As Congress worked into the weekend to craft a rescue plan for the nation’s struggling financial institutions, U.S. House candidate Chris Lien of Rapid City said he hoped for a bill that is transparent and understandable.

“I want to be able to see legislation that, when people read it will go, ‘OK, that makes sense, I can either justify it or not justify it,” he said in an interview.

Lien, challenging Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., in the November election, was in Huron Saturday for the South Dakota Federation of Republican Women’s 2008 biennial convention.

No single issue has dominated the airwaves and the thoughts of Americans in the past couple weeks more than the troubled economy.

Throughout his campaign, now nearly a year old, Lien has shared the story of his family, dating to his great-grandfather, who settled in Summit and owned the local bank. In the 1930s, he went bankrupt, but he stayed in town, performed manual labor and repaid all of his depositors.

It’s a story of honesty, responsibility and sense of honor that resonates even more than ever as Lien talks with South Dakotans about the country’s financial difficulties.

As he was growing up, he was taught that the honorable thing to do is pay one’s debts and not bail people out who live beyond their means and make poor decisions.

South Dakotans have expressed anger that that’s exactly what Congress is poised to do.

“It appears to me that the president thinks that it’s pretty dire in the sense of the effect on the economy, and Congress looks like they’re going to act on it,” Lien said.

While he is not there to be a player in the process, he said his banking and economic background has given him some ideas on what should be included in the package.

The legislation should stick to the single issue, with no extraneous provisions.

“It’s big enough and important enough,” he said.

It must be transparent and understandable, because the next few generations will likely be paying for it.

Lien said he likes the thinking of some Republican members of Congress who believe bad assets should be insured or somehow guaranteed rather than purchased.

Regardless of what Congress does, it must make sure there are checks and balances in place so such a crisis never happens again, he said.

“It will be the first time in history that we’ve taken an equity position in the federal government in anything,” Lien said.

He would also prefer to see members of Congress, instead of their staffers, get the job done.

“This is an important enough deal that they need to take ownership of it,” he said.

Many South Dakotans have asked him what his approach to a bailout plan would involve.

“I’m very comfortable talking about it because of my experience with banking and business and an economics degree,” he said. “It’s fascinating to me.”

Meanwhile, Lien said he is encouraged about the way his campaign is going. He hasn’t done any polling yet, but continues to travel from town to town to boost name recognition and listen to the concerns of voters.

“From about three months ago, I see a lot of energy that is picking up, and a lot more recognition,” he said. “I’m very, very encouraged by it.

“I knew it was an uphill battle. I’ve been telling everybody that from the beginning,” Lien said. “I knew we could win when I announced, but I believe it even more today and I think there’s a lot of others that are starting to notice that as well.”