Role of federal government focus of 8th District debate in Rolla

ROLLA, Mo. -- The role of federal government in education, national defense and the economy was the focus of most of the questions Sunday at the 8th District congressional debate, held on the campus of the Missouri University of Science and Technology.

With the election 15 days away, candidates were asked about their stances on gays in the military, No Child Left Behind, funding a war that has not been sanctioned by Congress and to define victory in Iraq and Afghanistan. The two-hour debate was the third of four, with the last one scheduled for Monday at Park Hills.

The candidates are incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, Democrat Tommy Sowers, independent Larry Bill and Libertarian Rick Vandeven.

The military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy was among the first questions, with the candidates asked if they support repealing the policy, which bars openly gay people from serving.

Emerson said she is not in favor of repealing it, while Sowers, Vandeven and Bill said they were.

"What transpires between two consenting adults is none of my business," Vandeven said. "Even when it comes to gay marriage, the government needs to get out of the marriage business altogether."

Emerson, however, said she is not in favor of repealing it. She said the Department of Defense is doing a survey among soldiers on the issue, which is due at the end of the December. She'd rather wait for its findings to determine what to do.

Sowers spoke strongly in favor of repealing "don't ask, don't tell."

"I agree with Vice President Cheney and Colin Powell," Sowers said. "It's an insult to the professionalism of the military. It's the same mentality that was used in the '40s before troops were integrated and kept women out of service committees."

He also chided Emerson for her wait-and-see approach, drawing as his time as a teacher at West Point and at the university in Rolla.

"This is an issue for Congress," he said. "I taught the Constitution to students and cadets, and I feel like I'm going to have to teach the Constitution to the Congress when I get there."

No Child Left Behind, the law that supports standards-based education reform, also drew attention, with Emerson acknowledging that she voted for it -- and regrets it.

"Congress did not fund it, and once regulators got ahold of it, they used a cookie-cutter approach," she said. "We know that what works in St. Louis does not work in Rolla and does not work in Salem."

Emerson said she favors "scrubbing" the law and "starting from scratch, but do it at the local level."

Bill said he favors parents "taking responsibility" and reading and working with their children, suggesting it's not entirely a government responsibility.

Sowers said the question is why Emerson, who has been in office 14 years, hasn't worked to fix the problem.

"Where's the Emerson bill?" he asked. "Not to just be introduced, but pushed through?"

Rural America, he said, has additional problems, such as more special-needs children and greater distances for busing.

The economy, which has been central in the campaign, was again a big topic Sunday afternoon. Emerson said, for example, that she supports extending the Bush tax cuts, as did the other candidates.

"But I think we also need to look at the entire tax code," she said. "Some of the tax code prevents companies and employers from creating jobs right now. I think it penalizes job creation. We desperately need job creation in this country."

The candidates were asked to a define what a victory would be in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bill said it should be the elimination of al-Qaida's operations in the U.S. Sowers, who was deployed to Iraq twice, suggested his experience makes him most qualified to judge.

"Victory in Iraq is handing it over to the Iraqis that should then become a stable ally," he said. "Afghanistan is very different. We should have some presence there, probably special ops."

The definition of victory in Iraq is to suppress activity of al-Qaida, Emerson said.

But Vandeven said the question alone is telling.

"I can't believe 10 years into this war, we are still talking about what constitutes victory," he said.

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

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Watch video of the rest of the debate at http://www.semissourian.com/multimedia/video/