2016. Tossup. Welcome to the first televised debate between candidates for virginia second Congressional District. Republican scott taylor is challenging the democratic congresswoman for the state he once held. Prior to being elected in 2018, she served in the navy for two decades as a Surface Warfare officer. She retired as a rank of commander. She graduated from the u. S. Naval academy and received a masters from old dominion university. And republican candidate scott held this seat after winning the Congressional Election in prior to serving in 2016. Congress, he represented Virginia Beach in the house of delegates. Taylor served overseas as a navy seal sniper. He received a bachelors and a masters degree in International Relations from harvard. Here to moderate the debate is National Political reporter joe st. George. He has covered National Politics for a number of years. Thank you for being here. Joe should be a fascinating hourlong discussion. My job is quite simple. Ask questions on the minds of voters as they vote. We know plenty of virginians are already voting. My second job, enforce the rules. 90 second answers, 62nd report goals report 60 second rebuttals. First, opening statements. Congresswoman luria, you won the coin toss. You get to go first. Rep. Luria thank you so much for hosting this important conversation tonight. My name is elaine luria. Im currently your representative in the virginia Second District. Im a 20 year navy veteran. I served in the office of nuclear engineer. I was a Small Business owner and im also a mother and im joined by my husband and my daughter. I look forward to an opportunity to continue to serve the Second District. We are currently in a pandemic. This is something that is unprecedented as far as our public health, as far as the economic repercussions of where we are today. When i travel around the district, the things i hear most from people is they are concerned. They are concerned about the health and their livelihood. My promise as a member of congress is to continue to fight for those things virginians and people in the virginia Second District need the most. I will fight to continue to protect Health Coverage and coverage for people with preexisting conditions and will continue to support legislation that helps to cut Prescription Drug costs. I will continue to support those programs that have helped so many businesses through the pandemic such as the Payroll Protection Program that has helped 11,000 businesses in Hampton Roads and saved roughly 10,000 jobs. One out of five people in the area impacted by this rod and sweeping Bipartisan Legislation we have been able to pass. I am diligently negotiating as part of the bipartisan congress. Most people wouldnt think we have a Bipartisan Group that works closely together today but the problem solvers, the frameworks for negotiations now between secretary mnuchin and leadership, and i understand each day we are getting closer to a new set of legislation to help during the coronavirus. I look forward to a substantive discussion tonight of the issues close to the voters watching and i thank my opponent mr. Taylor for joining in the discussion. Joe and that is time. Mr. Taylor. Mr. Taylor good evening. Great to be with everyone and i look forward to answering your questions. First some background on me, i am not from a wealthy or political family with millions of dollars in the bank. I was raised on the delmarva peninsula by a strong single mother who did her best to raise her four kids. I think about her often and how devastating it would be for her today during this pandemic and how tough it must be for most of you out there without millions of dollars in your own bank account. How you are struggling with kids at home with work, with your businesses. Also i served the nation as a u. S. Navy seal both in peace and combat. I have buried many of my friends in these wars and i have wept with her family their families. I know the sacrifices many of you have made for this great nation and im proud to be your neighbor. I also understand the issues that affect your family of the state level having gained valuable experience serving for two terms in the Virginia House of delegates. It was truly an honor to serve as your congressman for two years, helping thousands of constituents, passing numerous meaningful laws like accountability for the v. A. Or serving on the Appropriations Committee and bringing back over 300 million to this area. This evening at this race is about contrast and the choice is clear. My opponent supports nancy pelosi 90 of the time. She has voted to use our taxpayer dollars on her own campaign expenses. She has been silent and absent while the working people of the district and businesses have been severely harmed by politicians whose decisions didnt affect their own paycheck. She was silent and absent on violence and vandalism and businesses being busted up. She was silent and absent on the American Flag being taken down from our Commonwealth Capital because it might be a target for protesters. Her votes would harm police and make communities less safe. The choice is clear. I ask for your vote and i look forward to speaking with you tonight. Joe that is time. We will have plenty of time to get into these issues. Congresswoman luria, as you mentioned, we are in the middle of this pandemic. There are plenty of virginians, americans watching tonight, still struggling. Respectfully, since you voted in the spring to provide that 1200 stimulus check, that money is long spent. Earlier this money month you actually voted against a bill saying that it did not provide enough targeted relief. In washington, democrats and republicans cant seem to get together on relief for the american. So i ask this. Why cant you and