Decision ’92 : VOTING IN THE VALLEY / AN ELECTION GUIDE : CONGRESS : 25th DISTRICT Q and A

Questions were sent to candidates in September. Answers have been edited to fit the space.

Tax Cut

Q. Do you support President Bush’s proposal for an unspecified across-the-board tax cut and an increase in the personal exemption for individuals?

Christensen: Yes. It is imperative to relieve the enormous tax burden that is crushing our opportunities for true economic growth. We must cut spending. Government growth stagnates economic growth.

Gilmartin: No. I support the Democratic platform of cutting taxes for the middle class, if possible. Raise taxes on the wealthy and ensure that all Americans pay their fair share of taxes due.

Lawrence: No.

McKeon: Yes. I am strongly in support of tax cuts to stimulate economic growth and create jobs. Keeping taxes down encourages entrepreneurs to invest and expand their operations and, in the process, put more people to work.

Pamplin: No. Across-the-board tax cuts do not produce economic growth. We must cut spending and balance the budget.

Wilken: No. We need our tax base to invest in a new infrastructure that includes rapid transit, solar energy, water and air filtration and, of course, education.

AIDS Research

Q. Do you support a proposal by the National Commission on AIDS to greatly increase the federal resources committed to combatting the disease?

Christensen: No.

Gilmartin: Yes. I also believe cancer research should be expanded.

Lawrence: Yes. I also support research in holistic treatment for AIDS.

McKeon: Before we increase funding, we must assess how the money is being spent, whether on education or research.

Pamplin: Yes. The federal government has been in serious denial. This is a top public health issue.

Wilken: Yes. Two hundred Americans die each day from AIDS. This number is rising rapidly. We need to begin behaving like it is the national emergency that it is.

Family Values

Q. Is a discussion of God, morality and family values appropriate for a political campaign?

Christensen: No.

Gilmartin: No.

Lawrence: No.

McKeon: Yes.

Pamplin: Yes.

Wilken: Yes.

Capital Gains

Q. Do you favor President Bush’s proposal for a capital gains tax cut as an economic stimulant?

Christensen: Yes.

Gilmartin: No.

Lawrence: No.

McKeon: Yes.

Pamplin: Yes.

Wilken: No.

Balanced Budget

Q. Do you support a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget to be implemented within five years?

Christensen: Yes.

Gilmartin: No.

Lawrence: No.

McKeon: Yes.

Pamplin: No.

Wilken: No.

Defense Reductions

Q. With the end of the Cold War, do you favor deep reductions in the $290 - billion annual defense budget?

Christensen: Yes.

Gilmartin: Yes.

Lawrence: Yes.

McKeon: Yes.

Pamplin: No.

Wilken: Yes.

Welfare Benefits

Q. Do you support reducing welfare benefits of parents who do not go to school, attend training or find a job; do not make sure that their children attend school or get basic medical care, or who continue to have more children while on welfare?

Christensen: Yes. Rather than putting people in the demeaning position of receiving public assistance, we must eliminate all protectionist regulations, restrictions and licensing and permit obstacles that prevent people from being self-supporting.

Gilmartin: Yes. Schooling and education through a reliable organization is critical and necessary. Reduce benefits if they are physically able to work. Having more children on welfare has to be curtailed.

Lawrence: No.

McKeon: Yes. I would favor all but the restriction on having children.

Pamplin: Yes, except for the disabled.

Wilken: Yes. Child care and vocational education must be provided to welfare families to help break the cycle of poverty.

Health Care

Q. Do you support a national health care system in which the government establishes fees, pays all the bills and collects taxes to cover the cost?

Christensen: No.

Gilmartin: Yes and no. I like the idea of an independent agency supervised by the government, but independently using its own professional help with the ability to float bonds guaranteed by the U.S. to start the program and to institute the beginning of universal care. The fees should be universal and the bills paid directly by the independent agency.

Lawrence: Yes.

McKeon: No.

Pamplin: No.

Wilken: Yes.

The Environment

Q. Should the United States move more rapidly to limit industrial emissions that may be depleting the ozone layer and contributing to global warming even though such steps may hurt some businesses and eliminate some jobs?

Christensen: No. The keyword is “may.” There is no evidence to support these phenomenon. We need a sane approach that balances costs and benefits.

Gilmartin: Yes. More research is needed to fully answer the limits that must be placed on businesses.

Lawrence: Yes. A move like this may eliminate some jobs, but it also will create new jobs. Our planet is in grave danger.

McKeon: No. We need to protect our environment, but we also need balance. It doesn’t help the environment if we just move the production from one state to another as some would like.

Pamplin: Yes. We must protect the environment and maintain jobs even if the government has to retrain and relocate workers.

Wilken: Yes. Potentially, the most serious of all environmental problems, ozone depletion threatens important food chains and all species sensitive to ultraviolet light.

School Vouchers

Q. Do you support giving government vouchers to low- and middle-income parents to allow them to pay their children’s tuition in private or parochial schools?

Christensen: Yes.

Gilmartin: No.

Lawrence: No.

McKeon: Yes.

Pamplin: No.

Wilken: No.

Death Penalty

Q. Do you support capital punishment for any crimes? If so, what?

Christensen: Yes. Ideologically, I am opposed. However, it is difficult to justify supporting the lives of some killers.

Gilmartin: Yes. Assassination of any government official, police officer, or peace officer of any type and first-degree murder of any private citizen. I also believe that terrorism should be defined as a capital crime.

Lawrence: No.

McKeon: Yes. For the crimes presently under the law, and for habitually violent criminals.

Pamplin: No. As long as the courts make mistakes, I cannot condone the murder of innocent people.

Wilken: No. Someone must end the cycle of violence.

Affirmative Action

Q. In general, do you think affirmative action in employment of women and members of minority groups has not gone far enough, or has gone too far, or is about right? Christensen: Affirmative action ultimately hurts everyone because it is based on the unethical principle of judging according to sex or race. It is also insulting in its implication that women and minorities cannot succeed by their own merit.

Gilmartin: About right.

Lawrence: In many areas, not far enough.

McKeon: Far enough. People should be judged on their skills and abilities and not the color of their skin.

Pamplin: I oppose all quotas and all forms of discrimination.

Wilken: It must continue. One only need observe the number of aged white males in government to deduce that power is far from being equally distributed.

Abortion Rights

Q. Do you support a woman’s unrestricted right to an abortion within the first three months of pregnancy? Christensen: Yes.

Gilmartin: Yes.

Lawrence: Yes.

McKeon: No. Only in cases of rape, incest or endangered life of the mother.

Pamplin: Yes.

Wilken: No.