Greenfield. Raceical report rates this a tossup. Due to technical difficulties by the host, a portion of this debate not be shown. Kcci eightatching a news commitment 2020 special. U. S. Senate debate. Good evening and welcome to des moines for a live debate between iowas two candidates. The dest, kcci, moines register, kwwl, and ktiv and senator joni ernst challenger theresa greenfield. In true 2020 spirit, this debate will not be like others you have seen. Steve, myself, and our three moderators are here in person. Our candidates join us remotely. Senator ernst is in washington after several days of confirmation hearings for judge amy coney barrett. Miss greenfield is live from altoona. Moderators. T our we have the chief politics reporter for the des moines register. And ron steele is the evening news anchor at kwwl. Is anator joni ernst native of red oak, iowa, and served in the military for more than 23 years. Is the first female veteran elected to serve in the u. S. Senate. Democrat theresa greenfield hopes to unseat senator ernst. She was raised on a small farm in minnesota and moved to iowa to attend college. She has a background in urban planning. In 2018, she briefly ran for congress in iowas third district. She lives and oman with her husband. Now for the rules of tonights debate. Candidates get 60 seconds to answer a question. If a candidate is mentioned by name by her opponent, she will get 30 seconds to respond once. Time cues come from colored lights. The yellow light indicates 10 seconds remain. The red light means time is up. Candidates get 60 seconds at the end for closing statements. Your opponent supports a public option for health care that would compete with private Health Insurance plans. Republicans typically support competition in the market. Why do you oppose it here . Yes, the public option that my opponent supports is just really a truck stop on the road to a singlepayer system or a government takeover of health care. That public option, as done by a third party dependent study, could bankrupt up to 52 of our rural haricots Health Care Systems. I depend on one of those Rural Health Care systems. Certainly my family depends on those Rural Health Care systems. Very important to those who live in rural areas. What we do not want to see is putting a bureaucrat between our physicians and patients. And certainly a public option, again, is that truck stop on the road to a singlepayer system, and we certainly do not need that. But some of those proposals fora public option call higher reimbursement rates to rural hospitals. Couldnt that actually benefit . Sen. Ernst that could if we could get that done, and i would remind folks that, as we sit in the United States senate and in congress, certainly, there are fewer of us from those rural areas. And just trying to close that gap in medicare reimbursement is extremely difficult. Again, having that public option, while it sounds great to a lot of folks, it does provide a pathway into a medicare for all situation. And that is not what we want to see. We want to provide access to Affordable Health care, but we do that by lowering Prescription Drug costs, lowering the cost of overheads for health care allowingand certainly that competition. Allowing Insurance Products to state lines. There are many ways we can parity parityu and but a singlepayer type option is not the solution. We have a question for both of you what should the federal governments role be in ensuring affordable, highQuality Health care for all americans . Again, health care is the number one topic i hear from iowans on, and they are struggling with outofpocket expenses it does not matter where i travel of the state. The federal government sets those rules, and what i support is expanding and strengthening the Affordable Care act. You have a lot of tools in the toolbox. Then creating a public option that will create competition in the marketplace, level the playing field, and make sure every iowan has access to highquality, affordable coverage and make sure that we have competition and you do not have to rely on your employer. Who areked to folks entrepreneurs, and they want to get started, but the health of the cost of health care has kept them from doing that. Thank you. Senator ernst, same question. What should the federal governments role be in health care . That,rnst well, we know number one, we have to protect preexisting conditions. My brother and sister are both type one diabetics, so i really do understand how important this is. And there is a way that we can provide a backstop for those who have the most medically complex situations. Steele ofe, ali Dallas County who has a congenital disease who requires a number of surgeries. What we have to do is force Insurance Companies to make sure they are covering folks with preexisting conditions. But we also have to make sure old those premiums are an for those families. Since the inception of obamacare, when it went into effect, 2014 until today, for those that are purchasingpolicie doubled. The premiums have doubled. Obama care has driven the cause of our premiums up. We know those outofpocket costs have gone up. The deductibles have gone up. What we have out there are products through those Insurance Companies through obamacare that our arreola families our iowa families cannot afford. We are going to head over to ms. Theresa greenfield. What would you do to ensure rural iowans have access to the same level of health care as those living in urban and sbarro urban and rural areas . Ms. Greenfield i would not do what senator ernst is, which is devote repeatedly to end the Affordable Care act, gutting protections for preexisting conditions, gutting prescription care, Mental Health care and of course, threatening to end medicaid expansion, which has been a lifeline to our row hospitals. Easternst out in woodberry county and talk to a family who is already driving 25 miles to get groceries and to get to a clinic and hospital. Areave to make sure that we strengthening and enhancing the Affordable Care act, protecting medicaid expansion, which will help keep those hospitals and Rural Health Clinics open. Again, making sure everyone has coverage for all of the essential services that were provided in that plan. Senator ernst again has voted repeatedly to end the Affordable Care act and end protections, taking away your health care. Thank you. We are going to head over to senator ernst. She did mention your name. You have 30 seconds to respond. Sen. Ernst yes. Thank you so much. Again, the Affordable Care act while it expanded access to insurance, it did absolutely nothing control the cost of health care, which is why i worked in a bipartisan manner to make sure those with preexisting conditions are covered providing that federal backstop for those that have the most medically concept medically complex situations. I am a huge supporter of our Committee Health centers and or Rural Health Care system shared it is very import and our World Health Care system. The public option ms. Greenfield keeps referencing would drive 52 of our iowa Hospital Systems out of business. Senator. You so much, lets move on to the economy. The federal minimum wage is 7. 