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FAIRBANKS -- Candidates vying for Alaska’s congressional offices answered questions Tuesday at a forum sponsored by the Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce.

Attending were Republican incumbent Rep. Don Young and challenger Ethan Berkowitz, a Democrat. Mark Begich, the Anchorage mayor running on the Democratic ticket for U.S. Senate, debated with incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, who offered responses via video from Washington, D.C.

Here’s what the candidates had to say.

On the lowest approval rating ever for Congress, and how the candidates would promote a more efficient Congress:

- Begich said partisan politics create crises and ineffective government. He pointed to his record on the Anchorage assembly, where he worked with both sides of the aisle to take care of business. He said that comments made by his opponent, Stevens, calling some Democrats “enemies of the state,” is not an appropriate way to make friends in Congress.

- Stevens offered a long track record of working closely with Democrat Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii. The two are often asked to speak to freshman senators about the value of bipartisanship, Stevens said.

- Berkowitz said politicians need to learn to listen respectfully to those with opposing views, and to do away with personal insults. He, too, pointed at proven experience as a Democratic leader in the state house, where he reached across the aisle.

- “You can’t be partisan and solve the problems of this country,” Young said. He placed blame for the partisanship problems at the feet of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, who he said is extremely partisan to the point of blocking progress.

On whether they favor splitting the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which some charge is heavily liberal. The U.S. Supreme Court reverses more decisions from the Ninth than from any other circuit court:

- Stevens said he supports a split of the 9th Circuit, which has tied up oil and gas leases in the Beaufort Sea and other places for years. “This is a court that really belongs to California,” he said.

- Begich also supports a split, but said the way to go about it is with a fresh approach from an Alaska Democrat.

- Young said the concept of a split has been around for years, and a commission appointed to study the issue decided against a division. He said a split will never happen as long as Pelosi is house leader, and that the nation will not be energy independent until the court is split.

- Berkowitz also supports a split, but offered a fresh tactic. The court is too big to efficiently manage its cases, Berkowitz charged, and that should be the basis for any renewed fight to divide it, as opposed to the standing reasoning that Alaska doesn’t like the circuit court’s rulings.

On how to pay for new government policies and how to reconcile a call for lowering costs with Alaska’s needs:

- Begich offered his experience as Anchorage mayor, where he had to balance budgets daily. He promised, if elected, not to vote for federal policies and programs that end up financed by local governments.

- There is no question that the nation must reduce its debt, Stevens said, and lawmakers can’t add to the deficit by making more money available to Alaska. He said earmarks are essentially offsets from the federal government, which owns two-thirds of the land in Alaska yet pays no taxes. Until the state can take control of its own land, the earmarks are only fair.

- Berkowitz reflected back to his days in the state house, where budgetary decisions were harder to make with oil at $9 a barrel. He floated the idea of a national permanent fund modeled on Alaska’s. He also called for domestic energy development to cull the $700 billion spent annually buying foreign oil, and using the money to stimulate the economy.

- Young made the same call while video-conferencing with the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce a few weeks ago. Like Stevens, he cited Alaska’s inability to draw revenue from 27 million acres of land as well as the state’s young age as rational for earmarks. “We do have additional needs,” Young said, adding that infrastructure will be the future - roads, ports, bridges - “Yes, I said bridges,” he joked.

On whether the candidates support the U.S. Chamber of Commerce priority of reform for capital gains tax cuts and whether those reforms will be good for the economy:

- Stevens supports the reform, and said reducing taxes is a good economic driver and creates jobs.

- Begich agreed, and said the federal government should look for even more ways to help small businesses, such as offering property tax relief and quality health insurance.

- Young said he supports reform, and added that the business climate is so bad right now that government policies are “driving business overseas.”

- Berkowitz called for “modernization” of the U.S. tax code. “If it worked, would we be in the fiscal situation we’re in today? I don’t think so,” he said.

(The following questions were posed by audience members at the forum. Stevens, on trial in Washington, D.C., was unable to respond.)

On whether they would assure a 90/10 split in revenues between the state and the federal government is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is opened to drilling:

- Begich said he would support the split.