your party agree to stimulus checks now and worry about other aid later . Rep. Luria what i would say about that legislation, the problem is that people in washington cant get together. My opponent likes to say im with nancy pelosi. I voted against her bill. I voted against it twice. The problem was the first bill was 3 trillion, made completely on a partisan basis with a lot of additional things that were not targeted towards covid relief. I strongly support the covid relief package that includes individual stimulus payments, continuing the unemployment assistance program, the Payroll Protection Program, additional assistance to the airline industry. Our state and local government, schools and local Law Enforcement, and Public Safety officials are struggling. We need to make up for that. I set a few minutes ago that we are negotiating right now. I hear that negotiations are moving forward and we expect a deal by the end of the week. I fully expect that to include additional stimulus payments. The bill that is being negotiated now actually includes higher stimulus payments for children. What is holding it up is two things. Specifically the republicans and negotiations dont want to include tax credits. They dont want to include the earned income tax credit. They dont want to include a comprehensive, nationwide, orchestrated plan for tracking, tracing, and testing for covid. If we are going to get through this, we have to include the resources that will actually stop the spread of the virus. Joe mr. Taylor mr. Taylor i would joe joe like to she did not inject your name and im asking the question so you can respond right now. Some republicans are skeptical the city needs a major financial bailout. The major Reason Congress hasnt passed anything recently. Do you believe cities in virginia should get new Financial Assistance from congress to help pay the bills . Cities like Virginia Beach. Mr. Taylor thats a great question. Let me first say localities and cities, not the ones irresponsible and democrat states, but pensions, localities joe Virginia Beach. Mr. Taylor Virginia Beach definitely. No question they understand the need better locally further businesses and people, they know better than anybody, certainly better than washington. I dont agree with what she said. I think comprehensive is synonymous with a big liberal wish list. Rep. Luria thats why i didnt vote for it. Mr. Taylor she didnt vote for those two things, but she has voted with nancy pelosi over 90 of the time. The only people who didnt vote against those were democrats and swing districts. The reality is when i speak to business owners, they are hurting and she has been silent when political decisions of democrat politicians like the governor, who have shut down these businesses, and the workers, the businesses themselves, they are scraping by. Rents are due. They are stressed out. Their livelihoods, their lifes work has been called nonessential, which is insane. Quite frankly, representatives and leaders of any position should be fighting for their people. Elaine luria has remained silent. If you speak to businesses all over the district, they will say the same thing. Where has elaine been . Joe you have invoked the congresswomans name several times, so you have a chance to respond. Rep. Luria thank you. I will say that i have visited hundreds of businesses during my time in congress. I just visited one today in Virginia Beach, premium ppe. They are actually manufacturing masks here in Virginia Beach. I have visited businesses that are struggling. Thats why we need more help. I set up a hotline at my office for businesses to call, to help assist with the Payroll Protection Program, the Small Business administration loans. When i get feedback from businesses who say the only reason my business is still open, the only reason im still employing these eight people who are like my family, was because i reached out to your office and your office helped me, i can tell you we are working for the people. We are working for the businesses and we understand the additional need for that assistance. Joe mr. Taylor, i know politicians and elected officials do not like yes or no questions, but this is my attempt. Has President Trump done a good job handling this pandemic . Yes or no . Mr. Taylor i think he has. I think there could be some improvement of course. But i want to touch on other things. There are two things ms. Lurie spoke about. Ppe. When she was disgracefully using her uniform to justify, before she saw any evidence, it was when the pandemic was starting. I spoke with nurses who were you who were reusing disposable ppe masks and congress was nowhere. And again, leaders lead. I jumped into action and worked with the private sector. Got tons of ppe delivered to supply all the hospital systems, including inova and vcu to make sure virginia was taking care of. 87 of the ppe is manufactured in china, which ms. Luria is personally invested in companies that lose jobs here and go to china to work. Its interesting she visited that factory. Now constituent services. Mrs. Luria has the worst constituent services in virginia. We all recorded the same way congresswoman weston, congresswoman spanberger far exceed her as constituent services as did ours. We spoke to an africanamerican Small Business owner who almost had to shut her business down because she reached out to her office and was not helped. We have a long list of people who were not helped. That is the breadandbutter of her representation and she has failed. Rep. Luria what i would say about that is it is ironic mr. Taylor, because when i came into office, my chief of staff ask your staff a meeting in a turnover. You were in the navy. You understood turnovers. Took over the case files. We got nothing from