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Evans Faces Challenge For Congressional Seat By Joyce Morrison, Southern IL News Correspondent mailto:[log in to unmask] Friday, May 21, 2004 PEORIA -- A race the nation will be watching in November will be in the 17th Congressional District where well known CNN Emmy Award winner and former news reporter Andrea Zinga, will attempt to unseat eleven-term liberal Congressman Lane Evans. Zinga made a favorable impression on the Republican faithful last weekend when she was allowed to say a few words to an early morning breakfast meeting at the state convention in Collinsville last weekend. Andrea "Lane" Zinga and "Lane" Evans are ideological opposites. Evans' voting record indicates his liberal leanings. Zinga says she more conservative on the issues. One of her campaign slogans says "It's Time to Change Lanes." Evans, a Viet Nam veteran and first elected in 1982, is the ranking Democratic member of the House Veteran’s Affairs Committee and serves on the House Armed Services Committee. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) which is the largest socialist organization in the United States. Congressman Evans received a 100% voting score from the ACLU. His votes were in agreement with the ACLU on the Ten Commandments, partial birth abortion, U.S. flag desecretion and parental notification on abortion. An attorney, Evans received his BA from Augusta College in 1974 and his JD from Georgetown University in 1978. At age 52, Evans is unmarried and for the past eight years has battled progressive degenerative Parkinson's Disease. Suffering from this ailment has made him a strong supporter of stem cell research and therapeutic cloning. In addressing Congress regarding HR 534, the Human Cloning Prohibition Act, Rep. Evans stated in part: "Saying that a pre-implantation embryo is a human being and arguing that therapeutic cloning is, therefore, unethical is simply not based on fact. . . . Deciding that we should move to a society in which embryos should never be created with the knowledge that they would be discarded would not only affect the important research of embryonic stem cells but also affect the millions of Americans who gain hope of bearing their own children by in vitro fertilization." The "Environmental Hero" label was given Evans by the League of Conservation Voters. He also received awards from the Sierra Club. Evans voted against opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for oil production. While the congressmen in neighboring districts score high on the conservative group Landrights' Private Property Congressional Scorecard, Evans ranks a 0 percent vote for private property rights. He is endorsed by environmenatlists' League of Conservation Voters with whom he holds a lifetime 94 percent voting average on environmental issues. Evan's challenger in 2004 is a feisty conservative Republican woman who is a former news reporter. "For years I have reported factory closings and the loss of good jobs in our area and could do nothing about it," Andrea Zinga said. "It is past time that our district is represented by a full time legislator who will come home to the district every weekend and listen to the people in order to represent the values of the 17th District." A graduate of Western Illinois University in Macomb with a BA in Education and a Masters degree from the U of I, Zinga said she supports President Bush's position on most issues, including his energy policy. With the price of gas above two dollars a gallon, Zinga said she agrees that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) should be opened to oil exploration. She agrees with President Bush's position on Alaskan drilling for oil. The President said this week if ANWR would have passed that millions of barrels of oil would have been coming out of that part of the world, having a positive impact on today's consumers. A former educator, Zinga said the major changes in education policy under the "No Child Left Behind" reforms were a shift in emphasis from questions of access to education to standards, accountability and how children learn. She said problems continue with the plan's implementation, something she would like to have a hand in doing if she were sent to D.C. Zinga is pro-life with the exception of rape, if the rape is reported within 72 hours. She also holds exceptions for the life of the mother and in the case of incest. The NRA has given her an A+ while giving Evans an F. Not mincing words, Zinga said Evans has voted 175 times against defense spending. "Lane does support veterans issues well, but his votes on defense spending would have made America impotent militarily and have sent soldiers, airmen, sailors and Marines into harms way with every substandard weapons, protection and training," Zinga said. A strong advocate for the rights of citizens to own property, Andrea Zinga believes we should protect our environment using a balanced, common sense approach. "I am concerned about the deteriorating locks and dams along the rivers and the tremendous loss of revenue and jobs this means to Illinois. I know the effect it has on the Quad Cities area, as well as the whole district, since the entire western edge is bordered by the Mississippi River," Zinga said. "Studies show these improvements can be made and the environment protected at the same time." Attractive, highly energetic and focused, the 54 year old candidate presents a youthful appearance. She is married and her husband, Chuck McClurg, has thrown his full support behind his wife’s goal to become a congresswoman. McClurg said, "My wife is the best. She would make an extremely effective legislator as her years as a journalist has equipped her to think things through, speak out and take action on them." Redistricting of the 17th District led to a configuration with bits and pieces of 23 counties, from Whiteside County to the north meandering down to one township in Fayette County in Southern Illinois. It's design makes it difficult to easily reach all constituents. The majority of the district's populace is in the Quad Cities area. Zinga has her sights on receiving major support from the Republican Congressional delegation of Jerry Weller, Ray LaHood, John Shimkus, Tim Johnson and Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert. SOURCE: The Illinois Leader, IL http://www.illinoisleader.com/news/newsview.asp?c=15094 What are your thoughts concerning the issues raised in this story? Write a letter to the editor at [log in to unmask] and include your name and town. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn