11th Congressional GOP candidates debate national security

The three Republican candidates seeking their party's nomination for the U.S. 11th Congressional District race agree that national security is a top priority in the minds of many Americans, but they differ on the ways to pursue it.

Tonia Khouri, a small-business owner and DuPage County Board member from Aurora, said she thinks the United States needs a national security strategy that includes the use of diplomacy, the military and economics.

"Right now, this administration, we have no strategy," she said.

Khouri said she would reach out to the Muslim community to create a counterinsurgency that would combat the propaganda ISIS uses to recruit young Americans.

"I am going to be focused on making sure that ISIS or any other terrorist group does not get a foothold in our district," she said.

She said refugees should not be allowed into the U.S. In the case of those from the Middle East, they should be taken in by other nearby countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, take in more of them.

"To benefit (the refugees) the most, they need to be relocated to the surrounding region," she said. "I'm not sure why the refugees are going farther and farther away from their homeland. When this is over they want to go back home. So it's in their best interest that we support financially, in any way we can, but keeping them in the surrounding area, so they can go back home when this crisis is over."

Nick Stella, a cardiologist from Darien, said he would take a broad-based approach to national security, focusing not only on the Middle East, but also North Korea and Russia.

"We have to look at other threats to the United States," he said. "We can't be suffering from tunnel vision."

Stella said he believes the first step in defeating "extremist, militarist Islamists" is to identify them as such, "which we have not done."

"The only way to deal with barbarians is in a barbaric means. We must destroy them, plain and simple," he said. "That has to involve other countries ... and I'm not talking about pinpoint attacks. You cannot defeat this type of organization by airstrikes. You need a multipronged approach. You need diplomacy, when there's the ability to have diplomacy. I don't think that exists with regard to these particular splinter groups. You need economic means, but you also need military means."

As for refugees, Stella said the U.S. should accept them, but only "when we are certain that they do not pose a threat to our homeland."

"We need to provide a safe haven for these people so they can stay in their homeland, so that they are not forced to trek all the way across Europe with hundreds and thousands of people dying on the way," he said. "That is the first step."

Herman White, a Naperville physicist, said he thinks one of the best ways to ensure national security is through the creation of international coalitions.

"We put some effort into providing resources, providing some of our military advisers, providing, in some cases, engaged technology that allows them to essentially have a balance for their decisions, to make an impact on the problems that they identify," he said. "Once you arrest the problem at the source then you can also have a little bit more security at home."

White said at some level, he agrees with Gov. Bruce Rauner's stance on Syrian refugees, in that there should be a moratorium put in place, but not a complete ban on refugees.

"I agree that we should in fact strengthen the capabilities that we have of identifying people who are not in the best interest of the United States trying to get into our country," he said. "All of the structures that we think we need to be able to identify individuals who may do things in our country are already in place. I think we should shore those operations up, provide as much support as we need, give them as much as they need, because one catastrophic activity is one too many."

He added that national security can best be achieved by structuring local, national and international coalitions together in a way that can they can combat not only ISIS, but also other violent organizations outside the Middle East.

All three candidates disagreed with presidential candidate Donald Trump's proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the United States, noting the constitutional right to freedom of religion. However, Khouri said she doesn't know why the option of banning people from certain regions hasn't been discussed more.

"I mean, Carter banned people coming from Iran," she said. "I don't know why we can't say anyone coming from Syria or Iraq? It has nothing to do with religion. Again, we have to put American lives first."

The winner of the spring Republican primary will face incumbent Bill Foster in the November general election.

The 11th District covers parts of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall and Will counties, including Aurora, Naperville, Bolingbrook, Burr Ridge and Joliet.