you. Mr. Taylor we were supposed to finish we finish them. Rep. Luria excuse me, can you ask him to stop interrupting . I would like to have my time. Joe you have it. Rep. Luria as soon as we got the phones backup, we got call after call from people wanting to know what happened with their cases because they were not closed. And they were not resolved. As far as the woman you are mentioning, i cannot disclose the details for her privacy, but i can tell you she reached out to our office with a claimed i had to do with a federal agency. We helped her fill out the form for that complaint. We wrote a letter on her behalf and since contacted the federer federal agency and notified her four times. You also decided to somehow do a scare tactic to china relative to this woman. The one thing i can tell you is this womans complaint has nothing to do with china, and you are fear mongering with stupid political talking points. Joe a lot to get to, so next question. Mr. Taylor, we have seen the commercials, and people know by now former staffers of yours have been indicted and could dictate a fraud associated with indicted and convicted for fraud associated with the 2018 election. You have denied any wrongdoing, but if you cant manage your own staff how will you manage the , affairs of the people of virginia . Mr. Taylor thats an excellent question. I have been very honest and upright for over two years. We just heard about fear mongering and scare tactics. Ms. Luria, if she had anything other than scare tactics, you would have seen way more commercials that were positive for herself. Joe the question was about you, though. Mr. Taylor i understand and i just answered it. The reality is i said many times, i dont know if any wrongdoing, theres zero evidence to show that. We of course made faulty decisions that were regrettable. I said that many times and taken responsibility for my team. The reality is we move forward and this is just noise. The reality is there is clear, a clear choice and selection and a clear diversions of ideology, clear diversions of pathways for the country, and as i said, ms. Luria has voted with nancy pelosi 90 of the time and will do anything to get away from talking about what shes voting for. Joe i want to move on to the environment. Rep. Luria i think he mentioned my name. Joe you have 60 seconds. Rep. Luria have an article from the virginia pilot. Im surprised mr. Taylor didnt try to dodge this tonight. On every other occasion he tried to say hes not under investigation. I want to remind people of this quote from john beamer, the special prosecutor overseeing the case, who said on tuesday that the twoyear investigation isnt over yet and he expects to see at least one more indictment. He said no one has been cleared including taylor, quoted from the virginian pilot. Hes part of the campaign and the whole campaign is under investigation. Mr. Taylor what his last quote was i will Say Something here. Mr. Beamers last quote, and inappropriately he should not have even said my name, but the reality is he said in his last quote, which she of course has failed to recite, to refer folks back to february, which says specifically theres zero evidence scott taylor knew of anything about any wrongdoing. Im obviously paraphrasing but thats what the last quote was. Not what she said. Elaine luria will do anything to get away from her record, to get away from the fact that who she told you she was last time, as she faked herself into a moderate, is not how she represented you. Rep. Luria do i get a rebuttal . Joe the environment is very important to the second Congressional District. We only have one hour. The environment can be complicated. Congresswoman luria, what is one simple change you would Like Congress to mandate that may help improve the air and Water Quality in the Virginia Area . Rep. Luria one of the things i think is very important is that we move to types of Energy Sources that are greener and reduce co2 emissions. Obviously i stand against offshore drilling, which my opponent used to support and now opposes. I think offshore wind is a huge advantage for virginia. Mr. Taylor did congress mandate it though . Rep. Luria congress shouldnt mandate anything specifically. I will talk about what i have done. Nuclear is a important part of the future of our greener and cleaner energy. I introduced the Nuclear Energy leadership act. It has been included in the Senate Version of the ndaa and the house energy package. It invests in the future of Nuclear Energy. New fuels for Nuclear Energy and small modular reactors. We cannot get to greener and cleaner and carbon free emissions, free energy, without including nuclear. I have been a leader on that in the house and working for my Senate Colleagues and we will continue to push it forward. Joe mr. Taylor, same question. What is one simple change you would like to see congress mandate to help the air and water in virginia and throughout the country . Mr. Taylor let me first say im a conservative so i am a conservationist by nature. I grew up on the Eastern Shore working on a crab house. I live on the Chesapeake Bay. I want my son to benefit from this beautiful bay. What i want to say is elaine luria, she said it was aspirational, the green new deal, which would be mandated by congress, severe mandates which would stranglehold the Energy Sector for sure. I agree with her on nuclear but i would like to go to the theory him which is more abundant. The problem is her party put in place which allowed that to happen for years and years. Lets talk about what i did as well when i was in congress on the appropriation committee, i brought funding back to 73 million for the program and 55 Million Dollars for the national sea grant. Also, not just rhetoric, this is what you hear from