Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite says her voting record reflects her constituency; opponent Robert Whittel calls it "far right."
By RAGHURAM VADAREVU
Published October 24, 2004
In 10 days, voters in Florida's 5th Congressional District will deliver their verdict on U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite and her tenure in Washington.
Over the past two years, Brown-Waite, R-Crystal River, has built a voting record that has earned praise from taxpayer and veterans groups and received its highest marks from ultraconservative groups such as the Christian Coalition.
As happens in political life, Brown-Waite has drawn her share of criticism, including from groups that advocate for the environment, children's rights and protection of civil liberties.
Her opponent in the race for the 5th District seat, Democrat Robert G. Whittel, has two words for her record - "far right."
Whittel, a Hernando County lawyer, said Brown-Waite marches lock-step with her Republican colleagues and President Bush and is out-of-step with her constituents' views.
"She has a voting record which is almost in unison with the right-wing Tom DeLay section of the party, which I believe doesn't meet with our district," Whittel told the St. Petersburg Times, referring to the House majority leader from Texas.
Just last week, Whittel called on Brown-Waite to return $14,000 in campaign contributions from DeLay's Americans for a Republican Majority political action committee because of recent controversy surrounding DeLay and a former aide.
The bipartisan House ethics committee earlier this month chastised DeLay. Jim Ellis, one of DeLay's former aides and executive director of ARMPAC, has been indicted on charges of illegal political fundraising for another one of DeLay's groups, Texans for a Republican Majority.
Brown-Waite has refused to return the money. Her spokesman has said DeLay "is innocent until proven guilty" and characterized Whittel's charges as a "desperate ploy" to distract from the issues facing the 5th District, which includes all of Citrus, Hernando, Levy and Sumter counties, and portions of Lake, Marion, Pasco and Polk counties.
Brown-Waite acknowledges that she regularly supports her party and the president - Democrats do, too, she noted. Her views reflect her constituency's, she said.
And when she needs to, Brown-Waite said, she breaks with her party.
For instance, Brown-Waite voted against a GOP measure giving millions to combat AIDS in Africa; supported drug re-importation bills, even when her party did not; opposed the president's proposals to grant three-year work permits to illegal immigrants already here and to future applicants, and opposed the president's stance on limiting stem cell research.
"For every single vote, could I just be obstinate? Yeah," she said recently. "But you know what? My votes reflect my constituency."
Whittel, 31, is new to politics. He switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat in March. He had never voted before he cast his first ballot during the August Democratic primary, in which he defeated three other Democrats.
Whittel, who has been in the Naval Reserve since 1995, has called his parents' winter home in High Point "home" since 1995, but has not lived there much. He has resided in Gainesville, Atlanta and Miami, where he owns rental property. He currently lives in a leased house near Weeki Wachee.
Whittel currently runs a limited law practice from his home, and has served brief stints with the Miami-Dade County prosecutor's office and with the Atlanta law firm of King & Spalding. Whittel graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and worked in marine-related businesses until joining a law firm in 2001.
Brown-Waite, meanwhile, was in the Florida Senate, serving as president pro tempore her last years. As senator, she was considered moderate and, sometimes, a maverick. She supported the state's right to sue tobacco companies, advocated consumer rights and was considered environment-friendly.
In 2002, Brown-Waite narrowly defeated incumbent U.S. Rep. Karen Thurman, D-Dunnellon.
In Congress, Brown-Waite has served on committees for the budget, financial services and veterans' affairs. She has sponsored nearly a dozen bills, with roughly half focusing on veterans and military affairs. She has also co-sponsored hundreds more, according to Congressional Quarterly, a publication owned by the Times Publishing Co., which also owns the St. Petersburg Times.
One particular bill perhaps gained Brown-Waite the most attention. It would have allowed family members to remove the remains of their loved ones buried at American military cemeteries in France. Proposed during the height of the president's effort to gain U.N. approval for a war in Iraq, which France opposed, Brown-Waite's bill never took off, but was written about worldwide.
Brown-Waite also supports the Iraq war, arguing that the United States is safer today than when the war began. Whittel said the country is less safe today. He said the war has alienated allies and created new enemies because it was initiated without a direct threat.
On veterans' affairs, Brown-Waite has helped expand several local VA clinics, increased the maximum VA home loan guarantee, and worked to win passage of "concurrent receipt," meaning veterans wouldn't see their retirement pay reduced because they also received disability pay.
The American Legion praised Brown-Waite for her support of a bill, among other military and foreign affairs legislation, to protect service members against default judgments while in military service.
Whittel said he's better equipped to advocate for veterans and those already in the military because of his background in the Naval Reserve and his knowledge of international and military affairs.
Also of particular relevance to the 5th District, Brown-Waite supported a bill that created a prescription benefit for seniors. In a March 2004 speech on the House floor, Brown-Waite called the measure "historic" and said it "finally (made) the promise that was made to seniors on prescription drugs come true."
Whittel disagrees. He said Republicans have abandoned seniors by forcing an "insufficient and ineffective" prescription drug bill through Congress. When he called the prescription drug benefit "whole inadequate" at a recent candidates forum in Citrus County, the audience burst into applause. He said Congress should immediately enable the importation of cheaper drugs from Canada.
On health care, Brown-Waite said eliminating frivolous lawsuits would help reduce health costs and make coverage more affordable. Whittel has said health care is a right, and Congress should make insurance universally available. He also said Congress should repeal the Bush administration's cuts to VA medical benefits.
On Social Security, both candidates oppose raising the retirement age. But they differ on how to ensure the program's solvency.
Brown-Waite wants to encourage younger people to save for their retirement and be less reliant on Social Security later in life. Whittel said Congress should reduce the deficit and pursue "common sense budgetary policy" to help keep the program solvent.
The candidates also differ on the issue of President Bush's tax cuts.
Brown-Waite voted for the president's proposal to reduce tax rates on income, including dividends, and provide tax incentives to businesses. The National Taxpayers Union praised her because she "sponsored or cosponsored the most spending cuts (11) in the House."
Whittel opposed the portion of the tax cuts that went to the wealthy, saying they have not served to "stimulate the economy, and have blown the budget wide open." He also criticized Brown-Waite for voting to raise her salary while the nation's budget deficit soared. "It is an outrage when career politicians like Brown-Waite run up massive deficits and expect a pay raise as a reward," Whittel said in a news release.
Brown-Waite said her vote to raise her salary was part of a larger bill that also raised the salaries of airport screeners and U.S. Postal Service letter carriers.
"When you don't have any issues, and you just moved into the area, this is just kind of a dirty politics you engage," Brown-Waite said.
Other groups have also questioned Brown-Waite's voting record, including the Children's Defense Fund Action Council and the American Wilderness Coalition.
The wilderness group took issue with Brown-Waite's support of oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, home to polar bears, caribou and more than 160 bird species. That habitat would be destroyed, it said, for what could be as little as six months of oil.
Brown-Waite said Alaska's leaders and unions want the drilling, and she did not question them.
The Children's Defense Fund listed several votes where Brown-Waite diverged from its desired outcome, including her vote for the permanent repeal of the estate tax and for a ban on civil liability lawsuits against gun manufacturers for the misuse of a gun.
"You're gonna please some people and you're not gonna please others," she said. "I'm not sure people in the 5th Congressional District are their members. If they had (been) ... I certainly would be looking" at their criticism. She added, "My votes reflect this district. This district is a conservative district. It values tax cuts and has values."
Times staff writer Jeffrey S. Solochek contributed to this report. Raghuram Vadarevu can be reached at rvadarevu@sptimes.com or 564-3627.
