First we welcome republican incumbent senator john thune. Welcome. Democratic candidate brian bengs. Welcome. And libertarian candidate tamara lesnar. Welcome. Thank you so much for having me. Tonights questions will come from our panel of journalists at the Health Reporter policy reporter and the morning news anchor. Before we begin lets review tonights rules. Each candidate has one minute for Opening Statements and two minutes for closing statements. Each question warrants a 92nd answer of 62nd rebuttal from of the other two candidates and a 32nd response from the original candidate as needed we drew the order for Opening Statements before tonights broadcast the lt. Col. Bangs, the first Opening Statement goes to you. Hello friends, first i want to think south dakota public broadcasting for organizing this event. I am a retired Lieutenant Colonel a 26 year veteran of the u. S. Navy and air force. Im a husband, father, teacher with experience at the air force academy, the nato school in germany and where i live. Im running for the u. S. Senate because i am fed up with the hyper partisanship and the crippling dysfunction of our. Government i was a lifelong independent until i saw the january 6 attack on our capital. Having spent most of my adult might protecting our democracy i got into the race because theres a lot at stake and and south dakotans deserve a choice. John thune has forgotten about our values. If you believe like i do that money has corrupted our politics and career politicians who spent decades in congress stopped caring about regular folks than im going to ask you to lend me the power of your vote so i can raise how in the senate on the forgotten americans. Senator thune, your one minute Opening Statement. Thanks to south Dakota Public Television and dakota news now for giving us the opportunity to debate issues that are important to south dakota and our countrys future. We got a lot done in the last few years. We defended and protected the l4s base from closing air force base from closing, paid for new Mission Opportunities, we helped our Agricultural Producers of strength and safety net when they faced hard times. We increased Internet Services, highspeed Internet Services across south dakota for distance learning, precision agriculture, telemedicine. We cut taxes across the board for American Families and Small Businesses to allow those Small Businesses and families here in south dakota to invest and continue to make this a great place to work and live and raise families. We are facing headwinds. The all democratic government in washington dc hs given us us has given us inflation crime on our streets and assault on america. We have to put a check and balance on the bidens policies to get back on track. Tamara lesnar, your Opening Statements. Hello, i was born and bred in chicago but i have been coming up to south dakota ever since i was a baby. My ancestors moved up here during the homestead act. I worked on my uncle my grandfathers a farm and i might uncles farm. Also my great uncles farm who used to stack hey in hay in cages and pick to those rocks every year. South dakota is in my soul. It always has been. Its been a place where i can come and recuperate from the stresses of the city. I knew i was not ever going to stay in chicago. I had 17 years of education behind me. I graduated from ndsu, focusing on zoology. Some of the classes i take to bring in here would be social science and biological sciences, macro and micro economics, psychology, thank you. We also drew order for tonights first question that goes to mr. Bengs. Mr. Bengs, inflation is top on mind for many south dakota voters we do with high prices from the Grocery Store to gas stations what is the senates role in helping curve inflation and what steps will you take . I want to begin by saying i feel your pain everybody. Whenever i am going to the Grocery Store with my wife we noticed the increased prices. Filling up a gas tank we notice the prices the pain in your wallet is the same we experience for you moving on there is no magic Silver Bullet for inflation. Do not going to tell you this magic thing will do it because we cannot shoot it and make it go away now. We are all struggling with the cost to fill up our gas tanks. Energy costs permeate the system. The cost of Energy Impacts pretty much Everything Else in our daily life. What we know is Big Oil Companies are making record profits, record profits. So, what we will hear is that john thune needs a bogeyman. The Big Oil Companies have given him half 1 million to his campaign. His 2015 vote to end the export ban on American Crude Oil that was in place since 1977 because of the original embargo is also a big factor here. So, when we think of south dakota values, we think of helping friends, neighbors in need. Washington john thune watching john thune is being on the big oil payroll. So, fundamentally, lowering Energy Prices is what we need to do. Senator thune, 60 seconds on the senates role curb inflation. We created more supply. When this administration took power they shut down infrastructure, pipelines, took federal lands out of production and refused to issue permits to drill and pressured businesses not to invest in Energy Production in this country. What do we have to show for it . When President Biden took office the average price for a gallon of gasoline in south dakota was 2. 39. It is three dollars. . 