Tri-State Neighbor: South Dakota Farm Newspaper

Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., debates Republican challenger Chris Lien at Dakotafest Aug. 20. Jerry Oster, WNAX Radio, served as moderator. Tri-State Neighbor photo by Wendy Sweeter

Three of four congressional candidates vying to represent South Dakota met at Dakotafest Aug. 20.

House of Representatives

In the first debate, Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin met with Republican nominee Chris Lien of Rapid City, S.D., in front of a packed crowd in the First National Bank of South Dakota Pavilion.

Herseth Sandlin is seeking her third full term in the U.S. House of Representatives. Lien comes from a fifth generation family business in Rapid City.

During their debate, they heavily discussed energy issues. The two pointed out the fact that fuel costs are too high and something needs to be done to lower that cost.

“The House of Representatives has taken a number of steps, but many of those provisions have languished in the Senate or faced veto threats from the president,” Herseth Sandlin said. “Š We obviously have to do more to advance renewables and to increase domestic production.”

Herseth Sandlin advocates off-shore drilling, more nuclear energy, more drilling in the oil shale in Wyoming, Colorado and Utah, and more incentives for natural gas production, biofuels and cellulosic ethanol.

Lien criticized Congress for just putting legislation together and not actually coming up with solutions. While legislation and alternative fuels are important, he says Congress needs to look at different ways to solve the energy problem.

“If you put it all into one legislation, nothing gets done. We need to look at it on a single-issue basis, have legislation that can stand alone in the light of day, that doesn't confuse the American people, that you can say yes up or down, this is what we want,” Lien said. “My proposal is to compartmentalize when it comes to energy issues and other issues to where we can look at it on a transparent basis and make the right choice every time.”

Herseth Sandlin took issue with this line of thinking.

“Anyone who thinks focusing on one particular issue is going to answer our nation's energy crisis doesn't understand the nature of the problem and doesn't understand how the legislative process works,” she said.

The candidates discussed what to do about commodity speculators. Herseth Sandlin was in favor of more regulation. Lien favored more policing.

“What we need is more policing of what's going on. That's what the Department of Justice was designed for. That's what the trade boards were designed for,” Lien said.

One audience question asked about their stance on a national animal ID system (NAIS) and its role with country-of-origin labeling (COOL).

Lien says a national ID system is too expensive and too cumbersome. He believes this type of system is best left up to local control.

“The recommendation that I accept, that I would bring to Congress is that in the animal ID system, we need to have it at the most local level as we can,” he said. “We have a state veterinarian who can handle these issues. We have veterinarians across the state that know the ranchers that have these cattle.”

Herseth Sandlin does not believe a national ID system should be tied to COOL. She says USDA is pushing an ID program by giving breaks to packers and retailers.

“This (NAIS) should be a voluntary program,” she said. “I'm very disappointed that the USDA guidance on implementing country-of-origin labeling is giving a safe harbor to packers and retailers if they buy from producers who are enrolled in the national animal identification system.”

The House candidates also discussed foreign policy, the budget deficit, nationalized healthcare, the housing bailout and Hyperion in South Dakota.

Senate

Republican Senate candidate Joel Dykstra of Canton, S.D., conducted his forum solo after Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., opted not to participate in debates this election cycle. Johnson continues to recover from a December 2006 surgery for an intracerebral bleed.

Dykstra began his forum by stating Johnson chose not to attend, and he was disappointed to be debating by himself.

Dykstra addressed the need for more oil in the market.

“Alaska, off-shore, oil shale in Colorado - all three of those projects are things that Tim Johnson has voted against repeatedly,” Dykstra said. “All three of those things are things that could put oil into the pipeline, into the market that would reduce the price of oil today and reduce the price of gasoline today. If the market knows that we're committed to a course of action to bring more oil into the marketplace, the price will go down now.”

He stressed the importance of using American technology, renewables and wind.

Dykstra also touched on immigration, saying that South Dakotans know that the tourism and agriculture industries need help at times.

“What we really need is a proper, technical, managed system of legal immigration to allow people to come to this country who want to work, who want to build America, who want to be Americans Š and not a system based on massive illegal immigration,” he said.

Dykstra also touched on earmarks, abortion, federal judges, the federal deficit, entitlement programs, insurance companies, the separation of church and state, and a second stimulus program.