Utah U.S. Senate candidates discuss higher education

Scott N. Bradley said he wants to restore the U.S. government to what it was when the nation was founded: A role of limited federal government. "We would have to leave a lot of the things aside that we have been doing for many decades now that people have come to believe is the proper role of government, which are not," he said. Bradley said the U.S. Constitution points out the roles of the federal government, which are to deal with issues of war, foreign commerce and international policies. He said the other issues, like civil rights and education, are matters for state governments or individual citizens to decide. He also said the three branches of federal government - the executive, judicial and legislative -are not following their proscribed duties. The legislative body is the only one allowed to make laws. Yet, Bradley said, courts, through activist judges, and President George W. Bush, through going to war and controlling military tribunals, have both taken powers allowed only to Congress. "We could go line upon line, precept upon precept," Bradley said, "and just discover how our liberties are basically being put at risk by those that sit in office and aren't willing to constrain themselves within charter of the nation, which they took an oath to uphold. One of those issues would be higher education." While education is essential in fostering an informed citizenry, Bradley said. The U.S. Constitution does not give the federal government any authority in education. Instead, it was left to each state or individuals. "That does not mean I denigrate education in any way, shape or form," Bradley said. "I believe that we must be strong advocates of education, but it doesn't lay in the hands of the feds." He also said the United States was at its peak when it followed the guidelines of the U.S. Constitution, but that straying from those principles has caused the greatness of the United States to come into question. "So many of the things that divide the nation - that are challenging us - would simply solve themselves," by going back to those founding principles, Bradley said. For more information on Bradley's platform, visit www.scottbradleyforsenate.com.