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All voters are required to present identification at the polls. Bring your ID when you come to vote. Having your ID immediately available will enable you to vote without delay.

An acceptable form of ID can be any one of the following: voter registration card; Social Security card; valid Virginia driver's license; any other ID issued by a government agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia, one of the Commonwealth's political subdivisions, or the United States; or any valid employee ID card containing your photo and issued by your employer in the ordinary course of the employer's business.

If you do not have an acceptable form of ID, you must complete an Affirmation of Identity before you can vote.

The Leagues of Women Voters of Alexandria, Arlington, the Fairfax Area, Falls Church and Loudoun County are cooperating with The Northern Virginia Journal to produce an election guide to help citizens make informed choices at the polls. Copies of the guide will be available at libraries throughout the area. In addition to material in the printed guide, this website guide contains information, such as the list of educational facilities (State Bond Issue #1) and the list of park facilities (State Bond Issue #2), taken from the Arlington County Electoral Board website.

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan organization whose purpose is to promote political responsibility through informed and active participation in government. The League does not support any political party or candidate.

A questionnaire was sent to all candidates whose names have been certified to appear on the November 5 ballot. Answers to the questions appear as written by the candidates and are not edited except to comply with newspaper style and stipulated space limitations. Candidates' original responses are on file with the League of Women Voters.

Candidates are listed in the order the political parties will appear on the ballot. Ballot order is determined by lot by the State Board of Elections. Party affiliation will be listed on the ballot for candidates for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

The Alexandria League voters' guide presents information about the candidates for the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives (8th District), as well as information on all state, regional and local ballot issues. This information has also been posted to the League of Women Voters Democracy Net website.  On the DNet site, you will also find links to the candidates' Web sites.

THE OFFICE
Term:  Six years
Salary:   $150,000
Duties:   The Constitution assigns the U.S. Senate and U.S. House equal responsibility for declaring war, maintaining the armed forces, assessing taxes, borrowing money, minting currency, regulating commerce and making all laws necessary for the operation of the government. The U.S. Senate holds exclusive authority to advise and consent on treaties and nominations.

THE ISSUES

• PRIORITIES: If elected, what will be your two top priorities, and why?
• CIVIL LIBERTIES: What should be the role of Congress with respect to the protection of civil liberties?
• ENVIRONMENT: What is your top environmental concern and how do you plan to address it?
• OTHER ISSUES: Are there any other issues that you wish to discuss?

John Warner
Republican — Incumbent

BIOGRAPHY:   Senator Warner served in the Navy during WWII and as a Marine in Korea. He was Undersecretary and Secretary of the Navy during the Vietnam War. In 1978, he was first elected to the U.S. Senate. Senator Warner continues to serve on the Armed Services Committee (former Chairman) and also on the Environment and Public Works Committee and the Health and Education Committee.

• Priorities: As a member of the U.S. Senate, my top priorities are to keep our national security and economic security strong — both at home and abroad. The key to a strong economy is job creation. I will continue to help create jobs by bringing federal dollars to Virginia. And as our nation faces unprecedented challenges from terrorism, I will continue my efforts in the Senate to ensure that the men and women of the United States Armed Forces remain the best equipped, educated, and trained fighting force in the world.
• Civil Liberties: I strongly support the protection of individual Americans' civil liberties and believe it is important that any legislation passed by the Congress to combat domestic terrorism does not trespass on the individual rights guaranteed in our Constitution. The role of the Congress must be to find a balance between increasing national security and ensuring that new laws do not infringe on the rights and liberties of those we serve.
• Environment: Over the years, I have focused my efforts on improving the water quality of Virginia's rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. Central to this is ensuring that Virginia's communities have a safe and reliable supply of drinking water and the funding necessary to improve their wastewater and drinking water facilities.
• Other Issues: We all know that good schools depend on good teachers. Unfortunately, teachers are often underpaid and many school systems are facing a shortage of qualified teachers. Because of their dedication to our children, many teachers frequently dip into their own pocket and spend hundreds of dollars for supplies to help our kids in the classroom. I hear about this frequently as I visit our schools. To take a step to help those teachers, I authored legislation, which is now law, to allow teachers to deduct those expenses from their federal income taxes.

