Associated Press
SEATTLE — Fielding questions about everything from school safety to bombing in Afghanistan, U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman urged a panel of students Thursday not to fear another Sept. 11, but to take action against violence in their own neighborhoods and schools.
"There’s no reason to live in fear," the Connecticut Democrat said, seated among more than a dozen members of Students Against Violence Everywhere , or SAVE.
"We’re the strongest nation in the world, and we’re together more than we’ve ever been, certainly in my lifetime," Lieberman said. "You’ve got the right to be a kid and enjoy it."
Lieberman, former Vice President Al Gore’s running mate in the Democrats’ failed 2000 bid for the White House, was in Seattle as part of a West Coast tour that included public meetings and fund-raising events for his political action committee.
Lieberman has said he is "thinking about" running for president in 2004.
U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., also took part in the discussions here, organized by Seattle-based Mothers Against Violence in America and held at the studios of KCTS, Seattle’s public broadcasting station.
Mill Creek Elementary School fifth-grader Marchie Newkirk asked if there will be enough money for schools with billions of federal dollars being spent to fight terrorism.
"We’ve committed a lot of money to a tax plan that’s going to cost us a lot over the next decade," Lieberman said, taking a shot at the 10-year, $1.3 trillion tax cut the Bush administration pushed through Congress last year.
"When you add into that the additional cost of the war on terrorism, it frankly doesn’t leave the amount of money we should have to invest in education."
Arthur Sawe, a seventh-grader at University Prep School, asked what could have been done to prevent the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Lieberman said Congress needs to do more to answer that question.
He said he and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., are pressing for creation of a commission to look into the roots of the attack, like one President Franklin D. Roosevelt formed after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
The findings of such a panel will be crucial to empowering people in the Islamic world in ways that stifle the kind of anger and frustration that led to the attacks, Lieberman said.
Inslee suggested the United States should take a more productive role in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and reduce the nation’s dependence on oil from the Middle East — in part through tougher vehicle miles-per-gallon standards.
Lieberman, an Orthodox Jew, said there will be no peace in the Middle East until each side recognizes the other’s right to a homeland.
He applauded Everett High School junior Sinead Harris-Jones for her involvement in a peer-mediation program that helps classmates resolve disputes and tries to prevent disagreements from turning violent.
Evergreen Elementary School fifth-grader Jeremy Kohlenberg asked one of the morning’s most blunt questions: "What do you think about bombing in Afghanistan?"
Lieberman called the war "part of the cost of trying to protect ourselves" against terrorism.
He and Inslee criticized the administration for promoting missle-defense initiatives and rejecting the Kyoto Protocol, in which 40 industrialized nations committed to reducing greenhouse gases believed to contribute to global warming.
The lawmakers also denounced a proposed freeze in funding for after-school programs, saying more money should be spent encouraging kids to get involved in their communities.
Lieberman told the students their "capacity to change things is enormous."
"You can do it. … It’s the small acts that will make this country a better place," he said.
Lieberman then headed to Portland, Ore., where he was scheduled to take part in a fund-raising event for Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, who is running for U.S. Senate. Lieberman also planned to meet with employees of Enron subsidiary Portland General Electric.
On the Net:
Sen. Joseph Lieberman: http://lieberman.senate.gov/
SAVE: http://www.ncsu.edu/cpsv/save.html
Mothers Against Violence in America: http://www.mavia.org
Copyright ©2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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