(cross posted at
MyDD)
By Rep. Jane Harman
I traveled to Stockton, in California's Central Valley, on Columbus Day to campaign with Democratic House candidate Jerry McNerney.
Jerry is running in California's 11th Congressional District against incumbent Republican Richard Pombo, who many consider his party's poster-boy for destructive anti-environmental policies. Pombo and I entered Congress together in 1992, and since then he has done everything in his power to undermine 40 years of federal environmental protections.
As Chair of the House Resources Committee, Pombo has used his perch to gut the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air and Water Acts, and other environmental laws. Jerry McNerney is an engineer in clean and alternative energy production and a small businessman in the emerging energy technology field. He'll protect our natural resources, and believes that a healthy environment and economy go hand-in-hand.
But I traveled to Stockton to join Jerry at the University of the Pacific's School of International Studies not to discuss the environment, but national security policy. Here, too, on this extremely complex topic, Jerry can more than hold his own. Even though he hasn't yet been elected to Congress, he is more informed on security issues than many of my House colleagues.
I think part of Jerry's understanding comes from his first-hand experience with terrorism. In 1971, Jerry was a passenger on a jet hijacked to Cuba. He says looking down the barrels of guns held by men with no respect for human life convinced him that America must do everything necessary to defeat terrorists. But he rightly criticizes Republicans for talking tough without acting smart.
I was struck by the backbone of this mild-mannered engineer whose son received a commission in the Air Force after 9/11. It was his son, in fact, who first encouraged Jerry to challenge Richard Pombo in 2004. Jerry won the Democratic nomination as a write-in candidate, and in the general election, he garnered more votes than any Pombo challenger had to date.
This year, Jerry is one of the almost three dozen candidates supported by SecureUS, my political action committee. Unlike other PACs that simply raise funds for candidates, SecureUS also provides training to candidates on national security issues, intelligence and terrorism, and how to discuss them with voters and the media. As the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, these are the issues I live and breathe 24-7 - and I believe the more candidates who understand national security and homeland security policy, the stronger our party will be.
SecureUS candidates are leading in more than a dozen races around the country - in Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Colorado, Indiana - and at least five more races are too close to call - in Illinois, New York, New Mexico, Kentucky and Jerry's race in Stockton.
For too long, Republicans have persuaded the American public that they are the more capable party on national security. That is changing, though, as more and more people become convinced that the Bush administration has politicized the threat of terrorism for election year purposes. And now, even some Republicans are starting to see that tough talk alone is not a credible strategy. Simply telling people we must "stay the course" is not an option, especially when it has been a course to disaster.
On Monday, Jerry and I were asked about the North Korea situation. One day after reports that Kim Jong Il's government had successfully tested a nuclear weapon, the issue was on the minds of a lot of people. We responded that the situation we face with North Korea is directly related to the President's failed Iraq policy.
Iraq was a war of choice; not a war of necessity. By choosing to go into Iraq, the President neglected the fight against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and the threats posed by North Korea and Iran. Richard Pombo has said little about the war besides offering his full support for the President's failed policy. Jerry has learned these issues and supports transferring responsibility to the Iraqis; reducing the American military footprint, including a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq; getting Sunni-buy in; and disarming the militias.
Yes, the world is dangerous and the threats are real. Jerry and I take a backseat to nobody in wanting to go after the terrorists. But Richard Pombo and the Bush Team are not making us safer. They have fumbled badly in Iraq. The terrorist threat has grown. The multiple deployments have broken our military, and broken our promises to the Guard and Reserves. We desperately need a new direction.
Democrats are reclaiming our legacy as the Party that won the major wars of the 20th Century - and won the peace. We are the party of Wilson, FDR, Truman, Kennedy, and Clinton. Their victories came without sacrificing our principles. Republicans like Richard Pombo are sacrificing our principles and failing to protect our security.
We can - and must - do better. And with Jerry McNerney in Congress, I believe we will do better.
I left Stockton impressed with Jerry's ability and plain-spoken charm - and hopeful for the people of California's 11th Congressional District, who are lucky to have someone of his caliber working so hard to represent them in Congress.