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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 29, 1996)
Daily Nebraskan Voters’ Guide THE CONGRESS Frustration brought Bereuter to politics; voters keep him in Tanna Kinnaman/DN CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE Doug Bereuter is running againsl Patrick Combs. By Erin Schulte Senior Reporter As a Republican in Congress, Rep. Doug Bereuter said he’s done things Congress has failed to do for years. One accomplishment was passing the Telecommunications Reform Act, which provides more competition be tween telephone, cable and electronic media companies. The competition should help keep service prices down. “The democratic-controlled Con gress failed to do it for 14 years,” Bereuter said. Bereuter started his political career in 1975 as a Nebraska state senator. Bereuter said he did not plan to get into politics, but was pushed, as many politicians are, to run for office because of frustration. When he brought his concerns to his state legislator, he didn’t listen — so Bereuter ran against him, and won. He’s been winning ever since. Bereuter has served since 1978 as the District 1 Representative in the U.S. House. He’s up for re-election this year against Democratic candidate Patrick Combs, who also ran against Bereuter in the 1994 election. One point of contention between Bereuter and Combs has been the amount of time Bereuter has served in Congress. Two weeks ago, during a visit to Combs acknowledges tough race, pledges change in D C. By Erin Schulte Senior Reporter Promising to serve no more than four terms, Patrick Combs also prom ises that in that time, he’ll have a fresh approach and reduce government waste. Combs, the Democratic candidate for the District 1 seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, said he knows it will be tough to beat his opponent, in cumbent Doug Bereuter. Bereuter gets franking priveleges, free publicity and lots of donations. But that’s no reason to re-elect him, Combs said. “People say ‘(Bereuter’s) got all that name recognition, he’s got half the billboards in the state, he can have $5,000-a-plate fund-raisers and people actually show up,”’ Combs said. “I say, ‘You have not told me one reason he should be re-elected.’” Bereuter has served in Congress since 1978. Combs said that because he doesn’t want to serve as a lifetime politician, he would be freer to rally against all the privileges politicians enjoy—and that cost taxpayers money. Combs said he wants to put limits on campaign spending and redress campaign law. Cutting wasteful spending by gov ernment officials will also help reach a balanced budget, and Combs said he supports a balanced budget amend ment. There are, however, government policies that actually make money for the United States. This year, Congress passed a bill cutting student loan money. It was a bad move, Combs said, because stu dent loans not only pay for themselves, they benefit both recipients and the government. “I’d rather see money put into stu dent loan programs than new Star Wars programs we don’t even have the tech nology to make happen,” Combs said. Turning away from large military expenditures is another goal Combs said he hoped to accomplish if elected. Combs, 31, is director of operations for Warner Enterprises, which owns four Lincoln radio stations, and he is single. He received his bachelor’s degree in political science from UNL in 1988 and is now studying for a master’s de gree. He was the Democratic nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994.; Political Experience: Division director of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, 1967-68; director of the state Office of Planning and Programming, 1968 71; served in the Nebraska Legislature, 1975-79. Elected to the U.S. House in 1978 and reelected to nine consecutive terms. UNL, Bereuter told a group of UNL honors students that he believed if term limits passed, it should not be done by the states. If a few states passed term limits and other did not, congressmen from states with term limits would never achieve powerful positions in either the House or the Senate. During his last term in office, Bereuter voted to pass a balanced bud get amendment, and said the issue is one that should be very important to students and their financial future. If deficit spending continues, col lege-age people will not receive the same benefits, such as Medicare, Med icaid and social security, that older i -—-s people receive now. “We’re developing a generational split, so it’s important for students to express themselves as citizens,” Bereuter said. Bereuter said he was active in mak ing sure student loan programs were not cut and raising the dollar amount of individual loans and Pell grants. Bereuter received his bachelor’s degree from UNL in 1961. He then went on to receive his master’s in city planning from Harvard University in 1966, and another master’s in public administration from Harvard in 1973. He served in the army from 1963-65, is married and has two children. Maeni Speck/DN FIRST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT CANDIDATE Patrick Combs will challenge incumbent Doug Bereuter.