) and treat drug abuse not as a crime, but as the social and medical problem it is.
Patsy T. Mink (D)
Age: 68
Occupation: Lawyer1. Legal immigrants should be entitled to participate in all programs which other citizens are entitled. Where eligibility for these programs is based on means tests, legal immigrants should be subject to the same criteria.
2. Work toward federal procurement laws to help assure that local businesses can compete with out-of-state businesses for federal contracts. For example, requiring a tax clearance to assure that out-of-state contractors are paying state taxes. Also, secure federal support for small business including market development and export expansion.
3. The same role we have played for 50 years - principal mediator between conflicting parties in the Middle East. The U.S. must encourage Israel and the PLO to settle their differences over the implementation of the Declaration of Principles for interim self-government for the West Bank and Gaza agreed to in Oslo, Norway (8/93).
4. While I believe in - and have voted for - maintaining a strong national defense, our defense capabilities, including missiles, are already vastly superior to that of any potential enemy or enemies. Accordingly, I do not believe the U.S. should spend more for missile defense systems.
5. The war on drugs requires a complex and widespread effort. Every means possible must be employed. Whether it is incapacitating drug dealers and confiscating their equipment and resources, or educating our children to "Just Say No," we must be persistent and we must never let up.
Tom Pico Jr.
Age: 52
Occupation: Attorney1. Services should be provided by state and local governments for those who are disabled and for children and the elderly.
2. Cut Taxes! Hawaii's families need to keep more of the money they earn in their own pockets so they can take care of their families the way they want to. Money not sent to Washington will be spent or saved in our own communities - benefiting business. And, cut paperwork!
3. The United States is the only country able to bring both sides together. We must continue our efforts to preserve peace in the Mideast.
4. The U.S. must spend the amount necessary to protect our cities from missile attack. We have the technical ability to do so and there will be no excuse should we fail to protect our citizens from nuclear attack or nuclear blackmail by an irrational dictator with a handful of missiles.
5. We have devoted very few resources to this "war" during the past four years. For example, while the Internal Revenue Service has some 112,000 employees, the Drug Enforcement Agency has only about 7,400 employees. We must rearrange our priorities and get serious about stopping the inflow of drugs.
Amanda Toulon (NL)
Age: 47
Occupation: President, Coherent Systems Corp.1. Legal immigrants should be granted the same consideration and services as all American citizens.
2. I would support measures to establish reforms on the federal level in order to shift the support from mono-crop, chemically based farming procedures to diversified, sustainable agriculture which utilizes natural, safe, low-cost farming ... I would also like to see new jobs and industries created in energy conservation and renewable energy resources.
3. We should use America's power and influence to encourage the participants to refrain from violence, and continue talking until a common ground and understanding can be found.
4. There is NO absolute missile defense system. The only REAL defense against missiles is to dismantle them on an international basis. We should spend less, and use the money for missile reduction programs.
5. Proper education, directly relevant to one's own life, that unfolds intelligence and creativity, builds self-confidence, eliminates stress, and raises life to be in accord with natural law eliminates the tendency towards drug dependence.
I support procedures that promote cooperation and coordination among the various, disconnected (anti-drug) law enforcement agencies...
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