U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw is running for re-election against challenger Deborah Katz Pueschel. Crenshaw met with the staff of the Daily Record last week to discuss his campaign, life in Washington and what he hopes to accomplish if he’s re-elected.
Question: Can you give us a review of your first two years in office?
Answer: When I was running for office, there were three things I wanted to work on. I felt like the military in the prior eight years had been hollowed out, underfunded and over-deployed. That was my number one priority. I was assigned to the Armed Services Committee and working with President [George] Bush, we have increased the funding for the military the last two years. Most of the money has gone for quality of life issues for the men and women in uniform. Things like pay increases, healthcare, better living conditions as well as we have started procuring the necessary equipment that we need. That has been a big plus. In addition, over a billion dollars in the last two years that have come back to Jacksonville in the form of modernization of facilities at Mayport, Blount Island and NAS Jacksonville. The second thing I talked about was that we had these huge surpluses and I felt people should keep more of what they earned. As a member of the Budget Committee, I worked on the $1.3 trillion dollar tax relief package that passed the House and the Senate. I think the fact that that was in place really helped us get through the recession that we have just come through. The last thing I talked about in the campaign was education because my experience in Tallahassee taught me that most the time when federal dollars come to Florida, they come with strings attached and you have to do it the way the federal government says. It’s kind of like a one-size-fits-all attitude. My view is that money ought to flow down to the local school districts from the State in a way that they can spend the money the way they want to spend it. We should give them the flexibility to spend money and then hold them accountable. President Bush believes that very strongly.
Q: Have you met with President Bush to discuss your ideas?
A: I was elected by my freshman Republican class to be the liaison to the leadership and one of the first things that I did when I went to Washington, was to go to the White House, sit down with the President and talk about issues. We talked about armed services and other issues, but this was early in his presidency and my term as a congressman. We spent most of the lunch period talking about education and how we ought to give people the flexibility to make their own decisions and make sure they are accountable. If they aren’t doing the right thing, then there ought to be consequences.
Q: Are there any other committees you serve on?
A: The last committee that I serve on is the Veterans Affairs Committee and that is the committee that is important to Florida because we have 1.8 million veterans in our state. That is the second largest veteran population and we have more veterans over age 65 than any other state. There my focus has been on better health care for the veterans. There is a Veterans Administration clinic in Lake City and we are going to get a new clinic in Jacksonville. Part of that [focus on veterans] is to try to bring a national cemetery to Northeast Florida. There are only four national cemeteries right now [in Florida]. Three of them are full and the only new one being built is in Miami and is 350 miles away. I’m working on legislation that would actually build a national cemetery for our national veterans somewhere in Northeast Florida. It’s a difficult process because you are competing with people from all around the country.
Q: Why run for re-election?
A: I’m running again because I think I’ve worked hard. I think I’ve listened to people and I think I’ve tried to do what I think is right. It’s a great privilege to serve in the United States Congress. I’ve spent the last few weeks traveling around the new parts of the district. I still have most of Duval County, all of Nassau County. That is about 80 percent of the district. I also have seven new counties west of here. Twenty percent of my district is smaller rural counties and I’ve spent a lot of time meeting people in those areas. They have different issues sometimes because they are smaller counties.
Q: Do you have any aspirations beyond Congress?
A: No. I like serving in Congress. For me, it’s the perfect thing to do at this time in my life. I really enjoy serving the Congress; they’re great people and fascinating issues. I’d like to stay in Congress as long as I feel like I’m being productive.
Q: If re-elected, what are you going to focus on the next two years?
A: I think the economy is going to continue to be an issue, to make sure it gets moving. In my view there are still things we can do. I’m one of those people that believes that capital gains taxes ought to be either reduced or eliminated to encourage people to invest even more. We tax dividends twice: once at the corporate level, once at the individual level. One of those levels ought to be eliminated. I think the things we can do to spur the economy, we ought to do. Because the military is so important for our long-term economic stability here in Jacksonville, that’s always going to be a priority: making sure the bases stay here. And I think the war against terrorism, in terms of homeland security, those are things that are related to the Armed Services [Committee] that I sit on. Those are going to be big issues in the coming months. As long as we’re in this war on terrorism, then that’s going to be a priority of mine. Education will always be a priority of mine. Those are the big issues that I see as important, not only to the country, but also to our community.
Q: Are you following the mayor’s race and do you plan to offer your support to any of the candidates?
A: I’ve really haven’t. I’ve tried to focus on my own race now through the Sept. 10 primary, then in November with the write-in candidate. With that not being over until November, I haven’t really thought of what’s going on locally. I don’t plan to get involved, but I’m certainly interested in what’s going on.
Q: Where do you think Mayor John Delaney will end up?
