10/11/2006
By David Wise
WisPolitics
BROOKFIELD -- Candidates vying to unseat U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner engaged in tag-team criticism of the Republican incumbent at a debate in Brookfield today.
Democrat Bryan Kennedy blasted Sensenbrenner on the PATRIOT Act and other national security legislation, immigration and the Medicare prescription drug plan while calling him a “rubber stamp” for President Bush. Green Party candidate Bob Levis followed a similar line in his criticisms and accused Sensenbrenner of showing favor to big business and special interests.
But Sensenbrenner said he has held 219 listening sessions since the last election and has responded to the needs of his constituents through assistance with their concerns and by passing legislation to bring federal dollars to the district. Sensenbrenner said he was "not afraid to take a stand on controversial issues" but pointed to bipartisan legislation he successfully passed through a "gridlocked Congress."
Sensenbrenner said his opposition to the No Child Left Behind Act "shows I am an independent voice in Washington," adding "I don’t rubber stamp the party line."
The three met before an audience of about 60 people, comprised mostly of seniors, in the Brookfield municipal courtroom. The debate was sponsored by the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans.
Both Levis and Kennedy knocked Sensenbrenner for voting to prohibit the federal government from negotiating drug prices in the Medicare prescription drug plan while he held pharmaceutical stocks.
Levis called the drug plan a "disgrace" and said Sensenbrenner has profited from it. Levis said he would offer a bill that would force members to recuse themselves from voting on bills they could benefit them financially.
Kennedy called the plan "corporate welfare" disguised as a drug benefit and said the enrollment deadline for the plan was a scare tactic to get seniors to enroll. Kennedy said the bill profited Sensenbrenner and the drug companies that he said donated to Sensenbrenner’s campaign.
Sensenbrenner admitted that the plan is not perfect but said it was "the right thing to do." He described the plan as a beginning and noted that when Medicare was first established it was problematic. He said the program would never have began if legislators at the time waited until a perfect plan was drafted. He said the enrollment deadline was used to get people to enroll so Congress could get feedback on improving the plan.
Sensenbrenner didn’t respond to the criticism over his stock holdings.
Kennedy said Sensenbrenner used his power as head of the judiciary committee to erode civil liberties and shift the balance of power to the executive branch through the PATRIOT Act, legislation that allows warrantless wire tapping and other domestic surveillance, and a detainee bill that allows the president to define torture.
"He has written legislation that takes the bill of rights and throws it out the window," Kennedy said. "Mr. Sensenbrenner has given the Bush administration the rubber stamp to do whatever they want."
But Sensenbrenner said the detainee bill was achieved through compromise and without it the Supreme Court may have prevented the interrogation of terror suspects. Sensenbrenner said he was "proud" of his work on the PATRIOT Act, saying "not one of the expanded law enforcement powers in the PATRIOT Act has been found unconstitutional." Sensenbrenner added that no civil liberties violations have been found to occur under the act and that the bill "has made America safer."
The three also sparred over immigration.
Sensenbrenner highlighted the successful passage legislation to build a fence on the U.S.-Mexico border and to fund increased border patrols and surveillance. He warned against amnesty and called for the enforcement of laws that would punish businesses for hiring illegal immigrants.
Kennedy criticized Sensenbrenner’s call for deportation of illegal immigrants as unrealistic. "Sensenbrenner wants to round up and deport 12 million people who don’t even exist on paper," Kennedy said. "Good luck."
Kennedy called for otherwise law-abiding illegal immigrants to be fined, charged back taxes and put to the back of the line of those waiting for citizenship.
Levis called for a fast track to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who are working and noted that America is a nation of immigrants. Levis jokingly told Sensenbrenner "when you get to the pearly gates, your grandmother’s going to kick your arse."
http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=74290
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