In the texas 32nd congressional district, the incumbent democrat faces this challenger. They rate this race likely democratic. Democratic. Just want to review the rules of it. They are fairly simple. Two minutes for Opening Statements from the candidates. Nd for questions there will be a 92nd response for each candidate and a 45 second rebuttal for each candidate. Any further response or followup will be up to me. There the timekeeping, will be about four boxes on the one of those will have questions for use in this debate. When the candidate gets down to about 15 seconds left in their answer, that box will turn yellow. It will time is up, turn red. We will also have one minute closing statements in reverse order of opening. So, in keeping with the agreement reached between the two candidates, the opening genevievewill go to collins. Ms. Collins good evening. Thank you for hosting us. Thank you to the congressman for joining me and being flexible. Thank you to all of you for tuning in. This has been a tough year for all of us and its time we come together. I am born and raised here in dallas. I went to school here. I had a business here. And i worked with every School District in the congressional district. I helped build my Family Business to over 300 employees serving 5 Million Students nationwide. My committee is focused on teaching kids how to read and how to close the achievement gap in schools. As your congresswoman, i am going to focus on jobs and getting us back to school quickly and safely, focusing on and fully funding and supporting our police. Hear my you will opponent talk about how bipartisan he is. In reality, he votes with nancy pelosi 100 of the time. He is an ineffective partyline politician who has passed zero bills in office. Tonight, you will hear him attempt to take credit for everyone elses work, including a myriad of health care policies. My opponent just two weeks ago, he voted to defund the police by 600 million. And he supports raising taxes on our Small Businesses. These are not texas values. These are d. C. Values. Colin allred believes the federal government knows what to do better for your life than you do. I disagree. Thank you. Opening statement from congressman colin allred. Rep. Allred thank you and thank im sorry we are not able together in person to have a vibrant and lively discussion. It has been the honor of my life to represent my home in congress. I was born and raised here by a single mother who was a schoolteacher. My mom taught in Public Schools. We dont pay our teachers enough, so it wasnt always easy growing up. [indiscernible] i had help [indiscernible] chance. Me a to play in the nfl, to become a black attorney, to serve president obama. Im proud of the work ive done in my first term in congress and how weve done it. Lead tod of how we serve veterans and create jobs. Im proud that we passed the usmca trade agreement with my leadership and think it will be a model for plans to come. Im proud that we got the bullet train past the federal red tape. As you can tell, we are having technical problems. Such is the case with live programming. What we are going to do, we are going to continue things on and i will ask you a question well we wait for them to figure that all out. Once we conclude with that, we will go back to congressman already, give him a chance to finish his Opening Statement, and then carry on with the questions in the order that we had to. Events, you might say, the Senate JudiciaryCommittee Vote on Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett is expected this week. Should that have waited until after the election . Ms. Collins well, the reality is that Amy Coney Barrett is a phenomenal, wellqualified, wellrespected, remarkably intelligent jurist who should be confirmed as a nominee. The constitution under article two stipulates that it is the to fille branchs job any vacancy in the Supreme Court. It is imperative that we actually follow the constitution as it stipulates what needs to happen in order to have an unbiased and appropriate excuse me, unbiased and appropriate bench of justices. This is simply fulfilling our constitution and i also believe that Amy Coney Barrett is remarkably qualified. Im disappointed in the Democrat Party for trying to reconstitute what it means to follow the guidelines in article 2. Im disappointed that joe biden, kamala harris, and my opponent say that we should pack the courts in case something of this nature happens. I think that is wildly inappropriate and it is our job to fulfill the constitution whoever is in the executive branch at the time. Sam, i believe you are muted. Ok, thank you. [laughter] this is all new to all of us here. We are still figuring out a way through all of this, this new reality here. We haveless, i believe congressman already back with us. Congressman, if you would like to do your Opening Statement again . Rep. Allred ok, sorry about that and obviously that is the reality we are living in now. Technical difficulties. As i was saying, im proud of the work ive done in my first term and im proud of how weve done it. Proud of the fact that we got the va hospital in garland and to pass the usmca. We got a signed copy of that from President Trump because of my efforts. Im proud that we lead the efforts to get the bullet train done and have worked to lower your Health Care Costs while standing up to this administration when they tried to take it away. Ive done that will being endorsed by organizations ranging from the u. S. Chamber of commerce to u. S. Labor groups. The choice in the selection is clear. I have a record of bipartisan accomplishments that received a 95 rating from the u. S. Chamber of commerce in bipartisanship. The challenge we are facing as a nation and as a community are enormous. Nearly 220,000 americans are dead, 12 million jobs have been lost, and we are more divided in many ways than we have ever been. People are rightfully worried about the future of their democracy. The stakes in this election could not be