[cheers] [crowd talking] all right. Good evening, everybody. Thank you for coming out tonight. We have a great turnout. We are honored to have everybody here. My name is ray meisner, president of the committee of 100. We welcome you to the virginia 10th Congressional District candidate forum. We are partnering with the league of women voters. This is dana gorn. [applause] we would like to think a bunch of people for making this happen. The program committee, with chair rebecca perkins. Vice chair phyllis griffith. We also want to thank councilman donald shoemaker for making this happen and getting us the space. Incredible. [applause] we thank cspan and abc 7 news and all the media that has come out today to get this out there to the constituents. So, with that i dont want to forget to mention that we thank all the contributions of our families and loved ones that have supported us in our effort to further serve the community here by putting on this event. I want to go over som generale rules some general rules. No electioneering. No signs or shirts. Refrain from cheering, clapping, or doing anything distracting for the candidates. Should there be a disturbance there will only be one warning before you are asked to leave. You dont want me to come sit next to you. I assure you i can always find a seat. [laughter] [applause] with that, i would like to open with the pledge of allegiance and welcome the American Heritage girls virginia troop 1914. Please come forward and present the colors and lead the pledge. Colorguard, attention. Audience, please rise. Please remove your hands. Those not in uniform please place your right hand over your heart. Colorguard, forward march. Colorguard, halt. Colorguard, advanced the colors. Prepare to post the colors. Post the colors. Colorguard, salute. Please recite the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Ready. Colorguard, reform. Colorguard, forward march. Colorguard, halt. Colorguard, dismissed. Audience, at ease. This concludes our opening ceremony. Ray thank you American Heritage girls troop 1914. [applause] without further adeau, please get all your applause right now by welcoming moderator dr. Steven farnsworth and the candidates, congresswoman Jennifer Wexton and hung cao. [cheers] dr. Farnsworth thank you so much. I am professor stevens farnsworth. I am going to be asking the questions provided by the panel sponsors for the event tonight. The questions will be asked in the fashion determined by a coin toss. There will be Opening Statement to start. Before we do that, a quick reminder that the candidates have agreed to the rules we have about limiting comments or applause or laughter during the presentation. We take away from the time the candidates will have to explain what they will do if elected if we do not accept the rules put forward and accepted by the candidates. Before we start with Opening Statements and candidate cao will be first, followed by candidate wexler, i want to say how important it is to have the Community Service like this and thank the league of women voters in the Prince William committee 100 for putting together such an Important Community event. Thank you to all of you. [applause] i think its important to try to recognize these people who are willing to make an extreme sacrifice for Public Service. Anyone who has ever run for office will tell you it is not the easiest thing they have ever done. Anybody who was elected will tell you that is not the easiest thing they have ever done. Both people who are willing to serve this country can be recognized now. Applause to the two candidates. [applause] we will turn to Opening Statements. Candidate cao is first. One last thing i want to draw your attention to. We have timekeepers. They will show you time for the length of time. Opening statements are two minutes. When there is 30 seconds left, you will see a green card. 15 seconds left, yellow card. When you are supposed to stop and you should stop you will see the red stop sign. That is the process here. Two minutes for Opening Statements. Mr. Cao thank you so much to the committee 100 and the league of women voters. I say that because i have four older sisters. If anyone wonders what it is like to grow up with four older sisters, it is like having five moms. Im very blessed. They are great moms and great mothers. My beautiful wife and i have five beautiful children. I think most people know my background. I came to this country as a refugee and served as a special operator for 25 years. I fought in iraq, afghanistan, somalia. The referendum will be about the 10th district. Congresswoman wexton will tell you and defend her voting record and say her voting record has not affected the highest inflation rate in 40 years and the highest inflation Interest Rate and 16 years. She will say defunding the police and putting social workers in place of Police Officers made the district safer. She will say our borders our secure. Law enforcement officers are struggling with high crime rates. With low retention rates within the ranks. As well as high deaths from fentanyl. We will be looking at the economy right now. All economists agree the inflation rate acted nothing to reduce inflation. Why didnt she listen . She cares more about her political agenda than about the 10th district. I think the people want change. That change comes on november 8. Thank you. [applause] dr. Farnsworth sometimes it is difficult to remember the rules. You can also applaud after candidate wextons opening remark. During individual questions and answers, again, they agreed to these rules to maximize the opportunity to be heard in this community. There will be one more set of applause moments permitted, then into the questions. Candidate wexton. Rep. Wexton good evening. I am congresswoman Jennifer Wexton. I represent the 10th district of the United States house are presented. I want to law school because i wanted to help people. I was pleased to be able to do that as a prosecutor, as an attorney and advocate and even as a judge in local courts. In 2012 and 2013, when i saw what was happening in richmond and republicans use the majority to do things i do not agree with. I saw them use the majority to repeal one of the vestiges of gun violence prevention laws we had in virginia. To make it harder for people to vote. To attempt to require women before they underwent a constitutionally protected