Pete McCloskey, author of Endangered Species Act, challenges Pombo

Expressing outrage at the anti-environmental agenda and ethical lapses of Republican incumbent Richard Pombo (R-Tracy), Pete McCloskey, a former GOP representative with a history of challenging corruption and fighting for his beliefs, has announced his candidacy for Congress in the June Republican primary.

In an open letter to the 11th Congressional District, McCloskey explains why, at 78 years of age, he is making the run.

"As a fourth generation Californian Republican, who served for 15 years in the Congress, in military or civilian service under ten presidents from 1945 until 2000 and during three wars, I feel strongly that the Republican Party needs to return to traditional values of honesty, high ethical principles, fiscal responsibility and a reasonable balance between economic progress and environmental protection. My wife and I have moved to Lodi because we feel that Congressman Pombo, by reason of his voting record and close ties to Indian Gaming Lobbyist Jack Abramoff and former Majority Leader Tom DeLay, has become an embarrassment to the Republican Party.

"It is not comforting to have Congressman Pombo named as one of the thirteen most corrupt Members of Congress.

"The issues are those of ethics, honesty, influence by big money lobbyists, and the historic Republican principles of fiscal responsibility, limited government and environmental balance.

"If you have followed Congressman Pombo's record over the past several years, you have noted, following years of a budget surplus under a Democrat administration, he has walked us lock-step with so-called conservative Republicans into projected deficits in the trillions of dollars. The Government is substantially larger than it was five years ago. The number of lobbyists inside the Beltway has more than doubled and the DeLay/K Street Project and the activities of Jack Abramoff have threatened the indictments of a number of Republicans, inside the Administration and in Congress. Many chief executive officers of our largest corporations and largest Republican contributors continue to plead guilty to serious crimes," McCloskey wrote.

As a prominent moderate Republican during his terms in Congress, McCloskey was at the forefront of supporting wildlife and land-conservation laws, a cause he has pursued in private life as a director of the American Lands Conservancy. "It was a Republican, Teddy Roosevelt, who gave us a strong environmental policy to protect parklands, wildlife preserves and wilderness, as well as anti-trust laws to control business excesses. Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and the first George Bush substantially increased park and wilderness areas and environmental health protections," McCloskey said. McCloskey himself helped author the landmark Endangered Species Act.

McCloskey believes Pombo has abandoned these values to favor developers and to advance a far-right ideology. "Mr. Pombo has, thus far (unsuccessfully), suggested putting up millions of acres of mining claims land for sale at bargain figures to mining companies for development; he has suggested the sale of 15 National Parks, he has proposed a resort on the Farrallon Islands and drilling for oil and gas off the California coast and in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve. Even his fellow Republican congressmen saw these recent efforts as egregious and embarrassing and omitted them from recent bills," McCloskey said.

Pombo has reacted to McCloskey's candidacy with a mixture of scorn and derision, saying he is stuck in the past and predictably charging that he is too liberal for the district. But Pombo underestimates Pete McCloskey. McCloskey is a determined campaigner, whose candor is likely to generate annoying headlines for Pombo to respond to. Pete McCloskey believes that people like Richard Pombo are betraying what the Republican Party has always stood for and are ruining our country. And he is very angry about it. This will be an extremely interesting campaign.

Carl Zichella, regional staff director, Sierra Club California Nevada Hawaii Regional Office