Candidate

Depleted Uranium

Cluster Bombs

Veterans Care

Nuclear Policy

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Recruiting

Iraq Strategy

Treaty?

Torture?

Benson

(D-House)

Despite its name, “Depleted” Uranium is 60% as radioactive as the enriched uranium used to make nuclear weapons. Aside from the numerous scientific studies linking DU to cancer, leukemia, and Gulf War syndrome, even military studies have concluded that DU is highly contami-nating.  When elected, I will call for a ban on Depleted Uranium weapons. There is never an excuse for exposing our troops to dangerous radioactive materials.

I vehemently disagree with this adminis-tration’s decision to continue using cluster bombs (C.B.). C.B.’s are dangerous and ineffective and maim and kill long after fighting has ended. According to Handicap International, 98% of C.B. casualties are civilians. In fact, children are particularly vulnerable to C.B.’s, often confusing them for toys. The US should be using weapons that effectively target enemies, not civilians.

As the mother of a severely wounded Iraq war veteran, I understand the difficulties facing wounded veterans and their families. This is exactly what prompted me to run for office. Reducing our ability to provide services to veterans while a war is being waged would be nothing short of foolish in my opinion. If we can spend $600 billion on war, I will find money to support our veterans.

The United States must end the research, development, and testing of all nuclear weapons. With the largest nuclear arsenal in the world there is no reason to develop additional nuclear weapons. Furthermore, the move towards tactical nuclear weapons is dangerous and must be halted. Without leading by example, the United States can never claim the moral high ground on preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons by other nations.

Every American deserves the    right to serve and defend the country regardless of sexual orientation. Discriminatory policies don’t protect anyone. Sadly, the United States is one of the few countries that still discriminates against individuals because of sexual orientation. This is wrong and we need to change it. As Barry Goldwater said, “You don’t need to be straight to shoot straight.”

No.  I think it should be the reverse; parents have to agree to the contact first.  Teenagers must be given career opportunities, but this is not about careers.  The reality is that the poor and disad-vantaged are often lured by the promise of bonuses and advancement but end up as the majority of those who serve in war.  There appears to be a class disparity of those who serve and those who don’t.  Do they target those tracked for Harvard?  What about those in private schools? 

The path to peace and freedom for the Iraqi people requires American troops to withdraw from Iraq. As long as U.S. troops are present, Iraq will never be able to move forward. Even if an American presence was a good idea, the American taxpayers can no longer afford to pay for the Bush administration’s war.  The economic and human costs are too great.

Yes – Treaty.  The Constitution clearly states two facts. The President is the Commander- in-Chief, in charge of the nation’s military. And Congress controls the power of the purse. While I believe that the Consti-tution grants the President certain leeway regarding military matters, the job of Congress is to provide oversight. If the American people are opposed to an action then Congress should grow a backbone and stand up to the executive branch.

No. Call it what you like, the undeniable fact is that torture is immoral and does not work. When someone is being tortured they will say anything they can in order to make the pain stop. Rather than gathering truthful and accurate information, a torture victim is much more likely to provide false and misleading intelligence. Faulty information wastes valuable time and resources that are critical to achieving our goals.

Berkowitz

(D-House)

Mr. Berkowitz did not directly respond to the questions; instead, his campaign sent a copy of the “issues paper” on veterans’ affairs as published on his web site.

LeDoux

(R-House)

Ms. LeDoux did not respond to the questionnaire, nor did she acknowledge receiving it.

Parnell

(R-House)

Mr. Parnell’s campaign acknowledged receipt of the questionnaire, but did not respond to it.

Young

(R-House)

Mr. Young did not respond to the questionnaire, nor did he acknowledge receiving it.

Wright

(AI-House)

Mr. Wright did not respond to the questionnaire, nor did he acknowledge receiving it.

Begich

(D-Senate)

Mr. Begich did not directly respond to all of the questions; instead, he submitted the following statement regarding his positions (slightly edited for length):

I have made veteran’s issues one of the top priorities in my campaign, just as  in my tenure as mayor. As mayor, I worked to get a veterans hiring preference in city and hired for the first time a full time staff person to work on military and veterans issues within the Municipality. We entered into a transitional work experience contract with the Veterans Administration which created an on-the-job training program for veterans in the VA Compensated Work Therapy… I also recently launched and now chair the U.S. Conference of Mayors Community and Military Task Force.

As U.S. Senator, I would demonstrate this same leadership and support for our veterans.   For far too long our veterans have gone without adequate health care, disability benefits, and pensions. We must fully-fund the Veterans Administration right now. Due to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than seven hundred thousand veterans are expected to enter the military and VA health care systems. If we don’t significantly increase funding for the Veterans Administration now, veterans will face even longer waiting lines than they do today. We must provide Alaska veterans with quicker and local access to health care and mental health services. 

We must also ensure that our veterans that want to pursue college or vocation school have the financial support they need. The first thing I did in this campaign was to call on Senator Stevens to support the new G.I. Bill that expanded education benefits to today’s veterans. Thankfully the bill passed and is now law – and our veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will receive the same benefits as their predecessors.

There also need to be immediate investigations into how the Pentagon and the Veterans Administration handle Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury, and other mental health injuries suffered during combat deployments. A permanent solution to the mistreatment and misdiagnosis would be to support treating PTSD and TBI as combat injuries, not merely psychological disorders. When we treat our soldiers' injuries seriously, when we listen to their concerns, we start coming up with solutions for better long-term care. We have an obligation to honor our veterans' service by giving them the care and support they deserve.