higher. Your health care is on the ballot. How we defeat pandemic is on the ballot. Our very democracy is on the ballot. The people of north texas made my life possible and i look forward to serving you for two more years if i have the honor. Thank you so much. Congressman, you were supposed to get the first question anyway, so let me pose the same question i did to ms. Collins. The Senate JudiciaryCommittee Vote on Amy Coney Barrett is expected this week. Should that have waited until after the election . Rep. Allred yes, it should have waited. Lets talk about the hypocrisy and the situation. With Mitch Mcconnell saying 11 months out from an election that president obama could not fill a thatme court seat, but now we have millions of americans having already voted and just days away from election day, trying to rush through a Supreme Court justice instead of doing the pandemic relief that needs to be done. So, yes, they should let the American People way in, listen to the voters, who do they choose to be the president of the United States . Who did they choose to be in the senate and the next congress . And then move forward. There are some things that even if you can do it causes some much damage to our democracy that it is not worth doing and this is one of those situations where when you take a Supreme Court seat that was held open unnecessarily and unconstitutionally in my opinion and you ram through another one in the midst of any election, you do so much damage to the institution of the Supreme Court and our overall separation of powers that you diminish the nation as a whole. I think the responsible thing is to let the American People way in and then lets fill the seat. Let me raise this question there been called by some democrats to expand the high court if joe biden wins, packing it as some call it, to include more democrats. The only one packing the courts is Mitch Mcconnell, who held open hundreds of appellate judge seat and Supreme Court seats to rush them through for President Trump. So that is who has been trying to pack the courts. It is nothing that ive ever supported, but i also have a reference to the Supreme Court. I believe it should be separate and independent from our politics and what they are doing is making it into just another political organ and it is going to make it harder for all of us to have respect for the courts ruling, to understand that it is not in the interest of the country and i wish that leaders in washington would this countrys interests first before the partisan desires. Lets move on with the question we were going to ask you for the first question. Withi moderated a debate you and Pete Sessions two years ago when you were making your first run for this seat, i brought up the issue of Excessive Police violence against black americans. That problem continues. George floyd, of course. Tatyana jefferson in fort worth a year ago last week. City, tontly, wolfe name a few. Just a little quick thing here because ms. Collins brought it up, do you support defunding the police . Rep. Allred i do not support defunding the police and ive never said that. It is politicians like ms. Collins to make it difficult for us to make any progress to try to restore the relationship between our police and our communities of color. You dont support defunding the police. I want to get to what my question was. You support defunding the police, as you say, did but do you think Police Reform is needed and how can u. S. A member of Congress Help address that . Rep. Allred well, we do need to have reform and we do need to have reforms that try to provide more resources to the police where needed and also take some of the responsibilities that should not be in their hands off their plates so they dont have to do with those things. In the congress, we passed legislation to try to take steps to restore the relationship between the police and the communities of color. It begins with accountability because we must have accountability. We also have additional money for training, body cameras, the storage of body camera footage, banning things like choke colds and noknock warrants. These are some things dallas is already done on around and we want to make national. Lets also talk about who is working to defund the police. Voted for 600 million for additional funding in the first heroes act, that is additional funding. Mitch mcconnell and the republicans in the senate said no, we are not going to take that up. They demanded we come back with a much lower figure. There was never any funding provided and Mitch Mcconnell said no. The only folks really defunding the police are republicans in the senate who are just going to deny state and local aid to our governments facing huge budget shortfalls and they are going to make deep cuts to our police and public safety. That is defunding the police, when you dont cover the budget shortfalls and then they have to take officers off the streets and have to make deep cuts to our public services. That is when you defund the police. Your view on Police Reform . And what you could do maybe as a member of congress if elected to help bring that about . Ms. Collins well, sam, what happened to george floyd and countless other americans, africanamericans in our communities should never have happened. It should have been avoidable. That there has been bias in Law Enforcement in applying equal protection under the law, all of that needs to change. It is imperative we have Police Reform. Thats why im grateful ive spent the entire summer working with our dallas black leaders in addition to the Dallas Police association listening to what they really need and learning of we really knit the fabric our Community Back together. Dallas has led in terms of getting choke colds. Banning them in 1984. But that needs to be systematic and consistent across the entire country. We need to have a federal registry for bad cops. There are so many good cops that are pillars in our community. Weve got to make sure that their voices are lifted up, so