Candidates speak out

Explain positions on security, superpower role, rights

BARRY COHEN
Editor

1. What is the greatest threat to U.S. national security?
   
   
2. What is the most important responsibility of the United States as the world's only remaining superpower?
   
   
3. How can we ensure our national security and at the same time maintain constitutional civil liberties and civil rights?
   

U.S. Representatives in Congress
District 2

1. Security threat: Our greatest threat is terrorist groups that seek to subvert our freedoms and way of life through violence and hate. No longer do we face one identifiable enemy. Now there are many groups and countries that seek the destruction of the United States. The political landscape has changed, and we must respond.
   
   
2. Responsibility as superpower: It is the United States' responsibility to protect the rights of people to choose their own destinies. We cannot force our beliefs on other cultures and nations. However, they need to be free from coercion and threats to choose their own form of government.
   
   
3. Constitutional rights: We must isolate terrorists without isolating America. In order to accomplish this goal, all agencies responsible for domestic security must work together, and the ethnic makeup of these agencies must be representative of America as a whole.
   

1. Security threat: We need to end our policy of meddling in the internal affairs of foreign nations. We need to refrain from being the policeman for the world. We are seen as the arrogant bully when we use our military power to correct perceived internal injustices committed by foreign leaders.
   
   
2. Responsibility as superpower: The U.S. government should be responsible only for citizens' defense. It should not protect the world's people from perceived enemies. We can do this by ending entangling alliances, withdrawing from international united organizations and by opening our borders to free trade and travel.
   
   
3. Constitutional rights: If we were in a constitutionally declared war against a foreign government, we could deal with enemy combatants. However, the prosecution of non-governmental international terrorists requires police action protecting the basic civil rights of the accused. Liberty cannot be traded for security.
   

U.S. Representatives in Congress
District 3

1. Security threat: We must avoid a return to isolationism. We can leave the world alone, but the world will not leave us alone. We must remain engaged internationally. Sept. 11 was not a one-time event.
   
   
2. Responsibility as superpower: A commitment to the founding principles of the U.N. Charter is the most important responsibility of the United States. Adopted by treaty, the charter is a part of U.S. law. Restraint in the use of U.S. military power in support of the spirit of the U.N. Charter is essential.
   
   
3. Constitutional rights: In the aftermath of Sept. 11, the USA Patriot Act called for more stringent measures in screening immigrants and visitors to the United States and tracking their activities. Judicial review will prevent overreaching by the executive branch. Habeas corpus must not be suspended, causing detainees to simply disappear.
   

1. Security threat: Our greatest threat is President George W. Bush and our foreign policy. Our military occupies 130 foreign countries. Many of them resent our interference and learn to hate all Americans. It's no surprise that they strike back. How many enemies can we afford?
   
   
2. Responsibility as superpower: The most important responsibility of the United States is to abide by the U.S. Constitution as it executes its primary duty - to protect the rights of individuals in the United States.
   
   
3. Constitutional rights: Bring our troops home and end all federal foreign aid. Restore our constitutional civil liberties and civil rights, abolish the income tax and the Federal Reserve Bank and return to sound money backed by precious metals.
   

U.S. Representatives in Congress
District 4

1. Security threat: Our greatest threat is the interwoven, interdependent international terrorist network. There are no clear separations between organizations - they work in concert to defeat our freedom and independent thought. I give the Bush administration full latitude in pursuing diplomatic or military solutions.
   
   
2. Responsibility as superpower: While we cannot be everywhere and cannot extend our resources as we have in the past, we must prevent severe violations of human rights and counteract direct threats to our national security interests.
   
   
3. Constitutional rights: We must be attentive to honoring the Bill of Rights, but we must also remember the changes necessary during a period of war. We must also increase logistical cooperation between state and local agencies and federal jurisdictions.
   

U.S. Representatives in Congress
District 5

1. Security threat: Terrorist use of weapons of mass destruction poses the greatest threat to the United States and Israel. I support disarming Iraq and changing its leadership regime. Saddam Hussein's lust for weapons of mass destruction and advancing capabilities in this area have become an unacceptably dangerous threat in the post-Sept. 11 world.
   
   
2. Responsibility as superpower: American leadership abroad is critical to maintaining our homeland security. We must not only wage war against the terrorists and those that aid them, but also the root causes of terrorism. The United States must commit financial resources to halt the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
   
   
3. Constitutional rights: The USA Patriot Act strikes the right balance. It strengthens our government's ability to get to the root of terrorist threats and stop attacks before they start. The measure also includes key protections to ensure that the new powers would not infringe on American's civil liberties or rights.
   

1. Security threat: Our greatest threats are international terrorism and Saddam Hussein's quest to acquire nuclear weapons. If Hussein possessed nuclear weapons, he would be likely to use them or share them with terrorists. We simply cannot let that happen.
   
   
2. Responsibility as superpower: We must protect American interests and further the cause of liberty by promoting democracy and free trade. Furthermore, a successful outcome in Iraq will embolden other oppressed peoples to seek freedom and help us deter enemies by making the threat of a pre-emptive military attack credible.
   
   
3. Constitutional rights: We need a common-sense application of our laws. There will naturally be some tension as we continue to weigh the threat of terrorism against our freedoms, but the two do not have to be mutually exclusive. The Justice Department has struck a good balance that I expect to continue.
   

U.S. Representatives in Congress
District 6

1. Security threat: Our greatest threat is rogue nations that despise the United States and the freedoms we enjoy and that possess and continue to acquire weapons of mass destruction.
   
   
2. Responsibility as superpower: The United States must continue to promote freedom and the rule of law and stand as the "light on the hill" on the world's stage.
   
   
3. Constitutional rights: Since opinions will differ on whether one security measure comes at the expense of a certain liberty, and vice-versa, it is clear that you will never please all of the people all of the time. We simply must do our best to strike the proper balance between liberties and security.