25 an hour. It has been since 2009. Iowa is one of a handful of states that has not increased its minimum wage. At 7. 2 five an hour, the average minimum wage worker would make 16,240 in a year. You both worked minimum wage jobs. Minimum wage was roughly four dollars an hour, could you have supported a family at that way . Sen. Ernst i have right minimum wage jobs i have worked in of major jobs. I worked at i have worked minimum wage jobs. I worked at hardees. I did work my way through college. But no, you could not support a family on a memo wage job. Jobs are entrye points into our workforce. Issueelieve it is a local and there is no reason it could not be addressed by the state or local city or government. The federal government, we should be taking a look at that. Certainly, there are ways we can do that. Again, economies are so very different across the United States. What might be right for california or new york simply may not be right for our Rural Communities in iowa. A living wage in San Francisco would be very different than a living wage in red oak, iowa or waterloo, iowa. Ms. Greenfield, the same question to you. You were to minimum wage jobs as a young person. Could you have supported a family on minimum wage . Of course wed cannot support a family on that memo wage. You cannot support a family on 7. 25 an hour either. I support ways i support raising them in them wage. I will tell you what i am focused on. That is making sure everyone has an opportunity to earn a living wage. I am focused on one, making sure we invest like republican governor bob rated. Bob ray did. We couple that with investments in capital and credit for Small Businesses so they can grow and hire those workers. Also of course, provide for their families, have a shot at their american dream. We need to raise the minimum wage. Followup like to with both candidates, kind of a followup to matts economic question. The question is this. 7. 9 is the employment rate in america right now. That is down slightly. That is an improvement. Jobser, the growth in slowed considerably from august to september. My friend at randalls and hudson said he had to lay off some of his employees because of the pandemic. With iowa and many states still considered in the covid red zone, what is your specific plan to help get iowans back to work importantly,t all increase their spending power and give a boost to their economy . Ms. Greenfield, you go first. Ms. Greenfield yes. Of course, senator ernst has failed us. Support, she refused to expanding Unemployment Benefits and providing paid sick leave. It was a fight for her. For a been calling stimulus package for months. To your point, workers. We are in a crisis right now. We need to expand those Unemployment Benefits. Whether i am talking to bakeries, barbershops, Small Businesses are struggling. Cash full is down 60 or 80 . They are worried about keeping their lights on. We need to take care of our workers. We also need to expand the ppp and make sure our Small Business is no we and they can get through this crisis together. Much. Nk you very senator ernst, your name came up so you get a 32nd rebuttal if you choose before you answer this question. Rebuttal first. Absolutely. I do remember in 2009 when we went through the economic downturn during the Obama Administration, in montgomery county, my home county, saw the second highest on a plummet right across the state of iowa. I do understand the difficulties that are out there. Many of my philly members were actually lit many of my philly members were laid off during that time. Supporting the packages such as the cares package has been important. My opponent has opposed every single one of those packages. We really have to get that work done. I am here in d. C. Working on those packages. Senator, thank you. Excuse me . Im sorry. You went pretty long on your rebuttal. Do you want to give us 30 seconds . Certainly. So i have worked extensively on the covid packages that have gone through the congress and again, ppp was a project i worked on. Childcare supports to make sure moms and dads could get back to work safely has been very important. Providing ppe to those businesses and those hospitals that needed that support. All of that has been really important. We need to continue that. We do have a package will be voting on next week. We hope we can get that done without Senate Democrats blocking the way. Thank you, senator. Very concise answer. We appreciate it. The economy has regained more than half the jobs lost during the pandemic. That recovery has been uneven. Black americans, asian americans, hispanic men, and americans without a College Degree have struggled the most to regain employment. What can the federal government do to target its response to ensure the recovery benefits all americans . Ms. Greenfield, your response first. Ms. Greenfield you are correct. Minority communities have been hit the hardest as part of this pandemic and this economic crisis. We have to address the kind of systemic racism throughout all of our systems. Health care, housing, education, policing to ensure we are creating those opportunities for our minority communities to grow and to succeed. I will tell you what, right now we are in crisis. We need to make sure we extend those expanded Unemployment Benefits at the full 600. Direct relief for our workers. We need to invest in our businesses so that they can rehire or keep their staff on, keep their lights on. As someone who has worked most of my career in Small Businesses, i know how hard it is to keep the lights on and how much pride we have in providing paychecks on a friday afternoon. Thank you, ms. Greenfield. Senator ernst, the same question to you. How can the federal government target its Recovery Efforts to make sure all americans prosper . Sen. Ernst i think that is really important and something i have been working on. Even before the covid pandemic is making sure that our minority communities, our communities of color have that opportunity. We passed of the tax cuts we passed of the tax cuts and jobs added, which made way for the opportunity zones, which did and if it our minority communities. I do support pell grants for those that are incarcerated so that when they are out of