EAST SYRACUSE - Tension was mounting in the Time Warner Cable studio Wednesday afternoon as the congressional candidates for the 24th District debated key issues.
Incumbent Michael Arcuri addressed the importance of negotiation with regard to the Oneida Indian Nation as well as the Cayuga Nation.
Arcuri, D-Utica, has been an opponent of the Oneida land-into-trust from the start, he said.
The Oneida Nation was not willing to negotiate, which is why the issue ended up in court. The Cayuga Nation's application will likely be suspended until the court decides the Oneida land-into-trust case. In the end, the Oneidas will probably win some land, he said.
Arcuri believes Congress should have the ability to vote on the land-into-trust applications because they are the ones who empower the Bureau of Indian Affairs, he said.
Republican candidate Richard Hanna said Arcuri was unsuccessful in bringing people together, finding out what they have in common and working with that.
“Failure is not an excuse,” Hanna said.
While negotiation is the best route to take, it may not always be effective, Arcuri said.
“If one of the parties doesn't want to come to the table and the Bureau of Indian Affairs doesn't force them to the table, then it's going to have to go to court,” Arcuri said.
Arcuri questioned Hanna about what he has done to stop the Oneida Indian Nation.
“It wasn't my job, it was your job,” Hanna said. “You failed, I did not. Why is it that for the last four administrations we've had nobody to defend us against these Indian nations?”
The candidates also discussed initiatives to reduce the price of gasoline.
The president needs to release some oil from the country's petroleum reserve, Arcuri said. The amount of supply should help reduce the cost of gas temporarily. Looking to the future, he sees this as a three-tier process.
“In the short term, we need to conserve, we need to drill,” Arcuri said. “In the middle term, we need to promote alternative energy, we need to promote mass transit #- we need to be spending more money on our mass transit to get people #- away from driving and into alternatives.”
Nuclear fuel should be the long-term goal, he said, and this area could be a forerunner for alternative energy.
However, Hanna does not believe using the country's reserve would be the best way to go.
“At a time when we may be facing big trouble in the (Middle) East #( we may need that oil exactly at the time we're getting rid of it. And I don't think it's a practical thing to use a few days supply of our national security energy source to just patronize people and make gas a little cheaper.”
Hanna also said that cellulosic technology does not yet exist at the level that Arcuri indicated.
“It's that kind of narrow-minded thinking that's put us where we are right now, focusing on fossil fuels that have a limited life and are limited in terms of what they do.” Arcuri said. “We need to be thinking outside the box, we need to be thinking #( about alternative fuel. That is our future.”
Staff writer Gitana Mirochnik can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or gitana.mirochnik@lee.net
Arcuri, D-Utica, has been an opponent of the Oneida land-into-trust from the start, he said.
The Oneida Nation was not willing to negotiate, which is why the issue ended up in court. The Cayuga Nation's application will likely be suspended until the court decides the Oneida land-into-trust case. In the end, the Oneidas will probably win some land, he said.
Arcuri believes Congress should have the ability to vote on the land-into-trust applications because they are the ones who empower the Bureau of Indian Affairs, he said.
Republican candidate Richard Hanna said Arcuri was unsuccessful in bringing people together, finding out what they have in common and working with that.
“Failure is not an excuse,” Hanna said.
While negotiation is the best route to take, it may not always be effective, Arcuri said.
“If one of the parties doesn't want to come to the table and the Bureau of Indian Affairs doesn't force them to the table, then it's going to have to go to court,” Arcuri said.
Arcuri questioned Hanna about what he has done to stop the Oneida Indian Nation.
“It wasn't my job, it was your job,” Hanna said. “You failed, I did not. Why is it that for the last four administrations we've had nobody to defend us against these Indian nations?”
The candidates also discussed initiatives to reduce the price of gasoline.
The president needs to release some oil from the country's petroleum reserve, Arcuri said. The amount of supply should help reduce the cost of gas temporarily. Looking to the future, he sees this as a three-tier process.
“In the short term, we need to conserve, we need to drill,” Arcuri said. “In the middle term, we need to promote alternative energy, we need to promote mass transit #- we need to be spending more money on our mass transit to get people #- away from driving and into alternatives.”
Nuclear fuel should be the long-term goal, he said, and this area could be a forerunner for alternative energy.
However, Hanna does not believe using the country's reserve would be the best way to go.
“At a time when we may be facing big trouble in the (Middle) East #( we may need that oil exactly at the time we're getting rid of it. And I don't think it's a practical thing to use a few days supply of our national security energy source to just patronize people and make gas a little cheaper.”
Hanna also said that cellulosic technology does not yet exist at the level that Arcuri indicated.
“It's that kind of narrow-minded thinking that's put us where we are right now, focusing on fossil fuels that have a limited life and are limited in terms of what they do.” Arcuri said. “We need to be thinking outside the box, we need to be thinking #( about alternative fuel. That is our future.”
Staff writer Gitana Mirochnik can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or gitana.mirochnik@lee.net
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