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Bartlett vs. Rolle: On the Issues

By Daina Klimanis
Maryland Newsline
Friday, Feb. 27, 2004

In the District 6 Republican primary for Congress, Scott Rolle, a three-term state's attorney from Frederick County, is taking on six-term incumbent Roscoe Bartlett. They both take a low-tax, small-government approach, but within this conservative framework, the two have plenty of room to disagree.

Find out how your opinions match up with theirs. Read the statements below and mark the opinion that best matches yours. If at any point you cannot choose, you may skip that question. At the end, click on the “get score” button to see what percentage of your responses align with each candidate’s.

1. What is your opinion of the U.S. invasion of Iraq?
I supported the war overall. However, I would have preferred to get U.N. support before invasion, because I did not want it to look like a war between the United States and the Muslim world.	We should have gone to war with Iraq without concern for the United Nations, for when our national security is at stake, we should not sell out U.S. sovereignty.
2. What is your opinion of the USA PATRIOT Act? Passed in the weeks after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the act increases investigative powers of federal law enforcement officials investigating terrorist attacks. It gives them broad search and surveillance powers as well as access to personal and business information.
I have reservations about the way the USA PATRIOT Act infringes on civil liberties. If we curb our civil liberties, the terrorists will have won. I will need to see the text of the USA PATRIOT Act renewal before I decide whether or not to support it.	Even if I do have reservations about a few of the act’s clauses, I fully support the USA PATRIOT Act and would vote for a renewal, because I believe we need to do all we can to protect ourselves from terrorists.
3. Do you support President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act? The law, enacted in 2002, seeks to improve schools through teacher certification requirements and annual student testing. Schools in which students do not meet federal standards must provide tutoring or let students transfer to other schools; if they do not improve, they face financial penalties.
I don’t support the act. Local officials and parents can meet a school’s needs better than the bureaucracy of federal government.	I support the act. The federal government should help fund education and has the right to set standards.
4. What should the federal government do about health care?
I support the Medicare bill recently passed by Congress because it will create market forces that will make health care more affordable for everyone. However, I realize Congress may need to adjust some of the bill’s provisions because it is so expensive.	The U.S. should use its tremendous buying power to bargain with pharmaceutical companies for affordable drugs. The Medicare bill passed by Congress will inflate the national deficit to an unacceptable degree.
5. Should we amend the U.S. Constitution to define marriage as something that can only happen between a man and a woman?
Yes. I am a firm supporter of President Bush's proposed Constitutional amendment, which would define marriage in such a way.	I do not think a Constitutional amendment is necessary unless the courts fail to preserve the sanctity of marriage.
6. Do you support the campaign finance reform law enacted in 2002? Designed to limit the influence of money in politics, the law banned political parties from accepting unlimited donations, called soft money. A later court decision determined soft money can be accepted as long as it is used for party activities, not for issue ads promoting individual candidates. The law also changed limits on donations and created new finance reporting requirements.
I oppose the provision that limits advertisements; it violates the First Amendment's protection of the freedom of speech. I do support limits on monetary donations.	I oppose the provision that limits individual monetary contributions. The government should regulate only corporations, special-interest groups and political action committees.
7. What is your opinion of the death penalty?
I am opposed to it. Government should protect life, not take it.	I support it as a legal and appropriate punishment, including for people who commit terrorist acts and people who sexually assault children.
8. What should the United States do to meet its energy needs?
The U.S. needs to decrease its dependence on foreign oil, but not by emptying its Alaska reserves. For now, it should turn to alternate energy sources, including biomass and ethanol.	To decrease its dependence on foreign oil, the United States should be willing to drill in Alaska.
	Your match with Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett is: Your match with Scott Rolle is:

Find elaboration on the candidates' positions.

Based on interviews with Frederick County State’s Attorney Scott Rolle; John Tomaszewski, media coordinator for the Rolle campaign; Sallie Taylor, Bartlett campaign manager; and Lisa Wright, Bartlett's press secretary.

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