right to an abortion undergo a statemandated writ of agile vaginal bonding, and i won. I passed 40 bills, every one of them with bipartisan support. It was a great life. I enjoyed it. When donald trump was elected, i knew i had to do more. It was time for me to step up again. When i saw his attacks on the rule of law, his attacks on immigrants, his attacks on women, his attack on facts i had to run. I went to washington and i worked across the aisle to provide good results for my district. We are facing unprecedented troubles right now. Is a time when the country is more divided than we have ever been. People are willing to work across the aisle and get things done. Im proud we have passed a once in a generation bipartisan infrastructure bill. Im probably passed legislation to lower cost to american emilys. We passed legislation to do wonderful things but there is still unprecedented challenges with women through Productive Health on the line, with democracy under attack. I will fight everyday to represent every Single Person in my district. Thank you so much. [cheers] dr. Farnsworth have you gotten it out of your system . [laughter] its ok to disagree. Its important not to be disagreeable. We have rules that the candidates have agreed to. Now we move to individual questions by the Prince William committee of 100 and the league of women voters. The First Response goes to candidate wexton. Each responses are one minute per person. There is the opportunity for a 32nd rebuttal for the first candidate 30second rebuttal. The first question, but one minute for each candidate. Inflation is on the rise, impacting americans. What do you believe caused the increase in what can congress do to address it . Rep. Wexton inflation does not have one because. There are a number of reasons. The main one being the pandemic economy. There was a big shift in terms of supply and demand. People were no longer going on vacations. They wanted to buy more goods. They wanted to buy more things. Fix of their houses. We saw supply chains from historic shortages. Things were shut down around much of the world making it harder to get products. Theres a disconnect between supply and demand and that means higher prices. It is definitely putins war in ukraine cutting on global oil and gas. We have worked hard in the delegation to lower food and fuel prices. Also the Inflation Reduction Act which will make a big difference by cutting the cost of Health Care Premiums and allowing medicare to negotiate drug prices and bring down drug prices, and also helping increase and decrease cost for energy now and going forward. Thank you. Dr. Farnsworth one minute. Mr. Cao inflation began on day one of the Biden Administration when he put on all the regulations through executive orders on the oil, chemical and gas industry. Instead of relying on American Workers with clean practices, we are now going to saudi arabia, venezuela, and even iran. Iran, who have women in the streets protesting against the morality police. We can be energy independent. That is what is causing inflation. We need to rely on our own oil and gas instead of other countries. Dr. Farnsworth the next question goes to candidate cao. Fuel prices reached historic highs this year impacting American Vacation and travel and commutes, creating supply chain calendars. What can be done to address this situation and prevent future spikes in fuel costs . Mr. Cao we have to lift all the executive orders that cripple the oil and gas industry. He all those things. He killed the keystone pipeline. He killed a lot of infrastructure and put a lot of regulations onto the refineries and the oil industry. Rep. Wexton the main thing we can do is cut reliance on oil and gas. Theres the fight against profiteering. Theres no reason why exxon mobil and these Gas Companies are making historic profits always suffer at the pump. There are things we are working on on fixing it in congress and things we will continue to do. The Inflation Reduction Act will save money on everybodys energy bills. Another thing is that the oil and Gas Companies have thousands of unused leases. They are not drilling. They are cutting production to increase their profits. That is just wrong. Dr. Farnsworth 32nd rebuttal. 30 second rebuttal. Mr. Cao it takes a long time to get there. The finest the vatican people is wrong. The American People is wrong. The act does nothing to reduce inflation. Every economist every Bernie Sanders says it does not do so. Dr. Farnsworth this is question number three for candidate wexton. Mortgage rates have increased. People have suffered losses in their retirement plans over the past year. What can congress do about this situation . Rep. Wexton congress is working hard to bring inflation under control. That is what were doing with the Inflation Reduction Act and other legislation. We need to make the u. S. More globally competitive. We did that through the chips and science act to create good paying jobs in the u. S. And help create the workforce for the good paying jobs of the future. We need an all hands on deck approach and that is what we are doing in congress right now. Mr. Cao the problem is that the federal government tries to get in and price fix everything. When you look at fixed pricing, that brings up prices of gas and oil or even mortgages. When you are trying to mess with actual rates, that is what will cripple the economy. The economy needs to work itself out and let americans be americans. Dr. Farnsworth im sorry. Unless you are running for office and your name is on the ballot, and i know its not, i will ask you not to make comments during this conversation. Rep. Wexton thank you very much. One thing we can do is decrease reliance on foreign oil. We are trying to fight back against profiteering. Its very important we continue to do all these things and move forward. Thank you. Dr. Farnsworth we will move to the next question, which goes first to the candidate cao. The dobbs decision, which overturned roe v. Wade returns the issue of abortion to elected officials in the state. There are dueling bills in congress on this topic. What federal action would you support . Mr. Cao i what you are try to ask is where i stand. I am a prolife i look at everything thing i do. My opponent wants abortion up to the moment of birth. I think most americans do not agree with that. The dobbs case put this matter where it