About Kline: Perhaps the most glamorous duty of Kline’s 25-year career with the U.S. Marine Corps was carrying the nuclear “football” as a military aide for President Reagan. He also served as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, commanded all Marine 
Klineaviation forces in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia and flew “Marine One,” the presidential helicopter. He retired as a Marine colonel. Before being elected to Congress four years ago, Kline and his wife helped manage her family farm. Kline lives in Lakeville. He is married and has two children and four grandchildren.
About Rowley: From the time she was 11 years old, Rowley dreamed of becoming an FBI agent. Her wish came true in January 1981. Rowley worked for more than six years in New York on Italian organized crime and Sicilian heroin drug 
Rowleyinvestigations. She later became the chief division counsel for the FBI in Minneapolis. In May 2002, Rowley drew national attention by bringing to light pre-Sept. 11 lapses in the investigation of Zacarias Moussaoui. She retired from the FBI in 2004. An Apple Valley resident, Rowley is married and has four children.
SOURCE: Minnesota Public Radio and candidates’ Web sites
Q & A with John Kline
Agriculture
What actions can be taken to ensure U.S. farmers are on a level playing field in the international marketplace?
Access to foreign markets for U.S. farms is of the utmost importance. I have urged the administration in their World Trade Organization negotiations to assure U.S. farmers access to foreign markets before any changes are made to our domestic farm policy.
Energy
Should the United States expand domestic oil production? What should be the parameters? What should be done to promote alternative energy sources?
Yes, and my vote for the comprehensive energy bill does so. The new law streamlines the permit process. It also will help diversify our energy supply by promoting alternative and renewable energy sources. The law extends tax credits for wind, biomass and other renewable electricity sources. In addition, it provides tax credits for ethanol. On top of that, I have co-sponsored the 10-by-10 Act, which requires all gasoline sold in the U.S. to contain 10-percent renewable fuel by 2010.
Job creation
What policies do you support so U.S. companies can compete effectively in overseas markets?
In order to continue current [and] future job growth, we must strengthen and improve worker training and education programs. I co-sponsored the Job Training Improvement Act to increase American competitiveness by improving job-training programs.
Healthcare
Do you support universal health-care coverage? Will the Medicare drug discount card bring prescription cost relief to senior citizens?
The United States has the best health-care system in the world. That doesn’t mean it is perfect.
As vice-chairman of the Employer-Employee Relations Subcommittee, I have had the opportunity to promote, support and co-sponsor legislation that has passed the U.S. House which increases access to healthcare for uninsured working families through Association Health Plans.
Assisting our seniors with their prescription drug costs was also an important achievement. Previously, millions of seniors had no prescription drug coverage and paid full price for their medications. Today, more than 38 million seniors have coverage and are saving an average of $1,100 per year.
Social Security
The Social Security trust fund is scheduled to become insolvent as baby boomers retire. Should Social Security be privatized? If not, what solutions do you propose?
No. Congress must recognize that we have an obligation to ensure Social Security is there for our seniors and future generations. To begin, we must stop the raid on the Social Security Trust Fund – stop spending the Social Security surplus on other government programs. Next, we must guarantee that nothing we do would change current benefits for retirees or those who are about to retire. That is why I’m a co-sponsor of the Grow Real Ownership for Workers Act. This legislation protects the Trust Fund by providing younger workers the opportunity to voluntarily start personal savings accounts while ensuring that we keep our promise to our seniors.
Terrorism
Rate the effectiveness of the current war on terrorism. Do you support a specific timetable for withdrawal of troops from Iraq? If so, what is it? Will you vote to end the war in Iraq?
The United States and its allies have severely weakened al-Qaeda’s ability to launch large-scale attacks, but the bombings in Madrid and London have demonstrated bin Laden and his partners remain dangerous and an elusive threat.
In Iraq, Jihadists have declared that country to be the primary battleground in their war against the West. It would be foolish to announce to the enemy when we will stop fighting. As nearly every soldier, sailor, airman and Marine has told me on my four trips to Iraq, we must finish the job.
Q & A with Coleen Rowley
Agriculture
What actions can be taken to ensure U.S. farmers are on a level playing field in the international marketplace?
When I talk to farmers in the Second District today, a common source of concern is the skyrocketing cost of farm inputs like fertilizer, labor and, especially, fuel. One Belle Plaine dairy farmer recently explained that no matter how good the season turns out this year, he won’t make enough money to break even. I fear his is not an isolated case.
To make matters worse, farmers bear the added burden of unfavorable trade agreements. We need free trade, but we also need fair trade. My opponent, John Kline, opposed this principle in voting for the flawed CAFTA. When our farmers have to adhere to higher environmental, currency and labor standards than our trading partners, it puts them at a competitive disadvantage. The solution is not to lower our standards, but to demand that competing farmers operate on a level playing field by raising their own standards.
Likewise, we can do more to promote local farmers’ interests. One policy I support is widespread implementation of country of origin labeling, or COOL. Just as we know where our blue jeans are made, we deserve to know the origin of our food.
To address soaring fuel prices directly, we can provide local farmers with incentives to cultivate energy in addition to crops and livestock. Minnesota is a perfect fit for the production of ethanol, bio-diesel and wind energy.
Energy
Should the United States expand domestic oil production? What should be the parameters? What should be done to promote alternative energy sources?