71 today we have seen the cost of everything go up. Energy is baked into everything. We need an Energy Policy and all of the above Energy Policy that focuses on American Energy independence and allowing our Energy Producers to get off the sidelines and back in the game. Its as simple as that. If we do that, we will see Energy Prices come down again. On inflation, we have to quit spending. The democrats in. This white house have mortgaged south dakota and americas future. Ms. Lesnar 60 seconds. First of all, john thune has this incorrect. The thing that contributed to inflation was the pandemic. More supply chain interruption, what i like to call the Great National labor strike and big court controlling the Production Supply and pricing of consumables that we use. John thune wants to blame one party or one president for all of the spending and everything. John thunes been in office since the hundred seventh congress today. He contributed with the tax cuts, an amount of 19 i am sorry 20. 2 trillion to our National Deficit ever since he has been in office. He is not the way to go regarding the deficit in inflation. Mr. Bengs, 30 seconds to respond . In 2013, senator 13 helped pass the tax cut, he bragged about it. 99 of the benefits went to the top 1 . The top 1 democrats pass the 1. 9 trillion American Rescue plan with the tax cuts going to the working families. Some folks tax cuts balloon to the debt by nearly two 2 trillion. It was an excuse to cut medicare which has always been his plan. Can i respond . We will have to move on to our next question. Our next question, this is for senator thune. The recent decision by the Supreme Court to overturn roe v. Wade has thrust abortion rights into the national spotlight. Many states are grappling with a decision on how to legislate abortions. Senator thune, you have indicated support for a bill that will ban abortions after 15 weeks of legacy. , if the bill wins will you vote in favor . I will. That particular piece of legislation is consistent with what 47 out of 50 european nations have in place or if they go lower than that, in terms of when they ban abortions. Right now, under roe, it is going back to the states. Theyre not 60 votes in the senate to pass anything. But the democrats forced the vote this summer as recently as june on the legislation that is so extreme on legislation that is so extreme the only country in the world is subscribed to this are china, north korea and iran. It codified of codified roe, and allowed abortions up to the point of birth data by the tech paid by the taxpayers. Overrides and over balusters all state laws abolishes all state laws. For providers who have religious objections for performing abortions. This is the most extreme piece of legislation i have ever seen come across the senate floor. The reason i know that is because there are two republicans in the senate would vote to codified roe. They do not vote for this. That is what the democrats in the senate are trying to get done. There will be a debate at some point at. The national level. The democrats will force it. It will be decided by the states. If there is a debate, the 15 week ban is a reasonable place to land and it is consistent with what 47 out of 50 european states countries already do. Ms. Lesnar 60 seconds. First of all, was senator thune is suggesting is actually take away your rights and freedoms. Its between the person who is pregnant, their family and the doctor to decide what is right for that person. No government should ever be involved in telling you what you can do with your body nor your autonomy. I support no legislation regarding a ban on abortion. No matter how you feel about abortion itself if you are prochoice or life, that is your choice. You do not need to be in other peoples business when it comes to abortion or any other medical decision. Mr. Beng, 60 seconds. I support a womans right to choose full stop. Senator thune, one the Dobbs Decision was announced he came out in favor saying this is overdue, and it is time for the states to decide. Now that we have seen states like kansas embrace and protect the rights for women to decide for themselves, he has taken a stance that no maybe the federal government should be involved. He has a conflicting opinion where he says the democrats want to override state laws. But he has endorsed a federal ban after 15 weeks because that is what the europeans do. Americans must follow the europeans do. He has a conflicting position on overriding state law. Career politicians should not make health decisions, it should be between a woman and her doctor not a woman and john thune. Senator thune. The most extreme position i have ever seen in my time in public life is the what he endorsed along with the democrat leadership in the United States senate. Abortion come up to the point of birth, one a baby is born financed by the taxpayers, and without any religious conscience protections and abolishing all 535 state laws that regulate abortions. That is extreme. 15 weeks is consistent with where the rest of the civilized world is with the exception of china, north korea, and iran. Our next topic is the political divide question. Ms. Lesnar, whatever the cause, the gulf between the right and left appear to be wider than it has in years. Is it possible to work with lawmakers across the aisle, how would you go about that in todays Political Climate . Actually this discourse has really ruined our country. And both parties are unwilling to negotiate with each other for me, i am try partisan tri partisan. You cannot get anything done if youre constantly arguing down the aisle and bringing up subjects like mr. Potato head. I plan to actually bring in a common sense attitude towards lawmaking. I plan to bridge this gap that these two parties have created. I want to bring them back together again and actually do the work, because america is really tired of what you are doing john thune. They really are. They deserve a lot better than what you have given them. Even to the fact that you will even call out the republicans who are calling for