By Scott Brinton
King, 63, who has held the 3rd Congressional District seat for seven terms, did not return calls from the Herald requesting an interview. In a recent debate at the Massapequa Public Library, hosted by the League of Women Voters, King said he supports the president when he believes he is right and opposes him when he believes he is wrong. King cited the 2006 Dubai port deal as an example of a disagreement with Bush over a major national issue.
The 35-year-old Mejias is apparently hoping to ride a wave of anti-incumbent sentiment that is sweeping the nation. Some 50 congressional seats once thought to be safe are now in play this year, in part because of the Mark Foley scandal and in part because of growing public sentiment against the Iraq war, according to the polls. The 3rd Congressional District seat may be among those up for grabs. One poll, commissioned by Majority Watch from Oct. 8 to 10, gave King a 2 percent lead over the challenger.
In 2004, King captured 63 percent of the vote. At the time, support for the Iraq war, though fading, had not yet nose-dived. King, a professed "hawk," was seen as tough on terrorism. His chairmanship of the House Homeland Security Committee strengthened his image.
Now Mejias is attacking King on his pro-Iraq war stance and on homeland security. Despite King¹s committee chairmanship, Mejias notes, New York lost $80 million in federal homeland security funding under the incumbent's watch. Mejias adds that the U.S. has not yet secured its ports and airports against the threat of terrorism, five years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. "We should be checking every container," the challenger says.
Mejias also says the Iraq war has cost the U.S. billions of dollars while undermining national security. He believes U.S. forces should be redeployed out of Iraq to Afghanistan within 12 to 18 months. "The young men and women fighting in Iraq deserve an exit strategy," he says.
Mejias notes that the Taliban, which U.S. forces routed in 2001, is said to be making a resurgence in Afghanistan, and is now growing some of the largest heroin crops in Afghan history to fund its fight with coalition forces.
Mejias attacked King on Social Security, saying the congressman favored the president's plan to privatize the government retirement plan. The stock market, Mejias says, is too risky for most Americans to sink all of their retirement funds into.
Mejias supports raising the minimum wage from its current $5.15 an hour to $7.25 to $7.50 an hour. Congress, he says, has not voted to increase the minimum wage for nine years. During that time, lawmakers have raised their own salaries by a combined $32,000. Mejias conceded that King has not publicly opposed increasing the minimum wage, but when a petition was circulated through the House calling for a minimum wage bill to be released from committee for a full vote, King did not sign it.
Mejias criticizes Bush's No Child Left Behind Act, saying it relies too heavily on continuous testing to measure success. The federal government, Mejias says, has not adequately funded the tests or the programs needed to raise students' scores. In the end, he says, such under-funded mandates only lead to higher property taxes for Long Islanders.
On the environment, Mejias says the U.S. needs to develop alternative energy resources, such as solar and wind, as a way to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, particularly foreign oil. When asked what he thought about a wind farm proposed by the Long Island Power Authority 4.6 miles southeast of Jones Beach, however, Mejias had no answer. He said he was waiting for an environmental impact statement to be completed before reaching a conclusion.
Mejias charges that King has consistently voted in favor of large oil companies, including for measures that would allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, the U.S.'s most remote and pristine wilderness.
Mejias says he believes gay marriage should be allowed, noting that he voted for Nassau's domestic partnership measure in the Legislature. "All Americans deserve the same rights," he says. And Mejias says he is pro-choice. King is pro-life.
Before he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1992, King was a Nassau County comptroller, a Town of Hempstead councilman and an attorney in private practice. He earned his law degree from Notre Dame.
Mejias has spent four years in the Nassau County Legislature. He, too, is an attorney and businessman. He received his law degree from Fordham.
Comments about this story? SBrinton@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 203.