that when we dont actually have more bad cops inflicting unnecessary pain onto other americans. Weve got to have that registry. The reality is is that my toonent voted period defund the police by 600 million. He may try to pass the buck to he votes witht nancy pelosi 100 of the time and she took that bill, she took 600 million out of the bill. It begs the question, does my opponent really respect our Law Enforcement . It seems to me that is not the case. Let me take you back to something youve said. Im curious when you talk about bad cops as the problem, do you see that as the root of this whole problem with Excessive Police violence . Individual bad apples as opposed to or maybe a systemic form of racism at work . Ms. Collins i believe that there is racial bias and that is something that we as a nation are having a conscious conversation about that needs to happen. It is imperative that our police because uphold the law the constitution states that every american is created he will. If anyone says otherwise, than they are obviously not following our constitution and they are not applying the law properly. I absolutely believe that there is racial bias that needs to be changed and that it is imperative that we really focus on meaningful conversations that, like i say, knit the fabric of our Community Back together so we support each other instead of oppose each other and that is the reality of what this congress has done. Rep. Allred let me jump in there. It is interesting, im glad my opponent erad the george floyd read the George Floyd Justice and policing act because she just named a whole bunch of the things in the bill that we named our necessary to be done. Im glad i was part of crafting that legislation. But you bring up the 600 million dollars. We added that funding and Mitch Mcconnell would not take it up, so it does not make any sense to say that is defunding the police. People know that is not true and does not make any sense. But also, you have been fear mongering throughout this campaign about not only me, but what is only going to happen if i get reelected, that im going to try to defund the police. You darkened my skin in mailers. That is not who we are in my in north texas. I think you should be responsible in your advertising. Followups one quick , i do think it is important to recognize that the police bill was not taken up by the house. That was put up in late june and the house voted not to take up the Police Reform bill. It seems to me that the house is equally as culpable in this regard. Congressman . Rep. Allred we passed legislation in the house, the George Floyd Justice and policing act. In that act, it has many of the things you just said. A registry for bad cops, banning choke holds, banning noknock warrants, adding funding, training to reduce implicit bias, adding funding for body cameras and bodies body camera footage storage. That should have been taken up. Unfortunately, there are too many politicians who saw that they could use this fear, use this issue to pit us against each other instead of taking advantage of what i saw in north texas, which was a multiracial, Multigenerational Movement of folks walking in the streets from the wealthiest parts to all over, saying that they wanted to have change. And that was an act of hope that we should have taken advantage of and i wish that the republicans in the senate and President Trump would have joined us to find solutions to get something done and i think we will with president biden. Ok, lets move on to a viewer question somewhat related maybe. The National Conversation around issues of Racial Equity is impacting policy discussions of all levels of government. How do you define Racial Equity and what do you think government needs to do to realize sufficient Racial Equity . Congressman, we will start with you. Rep. Allred well, Racial Equity means that everyone has an equal shot. Right now, that is not the case. I believe the government does not create outcomes, but it can create opportunities by extending ladders of opportunity and making sure those are in place to make sure that if the next einstein is sitting in one of our dallas Public Schools right now, that she has everything she needs to become that. That begins with targeted measures to try to address some of the systemic issues that have faced our nation for centuries. But also just fundamental common sense things, like having access to health care. This administration and my opponent are trying to take health care from over 20 million americans and take away preexisting condition coverage from 100 million american more. Also investing in education and having great teachers. I know from personal experience that it is hard to recruit, retain, and keep the best teachers in the world, which is what we need. Theyso means making sure are not discriminated against along the way. This is something this president has consistently, consistently attacked people who speak differently, who come from different backgrounds, has pitted americans against each other, has refused to denounce white nationalists marching through the streets of charlottesville saying jews will not replace us, has told white nationalists to stand back and stand down. That is not who we are. We need real leadership in this country, we needed from our congress. The way my opponent has conducted herself indicates to me that she is not capable of doing this. What do you think the government needs to do to realize your vision of Racial Equity . Ms. Collins Racial Equity means everyone has an equal opportunity to be prepared for the same Bright Future and realize the dreams they have for themselves. Having spent my career working in education and working with School Districts, every School District that makes up our congressional district, in addition to other huge School Districts like memphis and miamidade, what i know is that every child deserves to be prepared for the same vibrant future. I have worked and written legislation four years ago to ensure that every