prison, they do have opportunity to move right into a career field that will benefit them and their families. Thus of course lowering recidivism. Those are important steps forward. I have been a huge proponent. I helped craft the paycheck protection program, which does enable our Small Businesses to remain up and going during covid19. I have also crafted the next package, which will allow the second pass for those businesses that are hardest hit. I have also done that with the minority members of the Senate Working together. Thank you, senator ernst. We are going to move forward to the next question. We want to start this with a straightforward question. Most people of color in this country have no doubt that systemic racism exists here. Do you agree . Senator ernst, we will start with you. Are ernst i believe there many challenges we have in various systems, but i would not say broadly that we have systemic racism across the board. Certainly, we have good people that are working in all career fields. I think it is important to stress that. My opponent has stated she believes are Law Enforcement iowa, they are systemically racist. I do not believe that. I believe in the goodness of the people that are out there protecting and defending our communities. So, do we have opportunity to do better . Absolutely, we do. That is why i did sit down with those africanamerican leaders in the city of des moines and listening to those voices all across the great state of iowa, understanding those challenges and where we can provide greater opportunity. Again, it is not a republican or democratic issue. It is an issue we need to work on together. To be clear, do you believe systemic racism exists here . No, i do not. I do believe you will find racist individuals in those systems, and i do not believe entire systems of people, of people are racist. There are racists out there. Thank you for answering that question. We are going to go over to ms. Greenfield. The same question. Most people of color in this country have no doubt that systemic racism exists. Do you agree . I want to take 30 seconds to rebut because the senator did call me by name. Her comments are misleading. I have not called the police racist. That is further insulting. I will tell you this. Discussing systemic racism does not mean that any one individual is a racist but rather that we have to take a look at the discrimination across our system. Housing, health care, education, finance and so many other things to ensure we are doing everything we can to end that kind of racism. To your question, black and brown communities have faced discrimination and systemic racism for generations. Taylor andd, breonna others, they should be alive today. Their families deserve justice and so we need to work on ending that kind of systemic racism in policing for example. We have done a great job to get started on that led by our black legislative caucus members, black lives matter leaders and in a bipartisan manager at our state house where they passed the plan for a more perfect union. Deescalation training, meaning chokeholds, transparency. These are the kind of reforms that support our Law Enforcement systems. We need to look at those reforms in every system so we can bring an end to systemic racism and make sure our minority communities can succeed. Opponent does, my not qualify a rebuttal moving forward. We are now going to head over to matt. I want to bring up the specific quotes referenced by both candidates in the iowa pbs debate. I think it is clear we need to hear what they both said in context. Senator ernst, you said the following. Ouresa greenfield stated Law Enforcement system is systemically racist, meaning our Law Enforcement officers are racist. Theresa greenfield, you said quote, we have systemic racism in all of our systems and have for generations including our policing system. That is not saying our Police Officers are racist. I went to to make sure you had that quote clear so i could ask a followup question. Where does change start . We begin with theresa greenfield. Ms. Greenfield thank you for that question. I think change starts with each of us. It certainly starts with our elected leaders recognizing first and foremost we do have systemic racism. If you are not clear that as part of our systems, then you cannot be at the table to lead the change to listen and to take action to end discrimination. It starts with working together. I certainly have been working with the black legislative caucus in iowa and we will work with anyone to make sure we are taking actions to end systemic racism and it is not just in policing. In health care, i am worried about maternal or telly rights. With black women, that rate is so much higher. We need to work in our Health Care Systems to end that kind of racial bias. I am looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and working with everyone to tackle systemic racism. Senator ernst, you had mentioned use that down and listened to communities mentioned you sat down and listen to committees of color. Where does the change start for you . You sonst yes and thank much. I started actions toward repairing relations long before we started seeing this movement. Long before we saw the tragic lossoflife with george floyd, his murder. There are ways we can do that. I was a coauthor of a band the the box legislation with senator cory booker of new jersey who is a very good partner with me on amber of these activities. Supporting those pell grant activities in our prison system is important because not only do we want to provide communities of color, those that are incarcerated with those opportunities, but what i find is it comes back to the fact of poverty. Maybe not necessarily racism here in the state of iowa but how do we tackle those issues of poverty . This can be urban, it can be rural. I see it across the communities in the state of iowa. We really do have to provide opportunity out there. I have been working in a bipartisan way with friends and other members in the senate to do so. Next question. Theresa greenfield, do you think this summers protest were helpful or harmful in raising awareness of racial issues in iowa . Ms. Greenfield i will always [indiscernible] that includes the right to free speech and protest. I will tell you what, looting, damaging property, that is not part of protesting. I was a Small Business owner. I do not like to see the damage to our storefronts and to our properties. But absolutely, we do need to march. We do need to protest in a nonviolent and peaceful way to make sure our voices are being heard. I am proud of the black lives matter leaders in our state who absolutely predominately have been making their voices heard in a