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Jacob G. Hornberger
Independent — Challenger

BIOGRAPHY: 1972 graduate of Virginia Military Institute (B.A. economics) and the University of Texas (law degree). Founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation (www.ff.org) in Fairfax and co-editor or contributor to seven books on liberty. His articles have appeared in the Washington Post, Washington Times, and others. www.hornberger2002.com.

• Priorities: (1) Stop out-of-control federal spending by getting the government entirely out of the charity and pork business by restoring people's right to keep their own money and decide what to do with it. Federal charity and pork are simply a political scam by which incumbent congressmen buy favor and votes with the money that the IRS has taxed from the people.
  (2) Bring an immediate end to the war on drugs, which is the most immoral, failed, and destructive war of our time. Equally important, its consequences are racist to the core because they are falling disproportionately on blacks.
• Civil Liberties: It is not the job of a U.S. Senator to be a "yes" man to the president or to remain silent during the federal government's assaults on the civil liberties of the people, including the infamous TIPS snitch program and the jailing of U.S. citizens in Army brigs without trial or habeas corpus. It is the duty of a U.S. Senator to ardently, fervently, and openly fight for the rights and liberties of the people, even if that means saying "No" to the president, CIA, FBI, and Army.
• Environment: The federal government's destruction of our national parks and forests. The solution is to privatize them, including vesting ownership in such entities as the Audubon Society and Nature Conservancy.
• Other Issues: (1) The Second Amendment is the safeguard of our liberties, and gun control is the essence of tyranny. Repeal the assault-weapon ban and government monitoring of gun purchases.
  (2) People can never be free under a regime that is constantly at war because, as Madison pointed out, with war comes uncontrolled taxes, spending, and assaults on the rights and liberties of the citizenry. The federal government's role as international policeman, interloper, and intervener must be brought to an end.

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Nancy B. Spannaus
Independent — Challenger

BIOGRAPHY:   Nancy Spannaus is a leader of the LaRouche movement, and has worked with economist and Presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche for 34 years. She's been a newspaper editor since 1973, and wrote a book on American history. Her most successful campaign was the "Defeat that Son-of-a-Bush," against Ollie North.

• Priorities: Promote LaRouche's leadership in establishing a new monetary system to get us out of this depression, and promote great infrastructure projects to create jobs, and needed economic progress. The model is LaRouche's New Bretton Woods proposal, which utilizes the protections in place between 1945 and 1964, supplemented by a grand infrastructure plan, as outlined in the Eurasian Land-Bridge proposal.
• Civil Liberties: Congress should support the U.S. Constitution — and thus, move to get rid of John Ashcroft and the permanent bureaucracy in the Justice Department, both of whom have shown themselves to be opponents of Constitutional protections.
• Environment: The sabotage of scientific progress since the Carter years, taken in the name of environmentalism, has led to degradation and shortages in all vital environmental areas, from health, to water, to energy and transport. Advanced technologies in these areas, including nuclear energy, magnetically levitated trains, and nuclear desalination, are needed.
• Other Issues: What's at stake in the immediate weeks ahead is the fate of civilization. If a war against Iraq is launched, it will lead us toward a Clash of Civilizations, and New Dark Age. The best approach to preventing this war, is for us to institute rationality on the fundamental economic issue, and return to an FDR-style policy of the Federal government acting to ensure the general welfare of the population. Today, that means implementing LaRouche's policy of Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, reregulation of markets and services, and a massive public works program, starting with fixing our transportation infrastructure.
  LaRouche has told the truth about the coming financial crash for years, and now it is here. Even worse is the economic collapse of the basic requirements of human life, both globally and in the United States. So, we should follow his lead: dump the IMF, dump free trade, and build an American System model once again.