child has access to consistent broadband, wifi, and a device, because we know that the internet and what Distance Learning now is today because of coronavirus is a huge missed opportunity for americans to ensure that every child matters and that they all get a great education. I fundamentally support every american having access to quality and Affordable Health care and i will fight to ensure that every person with a preexisting condition has access is protected under the law. I will also ensure that we have opportunity bills that will uplift minority communities and that we continue to give africanamerican and Latino Business owners more access to working capital so that they can realize their American Dream because that is how we all move together. Collins,uestion, ms. Regarding covid19, has President Trump mismanaged the response to the coronavirus pandemic . Ms. Collins i think the reality is the federal government unleashed the full power of their resources, ensuring that small and midsized and all companies have access to ppp and other loans, but right now this Congress Continues to play partyline politics and partisan politics to get Economic Relief for those most needed. Virus islost in this one too many. My campaign has taken this virus very seriously from the beginning and most recently, i spent the last two weeks in the hospital undergoing emergency surgery and i had to wait 14 hours to get a covid test while having appendicitis. The reality is what we need to be doing for coronavirus is making sure that we not only have access to tests, but really making sure that we have faster processing for test results. No one should wait a week long to get the results back of their test. Thesee to ensure that tests are more accurate. There are far too many false positives that are happening. That is what my surgeons, doctors, and phenomenal frontline nurses all said to me over these last two weeks. Far too many false positives. Weve got to make sure we are protecting those that we know are more susceptible. The elderly, those with preexisting conditions, and minorities with multigenerational folks living at home. We need to help these folks with health care and make sure that our businesses get another round of ppp and fda loans because they are barely hanging on because Congress Continues to play partisan politics. Congressman already . Rep. Allred well, you notice questioncollins the was whether or not donald trump is mismanaged the response to the pandemic. The answer is clearly yes. We are 4 of the worlds population and 20 of the deaths. We lead the world in total cases. Almost 8 million americans have caught the virus. Close to 220 thousand dead, 12 million jobs lost. And he is still telling people and making fun of people for masks, holding super spreader events for a campaign where he invites people to stand close to each other and not wear masks even after having the virus telling people not to take it seriously. This is a lack of leadership and it has caused this pandemic to be so much worse here than it was around the world. South korea and the United States had their first case the same day, they have lost around 400 members of their country, we have lost around 220,000. We had a vastly different experience because we did not have leadership in place that told us the truth from the beginning. We need to dramatically ramp up testing. We should be doing 4 million tests per day. We need to ramp up our Contact Tracing to make sure that we identify someone who has tested positive, we reach as many people as possible to prevent it from spreading to help them florentine and isolate. We can hold this virus down even before we get to that thing we all are hoping for. That is what they have done in new zealand and around the world. It takes leadership telling people how to protect themselves. Congresselated note, and the white house cannot agree on a stimulus bill. Should there be another and what should it include, congressman . Rep. Allred well, im pushing very hard for another stimulus bill. Im very disappointed when the president tweeted he would pull out of the negotiations and focus on the Supreme Court. We desperately need to have another bill. Lets be very clear. In may, the house passed the heroes act which had 3. 4 trillion dollars in desperately needed aid that we knew what the summer was low likely going to look like. The senate and Mitch Mcconnell said we would not do anything, we will take a pause. He paused and the pandemic got worse and worse in the economic crisis deepened and deepened. And then we can back and said, if that is too much for you, we will pass a 2. 2 trillion package, the second heroes act that we passed a couple weeks ago. They still have not taken up that piece of legislation or offered an alternative. Mitch mcconnell is saying he would not put it up in the senate if we were to strike an agreement. Consistently put forward legislation passed in the house trying to address this crisis, trying to expand ppp, trying to have a National Plan for testing and dealing with this virus, trying to support state and local governments because we know the rest as they are going to be facing. We have done this twice now and tried to bend over backwards to reach a number that would be amenable and we have not had a partner willing to work with us. Let me throw an extra question to you and ms. Collins, i will give you extra time to address both questions. We have heard American Airlines recently announced 19,000 furloughs and layoffs, pay cuts will happen next year all because federal payroll protection money ran out. Do you favor an extension . Congressman. Rep. Allred is this for me, sam . Im sorry. Yes, ok. Listen, this is one of my Top Priorities. We tried to extend this twice in the last couple of weeks. We did it in heroes 2. 0. This is the paycheck protection program. It keeps folks in the Airline Industry in their jobs, it keeps them employed through this crisis because we know that the airlines are seeing about 30 of the traffic they normally have. That is not going to come back until we beat this virus. We passed it in heroes 2. 