3rd Congressional District Debate Summary

On Monday's AETN 3rd District congressional debate candidates on significant issue was on how the U.S. can succeed in Iraq. U. S. Rep. John Boozman (Republican) said he trusts the word he's gotten from the military on the ground in the five trips he's taken to Iraq. "Do we need to be fluid? Do we need to change strategy? Of course we do. But we need to get that from our military people," he said. "They're the ones that are there, fighting the battle."

Woodrow Anderson, (Democrat) said U. S. troops should be out of Iraq in 18 months, with troops beginning a pullout in no more than 12 months. "We have to do something different. We cannot continue to talk about Iraq in generalizations." He offered no basis for his timeline to remove troops.

On border security, both candidates opposed "amnesty" for illegial aliens. On importance of social issues, Anderson said such issues can show the values of a candidate, but he said they're overdone by Republicans. "I don?t know why we continue to debate that particular topic. We?ve got to move on and address ... more important issues... ." Boozman said the federal government can talk about both. He said he gets a lot of mail from constituents who are worried about the definition of marriage.

On energy policy, Boozman said the U.S. needs to build more oil refineries to protect against volatility in gas prices. He said the nation needs to do more toward energy conservation, produce more nuclear power and drill for oil in Alaska. Anderson said more oil refineries won't end the nation's dependence on foreign oil and the U.S. should focus more on its coal reserves and alternative fuels.