nonviolent way. I do have a followup for you. The phrase defunding the police resurfaced out of those protests. What does that phrase mean to you . Ms. Greenfield . Can you hear me . Policease defunding the surfaced out of those protests this summer. What does the phrase defunding the police mean to you . Ms. Greenfield i do not support defunding the police. Somebody else will have to give you that definition. We have got to look at reforms across all of our systems. Certainly policing. I come from a long line of Law Enforcement officers. My fatherinlaw was a police officer. Servings talked about and protecting, protecting and serving. Inhad a lot of pride stopping die stopping by to meet with the kids. You have to get back to the Strong Community policing. We need to support officers by investing in Mental Health care service has. Too often we are asking Law Enforcement officers to provide those Mental Health care services. Our jails have become a place where folks in crisis are taken. Need to make sure we invest in Mental Health care. And then, we need to make ban the box something federally throughout this country because it is the best stop to make sure folks do not reenter and they have the opportunity to get a job, provide for their families and rebuild their lives. Senator ernst, do you think this summers protests were helpful or harmful in raising awareness of racial issues in iowa . Sen. Ernst i think the protests as they initially started after the tragic death of george floyd i think as they started and as they were peaceful, i think they were very helpful. But as they digressed back to onlyng and damaging of not those Small Businesses but federal property, i think it really smeared those that were trying to do good through those protests. As i had stated many months ago is that you cannot hear those Peaceful Protesters over the sounds of shattering glass and splintering wood. That is certainly not appropriate. I do think we have slid backwards in this movement. In the senate, we did take up the justice act, which was authored by tim scott of south carolina. It had 70 of what our democratic friends were asking for. They refused to even move on the bill on the floor of the senate. I am so proud of the legislators in the great state of iowa that got the work done, but again, i think that is a shame. Senator ernst, the phrase senator ernst, lets stick to our time guidelines. The phrase defunding the police, what does that mean to you . Phrase has been tossed around so liberally by liberals and certainly, the folks that are funding my support is a group they radical environmental ideas. They support defunding the police. We see that type of activity going on right now with the covid relief package that is being proposed by nancy pelosi, which was one of ms. Greenfields early supporters in the 2018 congressional campaign. Of course is being bound by all of these folks that support liberal ideas, stripping away funds, taking those funds away from Police Departments in the covid19 relief bill. Nsat is not what iowa expect to see. It is certainly what ms. Greenfields backers are supporting. , senator. Ou theresa greenfield, you get a 32nd rebuttal because the senator mentioned your name twice. So just 30 seconds. Ms. Greenfield this should not take too long. I do not support defunding the police. It is unfortunate that my opponent continues to be misleading and best and misrepresenting on that, but i do support reforms in all of our systems so that we can tackle discrimination and we can tackle systemic racism. Have done a great job Getting Started right here in iowa. Thank you, ms. Greenfield. Sensitivity trainings in federal agencies. Ares like White Privileges racist. Do either of you believe you have benefited from White Privilege and if so, i would like you to give us an example. This greenfield, but start with you. Hearreenfield i did not the first part of your question. It is very difficult to hear you. I apologize. President donald trump has moved to end Racial Sensitivity Training in federal agencies. It looks like you are having a hard time hearing me so we will direct this to senator ernst. President trump has moved to end Racial Sensitivity Training in federal agencies saying ideas like White Privilege are racist. You believe you have benefited from White Privilege . Sen. Ernst i would say it is difficult to determine. I think it goes back to maybe not necessarily racism but issues of poverty within our communities. I largely grew up in a community of white individuals but when i joined the military, i was a member of a very racially diverse but inclusive system. So i understand that working very hard what help me get ahead hard would help me get ahead. I do not know that i benefited from that, but certainly it is possible it exists out there. I do believe there are levels of training that are necessary in any sort of system. In the military, things like engaging in how to protect how to prevent Sexual Assault. I do think there is an important place for that type of training. Ms. Greenfield, do you believe you have ever benefited from White Privilege . Ms. Greenfield absolutely i have. Let me give you an example. My first after my first husband died, i became a single mom with a 13 month old and another one on the way. One of the systems that helped me out was the Social Security system. It allowed me to get back on my feet. I am not convinced that system would have worked for a young widowed black woman with a 13 month old and another one on the way. I can tell you another way i benefited. Rates, ortality Maternal Mortality rates, it is clear they are much higher among the africanamerican community. We have to look at why that is happening. Where the racial bias is. Be willing to work it ourselves and make sure we are investing in training to address that kind of racial bias in health care, in policing, in the Social Security system, in lending and so many other things. Thank you very much. We appreciate you hanging with us. Very unusual debate we are having tonight. You, the viewer, we appreciate your patience as well. We got the ball rolling and we intend to keep it that way. We will be right back after this. You are watching a kcc i8 news commitment 2020 special. U. S. Senate debate. Thank you, candidates. You both grew up on farms and you highlighted that connection in your campaign ads, but neither of you chose to pursue agriculture as a career. Why not . Ms. Greenfield, lets start with you. Ms. Greenfield i grew up on a farm outside of a town of 500. I loved the farm. My parents are still on the farm. A lot of pride at the end of the day with hard work. I also came of age during the farm crisis and i watched families being