The key opponents in the June 6 Republican Party primary for the 11th Congressional District nominationóU.S. Rep. Richard Pombo and former Congressman Pete McCloskeyósparred for 90 minutes Monday on issues ranging from ethical principles to jobs, immigration, energy and qualifications to serve the growing district that now includes much of the Interstates 5, 580 and 680 corridors.
A third candidate, Tom Benigno, a retired businessman who, like Pombo, grew up in Tracy, also participated in the political forum. Seated between the two main candidates, Benigno often cut short his answers to questions from the audience and a six-member panel. Often, his responses had little to do with the specific questions being asked.
More than 400 attended the forum, held in the packed Williams Middle School gymnasium just east of downtown Tracy. It was clearly Pombo turf with large yard signs lining the streets leading to the school and with a groundswell of cheers when the seven-term congressman arrived at the school. Even so, a third of the audience sported McCloskey campaign buttons and cheered or jeered just as loudly during the forum.
At Pomboís request, the forum was not a debate. The same questions were asked of each candidate, with none of the three responding to questions or charges made by an opponent.
Both Pombo and McCloskey took time in their opening remarks to stress their backgrounds. Pombo talked about his successful campaign to win election to the Tracy City Council ìto make a difference in the community where I grew up,î and then to win the 11th District Congressional race in 1992, where he has continued to be reelected by substantial margins ever since.
ìThis is where I was born and raised, where my father was born and raised, and where my wife and I are raising our children,î Pombo told the cheering and largely Tracy crowd. ìWhen we talk about issues affecting the 11th District, Iíve spent my entire life learning about them and the last 14 years dealing with them. My opponent has been learning about this district for only the last three months since he decided to run against me.î
McCloskey countered that although he served in Congress for more than a decade from a district on the Peninsula, heís the fourth generation of a California family, his father was born in Merced, and after 53 years as an attorney, heís gone back to farming in the Central Valley and has taken up residency in the 11th Congressional District specifically to unseat Pombo.
ìIn 1994, I was particularly proud of the Republicans because of their very public ëContract with America,íî McCloskey said. ìThe Republican Party, my party, promised good ethics, a balanced budget, limiting the size of government and that each congressman would serve no more than six terms.î
Frustrated at being unable to find a viable opponent to Pombo in the Republican primary, or even in the Democratic Party, McCloskey, a veteran of three wars, said he has returned to politics to make sure Pombo is not reelected.
ìThe ethics in the Republican Party today are terrible,î McCloskey said. ìThree members of Congress have already pleaded guilty to charges of illegal campaign funding and contributions, and all three gave money to Mr. Pombo. He even gave $10,000 to Tom DeLay for his defense fund after DeLay resigned from Congress in disgrace. What does that tell you about Mr. Pomboís ethics?î
Because of the procedures agreed to by the three candidates at the forum, none of the participants were obliged to answer the otherís charges, and Pombo didnít.
Answering a question about alleged corruption in Congress, Pombo said the Internet, a strong media and public hearings have made the current Congress ìquite transparent.î
ìThereís much more exposure today and full disclosure of all the money that we spend and receive,î Pombo said. ìThe vast majority of us who serve in Congress are honest, hard-working people. Sure, there are a few wh9o have gotten in trouble, but the system is working the way it is supposed to, and those who have abused the system are heading for jail, and deservedly so.î
On other issues, the two frequently disagreed:
Immigration:
McCloskey said the country has to secure its borders, whether through the use of the National Guard or an increase in the immigration service. He opposed action that he said Pombo supports to turn illegal immigrants into felons and send them back across the border, suggesting that those here illegally be given three months to apply for a special orange card that would show employers that they are registered and want to stay in the U.S. Employers who hired undocumented workers who failed to have these cards could then be arrested.
ìAlso, I want to make sure that the National Guard troops the president wants to send to the border arenít those just back from serving in Iraq who have already lost much of their livelihood from being away from their jobs for so long,î McCloskey said.
Pombo favors a guest worker program that would register illegal immigrants and allow them to continue in the essential services they are performing in the fields in the Central Valley and in local restaurants and hotels.
ìBut I am opposed to an amnesty program,î Pombo said. ìWe canít have a program that allows people to jump ahead of those who have gone through the legal process of immigrating into this country and gain citizenship.î
Energy:
Pombo said that those who served in Congress 25 or 30 years ago, as McCloskey did, missed an opportunity to free the U.S. of its dependence on foreign oil when that source represented just a third of the domestic energy supply. Now itís two-thirds, and while supporting programs to find alternative energy sources, Pombo also wants to increase domestic drilling since the country will continue being dependent on fossil fuels for a number of years to come.
McCloskey wants more federal funds to be spent on developing alternative energy sources.
ìWe should have insisted 10 years ago that American car manufacturers make cars fuel efficient as the Japanese have done,î he said. ìWe shouldnít allow oil drilling off the coast of California as Mr. Pombo prefers. Thatís a limited supply at best and wonít solve our energy problems.î
Iraq:
ìProbably the worst thing that has happened to this country is Bushís foreign policy,î McCloskey said. ìWe have antagonized the world with our aggressiveness. Itís a tragedy for this country, and I think this administration will go down as the worst in history. All of the money for education, health and environmental protection is being plowed into a military establishment across the globe. Itís unfortunate.î
Pombo said that while no one wants to be in a war, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were in response to Sept. 11, 2001, and the terroristsí attacks.
ìAll but one of the 435 members of Congress gave the president the authority to wage those wars,î he said. ìTo believe that there was a conspiracy or anything else that led us into these wars is spreading a very dangerous idea.î
