Rates this race leans republican. Mr. Malinowski and mr. Kaine. They worked very closely with us to put this together. My staff has worked tirelessly, and continues to do so. You will see them running all over the place. Our videographer from premier media is working, we have a live feed going of this event and we expect a lot of people to be watching it. Robert batiste from extreme excellent entertainment is joining us now. So if you cant hear, raise your hand and robert will make sure we get that right. Finally, i want to thank the holiday inn and the staff here. For those of you that dont follow these kind of trends, finding enough workers in the Hospitality Industry is a real challenge. So the holiday inn really went through a lot of efforts to get us here. Finally i want to recognize our sponsors this morning. They are horizon, blue cross, blue shield. New jerseys premier warehouse company. Community Access Unlimited and inroads to opportunity. If you could all join me in giving them a big hand. [applause] so we have been hosting this debate for 24 years now. We have never had a room this full, and weve never had this much press coverage. So i kind of wonder why, what makes this year so different . You jim. Jim gateway is the largest Business Association and the north jersey, new york metropolitan region, and we uncritically believe support a Strong Economy and vibrant Business Community. And as such, these debates are comprised of questions concerning only business and economic issues. Our plan is to have a serious discussion on these issues. We hope that you will find it incredibly boring, but informative. We need much more detail than the usual one or two line responses that you see in the campaign. Let me say that i know both of these men well and i have worked closely with them for years. I consider them both to be friends. I respect them both, they are both serious, and they are both thoughtful and smart. They are both strong supporters of the Business Community. And they are both gentlemen and patriots, and i expect that they will show themselves as such this morning. Quick note on titles. Both candidates have prestigious titles. We have congressman and senator. But in this debate, both of them are applying for the job as representative for the seventh congressional district, so i will refer to both of them as mr. Rather than using their elected titles. Finally, let me say a little bit about the debate format because i do not like this format. Every two years when we put this together we survey our membership about topics that are of importance to them. We bring that down to five topics, and then we are allowed to do two questions on each topic. In the responses, the time that i can allow for that is three minutes and how do you have a serious discussion when you only have three minutes to answer . But if i gave unlimited time we would be here all day, and that probably would not work either. So, ground rules. Each candidate will make a three minute Opening Statement and finished with a three minute closing statement. The order was chosen by a coin flip with Campaign Managers from both campaigns. Questions will be asked on five topics. The topics were provided to the candidates in advance, but not the specific questions that will be asked. Each candidate will have three minutes to answer a question. Each candidate will then have two minutes to do a rebuttal of what their opponent said or two minutes to answer another question. Hold up the card so the candidates can see them. With 30 seconds left they yellow card will go up, and when your time is up, the red card will go up. So please keep an eye on that timekeeper. If you dont i will cut you off. Finally, am going to ask the audience to refrain from getting overly excited and clapping, yelling, or especially making rude noises. During the answers. After all, what we are talking about is economics here and how exciting could that be. So we are going to begin with three minutes Opening Statements. As i said, the two campaigns have flipped a coin and mr. Kaine, please, you may go first. Mr. Kean thank you jim, thank you to the chamber and thank you to the people in this room paying so much attention to our democracy and being involved in the process. I believe, deeply, and public service. One person could make a difference. As a volunteer firefighter or in the state senate as Senate Republican leader, i blocked billions of dollars of spending and taxes that otherwise would have been forced on the hardworking citizens of new jersey. I preserve the character of our communities and created new jobs to generations of businesses in the state of new jersey. Bell labs, or anybody else have a dream for the state of new jersey. I listened so i could work on their behalf. But now, the issues that are impacting the residents of this district, with the national in scope, we have the highest rate of inflation, outrageous spending in washington, d. C. That weve had in 40 years. And when we look at what the problem is, its because the incumbent member of congress, Tom Malinowski, votes with Nancy Polasky nancy pelosi 100 of the time. Whether they were republican or democrat, this amount of spending would cripple the economy, would hurt the supply chains. Make new jersey in this country far more unaffordable. In less secure at home and abroad. But instead of listening to the economists, instead of listening to his constituents, he followed Nancy Pelosis lead 100 of the time. And as a result weve got this outofcontrol inflation. Im running for congress so i can break the back of inflation. Responsibly cut the spending coming out of washington, d. C. In short, Energy Independent once again. We have to secure the southern border, make our streets safer. Weve got to lower taxes and lesson regulations in a responsible way. I am asking for your vote and your support today because ive been the majority. Ive been in the minority. Ive been in a split chamber. Ive had republicans and democratic governors alike. Ive always found a way to be part of the governing coalition because thats what my constituents have always needed. Im asking for your support here today and going into november so i can make that difference and be a leader on your behalf in washington, d. C. Thank you. [applause] jim lets try to hold the clapping. Thank you everybody for joining us today mr. Malinowski thank you for everybody joining us today, people i was speaking to in this district, republicans and democrats, had basically lost faith that governments could do anything for them with all the partisanship, gridlock and corruption in washington. I promise to try, i promise to put the country over party, people over politics and to try to do something for new jersey. Heres what