devastated. Much of it by the decisions being made in washington. My parents [indiscernible] they never farmed again. I had to leave the rural area. There were no jobs and we could not farm. I headed off to Community College to begin my life. I am so glad i did. Tagntinue to support at Community Support ag communities. Particularly my family and friends in her than iowa. Question. Why did you pursue a career outside of agriculture . Sen. Ernst thank you so much. I did go up on a small family farm in southwest iowa. My family is still engaged in farming. My sister and brotherinlaw do most of the family farming now. Girl, young woman was in an abusive situation and so when i went to Iowa State University, i decided to study psychology. I felt that would be a great way for me to get back to my community as a counselor. I did take a different turn, but i remained engaged in the farming community. I still live in montgomery county. My family is still involved in farming. I have been engaged in agricultural issues all my life. I have been endorsed why the iowa farm bureau, the Iowa Cattlemens Association as well as the iowa corn growers association. Thank you. We will stick with agriculture. The Iowa State University extension crop specialists say more than 90 of farmers have Crop Insurance, which covers 80 to 85 sent of gold in revenue. It does not make them financially whole after a disaster. Are you comparable what they Crop Insurance program after disasters like uncontrolled flooding on the Missouri River does not make a farmer financially whole . We will go to senator ernst. Absolutely you are right that those programs do not necessarily make a farmer whole. That is why it is important we are able to engage, especially as the federal government, i do sit on the agriculture committee. Still living in the rural area, many of my friends are farmers. My family, farmers. Understanding the difficulties they are facing. Whether it is a derecho, whether it is a drought, whether it is a pandemic, making sure we have the appropriate programs and responses in place whether that is through fema, the usda, whether that is through hud, making sure we are able to step in in a quick manner and cover where maybe insurance will not make a farmer whole. I see the results when it comes back to my neighbors, my friends and my family. Theresa greenfield, the same question to you. Are you comfortable with a Crop Insurance program that does not make farmers whole after disasters . Ms. Greenfield no, i am not. I have had the chance to tour damage in western iowa, all across central iowa and all the way over to cedar rapids. I have stopped at coops and elevators and talked to them about how they have been impacted. It is clear there is a gap. Particularly coverage for our grain. So many farmers are under Financial Stress in iowa due to haphazard trade, due to reckless tariffs, due to my opponents approval of ethanol waivers. 75 since 2013. We have got to make that her decisions in washington, d. C. To make sure our farmers who work so hard, who want their markets back and earn a profit and provide for their families. My question is a simple ag question. What is the breakeven price for a bushel of corn in iowa this way . Ms. Greenfield a bushel of corn is going for about 3. 68 today. Breakeven depends on the amount of debt someone has. I suspect there are farmers breaking even at that price. If there yields are down 50 , that is not going to cover it for them. We have had null Commodity Prices for too long. Those are going out of business prices. Breakeven price for soybeans . Sen. Ernst i would like to go back to a previous statement. Certainly whether what we have done on trade. We have seen significant strides forward. The usmca is a great example of tradeith our two largest partners, mexico and canada. Mexico is the number one purchaser of iowa corn. We saw with the china phase one trade deal where china actually made an alltime record corn purchase at the end of july. Haphazard trade deals . No. We are on the path toward success in these areas. I have had our farmers as i did the 99 tour every year. I have been to all of my Rural Communities every single year i have been in the senate. I have had those farmers say for heaven sakes, i understand what the president is doing, but what i do not understand is why we did not have a president who stood up before this. I am thankful we are well on our way to correcting the situation within our trade space and that was done with a Republican Senate and a republican in the white house. Thank you very much. I do not think you answered my question. What is the breakeven price for soybeans in iowa . You grew up on a farm. I think you had asked about corn. Sen. Ernst it depends about what the inputs are but probably about 5. 50. You are a couple dollars off because it is 10. 05. Not think ms. Do greenfield answered either. We asked her the price of coin. We asked the price of soybeans for you. Do you want to take another crack at it . Sen. Ernst no thank you. You said the breakeven for corn is 10. 50 . I do not think that is correct. That would have been for beans. Sen. Ernst maybe i am not hearing. On tos go ahead and move a completely different subject. One issue in your partys platform do you disagree with . Senator ernst, we start with you. Sen. Ernst in the party platform, i cannot think of anything off the top of my head. There are many things i do support and that is certainly lower taxes for our hard, middle income wage earners. That is extremely important. I think access to Quality Health care is extremely important. Our Second Amendment rights are extremely important as well. I could go on and on and on. My opponent is backed by others outside of the great state of iowa like new york and california. She is the henpecked candidate of the handpicked candidate of Chuck Schumer and nancy pelosi. The values that Democratic Party is espousing, of defunding the police, of extreme liberal ideas, those are the ideas that would devastate our iowa farms. It would it would End Manufacturing as we know it. Those are the ideas i do not support. Theresa greenfield, the same question for you. Partysue on the platform do you disagree with . Ms. Greenfield i think democrats often talk about four year college too much. I am really proud of our four year institutions. I am focused on making sure every iowan gets off to a great start. In my bigger paycheck plan, im focused on investing like republican governor bob ray did in Community College, apprenticeship programs just like they won have here at carpenters local 106 where you can earn while you learn. I want to make sure every student gets off to that start. Or if your life throws you a curve, you are