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Good evening. We would like to welcome listeners. We utilize our inclusion requirements which are on the website. The candidates meeting the criteria are here tonight. Welcome. And montanas Lieutenant Governor, democrat mike cooney. Welcome as well. We appreciate having everyone here in person. We are safely distanced and ready for a debate. We have a slightly different format tonight. Each candidate will have an initial 90 seconds to answer the question. Afterwards, there will be an open discussion period with a chance of rebuttals and direct exchanges. We will then finish the debate with a 90 second closing statement from each candidate. The pandemic. Montana is seeing a recent spike in covid19 cases. Just today, the states i record 504 new cases. According to covid act now, a group that tracks Coronavirus Infections across the u. S. , we are currently fourth in the nation for infection rate. If elected governor, with there be aould there be you take more drastic measures to contain the virus and what what those measures be . This goes to congressman gianforte. Thank you for joining us tonight. I want to say we do have serious problems, both health wise and economically in the state, and we need Serious Solutions. And i know you expect leadership, not partisanship, from this discussion. My commitment to you tonight is i will focus on Serious Solutions and good dialogue, not petty partisan politics. Also, i want to share with you at home tonight, because before i get into the question i am i want to share with you that if you elect me as your next governor, i will dedicate my entire salary to charity here in montana. This is just one way i continue to serve. My wife and i have lived the american dream. For me, this is about giving back. I want to see Better Outcomes for all of montana. Now with covid, it is a serious situation. We have seen this spike, this is concerning. We need to take action i am encouraged by the work that is going on nationally to get a vaccine in place. Im hopeful we will have a vaccine by the end of the year. I would be coming in office in january. I would hope we have more tools in the box. Weve got to make sure we keep the most vulnerable safe, but we also have to make sure we cure the economic pandemic that has been created as a result of some of the actions we have taken. Thank you. Lieutenant governor cooney. Thank you very much, and thank you, pbs, for having this debate and for the people of montana. This is an incredibly important discussion right now. This epidemic is crucial. When washington punted this to the states, governor bullock and i started working day and night, making sure we got the ppe for the people of montana, making sure we are getting the testing material so we can keep montana and the frontline workers safe and healthy. I think our strategy works pretty well. We have one of the lowest rates of infection right out of the country. Not too many people are getting infected. We have one of the lowest death rates in the country. Yet almost 200 montanans have died, that is an acceptable. Our unemployment is one of the strongest in the middle of the pandemic compared to a lot of other states. The bottom line is too many montanans are out of work. We need to make sure people are wearing their masks. Make sure we are testing people. Make sure we are using hygiene and keeping away from big crowds. That is what science says will make sure we whip this thing quickly. Getting people back to work. My opponent ishas voted to cut health care. Theres a case before the u. S. Supreme court on november 10. That case may drive a nail into the coffin of health care, he supports that. Cutting health care in the middle of a pandemic is not what is right for montana in order to get this economy going. Thank you, Lieutenant Governor. We are going to open things up. Chance for some rebuttal, followup and direct questions. We start with congressman gianforte. I dont know how we got on health care, i am happy to address that. Im proud of my record in congress on health care. I voted consistently to protect people with preexisting conditions, to continue rural access to health care, and to bring the cost down. I took on big pharma to reduce pharmaceutical costs. But back on covid. I think the issue is the actions that have been taken have created an economic pandemic. In the state here, we have lost 150,000 jobs. Many Small Businesses have closed. Recently, i had a story, augustine had to cancel the rodeo. The monday following, four businesses had to file for bankruptcy and may never open again. We need a comeback plan to get our economy opened back up. Thats why i published exactly that. You can find it on montanabusinessplan. Com. It will create more good paying jobs for all montanans. Congressman, covid happens to be a very Serious Health problem. This virus does not care if you are a millionaire or president of the United States or whoever you are. We have lost nearly 200 people in montana alone. That is unacceptable. That is why we need to continue to use the best science, to make sure we are keeping our montana people healthy. We cant open the economy if our people arent healthy. If our customers arent healthy and if our workers arent healthy, business cant be healthy. We need to focus on bringing health to our people in order to bring health to our economy. Thats what im going to do when im governor. Im going to continue to lead that way to make sure we are using the best science. Science is going to lead us down this path of success in fighting this virus. Making sure people are wearing their masks, making sure they are socially distancing. That is what we need to do to get people back to work. Congressman gianforte. It is a very serious situation. I think everyone would agree that even a single lost life is a tragedy. That is why think from a Public Policy perspective, when i am your next governor, we will focus on keeping our frontline workers safe. Our health care workers. We need to get our schools open backup. I believe we can do that safely. In the cares act that i voted for, we sent 1. 2 billion to the state of montana to help montana reopen their schools, preserve the hospital and rural care. Yet, most of it is still sitting on mikes watch. It should have helped us open our schools. We need to protect the most vulnerable in our senior centers, but we need to go on with our lives. Let me say, i trust montanans with their health from a Public Policy perspective. I think we should keeping the most vulnerable safe, but i trust nt office should be issuing guidelines to do that. Final word to the tenant governor coonto Lieutenant Governor cooney. Montanans could go to a website and see how that money is being spent. Again, we will continue to work to keep montanans safe and healthy. Congressman, you are not being honest to the people of montana on your approach here. You support herd immunity. According to the science and experts in this country, montana could lose upwards to 10,000 people to get to herd immunity and theres no guarantee. That is not using the best science. I just think this is such a tragedy. When you see the president of the United States and members of the white house and the first family each and every day coming out with more and more cases of this virus, that should tell everybody we cannot let our guard down. We need to be vigilant. And we again will not get our economy going until we have healthy people. As governor, i believe by example. Thank you both. We will move forward. You both alluded to it, the economic part of this recovery. Today, President Trump broke off the stimulus negotiations, saying hes going to address it after the elections. There is no majority support for another stimulus package. It should arrive during our next governors first term. The state does have some oversight and discretion with some of those funds. Our question is what would be your top priority in terms of allocating those funds to montanans . Where do you see the greatest need in this recovery . Lieutenant come in governor, we will start with you. We are very fortunate that our state budget was built in the way by the last legislature, democrats and republicans working with the governors office, in such a way we are in a strong position as we are in the middle of this covid crisis. A lot of states had to wait in order to do the basic services for their federal dollars. We didnt have to do that. Our budget is strong enough. We didnt get there by accident. We got there because we worked hard, we showed up every day. Working with republicans and democrats. We have a great budget that is going to get us through and we have to be careful about how we manage that budget and make sure we are dealing with it. Again, we need to be focusing on getting people back to work. Making sure we are doing everything to keep people healthy in this crisis. That is how we are going to get the economy going again. I will just say those dollars need to go to main street businesses. Those dollars need to go to people weve been getting money out to meatpackers. Getting money out to people on main street. Weve been getting money into the schools so we can open our schools up safely and healthy. We have been talking we brought a Bipartisan Group of people together to help us build this plan. We are accountable for it. You can go online and take a look and see where every one of those dollars have been committed and spent. That is called being responsible and being transparent. That is how i will be as governor. We will continue that. Thank you. Congressman gianforte. We need to get our economy open again. That is why i was proud to sponsor and vote for the cares act which got money out to the payroll protection program. We got money to our rural hospitals. Money to our ag. Producers. When the government shuts down the economy, the government has an obligation to help open backup. I was disappointed that the discussions in washington broke down. There was a bipartisan solution in the house that nancy pelosi blocked, that could have put more money in the hands of Small Business owners. Even before the covid crisis hit, montana was 44th in the nation in wages. We can do better. Montana deserves better. I was in fort bend and over the weekend and we had a group of about 100 folks in a setting. I asked them how many of you have kids or grandkids that no longer live here in the state of montana . And it was tragic, but virtually every hand in that audience went up. Folks, even before this covid crisis started, we have been exporting beef, grain, and our kids. Ive spent my entire career creating jobs, putting people to work. Im looking forward, our comeback plan lays it out. We need to reduce the red tape in helena. We need to invest in trades education. We need to increase our Processing Capacity for the ag community. Now we will open it up for a chance of rebuttals, followups and direct questions. We will start this segment with Lieutenant Governor cooney. It is not surprising that talks broke down in washington today, because washington is broken. That is not how you get things done. My opponent has been a part of this problem. He has voted the party line 95 of the time. 95 of the time. That is not working in a bipartisan fashion. I know what its like to work in a bipartisan fashion. That is how we were able to pass Medicaid Expansion by bringing republicans and democrats together. That is how we were able to break the logjam when it comes to infrastructure. Getting a foreign revenue to cities and communities to handle their water and sewer systems. That is how we were able to balance the budget. Only spending what we bring in. That is bipartisan. Not voting the party line 95 of the time. That just isnt what montanans expect from their leader. They expected governor to be inclusive. That is what ive always done, thats what im going to continue to do. Congressman gianforte. I think we are talking about jobs here and getting the economy going again. Im a business guy. Im a electrical engineer by training. We started a business in bozeman. Our average wage was 90,000. I will tell you, we showed the combined good leadership with the montana work ethic, people can prosper. This is a stark difference between me and mike cooney. Mike cooney got a 0. 0 rating from the Montana Chamber of commerce. Let me just say, that is not easy to do. You cant support a single probusiness initiative, 0. 0. What that means is any particular policy that came forward that might have helped a Small Business, he opposed it. Has has supported over 1 billion in increased taxes for montana. So, who did you trust to get our economy going . Someone who spent their life creating jobs or a career politician who has a 0. 0 rating from the Montana Chamber . Lieutenant governor cooney. You know that is hogwash. Thats what the record shows. On my watch, 46,000 new jobs have found a home in montana. I have always opposed a general sales tax. My opponent has supported a general sales tax. He goes to Congress First of all, he missed more votes than 93 of his colleagues. When he decides to show up, what does he give the people of montana . He gives the people of montana one of the largest tax breaks that millionaires and billionaires himself can take advantage of. Yet, montanans get a 2 trillion addition to the federal debt. Im not going to have to worry about that so much. My kids, my new grandson, and perhaps his grandkids will be the ones holding the belt. In montana, we balance the budget. We make sure we spend no more than we bring in, just like montanans have to do every single month. Final word to congressman gianforte. Mike does not have all his facts right. I want to hes made some serious charges. Let me address them. I th the vast majority of the votes i missed in congress because Vice President pence invited me to come to montana. They all occurred in one twoday period. And hes right. I voted for a package that gave montanans to billion dollars back in taxes. He has consistently supported higher taxes. I will be very clear. In our debate on saturday, he was clear, his plan is to raise your taxes once again and grow government. If you want higher taxes, vote for mike cooney. If you want lower taxes and you want a stronger economy and more good paying jobs, i would humbly ask for your vote. Thank you both. We are going to move on and Start Talking about montanas k12 Education System. Montana is one of seven states that currently do not have Charter Schools. Charter schools receive public tax money, but they dont have to follow the same rules traditional Public Schools do. The research on Charter Schools shows mixed results at this time. If you are elected governor, would you support the creation of Charter Schools in montana . This goes to you congressman. I probably spent more time in k12 education than anything else in my life outside my professional business experience. Let me say, 90 of students in montana go to Public Schools. We need strong Public Schools, particularly in our Rural Communities. I was in a small town in montana last fall and a young man who teaches high school came to me. He asked to speak to me on the side. Through tears, he told he hadnt had three meals a day for over a year. On mike cooneys watch, montana has the terrible distinction of being dead last in the country in starting teacher pay for our Public School teachers. My priority, it is not because we are not spending the money. Unfortunately, the money we have allocated is not getting to the classroom. As i meet with Public School superintendents, what im hearing is they are like Small Business people, they are tied in knots with red tape. Weve got to get more money to the classroom. I will say very clearly, Parental Choice in education does not work in Rural Communities where you dont have the economies of scale, but i trust parents to make the best decision for their kids in our larger communities. I think more options produce a better result. Thank you. Lieutenant governor cooney. Let me make it clear, ive always been a supporter of the montana publics will system. Im a product. It has treated us incredible he well. Our Education System in montana is truly the engine for our economy. Our kids deserve nothing but the best. If we are going to prepare the workforce for tomorrow, its going to be because of our public our incredible public Education System. You know, my opponent supports taking money away from Public Education and putting it in private education. Let me answer this question specifically. I dont support taking money away from Public Education and putting it into Charter Schools. We need to continue to invest in our Public Education so our kids are given the greatest opportunity to get out there and compete with anyone, anywhere in whatever they want to do. That is my goal as governor. My opponent says Public Education is a monopoly. Im not even sure what that means. But, he has supported a private school in bozeman. It is a private school that does not allow young people with disabilities to even apply. Our public Education System is the great equalizer. We need to invest in it. We need to continue to make sure it is giving our kids nothing but the best throughout their lives and preparing them for tomorrows workforce. Thank you. Once again, we will open things up for more debate on this topic and we begin with congressman gianforte. Mike cooneys record is not good here. I was in whenynette a while back and i heard a tragic story. There was a couple, science teachers, and they started to have a family. Because our starter teacher salaries