violence, you are second in command of their and you are doing nothing but allowing this to happen. You are allowing americans to hate other americans. That is not what america is. We will move to mr. Bengs for the 60 seconds. Well, let me say that, i have been a life long independent until last year will w when i decided to run for office. I believe in politics with principal, if you dont anchor yourself, youre adrift to the sea of partisanship which is where we find yourself now. The hyper partisanship is an existential threat to the country. We have seen that over the years. I am happy to vote for, should i be elected, for anything that anybody puts forward that i think is beneficial to the people of south dakota. I am going to represent the people of south dakota, not a partisan party. So, john thune, if you had the secret Republican Health care plan that would replace obamacare and if it was a better deal for south dakotans, i would vote for it immediately. Im happy to work with anybody. There is my take on it. Senator . The first vote my democratic votes appointed would cast is make Chuck Schumer the leader of the state senate that would be bad for south dakota. We had a two years of the Biden Administration and in all democrat washington, they have unified control of the government. What do we have, the highest inflation in 40 years. The average American Family is spending 9,000 for a year, for the same basic necessities they bought last year. 9,000, thats a tax on every south dakota family. You have a broken border, 2. 3 Million People illegally were apprehended at the border. That doesnt include the 600,000 that got away. Youve got crime in our streets, an assault on our American Energy companies in this country and production that is driving up the cost of all forms of energy. That is what an all democrat washington wants to get you. Its time to put a check and balance in place. Well, you know, john, im sorry but you didnt really answer the question. He went back to actually doing a campaign stop. So i would like to know myself how you are going to bridge this gap and stop this fighting between the two parties . You did not answer that. Senator, 20 seconds. I work all the time across party lines. Amy klobuchar and i passed a bill this summer that targets the supply problems at our ports, we moved into the Congress Committee across the floor in the senate. I work with Democratic Senators all the time. One of the most the bread of liberal Democratic Senators, he and i teamed up to ban most robo calls in the country. We got a lot of them band. I work with democrats all the time, when it comes to getting things done for the state of south dakota. For farm bills is the best example of it. Our next question. This question is for senator thune. You battle against raising the debt ceiling during the financial crisis of the obama administration, you supported it during the Trump Administration and the covid crisis. Once again you oppose raising the debt ceiling during the Biden Administration. What is the impact that Everyday Americans when the debt ceiling comes a partisan issue . Shouldnt be a partisan issue. What happens is whoever is in the majority delivers the votes to pass it. Its not a popular vote. We have too much debt and spending in this country. They just doubled down donned it in the last two years. 1. 9 trillion for the American Rescue plan on debt, finance put onto that, handed the bill to grandchildren. The socalled inflation reduction act, thats a 750 billion, the most of which will get added to the debt. The infrastructure dell the infrastructure bill, most of it was financed with the debt. The chips bill, 400 billion. Now the president wants to forgive student loans, thats another 500 to a trillion dollars. My democratic opponent is in favor of all of that. Thats 5 trillion right there that we are adding to the debt. Its time for us to get serious about not only dealing with deficits and debt, but inflation. What drives inflation is the outofcontrol spending in washington dc these bills have flooded the zone with so much money in the textbook definition of inflation is too many dollars chasing too few goods and that is what we have. 40 year high inflation, every south dakota families paying more than 9,000 a year this year for the same basic necessities that they bought last year. Ms. Lesnar, 60 seconds. John, you are a piece of cake. First of all, the whole time you have been in congress, you have added up to 19. 2 trillion to the deficit. You have given a Big Corporation huge tax breaks. The most profitable corporation to have a total revenue of 520. 1 billion in the fiscal year of 2021. If they paid that 35 tax without all of the cuts they get, the accelerated depreciation and many other cuts they have, they would contribute to the revenue, 182. 0 3 billion in tax revenue. But you keep voting in favor of them. And mr. Bengs 60 seconds. I am gravely concerned about the physical course of our country. The debt is going to impact our children and grandchildren. We cannot continue to kick the can down the road. We must return to paying down the debt as we were prior to 2001. I support repealing johns at three tax cuts for the ultrarich he has enacted over the last two decades. John thune talks about physical response ability. You heard it now. One first went to washington that that was less than 6 trillion. 