happened. People asked me to save the Affordable Care act, protect our health care, make it more affordable. We did. They asked me to finally do something about skyrocketing drug prices in america. Finally allow medicare to negotiate lower drug prices with the pharmaceutical companies and we did. They asked me to pass an infrastructure bill. And we did, the biggest investment in american infrastructure in this countrys history, more than enough to pay for the gateway tunnel to protect our communities from flooding, to fix the roads and the bridges and states of new jersey. We did that. They asked me to stop the bleeding of jobs overseas to end the year of outsourcing in america and we passed the chips and signs act this summer to bring back advanced manufacturing to the United States. They asked me to do something about the surge of gun violence in this country to protect our kids. Finally, we passed the first gun violence prevention bill. We beat the nra and we will do it again. They asked me to do something about the climate crisis, about the extreme weather thats hurting the state of new jersey. We all lived through hurricane ida. To do something to make america the leading transition or of clean energy in the world and we did this summer, the biggest possible way, passing a bill that will finally help make this country free from dependence on foreign oil and foreign dictators. And, now, we find ourselves facing a whole new set of brave challenges. This is a very difficult situation, probably the most dangerous world situation weve had in my lifetime. We are facing a horrible problem with inflation in the United States in every country in the world is hurting, every single one of us. As you listen to us today i hope you ask yourself a couple of questions. Who has actually delivered. Compare my records of four years in washington to tom kanes record. And who has a plan . Senator kaine hasnt said very much about what he would actually do to break the back of inflation. Maybe he will today. Id be very curious to hear what it is. His party in washington, the ascendant leaders of his party in washington have put forward absolutely no plan to deal with this economic situation, but they do have a very specific plan for banning abortion. Thats the difference. Its moderation first is maga. Infrastructure bills or insurrection. We make the choice. Thank you. [applause] jim ok, again, if we could hold the applause, please. Not surprisingly the first topic we are going to discuss today is inflation. Mr. Malinowski. You supported, im pretty sure, every piece of covid relief legislation starting with the cares act in march of 2020. In fact, i remember speaking to you about this when the economy was in free fall, and it was widely agreed that we needed to throw a lot of money at the problem. On december 2020, the economy had stabilized and was coming along. However, Congress Passed the covid relief release act at 9 billion when President Trump signed it as his last major piece of legislation. That was followed by the American Rescue plan at one point 9 trillion in march of 2021. The San Francisco fed, the most progressive of all the Federal Reserve fed federal bangs, estimates that these two pieces of legislation are responsible for 3 of current 8 inflation rate. Did we end up throwing too much money at covid . Mr. Malinowski lets remember where we were two years ago today. The American Economy wasnt freefalling, as you correctly put it. Tens of millions of americans were unemployed, through no fault of their own. Virtually every single business, particularly the mainstreet businesses in america was shut down. And mr. Kaine referred to every single economist in america telling us, do something big, do something fast to solve that problem. Had we not done so, this country would today be in a great depression. Those jobs would not have come back. Those businesses would not have come back. Id love to hear senator kaine tell us exactly what we did that he thought was wrong. I make no apology for bringing the American Economy back from what would have been a great depression. What else might we have done wrong. I dont know, he hasnt been specific. In the final bill that we pass, we provided something that i vote for very hard. That was direct assistance to our small municipalities. Do you know who i was listening to when i that that. Our mayors, our county officials, republicans and democrats. I convened meeting, after meeting after meeting and they were bleeding revenue because of the covid pandemic, and many of them wrote to washington, they wrote republicans and democrats, asking for us to do this. I gather senator kaine kean wouldve been against listening to do what was right. We did what was right, they were able to pay the firefighters and cops, keep our Public Services going. The warden county commissioners, all republican. Add a statement earlier this year said they were able to cut property taxes because of the American Rescue plan. We brought back the jobs, we brought back the businesses, now we face the challenge of bringing back the patients to go with that because inflation is a very serious problem. Id much rather be facing that challenge then having an American Economy in a great depression. Jim thank you. Mr. Kaine mr. Kean, inflation is running over 8 , a level not seen since the 1820s. Why are we in the cycle and how can we fix it . To get back to a lower rate . Mr. Kean i have a friend who lives in raleigh, hes a carpenter, he tells me his monthly living expenses. Its upwards of 800 a month. Think about that. Thats unacceptable in that household or any household across the state, in its directly because Tom Malinowski didnt listen to the economist who said you cannot continue to spend, even the new york times, in retrospect said, maybe they spent too much, maybe they continued to exacerbate the problem and make it worse. Because he only listened to nancy pelosi. Every single place she wants him to vote and to be, he was there. Thats not the type of leadership we need on your behalf down and washington, d. C. In the legislator, i led the way to block billions in spending, to find responsible ones. I would never have allowed things like luxury golf courses to get funded. Ski slopes, hotel with federal government funding the way he did. The extra irs agents. 