her side about current flooding and sea level rise. One of the things i did was put into law the ability for the department of defense to spend money on resilience for defense access roads. If you cant get to soldiers to and from bases, you cant get a base for long. We have eight installations in the districts. On the Appropriations Committee, i am in the best position to help the area against recurrent i have said it in a negative way. It is a resolution. It has no teeth. You are saying this would mandate things. Its aspirational to me we have a clean environment. Im a conservationist as well and im proud to say we got 85 million last year for the Chesapeake Bay funding and pass the fiveyear reauthorization plan, but its on the president s desk right now for signature. That was not done since 2005. You probably let her finish please. Defense access, its a great program, but while you were in congress, it had no funding. The Defense Community Infrastructure Program you didnt do it though. You didnt do it. You did not do that. You did not do that. I would like to finish. The Defense Community Infrastructure Project program as well as new and we put 50 million behind a and one of the first being developed is outside base langley. Question to congresswoman luria involves taxes. Would you like to see taxes increase over any specific income . Thats a very pointed question. It is important though, congress could raise taxes if you are reelected. That is something we are in a crisis. We are in a financial crisis and health crisis. If we want me to rebuild between the lines of your question, you are probably asking what i think of the biden tax plans. It is just a plan. It is not legislation yet. I have to see it and reconsider it. Vice President Biden says he will not raise taxes on anyone less than 400,000. What we need to do is different from what mr. Taylor did. In 2017, he voted for the tax cuts and jobs act. It made temporary tax cuts for hardworking americans. It gave 83 of it to the top 1 of americans. It raised taxes on goldstar families. Families who lost a parent in combat. It raised taxes to 37 and he voted on that. He celebrated voting for this tax bill that created an additional 1. 9 trillion deficit. He celebrated raising the taxes on gold star families and i had to go to washington and introduce legislation to fix it. Wow. First of all, shame on you for invoking goldstar families. Unlike yourself, i know tens of goldstar families. I buried some of my best friends over the years and i held those families at their worst moments. Shame on you for invoking that. You know better. The same goldstar families shes speaking about, here is the pointed answer. Yes, she wants to raise taxes. She wants to repeal what we did. She doesnt want to make it permanent for middle american folks. The biden tax plan came out today that talks about an 18 of all incomes because of the health care plan, which she supports and 2500 increase in premiums. Im not like elaine luria. I dont have millions of dollars in the bank and neither do most people out there. Every bit of tax increase harms us. We are in a health care, economic crisis and a pandemic. The last thing they need is her tax increases. Mr. Taylor, it says about 400,000 virginians currently have health care through the Medicaid Expansion. In 2017 can you start over . In 2017, you voted for the American Health care act, which drastically reduced funding for Medicaid Expansion and some said it would phase out the program. Do you believe Medicaid Expansion in virginia should go away . So obamacare, right now is in the Supreme Court when they talk about removing parts of it. 1. 8 trillion over the next decade. 1. 8 trillion over the next decade. But the question is on medicaid. I will get to that. It narrows providers. Medicaid is the same way. I dont need to ask you to listen to a politician. Talk to providers and ask how much they take in medicaid. Ask if them taking medicaid reimbursements is less than the cost of their actual services. It crowds out the private sector. It will close rural hospitals at a time we dont need to. The reality is we can do better. We can do much better than putting more people on medicaid. Why are we defending mediocrity . Its an old program. We can use that 1. 8 trillion and get more people covered with Better Health care with more transparency. Health care is the only product that you buy that you dont know the price of until afterwards. Thats insane. We should be able to get more technology. Think about this. Telemedicine technology has been around for a long time. But these other government programs, onesizefitsall, disallows them to use that until mandated during a pandemic. There are algorithms able to recognize skin cancer better than a harvard trained doctor. It is difficult to get that into the health care because of these ineffective programs that, like Medicaid Expansion, we can do better as a country. Well, health care is an important topic. He did not mention your name. We have a break. I think one of your commercials might be airing. We have a heated debate. You got that right. We certainly do. Thank you. You are watching news threes coverage of the virginia second Congressional District debate between representative elaine luria and scott taylor. It has been feisty so far. When we return, hearing the candidates respond to some of the questions you the viewers asked. And the candidates will ask each other major questions. Stick around. We will be Live Streaming a discussion on facebook on how the candidates performed and standout moments. I will be joined by joe st. George and the new three political think tank members to discuss debates happening tonight. That is after 8 00 p. M. And we will be right back. Welcome back. A nice wide