are so low, mom couldnt stay home and raise the family. You know what they had to do . They quit their jobs and moved to wyoming. Wyoming starts their teachers at 50 higher than a starting teacher pay in montana. Montana is dead last in the country and starting teacher pay. Its not because we dont allocate the money. We spent a little over 12,500 per student, per year. The classroom of 30 kids is over 300,000. Yet, starting teacher pay is around 31,000 statewide. It begs the question where did the other 90 of the money go . As i talked to superintendents, it is in red tape and bureaucracy. We need to clean that up. Lieutenant governor tony. Cooney. I am very proud of my oldest son. He happens to be a teacher in the Public School system here. I know one thing, taking money from Public Schools is not a way to try to increase the salaries of starting teachers. We need to continue to invest in Public Schools. Montanans are just amending that montana have a publicly supported prek system. We are one of six states that does not offer that. If we want to see our people really get good service, if we want to give our kids the best start they could possibly have, we need to have a publicly funded prek program in our Public Schools. As governor, im committed to work with republicans and democrats to take us down that path so we can solve these problems once and for all and continue to give our kids the greatest opportunity to thrive and to grow and to continue to contribute to our montana economy. I think we can do better. That would be my goal in education. My mother was a Public School teacher. Im a product of the Public Schools. Im a huge supporter of Public Schools. The reality is in our larger communities, one size does not fit all. I trust parents to make decisions for themselves. We need to make sure, again, our starting teacher pay is really the critical issue for me. The money is not getting to the classroom. Our goal in education has to be to help every child reach their full potential. Im proud to tell you my daughter, born in bozeman, is now a teacher as well. So, the attacks because of my mom, because of my daug hter, they heard a little bit but i know we are on the right track to give parents options. To make sure we get more money to look classroom we have the best and brightest teaching our kids. Taking money from Public Education is not the answer. That is what my opponent supports. We will move onto the next topic which is another area important to montana, the second amendment. Montanas governor has vetoed several bills that would allow people to carry a concealed weapon without having to acquire a permit. That legislation is likely to reappear. If elected, would you sign or veto a bill that no longer requires a permit for concealed carry . We will start with Lieutenant Governor cooney. Let me make it clear. As a fourthgeneration montana and, i support the second amendment. I support the right to bear arms. I am so happy to have received the endorsement of montanas largest Law Enforcement union. The reason they support me is because they trust me. They know im not going to lie to them and that is really important for the people of montana to know. In montana, we have values. I understand the values people place on guns. We love to hunt, we love to fish. We love to keep and bear arms for personal protection. That is something i absolutely respect and will always respect. In montana, we also take care of each other. We wave at each other in a country road. We stop and help a stranger out of a snowdrift. That is what we do. We also have the value of looking after each other and the safety of our communities. I will tell you right now, i would not support legislation because the Largest Union with Law Enforcement does not support legislation to allow changes in the concealed carry law. It just isnt the way we keep our community safe. Do we want people carrying guns in banks and schools . That would make no sense. Law enforcement, they are the best to handle this. Lets leave it in the hands of Law Enforcement. Congressman gianforte. This is a point of very clear delineation between me and my opponent. I have an a rating from the nra. Endorsed by the nra, the montana shooting sports association, and gun owners of america. My opponent has a d rating. He has the cooneybullock administration came out in favor of banning semi and automatic guns. They stood by when local communities adopted ordinances that violate our second amendment. They also stood by when local municipalities started discussing things like sanctuary cities, which was very concerning. I would not stand by. This is a clear point of distinction. Im not sure how much more i can say. I support the second amendment. I would sign a constitutional carry bill if it came to my desk. That is pretty clear. I do want to make up point that was made earlier. In washington, i found many ways to work across the aisle. I worked with anna eshoo on health care for a telemedicine bill. I worked with democrats on bills that would improve rural broadband. I have work across the aisle on bills to reduce prescription drugs. I did that through serving meals. If you if you break bread together, you can find common ground. Im going to turn the governors house into one of hospitality. We are going to open this for more debate. We start with the Lieutenant Governor. I wanted to follow up really quick. You answered with concealed carry. Is there any type of gun or is there any one type of gun or ammunition you would not support a civilian having . Lieutenant governor cooney . I am a supporter of the second amendment. Is k what we need to do i have been criticized for doing this because i support Law Enforcement and the ability of Law Enforcement to be making the rules and guidance they need in order to keep their community safe. That is where i am going to be focusing my attention. Not