85,000 of them, think about that, thats an Metlife Stadium full of permanent irs agents continually in government. The things you need to do, as i have done, tried to responsibly reduce spending and control costs. Lower taxes. Jim we are out of time on this. Mr. Kean make sure Energy Independent and finally, shorten the supply chains so theres more manufacturing here and less transportation costs. Because all of the aggregate energy spent is everybody in our homes. Jim thank you. Gas prices are a major component of inflation and probably the most complained about. I do it every time i fill up my car. Should we take the brakes off Oil Production and use that to get prices down in this country . Mr. Malinowski i think we are going to be playing the nancy pelosi drinking game. Whoever has nancy pelosi is going to be really hammered by the end of this. So, theres a bunch there are would like to rebut at some point, but you asked about gas prices, absolutely. In one of the things we actually did in the Inflation Reduction Act, which is light about all the time, we put a rule in there that said for every new lease that the government gives out for solar or wind projects or Renewable Energy projects, there has to be one police per fossil fuel contract in the United States. We understand that we need increased Energy Production in the United States right now. We also need increased Energy Production across the road. I and the leading voice in the United States congress right now for Holding Saudi arabia accountable for what they just did to hurt the United States and help russia by cutting Oil Production. I understand that. But at the same time, if we want to be free of dependence on Foreign Energy and foreign oil, you have to understand that oil is a global commodity. Even if we increase Oil Production and refining in the United States, and by the way, refining is the big problem right now, we are producing as much oil in America Today as we were three years ago, the problem is the refineries and the Oil Companies were not investing in maintenance of refineries. They shut down refineries. Even if we did that, we would still be at the mercy of the saudis, the russians, the venezuelans, and we will be until we moved to clean energy. So the bill we passed supports oil and Gas Development in the United States right now that represents the biggest investment weve ever made in making america the leader of the world and transitioning to clean energy. That is the way we break the back of our dependence on foreign oil and dictators. Jim mr. Kean, same question, should we take the brakes off Oil Production in this country . Mr. Kean my opponent is a leading voice for the failed policies that got us into the situations we are in today. We are dependent on other individuals that have different priorities that we do here at home. The fact that my opponent and its allies and washington, d. C. Made it harder to drill at home, we need in all of the above Energy Shadow g. It includes nuclear. I support both of those. But if we are truly going to be Energy Independent, we have to make sure we have the cleanest oil and natural gas being drilled here in this country versus any other country. We should be Energy Efficient and Energy Independent. But the policies not just the actual bill. It is also making sure that the oversight over the administration, which is not allowing those to go through, not allowing these things Going Forward in a timely fashion, we need to ensure that we rely on American Energy. In my opponent and his president has not allowed us to rely on our own Energy Resources and responsible way. And the reason we are at risk, whether it saudi arabia, iran, russia, venezuela, or anybody else, is because hes not trusting the American Energy industry and for us to rely on our own energy for our own common futures and instead is relying on others to make decisions on behalf of americans. Thats not leadership. Jim thank you. Ok, we will move on to our second topic, which is the workforce. Mr. Kean, we are seeing rapid increases in wages that factor into the inflation rate. In large part this is because there are millions of jobs going unfilled. I often say that if i had 10,000 High School Students with no skills and no experience, i could get them jobs tomorrow and between 34 and 50,000 a year. Have our benefit programs gone too far . How do we get people back to work . Mr. Kean i think there is no question to the nature of the american workforce, right now is changing. Whether its trying to get a car repaired or whether you are cooking your favorite groceries, cereal at your local Grocery Store, weve all seen delays. That means supply chains, it means the warehouses arent being emptied, it means the ships arent being unloaded. Its a many faceted thing. It includes many component parts. The first thing we need to ensure is we continue to have broadband infrastructure for those different work hours so individuals can work at home. Infrastructure like the gateway project to ensure we have a robust transportation and infrastructure. We have to make sure we have skills trainings programs to make sure those individuals are educator educated and able to do the job. We also need to ensure we lower the overall tax burden on individuals so we can have that type of partnership to make sure people are able to get to work and have an education to achieve jim thank you. Same question, are our benefit programs encouraging people not to work, and how can we get people back to work . Mr. Malinowski let me just go back to the last allimportant exchange. Senator kean said he would in inflation, he did not say a word about how he would do it apart from fixing supply chains and Energy Independence. The two huge bills that we just passed in the United States congress that he approached. He said theres too much spending, he did not name a single Spending Program he would cut apart from a golf course. By the way, that golf course that was funded is in union county, which you have represented for the last 20 years. You did nothing about the fact that we had a publicly funded golf course in new jersey, as if that would actually end inflation in the United States. This is silly, this is not serious. Jim the labor market . Mr. Malinowski we ended the covert release benefit program. The problem is that we, right now the United States of america, have more jobs than before the pandemic early because of the infrastructure bill. All the productive investments that we have made, we have more jobs, we have fewer people. We lost over one million americans. We have people resigning from the workforce. People retiring early. We also had a fouryear shutdown and Legal Immigration to the United States of america. So what is the solution to this problem . Number one, we do need a different culture of training and work in this country. We need more emphasis on the trades, we need more emphasis on Community Colleges, not every kid needs to go to a fouryear school. We also need to restore the ecosystem. The Republican Party used to believe in under ronald reagan, and that is that this country needs Legal Immigration. The only thing you said about immigration in your campaign, senator