ST. GEORGE — Flanked by elected Washington County Republicans and other supporters, John Swallow accused Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, Wednesday of misleading 2nd Congressional District voters when it comes to Swallow's stance on nuclear weapons tests.

"I am opposed to any resumed testing of nuclear weapons in Nevada," Swallow said.

"We cannot change the past, but we can dictate the future,"Swallow said during a short press conference held on the Dixie State College campus an hour before a scheduled debate with Matheson.

"In the past, St. George was very small and no one seemed to give much thought to us," he continued. "Jim Matheson says they (the federal government) lied to us, maybe they did, I don't know . . . maybe they just didn't know. But today more than ever the destiny of this community demands change."

Swallow provided a letter, which he said was signed by Republican leaders holding office throughout southern Utah, that calls on Matheson to apologize to Utahns and his opponent for trying to "scare" voters.

"Your attempt to portray John Swallow as being tolerant of renewed nuclear testing is simply untrue," states the letter, which is addressed to the Utah congressman.

But Matheson said Swallow is being na�ve if he believes his support of nuclear weapons research wouldn't lead to nuclear weapons testing at some unknown point in the future.

"You can't have it both ways," Matheson said, adding there are many physicists and others who believe any such research would culminate in nuclear weapons tests.

Michelle Thomas, a St. George resident and downwinder who has suffered from numerous cancers brought on by exposure to nuclear radiation, was tearful before Wednesday's debate.

"It's awful when you become the poster child for something like this," said Thomas, who supports Matheson and his opposition to nuclear weapons research and testing. "How can Swallow say doing nuclear weapons research won't lead to future tests? The government lied to us before, and we shouldn't be asked to trust them again."

The question of nuclear weapons didn't surface at the debate, which was hosted by the St. George Area Chamber of Commerce and televised on a local station.

Among the questions posed to each candidate were rising health care costs, use of public lands to fund education, rural economic development, illegal immigration, and homeland security needs versus personal privacy rights.

"Putting Utah's priorities first and making decisions based on the merits of each proposal before me is what I do every day," said Matheson, who outlined several bills he has supported with Utah's Republican delegation.