As long as we depend on Middle Eastern oil, we will be involved in Middle Eastern conflicts and invite the wrath of terrorists everywhere. As long as we are held hostage at the gas pump, our economic growth will be less and less guaranteed. As long as we must drill deeper into habitats to sustain our growing energy needs, we will continue to deface many of the remaining pristine areas we share. And as long as we continue to embed our atmosphere with fossil waste, we will incur increasingly destructive natural disasters similar to the record number of devastating hurricanes endured this year.
A new energy strategy is one of the 21st Century's most urgent causes. Emerging powers such as China and India will invariably demand a growing percentage of the global energy supply, and the status quo simply is not equipped to meet tomorrow's demand. How we resolve this impending challenge will have a profound impact on our environment, economy and national security.
This century can be the century of American global leadership for new technologies that are environmentally sustainable and will free us from dependence on foreign states. In the short term, we must undertake greater conservation and fuel efficiency measures. The energy of the future is in sustainable fuels like biomass, ethanol, wind and solar power.
Job creation
What policies do you support so U.S. companies can compete effectively in overseas markets?
When the macro-economic figures point to robust growth, yet working families see their incomes fall when adjusted for inflation, something is off. This is what has occurred under Bush and the GOP’s economic policies. And moreover, this paradox explains why most Americans disapprove of the GOP’s handling of the economy despite substantial GDP growth – in short, working families are not enjoying the benefits of our recent economic growth.
We need an economic strategy that rewards Minnesota families’ hard work and productivity, while also creating jobs and growing the economy in a macro sense. Our strategy must also help balance the budget and minimize reckless deficit spending. The Clinton model of the late ‘90s proved we can do all of the above.
While I support tax breaks for our working families, I do not support tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit the richest one to two percent of society. That said, I believe reversing the tax cuts on incomes over $300,000 is a necessary step to balancing the budget and moving our economic strategy in the right direction.
Healthcare
Do you support universal healthcare coverage? Will the Medicare drug discount card bring prescription cost relief to senior citizens?
The number of uninsured Americans has increased to almost 47 million, nearly 20 percent of which are children. National surveys repeatedly cite high costs as the number one reason people are uninsured. For those who can afford coverage, healthcare costs have increased at more than three times the rate of inflation since 2004.
The federal government should issue a flexible mandate requiring all states to ensure that all residents have some basic health coverage. I don’t think we should stipulate precisely how this coverage is provided; rather, I think we should empower the states to determine the specific administration of such a program. This way we can identify what works and what does not, and apply that knowledge effectively to future policy.
In terms of the Part D prescription drug program, I am increasingly concerned seniors and taxpayers are overpaying drug providers for two related reasons. First, more and more seniors have fallen into the “donut hole” whereby they are forced to pay 100 percent of their costs. Second, by preventing Medicare from leveraging its 43 million-member bargaining in direct negotiations with drug providers for lower prices, we are leaving substantial savings on the table. Some of the savings achieved from direct negotiations, moreover, could go towards filling the aforementioned “donut hole” and thus providing seniors with greater savings.
Social Security
The Social Security trust fund is scheduled to become insolvent as baby boomers retire. Should Social Security be privatized? If not, what solutions do you propose?
Social Security has been an enormously successful program in this country, and I oppose any attempts to deconstruct and destabilize it through risky and unaffordable privatization schemes. Entitlement reform is an important challenge that deserves our attention, but there are a number of ways these programs can be strengthened without privatization so they can continue to provide the consistent, effective and reliable service they have for decades in this country.
Rather than privatize, I support more conservative changes like increasing the social security cap on taxable income from $90,000 to $125,000. In a more general sense, the Clinton administration proved that smart, balanced budget policies go a long way in helping finance social security without radical changes to the system.
Terrorism
Rate the effectiveness of the current war on terrorism. Do you support a specific timetable for withdrawal of troops from Iraq? If so, what is it? Will you vote to end the war in Iraq?
I’d give this administration and Republican Congress a “D” for combating terrorism. Our policies need to be strong, but also smart – we shouldn’t create more terrorists than we eliminate. Unfortunately, according to the recent National Intelligence Estimate, we’re doing exactly the opposite.
I don’t support an arbitrary timetable for the removal of U.S. troops from Iraq, but I do believe we need to initiate a responsible redeployment-plus plan as soon as possible.
The following “withdrawal-plus” plan outlines general but necessary steps which, given some flexibility in implementation, now constitute our best option for stabilizing and exiting Iraq:
* Public disavowal by President Bush of any interest in permanent American military bases or controlling Iraqi oil or other resources.
* Graduated withdrawal of American troops, initially to more consolidated, defensive locations, but ultimately from all of Iraq. Some forces should be re-deployed to regional positions to respond quickly to emergency scenarios or terrorist developments.
* Simultaneous initiation of an independent peace process to engage in talks with Iraqi groups opposed to the occupation, including insurgents and sectarian militias, to continue seeking a political settlement of their issues. The Sunni faction, specifically, must be assured of appropriate power-haring or obtaining their appropriate share of oil proceeds.
* U.S.-imposed reconstruction will not work. Iraqis must come together to form a functional government, negotiate peaceful settlements of their disputes and determine the fate of their country.
* Neighboring countries should be asked to assist in securing Iraq’s borders and efforts of an independent peace envoy in stabilizing Iraq.
* Humanitarian funding for peaceful reconstruction from coalition countries must be channeled primarily through Iraqi contractors where possible. Our continued economic assistance should be put under direct control of the peace envoy and linked to further progress in the peace process.