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THE OFFICE
Term:  Two years
Salary:   $150,000
Duties:   The Constitution assigns the U.S. Senate and U.S. House equal responsibility for declaring war, maintaining the armed forces, assessing taxes, borrowing money, minting currency, regulating commerce and making all laws necessary for the operation of the government. The U.S. Senate holds exclusive authority to advise and consent on treaties and nominations.

THE ISSUES

• PRIORITIES: If elected, what will be your two top priorities, and why?
• CIVIL LIBERTIES: What should be the role of Congress with respect to the protection of civil liberties?
• ENVIRONMENT: What is your top environmental concern and how do you plan to address it?
• OTHER ISSUES: Are there any other issues that you wish to discuss?

James P. Moran, Jr.
Democrat — Incumbent

BIOGRAPHY:   Public Service: Member, U.S. House of Representatives; former Mayor of Alexandria.
Education: College of the Holy Cross, Economics, B.A.; University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, MPA.
Recent awards: Hi-Tech Legislator of the Year, Information Technology Industry Council; Outstanding Support and Service, Children's Hospice International.

• Priorities: Our top priorities should be our economy and our quality of life. I have focused my legislative efforts on sustaining and stimulating employment and the economy by:
  a. Getting National Airport reopened;
  b. Extending Small Business Administration loan availability to adversely affected small businesses;
  c. Leading efforts to stimulate the technology sector;
  d. Getting support for free and fair trade that overwhelmingly benefits Northern Virginia's technology, telecommunications, and professional services firms;
  e. Have steered billions of defense dollars into Northern Virginia's defense contractors for cutting edge research.
  And for our quality of life, I have put my legislative emphasis on intelligent growth emphasizing public transit and protecting and enhancing green space, securing money for trails, and environmental protection and restoration.
• Civil Liberties: Civil liberties are defining us as a people. We must be a beacon of individual freedoms and human rights to the rest of the world, regardless of our justifiable angers and fears.
• Environment: Our air is unhealthy, especially inside the Beltway due to too much vehicle congestion, operation of coal-fired power plants in Northern Virginia and national overdependence on fossil fuels. I've emphasized public transit, including initiating a $100 monthly transit benefit for federal employees. I have introduced with Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont, the Clean Smokestacks Legislation to curb the use of coal-fired power plants.
• Other Issues: I have fought against deficit spending even for tax cuts, and thus have sponsored efforts to suspend further tax cuts until they can be paid for without raiding Social Security or Medicare trust funds (by 2030, there will be twice as many retirees — over 70 million relying on Social Security and Medicare). It is unfair and irresponsible to be using these trust funds to pay for more tax cuts, most of which go to families earning over $300,000 a year.

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Scott C. Tate
Republican — Challenger

BIOGRAPHY:    Scott Tate is a civic leader, technology professional, husband and father of three. Mr. Tate serves on the Arlington County Planning Commission. He has lived in Arlington since 1984 and has been widely recognized for his efforts to assist young people, senior citizens, women and small businesses with technology-related issues.

• Priorities: 1) Reviving the local economy, especially in the technology and tourism-related industries. By focusing my efforts to reinvigorate the economy in the 8th District, we will be able to better support efforts to fund schools and transportation needs and assist less-advantaged members of our community.
  2) Return effectiveness, integrity, and dignity back to this seat in the House of Representatives. The district cannot be represented effectively when a cloud of doubt hangs over the incumbent.
• Civil Liberties: As the "People's House," Congress plays a critical role in protecting civil liberties, privacy, and security. I'll protect our civil liberties and fight any erosion of the rights guaranteed us by the Constitution, while working to secure our borders and protect our homeland.
• Environment: The Delcarlia water treatment plant dumps millions of tons of sludge into the Potomac damaging the Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax riverfronts. It's time to determine how such effluents can be removed from the plant without damaging our waterways and shorelines.
• Other Issues: I will work to fund and staff the new Department of Homeland Security appropriately, including strong protection for the rights of workers. Employees of the new department should expect the right to work alongside other exceptional staff, but expect continued civil service protection and, in most cases, the right to organize. My opponent voted against its creation, saying that bringing together the agencies that will now communicate and cooperate in defense of our homeland will "not provide any improved security."
  In regards to child and spousal safety, I will support efforts to protect our children, as opposed to the incumbent's inexplicable vote against federal "two strikes and you're out" legislation targeting child molesters. I will also seek enactment of a comprehensive set of proposals to protect battered spouses, similar to the ones championed by Virginia's Attorney General in the last General Assembly.

