18. What should we do about the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan?

This question touches my family personally. My daughter Tulsi recently volunteered to serve in Iraq with her fellow soldiers from Hawaii’s Army National Guard, 29th Brigade. My family and I would like to humbly ask the people of the Big Island to pray for the safety of Tulsi and all of these brave young men and women.

We need to bring them home as soon as possible without endangering the security of Iraq or America. This can be achieved by drastically speeding up the training and equipping of Iraqi and Afghan forces.

America is providing the people of Iraq and Afghanistan the opportunity to have a democracy, but if the people of those countries are not willing to fight to establish and secure their democracy, then their democracies cannot survive once American troops are withdrawn.

Bogging down hundreds of thousands of American soldiers in Iraq for the foreseeable future is unacceptable.

It would be dangerous to set a deadline, but it would also be counterproductive not to have a goal. Having a goal will increase everyone’s motivation to expedite the training and equipping of Iraqis. Our goal should be to have the majority of our troops home within 12-18 months.

19. How should the nation proceed in the war against terrorism?

With strength and intelligence.

We need to have one person overseeing national intelligence centers and the gathering and interpreting of intelligence. We need to increase the quality and quantity of intelligence, strengthen our capabilities to stay ahead of terrorists, and better coordinate the activities of the various agencies with intelligence responsibilities.

We need to immediately focus on shoring up the defense of our seaports, airports and coastlines. Rather than waiting for a disaster to force us to increase security at our airports and seaports, we should immediately pay much more attention to the cargo and luggage going through our seaports and airports.

I fully support President Bush’s plan to drastically reduce the number of American troops in Europe. We should have done this a long time ago. Our present military structure was created for World War II. There needs to be a major overhaul. A greater percentage of our troops should be specifically trained to ferret out and destroy terrorists.

20. How will you address the shortage of affordable housing and skyrocketing cost of a home in Hawaii?

Government needs to provide incentives to builders to develop affordable housing and ensure that those homes remain “affordable.” I’ll work with the county, state and private sector and ensure that federal matching funds are available for new affordable housing projects.

We also need to eliminate duplication of state and county zoning powers. Federal incentives need to be provided to the state and counties to do this. We need to be creative in finding incentives for landlords to keep lower-rent housing on the market. And we need to secure non-profit funds for housing programs.

Congress needs to appreciate the importance of helping reduce the cost of living and housing in Hawaii. Otherwise, we will continue to see more and more of our young people reluctantly move to mainland so they can afford to buy a home and raise their families.

Congress will be controlled by Republicans for the foreseeable future. As a Republican, I will be able to be an effective advocate for federal assistance with affordable housing on the Big Island. I will have the ear of the leadership in Congress and I will make the most of that influence to secure federal assistance in the area of affordable housing.