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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, January 20, 2003

Case confident he can remain an independent

 •  Q&A with Rep. Ed Case

By James Gonser
Advertiser Staff Writer

Holding fast to his conviction to remain an outspoken, independent voice may get tricky at times, but so far Congressman Ed Case is confident that when necessary he can disagree with the formidable, longtime Democrats in Hawai'i's Washington, D.C., delegation.

"I'm clearly not shy about saying what I think," U.S. Rep. Ed Case said.

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Any number of issues may put that resolve to the test, and Case last week was already stepping forward to stick to his guns on his well-known opposition to the Jones Act, which among other things require that all cargo moved between two U.S. seaports is shipped on a vessel owned by a U.S. citizen or corporation, built in a U.S. shipyard and manned by a U.S. crew.

"I appear to be at odds with my other three members of our congressional delegation, so as a practical matter, I'm realistic enough to recognize that unless they change their minds I'm barking up the wrong tree," Case said. "This is an issue that needs a light to be shone continually on it and I hope eventually to change the minds of those in opposition."

Case talked to The Advertiser about issues facing Hawai'i and the nation after returning home from Washington for a visit last week. (See accompanying Q&A).

With nearly 350,000 registered voters, Case's constituency is now much larger than the Manoa district he represented in the state House for eight years. But he plans to be an independent voice in Congress just as he was in the Legislature.

"I'm clearly not shy about saying what I think. I've already done that last week in some bipartisan sessions talking about Iraq, the federal tax policy and economic revitalization."

University of Hawai'i political science professor Neal Milner said Case can function well as an independent Democrat in a Republican-dominated Washington, D.C.

"I don't have any trouble seeing him as independent and having that kind of role in Washington," Milner said. "What he is saying is he is keeping an openness and that is the reputation he developed here. That is how he came to power."

Case, who won a special election Jan. 5 to replace the late Patsy Mink to represent rural O'ahu and the Neighbor Islands in the 108th Congress, last week attended the opening of the Legislature and said it was an emotional day for him and a time to greet old friends and mend fences with those he butted heads with in the past.

"I feel good about my time there, but it was time to move on," Case said. Wearing a new congressional pin on his lapel, he and his wife, Audrey, walked hand in hand through the crowded halls of the state Capitol stopping in at every office to say hello.

Case was sworn into office less than two weeks ago and has already cast several votes on the House floor. Among his first tasks was to staff his offices. "I'm almost pau with that," he said.

The congressman has two offices, one in the Cannon House Office Building in Washington and the other in the federal building here, Room 5-104, Mink's former office.

In Hawai'i, his primary focus will be to set up an outreach program on all Islands to talk directly with his constituents.

"Sometimes members of Congress kind of sit in their offices and wait for people to come to them and that is not my style and never has been my style and is not how I'm going to run the job of representing the 2nd Congressional," Case said. "You simply can't do that and stay in close contact with your constituents."

Case estimates he has taken more than 100 interisland trips while campaigning during the past 18 months and has met a lot of people in the district. He plans on asking some of those people to help set up a network of communication to convey concerns to his office.

"If I have somebody with their eyes and ears open and the community knows it is their conduit to me, I'm going to hear about it a lot faster," Case said. "It's really a network of people that want to help their communities."

He expects to get the project going within 60 days and hold town meetings in school cafeterias, community halls and wherever people gather.

"I want to set up a traveling congressional office where I take an island, get a big chunk of time and go from one end to the other. You got to go to where people live. When you go there, you learn what is on their minds."

Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.

• • •

Q&A with Rep. Ed Case

Q: Where do you stand on Iraq?

"The national government's responsibility is to protect U.S. citizens. I do believe that the leader of Iraq has both the will and the means given the right circumstances to harm U.S. citizens and he has demonstrated an arrogance of international resolutions of the (United Nations) both on invading Kuwait and in shutting down the weapons inspections. So, from my perspective he doesn't get a second chance.

"I believe in a multilateral approach to Iraq through the U.N. as we have done that demands he fully open up to weapons inspections and remove weapons of mass destruction. Or the U.N. should remove them for him with the use of force if necessary.

"What we have now is a very difficult situation where I think that an invasion of Iraq by the U.N. or by us should occur only if weapons of mass destruction are in fact located. That was the premise of us mobilizing. That was the premise of the resolution that U.S. Congress passed. I think the president has a very difficult task in selling a unilateral invasion of Iraq to the American people if the basic premise doesn't exist.

"The Bush administration maintains it has good, solid intelligence demonstrating that there are in fact weapons of mass destruction and (Saddam) Hussein is lying. I believe that intelligence has to be made available to these inspectors through whatever means necessary to protect the sources and not compromise them. You've got to help those inspectors to succeed. It is not a matter of holding things back here."

Q: What about North Korea?

"It is in the national interest of the U.S. to assure that North Korea does not develop nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them against its neighbors. That is our goal. I don't trust the regime in North Korea any more than anybody else does. This is a problem that can, should and, I believe, will be resolved diplomatically. I welcome China, Russia and the U.N. in negotiating with North Korea out of the direction it is taking. North Korea has shortages of the two basic essentials of life — A, food and B, energy. So we've got the worst situation —Êa country in desperate straits with a large army."

Q: Where do you stand on the closures of military bases in Hawai'i in light of a new round of federal closures expected in 2005?

"Clearly the military is an important part of Hawai'i's economy. I want the military to continue in Hawai'i and the military presence to be enhanced. I believe that Hawai'i is vital to the national defense of our country. Our focus will increasingly be on Asia and the Pacific and that this is too strategic a location to step away from and I think the military agrees with that.

"As a representative of Hawai'i I will oppose any ... base closing. On occasion, Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard's been talked about. What do you do about it from Hawai'i's perspective? Two things. First of all you support the national policy of the U.S. to focus on Asia and the Pacific and the strategic value of Hawai'i. Second, work with Sen. (Dan) Inouye and Rep. (Neil) Abercrombie, who are in a position to influence military construction to assure that the existing bases are modernized here. It is a lot harder to close a base that you have invested a substantial amount of resources in than to close a base that you haven't put any money into in a couple years."

Q: Do you still oppose the Jones Act, which requires that all cargo moved between two U.S. seaports is shipped on a vessel owned by a U.S. citizen or corporation, built in a U.S. shipyard and manned by a U.S. crew?

"I have believed for a long time that on balance the Jones Act is harmful to Hawai'i. I have said publicly and have not changed my mind that the Jones Act should either be repealed or Hawai'i should be provided an exemption to facilitate competition for shipping between Hawai'i and the U.S. Mainland as long as there is full compliance with federal labor laws and environmental laws. I don't believe foreign ships should be able to transit U.S. waters and ignore U.S. laws. I do believe in foreign vessels coming in and being able to compete on an equal footing with U.S.-flagged vessels.

"That is something that is a divisive issue in Hawai'i. If you talk to anyone in the business community other than the people that are running Matson and CSX they will tell you the Jones Act should be amended. Ranchers on Maui or the Big Island will tell you it is a disaster. Agriculture interests will tell you they want increased competition. They don't like two companies controlling the lifeline of Hawai'i."