Demo Candidate Will Challenge Nethercutt On Term Limits Stance

Odessa farmer Brad Lyons will announce his campaign for Congress today by revisiting incumbent Rep. George Nethercutt’s 1994 stance on term limits.

Lyons, the former Lincoln County Democratic chairman, will ask Nethercutt to say unequivocally whether he will retire in 2000 if elected this fall.

If Nethercutt says he will, Lyons will suggest he would be a lame duck. If Nethercutt says he won’t - or won’t say one way or the other - Lyons will suggest the incumbent is reneging on his 1994 pledge.

Nethercutt, a strong proponent of a three-term limit when first elected, has said recently it’s too early to make a decision about 2000. But he added he would consider running for a fourth term under certain conditions.

“I don’t support term limits,” Lyons said. “I do support a candidate sticking by his commitment.”

The 44-year-old alfalfa farmer and ceramic tile manufacturer is the first, and possibly only, Democrat to challenge Nethercutt. He will announce his campaign at 10:30 a.m. at Spokane’s Ridpath Hotel.

Lyons said he wants to bring a farmer’s skill and ingenuity to the job of a congressman. He wants to work to ensure that Social Security stays solvent, and believes any surplus in the federal budget should be applied to that program’s trust fund.

Other changes in the program will probably be necessary, he said, adding “I can’t tell you what the specific remedies would be at this point.”

He questioned whether agriculture programs, dubbed “Freedom to Farm” by Nethercutt and other Republicans who moved them through Congress, have enough protection for farmers. Northwest farmers who rely on export sales of their crops could be hurt by the faltering Asian economy, he said, and the government may need to devise a new system of price supports.

He also said farmers should play a bigger role in discussions of how to protect the region’s salmon.

On other issues, he said he would support a ban on elective abortions in the third trimester of pregnancy, and wants to see statistics on whether the current ban on some military style semiautomatic weapons is working.

Lyons is married with a 9-year-old son and a 22-year-old stepson. This will be his second run for elective office, after losing a state House seat to Republican Cathy McMorris of Colville in 1996.

, DataTimes