range of questions. We can ask the questions we want. This is coming, our first question from ed from Virginia Beach. Do you believe the Defense Budget should increase above the rate of inflation, remain the same, or be introduced . What should we spend more on . What should be cut . Under the last administration, you had the decimation of our military. It was not properly funded. I think its important that we dont have forever wars. My opponent voted to hamstring the president to remove dreams troops home. We need to rebuild our military. Im proud to have voted to properly fund the military, to give the biggest pay increase to our soldiers and sailors as well as disability. Forward,ty is, looking we have to have different investments in the military. We have to understand where our near peers are going in terms of Machine Learning and have it integrated. We need the ability to cross different services, working together as opposed to being stoked like. We need more ships in our service, plenty of unmanned ships. We need to understand that our peers are doing things like investment and hypersonic missiles and space. We cant be fighting the past war. We have to fight the next war. Indont need a reduction spending. We need to reallocate it to fight future wars. Be prepared to meet any challenges that come against us. Same question to you. Im proud to serve on the Armed Services committee. Im the chair of the 42 of economy is tied to the navy and dod. We build all the aircraft carriers and the submarines and i was proud in the last congress to vote on the highest bill ever, and i voted for the Senate Version in committee. Out of conference, we came up with a compromise between the house and Senate Version. Proud to be funding to virginia class submarines. We need to find efficiencies. We need to get rid of programs and provide better oversight. Have fought our money outting of our projects. 13 billion. Failure due to poor design prior to construction. We need to do better. We need to build a navy that can meet the demand for presence in the western pacific. China is a threat. We need more presence there. We need to adapt and better utilize and efficiently maintain and deploy our carrier fleet to counter the chinese threat. The next question is from neil of Virginia Beach. There are wellfinanced efforts to restrict the right of americans to keep and bear arms, which unfortunately, some elected officials are supporting. What proactive actions are you taking, have taken, or do you support taking to ensure these efforts to restrict americans rights do not succeed. I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. I am a gun owner myself. I grew up in alabama. I served in the navy for 20 years. As a commanding officer, i had an armory full of weapons. What i would say is that we do need responsible guardrails on gun ownership. My opponent doesnt even approve of universal background checks. Universal background checks are a very simple first step in order to protect people in our community. It was really tragic on may 31 of last year. I attended 11 funerals and wakes and vigils. I sat there and i watched family members cry and mourn. They grieved because of a senseless act of violence where the weapon was in the hands of someone who was willing to harm others and themselves. We truly need to do something about this epidemic of gun violence in our country. I was proud to vote for the universal background checks. I support red flag laws because there are people out there who are dangerous to themselves and thats a safe way for family members to help them help themselves and keep them away from weapons when they are willing to do themselves harm. Weapons increase the chance of suicide, Domestic Violence injuries. I know my time has expired but im passionate about this because that kind of lossoflife is happening around our communities everyday and is inexcusable. Mr. Taylor. This is going to sound graphic but it is a reality. We did have a tragedy in Virginia Beach. There were still bodies on the ground and blood on the floor when my opponent was tweeting about gun control, using that tragedy to advance her political agenda, which is disgusting in my opinion. Every policy that was put forth afterwards used as a promise to get gun control, you cant say you are a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment when you want to take peoples Constitutional Rights away and the ability to defend themselves away, you cant say it, it is a lie. There havent been any policies that have advanced, looking at violent prone areas. All i can think about is a single mother. The reality is there have been more gun buyers that are females and africanamericans in the history of this nation than ever. Why is that . They see politicians who use words like common sense. And then they watched politicians remain silent. They watch violence and vandalism on the streets and businesses being busted up and they have watched politicians standing down Law Enforcement officers and not protecting them going against that social contract that the governments first duty is to protect their people. So i find it straight out lies that you are proSecond Amendment era she also invoked me so i have a couple more seconds the time has expired. But this is an important conversation or the shooter in the Virginia Beach area used extended magazines and a gun suppressor. Would any of you legislate something might be banned or changed . Would you have done andy anything different . I just have to respond to what he said because the only thing he said in his answer that was true is that we have real differences. We have real differences about protecting people in the community. I know someone personally in that building, that because that man used a suppressor, they