belongs, to the states. As a federal legislator, this is not within our purview. We need to provide for the common defense and promote the general welfare. Rep. Wexton i believe i can trust women to make these decisions themselves. This is something for my opponent is outside of the mainstream in terms of his views. This is where its a matter of freedom and control. Women deserve the freedom to make their own decisions about the reproductive control. There is no decision more personal than that. When my phone it says i favor abortion until birth, thats absurd. Thats infanticide and is not something anybody supports. The law is limited in terms of dirt semester trimesters abortions. He wants to allow states to outlaw abortion and all states analog contraception as well. I voted in congress to codify roe and womens right to Birth Control and contraception. I will continue fighting for their rights while they make the most intimate decision of their life, when to start a family. Mr. Cao this law has nothing to do with contraception. That is fear mongering that we are trying to scare the public. There is a law for abortion up to the moment of birth. Even Governor Northam said to die peacefully on the table while the parents are making decisions, so it is law. Dr. Farnsworth we will move to another question on abortion. The question now is what sort of support for families who are in crisis pregnancies or have children they cannot handle, what sort of support should the government provide to families in crisis . This goes first to candidate wexton. Rep. Wexton thank you for your question. Its an important one when the u. S. Leads the industrialized world with infant mortality and maternal mortality. Dont tell me your prolife adult tell me about what comes out of the mothers uterus. Something where Congressional Republicans have threatened to shut down the government rather than continue pandemic programs that fed hungry kids in schools, they refused to extend the Child Tax Credit to the most needy families that cut child property in half. Dont tell me your prolife if you dont care about the baby wanted action comes out of the womb. Mr. Cao i care a great deal about babies after the command of the mothers womb. We adopted a child. Our second child is adopted and we love her to death. I wish we would streamline the process for adoption. It took a long time and a lot of money to do that. If we look at those programs instead of federally finding abortion, maybe we would be a better country. Dr. Farnsworth the next question goes for the candidate cao. Would you support changes to the law that limits the ability of congress and the Vice President to discard the Electoral College slate submitted by the states in president ial elections . Mr. Cao the Founding Fathers made a very good decision. Theres a reason we have the Electoral College. That is why we need to stick to it. The way they looked at the martin tatian to overturn things we dont like, that is why they did that with the Electoral College. Rep. Wexton most people dont realize how close we came of losing our democracy. We cannot let it happen again. They are already to move to appoint partisans to substitute the judgment of the state. Thats why i voted for the i have voted for the electoral account active or have it that from happening can make it clear the Vice President s work is a ministerial function and increase the threshold for members of congress and senate to object to the certification of various state electors. This is the bare minimum we need to do to protect markers see. Believe me, they are moving to prevent this and have a better result for President Trump or whoever the rightwing candidate that runs for president in 2024. We cant let that happen. The free and Fair Election is far too important. We need to protect it anyway we can. My mic keeps cutting out. Hello. Maybe i need to get closer. Thank you. Dr. Farnsworth moving on. Both candidates have issued statements opposing the controversial Prince William digital gave a proposal. What would you recommend to the supervisors as a way to mitigate the potential environment of risks and the threat to the Manassas National battlefield . This goes first to candidate wexton. Rep. Wexton i believe theres a place for everything. Data centers have no place near the battlefield. Its about the highvoltage power lines that feed them. I understand living in Data Center Alley that they have certain benefits. They generate a lot of income for the localities. To work with them in terms of lacing these data centers where they should be in industrial regions, not an agricultural parts of the county. I want to preserve that agricultural character for as long as we can. Thank you. Mr. Cao i have a lot of personal feelings on the battlefield. Manassas is a historic park. I dont like government overreach. The part where i would step in is because the watershed feeds 2 Million People in loudoun county, Prince William county and Fairfax County as well. The watershed feeds for bellmore, which houses the defensively to six agency, the defense reduction agency, and the university antisocial branch of jsoc. The water affect that base. Camp lejeune, we saw the effects of water on those families. Recently in hawaii. I dont think the deity will stand by to allow the watershed dod will stand by to allow the watershed to affect fort bellmore. Dr. Farnsworth next question goes to candidate cao. What is your position on extending the washington subway system metro into Prince William county . Mr. Cao sir, i used two measure all the time when i worked at the pentagon. Its a great way to get commuters out there for with very little impact on the environment. The problem is we extended the railway all the way to ashburn. Its been sitting there for about three years empty. As a federal legislator i would be concerned about stepping in and allowing this to happen and not having the oversight we need. We will work with the Prince William county and surrounding counties to make sure it does not become a debacle like the aspirin center. Ashburn center. Rep. Wexton we need better transit options. That the decision made by the locality whether they want to join the compact. Vre has been a Great Success story in Prince William county. Many people are using vre but it only helps during business hours. It is something that has to be dealt with at the local level. It