Senate ‘Needs More Leadership’

COVER LETTER

Almost exactly 140 years ago a Democratic U. S. Senator and his Republican challenger spent 21 hours of debate avoiding all but one of the critical public issues of that day. Irresponsible? No, Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln showed sound judgment in limiting their arguments to the crisis of slavery. That question would determine whether the American union could “long endure.”

But today’s platforms and candidates seem fixed on things that (in the words of a respected economist) “dwarf to insignificance in the presence of four Great Problems that threaten the survival of our civilization … population, energy, pollution and the bomb.”

And we are not ready for “coming plagues, terrorism using horror weapons, and the Year 2000 computer crisis.”

Never has this Republic more needed leadership in the Senate that will honestly confront such threats to our Constitution and our Country. My qualifications for that responsibility are these:

Boyhood on farms in eastern Washington during tough times, learning hard work, frugality, and the value of family-as-team.

Two university degrees. Service on two state boards of higher education. 5,000 books in a personal “think tank” library.

A career as an architect, developing problem-solving skills. Membership in the World Future Society.

Political baptism fighting big-time graft in a small county. A long record of experience on community and state citizens committees. An elected city council member.

Deep religious commitment.

I am troubled by fantasy economics and a society in disarray. And I believe politics must be more than a spectator sport.

This sidebar appeared with the story: RESUME OF HARVEY VERNIER (DEM)

Personal Boyhood on farms in eastern Washington state. Presbyterian, Bible student, and prophet (like unto Jeremiah).

Education Washington State University, Bachelor of Architectural Engineering, 1950. Bachelor of Science, physics, 1964.

Professional experience 1955 to present: Architect, Moses Lake. Certified, National Council of Architectural Registration Boards; corporate member, American Institute of Architects. Four years service on the Washington State Board of Registration for Architects. Member, Pacific Northwest International Section of the Air Pollution Control Association; World Future Society; American Association for the Advancement of Science; the Washington Environmental Council.

Public service Moses Lake Planning Commission, 1962-64; l Moses Lake Schools’ Social Studies Advisory Council 1972. Moses Lake Shorelines Management Citizens Advisory Committee, 1974. Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce board of directors, elected 1979. Past board member, Common Cause of Washington State; past member of the Northwest Energy Task Force of Common Cause. Washington State Board for Community College Education 1977; Board of Trustees for Central Washington University, 1987.

Political experience 1980-83: Member, Moses Lake City Council. Grant County Democratic chairman, 1963-64, state committeeman, 1981. Named “Democratic Man of the Decade” for 1990-2000 by Grant County Democrats in 1991.