Williams Targets Chenoweth’s Voting Record Democrat Questions Votes Against Water Quality, Meat Safety

Democratic congressional challenger Dan Williams has been up and down Idaho’s 1st District, focusing on what he views as some of Republican incumbent Helen Chenoweth’s more extreme stands - votes against clean water and safe meat.

But Chenoweth press secretary Khris Bershers claims Williams has it all wrong because he is relying on old information that does not accurately reflect the conservative freshman’s opinions, efforts or what is happening in Congress today.

Williams conceded that Chenoweth voted for final passage of the clean water bill once all the proposed changes had been considered. Bershers admitted that votes against meat and poultry inspection proposals came 18 months ago and Chenoweth has since been involved in the issue as an Agriculture Committee member. Bershers disagreed with a statement that Chenoweth had modified her views.

Williams launched his latest assault on Chenoweth’s record in northern Idaho earlier in the week and wrapped it up in Boise on Friday afternoon.

“When there were big votes on what to do with increasing ground water and surface water problems with direct impacts on health and safety, she votes to take us backwards,” Williams said. “This is a classic Helen trick. She’ll say she voted for the clean water act and she did, but not until all the important work had been done.”

He argued that it makes little sense for Chenoweth to support a $40 billion Star Wars defense program and object to spending a few million dollars on water quality programs that maintain the safety of domestic water supplies.

“Those aren’t the priorities of the vast majority of the people of Idaho who don’t want to see Idaho become like New Jersey,” Williams said.

Bershers said that in disposing of the 43 amendments proposed to the water legislation, Chenoweth voted for flexibility at the local level, reducing unfunded mandates, easing redundant and costly regulations and making bureaucrats factor cost-risk assessments into their decisions.

Chenoweth did vote in February 1995 to block an Agriculture Department regulation aimed at reducing meat and poultry bacteria that kills as many as 4,000 people a year. Precluding the inspection improvement was a spotlighted impact of the GOP’s demand for a moratorium on federal rules.

Carcass-by-carcass inspections would have been replaced with bacterial testing, improved sanitation practices and changes in the way meat is handled and stored.

Only two members of the House Republican majority objected to the regulatory moratorium that blocked the change that was vehemently opposed by the meat industry as unneeded, ineffective and too expensive.

Since then, however, Bershers said top Agriculture Department officials, including the secretary, have been before the House Agriculture Committee, allowing Chenoweth to ask about health and safety rules.

“It would be inaccurate to say that she is against safety standards for meat and poultry because she has worked specifically within the Agriculture Committee to ensure that those types of protections are provided.”

The meat industry, however, continues to fight Clinton administration efforts to force testing for bacteria in meat and poultry, claiming the standards are impractical and cannot be enforced.

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