is something i want to explore. I feel the people deserve the right to be able to commute or take metro to the city or wherever they go. It is something we will be exploring. My understanding is that the silver line will be open in a matter of days or weeks, not months and years. I expect that will be happening. I served on the virginia transportation commission. We handled all the transit issues. One thing we will need is to pick up the tab for another river crossing. That limits the ability to run more trains. These are things we will have to deal with and work with local partners. Mr. Cao this would really help with the mass transit. We are moving the hov to hov 3. We are reading washington, d. C. Has the highest number of teleworkers. It will be hard enough to find the extra rider on the slug line. The metro stop in Prince William county will really help the. Help that. Dr. Farnsworth the next question is for candidate wexton. What is your reaction to president bidens College Student loan forgiveness plan . Do you think should bear the burden to find the program . Fund the program and ideas about future loan forgiveness or students . Rep. Wexton im glad he is taking Student Loan Debt seriously. Im glad he is taking steps to eliminate this for people that need it the most. I dont think the plan was targeted enough. I dont think it does enough going forward. Thats why i am proud to sponsor and support the College Affordability act which would increase the use of pell grant through things like technical certificates, not just her fouryear degrees not just for fouryear degrees. They can invest in their own state universities and colleges. To make Community College much more affordable and create Enrollment Programs so kids can Start College with credits already in the bank. These are things we need to do going forward. We need to follow through on the things we have promised like the Public Service forgiveness program. We need to make sure we get the people the rights they were promised, the forgiveness they were promised. Thank you. Mr. Cao the loan forgiveness plan does nothing to decrease the cost of colleges. All it does is just wipe away what is already there. We need to address the root cause of why education costs so much. Coming from a family of refugees, my parents tucked away every dime, cut every corner. There is no such thing as mold on bread. She put water in the shampoo. That is how she put all five of her kids through college. A lot of American Families are doing the same thing. Its unfair when we were saving for our kids other kids get a free ride and we have to pay for it. The cost goes down to somebody. At some point somebody has to pay for that and that is us. Rep. Wexton it is not a free ride. People have been paying Student Loans for years and ended with a higher principle than they started with. Thats why i support the College Affordability act. Dr. Farnsworth this question goes just candidate goes to candidate cao. How should congress address illegal immigration . Mr. Cao as an immigrant to this country myself we need higher walls and white gates. Wide gaetz. This is wide gates. This is the land of opportunity and i needed every opportunity i could get. The immigration system is overwhelmed because we get more than 2 Million People that came across illegally while we are punishing the people that waited in line for years for visas, for asylum, as refugees like myself. When we antedate the system with Illegal Immigrants and it inundates our system, im telling you with 87,000 new irs agents, we can put some of them on the border and the immigration system. Rep. Wexton theres no question americas immigration system is broken but it has become politicized and it should be. America was based on immigration. Theres a lot of things we can do to help the situation. Things like ensuring people like dreamers have a path to permanence in this country. People who come here on tech visas have halfs to a green card ends paths to green cards. There are other things we need to do to make sure we have a strong work security. I dont favor high walls and things like that. We should be using a First Century solution for a First Century solution for 21st century problem. We need more technology along the border. We have local businesses doing just that. Using facial recognition for identification of border crossings. Things like xraying vehicles and trucks to make sure there is no smuggling going on. These are things we need to make sure we do and Police Funding and customs and border protection, which i will do in my position on the appropriations committee. Mr. Cao if we had very high walls we had very high walls on bases in afghanistan and they worked. It is hard to expect the American Dream if you dont embrace the american law. It starts with embracing our laws first. Dr. Farnsworth candidate wexton , what proposals would you offer to address the School Shootings and the increasing violence in communities in this country . Rep. Wexton the gun violence prevention is something that affects everyone. Everyone should be able to go to a Committee Center or school or house of worship or street festival and not being worried about gun and not be worried about being gunned down. One thing i favor is things like true universal background checks. Make sure guns get into the hands of people who should not have them. I favor an assault weapon ban, the weapons of choice in these mass shootings. We should not have weapons of war on our streets. There are things i will fight for including ensuring domestic abusers connect their hands on a gun. I am proud of my success and my legislative history gun gun violence prevention. Im proud we passed this historic bill out of the house of representatives and senate and it was signed by president biden. There is more we must do and this is something that animates me and makes me want to continue. Mr. Cao there are laws for universal background checks. Every time i buy a gun i have a universal background checks. I have to wait for the fbi to say its good. My phone it keeps using language for fear mongering in terms of you can buy a bazooka, which is not true. What you are trying to ask is how we care about school safety. With 87,000 new irs agents, you can take that and put a School Resource officer in every school and still have 30,000 extra officers to help with the border. Theres a lot of things