LIHUE » After circling each other for more than a year, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz and U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa met Tuesday evening in their first debate in the Democratic primary, a detailed dialogue on federal policy that revealed fissures between the Democrats on veterans affairs, early childhood education and genetically modified organisms.
In a 90-minute debate at the Kauai War Memorial Convention Hall, hosted by the Kauai Chamber of Commerce, Schatz and Hanabusa both strongly opposed military action in Iraq, vowed to protect Social Security and Medicare, and agreed that Native Hawaiians should be the ones to drive the discussion with the U.S. Department of the Interior on sovereignty.
But differences emerged in a series of wide-ranging questions posed by the chamber’s J Robertson, the moderator.
Hanabusa said it was unfortunate that President Barack Obama accepted Eric Shinseki’s resignation as U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs secretary and did not give him the same courtesy to fix problems at the VA that he gave Kathleen Sebelius as health and human services secretary to repair the federal health care reform law, "because I think someone like him understood, and understands, what the veterans were going through," she said of the Kauai-born Shinseki.
Schatz said the VA had failed veterans.
"We send men and women into hostilities, and we don’t appropriate the funds to take care of them when they come home," he said. "This is a moral failure."
Schatz was critical of Hanabusa’s proposal to expand the use of the U.S. Naval Hospital on Guam for veterans.
"We have 127,000 veterans across the Asia-Pacific region; 117,000 of them are in the state of Hawaii. I don’t think we should be investing in facilities on Guam that are going to take time and money and resources away from the state of Hawaii," he said. "We should be investing in capacity at veterans centers on Kauai and across the state of Hawaii, not throughout the Asia-Pacific region."
Hanabusa pushed back: "I don’t think Brian understands what Guam is all about," she said.
The congresswoman said the idea is to take advantage of an existing naval hospital that could help veterans.
Schatz reiterated his support for a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November that would allow public money to be spent on private preschool. "Kids are only 4 or 5 once," he said, "and they need the best possible opportunity when they enter kindergarten."
Hanabusa, who opposes the constitutional amendment because of fears it could lead to a voucher program, dinged what she called the "Abercrombie-Schatz administration" for allowing a junior kindergarten program to end this year, leaving thousands of children without the early education option.
The congresswoman said it was wrong "to repeal junior kindergarten when you didn’t have anything else in place."
Hanabusa said she believes the federal government should continue to take the lead in regulating GMOs based on the developing scientific research. "We all need to step back and, I believe, have that discussion and understand what’s going on," she said.
Schatz, however, said he believes in home rule on GMOs.
"I believe that the federal government doesn’t have any business interfering with individual communities deciding what’s best for them when it comes to this issue," the senator said.
Schatz and Hanabusa also had interesting responses to a question of whether the Hawaii Superferry should return to Hawaii.
"Not on Kauai," the senator joked, a reference to the spirited protests against the Superferry on the Garden Island.
Schatz, noting that former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann has mentioned a Superferry return in his independent campaign for governor, said he did not think the idea is realistic.
"I think the Superferry is an idea that was tried, that died, and we should probably leave it alone," he said.
Hanabusa said one of the two Superferry vessels — now owned by the Navy — could be put to use in Hawaii transporting the military between Oahu and Hawaii Island for training at Pohakuloa.
"It’s not going to be used for the general public’s purpose," she said, adding that it could also be valuable to the islands in the event of natural disasters.
Perhaps Hanabusa’s best moment Tuesday evening, though, was a personal, not a policy touch.
The congresswoman recalled how she spoke to Turk Tokita, who earned two Purple Hearts fighting for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II and became a political ally on Kauai to Hawaii governors, just before he died in June.
"He held my hand very tightly — I can still feel it — and he told me how important this election was, how important it is for the people of Kauai and how important it is for the people of Hawaii," she said. "And he said to me, ‘And I’m so sorry that I’m not well enough to be there with you.’"
Schatz was skillful at taking every opportunity to remind the audience of his core campaign themes. He said his focus as senator is "to take our shared values to Washington."
"That means voting to protect Social Security every time someone tries to cut it. And it means pushing to strengthen and increase Social Security benefits for our loved ones," he said.
"Putting our values to work means fighting for an economy that works for everyone — families, not special interests. Because no matter how often we hear about powerful special interests in Washington, D.C., you and I know nothing is more powerful than the love and the dreams we have for our children."
