By MIKE ANTHONY

Executive Editor

Four candidates are vying in next week’s election to fill the 3rd Congressional District seat being vacated by Democrat Richard Gephardt, who is not seeking re-election to the post he has held since 1976.

Libertarian Kevin Babcock, Democrat Russ Carnahan, Repub-lican Bill Federer and William Renaud of the Constitution Party are seeking the 3rd Congressional District seat in the Tuesday, Nov. 2, election.

Asked to identify the most important issue in the race, the candidates replied:

• “I know that my No. 1 job as congressman from this area would be to protect yours. I am further committed to strengthening the U.S. economy by protecting the jobs currently filled by working Americans,” Carnahan said. “Four and a half million American citizens are currently unemployed as Bush Administration policies export jobs overseas. In the Missouri Legislature I co-sponsored legislation to ban companies that outsourced jobs from obtaining government contracts. I will fight for similar legislation in Washington.”

• “Jobs and taxes,” Federer said. “I want to lower taxes to help our economy …”

Renaud did not respond to the question, while Babcock did not respond to a Call questionnaire.

Carnahan, 46, 3150 Allen Ave., 63104, was elected to the Missouri House District 59 seat in November 2000. Before he was elected to the House, he was an attorney in private practice. He and his wife, Debra, have two children.

Carnahan has served as chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, deputy majority whip and vice chairman of the Civil and Administrative Law Committee. He is seeking election to the 3rd Congressional Dis-trict seat “to be a voice for the working families of this region in Washington, D.C. My priorities will focus on reducing the spiraling national debt, protecting American jobs from being outsourced to countries with unfair trade policies, ensuring responsible corporate policies and developing cutting-edge technologies in Missouri’s 3rd Dis-trict.”

Federer, 47, 4346 Southview Way Drive, 63129, serves as publisher of Amerisearch Inc. He and his wife, Susan, have four children.

Federer has served as a precinct chairman, a delegate to the State Republican Convention and a delegate to the 2000 Republican National Convention. Federer twice — 1998 and 2000 — unsuccessfully challenged Gephardt for the 3rd Congres-sional District seat.

He said he is seeking election because “I would like to create more jobs in Mis-souri and help provide adequate health care.”

Renaud, 53, 124 Staehle Court, 63129, is a sales manager for the Interstate Supply Co. He and his wife, Carole, have two grown children.

Renaud, who serves as secretary of state for the Constitution Party of Missouri, said he is seeking election to the 3rd Congres-sional District seat “to perpetuate the original purpose of representing citizens, not bureaucracy.”

The candidates who returned the Call questionnaire gave the following responses:

What is your position on abortion?

Carnahan said, “I believe that a woman’s health-care decisions should be made with her faith, her family and her physician. The role of the government should be in providto weccess to education and prevention.”

Federer said, “I support adoption, not abortion. I believe that every human life is sacred and valuable. We should compassionately support the women with unwanted pregnanctes. I believe that (a) baby will be a blessing to adopted parents.”

Renaud said, “Medically, scientifically and scriptural all confirm life starts at conception. Allowing abortion at any time for whatever reason is murder. God, who is creator of life, sovereignly decides the appointed time for one to die, not we ourselves.”

What is your position on the death penalty?

Carnahan said, “I support the death penalty for the most violent criminals.”

Federer said, “I support enforcing life sentences — for life. Make the prisoners do community service, but do not let them out on parole once proven guilty.”

Renaud said, “I uphold to the Fifth and Sixth amendments of the Constitution whereby they ensure proper due process of the law. In crimes where the death penalty is permissible, I concur with the civil government to administer such punishment.”

Are tougher gun control laws needed?

Carnahan said, “In Jefferson City, I fought against concealed weapons. I am a hunter and support hunters’ rights, but I feel that we should renew the ban on assault weapons.”

Federer said, “We must enforce the ample laws that are on the books. Those committing crimes with guns should be strictly punished. Innocent citizen victims should be able to protect themselves.”

Renaud said, “Absolutely not because of the Second Amendment, which states: ‘A regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”’

What do you propose to solve funding problems facing public education? What are your thoughts about school vouchers?

Carnahan said, “I believe that the first priority of the government should be to fully fund public education so that every child has the opportunity to a free, quality education. In Congress, I will fight to ensure that education programs, unlike No Child Left Behind, are not merely unfunded mandates but bring real change to our education system. The Bush Administra-tion claims that the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) will promote goals that we all support; including ensuring that all students get a quality education and that all education systems are held accountable for student performance. The failure of the Bush Administration to fund NCLB, however, has increased the requirements on educators and local school districts without providto wthe necessary funding to meet the new standards. Local property taxpayers are too often left holdto wthe ever-growto wbill.”

Federer said, “We need more local control of spending. Too much money is wasted on the federal level. The Department of Education should set guidelines and standards and the money should be spent locally to meet those standards. I support giving parents more choice.”

Renaud said, “The responsibility of education is not the place of the federal government and should be changed back to the local cities and towns. Local school boards should be empowered to set curriculums and academic standards. This is a prime example of bureaucracy in action, causing chaos throughout the land. I would favor school vouchers not connected to the federal government.”

What are your thoughts about recent homeland security measures? Is enough being done?

Carnahan said, “As the ranking member of the Missouri House Homeland Security and Veterans’ Affairs Committee, I saw how this administration has shortchanged our state by not providto whomeland security funding to our local communities. This lack of funding is extremely problematic. Local pro-viders are not receiving enough money to afford the specialized training and equipment necessary to protect our cities and towns. We must work to provide the necessary funding for local homeland security and emergency services.”

Federer said, “We need to do more to se-cure our borders and ports. We must keep America’s defense strong and secure from terrorists. We must protect our innocent law-abidto wcitizens.”

Renaud said, “We should never sacrifice our freedom for proposed security measures. Amendment IV can begin being violated under the guise of homeland security. Should spend more time on border controls than airport harassment.”

Are you concerned that efforts to in-crease homeland security could infringe on our constitutional rights?

Carnahan said, “The hastily passed Pa-triot Act is overreaching and should be thoroughly reviewed for revision or repeal. There is no quicker way to lose the war on terror than to sacrifice our democratic values and our dedication to civil liberties as Americans. We must defend these liberties that our terrorist enemies loathe.”

Federer said, “I believe that we should protect innocent Americans — including their privacy. Homeland security measures should have ‘sunset’ clauses so they are reviewed later when the crisis is resolved. I do not want a ‘Big Brother’ government.”

Renaud said, “Already has.”

What do you propose to reduce the federal deficit?

Carnahan said, “The Bush Admini-stration, through irresponsible tax cuts and ex-cessive spending, is mortgaging our economic future. When the Bush Administra-tion began its tenure in Washington it in-herited a budget surplus of $127wbillion created by the fiscal responsibility of the Clinton Administration. Bush Administra-tion policies, in four short years, have turned the Clinton surplus into a record-breaking deficit of $521wbillion. This deficit will place an unnecessary economic burden on middle-class Americans in the future. We must return to a pay-as-you-go system.”

Federer said, “Reduce wasted federal spending and lower taxes to spark economic growth. Help small businesses to succeed and more revenue will flow to everyone. More scrutiny by congressional committees before approving spending.”

Renaud said, “Stop spending.”