we can do. The democrats have had the house, senate and presidency in two years and have done nothing. Rep. Wexton the gun show loophole allows anyone to buy a gun without a background check. We need to do other things as well. Our kids should not have to go to school in war zones. They should go to school not have to go to school and scary places with lockdown drills. That is traumatic for them. We dont have a larger quantity of people who are mentally ill or dangerous per se. We have easy access to guns and we need to cut down on that. Dr. Farnsworth next question goes to candidate cao. What is the role the federal government should play in the questions of trans identity for children . Mr. Cao i think what youre asking is how governor youngkins new order came out. All it does is put it down to the parents. The parents should always decide. Last sunday, a school cannot make a decision on giving a kid an aspirin but youre ok with them making changes to a kids sex or gender. That is always the parents right. Rep. Wexton of course parents should be involved in the kids lives. When it comes to kids in schools, trans kids we are talking about trans kids. They are kids first and foremost. The governors executive order that vilifies them will further making hard for them is misplaced and are using these kids as political ponds. They are victimized already. They suffer much higher rates of suicide, alienation, depression and anxiety. Things like this are not helping. We talked to providers that say theyre getting frantic calls from kids. We are talking but a tiny proportion of kids. It is cruel to use them as political pawns. We should lead from a place of compassion and kindness. Mr. Cao biological boys do not along in my girls bathrooms, locker rooms or sports. Dr. Farnsworth the next question goes first to candidate wexton. Is Climate Change real . What is the governments role in doing anything about it . Rep. Wexton absolutely its real in its her real threat to americans in the world. We have seen the increased wildfires, the terrible storms in places like florida. We just saw a damaging storm in florida. These will keep getting worse. Theres no question Climate Change is manmade and needs to be addressed. Im proud we passed the Inflation Reduction Act makes the largest federal investment in fighting Climate Change ever. It will adapt us to be more renewables which will help in the carbon footprint. These are things we cant count on the free market to do. Doing that in the past has had us ending up where we are today. Whether we will pay for it now or later by making fema pay that tab. It will make us more competitive globally in the future. Mr. Cao have you ever wondered why force fire started the california border . They dont do anything to abate the forces. You have to clean up and make sure it is free from forest fires. It is the underbrush. America has one of the cleanest practices for Petroleum Oil recovery and resources recovery. We dont all the people that are most culpable, china. Places like china, saudi arabia, iran. X now we want to go to get oil from iran and saudi arabia and venezuela where the practices are not as clean as the United States. Lets hold his people accountable. We wont do it. Rep. Wexton we need to work with Global Partners reduce emissions globally. That is something i was proud the bite administration decided to agree to paris and make it a global issue. It is something where we cannot put our heads in the sand and give leverage to the oil and Gas Companies. Theres no question we need to take steps and do it now. Dr. Farnsworth this question goes first to candidate cao. Should the federal government legalize marijuana for use by adults . Mr. Cao this is a states rights issue. The problem is for military personnel and the federal Aviation Administration, when we are dealing with flightsafety, we do not want them to be on drugs while they are working with planes or flying planes. That is why at the federal level it needs to be illegal. The states can do whatever they want within your state. You can go to colorado, whatever you want. At the federal level the reason why we need to keep it that way is for the military and our transportation administration. Rep. Wexton one of the issues we have at the federal level is marijuana is still a schedule one substance. Theres no reason for it to be in schedule one. It has medicinal properties. It is not something that is dangerous and that way. The first thing we need to do is reschedule marijuana federally. As far as making it legal in the states, thats important as well. Im glad virginia is taking steps to legalize marijuana in the commonwealth. We need to make sure we allow banks to actually deposit the proceeds of marijuana businesses in the banks. We are seeing an increase in crime of these all caps businesses. We saw treasurers telling stories about paying their taxes with suitcases full of cash. That should not happen. This is something we need to get with the times and make it legal and that is something i support. Mr. Cao in the 1970s, we had so many accidents on board aircraft carriers and military bases because people were high on marijuana. Whatever we want to believe, it does not affect your performance is false. When we talk about how we pay for it, fdic insured, thats another issue. It has another issue that we cannot have military people and federal Aviation Administration personnel high on drugs. That is why you need to stay illegal at the federal level. Dr. Farnsworth this question goes to candidate wexton. What are you views on the Medicaid Expansion and Affordable Care act so far . What are your plans for Health Care Adjustment spending in the future . Rep. Wexton my proudest moment in the state legislature was to expand medicaid in virginia. Over 630,000 virginians now have health care and insurance who did not have a before. The Affordable Care act is something that is hugely important and made a difference in the lives of people. Its important we maintain it and we build on that progress. I believe access to Affordable Health care is a right. Making sure everybody gets that. Mr. Cao a Single Program one by the government never works. Lets take medicare for example. If you are buying a pill, we talked earlier about fixedprice. When the government negotiates a price it stays that way forever. It doesnt have a chance to adjust with the