able to get some retraining. That way, we will build our workforce. We will grow our workers for Small Businesses. I went to couple that with capital and credit. I talked to a young woman in rembrandt who is studying early family childhood education with a dream of owning a daycare center. If she came out debt free and we were to help her with capital, she could get started on opening her own daycare center. On, each of you has criticized your opponent for accepting outside money. Each of you has also benefited from it. If you are so opposed to this practice, what would you do to get all of this money out of politics . Ms. Greenfield, we will start with you. Ms. Greenfield the very first plan i proposed was a plan to end political corruption. Endnd citizens united, to Corporate Tax donations. Those are the ones that are running those messy attack ads that ruin your youtube videos and football games. I did even more. I made a pledge not to accept one dime of those corporate donations. My opponent has taken over 2 million in those donations and has sold out iowans. You can tell. She has taken over 200,000 from big pharma. Over 450,000 from big oil and picked one of their guys to head the epa and devastated at our economy devastated our economy. Need to end political corruption and i draw a line in the sand cannot accept one dime of corporate donations. Senator ernst, same question to you. What would you do to get money out of politics . Sen. Ernst so easy. Transparency. Toyou force those donors disclose who they are donating to to what organization, the whole system would clean up quickly. That is the easy answer. What my opponent will not tell you is at the end of this election cycle, she will be iowas leading benefactor of outside independent expenditure money. What is known as dark money. We see tens of millions of dollars coming from undisclosed sources outside of the state of iowa dumping in to her campaign. On one hand, she is saying i want to get rid of it. In thesecond time or other hand, she is benefiting more than any other candidate in iowa history from all of the dark outside sources. She is benefiting from big pharma. She is benefiting from big oil as well. The difference is the executives and dollars are writing the dollars directly into her campaign. Went to address the timing issues we had early on. We had technical difficulties, which prevented theresa greenfield from answering several questions. We gave those questions to senator ernst. In an effort to balance those out, the next question will only go to theresa greenfield. During the iowa pbs debate, you said you supported a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and dreamers. Could you see yourself supporting legal residency, not a path to citizenship but legal residency if there was a bipartisan compromise . Ms. Greenfield we need to modernize our immigration system should as i have immigration system. Does not matter if i am talking to immigrant communities, whether im talking to economic leaders like in cedar rapids or the Des Moines Partnership and so many others. It is clear we need to modernize our immigration system. For me, it starts with a few things. The idease a lot of put forth by the bipartisan iowa compact on immigration where we start by modernizing that visa system to ensure we can grow our economy and we welcome all workers across the board whether they know how to fix things, whether they know about science. Two, we need to invest in public safety. We have to be safe and we have to be strong, but we have to be smart and that starts with investing in our ports. Finally, we have to be humane and keep families together. That is where that path to citizenship comes in. Acatainly for our dha recipients. This is for the both of you. We will go first to senator ernst. Joe biden referenced the recent derecho that swept through iowa in august as an impact of Climate Change. Do you believe in Climate Change and that it is caused by human activity . Sen. Ernst i do believe in Climate Change. I think our climate has been changing since the dawn of time cancertainly, we as mankind absolutely do a better job of protecting our environment and during my time in the iowa senate as well to make sure we have strong conservation efforts, that we protect our biofuel system and we are investing in wind and solar energy. Iowa right now thanks to the efforts of my colleagues, republican colleague both in the United State Senate and during ,y time in the iowa senate supported wind energy. We see iowas electric the amount we use is 40 drone from wind energy. After mid america gets done with their wind towers in my neck of the woods, we will pull 80 from those wind towers, investing in solar is important. Certainly, conservation efforts with our farmers is important to make sure our water and soil is helpful as healthy as well. Youheresa greenfield, do believe Climate Change is caused by human activity . Ms. Greenfield we have to confront Climate Change because we have a manmade Global Climate crisis on our hands. Iowans certainly know what that looks like weather is flooding through southeast iowa, southwest iowa and i visited southwest iowa and saw homes that have nine feet of water in them and those families dreams gone. Farmers know what it looks like. Higher heat, higher humidity. We need to get back into our global agreements. This is a global crisis. It is not just an iowa crisis. We need to invest in renewable jobs here. Im going to be focused on how we grow jobs, how we grow the iowa economy. Finally, conservation. You will see i proposed to lead the efforts to have our farmers at the table and have them lead us to be the first net zero ag industry in the world. It starts with investing in conservation, nicking sure it is a new commodity for our farmers and landowners. Making sure they reap the awards of sequestering carbon. Im going to work with them every step of the way. Over the past several years, iowa has experienced record flooding, prolonged drought and now a derecho windstorm. What role does the federal government have in protecting iowans and their livelihoods from these weather events . Ms. Greenfield, you are first. Explainedield i just i believe we do have a manmade Climate Crisis and we do need to take steps to confront it. One of the things we can do and i have been disappointed in both parties by the way is infrastructure. We need to be investing in robust infrastructure plan to rebuild bridges. We are 50th in the nation for bridge stability. We need to bring broadband to every home and we need to do so much more. Sanitary sewer systems throughout our state and country. That kind of Infrastructure Investment will set our country up and our state up to