By:Jeff Lipton
Schumer, a Democrat and the state's senior senator, is seeking a second six-year term in the Senate on Nov. 2, and is facing a challenge from Republican Howard Mills, the deputy minority leader of the state Assembly, who represents upstate Orange County, and Conservative Party candidate Dr. Marilyn O'Grady, an ophthalmologist from Garden City. O'Grady lost in a bid to unseat U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) in the Fourth Congressional District two years ago when she ran as a Republican.
Schumer said he is running for another term because Americans face many challenges, and he wants to help make their lives better. "America is facing major problems," he said. "Average folks need all kinds of help. They need the government to be on their side and not on their back. I want to be a part of making their lives a little easier."
Mills acknowledged that Schumer is a formidable opponent, but the assemblyman said he can pull off the upset. He said that since Schumer has been in the Senate, "New York has lost influence and clout" in Washington. "We need an effective U.S. senator for New York state, and we do not have one," Mills said. "Whether we're talking about highway monies, homeland security monies, you name it, we've not had an effective senator delivering for New York."
O'Grady said she's taking a run at unseating the Democratic senator because, she said, "Chuck Schumer has been running up our taxes and running down our values for far too long, and it's time for New Yorkers to fight back. I want to represent the people who are tired of paying the bills, working by the rules and then seeing their traditional values trampled upon."
O'Grady admitted that when she lost to McCarthy two years ago, no one knew who she was. "I've gained name recogntion, absolutely, and I'm convinced that a conservative message, whether fiscally conservative or socially conservative, is a message that people respond to."
Mills said that the $25 million plus that Schumer has in his war chest -- more than any U.S. senator has ever raised -- may be viewed as a weakness. "While he's worked very hard and dedicated a lot of time obviously in raising that kind of money, what has he not been doing for the people of New York?" the assemblyman asked.
Schumer refused to talk about his opponents, insisting on sticking to the issues of the campaign, such as the war in Iraq and the inadequate funding for homeland security for New York. "I don't look over my shoulder," he said, referring to his opponents. "I do as good a job as I can as senator and then hopefully everything falls into place."
Mills said he is the only candidate in the race who has offered new initiatives, ideas and policy proposals. He has proposed a $36 billion tax cut for the middle class, tort reform and an energy policy. "I felt it was very important for the Republican Party to have a qualified and credible candidate to run against Chuck Schumer, to point out the facts about his record and to support President Bush in a national election year," Mills said of his reasons for running.
Effectiveness questioned
Mill said that Schumer has been ineffective in passing bills, having passed only insignificant ones during the past six years, and has not fought for New York's share of transportation funding. Schumer's aides have said that the senator is effective, because he works with Republicans and Democrats in a bipartisan way.
Schumer touts his accesibility to his constituents across the state, and his aides said he is the first senator to open a district office on Long Island. They said he has been working for years to keep HMOs from leaving Long Island, and last spring he completed a deal that reduced to zero copayments for Medicare-Plus Choice recipients. Schumer also negotiated an increase in the Medicare payments New York receives, which saved taxpayers billions of dollars, his aides said.
In February, he ensured that the 20,000 Nassau County seniors with HIP HMOs wouldn't have to pay monthly premiums, which resulted in $57.4 million in savings, his aides added.
Schumer has also secured hundreds of millions of dollars for Long Island projects, including upgrades to MacArthur Airport and the Tilles Center, his aides said. Schumer said he has been able to bring more than $2 billion home to local governments, including those in Nassau and Suffolk counties, to counter the rise in property taxes.
"I think I've had a strong record of accomplishment," said Schumer. "I think I've worked very hard, I think I represent average folks and I think I'm effective in helping them."
O'Grady said that if elected, her priorities would be to extend President Bush's tax cuts and to better protect U.S. borders, and not to give illegal aliens amnesty in this country. "I think we have to do a better job on immigration, especially at a time of war on terror, " O'Grady said. " I think we need a better presence at the borders. I think the statistics show that 30,000 people a month come through the Mexican border. There's no reason for that. If you have to have the national guard on the border, so be it. We need better communciation between all the agencies so we know when someone's visa has expired."
Mills said he believes in giving individuals more control over their lives, and Schumer does not. "At every opportunity, when I can give the individual more liberty and more rights, and more power over their affairs, or give it to government, I choose the individual," Mills said. "Charles Schumer chooses government. He's in favor or bigger government, higher taxes."
In addition, Mills said, the senator has a long record of cutting military spending and intelligence funding and voicing support for the closure of military bases.
The war against terrorism
Assemblyman Mills said he strongly supports Bush's war on terror. "I think the war in Iraq is part of the broader war on terror," Mills said. "I support what the president is doing, I support the men and the women in the military and I think the establishment of a democracy and the promotion of freedom itself in the Middle East is the most effective weapon we have in the war against terror."
Calling the war on terror "the major issue of our generation," Schumer said he agrees with Bush that the U.S. needs a strong and aggressive policy. "I think the war on terror is completely justified," he said, "but I think the president hasn't executed it very well."
Schumer added that the U.S. must form large coalitions involving different nations, "and make it the forces of freedom versus the forces of terror, and not the U.S. versus all the Islamic nations of the world." He also said he doesn't feel troops should be pulled out of Iraq immediately, "because then you will have a place like Afghanistan, but only worse. We do have to make greater efforts to bring other nations in there so our troops alone are not the only ones shouldering the burden. And I think having elections and turning it over to the Iraqis as soon as possible makes sense."
O'Grady said she also supports Bush's decision to go into Iraq in the fight against terror "to proterct us further. I would like to see Iraq be ruled by Iraqis and the country secured from its internal problems and turn it over to a democratic rule among the Iraqi people," she said. "With freedom coming to the Mideast, you could then effect change in surrounding countries such as Iran and Syria. If the military said they need more troops to do that and the president said they need more troops, yes, I support that.
"I think, like any war, it will have its ups and downs, and it tests our resolve, but I think if we stay the course and stick with it, I think the outcome will be very beneficial to our national security," O'Grady added.
Homeland security
Schumer termed the distribution of homeland security funds "outrageous," with New York receiving less aid per capita than Wyoming. "New York gets hurt," he said. "The first year we did pretty well, but since then the formula has been [ridiculous]. To give Wyoming more money on a per-capita basis is a disgrace." He said he is working to change the formula.
Mills said, "We have not been getting enough funding for New York, and that is clearly something Charles Schumer has to answer for. It is the responsibility of our congressional delegation to get New York its lion's share of homeland security, because there's no question we are the number one target."
Although Mills acknowledged that Schumer "has been making some noise about it, it's not about making noise and generating headlines and having press conferences," he said. "It's about results, and I feel he has been ineffective."
Mills said New York would greatly benefit from having at least one member of the Senate delegation serving in the Republican majority. "We have a long history of having a member of both parties representing our state," he said. "And now we have two members in the minority, and that does not help us in regard to homeland security monies or transportation monies and most other issues."
On homeland security, O'Grady said, " I think we're doing a good job funding homeland security. Since 9/11 we have not had another terrorist attack, and that's very encouraging. It tells me what we are doing is effective.
"It doesn't matter where our education system is, what we do with Medicare or whether we privatize Social Security or not -- not if we're threatened with attacks over here," O'Grady continued. "The first thing a federal government has to do is protect its citizens, and I believe we're doing the right thing in Iraq for our future security, so that trumps everything at the moment. We have to have a secure country. We cannot have a repeat of Sept. 11. Of course, we would love to be spending the money on other things. Nobody wants a war, but so be it if it means protecting our country. That's what we will do."
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