looking at ways to figure out how we are going to keep people from owning guns, any certain gun or ammunition. I think we need to understand montana gun owners are responsible. We know that. They own guns to hunt. Guns in order to protect themselves. We need to respect that and i do that and i do respect that, but we also need to look after the safety of our communities. That is why i will continue to work with Law Enforcement and local authorities to make sure these issues are dealt with. Congressman . We did not quite get an answer, but to the people at home i support the second amendment. It says very clear shall not be infringed. There are laws on the books that prevent convicted criminals from having guns. Those, but in terms of your specific question the democrat platform has been to restrict highcapacity magazines. Toe cooney came out opposed semiautomatic firearms. To semiautomatic firearms. I would oppose measures to adopt restrictions of that. My favorite meal in washington meat ofly montana mea some sort. I even served joe kennedy his first moose steak. I do not agree a lot on politics, but we are friends. Lieutenant governor cooney. You just told another whopper. I do not support taking away semiautomatics. That is not what i have ever said and you know that. Want to, folks, if you know the lies the congressman has told, please goal to lyinggreg. Com. You will find all the whoppers and it is a long list. Check it out. Is an outrageous thing he is trying to tell you. Trusted,u cannot be congressman. The reason i got the endorsement Largest Union representing Law Enforcement is because you assaulted a person and then their job to the police. You lied to the police. That is why the people of montana cannot trust you. They cannot stand politicians like you. Final word to the congressman. I will say to address that that was not my proudest moment. Apologized and since that time montana has elected me to my office twice. I have put everything i have into this traveling back and forth to washington because to whom life is given, much is expected. This is about service to montana and there is nothing i enjoy more than being in our Rural Communities all over the state sitting down with you, and hearing concerns. Concerns. I hear over and over again the problems people have with state agencies. Dnrc have become one waited threed years for a diversion because a waited three years for a diversion because a stream shifted. A Property Owner in helena spent 15 years trying to get a permit to clean up the site. What this does is makes a what this does is makes a housing more expensive. We need new leadership in helena. What this does is makes a housing more expensive. We need new leadership in helena. Thank you, gentlemen. We are going to get onto another topic. That is right. Judge Amy Coney Barrett will almost certainly be confirmed to the u. S. Supreme court. The potential to overturn or modify roe v. Wade exists. This is a hypothetical question, but what role do you see the do you see ther montana governor taking in a post roe v. Wade world and this goes to you first, congressman. It is hypothetical. Even judge barrett said the likely of being overturned is low. But i will answer the question. But i will answer the question. We have to abide by the decisions of the Supreme Court. Known, iways made this am prolife. I abide by the decisions of the Supreme Court. Important, i think, the appointingas been appointing remarkable people. Judge barretts academics, raising five kids of her own and adapting to more, she is a stellar representative for the court and i support her as a u. S. Justice and i would encourage the senate to move a forward as quickly as possible. We need judges that will stand on the constitution and not legislate from the bench. President trump and his administration have appointed over 200 judges to federal positions all over the country. We are getting back to what our Founding Fathers intended. Our constitution is the best document ever written by men for the governance of men, yet we have allowed judges to men, yet we have allowed judges to take it and we have seen that affect our forests, wildlife, and other issues as well. Thank you, congressman gianforte. Lieutenant governor cooney. I am concerned about the nomination. I am sure she is a delightful woman and qualified in many ways, but she has made it clear what her position is on roe v. Wade. I believe that a woman should have the right to make the most personal Health Care Decisions in her life and government has no business being involved. My opponent likes to talk about the government and wants to put Big Government in the most intimate issues that a woman would ever be faced with. That concerns me. I am also concerned about her nomination because she has been outspoken about her opposition to the Affordable Care act. If itfordable care act, goes down which is she sits on that case on november 10 which is like that to happen, the construct of the aca which means Medicaid Expansion goes away. 90,000 montanans lose health care. It means people with preexisting conditions no longer have the protection they currently have. It means our rural Hospital System will be put on life support and i will guarantee you this, every economy throughout the state will be negatively impacted and that will be dare very difficult. Those are the wrong things to be looking at, especially in a damage. In a pandemic. I am concerned by opponent and judge barrett are concerned about taking Health Care Away from people during a pandemic. Thank you, Lieutenant Governor cooney. We will open this for more debate. We start to segment with gianforte. N gen i support her confirmation, but there is a difference between a proabortion candidate prolife candidate. Cooneybullock administration vetoed a bill that would have provided medical alive from ay born botched abortion. You