compete and win for generations to come. Senator ernst, same question to you. What should the federal government do if anything to protect iowans from these Severe Weather events . Sen. Ernst i think there are many things we can do. During those devastating floods of 2008, i was on the ground in the cedar rapids area as a National Guardsmen providing Logistical Support throughout the area and witnessing the damaging situation at hand. Ining the 2011 event southwest iowa, i spent four months on the ground again with the National Guard monitoring the situation. We had homes that were underwater in my neck of the woods. Watching my neighbors struggle with that was very difficult. Providing the National Federal response is very important, of course, making sure we are not engaging in very harmful agreements like my opponent has referenced where she would engage us but have devastating effects on our economy throughout the United States. Those agreements let huge polluters like china off the hook. I think we need to hold other countries accountable and certainly, we can do our job with the federal government in bipartisan manner. Midamerican energy and Alliant Energy continue to invest in wind technology. Both Companies Say the construction of wind farms provide jobs to iowans. The protection tax credit that has come out of a lot of recent growth is set to expire at the end of this year. . Hould Congress Renew it senator ernst, i know you started to talk about this earlier. Lets go to you first. Sen. Ernst absolutely. I am a huge supporter of wind energy. I have even cosponsored a bill that would allow us to utilize training at our Community Colleges to further invest in those types of career opportunities. I think that is extremely important. When i talk to those like those at midamerican and others engaged in wind energy, they are thatthat protection production tax credit being phased out. Withve seen great benefits wind energy across the state of iowa. Engaging in those discussions, we see a great level of energy and optimism throughout that field. I have gone up in a wind tower during one of my 99 county tours. I have also heard from a Rural School District that said the only reason they are still surviving today is because of the tax dollars, the property tax dollars that are drawn off of the wind turbines. It is so beneficial for our real areas. Ms. Greenfield, the same question to you. The wind farmsay provide protections for iowans. Should Congress Renew it . Shouldenfield Congress Renew the production tax credits. We have so much potential to grow our wind industry in iowa to not only benefit iowa but to benefit our entire country. I have had the opportunity to sit down with some of the brightest minds and scientists with Iowa State University and talk about how we build Renewable Energy jobs right here in iowa. Wendy can lead the way. I have had the opportunity to tour multiple wind turbine farms and was delighted when i toured a Community Wind turbine farm in greene county. Not only does it provide the rent, but it provides resources that are being invested back into communities for Community Centers and other philanthropic plans. Energy,to grow our wind we need to invest in conservation. We need to invest in biobased manufacturing and make sure iowa is a leader in our renewable candidates, lets move on to talk trade. Do you feel president trumps tariff policies with china have been a net positive for the American People . Theresa greenfield, we begin with you. Ms. Greenfield china has been a bad actor. That is for sure, and we do need to hold them accountable. I always will hold them and accountable. We have to protect our jobs and farmers and our national , security. But right now, we have lost 33,000 iowa jobs to china. And right now china is , investing. They are on schedule to build 200 new airports over the next 15 years. They are building 3000 miles of highspeed rail on an annual basis. And here we are, no infrastructure package, fighting about keeping the post office open, the price of corn is barely at a rateeven price, and to many kids do not have access to broadband. I want to make those investments to our economy so we can compete and win. And it starts with ending this goalitalone approach. We have to work with our partners around the world to make sure we build a strong market for our farmers, for manufacturers, for our economy. Senator ernst, simcoe and to you has the tariff policy been a , net positive for American Consumers . Sen. Ernst i have never agreed with the president s tariff policy. And the president knows that. That is where i have been able to push back on him as we have engaged through the trade wars. He does use it as leverage. And with a country like china, it likely is appropriate. Has it been helpful across the board . No. And that is what i call him and i say mr. President , i need to , talk to you about these tariffs. He will say, i know you do not tariffs, but i am a tariff guy. So we have these discussions about what is happening with the American Farmer and how it is affecting our iowa Commodity Prices. But we have seen great successes because he has used that leverage. So again, we are moving on our way to parity in that trade space. The phase one china deal, a great example. Usmca we have the , Great Strides there. And had japan, our number trade three partner locked into a trade deal and we are working on the eu right now. What do you see as the greatest noncovid Security Threat to america . Senator ernst, you are sen. First. Ernst i can answer this a couple different ways. Number one, if you look at our security, of course our National Debt is a crisis that we rarely do need to face. But externally, we have what we call the big four. Certainly north korea, iran, china and russia. Actors, andry bad we have to keep our eye on them in the National Security space. This i can talk to because i am a combat veteran. I remain engaged with our Security Forces as they are deployed around the world. We have many of our National Guardsmen serving in the middle east. We have them serving in kosovo. We have them serving in africa. So i do understand why we need to keep our eye on the big four. And of course terrorist , activities and proxies set out by iran and others, but certainly, we need to adjust the to address the domestic situation of our debt as well. Thank you, senator. A followup question. In september, the leader of the department of Homeland Security said White Supremacists are the most persistent and lethal threat when we talk about Domestic Violence extremists. What role does congress have in monitoring and reducing this threat . Sen. Ernst we need to make sure we are bolstering and funding our Law Enforcement