Stevens Point Journal from Stevens Point, Wisconsin • Page 19

Monday, October 24, 1994 Stevens Point (Wis.) Journal 19 State US Senate candidates differ on crime By ROBERT IMRIE Associated Press Writer U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl seeks a second term against Republican challenger Robert Welch, who says that if elected he would serve only two terms and never vote to raise a federal tax. Kohl, millionaire of the Milwaukee Bucks, called Welch's tax stand an irresponsible gimmick that would leave him "out of the game" in Washington. "I think I have been successful at understanding the diverse and broad interests of the people of the state," Kohl said during a debate in Fond du Lac.

"Keep the heat on the politicians. And by the year 2000, things will look a lot better and we will have more optimism about the future of our great country." Welch, a state representative, said he was in the race to bring common sense to Congress because people are fed up with business as usual. Changes Welch promised to seek included scrapping welfare, balancing the budget with spending cuts and cracking down on crime. He said he "doesn't really care what the politically correct wisdom is in Washington." Kohl has repeated his 1988 campaign theme, "Nobody's senator but yours," a reference to his refusal to accept donations from special-interest groups. Kohl spent millions of his own in winning his first term.

Polls in the weeks leading up to the election showed Kohl with a big lead among potential voters. Also on the Nov. 8 ballot is political newcomer and Libertarian James Dean, 44, who owns an industrial water treatment business in Oshkosh. "I can't compete with the millions of dollars that Herb Kohl on the Democratic side and the Republicans are Election 1994 going to spend," Dean said. "Word of mouth is going to create the momentum for me." Kohl, 59, whose Milwaukee Bucks are a National Basketball Association team, is described by the Almanac of American Politics as a "pleasant, far from prepossessing who is repelled by partisan Kohl voted against enough spending bills to make him the National Taxpayer Union's best-rated Democrat.

Welch, 36, is a five-term state Assemblyman. Welch, vowing never to vote for a tax increase, won a fourway primary in September with 47 percent of the vote. Kohl and Welch contrast sharply in their backgrounds and their views on several issues. Kohl's background is big city, Milwaukee; prestigious colleges, the University of Wisconsin and Harvard University; and big business he bought the Milwaukee Bucks after inheriting a fortune from the sale of the Kohl's supermarket and department store chain. Kohl's first run for statewide office was the U.S.

Senate race in 1988. He spent more than $6 million of his own money to get 52 percent of the vote against Susan Engeleiter, a GOP state senator from a district that included some of Milwaukee's wealthy suburbs. Welch comes from Redgranite, a rural town 1 of 1,000 about 30 miles west of Oshkosh; 1 schools, Madison Area Technical College and Ripon College; and small business he and his wife started Welch Land Surveying Inc. in 1982. Welch's rise in politics has been more traditional.

He was elected to the Assembly in 1984 and won re-election four times, a tenure that elevated him to assistant Republican leader in the last session. Kohl and Welch have squared off in two debates, with Welch portraying the incumbent as a tax-and-spend lib-. eral and Kohl characterizing his challenger as an extremist out of touch with most people in the state. Kohl favors abortion rights; Welch doesn't. Welch supports the death penalty; Kohl doesn't.

Welch has said he'll limit himself to two terms in the Senate; Kohl says such a limit would harm Wisconsin. Kohl voted for a recent crime bill that outlawed 19 assault-style guns and imposed a waiting period on gun purchases. Welch opposes gun control and calls the crime bill "a sham." Neither candidate supports requiring employers to provide health care to their workers. Kohl voted for the 1993 budget bill, touted as a deficit reduction plan, that raised gasoline taxes and income taxes on the rich. He attracted national attention as the Democrat who could sink President Clinton's plan and held out support until the gasoline tax was lowered to 4.3 cents a gallon.

Incumbent and five-term state lawmaker vie for Senate seat By The Associated Press U.S. Senate candidates Herb Kohl and Robert Welch disagree on the death penalty, gun control and mandatory minimum sentences. Here's a summary of their views, edited for brevity, based on interviews with The Associated Press: Background A growing concern about crime has sparked debate about whether the death penalty and mandatory minimum sentences deter criminals. Congress recently banned 19 assaultstyle weapons and imposed a waiting period on gun purchases. Critics, including the National Rifle Association, contend the move will not reduce crime and penalizes law-abiding gun owners.