market. Until that cost 15 with remaining 130. I just checked with pharmacist. One of my friends has a condition where its a 20,000 pill. Theres a 2000 copay through medicare. If they had a regular insurance, the manufacture can give a rebate for that copay. Its illegal for them to negotiate that rebate or give some sort of backpay back to the customer if it is a governmentrun program. This is why places like venezuela have failed. Government run programs do not work. Rep. Wexton the free market has brought us things like people getting kicked out their insurance or having a preexisting condition, lifetime caps, people having to kick their kids off their Health Insurance when they turn 20 or 19 or 18. These are things the Affordable Care act has prevented from happening. Im proud we voted to let medicare negotiate drug prices. It was crazy that medicare was required to pay whatever the Drug Companies asked. The v. A. Have the right for many years but for whatever reason republicans refused to let they were in the pocket of big pharma and would not let medicare negotiate the prices. That is something we manage to pass this year to save seniors on monday other Health Insurance and make sure we continue it. Mr. Cao dr. Farnsworth candidate cao, do you support or prove of federal law that would order the removal of confederate monuments on public spaces . Mr. Cao im sorry dr. Farnsworth federal property. Federal space. Mr. Cao our history is full of people that fought on both sides. They were great americans on both before, during and after the civil war. I dont like is erasing history. You are right. People say we have never had a monument for losers before and anyplace. These are americans. These are americans like robert e. Lee who refused to turn his sword against virginia. He hated slavery. He did not believe in it. He could not turn his sword against his own land. We have this issue where they are americans. Yes, they chose the wrong side and they chose the wrong thing. They were also heroes from the mexican war and wars before that as well. Rep. Wexton they took up arms against the United States of america. They are insurrectionist in the make some undeserving of having a memorial for their lives and federal buildings were federal places. Its crazy. Robert e. Lee was one of the statues represent virginia in the rotunda, the crypt, place of pride in the u. S. Capitol. I partnered with my colleague from virginia to work with our state partners to get it removed and be replaced with Barbara Johnson was a better fit. It sends a much better message to americans. This is something we need to be fighting to make it happen. Its incredibly insensitive to realize there are americans they are there to cause and feel like they are secondclass citizens. Dr. Farnsworth next question goes first the candidate wexton. What if anything needs to be done to create a more secure Social Security system . Rep. Wexton as baby boomers age it will be an issue for everybody. We need to ensure we have people paying into the Social Security we have now. We need to make sure we are cutting back on things requiring folks who were part of the gig economy to pay their fair share. We have seen the classification of workers as independent contractors so employers dont have to pay their share of the Social Security going forward. We need to take steps to make sure we keep the Social Security solvent. I do not favor raising the age for it. It is important we continue to keep it solvent. Mr. Cao this was hard earned money americans put away, to invest in the country and we robbed them of it and its wrong. We need to figure out a way to fix it. I know where i can cut back on fat and pork. We need to do that in our economy. We keep adding more. We buy more things. Its like a kid running around with a free credit card. We need to stay within our means. We owe it to the Senior Citizens who paid in the Social Security. Into the Social Security system. Rep. Wexton Social Security has gone a long way to help prevent seniors from living in poverty. Before many seniors would live in poverty. Its is important we maintain it and keep it. I oppose privatization of Social Security. We cannot be risky with the future of our seniors. Dr. Farnsworth this question goes to candidate cao. Its been decades since the government has balanced its budget. Should we be worried about that . If so, what should we do about it . Mr. Cao 16 years of straight continuing resolutions. This is hurting industries. The largest employer in this to district is contractors for the federal government. Every time you pass a bill late it causes a lot of ripple effects within the companys. A lot of companies, because we extended the continuing resolution, a lot had to let their engineers go because the government did not do their job. My opponent is a federal appropriate or. They appropriated the money at the midyear execution mark. That means they are targeted for not executing the money on time. Im talking about the federal agencies. They are not executing the money on time. Now they are being punished for it and have money taken away because congress has not done their job. We need to balance the budget now. Rep. Wexton he is conflating two issues, appropriations. It is congressional appropriations that threaten to shut down the government when we refused and refused to engage in the appropriations process. The issue of a balance budget is something we keep trying to do and get closer to. Im pleased that joe biden will be reducing the budget deficit. Republican administrations ran up the deficit and debt more than any democratic ones did. Dr. Farnsworth the bottle . Rebuttal . Mr. Cao republicans and democrats were responsible for the for not passing this bill. I was not in congress then. Ok . The person sitting next to me has been in congress for the last two years. They have the house, the senate and the presidency, yet they still have not balanced the budget. Dr. Farnsworth the question goes next to candidate wexton. What should the United States you with respect to the russian continuing continuing russian invasion and occupation of ukraine . Rep. Wexton i believe strongly we need to push back against putin and support our ukrainian allies. It is something that affects all of us. Russias unprovoked, caching question goes to candidate waxed in. What is expected to be done with the continuing occupation