Posted on 05/09/2003 3:11:59 PM PDT by microgood
Continued criticism by Democrats of President Bush's visit to the supercarrier USS Abraham Lincoln a week ago isn't shared by this state's party members. Of course, six state Democrats flew by helicopter to greet the warship as it headed into Everett on Monday.
U.S. Reps. Norm Dicks, Jay Inslee and Rick Larsen, who all represent districts that include Navy installations, said they don't begrudge Bush's landing and national address on the aircraft carrier May 1.
They said the nation's focus should be on the economy and today's tax-cut vote, not Bush's visit to the Lincoln.
The House trio was accompanied to the Lincoln by U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray and Gov. Gary Locke.
"It just seems to me it's entirely appropriate for the president to welcome home the sailors," Inslee said. "I don't have a problem with doing it on the ship. I can't see that it causes great grief to anyone.
"But first off, I'm not focusing on landing planes. I'm more worried about stopping the economy from crashing."
Many Democrats, including Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., and U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., have characterized Bush's visit to the Lincoln as a campaign stop.
"Other people can look at it differently," said Dicks, who added that he was proud six state Democrats visited the Lincoln together. "I don't have any problem with what the president did. Those kids on board are going to remember that for as long as they live."
Byrd said Tuesday that he was "loath to think of an aircraft carrier being used as an advertising backdrop for a presidential political slogan, and yet, that is what I saw."
Waxman called for the General Accounting Office, Congress' investigative arm, to figure the cost of Bush's visit.
Larsen said, "The president has a right to visit the crew on the Lincoln. He could've done it in a more fiscally responsible manner, but he certainly has the right to be there."
The White House has admitted that the president didn't need to fly aboard via an S-3B Viking because the carrier ended up within helicopter range. However, the Lincoln originally was expected to be hundreds of miles from San Diego when the trip was planned, Navy officials said.
Lincoln officials said the only alteration to the carrier's travel between Hawaii and San Diego was its increased speed. The warship traveled at 30 knots -- instead of a normal 15 -- to make it near the California coast in time for the president's visit.
However, the ship didn't delay its return to San Diego, as some Democrats have suggested. Lincoln officials said the ship's San Diego return date of May 2 was set and released to family members a week before the president's visit was confirmed.
"We couldn't have pulled into San Diego any earlier than we were scheduled because of the pier support and the families," Lincoln spokesman Lt. John Daniels said. "The families were buying plane tickets and making travel arrangements to meet the ship. Coming in a day earlier would've screwed things up."
The Lincoln arrived at Naval Air Station North Island at its scheduled time of 9 a.m. May 2 after the president, who spent the night on the carrier, left earlier in the morning.
Dicks, Inslee and Larsen all said the country's focus should be on the economy, including today's tax-cut vote, which is expected to pass. None of the three representatives supports a tax cut because of the increasing deficit.
"With the deficit, we should not be cutting taxes further," said Dicks, who prefers a public works program to create jobs.
Larsen agreed.
"Congress is about to vote on a 'jobs never' package when what we need is a 'jobs now' package," he said.
Reach reporter Chris Barron at (360) 792-9228 or at cbarron@thesunlink.com.
I didn't know anyone asked them if it was OK with them.
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