Supporters say it was a step in getting the most harmful guns off the streets without jeopardizing anyone's constitutional right to own a gun. Candidates Herb Kohl, 59, a Milwaukee Democrat, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1988. He owns the Milwaukee Bucks, a team in the National Basketball Association. Robert Welch, 36, a Republican from Redgranite, has served in the state Assembly since 1984.

He and his wife own Welch Land Surveying Inc. Question Do you support the death penalty, and why? If you support it, in what cases should it be used? Response Kohl: "No. I don't think that taking a life from a person who has committed a major offense like killing somebody solves any problems. I don't think it moves us in the direction we need to go as a society. We need to have mandatory life sentences without parole for people who commit serious offenses." Welch: "Yes.

I' support the death penalty i in cases of killing police officers and prison guards, killing children, particularly heinous crimes, basically where the murder is really an attack on all of society. "You shoot a police officer, you shoot a representative of all of us. You go out at random and kidnap a Cora Jones and brutally murder her, that is a terrorist act. It affects more than that family. Those kinds of crimes need to have the ultimate penalty." Question A private group reported in September that get-tough approaches to sentencing, including mandatory minimum prison terms, have failed to reduce the violent crime rate.

Should Congress be setting minimum sentences rather than leaving that to judges, and why? Response Kohl: "Congress has gone too far in tying the hands of judges. I think the public trusts judges more than it does Congress to impose tough sentences on criminals. Mandatory minimum sentences, especially those imposed on nonviolent offenders, are crowding our prisons and forcing local authorities to The deficit is coming down in a "constructive way" while the economy continues to grow, Kohl said. But Welch calls the 1993 budget deal little more than taxing people and spending more money and claims Kohl has voted for 36 tax increases in six years. "Nobody in the Senate today has a plan to balance the budget.

No one. Not Senator Kohl," Welch said, touting his proposal that lists 75 cuts, including farm subsidies. "I have a plan to balance the budget." Kohl predicts Welch's plan would end up like others in the "dust bin of history He is always found at the extreme edges of policy and decisions." Flex-A-Bed fights aches and pains four ways. At least. 15 YEAR WARRANTY HONEST SAVINGS DELIVERY SERVICE SOLD ONLY BY LOCAL EXCLUSIVE DEALERS You owe it to yourself to come in or FLEX-A-BED call for prices today.

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Freeman release violent offenders on the streets. "At the federal level, there is no parole for all crimes committed and sentenced. That is the right way to go." Welch: "I am a strong proponent of mandatory minimum sentencing. I would contend that in most states, we haven't tried it, so you can't say it hasn't reduced violent crime. "A mandatory sentence of one year for armed robbery when everybody is getting three to five anyway isn't a real mandatory sentence.

You do a mandatory sentence for 10 years in that case. "Then, you know on the street you are not maybe going to get a lenient judge, you are not maybe going to get a good lawyer. You are going to get, bang, guilty, 10 years. If that message gets out, you are going to see a lot less crime." Question The crime bill outlawed 19 assaultstyle weapons and imposed a waiting period on gun purchases. Should gun control be expanded, and why? If so, how? Response Kohl: "No.

We have enough on our plate by virtue of the crime bill, which includes money to help state and local governments have more cops on the street, more prisons, plus some of these restrictions on guns. We ought to stop, digest, take a look and see where these kinds of restrictions lead us before we consider additional ones." Welch: "I am against gun control. It does not work. It is taking us away from the real issues, which is cracking down on crime, making sure our justice system arrests people, fixing the welfare system so people don't grow up with hopelessness. "The crime bill was a sham.

They banned 19 weapons and said, 'Gee, your streets are going to be Nobody believes that. You cannot figure out what are good guns and bad guns. You can't say if you wait five days, somehow that person who is going to commit a crime anyway now won't do it. There just isn't any common sense in these I Home Furnishings, Inc. Sale Autumn CARPETING SALE Off Per Yd.

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