Campaign ‘94: Issues and Answers

Two candidates are running in the Nov. 8 election to represent the 45th Congressional District. They are Democrat Brett Williamson of Costa Mesa and Republican Dana Rohrabacher, the incumbent, of Huntington Beach. Where they stand on four issues:

Health Care

Williamson: “Any health care legislation must provide for universal coverage. (I) support an employer-funded program to replace the huge insurance premiums currently being paid out by both employers and employees alike. I will not support any plan unless it provides full coverage for those already on Medicare and for children, including immunizations and preventive care. I support managed health care networks that allow individuals to select from multiple plans, at least one of which must give all participants the option to choose their own doctor.”

Rohrabacher: “I support reorienting tax benefits for health insurance from employers to individuals for their choice of approved, universally available plans, assisting the poor as necessary. This would encourage individual choice and responsibility, which I believe is preferable to keeping employees tied to employers for the sake of their health insurance or turning health care over to the government. I also support tort reform, particularly in the medical area, to try to reduce the portion of medical costs which are caused by the legal system. Unjustified and frivolous lawsuits are a major contributor to increased health costs.”

Education and Health Care Benefits for Illegal Immigrants

Williamson: “I favor reducing illegal immigration by stricter control of our borders, increasing the number of Border Patrol agents, cracking down on visa violators, imposing sanctions on those who knowingly hire undocumented workers. Curtailing health care and education benefits will not solve the immigration problem.”

Rohrabacher: “We will never get our illegal immigration problems under control as long as we continue to offer a generous package of federal, state and local benefits to anyone in the world who can make it across our border. I intend to take every available opportunity to offer amendments to federal spending bills, restricting the funds in those bills from going to illegal aliens. . . . The only health care that should be provided to an illegal alien is immediate emergency care, after which the illegal alien should be immediately deported.”

Crime

Williamson: “I favor increasing the number of police on the streets and community policing programs.”

Rohrabacher: Opposed anti-crime bill approved by the House earlier this year that is now pending before a House-Senate conference committee. “The way to address our problems with crime is to reform the criminal justice system so that criminals can count on receiving swift and sure punishment. The ‘exclusionary rule’ (which prohibits the admission of illegally seized evidence in criminal cases) needs to be reformed so that all relevant evidence can be used to put the guilty in jail. And we need habeas corpus reform so that our courts are not tied up with interminable appeals from convicted criminals.”

El Toro Marine Corps Air Station

Williamson: Favors development of a commercial airport at El Toro “provided it is economically feasible and it poses no environmental threats.”

Rohrabacher: “It is essential for Orange County’s economy to have sufficient airport capacity. El Toro MCAS is nearly ideally located to provide that capacity and represents a valuable asset that Orange County cannot afford to lose. I strongly support the county initiative that will be on the November ballot to require the use of El Toro as a commercial airport.”

Source: Individual candidates