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Four men vying for U.S. Senate seat
LOU HIRSH
Managing Editor
In Arizona's U.S. Senate race, Republican incumbent John McCain is being challenged by Democrat Ed Ranger, Libertarian Party candidate John C. Zajac and Reform Party candidate Bob Park.
On a question of interest to the Jewish community, regarding the proper role of the United States in negotiating a final peace settlement in the Middle East, Park replied to a recent Jewish News questionnaire: "There is no magic solution for the age-old problems. If the U.S. can keep them talking, fine. But I'm not impressed with recent U.S. actions in that area."
On another foreign-policy matter, Park said the United States should stay out of the situation in Kosovo, where Yugoslav leaders have allowed the slaughter of hundreds of innocent civilians. Park said Yugoslavia's European neighbors should deal with the situation.
On another question, Park said no new federal hate-crimes legislation is needed to address situations like the recent murder in Wyoming that was believed by some to be a hate crime.
Responding to the questionnaire in a phone interview, Zajac said the United States should continue efforts to advance Middle East peace, but only when asked by the parties involved, such as with the recent talks in Maryland.
On Kosovo, Zajac said the U.S. should have moved long ago to arm Bosnians to defend themselves, but he is opposed to involving U.S. troops in any future conflict in Yugoslavia.
On the hate-crimes issue, Zajac said current laws regarding murder already sufficiently address crimes such as the one in Wyoming, and new federal laws would not help the situation.
The campaigns for McCain and Ranger did not return the candidate questionnaire to Jewish News, and neither candidate was available for an interview on the questions, despite several phone calls made over the past two weeks.
In a recent news release from his Washington office faxed to media organizations, McCain hailed the accord reached in recent Middle East talks.
In a separate fax on the subject of Kosovo, McCain said a recent agreement reached to head off armed conflict involving American troops "represents the product of a flawed diplomatic approach to ending the fighting, stemming from the absence of an overriding (Clinton administration) policy towards the Balkans."
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