Kim, Opponent Put Issue of Integrity at Center of Debate

In many ways, the political debate in the Republican contest for Congressman Jay C. Kim’s seat hasn’t changed much in the last two years.

A federal probe into Kim’s 1992 campaign finances is still proceeding, just as it was two years ago. Kim’s lone Republican rival in next week’s primary, Upland businessman Bob Kerns, is arguing that the investigation is good enough reason to vote Kim out of office.

“Truth and integrity. The American way,” is the message Kerns leaves on his campaign telephone answering machine.

But unlike two years ago, when Kim fought hard to beat a field of five GOP primary challengers, Kim appears unfazed by this year’s opposition.

After winning the 1994 primary with 41% of the vote, Kim said voters of his 41st congressional district looked beyond the political charges and approved of his conservative voting record in Congress during his first term.

“In spite of all the attacks, [the voters] love me. They have faith in me,” he said then. Now, in his current reelection campaign, Kim says he believes “a vast majority of constituents continue to support” him.

Kim also has confidently turned the “integrity” spotlight on his low-financed opponent, calling him a “hollow and dishonest” campaigner who only has moved into the district at election time. The district straddles across Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties in the Inland Empire, and takes in a northern corner of Orange County.

Kerns said he has been a continuous resident of the district since 1991 and calls the carpetbagging charge a desperate attempt by Kim to turn attention away from the continuing federal investigation into alleged violations of election, tax and labor laws stemming from Kim’s first campaign for Congress in 1992.

Kim has not been charged in the case. But in recent months, Samsung America Inc., Hyundai Motors America and Korean Airlines pleaded guilty to making illegal corporate contributions to Kim’s campaign and paid a total of $1 million in fines to the federal government. Kim, a native of South Korea where the corporations are headquartered, has maintained he was unaware of the illegal corporate donations to his campaign.

As the first Korean American elected to Congress, the former Diamond Bar mayor was hailed as a success story. After immigrating to the United States at the age of 22, Kim earned advanced degrees in engineering and public administration and formed his own company, JayKim Engineers.

He takes pride in never having missed a vote on the floor of the House and has been a faithful soldier of the Republican “revolution,” supporting the House Republican proposals to slash spending in order to balance the federal budget, and to cut federal regulations to spur economic growth.

On one vote, Kim supported a welfare reform bill that would have cut cash benefits to legal immigrants--a provision about which he had second thoughts until he was persuaded by House Speaker Newt Gingrich to back the measure. Gingrich joined Kim in Orange County for the official kickoff of his campaign.

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Hanging like a cloud over his head is the federal probe, which began after the Los Angeles Times reviewed Kim’s 1992 campaign record and found that his engineering firm had provided the campaign with money and office space, a violation of election laws, prompting the federal probe.

Kim, who has maintained he did not knowingly commit violations, claims the “media has sensationalized this situation for their own self-enhancement and profit-making purposes.”

His opponent, however, sees the alleged campaign irregularities as a “pattern of dishonesty and lack of integrity” on Kim’s part.

Kerns argues, for example, that Kim switched his position on the abortion issue and is now opposed. He also said Kim eventually voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement even though he publicly questioned some provisions.

If elected to Congress, Kerns said he would sponsor legislation that “helps American workers. I’ll be fighting to stop these trade deals and lowering our tax burdens.”

He also vowed to “fight against the leadership when necessary. . . . I don’t think Jay’s willing to do that.”

The 40-year-old small-business owner says he has various business interests, including a financial group, a company that cleans up toxic waste and an oil company.

Kerns claims the reason Kim came out on top two years ago was that five opponents split the “anti-Kim” vote. “Two years ago, we got almost 60% of the vote against Jay and it was split,” Kerns said. “It’s something that’s on my side.”

With little money--he said he has spent less than $4,000 so far and his campaign address is a mailbox in Yorba Linda--Kerns is relying on press coverage of the Kim investigation and his campaign mailer.

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Kim Faces Lone Challenger

Rep. Jay C. Kim (R-Diamond Bar) is seeking reelection to his third term in Congress. His lone GOP primary opponent is Bob Kerns, a small-business owner, who was one of several candidates who challenged Kim in 1992.

Bob Kerns

Age: 40

Occupation: Officer and owner of several companies, including Amerivest Financial Group Inc.; a toxic waste cleanup company, Biotreatment; and Oxford Group, an oil company

Government/elected positions: None

Past political involvement: Includes serving as treasurer of the Young Republican Federation in Los Angeles County; campaign worker in 1992 and earlier this year for Republican presidential candidate Patrick J. Buchanan; 1986 Republican nominee for 26th Congressional District (Los Angeles County); 1994 Republican candidate for the 41st Congressional District; life member of the National Rifle Assn.

