ISSA WOULD SUPPORT BAN ON CIGARETTE ADS

Darrell Issa, the car alarm magnate running for the U.S. Senate as a
conservative Republican, on Wednesday said he would support a complete ban
on advertising by cigarette companies.

In a wide-ranging breakfast interview with The Bee Capitol Bureau, Issa
also said he had once unknowingly employed an illegal immigrant at his San
Diego-area company.

Asked about abortion, Issa said he was opposed to it in most cases but that
he felt compassion for those on the other side of the issue because his
grandmother died of infection after a self-induced abortion.

Issa, 44, said he disagreed with imposing new tobacco taxes to pay for
education or health programs, because such taxes give government a
financial incentive to allow the tobacco industry to continue promoting its
product.

"It reminds me of trying to get someone off heroin by putting them on
methadone," Issa said.

Yet at the same time, Issa said he would back a ban on cigarette advertising.

"I do support ending tobacco advertising; I think that's a fair step we can
do," Issa said. ". . . I think that's what the tobacco industry fears the
most, that they simply go out of business because there's no new audience,
but it's what we in America should want the most; that is, that we break
this (habit) generationally over time."

Such a complete ban would go beyond the restrictions proposed by federal
regulators and lawmakers, which have focused on advertising that could
reach minors, such as billboards or cigarette company sponsorships of
sporting events, said John Sims, a professor at McGeorge School of Law who
specializes in First Amendment issues.

Sims said attempts to impose a complete ban on tobacco advertising would
likely be ruled unconstitutional, though restrictions aimed at shielding
children may hold up in court.

"Normally we don't deny people information just because we think they're
going to misuse it," Sims said. " . . . Prohibiting advertising of a legal
product just seems like big government gone wild."

With regard to immigration, Issa said he favored better border controls and
a crackdown on illegal immigrants who commit crimes on the border. He said
he supports greater sanctions for companies that knowingly hire illegal
immigrants, but added that the government should develop an easier way --
such as an identity document -- for companies to tell if someone is a legal
resident of the United States.

"Those who knowingly hire illegals need to be punished in huge amounts, and
especially those who abuse illegals," Issa said.

Issa said he had once employed a worker for several years at his company,
Directed Electronics Inc., who turned out to be undocumented.

"We found out that his valid Social Security number . . . also belonged to
a man of a different name in Oregon," Issa said. "We had paid in all the
taxes, withholding, Social Security, everything for years. The government
never bothered to tell us that just maybe there was a problem."

When Issa found out about the discrepancy, he said, "we called him in and
told him about the discovery and asked him to explain it, and we never saw
him again."

Issa also was asked about his position on abortion. He said he opposes
abortion with three exceptions: rape, incest or danger to the mother's
life.

Yet Issa recounted how his grandmother, a Lebanese immigrant, died in 1930
after a self-induced abortion.

"My grandmother had had three children about a year and a half apart; she
was 24 years old," said Issa, who was raised a Roman Catholic. "It was very
poor times; things were getting worse. The death certificate says,
self-induced abortion."

"It gives you a view of compassion of the other side," Issa said of his
family history. "You can't be so pro-life that that disaster becomes
commonplace again."

Issa, who has never held public office, is competing for the GOP Senate
nomination with state Treasurer Matt Fong and U.S. Rep. Frank Riggs, who
represents the North Coast. The winner will go on to challenge incumbent
Democrat Barbara Boxer.

Copyright ) 1998 The Sacramento Bee