kean, on your alternative website, is that you will build a wall. In every Single Person i speak to who owns a business in the state of new jersey, large and small, is telling me the same thing, we need Legal Immigration to expand the size of our workforce, otherwise we cannot grow. Jim im sorry, your time is up. That was a really nice segue because mr. Kean, throughout the history of our country, we have looked towards immigrants to solve labor shortages. Since congress cannot seem to pass any type of comprehensive Immigration Reform legislation, would it be a good idea to totally revamp our Guest Worker Program and make it fast and easy to use guestworkers to alleviate those shortages . Mr. Kean i served in the state legislator for 20 years. And every day the congress didnt do its job on fixing Border Security for the immigration system. People on the local level had to make the decisions and react to that. Clearly we need to have a broader reform. Its all part of a comprehensive solution. Yes, we need to secure the southern border. Yes, we need to continue the Doctor Program and keep those types of promises. Yes, we need to work on the agriculture programs, the i. T. Programs within the shortterm to ensure we meet those needs. But that doesnt say that because congress hasnt been doing its job for the last 20 years that this problem exists. I will get down the washington, d. C. And find the Common Ground because we can have programs like dhaka and reform the immigration system in a responsible way that treats families barely across the globe, while making sure we have security here at home. Jim how can we get a vibrant Guest Worker Program to help us through these labor shortages . Mr. Malinowski elect people to congress who believe in Legal Immigration. Look, theres a reason why congress has been stuck on this. 10 years ago we had a bipartisan comprehensive Immigration Reform that was passed by john mccain and Lindsey Graham and democrats in the United States senate that wouldve secured our border, and i voted for tens of billions of dollars for Border Security in the last few years, and it also wouldve give it a pathway to citizenship, to legal work for millions of peoples hardworking immigration in the country that wouldve been verified for our employers. This was a good bipartisan middleoftheroad solution in the ascendant wing of the Republican Party blocked it in the house. We passed, and the house last year, reform to our farmworker immigration program. We actually got about 20, 40 republicans who were brave enough to cross the aisle and vote for it. Its blocked by republicans in the United States senate. You think this guy who ran and announces campaign with kevin mccarthy, who demonizes immigrants everything a day, this guy, who in his republican primary, the only thing he said was we have to build a wall. You think he will go there and somehow convince a Republican Party that its going to break with the maggio wing to break with trump and break with the wall descending in their party and pass Immigration Reform . Are you kidding. Look at what ron desantis is doing. Look with the emerging leaders are doing on immigration. Using human beings as pawns to try to get votes, to get people angry at immigrants and blame immigrants for the problems in our country. Its a joke. I will support comprehensive Immigration Reforms that include security, that includes enforcement was rules on employers, but is also consistent with the generosity of the country and the economic self interest of this country. Thats what we need. [applause] jim thank you. If we could hold the clapping, please. Now we will move into the discussion of health care. And it will be about the Affordable Care act. Weve had this every year since 2010 when the Affordable Care act was first passed. Mr. Malinowski, the Affordable Care act has become an accepted part of the American Health care system. More than 30 Million People were added to the roles of the insurer because of the aca. However, there is still 30 million uninsured in this country, why is that. Mr. Malinowski we took a gigantic step forward with the Affordable Care act. Thats not forget a few years ago it came within one vote in the United States senate of being repealed. We all know whos vote that was, it was john mccain. And then we lost john mccain. And the democrats also lost the house that year, the Affordable Care act would have been repealed in tens of millions of americans would have had no health care during the covid pandemic. Now we feel like it settled law, i hope it settled law, but you know what else we thought was settled law in america, roe v. Wade, for 50 years. And do not doubt this, that if, again, the ascendant maggio wing of the Republican Party takes control of the party, that the Affordable Care act will be eight in the crosshairs again. I hope it doesnt happen, its on us to prevent that. What we have done, because the number one complaint about the aca when i first ran was that it wasnt affordable and that was a fair critique. Fair critique. We passed legislation that middleclass americans pay for Health Insurance at 8. 5 of their income. That was a huge advance in making health care not just accessible, but affordable for millions of middleclass americans who didnt have that before. I think we need to take additional steps forward. I think we should allow every single american to be able to buy and to a public option, to have light medicare so that its not just more access to health care, more competition in the Health Care Marketplace to keep those insurance rates there. So thats what i would do, i would build on that progress, and i will make sure if im elected, that we are not going to go back to the world that existed for the Affordable Care act. Thank you. Jim mr. Kean, same quest mr. Kean, same question, still 30 Million People uninsured, why is that . Mr. Kean too many people in this district are making a difficult decision of whether they could pay for prescription drug, for food, or pay to keep their home. Thats unacceptable. In my opponent, just this summer , gave the Congressional Budget Office that the inflation act would increase the cost of prescription drugs, which would make peoples lives west concern. We need to make sure theres more transparency to the drug pricing system. So there are no surprises to the supply chain. We need to ensure that we connect preexisting conditions. We need to make sure there are more jobs and more cures found here at home so we can have those types of affordability and solutions so we can cure cancer and diabetes and build solutions. My opponent floated for a piece of legislation that makes it more difficult. My i on the other hand, on the state level, make sure that we ensure physical and