Fund-raising as of March 6: Reported raising $3,900, spending $3,324

Family: Single

Education: Bachelor’s degree in math and physics, Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago); doctorate in math, University of Chicago

Endorsements: United Republicans of California; California College Republicans; Young Republicans of Los Angeles County; Chaffee College Republicans; American Pistol and Rifle Assn.; Young Americans for Freedom

ON THE ISSUES

Do you support a congressional welfare reform proposal that would deny most social services to immigrants who enter the country legally? “It should be just for citizens. These benefits come for our citizens. I’m not for welfare in general and I would like to scrap the system. If I’m not for [welfare] for anybody, I wouldn’t want it for noncitizens.”

What is your position on abortion, including whether you feel the government should be restricted from funding abortions? “I am 100% pro-life and I don’t think there should be funding. I would like to see a [pro-life] Constitutional amendment [with exception] for life of the mother. If politically necessary, I’m willing to accept [exceptions for] rape and incest, but I really don’t want that.”

In an era of downsizing and corporate takeovers do you think the government should be involved in protecting people’s jobs? “I think the government should not do things that damage American jobs. That’s why I’m opposed to [international trade treaties] NAFTA and GATT and any trade deals that are not in the U.S.’s best interest; that put American workers that are making much more money against slave labor or workers in minimal-labor-cost countries like China and Mexico. If it’s not a matter of bailouts, if it’s incentives and tax breaks, I’m for that. I would have to look at each case individually. I guess the Chrysler [federal bailout] case was somewhat of a success story.”

Do you favor any proposals for changing the tax code, either a flat tax that would eliminate all exemptions or other changes that might alter the way capital gains or inheritances are taxed? “I’m basically against the capital gains tax. I think it should be eliminated. I also don’t think there should be inheritance tax. There should be deductions for home interest and charitable contributions. I’m willing to look at eliminating the Internal Revenue Service completely and come up with a value-added tax. I think it’s a very complicated problem and I think we have to put everybody’s heads together.”

Jay C. Kim

Age: 56

Occupation: Serving second term as 41st District congressman; former civil engineer, owns engineering firm registered in five Western states

Government/elected positions: Member of Congress since 1993; served as mayor of Diamond Bar, 1991-93, and on City Council, 1990-91

Fund-raising as of the end of 1995: Raised $120,888, spent $75,393

Family: Married; three grown children and a granddaughter

Education: Attended Chaffee Community College and received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from USC; master’s in public administration from Cal State Los Angeles

Endorsements: U.S. Chamber of Commerce; House Speaker Newt Gingrich; National Republican Congressional Committee; Rep. David Dreier (R-San Dimas); California Republican Assembly; California Young Republicans; San Gabriel Valley Lincoln Club; several state Senate and Assembly members

ON THE ISSUES

Proposal to deny most social services to legal immigrants: Supports. Kim voted for the House Republican welfare reform bill, which eliminated cash benefits for legal immigrants for a period of five years upon entry into the U.S. “[I] support significant restrictions on welfare for legal aliens. However . . . all citizens should be treated equally regardless of whether they are citizens by birth or through naturalization.”

Abortion, including government funding: Kim “opposes any government funding of abortion except to save the life of the mother and in cases of rape or incest.”

Should government protect people’s jobs: “The government should help create new jobs and opportunities by: eliminating burdensome mandates on businesses, lowering the capital gains and other taxes that restrict investment, promoting additional research and development, increasing American exports, a key element of recent job and economic expansion, through responsible trade agreements, providing incentives for job training and skills improvements. [My] pro-jobs record has resulted in receiving 100% ratings from the National Federation of Independent Businesses and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and their respective ‘Guardian of Small Business’ and ‘Spirit of Free Enterprise’ awards.”

Do you favor any proposals for changing the tax code: Supports “a flat tax only if the mortgage interest and charitable contributions deductions are kept. The mortgage interest deduction is particularly important to ensuring the success of California’s housing industry--a principal industry in the state . . . also support significant reductions in the capital gains and inheritance taxes, as this would improve investment and America’s international competitiveness, thereby creating more American jobs and economic prosperity.”

Source: Individual candidates; Researched by GEBE MARTINEZ / Los Angeles Times