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Ronald V. Crickenberger
Independent — Challenger

BIOGRAPHY:   Born Charlottesville, 1955. At 5, Ron's family lived in Ash Lawn, home of President Monroe, giving Ron an early appreciation of what made America great — individual liberty and personal responsibility.

20 years in small business as owner of "The Pool Protector." Currently serving as the Libertarian Party Political Director.

• Priorities: (1) Today, the average American works 117 days a year just to pay their taxes. I favor 10% yearly reductions in the Income Tax until it and the IRS are eliminated, with equal yearly spending reductions. I will work to end the government's interference with America's small businesses. End both corporate welfare and needless regulations that drive up the cost of goods for all. Promises made to senior citizens should be kept, but we should allow those wishing to move to a private retirement system to do so. Hands off High-Tech! Keep the Internet 100% tax free.
  (2) In the year before 9/11, we arrested 735,000 marijuana smokers and two international terrorists. That is an appalling misuse of our precious law enforcement resources. Just as alcohol prohibition did, the "drug war" creates violent crime, corrupts our courts and police, diverts precious law enforcement and prison resources away from criminal gangs at home and terrorist gangs abroad, and is used as an excuse to violate every part of the Bill of Rights. I will work to end this new prohibition.
• Civil Liberties: Congress should protect our liberties, not trample them. I will always vote to preserve your privacy, and will work to eliminate government databases filled with your personal information. I will oppose "national ID card" legislation. I will move to end the federal government's interference with your health care choices and its attempts to collect your personal health data.
• Environment: The federal government is the country's biggest polluter, and it has contaminated at least 61,155 sites across the country. We must make government officials personally liable for the environmental damage they cause. We should also repeal taxes and regulations that stifle free market environmental solutions. Make polluters pay for their crimes, not innocent taxpayers.
• Other Issues: Candidate did not respond.

Bond Issue #1 — Commonwealth of Virginia Educational Facilities Bond Act of 2002

Question: Shall Chapters 827 and 859, Acts of the General Assembly of 2002, authorizing the issuance of general obligation bonds of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the maximum amount of $900,488,645 pursuant to Article X, Section 9(b) of the Constitution of Virginia for capital projects for educational facilities, take effect?

The purpose of the bonds is to provide funds for financing the costs of specific capital projects for the Commonwealth's institutions of higher education. The capital projects contemplated in the Act have an estimated useful life of more than 25 years and include, but are not limited to, capital projects for the renovation of instructional facilities, construction of new academic space, construction of new research space, upgrades to heating and cooling systems, and improvements for handicapped accessibility.

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Bond Issue #2 — Commonwealth of Virginia Parks and Recreational Bond Act of 2002

Question: Shall Chapters 854 and 884, Acts of the General Assembly of 2002, authorizing the issuance of general obligation bonds of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the maximum amount of $119,040,000 pursuant to Article X, Section 9(b) of the Constitution of Virginia for capital projects for parks and recreational facilities, take effect?

The purpose of the bonds is to provide funds for numerous capital projects at state parks. The capital projects contemplated in the Act have an estimated useful life of more than 25 years and include, but are not limited to, capital projects for the acquisition of land for natural area preserves and parks, campground construction, visitor center renovation, road improvements, trail improvements and shoreline erosion repair.