Sorting out issues in congressional race

Incumbent Biggert faces three challengers for 13th District seat

U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Hinsdale, will face Sean O'Kane, 41, of Hinsdale in the Feb. 5 primary. Biggert, 70, has represented the 13th Congressional District since 1999.

The Republican primary winner will compete against Democrat Scott Harper, 47, of Lockport and Green Party candidate Steve Alesch, 52, of Warrenville in the November general election.

The district extends from Interstate 88 down to the northern border of Joliet, with the Kane County line as a western border and the Cook County line as an eastern border - though it includes a portion of southwestern Cook County. Along with all of Naperville, the district includes Lisle, Woodridge, Bolingbrook, Romeoville, Lockport, Lemont, Darien, Westmont and Hinsdale, and portions of Oak Brook, Aurora, Downers Grove, Orland Park and Tinley Park.

The Sun asked the candidates to reply to a series of questions via e-mail about the biggest issues facing the district. Here are excerpts from their answers:

Republicans

Issue 1: Security. My top priority is the security of Americans. Congress must hold the Iraq government's feet to the fire for achieving clear objectives, including troop training, rebuilding, resource sharing, reconciliation and enforcing the rule of law. Our troops should not stay there one day longer than is necessary. We must strengthen border security and stop creating legal obstacles to the monitoring of terrorists, tying the hands of the intelligence community and extending U.S. citizens' rights to foreign terrorists. We have to be right 100 percent of the time; the terrorists only have to be right once. We also need to develop alternative energy sources to reduce reliance on the Middle East.

Issue 2: Keep taxes down and the economy up. In the four years since the enactment of income, dividend and capital gains rate cuts, individual income tax receipts have jumped 46 percent. Thanks to spending restraint and tax cuts, the federal deficit declined again in FY 2007 to $161 billion. The American people aren't taxed too little; Congress still spends too much. Some in Congress want to bring back in full force the marriage penalty, death tax and Alternative Minimum Tax, along with higher taxes on income, dividends and capital gains. I will work to ensure that this doesn't happen.

Issue 3: Illegal immigration. I support securing the border through increased military support, more port of entry inspectors, border agents and K-9 units, state-of-the-art surveillance technology and expansion of the Tunnel Task Force. We need to verify that every worker in the U.S. is authorized to work in the U.S. We must expand and make mandatory the E-Verify program to identify and punish employers that knowingly hire illegal immigrants. I oppose amnesty in all forms because it simply creates the incentive for more illegal immigration.

Issue 1: The war in Iraq and terrorism. Gen. Petraeus and U.S. forces must finish out the successful surge mission and then develop plans for an orderly withdrawal as soon as feasible. The United States has its own pressing security demands to attend to, most acutely in the form of loosely organized nonstate terrorist groups. The U.S. cannot determine or pay for Iraq's future development; the Iraqis must do this for themselves.

Issue 2: Taxes and spending. The middle class is anxious about many things, and one of its biggest burdens is the tax bite. Tax cuts should generate more tax revenue for the government at lower rates for payers. I favor movement towards a graduated flat tax and a far simpler tax code. Federal budget deficits and the national debt could be eliminated if Congress would slow down spending, reduce the size and scope of the federal government, and eliminate inefficient, wasteful or fraudulent programs by increasing oversight and rewarding whistleblowers. Additionally, more reductions could be achieved by keeping legislative bills simple.

Issue 3: Illegal immigration. We need to make our border real, not with walls, but with laws, technology and cooperative enforcement by all levels of the state and local authority. Controlled borders are absolutely required for national security. We should also 'freeze' the illegal immigration problem in place, keeping it from growing ever larger. Then we can begin addressing its wide ranging economic and social effects. At the very least, the status of illegal immigrants should be nebulous. Government entities should not be offering inducements of any kind such as driver's licenses, free tuition, etc. There should be no 'sanctuary cities' and any illegal aliens caught in any kind of serious criminal activity should be deported immediately. We should expect that people who come to our country respect our laws.

DEMOCRAT

Issue 1: Bring sanity in U.S. foreign policy and end the war in Iraq. We need to bring traditional American values into our conduct of foreign policy. This means engaging in multilateral institutions, being good neighbors and working for liberty and justice. Diplomacy rather than saber rattling should be our impulse. Regarding Iraq, I will work to bring the troops home in a safe and orderly manner and work to eliminate the permanent base-towns that we have built there, about which no one seems to be talking.