Mental Health was treated the exact same by the Insurance Companies. I made sure that when you had the cancer people people being treated for cancer, that they had copays capped, and we ensure that we had more opportunities for people who had predict ability and the supply chain. We can do that down on washington, d. C. If we could find that Common Ground, tax preexisting conditions, have more innovation and opportunity to find that solution, and that will help ensure more people are seeking insurance and affordability options as well. Jim mr. Malinowski . Providing subsidies for the Affordable Care act makes it more affordable for individuals, but that is simply shifting the cost from individuals to taxpayers. How in general can we make health care more affordable. The Inflation Reduction Act takes a stab at this, but it only does tend drugs, only for medicare, and not until 2026, so its not something thats going to really have much effect. But how can we make health care more affordable, or at least stop these tremendous increases we are seeing yearoveryear . Mr. Malinowski thats an excellent question and i agree with the premise of it. We made it more affordable but we have not yet done enough to attack the underlying problem, which is the fact that americans pay about 12 of our National Income on health care. Other countries have 6 or 7 even though there health care is pretty much as good as ours. Again, we made prescription drugs more affordable. We made Health Insurance more affordable and i do not want to downplay the importance of those achievements because again, itll class americans are going to benefit from that right now. The Inflation Reduction Act does take on part of this underlying problem, which is the fact that in america we pay, seniors in particular pay three times, five times, six times as much for medicines than other countries. Senator kean just said something very strange, that the cbo somehow said that this would make drugs less affordable and could cost more money. Im sorry, the cdo said it would save medicare hundreds of billions of dollars over the next 10 years. Even though, you are right, we are only negotiating 10 drugs in 2026, then 20, than 30, then 40, then 50, and more in succeeding years. This will save seniors money. That may be clear, i am in favor of allowing medicare to negotiate lower drug prices for our seniors. That is commonsense. Everyone i speak to, republicans and democrats in the district believes that. President trump promised to get that done. Just got it done in senator kean was against it. Theres a very clear distinction between us and the campaign. In terms of dealing with the underlying costs, i already mention Something Else i would support, which is to create more competition in the Health Insurance marketplace by allowing americans to choose whether they want a private Health Insurance plan or whether they want to buy into an option on the public marketplace like etiquette. I have supported that for everybody, ive been trying to pass a much more modest bill to support that for our firefighters, police officers, first responders. That is something i believe in capitalism and Market Competition and our Insurance Companies have been protected from that. That is an important thing we could do practically that would begin to get at the underlying problem you mention. Jim mr. Kean, same question, what can we do to bring down Health Care Costs or put more control over them for the entire population . Mr. Kean as you discuss, too often, and the Inflation Reduction Act is one of them, you remove money that should be in medicare, and use it for another purpose, which in the end, makes everything more expensive. I think the best way for us to reduce insurance, number one, the cost of insurance, we need to take on the large Insurance Companies. Right now they have too much power in every single negotiation. I think thats a start. We have to have more competition in finding more drugs and more opportunities. People in this district dont support prices. One Affordable Health care. In the bill that my opponent continues to support will make health care now in overtime more affordable. And state levels i was able to find the Common Ground that actually address the affordability and accessibility. So you could do that while protecting these conditions and having a longterm plan that makes health care far more affordable and also more accessible, as we were talking about earlier. [applause] jim ok, before we move into our next topic of discussion, which is Public Health, i want to note ive been asking about the aca since 2012, and i hope that one day one of the candidates or some member of congress is going to take note that 5 of the population accounts for 70 of health care expenditures. We have some really sick people out there in we need to start discussing how to efficiently and effectively deliver care to them because thats really where the cost driver is. This conversation is very relevant for where we are moving next into Public Health. And we are going to talk about the farm bill. So, for years, ive been trying to figure out how to get the farm bill into this discussion and finally, last week, senator booker showed me the way. So, we are going to talk about farm bill, probably something that is never discussed in new jerseys political circles. The farm bill was first passed in 1933 and is renewed every five years, so its coming up for renewal in 2023, it will be a big part of the next congress. It was designed to make sure that the United States never suffered a shortage of food, and it did this by ensuring that there is so much production that even in a disastrous year, like this year, there is enough of a harvest that there is plenty of food for everyone. I think that its one of the most important pieces of legislation that congress deals with on an ongoing basis. By 1939, and forgive me for giving all of this history, but since nobody knows what the farm bill is, and its kind of important, by 1939 it became clear that the farm bill worked so well, that we just had huge surpluses that were in storage. So, to programs were developed to manage those huge surpluses. One was the export program to export u. S. Grain, primarily overseas. The second one was the Food Stamp Program. Again, both were designed to cut down on the storage caused by excess production. So, as a Public Health matter, mr. Kean, today the Food Stamp Program, which is called the supplemental nutrition assistance program, or snapped, accounts for about 75 of the usdas budget. It is no longer targeted to eliminate food surpluses, but rather to provide nutritional support the low income houses. Should the snap program be part of the usda budget, or would it be better placed in hhs