DECATUR - Improving the economy and creating jobs to replace thousands lost since 1980 in the 17th Congressional District are key issues in the race between U.S. Rep. Lane Evans, D-Rock Island, and Republican Andrea Lane Zinga of Milan.

Evans is seeking a 12th term in the Nov. 2 general election while continuing to battle Parkinson's disease, a condition Zinga has noted in her campaign.

"He has a progressive, degenerative disease that is impairing his effectiveness," Zinga said. "He is not a leader. He is a follower. He is not proactive, but reactive."

While the disease has slowed him over the past eight years, it has not stopped him from performing his duties, Evans said. If Democrats win control of the U.S. House, he will become chairman of the veterans affairs committee, where he is the ranking minority member, he said.

Zinga had a 20-year career in television news, serving as a reporter and anchor at various stations in the Quad-Cities and from 1995 to 1998 at CNN in Atlanta, Ga., where she won a national Emmy Award for her coverage of the bombing at the 1996 Olympics. She left a TV job in August 2003 to campaign for Congress.

"The key issue in this district this cycle is jobs," Zinga said. "I haven't seen any sort of a strategic vision or long-range plan from the congressman on this. There has to be a sense of being ahead of the curve instead of behind it."

Evans stood in front of the closed International Harvester plant in Rock Island during his first congressional campaign and said he would bring jobs back to the facility, Zinga said. The still-empty plant was torn down this year, she said.

There is a need for incentives to create jobs and disincentives to moving them offshore, Zinga said, noting she does not have "a magic bullet" to solve the job creation problem in the complicated world economy.

The Quad-Cities area has a lot of unused warehouse space, and there is some interest in fostering food processing and distribution, she said.

Evans said the adoption of free trade agreements is hurting America.

"We need common-sense legislation to change the free trade agreements," Evans said. "We need to back off the North American Free Trade Agreement. Let the international community help pay for these mutual agreements."

Evans said he will work to strengthen trade unions as a means of helping American workers.

Both candidates support improvements to locks and dams on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, though those projects have recently been called unnecessary by a government review panel.

Evans said the work is vitally important to improve the area's infrastructure and create badly needed construction jobs.

Zinga said the river projects would provide an estimated 48 million man hours of construction work. She said one of her goals when she gets to the U.S. House is to be named to the transportation committee, not only because of the lock and dam projects, but also because of a need for more four-lane highways in the area.

Bringing home federal funds for local governments to use in water and sewer improvement projects is an important part of economic development, Evans said. He has worked consistently to help provide those funds, he said.

Zinga said she has pledged to support a term limits bill, should one come before the Congress.

"I'm an overachiever and a relentlessly hard worker," said Zinga, who was valedictorian of her Macomb High School class. "I've worked really hard in this campaign to be accessible. Constituent service would be important to me."

Evans said with 22 years in Congress, he knows how the system works and can get legislation passed. He said he takes special pride in his service in the Marine Corps, in which he enlisted at 17, right out of high school.

"I've had a lot of success in dealing with veterans issues," he said.

Ron Ingram can be reached at ringram@;herald-review.com or 421-7973.