LIBERTY — The six men vying to be the Third District’s next congressman spoke out on their positions on some of the most pressing issues facing the district and the country Thursday night.

Rep. Rex Rice, Richard Cash, Neal Collins, Joe Grimaud, Rep. Jeff Duncan and Dr. Mike Vasovski took part in a Third District Candidates’ Forum hosted by the Pickens County Republican Party and moderated by State GOP chairwoman Karen Floyd.

Speaking before a standing room-only crowd at Liberty’s Rosewood Center, the six candidates seeking to replace Gresham Barrett took advantage of the opportunity to define themselves before the June 8 primary.

Education

Cash, a Powdersville businessman and evangelist, said that education is primarily a state and local issue, and that he would vote to eventually eliminate the U.S. Department of Education.

The creation of the No Child Left Behind Act goes against the Republican creed, Cash said.

“We believe in less government,” he said. “We don’t need the federal government involved in education.”

Worker’s compensation attorney Neal Collins said he agreed with the goal “to a point,” but that the department stimulates research and development.

“That’s a strong point for our national policy,” he said. “It progresses our nation.”

Rep. Jeff Duncan, District 15, said that he looked to the U.S. Constitution to define whose responsibility education falls under.

“I looked in my constitution and I didn’t see that it was the role of the federal government in the constitution,” Duncan said.

Offshore drilling

Candidates were asked if the recent Gulf Coast oil disaster had changed their opinion on offshore drilling.

Collins said the nation must decrease its foreign oil dependence.

“Part of that both is drilling onshore and offshore,” he said, adding that there will be consequences in doing so. “But the bigger consequence is our national security with our dependence on foreign oil.”

Duncan said why drill in 5,000 feet of water when the United States has reserves capable of meeting the country’s needs closer to home.

“We’ve got the reserves onshore and near shore,” he said.

Businessman Grimaud said that the spill would slow down the push for more offshore drilling.

“We should be offshore when that problem is solved,” he said, adding that oil fields in the Midwest contain more oil than the entire Middle East.

“We have to use all means available,” Grimaud continued, pushing for technological developments needed to efficiently and safe remove oil from the ground.

Vasovski said that the spill occurred because “they did it the cheap way” and not the “expensive, right way to do it.”

“And now we’re going to pay for it in the long run,” he said.

BP should be held accountable for the oil spill, only the latest in its history, Vasovski said.

“There has to be regulations over these companies … and they have to be punished if this kind of stuff happens,” he said.

America should explore all options regarding getting off foreign oil, Vasovski continued.

This district is “a great place for nuclear energy,” Rice said.

The government should reduce the time required to approve construction of a new nuclear reactor, such as Oconee Nuclear Station.

The Savannah River Site should be made into an “energy park,” Rice said.

No is happy about the spill, Cash said.

"But we can’t just say we’re going not going to drill offshore and we want to be energy independent,” he said, adding that all energy possibilities have to be looked at. “That’s going to have to include offshore drilling.”

Businesses

Candidates were asked how they would make South Carolina a boon to industry and keep the state’s manufacturing base.

Duncan said that the country’s tax and regulatory policies have pushed countries overseas.

“We got to change the way we tax individuals, the way we tax corporations … free up money for investment …so more businesses will stay here and create jobs” he said.

Grimaud said the fair tax “is the fair way to

go.”

“When you go to the fair tax, the United States will become the largest tax haven in the world,” he said. “Industry would be running over each other to get back into this country, and jobs would come back along with it.”

As a small businessman, Rice said he’s familiar with audits — “the one thing the federal government’s done to me.”

“It’s time to turn that around and audit the federal government and take the burden off the small businesspeople and change our tax code,” Rice said. “In 1913, we passed an amendment allowing an income tax. By the year 2013 we need to get rid of it and put in the fair tax.”

Vasovski said that unions are to blame for the manufacturing’s erosion.

“The unions are part and parcel of the Democratic Party and the Socialist system they’re trying to instill on us,” he said.

“I’m for free trade, but I’m also for fair trade,” Collins said, adding that worker’s compensation issues have also led to companies, such as textile and furniture companies, leaving for other shores.

“And once one company leaves, every company leaves,” Collins said.

It’s not desirable for essential items our military needs for national defense to be produced overseas, Cash said.