thought it was an electric stapler down the hall. They could not hear the gunshots. More people could have run to safety. I will tell you, the families that were affected by that tragedy, i think of pastor hawkes and his son, keith. Keith was a hero that day. He ran out into the office and he gathered some of his coworkers and took them into another room. And he ran back out again together more people. [laughter] in doing that, he lost his own life. He lost his own life because people like mr. Taylor are not willing to do anything, anything about this epidemic of gun violence. And you know what he says . That guns exist so people can create militias and rise up against the government. Why dont you say that to Governor Whitmer . You said that in an interview about three years ago. I want to clarify. Would you legislate a ban on suppressors . I think that is reasonable to consider. I dont have legislation in front of me but that is the kind of thing that can make it more dangerous. Mr. Taylor, 12 people were shot and killed. I have plenty of say you dont have to say anything i have the right to ask the question. 12 people were shot and killed, would you change any current gun laws . None no, i want to answer what she said. She just said im responsible for some crazy guy who shot people. That is insane. That is insane. She didnt even answer your question because of course she would ban it. She may have been in the navy, but a navy officer a gun expert does not make, period. The reis i. Lua to tell us american citizens how many rounds they can have in a magazine to protect themselves or their families or their biggest businesses . I know there are a lot of firsttime gun owners watching. Who is ms. Luria to tell us how to protect our families especially when all of us watch violence on the streets, all of us watch our governor tweeting about social justice while richmond literally burned. Human beings went from tribes to societies because its better organized to protect us, period. Politicians like ms. Luria is failing to protect us. She used to story not one of the proposals would have prevented that. Folks like me who want to protect your right to protect yourself when the government has failed to do so, that its our fault is insane. I was listening to your answer and i did not hear you say you would pass any new law. That is an observation, not a question. We will go onto a question from chris eugene of norfolk. In light of the criticism from President Trump regarding dr. Fauci, what is your view of wearing a mask in public and what should dr. Fauci have done differently in your opinion . Wear it in public. Wear the mask. All these scare tactics, that is out there. It was in a restaurant that was according to the governors executive order. I think you should wear a mask. As i said before, virginia couldnt get masks from anywhere. When congress was doing nothing, i was working hard. So we could protect First Responders and other folks that are out there. I say wear the mask. If it protects you. One of the problems with the whole pandemic has been just misinformation and it is unfortunately people have fallen back on their political sides. The reality is i trust you. Trust individuals, i trust you, once you have the correct information from experts, from scientists, all that, you will do best and protect yourself and your family. I dont think some of these politicians, the orders they mandated, some of the lockdowns have been that have been much more harmful than the pandemic themselves. I dont trust them but i do trust you. Congresswoman. I think people should wear masks. Its common sense. We learned how the virus spreads. The cdc director said himself that it is the most important thing. I would like to respond to mr. Taylors comments that congress did nothing. We have had four major Coronavirus Relief packages. Four, either unanimously or broadly bipartisan that led to the Payroll Protection Program, funding for hospitals, funding for testing, funding for state and local legislation for funding. It led to additional assistance for money for agriculture that provided additional food relief and a lot of Different Things in the time of rate need in this country. For him to say congress did nothing is wrong. The truth is, what happened is from the top, the administration did not make a consistent plan. A plan to acquire and distribute ppe. Everyone is fighting and going around trying to get ppe from different places with a limited supply and bidding against each other. That is what we are lacking. We need a consistent plan. We need leadership from the top to fight the virus, to implement the right measures. Yes or no really quickly . Should there be a National Mask order mandate from the federal level . I dont think there needs to be a mandate. I think people use common sense and respect health of other people around them and wear a mask. This is an even you know. Mr. Taylor. This is an even you know. Heres the reality with ppe. There does need leadership. I know federal government was trying to distribute to the hardhit area of new york which is why it is so tough to get it here in virginia. 