Republican Randy Graf and Democrat Gabrielle Giffords clashed in a debate Oct. 17 in Tucson over illegal immigration and the war in Iraq in the race for retiring U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe’s seat.
The two candidates, plus Libertarian David Nolan and independent Jay Quick, met for the first of six scheduled debates before the Nov. 7 general election. The debate at Pima Community College was sponsored by the Arizona Daily Star and Access Tucson.
Mr. Graf, a former state representative making his second run for Mr. Kolbe’s seat in two years, criticized Ms. Giffords over her call for a guest worker program. He also questioned whether new laws were needed to crack down on employers hiring illegal immigrants when there are already sanctions on the books.
Ms. Giffords has called for comprehensive immigration reform, he said, yet she “bashes the administration on failing to enforce the laws that are on the books today.
“What makes us think that we’re going to enforce new laws by putting them on the books when we’re unwilling to enforce the laws that are on the books today? It is illegal to hire somebody who is in this country illegally, and employers can be fined and ultimately jailed.”
A new guest worker plan would “do nothing but wave the white flag and say we give up,” Mr. Graf said.
Ms. Giffords, who resigned as a state senator late last year to seek Mr. Kolbe’s seat, supports Mr. Kolbe’s stance on immigration.
“If we’re going to solve this immigration crisis, then we need to start addressing the real problem of employers who are hiring people who are here illegally,” she said.
A fast, reliable system is needed to verify the employment eligibility of workers, Ms. Giffords said, as part of a comprehensive solution. Part of her approach would be to start with better border security and then crack down on illegal hirings.
Ms. Giffords said she supports a guest worker program “so people can come in to work legally and safely and return back to their home country.”
She blasted the Bush administration over the war in Iraq, saying the government failed to stay focused on Afghanistan. “We took our eye off the ball,” she said.
She criticized Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld over his direction of the war, said he “needs to be replaced immediately,” and said the situation in that country “is devolving into a civil war.”
Ms. Giffords also cited criticism from such high-level Republicans as former Secretaries of State Colin Powell and James A. Baker III and Virginia Sen. John Warner, who have called for a change of direction and policy in Iraq, as proof that the issue is not a partisan one.
“We need to focus on making sure that we do our job there and come home,” Ms. Giffords said.
Mr. Graf said there is no question that the current situation in Iraq is difficult, “but the last thing we can do right now is tell our troops that we are going to cut and run.”
By the same token, “There have been tremendous successes in Iraq,” Mr. Graf said, pointing to last December’s parliamentary election in Iraq and building of infrastructure and schools.
Graf taken to task for ‘cut and run’ comment
Mr. Graf countered that it would be the “wrong message” to tell American troops “we’re going to cut and run.”
That brought retorts from Mr. Quick and Mr. Nolan.
“Cutting and running is not the same thing as leaving a country when they’re asking you to leave,” Mr. Quick said. “That is a simplistic way to describe what’s going on.”
Mr. Nolan said he hates “when the conservatives or the liberals come up with some cute little phrase they then think capsulizes the situation: ‘Cut and run.’ As opposed to what? Stand and die?”
On the subject of stem cell research, Ms. Giffords, who noted that her grandmother died of Alzheimer’s disease, endorses federally funded stem cell research. Mr. Graf, a strong right-to-life advocate, opposes embryonic stem cell research.
On another matter, Mr. Graf defended Republican state Rep. Russell Pearce, R-18, who has come under fire for having endorsed reinstating a 1950s federal deportation program called “Operation Wetback” and later sent supporters information from a white separatist group.
Mr. Pearce “is a very good friend of mine,” he said. “We are of like mind on the way government should run, from the standpoint of taxation, from the standpoint of limited government; we certainly agree with each other on the issue of dealing with border security and the lack thereof.”
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