where could be coordinated with other forms of Health Assistance . Mr. Kean jim, you must not out very much. The farm bill is discussed with great frequency throughout this district and those issues. Im just joking. Sorry. When you go around this district, whether its the snap benefits or agriculture, and making sure they are actually looking at the supply chain issue and that we are actually growing things, especially when you look at the war in ukraine and the impacts of substantial global withdraws and food supplies, it is an issue thats discussed. I think that continuing to ensure we meet the needs i think the answer is, whatever it is, make sure the Food Stamp Program and the other programs are best and most efficiently delivered and im happy to work with senator booker and 7 and anybody else down there. We were able to transform several programs on Health Services in an efficient way by moving those responsibilities to other areas. But at the end of the day its whatever it is that allows Food Security and the liability and affordability. Jim mr. Malinowski, same question. Mr. Malinowski if we are talking about snap, lets bring this back to the real world and whats happening in congress. We have an ascendant wing of the Republican Party in washington, d. C. That has tried time and time again. They dont have the majority right now, the but they tried time and time again to either significantly cut or eliminate the snap program or to impose work requirements, which would actually be an antiwork provision. Because families who are struggling, making minimum wage or very low wages, they are working, but they need things like the snap program to be able to take care of their kids. No child in this country, no child should go hungry. No child should be deprived of the most important thing that Everybody Needs for survival, and thats having three healthy meals every single day. So, those are nice words, but lets remember whats at stake in this election, is, who controls congress for the next two years, and if we have a change, its going to be attack after attack after attack on basic nutrition. In terms of the farm bill in our district, one of my concerns, and this is purely a Public Health issue. Talked about problems with our Health Insurance systems and the importance of getting drug prices down, but we also have in agricultural system supported by big industry, and for many, many years, by the federal government, that emphasizes the production of things that arent actually very healthy for us. We subsidize corn syrup more than we subsidize carrots. We have a category in the usda, i want to change this, that they referred to as specialty crops. Do you know what specialty crops are, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, things we actually need. And i talked to our farmers in this district, thats actually what we grow in this part of new jersey. We dont have huge commodity agriculture, we have a lot of smaller farms that grow things that people want to eat. I want to do with the farm program is to provide more Government Support for the types of farming that farmers in new jersey actually do and produce food thats healthy for us to eat. Jim mr. Kean, when we discuss health care spending, i mentioned that a small number of people account for most of the health care expenditures. The bulk of the spending formalities is related to diets and lifestyles. They include heart disease, stroke, diabetes and obesity. The largest single expenditure by snap programs recipients is for soft drinks. It is followed closely by spending for prepared deserts, bagged snacks like potato chips, and other pretty unhealthy foods. These purchases are not that different from the general population, which should the Government Spending money on unhealthy food and then spending more money on the Health Care Costs that result from those bad choices . Do not allow food stamps to be used for alcohol and tobacco. Mr. Kean i think that i did the snap program for a week and many other legislators here in new jersey. And when you go and search the Grocery Store shelves, if you are trying to live on that budget, you see that if the only food that somebody can afford his wonder bread, peanut butter, a number of other products. So, if we need to ensure that we need to get rid of the food deserts that exist in places and have existed over times, we need to have more support for funding into those areas. I would not limit, in that regard, with the money would be spent for. I think you could do both at the same time, meaning, very specifically, that you can ensure if you are looking at the end result expenses, we can figure out with a partnership between Insurance Companies, hospitals, families, schools, you need to have those types of health programs. At the exact same time we can ensure that they have Healthy Products in their food. Jim mr. Malinowski, same question. Should we be researching restricting what people should buy with food stamps . Mr. Malinowski within reasonable limits, yes, so long as they are affordable and the food program. Again, remember why we have these rules, because of the influence of very big corporate lobbies of members of congress. This is one reason why i have had a policy since i first ran for congress, of not taking Campaign Contributions from corporations, from corporate federal action committees. Thats a big difference for myself and senator kean. And, jim, let me just say, youve exercised editorial judgment by introducing this issue, which i agree is very important, but if we are going to be talking about Public Health in america, how could we not talk about the fact that women across this country, and half of the states in this country, are being denied by legislation supported by my opponents party, one of the most basic Public Health services that we have taken for granted for over 50 years. There are women in this country who have miscarriages and doctors are free to treat those miscarriages because they might be free to discriminate. We are having women who are denied drugs at pharmacies that they need for lifethreatening conditions, for pain, for arthritis, for things that they desperately need to preserve their health and pharmacies are denying them these drugs because they are afraid, under these new draconian abortion bands that they will be treated as criminals. One of the big differences is that i support legislation at the federal level that will restore the rights the Supreme Court took away from american women to have Health Care Services and he believes every state should just decide for itself. [applause] i want to move into our last topic which is essential industry. Agriculture was determined to be an essential industry in this country. Recently, the creating the chips act, how long does it take them to come up with these names . [laughter] its one of our most important responsibilities. The chips act was passed recognizing that semiconductors are essential to our economy and national security. Was this a necessary piece of legislation and is it worth the 280 billion price tag . Yes and absolutely. As you look at that price tag, remember most of that money is going to be provided in the form of loans and loan guarantees. It will be paid back to the american taxpayer with interest. The price tag is very deceptive. We are in a race against time. To bring back manufacturing of Critical Technologies like microchips. We used to make the stuff in america. We used to make 35 of the World Semiconductors. Thats about zero now. We have a massive shortage of semiconductors across the world. The reason we had inflation in the Automotive Market place was 100 because of the global chip shortage. 