Issue 2: Fiscal responsibility and an end to corporate tax loopholes. We have borrowed trillions over the last seven years to finance two wars and a large defense build-up, while cutting taxes. I favor cutting taxes for the middle class, but I deplore corporate cronyism. I will work hard to convince my fellow members of Congress to pay as we go for changed priorities. I will work to end tax loopholes gained by corporations by virtue of their connections in Washington. This will allow us to balance the budget, take the alternate minimum tax burden off the middle class, and allow us to address other needed spending priorities.

Issue 3: Clean water, clean air and a green future. Environmental integrity is not just about the planet: it is also about our neighborhoods and our kitchen faucets. We need to start with the cancer-causing chemicals that are being allowed to be dumped into Lake Michigan. We need to reduce adolescent asthma caused by industrial emissions. We need to protect the open space we have left - for our own well-being and for our recreation.

Green Party

Issue 1: Global Nuclear Energy Partnership is a program endorsed by the Bush administration and my opponent, Judy Biggert, to make the 13th Congressional District, and surrounding counties, a dumping ground for nuclear waste. The life-threatening nuclear waste will originate from all over the world and be delivered to dump sites within our community. I am opposed to this program, which will make a few CEOs even more rich despite the unspeakable risk to our community. It's yet another example of the incumbent putting the interests of a small group of individuals with big money ahead of the health and safety of our community.

Issue 2: Our health care system is a national disgrace. There are more than 47 million U.S. citizens without health care in this country. I advocate for a universal, single-payer health care system - the most cost-effective, highest quality health care system available. Universal single-payer health care works for other industrialized nations, such as Canada, France and England, and it can work for us. Until we get serious about reform, our current system will continue to be a burden on families of all income levels, hinder business of all sizes and be a drain on our health and our economy.

Issue 3: Many candidates have claimed to support getting our troops out of Iraq, but once elected, continue to vote in favor of funding the illegal occupation. I would work to end the war in Iraq immediately and would vote "no" for any further funding, outside of the costs of bringing home our troops as safely and as quickly as possible.

REPUBLICANS

Judy Biggert

(incumbent)

Age: 70

Residence: Hinsdale

Family: Husband, Rody; children, Courtney Caverly, Alison Cabot, Rody Jr. and Adrienne Morrell

Education: New Trier High School; bachelor of arts in international relations, Stanford University, 1959; Northwestern University School of Law, 1963

Political experience: U.S. House of Representatives, 13th District, since 1999; Illinois House of Representatives, 81st District; president, Hinsdale Township High School District 86

Community involvement: Village of Hinsdale Plan Commission, chairman; Steering Committee, Citizens for Property Tax Accountability; Visiting Nurse Association of Chicago, chairman; Hinsdale Assembly of the Hinsdale Hospital, chairman; Junior League of Chicago, president; Women's Board of Brookfield Zoo, president; Oak School PTA, president; Grace Episcopal Church, Sunday School teacher; assistant soccer coach

Sean O'Kane

Age: 41

Residence: Hinsdale

Family: Wife, Eileen, 41; children, Seamus, 10, Conal, 7, Bridget, 4

Education: Notre Dame High School; degrees in history and philosophy, University of Notre Dame, 1988.

Employment: Custom Built Homes, self-employed

Political experience: DuPage County 84th Precinct Republican committeeman; Downers Grove Township coordinator for Bill Brady's gubernatorial campaign

Community involvement: St. Isaac Jogues Parish, boys soccer coach

DEMOCRAT

Scott Harper

Age: 47

Residence: Lockport

Family: Two children, Natasha, 24, Briana, 22

Education: Naperville Central High School; bachelor of arts in history, economic development, Wheaton College, 1982; MBA in finance, University of Chicago, 1985; master of arts in theology, Catholic Theological Union, 2001; masters in social ethics, Oxford University

Employment: Recently sold business to business partner so he can campaign full time.

Political experience: Volunteer for national, state and local campaigns.

Community involvement: Meals on Wheels; Uptown Homeless Shelter; tutored minority youths and mentored homeless job seekers at Old St. Patrick's Church; tutored Pakistani youths through Jacari; U.S. Air Force.

GREEN PARTY

Steve Alesch

Age: 52

Residence: Warrenville

Family: Two children, Heather, 25, Shawn, 22

Education: Hersey High School; master of science in computer science, Illinois Institute of Technology, 1990; bachelor of arts in computer science, Southern Illinois University, 1979

Employment: Software developer, Lucent Technologies

Political experience: DuPage County Green Party, co-chair

Community involvement: DuPage Against War Now; Illinois Ballot Integrity Project