Wednesday, August 7, 2002
Veteran wants soldiers watching border
By Hipolito R. Corella / ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Jim Behnke looks across the picturesque San Rafael Valley from atop Montezuma Pass and sees the perfect place for the military to taper off a stampede of illegal entrants.
Behnke, 68, says it's time for the federal government to put soldiers along the remote hills and canyons that stretch farther than the eye can see from this pass 6,575 feet up the southern tip of the Huachuca Mountains.
District 8 candidate calls illegal immigration 'national emergency.' James Behnke Personal: Married, 68, two children Education: Master's of divinity, Concordia Seminary, St. Louis Experience: Retired lieutenant colonel in the Army; former Lutheran pastor in Sierra Vista Endorsements: Supported for election by the Arizona Republican Assembly; endorsed by the Pima County Deputy Sheriff's Association Contact: www.behnkeforcongress.com |
"We have to say it's a national emergency," Behnke says as he proceeds cautiously around switchbacks along a steep dirt road in his silver 1999 Honda sedan. "You either believe it, or you don't."
Behnke says teams of specially trained soldiers can intercept and apprehend illegal crossers in the most remote areas of Cochise County so the outmanned Border Patrol can concentrate on populous areas.
But sealing off every hilltop and canyon along the border seems as daunting a task from up here as a first-time political candidate knocking off an incumbent congressman like Republican Rep. Jim Kolbe.
"It's David versus Goliath, that's for sure," says Behnke, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and retired Lutheran minister from Hereford.
Behnke says he is counting on a folksy grass-roots effort, heavy on coffee meetings, to topple Kolbe in the Republican primary for Congressional District 8. Newly drawn, the district includes much of Tucson as well as Green Valley, Sierra Vista and most of of southeastern Arizona.
The bulk of that territory is included in the current 5th District.
The winner in the primary will face Democrat Mary Judge Ryan in the Nov. 5 general election.
Behnke says he had a difficult time deciding whether to run against Kolbe, a man he has supported at the polls in the past.
But he says the incumbent has lost touch with his constituents and is not doing enough to protect people living near the border.
On a drive from Sierra Vista to Naco, and through the Coro-nado National Memorial, Behnke points out the routes favored by both illegal crossers looking for work and a better life and those hauling illegal drugs.
On Arizona 92, just outside Sierra Vista, agents nab a group of about 25, but Behnke says soldiers using radar can capture more.
"I'd say the job could be done by 800 people," Behnke says, envisioning Green Berets on the patrol.
Behnke spent 20 years in the Army and had two tours in Vietnam, the first as a Ranger and the second with the First Infantry Division.
He first was stationed at Fort Huachuca in 1970 and returned in 1975 after an assignment in Europe.
After retiring from the Army in 1977, Behnke studied for the ministry, leading a church in Mexico City and founding Sierra Vista's Immanuel Lutheran Church in 1985. He retired from the ministry in 1999.
House of Representatives: Makes laws on topics ranging from farming to immigration to taxes and the environment. Also determines its own rate of pay. All revenue bills must originate in the House. House presents charges in case of presidential impeachment; Senate sits as a court. If no presidential candidate receives a majority of electoral votes, House must choose from the three candidates with the most votes. Salary: $150,000. |
Behnke has been married to his wife, Charlotte, for 31 years. They have two adult children, Michelle, 26, a teacher in Prescott Valley, and Michael, 30, a research biologist at Montana State University.
Behnke says he wants to strengthen the Second Amendment. He wants commercial pilots trained to use revolvers, and active and retired law enforcement personnel - with regular screening - carrying weapons across state lines.
If he is elected, he says, he will lobby Microsoft founder Bill Gates to establish a two-year computer training school on Tucson's South Side. "When you're a congressman, they'll return your calls," he says.
He would push to ensure Arizona's military bases stay open. And in his campaign literature, Behnke quotes from Psalm 139 to illustrate his pro-life stance.