0 and after that, we tried to pass it through unanimous consent on the floor of the house and the republicans again objected and said they would not allow it to pass unanimous consent. We tried twice in the last month to extend this program. It is one of my Top Priorities and im going to keep working to make sure we get it done. Ive worked very closely with american and Southwest Airlines here in north texas. I appreciate their importance to our economy. They are critical to us. Also our Enormous Economic engines. Im thankful that they have worked so closely with me to let me understand exactly what they need and how we can work to make that happen. What we need now is to make sure that the ally legislation we pass in the house is sitting expand cfc or we can pass standalone. We cannot go through the end of the year without doing this. Ms. Collins, you will get some extra time to answer both questions. Should there be another stimulus bill . What should it include . Do you support the extension for payroll support for airlines . Ms. Collins there should absolutely be another stimulus bill. Ive talked to small Business Owners since this pandemic has started. Including those who did not get ppp funding, as well as essential Companies Like my friend howard at the kosher palace who was able to get ppp funding. People are struggling. Arewashington politicians playing partisan politics. I do not believe that a state like texas should be paying for states like california and new york, who have failed their communities and their states by not passing a budget and not being fiscally responsible and good stewards of their own budget. Why should the federal government and texas, who do things right, bailout states that fail . That is unacceptable and i think most texans would agree. The reality is is that we also have to ensure that Small Businesses or any business of that kind have Liability Protections. Because this pandemic was very unexpected, no company should be held liable for the loss of peoples jobs. That is something that certainly we shouldnt be arguing about. We should absolutely protect Liability Protections and this Congress Continues to say that it will support legislation, but again, it defines the police by 600 million, it has enormous spending limits, 3 trillion is a lot of money. 3 trillion. That is a lot of money with a lot of pork stuffed in it. I do believe, my brotherinlaw whom i love works at Southwest Airlines, absolutely the Aerospace Field is something that is imperative and is a Huge Industry sector in our community and we got to make sure that there are protections for these folks. It is through no fault of their own, but weve got to get people moving and traveling again. We also have to make sure american and Southwest Airlines are protected. Lets move on here. The largest target of religiouslybased hate crimes, muslims are the largest growing in that category. Black americans are the most targeted of bias motivated crimes. What is needed to repeal ms. Collins every american should be treated equally. We should not have conversations around that we as a nation harbor hate toward brothers and sisters just because they have a different faith. I support religious freedom and allowing anyone being able to practice your religion. I think its important that we have meaningful, robust conversations like we are having now. These are challenging and tough conversations we need to be having, but it is time we create meaningful conversations around this. Im not sure we can legislate hate, it is something we have to culture, wed as a have to be responsible to each other. It is hard to legislate culture, and my opinion. The reality is we have to choose to be better, to stand up for our fellow brothers and sisters, and recognize that we as americans are better when we support each other and reduce our hate and bias, and thats what we need to make sure we are legislating, bias in terms of Police Reform or any opportunity for someone not held equally in the eyes of the law. Sam congressman allred. Rep. Allred we can protect people and thats what the legislation is trying to do, protect them so that if something happens to them, it is considered a hate crime. We also need leadership, leadership that stands up when there are those in our country and society who try to pit us against each other and divide us. Unfortunate, the Republican Party led by this president has consistently pitted americans against each other, consistently ourng to find the seams in democracy and pull them apart. That is one of the reasons we are seeing a rise in hate crimes. It is not happening on its own, it was not happening during the obama administration. Weve seen a huge increase in hate crimes in this time, a huge increase in the groups responsible for these things, organizing online. There is a reason they are all supporting President Trump. They see his actions and policies further their agenda. Specifice need to have and targeted legislation to deal with this and we also need leaders who will put an end to this, who will understand that we might have come here on different ships but we are in the same boat now. Thats the texas i grew up in and who we are in this community. We need leaders in congress that will stand up to anyone peddling that. Thats what i try to do in my first term and what i will continue trying to do. Sam a quick rebuttal. Ms. Collins i think one of the things we have to do in the next session of congress is look at wedgend how it drives a between us all. The last time there was any accountability for big tech was rise of social media is creating a surge of lies of who we are as americans and we need to have a conversation. We need to look at big tech and hold them accountable. They cannot solve these problems with Machine Learning and they should not be trying to solve these problems. We should have oversight and regulatory agencies look at this and