Candidates collide on Iraq

Fossella rips rival's 'lies'; Harrison slams a vote by congressman on terrorism

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

By TOM WROBLESKI

ADVANCE POLITICAL EDITOR

Rep. Vito Fossella yesterday accused his Democratic opponent, Stephen Harrison, of lying about the congressman's stand on the questioning of suspected terrorists.

During a contentious forum before more than 200 members of the Willowbrook AARP, Harrison said that the vote by Fossella (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) in favor of legislation governing interrogation of terrorism detainees amounted to the "institutionalization" of torture.

"It's against American principles," Harrison said. "It's against the Constitution."

"I won't tolerate lying," Fossella said after the forum, which took place in All Saints' Episcopal Church, Willowbrook.

The two also clashed at a similarly raucous forum sponsored last night by the Pleasant Plains/Prince's Bay/Richmond Valley Civic Association in St. Mark's United Methodist Church, Pleasant Plains.

That forum, which drew about 150 people, also featured GOP City Councilman Andrew Lanza (R-South Shore) and Democratic attorney Matthew Titone, who are vying to replace the retiring state Sen. John Marchi (R-Staten Island). GOP Civil Court candidate Ralph Porzio also spoke.

The forums marked the first face-to-face encounters between Fossella and Harrison during the campaign, and featured heated exchanges on terrorism and the Iraq war.

"To get up and say we support institutionalized torture is ludicrous," Fossella told reporters. "It's an outright lie. I find it sad that someone would have to resort to just lying outright, as he has."

Fossella said that he supports "aggressive" interrogation of terrorism detainees, and disagrees with Harrison's opposition to Bush administration policies on terrorist wiretapping and the renewal of the Patriot Act.

"I think that most people would recognize that 'aggressive interrogation' is, in fact, torture," said Harrison.

The two also differ sharply on Iraq.

Harrison told the St. Mark's audience that the war on terrorism "did not bring us to Iraq. George Bush did. And Vito Fossella. And they did it under false pretenses."

Harrison, a Brooklyn attorney, called for a safe withdrawal of American troops from Iraq.

But Fossella said a "cut and run" approach would embolden terrorists and "destabilize" a fledgling democracy in Iraq.

Harrison also hit at Fossella yesterday for his stand on Social Security.

Harrison said Fossella had previously said he would consider allowing some diversion of Social Security payroll taxes into private investment accounts.

Fossella said he'd wanted all options "on the table," and that he supports forming a bipartisan commission to study Social Security.

Harrison said Social Security was "safe" for now, but said it could be tweaked in the future by possibly raising the retirement age "six or eight months" and taxing incomes above the current $94,000-plus threshold.

But Fossella said Social Security should be fixed now.

"Don't kick the can down the road," he said.

Harrison also defended himself against Fossella's charge that he wants to restore the two-way toll on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.

Harrison said he would consider such a measure only if the toll were eliminated for congressional district residents and a high-speed E-ZPass collection system installed.

Fossella said Harrison was "wrong on the four T's: Terrorism, taxes, tolls and traffic."

Speaking at St. Mark's, both candidates were frequently met by catcalls from opponents and standing ovations from supporters.

Lanza and Titone displayed none of the rancor seen in the Fossella and Harrison exchanges.

Lanza touted his Council record in battling overdevelopment and in bringing a fourth police precinct and new parks and athletic fields to the Island.

Titone highlighted the volunteer work he'd done with the Staten Island AIDS Task Force, Project Hospitality and Snug Harbor Cultural Center, and pledged to bring more education and health-care funding here.

Conservative Party candidate Charles Pistor did not attend the forum.

-- Advance staff writer Larissa Randall contributed to this report.

Tom Wrobleski may be reached at wrobleski@siadvance.com. Read his polit.bureau blog at http://www.silive.com/newslogs/politics/

 

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