24 years later the debt is up to over 30 trillion. Thanks, john. John thune can talk physical response ability just heard that he has done nothing other than cutting taxes for the ultrarich and the lord large corporations. South dakota values suggest a washington john serving bigmoney donors are not aligned with our south dakota values. So, lets make thing one clear. Corporate tax revenues are up. Record levels. We have not seen this since the year 2000 because we lower the taxes, people invested, took realizations and are paying more taxes. The last two years we had record tax revenues. Its not a revenue issue. Its a spending issue. I enumerated 5 trillion he and his democratic friends are for. Add it to the debt. Tax revenues are up. Its a spending problem. We moved to agriculture. Mr. Banks, mr. Bengs farmers are dealing with issues outside of their control to inflation to market its ability to drought. What will you do to support the states biggest industry . Well, the biggest problem that we have in agriculture is the one we have in the economy in general corporate consolidation. We have companies that control 80 of the market in the u. S. What theyre doing is exploiting their market power. They have been sued for pricefixing, one of them settled. They are working together to cheat the farmers and ranchers out of a fair price for the hard work they do raising the cattle. Then, they are doing their business, packing the meat in creating a product. They are gouging the consumers on the backend. So, what we need for not just the agricultural situation is a robust antitrust effort in this country. The antitrust laws on the books now could be used too much, much greater detail. Certainly if theyre not fit sufficient for the 21st century industry, i would look into the prospect of developing a whatever fixes the department of justice thinks is necessary to the antitrust laws to make it more enforceable today and working with the president to ensure the department of justice takes the proactive approach in dealing with antitrust issues such as the meat packers. Senator, 60 seconds. I dont disagree with that. I think the antitrust issues need to be looked at. I have spearheaded in investigation asking for members of congress to look at the issues of antitrust and how it is impacting concentration in our agriculture marketplace. It is underway. Hopefully we will have results. If we need to make changes in antitrust laws, we should. When it comes agriculture, i have focused, and worked on four different farm bills on all 12 titles of every farm bill. But focusing specifically on the safety net provisions. Profit insurance, the commodity title, and the disaster program, make sure they work effectively for south dakota agriculture when times get hard. We had a lot of success. The last form a bill i had 20 proposals included in the 2018 farm bill. We are starting the 2023 farm bill this year the current one expires at september 30 and i expect to be involved in the issues. I actually agree with both of them. I would like to bring out a couple of other things which is, we need to take a more active role in our environment, because this is hurting our ranchers and farmers and our pork users. We producers. We need to allow people to be able to fix their own equipment with whoever they choose to. We need to stop corporations from patenting seeds which is a natural source that has been given to all of us. We also have to adjust the origin of country labeling. Because, we are not doing that in america. We are allowing other meats are from other places to be processed here and then say it is american. We also have to protect farmers from pipelines that should not be on their farms. It will cause toxic results. Mr. Bengs, 30 seconds. I will echo what she said. Country origin labeling, we need to get that done. That has been talked about, going back to when johnson was first running for the house. Why is not done now . Your guess is as good as mine. You are right to repair. Farmers need the ability to repair things and not be locked out of the warranty. The co2 pipeline that was brought up, i support farmers in the sense that they should not be subject to the use of them a domain to have a pipeline across their property they do not want. We moved to porter securities we move to porter securities. You have been an outspoken critic of a bidens handling of immigration at the u. S. . Mexican border how would you strengthen policies while upholding the human rights of those seeking asylum in the u. S. . I dont know how you can look at immigration policy today and say, is it say it is an absolute disaster. This administration has turned a blind eye of what is happening on the border. Neither the president for the Vice President of the u. S. Has been to the border. 2. 3 Million People, a Record Number were illegally apprehended at the border this last year. In hundred were on the 100 of those were the terrorist watchlist. They are not paying a lick of attention to it. I met; with Border Patrol officials and they have solutions. They try to pass that along to the Biden Administration and they ignored their suggestions. This is a crisis that needs to be solved and needs the attention of the top leadership in this country. Its not happening. What do they need . They need more personnel. Instead of sending 87,000 new irs agents harassing american taxpayers, one that bill was being debated, we offered to send more to the border. It was voted down by democrats in the senate. They needed technology. Theyve got their technological walls. Finally they need infrastructure. They need a wall. This president quit building the wall. The wall works. They are Simple Solutions and longoverdue. Well, first of all, i would like to correct johns number. He said 2. 