start solving these problems from a technology standpoint. I think that will help net our knit theck together fabric of our Community Back together. Rep. Allred i do think we need to have regulation of Tech Companies but i dont think the Tech Companies are entirely the problem. They provide platforms that allow these groups to organize, and they are taking the fuel, the fire from the leadership. Thats part of the conversation we need to have it is not even close to the largest problem we are facing here. When we are talking about hate and bias in our country right now. Sam congressman, in recent years, the relationship between europeand states and democracies has suffered strains. We maintainant that our relationship with europe . Rep. Allred we need to lean into these relationships and we should be working more closely with european allies. The postworld war ii order that has cap the world largely out of another kept the world largely out of another world war was because of our institutions and this president has walked away from all of them or questioned them or said they dont serve a purpose anymore and the rest of the world is looking at us. The rest of the world is looking at us and wondering if this is what the u. S. Will be going forward. Coax up tog to strongmen . Abandoned our fundamental American Values that is frankly embarrassing and you cannot have an extension of it. But i am running for reelection and as far as what congress has to do is reassert our role in foreign policy. Thats what we tried to do during this first term, two twosert our role term, reassert our will and the values we have and how we hold up a light to the values and let the rest of the world follow us. Our values is why the rest of the world follows us, not our power or military. Sam ms. Collins . Ms. Collins could you repeat the question . Sam is it important that we sustain the United Statess postworld war elation ship with europe or is it time to rethink that relationship . Ms. Collins the United States is a beacon of hope for all countries because we allow so many freedoms rightly given to all of us natural citizens. The reality is that many of our european allies have not been carrying their fair share of the load. I think its high time we have a real conversation and hold nato accountable, for example. The United States has been sumsly paying the supplying nato defense to countries. To hold other nations accountable to pay their fair share. American taxpayers are generous but we dont need to be the world police and we dont need to be paying for all of it. It is important we stand for diplomatic relationships. At the u. N. , i am on board with what nikki haley did, standing with israel unwaveringly. Now the administration has shown we can pass peace in the middle east, strengthening bonds with other nations across the middle east, a very unstable region, with israel. When itot to comes to china, weve got to make sure we are standing up and being tough on china because they are our adversary. I am disappointed this congressman has not stood up to the chinese Chinese Communist party. Sam a rebuttal . Rep. Allred im having a hard time understanding how i am supposed to hold nato accountable. I was in afghanistan last year over thanksgiving, visiting the air force base in our embassy. You know who is fighting in afghanistan . Nato. Theres only one time in the history of natos existence that mutual defense was enacted and that was after 9 11 to defend us. You have the country of georgia doing base defense and afghanistan, you have the british, the french, the germans. Yes, nato can do things better, but this is how weve kept the world safe, and to question that i think shows and misunderstanding of foreign policy. Sam next question to ms. Collins. Israel and the middle east, do you support a twostate solution between israel and neighbors like the united arab imris United Arab Emirates and bahrain . What do you believe the role of the United States should be in achieving peace . As a member of congress, how would you advance your vision of that role . Ms. Collins there should absolutely be hope and optimism for what is happening in the middle east. We are seeing the region starting to want to be more stabilized, to want peace. Important that as americans, we stand up for israel. We finally moved our embassy to jerusalem, something resident bill clinton signed into law but down president , it came the line until just recently. Ambassador nikki haley, like i said, she stood up and voted with israel every time when our allies would abandon israel. This is something that we has a nation have to have resolve for israel. I am one hundred percent behind a twostate solution. I think israel is open to the negotiating table. They are all easily doing it with multiple nations. Palestine should be no different. I think palestine as a government needs to get away from harboring terrorist organizations like hamas and amongste and fair trade israel and palestine. I do not support the bds movement, i think it is flawed and terrible for israel, and i think there is real hope and optimism for israel but weve of to always stand on behalf our israel partners and our relationships. Sam congressman . Rep. Allred it is clear that israel is one of our most important allies in the region and the world. Shared among common values and bonds, and it is critical to maintain. It is also clear that the only way forward for israel is a twostate solution in which both have security in a tommy. And autonomy. Its the only way we will have peace in the region. I welcome the agreements between , they and uae and bahrain are good first steps. Ive been saying for months to people here who are passionate about this issue, that the gulf states were a great chance for us to form strong relationships, because they are worried about iran and they want an ally in the fight against iran. That leverage point allows us to move forward with some of these agreements. It is a good starting point. The fundamental issue will