of the russian invasion of ukraine . We need to support our ukrainian allies. This affects all of us. Russias unprovoked completely unprovoked attack and a sovereign nation cannot go unanswered. This is something thats a real issue. There seems to be a lot of erosion on the right to now favor. We cannot let them take over the country. The move in of the ukrainian people has been inspiring. But it is something where we need to keep our guard up and keep the money coming. Because it is something russia will not give up. We need to fight back. My heart goes out to the ukrainian people. I know what it is like when another country comes in were a communist comes in and takes over. Right now we just borrowed 55 million billion dollars from china to pay for war in ukraine and we are adding more and it goes to paying the government their salaries and the military and if the structure. It has nothing to do with war. It has to do with assisting the government over there. But i do not know why we ours worried so much about border between russia and ukraine and we are not worried about our own border. The eighth amendment given to ukrainian notes russia attacked a sovereign country and committed huge war atrocities. This is not just about in ukraine but around the world. We work hard to make sure there is no fraud and we are pointing out that donald trump tried to put the u. S. Out of nato. Joe biden is able to form an International Alliance with countries all around the industrial u. S. And help them as well. This question goes first to do we need a system of National Voter registration to make sure that Election Integrity is consistent across the states . It is a states rights issue. But between afghanistan and iraq i can ensure voter integrity is this. They rolled their finger in ink and i saw old young men carrying old women on their backs. And they are so proud to get the chance to vote. Even at the risk of being blown up because of the risk of a suicide bomber once in a while. I tell the young people, but will you are not voting you disrespect the marines and soldiers i hope all americans whether they vote for me or not that is a right as american and an obligation of civic duty but voting is up to the states in the states will manage that. I think we need federal texans for voting absolutely. Something ive seen is that republicans and Congress Make it harder rather than easier. It is hard to vote. Im pleased we have things like sameday Voter Registration in virginia and things like no excuse ballot these are the things that need to increase and encourage people to vote and given the tools to do so more easily and not make it more difficult. They believe in things like an election day and National Holiday these are the things i will continue to fight for in congress. I find it insulting that the democrats say that immigrants and i nor eddies are too stupid to get an id card and go vote. My parents, i remember every first tuesday in november my parents got up early and voted first thing in the morning they are proud as americans to be able to vote. This question goes to candidate weston does this help or hurt the virginia economy . In interacting with our partners to ensure fair trade is important and helps virginia virginia is an exporter of many things including agricultural product and other things as well. We increased trade and have fair trade with our International Friends and partners. We end up with better for everyone. In virginia we have many options so and i want to ensure that trade laws are uniformly and fairly enforced. There are countries that cheat on their trade and and undercut prices. We need to enforce law against them and encourage experts or virginia goods. We need to enforce laws that are there trade laws because we are taken to the bank by china and we need to make sure we need to make a fair agreement between ourselves and china. Next question goes to candidate count what is your thought on Nuclear Power . Should we expand the number of lance we have now as a means of dealing with the Energy Crisis . Thats a wonderful question. We use Nuclear Power safely ford 75 years and europe is turning on reactors because it gives you clean power. It is clean it is not only that but it can be turned into portable water because the water evaporates and we do it in a four stage distillery where we can capture water and imagine places like california with unlimited water supply sources. Yes, absolutely Nuclear Energy is very safe and clean. The most efficient thing out there. I do believe Nuclear Energy has a place in our energy are fully up and something that needs life here in virginia. It something i think we should continue to use and ensure we do it safely. This is something i will keep fighting for in congress. One of the things that surprises candidates for office is the role that money plays in campaignfinance. It is asked to run for office and it is getting or expensive. You know this all too well. My question to you, this goes to candidate waxed in, what if anything should the federal government do to reduce the amount of money that candidates need to run for office . We all agree that the campaign industrial context is real. We need to turn on our tvs and thing like that. One of the main things we should do is ban dark money and ensure there are limits for dark money and that they are disclosed. Because we have millions of dollars of undisclosed money coming into these packs and then they run ads and by elections we should not have billionaires being able to buy election. We have candidates being subjected to limits and full disclosure. The biggest thing to do is to require put limits on the money that can be donated and required that there is full disclosure to so that everybody can know who is paying for this. I wish i knew where to get the money because 1. 