3 Million People have been stopped. But he is not telling you that there are repeat offenders who have come in again. That number is actually skewed. The border is very important to me. And the way i see it is that john thune knew there was the stabilization in Central America destabilization in Central America. He knew, as well as of those in the executive and legislative branch, and they did nothing to get themselves prepared for this. There was no preemptive plan. Now, he is complaining about it. What we need is more judges to deal with the immigration. We need it more of these for working. And we also need to mr. Bengs 60 seconds. I agree with what ms. Lesnar said. I agree we have a problem on the southern border. Senator thune and i have different opinions on how to approach it. The difference between me and senator thune is, he has been in office for a while. He and Mitch Mcconnell have had full control of the house and senate and the executive branch, the presidency, for a number of times over his term in the congress. They did not get anything done. He did not accomplish anything during that time. Complaining about it is what he is good at. Doing something about it, is not. If you cannot get the job done, its time for someone else to give it a try. In 2013 a Bipartisan Group of senators put forward an immigration bill that would address a lot of what he is complaining about. If i am elected i will go down to the Senate Basement and see if i could find it, dusted off and talk about it dust it off talk about it. Theres never been a more direct correlation between bad policy decisions and bad outcomes at the border. When this Administration Took Office the border was under control, and they reversed every single policy, including remain in mexico which allowed a lot of those cases to be adjudicated in mexico before they got to our border. They quit building the wall. They quit deportations and quit enforcing the law. These are simple issues that can be addressed in a simple way and everybody wants to make it complicated. We will move on to the drug crisis. Ms. Lesnar as we mentioned during the debate, the cdc reports more than 250 americans die every day from a drug overdose. 75 of the deaths involve at least one opioid. What work will you do to address the rising drug addition crisis in america . The first thing we need to do is stop making legislation that is making peoples lives harder, that put excessive stress on them, so that they go to seek these drugs to take. Now, they have a personal responsibility, they are held accountable for what they do. But, i do support the legalization of recreational marijuana, the studies have shown and and ive and ive looked at many studies since i am a scientist, that marijuana, alone does not create the effects that the republicans would like you to believe. And what happens is every time the government makes a drug illegal, somebody comes up with something that is even more dangerous like meth. The cheaper the drug is to get, that is what theyre going to buy. So, we need to look at this in a different way, which is trying to help these people with drug addictions, making their lives easier, allowing them to have a families, allowing them pays that will actually bring them into a better psychological place. All of this is psychological from the beginning. And the more you try to have war on drugs, the more you fail. You need to address the problem by giving them options. Mr. Bengs 60 seconds. It is worth highlighting that the opioid problem in the country was caused by the illegal sale of drugs, developed by big pharmaceutical companies. This family settled for multiple billions of dollars for their role in maximizing this. In making it accessible and trying to get people addicted because theres money to be made. Big pharma needs to be held accountable. We should not bow to the, hey is there money to be made . And ignore it as a problem grows and sucks and People Living a life of desperation. We need to help people. By helping people get jobs and get an education and approve their lives and live the best life they can, they will not be tempted to go into the use of these drugs that help them forget the lives there trapped in. Fundamentally, we need to do a better job in making sure that we are not just bowing to whatever makes money. Senator thune. Number one killer of people in this country between the ages of 18 and 49 45 is fentanyl. The number one origin of fentanyl is the southern border. I have heard from Law Enforcement officials across south dakota, i have talked to the folks in this community and sioux falls and points in between, who say most of the crime in south dakota starts with drugs. Fentanyl and other types of harmful drugs are flowing across the southern border, as our weapons as our weapons, human trafficking, cartel activity, there is stuff coming across the southern border. We appreciate people coming to this country because they want a better life. But there are so money cartels and traffickers taking advantage so many cartels and traffickers taking advantage. There were thousands of people who died trying to cross the border. It is not humane or compassionate to allow this to continue. We cut off the supply of these drugs. They are coming across the southern border. Well, actually the drugs are coming across the sea, through the air, and yes, some do come across the border. But, that is where most of them are coming from. Also through trucking. So, if you cant address it from that level, and only just of the border, you are not going to get anywhere. They are still going to come in. The best thing to do is to give the people the help they need. Our next topic is Election Integrity. This question from eric. For senator thune, Election Integrity has remained a heated topic after donald trump claimed a frog fraud after his loss in 2020. You drew from sire after he said she said it was time to move on are you drew ire after you said it was time to move on. I have been clear about my position, going back to the 2020 election. In the