A: I have no idea. He’s a very capable person. If he decided to do something, either state or national politics, I’m sure he would be a great candidate. I don’t have any knowledge of what he plans to do or not do. He’s got young kids. Maybe he just wants to stay home and raise his family.
Q: As a member of the Armed Services Committee, what’s your position on attacking Iraq and removing Saddam Hussein?
A: I think, ultimately, that’s a decision one person makes and that’s the commander-in-chief, the President of the United States. I think that if he makes the decision that we should have a preemptive strike, if he goes to the Congress and asks for a resolution of war, I think he would get that. I would support that. There would be some discussion, there’s some people that question [that]. In my view, it’s probable but not inevitable, that we’ll invade Iraq. It’s not so much simply that he’s a despot, that he’s a bad person, that it’s a terrible regime. It’s also the fact that 10 years ago that country made a promise to rid itself of biological and chemical and nuclear weapons and they haven’t done that. If we decide that we should take action, more people will come along once we make that decision. If that were his decision, he’d certainly have my support.
Q: Have any decisions been made regarding BRAC [Base Realignment and Closure]?
A: There will be another BRAC. It was supposed to be in 2003. I didn’t think we need to go through another round of BRAC until somebody can actually document the savings that have taken place over the last three BRACs in 1991, 1989 and 1993 because when a base is closed, there is a cost associated with that. In fact, the clean-up costs for the last round of BRAC is about $3.5 billion dollars so nobody has been able to document the savings we have realized as a nation by closing certain bases. So, I didn’t think we should go through another round until somebody could do that.
Q: If a base were to be closed, which one is the most likely to go?
A: I think every base in America is up for closure. I don’t think they will close either one of the bases here. For instance, Mayport is almost a national treasure. The Secretary of the Navy has been here twice. The Navy Depot, (NAS) where 3,900 civilians work, is one of the three remaining depots that works on our aircraft.
Q: How did you like living in Washington?
A: I like it a great deal. It is a great city.
Q: Where did you live and how much do you see your family?
A: I’ve been married for 34 years. My two daughters are grown. Sarah is out of school and working here in Jacksonville. My second daughter, who had some health problems, was out of school for a couple of years. But she is doing well and she is in Jacksonville going to the University of North Florida, so she has a little bit of school left. We still have our home here in Jacksonville and we have a place in Washington that is near the U.S. Capital. It is about six blocks from the Capital on Pennsylvania Avenue. Kitty [his wife] travels with me a great deal of the time. There is a lot of back and forth sometimes, but Washington is a great city. When you are there, you are pretty much in session from morning to night, sometimes until midnight, sometimes until 3 or 4 a.m. or sometimes until 8 a.m. On balance, it is a very busy time. When we are not in session, Washington is a great city to live in. We try to spend a little bit of time there when I’m not in session. But, all in all, all the history that is in the city and in the capital, it is a great experience. To me it is an energizing situation to be in the middle of what we have been in the middle of for the last two years in terms of Sept. 11, the war that is going on and potentially the war with Iraq. It is very interesting times. To me, it is a great experience.
Q: What’s the general mood in Washington?
A: There’s a real sense of optimism. After Sept. 11, there was really an eerie feeling in Washington. There has been so much security that has come with that in terms of getting in the Capitol, getting in and out of your offices, in and out of places. There’s this tremendous optimism and dedication that we’re going to get through this. Our country has been incredible over the years in dealing with these kind of national emergencies. I think there’s a real sense of determination in Washington to deal with all the problems we have to deal with. I’ve only been there two years but it seems like we’ve experienced just about every kind of problem you can experience in a two-year period.
Q: Where will you be
on Sept. 11?
A: Probably in Washington. On Friday, the entire Congress will go to New York to the World Trade Center site. I may be back in the district that day. If we’re in Washington, I imagine there will be some sort of commemoration at the Pentagon or somewhere in the Capitol.
Q: Is there any way to anticipate the mood that day?
A: There probably will be a lot of reflecting. It [Sept. 11] was one of those days where everybody in America can remember where they were. In Washington, it was just an eerie deal. For me, I was on the way to the [House] Chamber and all that happened. There weren’t very good communications. I didn’t know where my wife was. There were planes flying overhead; there were rumors about other planes . . . one was on the way to the Capitol. It was sad. The next morning, I remember it was really eerie, like there was no one there. I went to the Capitol early in the morning and walked up the steps and there was just this eerie silence. I think the attitude will be that this was something that never happened in the United States before and we never want it to happen again. A lot of thoughts and prayers will go toward those 3,000 people whose lives were lost. I think the president has been out front on making sure that no one forgets what happened. We’ve come a long way from last year.