As we develop expanded veterans policies and funding, we also need to consider the increasing pressure being put on veteran’s services by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We should immediately begin to responsibly redeploy our troops out of Iraq and renew our focus on terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Our men and women in uniform have served honorably, but we need to get them out of Iraq's civil war. I believe we can safely redeploy out of Iraq over the next 16 months.

Bob Bird

(AI-Senate)

Mr. Bird responded with the following statement:

I am a conservative for peace. Of course, all people say they want peace, so I guess you can count me as being totally opposed to the Iraq War, and have been from the start.
 
I am in favor of LESS government power, not more. Wars take us in the opposite direction.
 
Constitutionally, undeclared wars are illegal, and I will oppose intervention in Iraq, Iran and other middle east locations not only on constitutional grounds, but on moral ones as well.
 
Our soldiers deserve the best of care, and taxes going to their rehabilitation and support are indeed constitutional and morally good. The poor care that veterans have been receiving is a disgrace.
 
New weapons are terrible. Some are probably immoral. I cannot answer about these new weapons with a blanket reply, nor am I properly informed. I would scrutinize the question carefully as a US Senator.
 
The wars in the middle east are self-created distractions to use American patriotism to prop up an immoral federal government. Pre-emptive war is the hallmark of a fascist state. Surveillance powers assumed by the federal government are illegal, immoral and are taking us into ruin. It is a big reason for my candidacy in the first place.

On 21 July, Mr. Bird provided the following response to the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” question:

Homosexuality is a destroyer of morale to all armies at all times of history. Politically correct fads notwithstanding, any incursion of permitting homosexuality into the armed forces will only tend to harm its efficiency and morale.
 
People do not understand the concept of "morale". They may tend to believe it means soldiers are depressed. But it is more than that. Human sexuality, whether homo or heterosexual, creates bonds that trascend the norms of all other human relationships. There are resentments, distrust, petty jealousies, distractions, inordinate fondness, desire for revenge, too many to list, really.
 
You would never expect a husband and wife to serve side by side in a foxhole, cockpit or gun turret.
 
It is right and proper to screen recruits by asking this question about homosexuality.

Cuddy

(R-Senate)

Mr. Cuddy Mr. did not directly respond to all of the questions; instead, he submitted the following statement regarding his positions (slightly edited for length):

I absolutely will support necessary future appropriations for long term care for our veterans.  In fact, I believe the future liability to our veterans should be appropriated each year when that liability is incurred to show us the true cost of each war, and to make sure that we pay for the wars in the present…and not leave it for our children to pay.   

The federal government is already too invasive into matters that should be left to states or local government.  I support keeping our local schools free from federal intrusion.

I support a strong defense, but I oppose our role as the world’s policeman.  Our present foreign policy is bankrupting our county.  We do need an exit strategy, and we should consider partition.

Congress should be a player in our strategy and plans for Iraq.

 I do not support any technique which is viewed to be torture…we don’t do that in America.

I will have to give your other questions more thought.  I don’t have a position on them at present.

Haase

(L-Senate)

Mr. Haase acknowledged receipt of the questionnaire and said that he would respond to it; however, we did not receive a response.

Heikes

(R-Senate

Mr. Heikes responded with an e-mail attachment that could not be opened; attempts (by both e-mail and phone) to reach him to resend the response were not successful.

Metcalf

(D-Senate)

Mr. Metcalf did not respond to the questionnaire, nor did he acknowledge receiving it.

Sikma

(R-Senate)

If truthful, reliable facts are available, then proper steps should be taken to protect those who are in service to our country.

Our nation should never make decisions based on what other nations say. We always have a responsibility to protect our own nation and its citizens.

For too long, the needs of our veterans have been neglected and swept under the rug. Measures must be taken to fulfill the promises made to those who serve and have served our country.

As long as there is a threat against our nation, we must continue to do whatever is necessary to provide appropriate protection.

First, sexual orientation is not a protected right under the equal rights amendment. Second, I agree that this policy should be removed as it seems to provide precedent for making law.

If the parents approve, then there is no objection. We cannot over-protect our children with regards to informing them about the dangers to our country, and the opportunity to serve the nation we live in. 

I do NOT agree with this policy. We cannot continue to enable the Iraqi government with US forces and funding. We must give them a deadline that will force them to assume control of their own country and its citizens so that the US can return its focus to US borders. (However, this may be a moot point if our own borders continue to remain open to any who wish to cross the line illegally.)

This situation is not an issue under treaty law. The President would have discretion.

Yes, I support this position. Compared to the way our POW’s have been treated, the US is tame in its techniques. They have decapitated, raped and abused our captured troops. The only reason so many believe this to be “torture”, is that they are not privy to the full truth of what is happening to those that are protecting them from the same treatment.

Stevens

(R-Senate)

Mr. Stevens did not respond to the questionnaire, nor did he acknowledge receiving it.

Vickers

(R-Senate)

Mr. Vickers responded with a copy of the press release by which he announced his candidacy; he did not answer the questions.

Vondersaar

(D-Senate)

If really depleted U238, no more dangerous than Lead.

Support elimination of cluster bombs that don't self destruct in less than 24 hrs.

Support long term care for veterans.

No.

Support treating GLBT as any other troop. Ie. repeal DADT.

Don't support recruiting or using anyone under 21.

Get out of Iraq.

Must have Senate approval.

Don't support torture, Cheney or Bush.

Wanda

R-Senate

Mr. Wanda did not respond to the questionnaire, nor did he acknowledge receiving it.