aftermath of the election, there were all the number things done in the aftermath. There were audits, recounts, lawsuits that were filed. All of that came back and said there wasnt anything that would have overturned the election in any one state . Whether isolated incidents of fraud,. Yes. But in the 2020 election there wasnt anything that wouldve changed the outcome in any state. The states, when they were done they certified, sent it to the electoral college. They voted and when that happens, all that is left for congress to do is counter the vote. We have purely, a ministerial response ability and we fulfilled it, notwithstanding what happened on january 6. We need people to have confidence and trust in our elections in this country. That is why is a leader, i have tried to encourage people to trust our institutions, our elections, which are foundational to our democracy. We do it right. In south dakota. We dont need a federal takeover of elections which is what the washington democrats want to do. We have a decentralized system that distribute power and makes it harder for Foreign Companies to hack into our election systems. We have great integrity in our south dakota area, we work hard to make sure that is the case and we should keep it that way. Well, i have complete faith in our election system. In 2020 there were only approximately 1350 cases of proven fraud. South dakota, since 2005, has only had five cases, those were mostly ballots petition and one for double voting. Everybody has the right to vote. John thune is very much in step with trying to make it harder for people to vote. The constitution guarantees that right. So, i have complete faith. I do understand that you voters, and some of you voters, feel that the election was stolen. I do understand that you are concerned. I want to validate that and i would take those concerns into consideration and look into it for you. Ok. I want to thank john thune for coming out and indicating he believes that joe biden is the legitimate president of the u. S. At this point. I also want to point out that he made a point by saying efforts to ensure that not just in south dakota but in all states that everybodys vote can be counted and they have a right to vote and it is not been deprived, that the federal takeover of federal elections that is not a takeover, the government grants the power to specify certain election standards. In doing so it is not a federal takeover. I want to pivot. The majority of americans also support term limits because our government is failing us. A big part of that is career politicians like john thune. I have signed at the pledge and i will serve two terms of elected, i am not taking one cent of corporate money. In south dakota, john thune agreed with this in 1996 when he ran for office initially. We have a term limits for Chuck Schumer and nancy pelosi, i will be happy to have term limits for the people south dakota, when that happens. Until that happens we have to make sure someone is in there that can punch with the big dogs. That is what i do on a daily basis. We need elections that are decentralized, to continue to preserve the tradition of this country, which doesnt mean having the federal government take over elections. That is what the Democrat Bill did,. Nothing more, nothing less it is that simple. Our next topic is health care. Ms. Lesnar Nursing Homes in rural areas are closing due to poor funding and understaffing, especially in south dakota. Some facilities have turned to travel nursing agencies, but those agencies are costly. Is there a federal solution to the Staffing Shortage in longterm care . First of all, we need to get back into investing in our people, education and health. By doing that, especially with the medicaid proposal coming up, you will find that if medicaid passes, the number of uninsured people will drop significantly, approximately 45,000 people will be insured. The longterm effects on the states economy and budget are positive and estimated to be 9 million net revenue increase in south dakota. Its also estimated that an additional 4000 plus jobs will be created. Its estimated 1. 1 billion in personal Income Growth will happen in south dakota. So, health is important to me. Its the trinity, which his family, health and education. If you dont have all three of those, you will not have a sustainable Economic Future for america. Mr. Bengs, 60 seconds on a federal solution to Staffing Shortages and longterm care. I will echo ms. Lesnar, an expansion will save thousands of lives in south dakota. We have the most expensive medical care system in the world per capita. Medical debt is the leading cause of personal bankruptcy. If we pass the Medicaid Expansion. I voted for it. Our Interest Rate will be cut in half. 24 of rural hospitals in south dakota are at risk of closing. 10 of all south dakota rural Nursing Homes have closed within the last five years. Now, for Medicaid Expansion we are paying taxes for this. John thune poses this opposes this because of politics. In additions to health care situation, i would cap insulin at 35 a month. Th prices going upe thousand percent the price has gone up since a thousand percent. John flynn voted against this after receiving 2500 from an insulin maker five days before casting his vote. 60 seconds, senator. There are solutions to the Health Care Crisis in this country. Probably one of the most successful ones i have seen was Medicare Part d, is the only federal program i know of in my time of public life that has cost less then what it was projected to cost. The reason for that is because it introduced competition. It gave people choices and options and cost and competition was introduced and it drove prices down. We dont need a federal