Faith-based initiatives — the federal program providing government funding of social service programs operated by religious organizations — were among the issues on which Milwaukee-area candidates for Congress clashed sharply at a forum Tuesday sponsored by the Milwaukee Jewish Council for Community Relations.
Bryan Kennedy (D), who is running against incumbent F. James Sensenbrenner (R) in the Fifth District, explained that he is a member of the Church of the Latter Day Saints (Mormon), which “runs its own welfare system” without government money. “We must keep the strong hand of government out of faith-based initiatives,” he said.
But Gerald Boyle (R), running for an open seat in the Fourth District against State Sen. Gwen Moore (D), said, “I am a strong supporter of faith-based initiatives.” Boyle, a veteran of the first Gulf War and an attorney, contended that “There is no danger of the United States becoming a theocracy” as a result of such programs.
Their direct opponents took more muted stands on the issue. Moore merely said she was “concerned” about the matter. Sensenbrenner did not say directly whether he supported faith-based initiatives, but did say that the original bill “had too much danger of entanglement” between government and religion, and as a committee chair he “was able to help disentangle them.”
The candidates spoke to an audience of about 100 people at the Rubenstein Pavilion in the Weinberg Jewish Terrace. MJCCR First Vice President Michael Waxman, a Marquette University Law School professor, posed questions to the candidates on issues of interest to the Jewish community. Afterwards the candidates took questions from the audience.
The candidates all expressed support for continuing U.S. foreign aid to Israel and for the right of all nations to defend themselves. The Democratic candidates both mentioned concern for the impact of the security barrier on the Palestinians living in the West Bank.
Moore, who noted that she visited Israel and met with Israelis and Palestinians, said the fence should be dismantled to the extent it can to enable Palestinians to get to their jobs.
Sensenbrenner said that “Good fences make good neighbors” and the barrier “should be built where security says it’s needed, not where the U.N. said the border was 50 years ago.” He added, “The International Court of Justice should butt out and the Congress should support the fence.”
Sensenbrenner said he supports aid to Israel as well as to Egypt, where he thinks it will help prevent an Islamic revolution. Kennedy disagreed sharply, saying we should not be supporting strong men who are enemies of Israel.
Boyle said it is “of utmost importance to [him] to support foreign aid. We are changing the Middle East and “we need to continue on the current path; we need to stay the course,” he said.
Stating that that Israel has a right and a responsibility to self-defense, he added that Arafat and the PLO are terrorists and, until there is a Palestinian leader, it would not be beneficial for us “to push too hard.”
When asked whether they would support an extension, beyond the mandated seven years of Social Security benefits, for refugees whose naturalization has been delayed by the bureaucratic process Sensenbrenner said that Congress should stand behind its commitment made in the Refugee Act of 1980. The other three candidates said they would support an extension.
On reproductive rights the candidates split along traditional party lines, with the Democrats supporting a woman’s right to choose and the Republicans describing their positions as pro-life.
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