remain the relationship between israel and the palestinians and we have to have a solution. When i went to israel last year medo that, it was clear to that the United States is not going to broker the terms of what will be reached. But we can create the conditions so that can be reached. Thats what we all have to work towards. Sam congressman, we will start the next question with you. The sanctions campaign against israel purports to support palestinian rights by denying israel legitimacy, and advocates for israels destruction. Reelected to congress, what would you say to those who deny israels legitimacy and advocate for an end to the world of the jewish faith . Rep. Allred i was proud to cosponsor and vote on a resolution condemning the bds movement because of what you just laid out. In trying to delegitimize the state of israel, and it passed the house overwhelmingly. This is not a blind issue in our politics. No one who is serious is supportive of this movement, and we have to continue to make sure we support and tamp down on efforts like this that try to delegitimize israel because of the jewish diaspora and the need for a jewish homeland. T is sinister and worse we have to continue to push forward and create conditions so we can remove some of the stimulus for these efforts, which is driven by the israelpalestine conflict thats what we have to continue to work toward, how do we create the conditions where they can find an agreement . I think it is possible and i think we are moving closer to it. U. S. Has to play a productive role and i think too many times, this administration has made it difficult for us to be that equal arbiter. Ms. Collins i would like to point out that again, my opponent is trying to take reddit for someone elses to take credit for someone elses to makek, not trying sure that doesnt happen here or trying to stop it out abroad. My opponent has passed zero bills while in office and has been a partyline politician. Bds is a violation of free and fair trade and as a nation this is something we need to always be a beacon of light for, and i think most palestinians, even the palestinians here in the district that are our friends and neighbors, they dont beingt the terror harbored, the boycott of israels politics israels products. It is important we bring together israel and palestine in a productive relationship so they can coexist peacefully. This administration has proven that can happen with uae or bahrain or a host of other countries that are ready, willing and able to normalize relationships in the middle east. We cannot have bds and that is something i will always fight for, the tip of the spear for all of our israel friends so that never happens. Rep. Allred i have to say something, sam. I dont know what more you can do in congress other than cosponsor and vote for a piece of legislation, that is the definition of putting your support behind something. Im not taking credit for someone elses work, i am telling you what i did, which was to cosponsor legislation condemning bds. These kind of gimmicks it is not worthy of the debate, a position a serious of this, saying that im trying to take credit for someone elses work. Lets move past that stuff, please. You were sent to do a job and you have yet to pass a bill you have written. That is a failure on your part and completely ineffective and just voting with nancy pelosi 100 of the time. Rep. Allred lets have a discussion, you can allow that, right . Sam no, actually. Im got to move on because we are short on time. We have a number of questions from viewers. With the Affordable Care act going before the u. S. Supreme need awe could soon legislative fix on the health care system. How would you propose ensuring the maximum number of americans ise covered and no one penalized for a preexisting condition, given the more than 8 million americans with a preexisting condition of covid19 . Ms. Collins thank you for the question. I would like to address the blatant lies my opponent has been broadcasting on television. The governmentt doing away with preexisting conditions. I will always fight to ensure that i will never sign into legislation that would remove protections for people with preexisting conditions. I personally know some new people that have preexisting conditions, both friends and family, and i would never want to strip away their rights. I also believe the way to reduce drug prices is through price transparency, not pricefixing. Consumers are able to ask questions and hold big pharma accountable. Pricefixing, which is what my opponent is in favor of, will create a price ceiling that will result in a race to the bottom, moving out generic drugs and not closing loopholes for big pharma. I want to close the loopholes for big pharma for reconstituting drugs and reformulating patents and squeezing out generics. I want to make sure we dont have tradeoffs, pricefixing would reduce the amount of needation for drugs that that is what pricefixing r3 would do andh what my opponent is in favor of. I would never take away anyones right to health care for a preexisting condition and i will very much use my business experience to ensure we have reduced drug prices. Sam congressman . Rep. Allred this is one of the most important questions facing us, because as you said, it is the supremethat court could strike down the Affordable Care act and we will be stuck asking what will we do next . Right now, the way we attacked existing preexisting conditions is through the aca, to not discriminate against them. That ishave coverage just coverage you cannot afford. The aca required that not only can you get that coverage but you wont be discriminated against. My opponent supports donald trump, Whose Administration is currently as we speak in court trying to repeal the aca. The only entity at the federal level defending the aca is the house of representatives because of legislation i introduced that passed my first day. It is inconsistent to say that you want to get rid of the aca and protect preexisting