Gonzaga university in spokane. Hello, everyone, welcome. I will have the candidates come to the stage now. Thank you for watching. Todays debate is sponsored by the northwest passages Community Event series, league of women voters, public television, and gonzaga university. It is affiliated with the Washington State debate coalition. I am pleased to be here today to moderate this debate between senator patty murray and candidate tiffany smiley. It is a q a format, i will pose a question any candidate will have 90 seconds to answer. Each candidate has the opportunity for two rebuttals to the debate. If you use one, feel free to hold up one of the cards you have and i will give you 30 seconds to do that. There will be no counter rebuttals. I also reserve the right to ask followup questions when needed. Ms. Murray won the coin toss and chose to open. The monitor that has the time has been going in and out, but the time is correct and it will come back, so just keep that in mind. So lets get started. There is no formal Opening Statement but i want to start right asking abroad question to focus on your experiences. Ms. Murray, you have a been a washington senator for almost 30 years. Why do you think you are the best candidate for this position . Thank you to the league of women voters for hosting this debate tonight. These have been really challenging times. I grew up in a family with seven kids, my dad was a world war ii veteran and he ran a small store. We had tight budgets. I understand that, so i always fight to make sure we have an economy that works for working families. In the past year and a half, have passed legislation to lower Prescription Drug costs. Ive worked to deliver the largest class tax cut in generations, to lower energy costs, fight Climate Change, and bring manufacturing back here to Washington State. Whether it is getting a v. A. Clinic are making sure spokane has the resources for police and firefighters, i always listen to communities here and fight for our families in washington dc. This is one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime. