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An Interview with Chris Shays: I did not go to Vietnam. I went into the Peace Corps, and after that I thought, There is no way I can go kill people.

An Interview with Chris Shays: I did not go to Vietnam. I went into the Peace Corps, and after that I thought, There is no way I can go kill people.

An Interview with Chris Shays: I did not go to Vietnam. I went into the Peace Corps, and after that I thought, There is no way I can go kill people.

It's Their Party

Interview by DEBORAH SOLOMON
Published: May 8, 2005

Q. How did a longtime Republican congressman from Connecticut wind up being such a vocal critic of his own party? You seem to relish your new role as a G.O.P. contrarian.

The Republican Party does seem lost. The party of Abraham Lincoln is in danger of becoming the party of the church.

And of an ethical impropriety or two. Weren't you the first Republican to call for the resignation of Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, accused of taking free trips from lobbyists?

The problem with Tom DeLay is that he does everything to the extreme. He has consistently pushed his ethical behavior to the edge, and sometimes he goes over the edge. There will always be more stories about Tom. This is the way he conducts business. With regard to those trips, he is aware of far more than he has said publicly.
Holger Keifel

Christopher Shays.
Readers
Forum: The 109th Congress

Are you trying to force him out of the House?

I'm not leading any charge to bring him down. I don't see that as one of my goals.

Why not?

Because trying to force him out would be a full-time job. I think it is likely that he will feel a need to step down.

Of course, he was on the other side of the campaign-finance-reform bill that you were a sponsor of, so you two have been sparring for years.

When I pushed the campaign-finance bill to the floor of the House, I was told that it was pretty much guaranteed that although I was next in line for the Government Reform Committee, I wouldn't be the next chairman. That's the cost.

Instead, you became the vice chairman of the commitee, which isn't so bad.

The point is, it's a restraint on some congressmen. They don't speak out as much. They don't want to take the chance of having what happened to me happen to them. They want to advance their careers.

You seem to be suggesting that all congressmen desire nothing so much as to run a committee.

Sure. You get to have a large staff, you get to set the agenda.

Do you feel you have any allies in Congress?

Yes. The whole mainstream moderate group, what we call the Tuesday Group. We sometimes meet on Tuesdays, but most of the time we meet on Wednesdays.

But most of them do not share your progressive views on social issues, like supporting abortion rights.

There are 232 Republican members of the House, and approximately 25 are pro-choice.

And probably even fewer are former conscientious objectors.

I did not go to Vietnam. I went into the Peace Corps, and after that I thought, There is no way I can go kill people.

Then how could you justify voting in favor of the war in Iraq?

I did believe with all my heart and soul that Saddam had weapons. And I can tell you this: So did Hillary Clinton. So did Bill Clinton.

Are they your role models?

Ha-ha! No. I have to answer to God, and I have to answer to my constituents. But I also have to answer to my wife.

Have you ever considered becoming a Democrat?

Never. The Democratic Party is the party of a collection of special interests.

It's not as if the Republicans are impervious to special interests. What about the oil companies?

Yeah, but we don't add up our special interests and then have them define us. When we vote the way some employers want us to vote, that's the way we feel. It's a part of what we believe in.

Do you find it hard to remain loyal to a party that has banished you to the sidelines?

I'll never be House speaker, and I'm not chairman of the Government Reform Committee. It's a personal disappointment.

Well, there are other things in life besides being speaker of the House. Would you like to be president?

I would love to be president if I didn't have to run for it.





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Story Source: New York Times

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Fiji; Politics; Congress

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