Chris Shays, Diane Farrell fight for 4th deadly serious
Shays, Farrell fight for 4th deadly serious
Joseph Straw, Register Washington Bureau
10/24/2004
WASHINGTON — Frustration with the Bush administration and a Republican-led Congress has spurred Democrats around the country into political action over the past two years.
The same frustration spurred Westport First Selectwoman Diane Farrell to seek higher office with a very visible, well-financed challenge of nine-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-4.
The race is one of a few congressional contests in the country seen as highly competitive. The district covers all of southwestern Connecticut, including parts of Shelton and Oxford.
Farrell has raised more than $1 million and Shays has brought in political big guns like Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to campaign with him.
Shays, despite a moderate voting record and willingness to criticize both his own leadership and his commander-in-chief, has swung to the right since taking office in 1987, Farrell argues.
"I had serious disagreements with the administration and the Republicans that are controlling the government in Congress, and I feel Chris Shays too often votes with their right-wing agenda," Farrell said. "That includes going it alone in Iraq, and budgetary decisions that have left us with the biggest deficit in U.S. history, and the worst job recovery since the Hoover administration.
"The first thing you do when you find yourself in a hole is stop digging. The House, the Senate and the White House find themselves in a hole, and they’re still digging," Farrell said.
Shays holds three prominent committee assignments, two of which place him at the fore of policymaking in the post-9/11 world, while increasing his profile on the national stage.
Shays is vice chairman of the House Budget Committee, he heads the House Government Reform Committee’s subcommittee on national security, emerging threats and international relations, and sits on the newly formed House Homeland Security Committee.
Shays has made six trips to Iraq since March 2003, the first in the midst of the U.S.-led charge to Baghdad. He has co-authored bills that would implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, and has held a series of hearings on corruption in the United Nations Iraq oil-for-food program.
Shays did not respond to requests for an interview, but has made it clear his focus has shifted to the fight against terrorism, and homeland security.
"I am intimately involved in this issue," Shays said during the candidates’ first debate Oct. 4. "I eat, sleep, I dream about these issues every day."
Farrell argues that the country was betrayed by false justifications for the war.
"Wherever I go, I always remind audiences: No connection to al-Qaida, no weapons of mass destruction and Osama bin Laden remains at large," Farrell said.
"All the reasons that we were given as American citizens, none of those — none of those — ended up having a connection to the decision to go into Iraq on a unilateral basis."
Farrell said that if elected, her first priority would be to lobby for a seat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, something she said Shays should have done 17 years ago.
"Since Chris has not done that, the district has suffered for it and we are the part of the state that is most in crisis," Farrell said.
Farrell noted that eastern Connecticut’s 2nd District, represented by Transportation Committee member U.S. Rep.
Rob Simmons, R-2, received $45 million in this year’s spending bill, relative to $17 million sent to the 4th District.
"It really shows that Chris is not focused on an issue that is so important to the district," Farrell said. "I’m not going to wait for the phone to ring. I’m going to go out there and really act from a regional perspective."
Farrell pledged, if elected, to push for a return to "fiscal responsibility" in Congress, charging Shays, as a leader on the Budget Committee, is partly to blame for the size of the deficit.
Shays is consistently ranked by periodicals, including National Journal and Congressional Quarterly, as one of the most moderate Republicans in the House of Representatives.
Farrell and Shays share moderate stances on issues including reproductive rights, stem-cell research, and opposition to a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
Farrell, however, notes that during his first year in Congress, Congressional Quarterly reported that Shays voted with leadership only 53 percent of the time, compared to 80 percent in 2002.
Shays aides note that votes since 9/11 trend toward matters of foreign policy and homeland security, in which Shays is more likely to vote a Republican line.
Farrell argued that both her residence in Fairfield County and her experience dealing with funding for first responders as a local official would prepare her well to fight for added homeland security in Connecticut.
"I’m very aware what their needs are as it relates to homeland security, given that we are so close to New York City and the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, and it’s absolutely imperative that we have the right process as it relates to allocation and risk assessment," Farrell said.
Farrell says she is undaunted by Shays’ high profile.
"The whole district is a very savvy district, and I don’t think that being on national TV benefits Congressman Shays. I don’t think it impresses the voters of this district," she said.
U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-4
Age: 59
Residence: Bridgeport
Education: BA, Principia College, 1968, MBA, MPA, New York University, 1974, 1978
Professional: real estate broker, business consultant
Personal: Married to Betsi deRaismes Shays, daughter Jeramy
First Selectwoman Diane Farrell, Democrat
Age: 49
Residence: Westport Education: BA, Wheaton College, 1977
Professional: advertising executive
Personal: Married to Win Farrell, daughters, Hilary, 21, Margaret, 17
Joseph Straw can be reached at jstraw@nhregister.com or at (202) 737-5654. The Associated Press contributed to this story.