80 of the critical manufacturer supplies are manufactured in china. The reality is policies joe biden supports created that. Elaine luria is personally invested in companies that benefit from manufacturing in china. We need to get back we will talk about china. He invoked my name. And you will get a chance to talk about it now. Nicholas marshall from Virginia Beach asked, what action should be taken for the virus in terms of china and how will it be in legislation . He took time to write in and listen right now. I thought he would appear on the screen. Sorry. [laughter] thank you nicholas for the question. It is very troubling that this virus spread and spread around the world at such an alarming rate. If i understand the question, he asked what are we going to do about it . I mention some of the things we have done in the covid packages we have done. One thing that is truly the barrier to getting the package done is having agreement across the aisle and from the administration that it is important to put the right amount of funds into developing a vaccine. That is one of the sticking points. It is unfathomable to me that we are still unable to come to an agreement about the fact that we need adequate resources for testing. I recall the president saying, dont test so many people because you wont know if there are positive cases. It is truly absurd. Lets be blind and not test people so they dont know they are sick and keep spreading . That is the kind of leadership we have had which is no leadership at the top. I am dedicated in congress to working on this bipartisan package. I was on part of the problem solvers package to put together the framework for negotiations and i am optimistic we will have a package by the end of the week to provide resources toward tracking, tracing, testing and a vaccine and getting it distribute it to everyone including you, nicholas. Mr. Taylor. I think there has been a lack of leadership in washington for quite some time that predates both of our times. I think the question was very good. Number one, this country should never be beholden to china or any country in terms of ppe, critical medical supplies. 80 of pharmaceuticals and active ingredients come from china. Most americans dont know that. They dont understand those lifesaving pills every day we take are made in china. We dont have the resources or authority with the fda to inspect all those factories. I dont trust that and i certainly dont trust chinas timeline. I think they withheld information. They had millions of people that were in wuhan at Chinese New Year that traveled all around the world to spread this thing. They were not responsible actors on the international stage. I think they should be held accountable and there should be legislation that allows to them to be sued, at least by nations that have caused crazy damage to the country. Again, i am from the delmar peninsula. I remember growing up when a factory closed and went to china and grown men were picking corn next to me on the farm because their jobs went to china. We need new leadership that has not been the same for the past decade so we can never rely on any nation for critical medical supplies. It has been a fascinating debate here at the wtkr studios. Certainly is. You are watching the debate between virginia second congressional candidates scott taylor and elaine luria. It has been spirited so far. When we come back, the candidates will ask questions of each other. Stay with us. This is about to be much more spirited. The candidates have a chance to ask each other a question. I appreciate it. First i want to say i have been endorsed by every sheriff, the fraternal order of police, the highest score of any candidate because they understand my policies make our community more safe. That being said come over there is an issue with our Black Brothers and sisters we are looking for a question. Its coming. The reality is neither one of us can look through the lens of a black experience. You meet and listen with everyone. My question is to you, why is it you have not met with a black lives matter group you have talked about for two years and say you are passionate, but you failed to meet with them . Mr. Taylor, there you go again with the lies. Thats from them, not from me. I have met with the black lives matter group. I have met with the leader of the group and set up a forum with other elected officials including myself, congresswoman bobby scott, several local officials, state senators and delegates to listen to his concerns. It was a zoom meeting that lasted over an hour. I have definitely met with that group and attended numerous prayer vigils in the light of the tragic murder of george floyd and Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor with our Faith Community in norfolk, and Virginia Beach, and williamsburg. I just cant understand its not from me. It is them. They say you have not met with them. Its not me saying this. You asked your question. My answer is that was false. I have met with them. I met with numerous other groups in the Community Working hard on these issues. The National Ministers conference in Virginia Beach, the tidewater ministers conference, i met with the urban league, the naacp. Mr. Taylor wanted to make a big fuss about the fact that he think i want to refuse debate. In fact, the interdenomiNational Ministers conference requested a debate and he never answered the invitation. I just dont understand where he gets his information. Do i got to respond to that . You are getting a question. Congresswoman, you can ask. Ok. Mr. Taylor, since you chose this topic, i will continue in that vein. Recent events such as the murder of george floyd and Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery have shown light on policing practices and systemic racism in the country. I have listed some of your comments and online stream to vent about these issues about race and equality. One of your comments stood out. I will just quote something you said on labor day on a livestream. You said racism against exists against white people, too. You know . Theres no such thing as white privilege. I want to understand from your perspective as a white man in america, if you can give us and viewers an example of how you have experienced racism yourself. Let me say that neither elaine luria nor myself have experienced life through the lens a black person does. Period. We can