heard me right. Alive from a botched abortion. You heard me right. If a baby was born alive from a botched abortion, i think we agree thatble to agree defenseless baby should get medical care. The cooneybullock administration vetoed that bill. I would assign that bill. I am prolife, he is not only proabortion, but apparently infanticide as well. That is over the top. I am going to tell you right now i support a womans right to make her most personal Health Care Decisions. What you just described you know does not happen in montana. It does. It does not. Greg, you are not telling the truth. You are playing on emotions and that is wrong. You are running for governor of the state of montana. You need to lead by example. You do not want to do that. You are willing to say whatever it takes to try and get yourself elected. You know that is a baldfaced lie. I resent you saying that. To call me proabortion, i am pro woman making her own decision at her most intimate Health Care Decisions. Any attempt to take that away from women and montana and i will be vetoing any legislation that will take her right issues away. I will also veto anything that will make it more difficult and put government into these intimate decisions. Decisions. That is what i can do. That is the leadership i will provide as governor. Congressman. I seem to have hit a nerve. I do not think this is controversial. Giving medical care to a child giving medical care to a child of a batched abortion what cooney, says is true what is the risk in signing the bill . If it is happening, we have a tragic outcome. Frankly folks, not on my watch. The risk is putting government into the lives of the most intimate decisions and woman has to make. That is not the role of government. That is what we need to protect. That is what i will do when i am governor. Make sure women do not have governments breathing down there next as they are dealing with serious and tragic issues in health care. At that point i am more concerned about the child. Gentlemen, we are going to stop. We are going to move onto a different topic and that is talking about public lands in montana. There is a legislative committee looking into the wilderness study areas and making recommendations on management. End, the governor could have a role in this. Where do you stand on the possible release of restrictions on these wilderness study areas . We will begin with the Lieutenant Governor. I think public lands and montana are crucial to who we are. We love to hunt. Would love to fishing it out and enjoy the clean air and water. What is beautiful about it is these lands are literally outside our backyards. That is why i have always been a major proponent of our public lands and protecting public lands from people wanting to come in and sell them to the highest bidder. I have been a proponent of making sure we continue to have access to public lands. Work there is my more access, a quarter million more acres of access during my time, and i am very proud of that work. I will continue to be a champion of public lands. Time, and i am very proud of that work. I will continue to be a champion of public lands. My opponent moved here from new jersey. One of the first things he did was sue the people to block from having access to a popular fishing site. He has supported written legislation to strip protection from 7000 acres of pristine montana land. Just opening it up. Nomination ofe mr. Pendley. He has spent his career trying to convince of mr. Pendley. He has spent his career trying to convince people to sell off public land and his running mate has led the legal challenge in the past to challenge or stream access laws, prevent montanans from having access to water that we enjoy and belong to us in the state. I will not let that happen when i am governor. I will continue to be a champion of public lands and work with people to make sure we continue to have access to them. Thank you, Lieutenant Governor. First wild designation inr designation in montana for over 40 years. When the people of Paradise Valley came to me, we protected the gateway to yellowstone park. Im proud of my conservation record and i will carry those values to the governors office. John we will open this up now to continue to continue debate and we will do that by refocusing because we went off the trail. We are still talking about wilderness study and this interim committee potentially reassessing things since this has been going on since the 1980s. We will start with the Lieutenant Governor. We have to constantly be we have to constantly be looking and having these discussions and i support having these discussions, but i will tell you i will always fall down on the side of making sure we do not lose our public lands or access to public lands. That is who we are as montanans. The congressman said nobody is out to sell public lands. Said nobody is out to sell public lands. There have been bills in the legislature in the last few sessions supporting the transfer of federal lands to the state. We all know what that is going to mean. If the federal government were to transfer these to the state, state, we would not be able to deal with it. It is being done because people know what would happen is the state would have to ultimately sell these lands. It will not be me. It will not be my fellow will not be my fellow montanans in line. It will be rich, outofstate people. Friends of my opponent who will line up to buy public lands. That is what we cannot afford. To say to the people of montana this is not possible, that is not true. I think i will be a champion of public lands. Congressman. I oppose the transfer of federal lands. I have been active in congress to promote additional tools to toe the state the give the state the ability to start managing our land. We are back into fire season and we would love to have better managed forests. We have a