October 15, 2004: Headlines: COS - Fiji: Politics: Iraq: Election2004 - Shays: The Hour: "We learned a big lesson but people weren't listening. We should have gone into Iraq before 9/11," Congressman Chris Shays said during a debate at Temple Israel on Coleytown Road

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Fiji: Special Report: Former Congressman Chris Shays: RPCV Congressman Chris Shays: Archived Stories: October 15, 2004: Headlines: COS - Fiji: Politics: Iraq: Election2004 - Shays: The Hour: "We learned a big lesson but people weren't listening. We should have gone into Iraq before 9/11," Congressman Chris Shays said during a debate at Temple Israel on Coleytown Road

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"We learned a big lesson but people weren't listening. We should have gone into Iraq before 9/11," Congressman Chris Shays said during a debate at Temple Israel on Coleytown Road

We learned a big lesson but people weren't listening. We should have gone into Iraq before 9/11, Congressman Chris Shays said during a debate at Temple Israel on Coleytown Road

"We learned a big lesson but people weren't listening. We should have gone into Iraq before 9/11," Congressman Chris Shays said during a debate at Temple Israel on Coleytown Road

Fire alarms interrupts debate

By LISA PETERSON

Hour Staff Writer

WESTPORT -- While First Selectwoman Diane Farrell continued her assault on Congressman Christopher Shays shifting voting record in an attempt to align the moderate Republican with the Bush Administration on several issues including the war in Iraq, Shays was quick to point out that he believed the terror threat was real prior to 9/11.

"We learned a big lesson but people weren't listening. We should have gone into Iraq before 9/11," the 17-year incumbent old said Sunday during a debate at Temple Israel on Coleytown Road. "Saddam Hussein didn't feed them, he kept medicine from them and put them in mass graves." Shays spoke of his record of 20 hearings on terrorism before 9/11 and how he saw the very serious threat before most members of congress.

"We needed to reorganize government," he said. "Sadly, it took 9/11 to do that." Farrell, the Democratic challenger in the Fourth District, continued her focus on Shays recent voting record in Congress as a barometer of things to come.

"Chris's voting has changed over the years. In 2002, he voted with the administration 80 percent of the time. In 2003, 76 percent but in 1987 it was only 53 percent," she said. Shays pointed to the National Journal, which tracks congressional voting patterns, as voting 54 percent liberal and 46 percent conservative during the last session.

"I'm right in the middle of the political spectrum. I haven't changed," he noted.

"How effective are those liberal votes if they are made with a conservative administration?" Farrell asked, again making her point that the whole Republican majority in Washington from the White House to the Senate to the House of Representatives needs to change. Nearly an hour into the debate, just as the candidates were getting into a discussion about how to gain federal dollars for local projects, a power outage caused the fire alarm to go off sending everyone out into the chilly night air for more than 20 minutes.

Loud discussions about the debate and the election filled the courtyard. Two men discussing the election said they would vote for Democratic presidential Candidate Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., but felt they were undecided about the congressional race and agreed with political analysts that this race is a real threat to the 58-year-old congressman from Bridgeport's tenure.

The debate rules allowed questions from the audience, and one question asked was about how to deal with anti-Semitism worldwide.

"Bigotry is obscene and I have a strong support of hate-crimes legislation," Shays said. "I have been to community meetings and people will say things about Jews and not recognize it. I don't let it slide." Farrell spoke of an award she received from the Anti-Defamation League about a multi-cultural initiative she started in Westport.

"We are blessed but our children are sometimes disadvantaged not living in a multi-cultural community," the 11-year veteran of Westport political office said. "Sharing cultures enriches us as human beings and a caring populace."





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Story Source: The Hour

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Fiji; Politics; Iraq; Election2004 - Shays

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