70 of the World Semiconductors are now made in taiwan. If china does to taiwan what russia is doing to ukraine, the impact will be like nothing we are experiencing today. This was absolutely the right thing. It was bipartisan in the senate. Its a great thing for the American Economy and in the last you weeks, we have had announcements of job creating investments in the United States producing microchips. I passed a second bill in the house, i wrote the supply chain provisions of this bill with Adam Kinzinger that would do for other industries what we are doing for microchips because we cannot be dependent on countries like china anymore. With this legislation, what it would do is create an office at the department of commerce that will monitor our supply chains 24 7, anticipating supply chain disruptions before they happen and invest billions of dollars mostly loans and loan guarantees to help manufacturers bring those jobs those supply chains back home to america and arias like battery technology, solar panels. Ppe. Pharmaceutical ingredients. Did you know that more than 90 of the ingredients that make antibiotics that we need in the United States come from china . I dont think that is an acceptable vulnerability. If there is a war over taiwan, i dont want china controlling our antibiotic supply which they currently do. I passed that legislation. There is a version in the senate that we are negotiating right now. We are getting this done. [applause] same question was the chips act necessary . Absolutely it shouldve have been done earlier. My opponent for 30 years in washington has supported exporting manufacturing jobs to china. Only this year has he started to change his tune. He has put us in the position for outsourcing jobs to china and many other countries hurting manufacturing. Now he continues to create those environments here at home where manufacturing is more difficult, the Regulatory Burden is harder, we are not Energy Independent in the ways that we need to be. Wade to ensure Going Forward and i will as your next member of Congress Making sure we have the support for those types of industries. Its also agriculture. Look at the new technology with going to help the land be more efficient and buildings be more efficient for agriculture production. We can do that, but for 30 years, my opponent has supported policies to outsource jobs away from america and now what we need to focus on is manufacturing and creating new jobs and more security here at home by lowering the overall tax burden, making sure we have responsible regulation and stop the irresponsible spending out of washington, d. C. And making sure we have opportunities for our own future in ways that he cannot even understand. [applause] we are almost at the end. You mentioned a couple of other industries that you thought we should focus on. Economists usually frown on that. Looking more for comparative advantage and moving more toward a global economy. Outside of pharmaceuticals and semiconductors, what other industries do you think we should focus on . I hear from politicians all the time good manufacturing jobs. But i cant find workers to go to work in those good manufacturing jobs. An ongoing problem. I have to address the word salad. Im not sure if anyone understood what he said. Ive been in congress for four years, not 30 years. Youve been in washington, d. C. For 30 years. You stay there you never left. This is our last question. This is silly. Youve been in trenton for 20 years, what the hell have you done about costofliving . [applause] what the hell have you done about property taxes that have gone up . You were the Senate Minority leader, you are the most powerful republican in new jersey for the last 20 years. The question is about essential industry. I understand. You said absolutely nothing about what you would do. You mumble about supply chains, i got the job done. Ive been in washington for four years, we passed and infrastructure bill, we passed the chips act, we passed medicare negotiation. You have offered in the last hour absolutely Nothing Specific that you would do other than what we have done. In terms of essential industry, i think i answer that question. I passed legislation in the house that would create a program at the department of congers commerce to establish things that arent essential and things that are essential to our economic and national security. It shouldnt be politicians that make those decisions, but i did name examples of things i think are plainly essential like pharmaceutical ingredients, the technology that we dont want china to dominate in the future. Recently, i was pressing joe biden to take action against the Semiconductor Industry in china and he did. We need those jobs that manufacturing for that kind of technology here in the United States. Then you made another point that i also already addressed which is we are creating all of these jobs. Thats a great thing through the infrastructure bill, the chips act. We are creating them in the United States. We need to train our workforce that are for the jobs that are actually being created which is why emphasize trades and Community Colleges and we need a larger workforce. Theres only one way to do that. That is to break through the far right antiimmigration policies that have shut down most Legal Immigration to this country over the last four years. We have to have more workers, more comprehensive Immigration Reform that allows people who desperately want to work to be taxpayers to contribute to the American Dream to be able to do that. If we arent able to do those things, if we dont stand up to the toxic antiimmigration politics, we are going to solve the problem that you just raised. [applause] same question, what other industries other than semiconductors should we focus on . My opponent is apparently