conditions, because thats how we protect preexisting conditions. When it comes to drug because, im on the Veterans Affairs committee. The v. A. Negotiates drug costs and thats what were trying to allow medicare to do. Knowing how much a drug costs you have no other option and they are gouging you is not going to do it. Met who has a good job and cant afford her insulin, it will not work for her. It will not work. You cant just have price transparency, you need leverage, the leverage of the government on your side to try and control costs in certain areas. Lets also stress this only certain medications this applies to, where there is no generic competitor, where the market cannot do it on its own, whether is price gouging occurring, thats where we would negotiate to hold down costs for everyone. Sam we need to move onto closing statements. Ms. Collins. Ms. Collins first off, sam, thank you for moderating, ajc, mr. K you for hosting and already, thank you. You have a proven Business Leader that will work to create jobs and assure you have quality and affordable of care versus a partyline politician who has not passed a single bill. I will use my business experience creating jobs, balancing a budget and forecasting growth. I will ensure that every child is prepared for the future and i will fight to make sure that everyone has access to quality, Affordable Health care. I am not just from dallas, born and raised here. I built a Business Year and ive worked with every School District in the congressional district. I understand the nuances and will also be at will always be a champion for your voice. I want to be the tip of the spear and truly solve problems for our district. I thank you, i ask for your vote, your support and your prayers. Thank you. Sam congressman allred . You sam and thank ajc for hosting us. We have some real differences in opinion between us and they are rooted in our experiences. Distance fromhort each other but miles apart and our experiences. I know what it is like to fight for everything youve ever had and i know the challenges that families are facing right now. Thats why i fought so hard to find Common Ground and Bipartisan Solutions like the va hospital and trade agreement. That im aike to say partyline politician but thats not what the u. S. Chamber of commerce said when they endorsed me, they said i am 90 bipartisan. You have to ask yourself, who do you believe, independent organizations like the u. S. Chamber of commerce who made a recommendation that i continue what i am doing, or my opponent, who has a selfinterest in trying to get elected . I dont think thats the route we should go or how we should conduct ourselves in a Campaign Like this. It has been the honor of my life to represent this community and i want to thank you for that chance, and i ask you to give me a chance to continue to serve you in congress. Sam thank you to both of our candidates. As a reminder, our sponsoring organizations are nonpartisan organizations that neither endorse nor oppose candidates for office. Early voting is open until october 30 and election day is november 3. , i urgef of our hosts everyone to go out and vote. Also thank you to the candidates for participating in this important and timely debate, and to our audience for taking the time to hear directly from candidates. Thanks again for being h i had a choice to make. Do i let my people rent it really well or badly . If i run it badly they will probably blame me but i want to help people. He has already cost 10 Million People their health care that they had for employers because of his recession. With less than two weeks before the 2020 election, watch the second president ial debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President joe biden, thursday from Beaumont University in nashville, tennessee. Live coverage begins at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Listen live on the cspan radio app and go to cspan. Org debate or live or ondemand streaming of cspans debate coverage. Washington journal every day, we are taking your calls on the news of the day and will discuss policy issues that impact you. A perspective on campaign 2020. Indiana republican senator will join us to formally introduce judge Amy Coney Barrett to the judiciary committee. He will discuss the upcoming full senate vote for her confirmation in the Supreme Court. Looks at how social Media Companies approached campaign 2020 information and disinformation on their platform. Tim kaine will be on to talk about the senate vote on judge Amy Coney Barretts confirmation to the Supreme Court. Watch cspans washington at 7 00 eastern this morning, and be sure to join the discussion. Coming up live on tuesday, the house ways and means oversight subcommittee considers ways to increase healthcare coverage during the coronavirus pandemic. Thats live on cspan. At 6 00 p. M. , campaign 2020 coverage joins Vice President pence as he holds a Campaign Rally in cincinnati. On cspan2, the d. C. Circuit judge argument trump the masers regarding the congressional subpoena for the president s financial records. The Senate Returns at noon to work on the nomination of Michael Newman to be a judge on the Southern District court of ohio. Later at several car p. M. , the indiana governors debate between eric holcomb, democrat dr. William myers, and libertarian donald rainwater. Next, a debate between the candidates for New Hampshire governor. Incumbent republican chris sununu seeking a third term, faces democrat dan feltes. This hourlong debate was hosted by wmur tv. By of you and your tv. This is a wmu our commitment 2020 special in partnership with the New Hampshire institute of politics. The Granite State debate. Tonight, the candidates for governor. Good evening and thank you for joining us for tonights governors debate. I am political director adam sexton. We will hear from the candidates for the Corner Office about their plans for New Hampshire and their records so far. The debate is happening live but as usual, inc. s