takeover for health care. Since obamacare past, south dakota premiums have gone up 123 . We stabbed multiple options to choose from in south dakota, we used to have multiple options to choose from in south dakota. The health model doesnt work. We have to do things to address the shortage of workers we have in longterm care facilities, those are important programs, they support those institutions. But the Health Care Solution that has a federal government taking over will be a disaster. Yeah, i do agree with some of the points that senator thune has brought up. But, with the expansion of the medicare, we actually will be able to bring back those people who work in the nursing home facilities. And again, it would bring of economy back to south dakota, so we can provide these institutions. Our next topic is veterans affairs. Senator, you initially voted against the pact asked, you voted for it eventually, you were concerned expanding benefits to vets exposed to toxins would overwhelm the v. A. What steps are you taking to expand the operational capacity to serve the veterans who are newly eligible for treatment and compensation. That was the issue. Whether or not they were going to have the capacity. It was clear they did not. They are already overwhelmed. They cant keep up with the back log of claims today. We did work to try to get some issues addressed in the pack act. I voted for it. We will always take care of our vets. Ive been working with our veterans in south dakota my entire time in office. They know i have their back. The issue with the pact act, is the v. A. Going to manage this . We raised the issues. When they came back to the senate for a final vote, we got a couple of amendments considered, we worked with the v. A. , and made it clear that they need to have a plan in place that will ensure that all the veterans that will be accessing the system are going to be able to get the care they need. And get the claims process they need. This has been an ongoing problem, the biggest issues that my staff in south dakota, is claims the v. A. Have, trying to make sure the vets are getting the care they deserve. I fought for our vets. We have the mission act, the choice act, expanding telemedicine, community care, giving them more access to services, we will fight for our veterans because they fought for us. Well, i am doing im going to say this, john thune has increased the budget for the military year after year, after year. That money can go towards creating more v. A. Hospitals, more facilities to handle disability and Mental Health issues. We need to take care of our homeless vets. We have veterans killing themselves at huge numbers. Were not addressing that mental issue for them. Were just wasting money when we could be helping these people who have fought so bravely for your freedoms. I do come from a military family. I support them 100 . We need to do a lot more with that budget money for them. Mr. Bengs, 60 seconds. Everyone needs to be aware that south dakota is one of 12 states in this country that do not have a single veteran in our congressional delegation. No not a single 1 not a single one. Even on the stage i am the only one that were uniform wore a uniform. When john thune says he has our best vets back, bowed voting against the pact act, twice, it seems like i dont want you to have my back. That may be dependent that made me angry is a veteran for my colleagues, my comrades to have to know that a senator from the u. S. Of south dakota, estate with higher than the National Average veteran population voted against helping them with a lifesaving care because it might be administratively inconvenient. Senator, 30 seconds. We passed it out of the senate and we had the opportunity to fix it, which is what we didnt have the first time he went through. I voted for it. I said we would take care of our vets. Vets have been exposed to toxic substances, we would cover it. This legislation does it. This does not mean we should not try to make it better, that we should not try to address as a ghost of the process the problems that are clearly going to happen address the problems that are clearly going to happen. The south dakota veteran organizations know i have their back. That is all the time we have for questions. We moved to our closing statements. We drew the order for these closing statements before the broadcast. Senator thune, you will go first, two minute closing statements start now. Thank you to south Dakota Public Television and dakota news now for giving us the opportunity to discuss these issues. As i said, in the last few years we got a lot done for south dakota. If you look at the record of accomplishment we put up from defending and protecting the air force base closure to paving the way for new Mission Opportunities including the b 21 bomber, which is coming out with three squadrons. You look at what we have done for agriculture, four farm bills. I got 20 provisions included in the legislation signed into law by the president. If you look at what we have done for highspeed Internet Services across south dakota, enabling telemedicine and distance learning, and allowing people to work from home. There are so many things that happen when i was chairman of the senate of commerce committee, we got over 100 legislative proposal signed into law. A big record of accomplishment. Look at all of the things we have done when it comes to taking care of south dakotas working families. Its a long record. We cut taxes for working families and Small Businesses. I was one of the lead people involved in negotiating that and making sure 99 of south dakota businesses got relief so they could can continue to invest in good pain jobs. Good paying jobs. Theres a lot more that needs to