listen. We can look for inequalities and systems and try to solve problems and make them more fair. What i want to say is elaine luria, it is all rhetoric. Theres not one accomplishment for inequalities and inequities in the system. Let me tell you what i have done. When i was a delegate, i worked on criminal Justice Reform to get folks, the records expunged, after 25 years old. In congress, i passed the ashanti alert act which would save lives and give parity and attention for minority women who get less attention than white women when they go missing. I passed a Community Policing bill endorsed by the Congressional Black Caucus and Law Enforcement. I also had my language signed into law and the first setback, which has set many people free to ban the shackling of pregnant women. While ms. Luria will continue to use this as a campaign rhetoric, my reality is you have still not answer the question. I think shes tried to do a followup. The question is, have you felt racism at all . I dont. I have not felt racism, no. Ok. We got an answer. I would like a followup as well. Everybody wants followups. Remember that at your next press conference. [laughter] i will take control here. We only have a few moments left. Really quickly, in a few short seconds, Police Reform. What would you like to see congress due in january . I was in support of the justice and policing act. That should allow Police Officers to be held liable in court . That ends noknock warrants, it banned chokehold, and provides additional funding to police to prevent racial profiling. Since we are talking about this, theres only one person on this stage, because im sure hes going to bring it up, i do not support defunding the police. Theres only one person who has voted to do that. These are the Appropriations Bills mr. Taylor passed in congress. Community orienting policing, he voted to cut it by 275 million. Mr. Taylor, what Police Reform would you like to see . What shes not saying as it would reduce the penalty that assault on Law Enforcement officers to misdemeanor. Thats dangerous. If you assault her or her family, thats a felony. Its very hypocritical. Ok, it is time now for closing statements. You get to keep talking, mr. Taylor. Let me first say, im endorsed by every Law Enforcement agency here. Ms. Luria has not been endorsed by any of them. Her policies would make our community and you less safe. This evening and this race is about contrast. It is a myth my opponent is a moderate. Sure, both of us support veterans and the military, but its easy. There is difference in our actual votes. That is why she ran the nastiest Smear Campaign in virginia and continues to do so to hide from that, to hide from her own record. The choice is clear. My opponent supports nancy pelosi over 90 of the time. She voted to use taxpayer dollars for her own campaign expenses. She has been silent and absent as the working people of the district and businesses have been severely harmed by politicians whose decisions affect their own paychecks. She was silent and absent on violence and vandalism and businesses busted up. She was silent when the American Flag was ordered down from the Commonwealth Capital the day before Independence Day because it might be a target for protesters. That is disqualifying in itself. I will never be silent, i will always fight for us. I want you to ask for us, who would you rather have fighting for you, for this community and commonwealth and the country. Am asking for your vote november 3. Congresswoman. Thank you so much. This is a great opportunity for many issues. I want to point out more about the hard work we have done with my team. I introduced 19 pieces of legislation and 11 of those were passed by the house and six are signed into law. Two of them are on the president s desk including their reauthorization for cleanup funding. I will tell you theres a clear contrast between the two of us. What ive done is i have worked to protect your health care and coverage for people with preexisting conditions. My opponent voted for legislation that would remove that coverage thats false. When that didnt work because senator john mccain showed up very ill himself and made sure it did not pass in the senate, in 2017 he went back and voted for the tax cuts and jobs act which remove the penalty for the individual mandate which opens the door to the court in the case we will see in the Supreme Court november 10. He couldnt do it by voting for it and voted for something to take your health care away. There are 23 million americans who could lose their health care and he very clearly said he doesnt believe in Medicaid Expansion so the 380,000 who have health today during a pandemic, it is disgraceful. And we dont have time to talk about more of the issues but i truly it is an honor to have served you and ask for your vote again. Candidates, thank you. It has been a spirited debate. Everyone at home, now you get to go vote. Fascinating discussion. Thank you so much joe and the candidates of course. Coming up in a few minutes on the Facebook Page, news 3 political analysts will weigh in on this debate. Head on over to the Facebook Page and check out the analysis of t we thank joe st. George for moderating. Announcer listen on the free cspan radio app. Your place for an unfiltered view of politics. Announcer today, the Senate Continues debate on the confirmation of judge Amy Coney Barrett to the u. S. Supreme court. Senate republican Mitch Mcconnell has filed a motion to limit debate on the nomination, with the vote on that motion expected this afternoon. Theassed, the final vote on Amy Coney Barrett confirmation would take placement evening. The Senate Reconvenes at noon eastern. Follow live coverage on
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