4 million that i got this past quarter it came from 22,000 donors. People gave me a lot of money from one one dollar checks and five dollar checks im so out of that. We are able to have a grassroots movement. But there is regulation there needs to be regulation on how we get money. It is so expensive it should not be a 10 million race to run for congress. In the perfect world, give someone a bus ticket and thats all you get walk around and knock on doors yourself and talk to voters. We need campaignfinance reform in the country. That is something i will keep writing or in congress. I think theres a lot to do that encouraging the time where we are allowed to raise money for health is where well. This would be the final question that i ask the two of you and then we go to closing statements. This goes to if you could propose one constitutional amendment and convince people to adopt its, what would it be . I would really propose an amendment for term limits. I do not think that running for office and being in office should be a career. I think you do it as an honor to this country. Maybe it should be your devotion and you do it a few years and you back in feel the pain you put on the American People through the laws you enact. Thats the main thing. There are too many people that hang out in congress for 50 years and they are still terrible partisan. Still a terrible person. [laughter] the constitutional amendment that i would support is the people rights amendment for women. [applause] with that, we are going to turn to closing statements. We will have each candidate having the opportunity for two minutes to present their final remarks. Again, this was determined ia code coin toss ahead of time and candidate cal goes first. But before we do that, i want to ask you to join me in saying thank you to both of these candidates in their willingness to serve and there are [applause] with that, i will withdraw the ability of people being quiet. Youve done a good job and you are respectful. It is a lesson sometimes to people in terms of how to behave in public forms. I think you have done well. We will have an opportunity after closing statements for you to offer your response to the candidates but please be silent during their closing remarks. Candidate cal. Every person needs to ask themselves these questions are we safer now than we were two years ago . Are we are driving . Are we economically sturdy . Are we more united . Joe biden stood in front of Independence Hall and called voters that did not vote for him a defense to the micro c. This is the first time the president of the United States called voters in his country threats to democracy. And representative would have stood up and said, with all due respect, you are wrong. The voters in my district are great americans. They may not deal in politics but they are hardworking farmers, Police Officers, firefighters, business owners, entrepreneurs, but my point is calling and extremist. I am a 100 disabled combat veteran. I am a father of five i am a husband to my beautiful wife for 23 years. I bled and fought for this country and you are using the same name time and time again that you used for terrorist. Get ladies and gentlemen, i knew some of the marines that i worked with and what they believed and i represent them anyways. I think you deserve better. I think you deserve someone that will listen to you no matter whether you voted for me or not i will be out there and listen to you. There is a saying where i come from where we say never above you, never below you, always the side you. And that is where i will be always beside you. My name is congressman cal and i will be your next congressman. [applause] we will now turn to candidate waxed into minutes for your closing statement. Thank you there is a extreme on gun violence prevention. After 19 Elementary School teachers students and teachers that is absolutely inaccurate i would say it is outside of mainstream and outside of the opinion of most people in the district. He is a extremist on democracy protection and when the insurrectionist work attacking the capital and when they are were arrested they are saying why are members of congress not getting set them free. They are my people set them read they wanted to overturn the results of a free and Fair Election. Abortion in the u. S. , outlaw all abortions in things like contraception as well. So i think it is very extreme use and i have spent years working across the aisle to deliver positive results for my constituents. And that is what i will continue to do if you reelect me. Thank you so much i will keep fighting every day for all of our values. [applause] thanks to the candidates for the willingness to join us tonight and give us a candid conversation about their use thank you for listening. Have a blessed evening. [ind the january 6 committee returns thursday for a blind hearing ahead of the release of the written report expected by the end of the year. You can watch the hearing live beginning at 1 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Cspan now, or anytime on demand at cspan. Org. Cspans washington journal, every day we are taking your calls live on the air on the news of the day. And we will discuss policy issues that impact you. Coming up saturday morning, will chafer, director of Poverty Solutions at the university of michigan will talk about hardship in the u. S. And the recent decline in poverty levels. Then in our spotlight on podcast segment, washington ties Legal Affairs reporter alex talks about her podcast about the Supreme Court and legal issues in the news. Watch washington journal live at 7 00 eastern saturday morning on cspan or on cspan now, our free mobile video app. Join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, Text Messages and tweets. On capitol hill, the Senate Returns tuesday at 11 00 a. M. Senators will begin debate on the policy bill. The houses back for legislative work after the midterm elections on monday, november 14. Lawmakers will continue the talks off the house and Senate Floors to fund the government through next year. Current funding is set to expire on december 16. Watch live coverage of the house on cspan, the senate on cspan two. You can watch our free video app cspan now, or online at cspan. Org. Cspan is your unfiltered view of government, funded by these Television Companies and more, including charter communication. Broadband is a force for empowerment, thats why charter has invested billions building infrastructure, upgrading technology, empowering opportunity and communities big and small. Charter is connecting us. Charter communications supports cspan as a Public Service. Along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. Candidates in the oregon governors race debated affordable housing, the homeless, and other topics. The debate between republican christine, democrat tina, and independent that sea johnson was hosted by ko bia tv in medford, oregon