be done. As i mentioned, we have a unified democratic government in washington. They have the house, senate and white house. What, do have to show for it four your high inflation costing the average south dakota family more than 9,000 a year than it cost for the same basic necessities last year. We have a broken southern border, an issue we covered tonight. We have an outright attack on american Energy Production in this Company Country and crime on our streets because we have an administration. We have to change the direction on this country and put a check and balance on the Biden Administrations policies. Im asking for your vote. Ms. Lesnar, two minutes starts now. I want you to realize, america is like a three car train. We have the democrats and the republicans and they are the engines. Were are the corn the middle, we are we are the car in the middle and we are being pulled apart and forgot about. I have listened to thune, this whole debate, he constantly wants to bring up the democrats. But have done just as much damage as democrats have. Thune wants to talk about who was Holding Office all the time. The whole time he has been in the congress, the republicans have held the house seven times compared to four times the democrats have. This is what i want to bring to the table. I want to bring civil objective decisionmaking to and i want to protect your rights, your freedoms and your property. I want to create a tax code that eliminates big corps breaks. I want to force antimonopoly laws. I want to hold members of each branch of Congress Accountable for violations of the constitution and calls for violence. I want to invest in family, education and health. I want to protect the environment, plus much more. The other thing i want to do is broker a peace deal between the democrats and the republicans. We need not be chained to a twoparty system. I they are like the iceberg and i am that ship in the iceberg. If you continue with the way the twoparty system is happening, you are going to remain with the same thing year after year. So, i know that i can do the job. I know that thune thinks hes the only one that can do this job. But bengs and i are equally qualified. Thank you. Listen, friends. How do you capture voters down to one subquestion . What has john thune done to make your life better than the last time he was in washington . He is a pretty man. We get to see him standing by in Mitch Mcconnell and following orders. In my visits with regular folks from every county and reservation in our state, that question leaves people stumped. I dont have an answer either. I can tell you how washington john thune cells is out. In 2006, south dakota john introduced the gas price reduction act. After taking over 400 from big oil, washington john is silent about Oil Companies pulling the record profits directly out of your pockets. John thune yapped about inflation. But he stayed silent about Food Companies a jacking their prices well beyond inflation to pull extra profits out of your pockets. The most expensive prescription drugs in the world, big pharma has been reaching deep into your pockets. This year john thune had the chance to demonstrate some south dakota values by simply not opposing, not voting for, but not opposing 35 month cap on insolent cost insulin cost. Five days before voting to keep prices high for south dakota diabetics, and another 2500 a month later. If you trust washington john thune will stand up to the senate. I am not your guy. If you support john thune getting prosecutors and Police Involved in a womans medical exam im not your guy. If you want to retired Lieutenant Colonel was infuriated by bigmoney elites buying our democracy and also respects a womans right to privacy, i am your guy. I am brian bengs, i served our country in the navy and air force and it would be the privilege in my life to be her next senator for south dakota. Your next senator for south dakota. That will conclude our 2020 senate debate. 2022 senate debate. South dakota will broadcast of the debate you can hear a rebroadcast of tonights debate on sdp radio. Election day is tuesday, november 8, you can follow sdps coverage of the evening with analysis during wednesdays in the moment. Until then, im jackie hendry. On behalf of everyone on the coda news announcer selection state tuesday, both present biden and former president obama are on the campaign trail. Today they are in pennsylvania campaigning for Senate CandidateJohn Fetterman and josh shapiro nning for governor. Our live coverage starts at 4 30 p. M. Easternspan. You can also follow along at cspan. Org or with our free video app, cspan now. Announcer with midterm elections tuesday, former president Donald Trumps now supporting republican candidates. Hes in pennsylvania on behalf of Doug Mastriano running for vernor and Senate Candidate men it awes. Our live coverage on cspan begins 7 00 p. M. Eastern also on our free video app, cspan now, or online at cspan. Org. Announcer cspan is your unfiltered view of government, cofunded by these Television Companies and more, including cox. Homework can be hard but squatting in a diner for internetwork is even harder. That is why we provide lower income students access to affordable internet so homework and just be homework. His morning on washington journal, a look at the news and some oyour cal omilitary veterans turned candidates for congress. A little fax msaging to talk abt forts to combat misinformation in campaign 2022 and the importance and process of fact checking. Later from the econost discussinghe podcast checks and lance. The conversation with your calls, texts, and tweets. Washington journal starts now. Host good morning. It is saturday, november 5. Midterm elections are in three days