afraid to admit he has lived in washington, d. C. For the last 30 years. Im shocked. Im think you didnt admit that you have lived there. Thats the only thing i said. Manufacturing is the core of who we are in new jersey. As we look in patterson falls, there was something called infant industries. You made sure there were certain economic policies to ensure we have manufacturing and you create policies to ensure hundreds of years ago to make sure you could grow the businesses for a time. My opponents policies have made us less secure. All that the people in this room secure about care about, these are all things that we need to make sure. We need to send a leader to washington, d. C. Who is worked across the aisle to find those solutions to create new tech elegies technologies. That type of leadership whatever industry which we feel is strategic disadvantage right now and whether thats agriculture various areas of technology other areas of chips whatever it is that allows us to compete because i think when we solve the pandemic hit we all saw the impact of what happened when chips were coming over from china and what they could do if they stopped pushing over the pharmaceutical and the bandaids. Way to make sure we have more manufacturing here at home. Way to make sure this is a regional effort Going Forward so we have a Strong Manufacturing base. Low tax burden, Energy Independence because therefore you have liability. Nobody wants to be told they can only plug their cars and from 5 00 to 9 00 p. M. If theres an energy grid that doesnt work, how is somebody going to have a hightech is this is created here. Im afraid were out of time. Solve the problems immediately so we can make Going Forward. Now we are going to move into the concluding remarks. For your closing remarks, i want to ask a question to get to your underlying philosophy. People have jobs because of business. Government has tax revenue because of business. Without strong this dissector, the economy will fail and the government will fail. However, the business is aligned by the media and the government. What can you do to make people realize the importance of a vibrant business sector and get them the support they need . Thank you for hosting this event. Thank you to everybody for being here today. We need to focus on as a country quality of opportunity for people who are seeking the American Dream. We have to have the tax policies and the leadership at all levels of government at all levels of industry at all levels of nonprofits. You are an extraordinary advocate for the Business Community. The nonprofits in this region. You lead the strongest chamber in new jersey but you do it with strength and foresight and passion. When i go and talk to people about what they want and how to create the policies Going Forward, we cant malign the people who create the economies. You have to go and listen to what their problems and concerns are. The new regulation that has to get out of the way, the policies that when somebody says im moving honeywell from new jersey down to tennessee, im moving the pharmaceutical sector from here up to boston, i moving the Energy Production somewhere or worse those individuals that make the decision not to move into the state and for that reason, we have to have that philosophy as americans. Those solutions that create the opportunities that reward success. Thats who we are as americans. We as americans want people to succeed. Those individuals who lead and participate in businesses are those types of leaders. We to make sure we create an environment that allows them to succeed. When you listen to what my opponent has done, for his 30 years in washington, and his four years in congress he supports the regulations that make it more difficult to create opportunities. Thats not what we lead what we need. I will be that leader who will listen and fight to make sure we break the back of inflation. Thank you. [applause] again, how can you work to make them realize the importance of the Business Community. I think the question was on my business philosophy. Simply and i have said a lot about it already today, i believe in capitalism and the free market economy so long as it works for everyone not just those at the very top. Theres another aspect of my economic philosophy that we have not spoken about much today. That is if we want capitalism to work here in america, democracy has to work in america. The Business Community needs us to respect and defend the constitution. And the rule of law. The Business Community needs us to resolve our differences by voting and not by violence. I was there on january 6, i know what happens. Another extremism has gotten worse. My opponent could have chosen to run in this campaign as a conservative republican criticizing me on issues that democrats and republicans usually argue about. While standing up to the rising extremism in his party. And to the election lies, the threats of violence like so many with integrity and courage have done. Instead, he chose to make his peace with themaga wing. He ran as a mag eight republican. He said he would stand with donald trump. He said he would support the trump agenda that he would have trumps back no matter what he does. Im simply quoting the words on his own campaign literature. If he is elected as our congressman, i dont think we are going to be hearing much about tom kane in washington. We are going to be hearing a lot about kevin mccarthy, jim jordan, Marjorie Taylor greene, god forbid herschel walker. These extreme candidates who are winning election after election and replacing republicans of principal and courage like liz cheney and Adam Kinzinger who are being thrown out of their party. This is not a congress that will be passing economic legislation. This is not a congress that will be attacking inflation. This is a congress that will be impeaching and investigating and doing things that are outright crazy for the next two years. Ive been different. Im a democrat, but i do not hesitate to criticize joe biden as i did over afghanistan, the withdrawal from that country. As i did over the student loan decision that he made. I have put together a campaign with republicans, independents, and democrats. Im the only one on the stage that has cross party support. In that spirit, i am asking for your support for another two years in congress to keep serious governance going it to keep the crazy out of our government. Thank you. [applause] that concludes our debate. I want to thank everybody for coming. And for being a pretty courteous audience. [laughter] i also want to thank the candidates for taking the time to be with us today. I hope everyone found the discussion as informative and worthwhile as i did. November 8 is election day. Thank you