Forest Health crisis in the state and if we actively managed our forests, we would have more wildlife, more habitats, more jobs, and less wildfires. Question. Address your these lands have been in limbo for 40 years. The state Legislature Passed a that once it was evaluated this was a this was astudy area wilderness study area they determined to be unsuitable for wilderness, but would be returned to the Forest Service inventory for all of their uses. I support looking at that, but again, we have to hear the voice of the local community and do what they want. Lieutenant governor cooney. Lieutenant governor cooney. Well, the other thing is you [no audio]ued he is holding his job currently illegally and i have not heard you speak out about whether he should leave his job or stay. A federal judge just ruled that he should not be in that position because he has not held that legally. Congressman, are you going to congressman, are you going to sit by idly and let this guy stay in his job . A guy who wants to sell off public land . You say you do not sel believe in selling offs public land, but you support him. Final word to the congressman. The confirmation is still in the senate so i do not have a say in it. Senate so i do not have a say in it. One of the things i will bring to montana when i am your governors relationships i have built with the department of interior and department of agriculture. I had a guy in the northeastern rancher,he state, a rancher, who had been grazing his cattle on a wildlife refuge that was managed by the department of interior. Head of your cricket out of line and he called to get his permit himit turns out they told the habitat biologist at the Wildlife Service was deemed nonessential. They were not going to allow any cows to graze. This was back in march. I made a call to the secretary of the interior and explained the situation. I made a call to the secretary of the interior and explained the situation. I am pleased to tell you sometimes you can apply grease to the gears. I made a call to the secretary of the interior and explained the situation. I am pleased to tell you sometimes you can apply grease to the gears. I got a call from the rancher within the hour saying the wild left service had called and said they had cleared the paperwork and he had his permit. One of the things i will do with helenas advocate for montana back in washington with the said administration. Thank you, congressman. We are going to talk about montanas energy development. Development. The current decline in coal seams to do more with capitalism than regulation. Not only is electricity from natural gas, wind, and solar cheaper than coal, it is cheaper to build a new solar plant then run most existing coal power plants. In late september General Electric announced it will no longer build coal power plants. Is the way out and if so, should we be doing something is coal on the way out, and if so should we be doing something to help the local community . Coal is important for our future. Coal is important for our future. I support all the above Energy Policy including solar, wind, hydro, natural gas, fossil fuels. It is important we have a diverse base and i think the market should sort this stuff out. We do not have a level playing field. There was a war on coal through the Prior Administration and you are right. There are Economic Issues facing coal right now, but we need to come alongside the good people because it is a montana issue. If we lose baseload power, the power that fills in the gaps when the wind is not blowing and son is not shining, that allows the lightbulbs to come on, we are going to end up like california. We see the tragic outcome they are facing. They have been pursuing this Green New Deal which is advanced by my opponents party and it does not work. Brownouts,ng blackouts across the state. Montana has more coal than any other state in the country and i have met with the japanese building new plants. They want to source montana coal. Unfortunately, Washington State has been obstructing the construction of a coal plant. That samethat same governor hasn raising montana coal. Lieutenant governor cooney. I grew up in butte. View electrified this nation by butter production electrified this nation by its copper production. I have been proud of montana with our oil and gas and it is produced a lot of good jobs. We can never forget that, but we also have to look at how this market is transitioning. It is transitioning to cleaner energy and we need a governor who is going to help lead that transition, understanding that there are still going to be oil production, but it is going to move to a cleaner energy. Coal and oil production, but it is going to move to a cleaner energy. Montana will continue to be an energy producer. That is what i am committed to do. The people of montana can rest the people of montana can rest assured we are going to develop areral resources, but we knocking to stick our head in the sand and not develop solar, wind capacity, geothermal capacity. I talked with people from the state who have great ideas. We need to be leading the way as we move into this transition, jobs, helping people transition to the new economy. That is what the state of montana can do to be a leader. Thank you, Lieutenant Governor cooney. We are a little over on time so we have one followup. We start that with congressman gianforte. I think where we need to be focused is on American Ingenuity. Saying the pundits were sayinggoing to run out of we are going to run out of oil and then American Ingenuity created fracking. For you folks at home, that means national security. Secretary perry, the former secretary of energy, said when we export energy it has American Freedom going around the world. When our trading partners have to buy their energy from folks that are not our Friends America is less secure. I am thrilled