20th Congressional Debate
Tonko, Vitollo contest for 20th Congressional seat
CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. >> U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko and challenger Francis “Joe” Vitollo squared off in a debate Tuesday night that clearly showed that the two candidates for the 20th Congressional seat view the role of government differently.
The two men are not strangers to each other. They faced off two years ago in similar circumstances. As was the case then, this debate was handled in a gentlemanly manner with each man making his positions known from questions posed by the audience.
The debate was one of two candidate forums held Tuesday night in the Hilton Garden Inn in Clifton Park and sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Saratoga County. Immediately following the Tonko-Vitollo debate candidates for the 49th Senate seat faced off in the same room.
The event drew approximately 225 people to the hotel’s large business conference room with many standing along the walls.
Vitollo, 62, is a registered nurse and works in a hospital emergency room and ICU. He has never held elective office. He has labeled himself the citizen’s candidate, someone who knows what it is to struggle. He will have the Republican line in Tuesday’s election.
Tonko, 69, is a graduate of Clarkson College where he majored in structural engineering. After seven years on the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors and 24 years in the state Assembly, he was elected to his current position for the 2009 term. Tonko will carry the Democratic, Working Family, Women’s Equality, and Reform party lines in next week’s election.
In his opening statement at Tuesday’s debate, Vitollo described just how rough his childhood was and how he came to be a nurse. He concluded by saying he would do whatever is necessary to make sure the voices of the district’s constituents were heard in Washington, D.C.
In his turn, Tonko used the time to explain why he was running for the seat once again saying he wanted to build on his accomplishments, provide checks and balances to the present administration, and make certain that he can protect Medicare, Medicaid, and the pre-existing conditions section of the Affordable Care Act.
For the next 60 minutes, the two men answered questions on a variety of issues that covered a range from the very personal to hot-button ones. The questions sought candidate positions on Social Security, term limits, public or private with regard to the common good, accomplishments, prison reform, and abortion.
When questioned on how each would ensure Social Security is continued, Tonko said he views the program as well as Medicare and Medicaid as “absolutely essential”.
“They are safety nets that wrap around any who use them,” he said. “As one with aging parents, it’s important to have that security. I will make it a point to see that we don’t gut these programs.”
Tonko says he has a bill ready that will strengthen Social Security by getting those Americans making more than $400,000 a year to contribute to the program.
He added that no one has fought harder to keep Social Security from becoming privatized than he has, and pointed to the gutting of people’s life savings during the recession as a danger of privatization.
Vitollo noted in his answer that much of the problems with
the program stem from Congress being allowed to borrow from Social Security. He claimed that as a member of the House in 2010 and 2012 Tonko and Congress borrowed $250 trillion from the program without issuing bonds.
“When you borrow without issuing bonds that means you have no intention of paying it back,” he said. “My opponent is responsible for that borrowing, so to say he wants to keep it stable is a bit of a false statement.”
Vitollo said he is all for stabilizing the program but Congress must first pay back the money the program is owed.
Tonko disputed Vitollo’s claims of Congress’ actions in 2010 and 2012.
On the issue of term limits Tonko said he was not in favor; that the two-year and six-year terms for Congress members give voters many chances to put new people in office.
Vitollo responded that he believes in term limits saying the country’s Founding Fathers never believed in people spending a lifetime in office. He added that he felt a few short terms, four perhaps, was enough for any House member.
On the issue of defense spending, Vitollo said the country must have a strong military and be ahead of all other nations in order for it to be secure. He noted that only Congress can declare war and that power has been forgotten in recent years and must be resurrected.
Tonko agreed with Vitollo on returning the power to declare war back to the Congress noting that when powerful political figures align the country with authoritarian regimes those actions damage U.S. relations with the world’s other nations.
On the issue of whether the public sector or private sector should provide for the common good Vitollo said he believes in the private sector.
“The government’s role is policy. The private sector’s role is action,” he said.
Tonko said there are reasons for the government stepping in, sometimes the private sector can’t or won’t do things, he said. He noted that more public-private partnerships are needed like the one that resulted in the Affordable Care Act.
On the issue of abortion, Vitollo said he was solidly pro-life and Tonko said he was pro-choice.
“Life begins at the moment of conception,” Vitollo said. “We must provide for the safety of the child in the womb, it’s the safest place.”
“I vote pro-choice,” Tonko said. “In a pluralistic society where people practice a wealth of religious faiths or don’t have a faith, the grid is there to insert your religious values and faith in an appropriate way.”