Republicans George Eichhorn and Christopher Reed squared off Friday night in a debate days before the primary that will determine who their party's nominee will be against Senator Tom Harkin.

Polk County Republican Party Chairman Ted Sporer noted that all three of the Republican candidates were asked to participate, but only Eichorn and Reed accepted the invitation. Fellow Republican primary hopeful Steve Rathje did not appear at the event.

The evening began with moderator Dave Price of WHO-TV asking the candidates what they would do to stem the flow of illegal immigrants through the nation's borders.

"Clearly our immigration policy is broken," Eichhorn said. "We have not committed the resources to protect our border and also to handle people when we find out they are illegal and in America."

Reed explained his view that policies are not flawed, but rather are not being enforced thoroughly enough.

"We have the laws in place -- we just need as a country to stand up and enforce those laws," Reed said. "We have the funding to build a fence. What we need to do is build a fence, fortify it, and man it. We need to get the illegal immigrants that are here and send them back to the country they came from, treating them like the law-breakers that they are."

Acknowledging it would take a considerable amount of money to implement the system he envisioned, Reed said, "I would argue that it's far more expensive to let them stay here," in reference to state and national government expenditures related to the education and health care costs attributed to illegal immigrants.

The issue of immigration continued to be a matter of discussion as talk turned to English being officially declared the national language.

"We have a common culture and history that says English is our official language," Eichhorn said. "Clearly it is the language of success and advancement in economics and in any position that you want to take. I think that it is important to recognize that distinction and reinforce it."

Reed said he supports government documents being printed only in English and called for individuals that come to the United States legally to better assimilate themselves into American culture. He also took to task the idea that the U.S. labor force would be crippled without illegal workers.

"The argument that our country cannot survive without illegal immigrants -- I believe that was the same argument that the South used for slavery," Reed said. "They used that statement until Eli Whitney came along and proved that innovation will take care of the problem."

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Labels: 2008_primary