activities. So when we talk about defunding the Police Across the United States, it goes against wiping out those types of domestic terrorists. We need to keep an eye on that. Those types of organizations are absolutely unacceptable. There is no excuse for them, period. And i would say across the board, any organization that is promoting violence, i dont care if it is white supremacist or otherwise, any time you are emoting the destruction of property and violence against other citizens, it is absolutely wrong. But defunding the police and the movement from the liberal left is certainly not the answer. If anything, we should be bolstering those programs to make sure they can keep their eyes and their ears on those horrible, horrible domestic organizations. Thank you, senator. Ms. Greenfield same question to , you. What you believe is the greatest noncovid Security Threat to americans . Ms. Greenfield there are two threats that are incredibly important to look at. One is domestic terrorists. Clearly, our National Leaders believe that is one serious threat we need to be watching and monitoring, and making sure that it does not cost americans their lives. Second, cybersecurity. I will tell you what we have , seen meddling in our elections. And we need to make sure our Law Enforcement, fbi and federal agencies have the resources they need. Look, if you are stealing credit card information, if you are spreading misinformation, if you are tampering with our andtions, those are crimes, we need to make sure we find those folks and they are held accountable. And i have to say i find it odd that senator ernst would threat, whent as a she voted for a tax bill that increased the debt 2 trillion and certainly threatens things , like Social Security and medicare. Senator ernst, you have a 30second rebuttal. Sen. Ernst thank you. And jobs act,uts actually built up our middle class, providing more wages for those middle income earners. More than one million iowans saw the benefits of that tax cuts and job back. We saw the Child Tax Credit doubled for our families. 243,000 iowans benefited from that. And we saw an average of about 2000 tax savings for all iowans, again, on average. But because of that bill, our Gross Domestic Product has grown, we have seen growth in the economy, and that is good for being able to tackle that National Debt. That brings us to the end of our debate this evening. We want to have the candidates have the final word. Thats right. You each have 60 seconds to make a closing statement. Theresa greenfield, we start with you. Ms. Greenfield it has been a pleasure to be here tonight. Thank you so much. I got in this race to put iowans first, to put hardworking families. And my dad always said on the no boy jobsere are or girl jobs, just jobs that need to get done. And right now, washington is not getting the job done. I want washington to become more like our hometown, where we come together. I will work with anyone or stand up to anyone to make sure we are getting those jobs done. Health care for all of us, infrastructure plan, rebuilding this economy. Senator ernst has had six years and she has forgotten iowans. She has sold out our hardworking families. I got in this fight for hardworking families. After my first husband died and i got back on my feet, i got my very first job. It was for eight bucks an hour. I got a paycheck but i also got , my dignity back. And iowans want the dignity of providing for their families. So here is my promise to you. I will never forget who i am, where i am from and who im fighting for. Thanks for being here tonight and i humbly ask everyone for , their vote on november 3. Thank you, theresa greenfield. Senator ernst, you have 60 seconds for a closing statement. Senator ernst thank you. I am joni ernst. And iowa is more than a place to me. It is where i was raised and really who i am. , i will always fight for our farmers because i grew up on a small iowa farm. I will always fight for veterans because i have had my boots in that sand, and i understand understand their valiant sacrifice. And i will always stand up for working families and our single moms because i have been through those struggles myself. I will always be an advocate for Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence survivors because i have been in that horrible situation myself. I will always fight for iowa. But that means doing in it a bipartisan faction fashion. I am honored to be named one of the most bipartisan senators in the u. S. Senate in the past 25 years, because i know the way things get done is by working together. So as we move through this election, i want to continue fighting for i ones in dim humbly asking for your support november 3. There is a lot more to do. Ernst andou, senator ms. Greenfield for participating in tonights debate. A big thank you to franklin junior high. And a big thank you to all our viewers across the state of iowa for hanging with us tonight. This has been very important debate an important election between the candidates, and a big choice for folks to make coming up november 3. We also want to thank our Media Partners who helped produce this twp, the des, k qam forregister, w bringing this debate to voters across the state. Thank you for joining us, thank you for your patience, please be well. Have a good night. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] i had a choice to make. Do i let my people rented really well or badly . If they run it badly, they will blame me, but more importantly, i want to help people. He has caused 10 Million People that had health care from their employers because of his recession. With less than two weeks until the 2020 election, whats the second president ial debate between donald trump and joe thursday, from Belmont 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 debates for live or ondemand streaming cspans debate coverage. Cspans washington journal. Every day, we take your calls live over the area every day on policy issues that impact you. Coming up wednesday morning, the former cdc acting director during the Obama Administration talks about federal and state coronavirus response. Trumpa former Administration Economic advisor looks at president trumps economic record heading into the final days of campaign 2020. Watching cspans washington journal live at 7 00 eastern sunday morn wednesday morning. And be sure to join the conversation with your facebook comments, text and tweets. Youre watching cspan, your unfiltered view of government. Cabled by americas Television Companies at a public as a Public Service and brought you today by your television provider. Next, a discussion on the upcoming election and what to expect for the president ial,