- Berkowitz said he would - but would like to go up to 100 percent for Alaska.

- Young said both the challengers are “dreamers.” He said to open ANWR, which is on federal land, and expect even 50/50, is “near dang impossible,” although Alaska could challenge any offer in court and would likely win.

On Medicare, low reimbursement rates for doctors taking Medicare patients, and how to encourage more physicians to accept Medicare patients:

- Young said recent legislation hiking the Alaska reimbursement rate to 35 percent was a positive step, and advocated a closer look at community health centers. “Insurance does us little good if we don’t have providers,” he added.

- Berkowitz said it’s critical government gets money to those who provide care, and to ensure providers are available for those seeking care. He said the federal government should be more aggressive addressing health care systems, including negotiating with pharmaceutical companies for lower rates.

- Begich agreed with Berkowitz that the recent legislation mentioned by Young is little more than a “band-aid” on a major problem. He said the increased reimbursement rate should have been inflation-adjusted, and added that a major health concern is easily accessible, in-state care for Alaska’s veterans.

On whether the candidates support Alaska’s conceal/carry gun laws:

- Berkowitz said he supports the state law, and that each state should be able to make its own rules. He added that all law-abiding citizens should have the right to carry arms, and mentioned he’s held a hunting license for three or four of the past six or seven years.

- Begich also supports the state law. When the concealed carry law first passed, he was right in line for a permit of his own. And when he realized the a “no firearms” sticker was posted at the entrance to Anchorage city hall, he took a blade and scrapped it off himself, he said. The right to bear arms should be protected “at any cost,” he said.

- Young kept his answer brief. He said he’s been hunting since he was six years old, and said gun rights are “freedom” issues and that the “second amendment is sacred.”

On which U.S. Supreme Court justices they would not vote to confirm, if elected:

- Young probably wouldn’t vote to confirm Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He praised Clarence Thomas.

- Berkowitz said he doesn’t always agree with ruling made by Thomas, Samuel Alito and John Roberts, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they shouldn’t sit on the court. “We can disagree with people without attacking their character or qualifications,” he said.

- Begich said he has favored some rulings, such as restoration of second amendment rights when a local government attempted to restrict those, and has opposed others, such as one decreasing the punitive damages assessed to ExxonMobil for the Valdez oil spill. Justices should be “fair and balanced,” and should not legislate from the bench, he said.

On what role government should play in regulating the Internet and access:

- Begich said government should play no role, and that content and access are individual decisions.

- Berkowitz agreed government should have no role.

- Young also said government should play no role in regulating the Internet.

On a not-so-simple question: Income tax increases, or Iraq war cuts, and whether or when the U.S. should pull out:

- Berkowitz said he opposes tax increases. He also said national sentiment calls for steady withdrawal of troops from Iraq. “The problem in Iraq is no longer a military problem,” he said. “It is a political problem, and we do not have to be there to watch this civil war end.” He called for moving troops from Iraq to Afghanistan, and said a permanent U.S. presence in Iraq would be destabilizing to the region.

- Begich said Iraq, with oil money in the national treasury, should be paying for more of its own infrastructure. He said the U.S. military policy should be smart and tough, and should shift focus to the real area of concern, the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

- Young said the commander-in-chief and field commanders should make decisions about when to move troops, and speculated that the U.S. would benefit from some Middle East presence to maintain stability in the region.

On why gas costs $3.58 per gallon in southern California - and $4.09 per gallon in Alaska:

- Begich said the nation needs to develop a serious energy policy, like Southcentral Alaska, that provided a multi-faceted approach to development of new energy sources. As far as pump prices go, he said experts vary widely on the differential.

- Berkowitz said he’s anxious to see the results of a state investigation into high gas prices. “Something smells wrong to me,” he said, issuing a call for the nation to both produce and conserve more energy.

- Young said Alaska refineries, per the state’s governing documents, must pay market value for oil they refine, keeping consumer costs up but feeding a steady flow of dollars into state coffers. He made the case for new energy development nationwide, but in particular for a small-diameter bullet line fueling Fairbanks with natural gas.