with what has done for energy. In coal, one of the things we discussed with secretary brule was carbon sequestering. I think you are things we can do to capture carbon and use it for Additional Oil recovery in the balkans. We are not very far away and i think American Ingenuity will continue to allow us to develop Lieutenant Governor cooney. When we make this transition, this is how we keep montana an Energy Producing giant. Just as we have been in the past we can continue this tradition that we started a long time ago. Making sure montanans have access to good paying jobs and we need to make sure we are training that workforce to move into this transition. That is a partnership the state can do. The state does not create a lot but a partnership with our entrepreneurs and Business Leaders and the people who are creating jobs. That is what i want to do as we make this transition because montana does not have to give up its standing as being an energy producer. We will just be a cleaner, Better Energy producer for the world and the rest of the United States. We can get there. It just takes leadership to get us there. Gentlemen, thank you both. We are near the end of the hour to hear final thoughts from each of the candidates. We will begin with congressman gianforte. First, thank you for joining us at home tonight. It has been a pleasure to spend time with you and let me say in first, thank you for joining us at home tonight. It has been a pleasure to spend time with you and let me say in closing, i think much better is possible. Let us review quickly the last 16 years of democratcontrolled in helena and what we have gone for it. Laste the crisis 16 years of democratcontrolled in helena and what we have gone for it. Before the crisis started we were 44th in the nation in wages. Kids and grandkids have to lead to find better jobs. We are dead last in the starter teaching. 150,000 have lost jobs in montana since march. Since march. We are the second highest in the country and the number of kids in foster care. These are little kids without moms and dads. We are in the top three nationwide in terms of suicide and we did knock it a chance to and we did knock it a chance to talk about the meth epidemic. We have got to get our communities healthy. Cooneyse cooneys administration we have seen 36 increase in Violent Crime in the last seven years. This is a terrible record. Frankly, you deserve better. This is a terrible record. Frankly, you deserve better. That is what we put together our comeback plan. It is all about getting the economy going, getting people back to work. We are ready to roll up our sleeves sunday went and i would humbly ask you as you consider who you vote for, i humbly ask for your vote is mailin ballots start to go out. God bless you and thank you for joining us. God bless you and thank you for joining us. Thank you, congressman. Closing statement from Lieutenant Governor cooney. Thank you to pbs for putting this together, and you know, when governor bullock in our working hard to save Medicaid Expansion i was working with members of both Political Parties to make sure montanans continue to have access to montanans continue to have access to health care and we were protecting our rural Hospital System. That is how we do it in montana, together. Together we expanded access to a quarter of a million acres of land. Together we expanded health care to 90,000 montanans. Together 46,000 good paying jobs have come here and found a wonderful home. I am here to protect this place for future generations to come. Tonight you have heard two very different visions for the future of montana. I am always going to show up to work to tackle the toughest issues in montana. To tackle the toughest issues in montana. My opponent has missed more votes than 93 of his colleagues in congress. He has profited from the pandemic. As i am trying to fight this virus that is a health and economic crisis, he sees it as an investment opportunity. I am running for governor because i want to protect our public lands, he wants to block them. I am running to drive down health care cost. He is running to strip health care way. Running to drive down health care cost. He is running to strip health care way. I am running to create good paying jobs. He created a business by up so outsourcing american jobs. Outsourcing american jobs. Together we can work on these problems together. I will be happy to be your next governor. Thank you, Lieutenant Governor cooney. That will wrap things up for us. We think both candidates and campaign staffs for making the debate possible. From and here, thank you. Announcer a live look at the venue where the Vice President ial debate were mike pence and senator Kamala Harris will be held. At the two will be seated 12 feet apart due to the coronavirus pandemic. There is a plexiglas barrier between the candidates and tonight everyone in the audience will be required to wear a mask. Debatee coverage of the begins at 8 00 p. M. Eastern. It will be followed by your comments,ith calls, and tweets. Much coverage right here on cspan. Comments, and tweets. Much coverage right here on cspan. Announcer the Supreme Court started its new term this week and today heard oral arguments in google and oracle america, concerning copyright law. Oracle stans google illegally copied code 10 years ago to build the android smartphone. Smartphone. Google claims the code was too basic to be covered by copyright. Listen tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan2. Announcer the mayor of chattanooga, tennessee and former mayor of philadelphia are part of a conversation on how the coronavirus pandemic affects cities across the u. S. From the urban institute this runs one hour. Runs one hour. I went to start by saying we are going to not hear good economic news. After recordbreakingno

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