I
World
Primary Battle
Godchaux takes on Knollenberg for right to oppose Skinner
in congressional election.
Bill Carroll
Special to the Jewish News
V
eteran Republican
U.S. Rep. Joe
Knollenberg of
Bloomfield Township faces
some rare opposition in his
oIN,Tri party in the Ninth District
primary Tuesday, Aug. 8: for-
mer State Rep. Patricia "Pan"
(a contraction of Patricia Ann)
Godchaux of Birmingham. The
winner goes against former
radio talk-show host Nancy
Skinner of Birmingham in the
Nov. 7 general election. She is
unopposed in the Democratic
primary.
Although Knollenberg refers
to her as a liberal, Godchaux
calls herself a moderate
Republican and says she wants
to "change the way government
business is done." She claims
Knollenberg, a seven-term
representative, "is not doing
his job properly" and takes too
many special-interest-funded
junkets.
Knollenberg responds that
Godchaux "is not in the main-
stream" and that "many more
congress members take more
trips than I do." He slams her
for negative campaigning — a
criticism also leveled by Diane
Harnisch, executive direc-
tor of the Oakland County
Republican Party.
"I'm disappointed that Pan
Godchaux is running a shame-
ful, disparaging campaign
against a congressman who is
very well liked and respected,"
said Harnisch.
"If they think my campaign
is disparaging, it's because Joe
Knollenberg's record is dispar-
aging," Godchaux answered.
"I never was welcome in the
Republican Party office, so I
30
July 27 2006
didn't expect any help from
them."
On two "hot-button" issues
of strong interest in the Jewish
community, Knollenberg and
Godchaux agree on Israel, but
disagree somewhat on immi-
gration. Both stand with Israel
and strongly support President
Bush's statement that Israel has
a right to defend itself against
aggressions by Hezbollah, the
south Lebanon-based terrorist
organization.
"The people of Israel
and Lebanon deserve to
live in freedom and peace,
safe from violence and ter-
ror," Knollenberg declared.
"However, the source of this
conflict does not lie within
those countries. The violence is
rooted in Iran, which has cre-
ated and supported terrorism
and continues to funnel money
and weapons to Hezbollah
and Hamas. The United States
and the international commu-
nity, like Russia, Germany and
France, must come together
and stand against Iran's state-
sponsored terrorist organiza-
tions."
"I've visited Israel twice, and
I'm sad to see rockets causing
death and destruction in the
country," Godchaux said. "I
blame Iran and Syria for the
current situation. The interna-
tional community must take
responsibility for what has
happened in the Middle East.
These other countries have to
re-open talks to resolve the
problems. We also need a more
diverse energy policy in the
U.S. so that we don't have to be
so married to Arab oil."
In regard to the immigra-
tion controversy in the U.S.,
Knollenberg believes "securing
our borders is a national secu-
rity issue" and says he favors
"tough policy to stop the tide
of illegal immigratidn." He
points out he "led the fight to
put more agents on the north-
ern border" (especially the
Detroit area) after 9-11, and he
recently voted to increase secu-
rity personnel on the Mexican
border.
He supports using the
National Guard and construct-
ing a high-tech security:fence
to seal off the southern border.
He voted for tough sanctions
on employers who know-
ingly hire illegal immigrants.
"I adamantly oppose granting
amnesty to illegal immigrants,"
he added. "Amnesty is a slap in
the face to those immigrants
who came to America legally."
Godchaux says President
Bush "never really has had an
immigration policy" and the
U.S. government seems to be
"schizophrenic on the issue."
"I favor an expanded guest-
worker program of immigrants
who are good citizens, but the
main problem seems to be that
we don't know exactly who is
in the country now — are they
good immigrants or possible
terrorists? We need a system of
finding this out to avoid future
attacks here. The Senate and
House always differ on immi-
gration policy, but they must
put together their resources to
settle the issue."
Knollenberg says he's "hope-
ful" of some new legislation
on the issue this year, but isn't
optimistic because of the many
upcoming congressional recesses
— for the rest of the summer,
election time, then the end-of-
the year holidays. I I
Candidate Profiles
Michigan's Ninth Congressional District has 22 cities
and townships in Oakland County, and about 650,000
residents, many of them Jewish. Here are the three can-
didates in the Aug. 8 primary. Polls will Pe open 7 a.m.-8
p.m.
Joe Knollenberg,
Republican Incumbent
Rep. Knollenberg,
Republican
Age, 72, Bloomfield Township, mar-
ried to Sandie for 35 years, two
adult children, graduate of Eastern
Illinois University, former insurance
company owner, seven two-year
terms in Congress, member of
House Appropriations Committee,
chairman of various congressional
subcommittees. Campaign office
phone: (248) 7231477; www.
joeknollenberg.us .
Patricia "Pan" Godchaux,
Republican challenger
Patricia Godchaux,
Republican
Age, 60, Birmingham, divorced,
three adult children, principal in
political consulting firm, former
three-term state representative
(term limited), former member of
Birmingham school board, current
member of Oakland Schools board,
graduate of American University in
Washington, D.C., and Wayne State
University in Detroit with master's
in teaching. Phone: (248) 723-
5752; www.electgodchaux.com .
Nancy Skinner, unopposed
Democrat
Nancy Skinner,
Democrat
Age, 41, Birmingham, divorced, for-
mer radio talk-show host and cur-
rent guest commentator on nation-
al cable news programs, ran unsuc-
cessfully for U. S. Senate in Illinois,
worked on redevelopment projects
for downtown Detroit, University of
Michigan graduate. Phone: (248)
723-9623; www.campaign@skinner-
forcongress.com .