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Monday, June 1, 1998

California candidates vie for congressional seats

ELECTIONS: Local winners from 29th Congressional District will advance to general November elections

By Christy Lin

Daily Bruin Contributor

The top vote-getters from each political party for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives races will advance to the general elections, which will be held on Nov. 3. The top three candidates for the office of U.S. senator are Barbara Boxer, Matt Fong and Darrell Issa. The top three candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives for the 29th Congressional District, the district UCLA is in, are incumbent Henry Waxman, David Churchman, and Mike Gottlieb.

SENATE

Barbara Boxer

As the incumbent, Democrat Barbara Boxer is expected to be a winner in the primaries and move on to the general election without a second thought. Boxer first began her political career as a member of the Marin County Board of Supervisors, the county in which she and her husband have lived in for the past 30 years.

A mother of two grown children, Boxer originally entered politics because she had concerns about the kind of world her children would inherit.

With six years of experience in the U.S. Senate, Boxer has supported the Brady Bill, which established a five-day waiting period before the purchase of a handgun and a national criminal background check system to be used by firearm dealers before the transfer of any firearm.

Boxer also wrote the Computer Donation Incentive Act of 1996, which provides an increased tax deduction for companies that donate new and nearly-new computers to elementary and secondary schools for educational purposes. The act was signed into law as part of the 1997 balanced budget agreement.

Another act Boxer has introduced is the After School Education and Safety Act of 1997. The legislation would create pilot after-school enrichment programs such as mentoring programs and drug prevention programs for students from kindergarten to high school.

Matt Fong

Republican Matt Fong, Issa's close competitor, is currently the California State Treasurer. A Southern California local who lives in Hacienda Heights, Fong holds a MBA from Pepperdine University and a law degree from Southwestern University School of Law.

From being an independent businessman to commercial pilot to a Member of the State Board of Equalization, Fong has been involved in many different sectors of society.

As state treasurer, he has allocated $170 million to bonds for college loans, helping 60,000 students attend college.

Fong supports capital punishment. He states: "Crimes such as blowing up public buildings and murder deserve the death penalty. Society has a right to take ultimate justice."

Adopted as an infant, Fong opposes abortion rights.

"My birth mother's alternative to my birth - abortion - has a very personal meaning for me," Fong said. "You can see why I think the right choice is for life."

As Senator, Fong wants adoption tax credits and an end to partial-birth abortions. He will also vote against taxpayer funding for abortions.

Darrell Issa

A native of Ohio now living in Vista, CA, Republican Darrell Issa is running a close race against Fong in the primary elections.

As a young man fresh out of high school, he served in the U.S. Army for 10 years and spent some time as a bomb disposal expert assigned to President Richard Nixon.

After leaving the army, Issa became a successful businessman. He started Directed Electronics Inc. (DEI), the world's leading manufacturer of consumer auto security systems. Issa won Inc. Magazine's Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 1994.

As co-chair of the California Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI), more commonly known as Proposition 209, Issa strongly believes in eliminating affirmative action.

"The idea behind CCRI, that it's wrong to grant preferences based on race and gender, is so fundamentally correct that I had to get involved," Issa remarked.

As a U.S. Senator, Issa will take this issue to Washington and "join the battle to dismantle the racial and gender preferences that divide our nation. Discrimination is wrong regardless of who benefits."

Issa also opposes bilingual education, which he describes as "a dead-end that victimizes those it purports to assist."

HOUSE OF

REPRESENTATIVES

David Churchman

Republican David Churchman, previously an infantry officer, has been a professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills since 1976 and has had several achievements in the field of education in California.

Churchman initiated one of the first graduate degrees in conflict management and made it available statewide through the Internet and television.

Churchman also helped to begin the California Academy of Mathematics and Sciences (CAMS), an acclaimed magnet high school located at the Dominguez Hills campus.

As an environmental activist, Churchman co-founded Wildlife on Wheels (WOW), which educates over 100,000 students annually with its environmental programs. WOW also sponsored bird rescues during the Exxon oil spill.

Churchman has visited over 100 countries, and believes this experience increased his respect for people and their cultures, his understanding of geopolitical realities, and his appreciation of America's national interests abroad.

Churchman approves of Proposition 226, the initiative that requires labor unions to acquire the written consent of its members before using dues to pay for political contributions.

"There is nothing more totalitarian than forcing an individual to pay to promulgate opinions with which they disagree," Churchman said.

As for Proposition 227, the initiative that will eliminate bilingual education, Churchman also votes yes, saying, "Bilingual education is a failure; immersion generally is a more successful approach to teaching English. Although flawed, this is an initiative statute rather than a constitutional amendment, so (it) can be repaired by the legislature."

Mike Gottlieb

A UCLA alumnus and Republican, Mike Gottlieb is also running to represent the 29th Congressional District.

He supports "a modified form of affirmative action," which would consider the prior quality of education of minority students, but not penalize students who were able to attend better schools.

He believes that education should be controlled by a balance of regulation from both the state and local levels.

"Regions can differ greatly across the country, so the federal government should be involved at the 'macro' level by setting general guidelines," Gottlieb said.

Gottlieb believes that the business community must play an active role in identifying the problems in its community and take steps toward solving those problems.

As a congressman, Gottlieb plans to intertwine his background in economics with congressional politics in order to create a stronger connection between Angeleno interests and Congress.

Gottlieb plans to strengthen the pathways of communication between Los Angeles and Washington by implementing focus groups on health care, education and businesses.

Gottlieb was also a co-founder of the Westcoast Sports Associates (WSA) in 1995.

WSA is a charitable organization of members with diverse business and personal backgrounds involved with sports, whose goal is to raise money for underprivileged youth sports programs.

Henry A. Waxman

Currently the incumbent, Democrat Henry Waxman is another UCLA alumnus. Both his undergraduate degree in political science and his law degree are from UCLA.

As the U.S. Representative, Waxman chaired the Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Health and the Environment from 1979 to 1994 and was the Subcommittee's senior Democrat from 1994 to 1995. He is currently the senior Democrat on the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee.

Prior to becoming a U.S. Representative, Waxman served three terms on the California State Assembly.

Since entering Congress, Waxman has earned the reputation of being an expert on Middle East policy and an effective proponent of American aid to guarantee Israel's security and survival.

Waxman wants more tobacco-control legislation. "There is no greater threat to public health than tobacco products," he said.

Waxman wants everyone to remember three facts when dealing with tobacco: First, that tobacco is a lethal and addictive drug. Secondly, it is the only product that produces harm when used as directed. Lastly, Waxman believes tobacco companies have lied to consumers for the past 40 years.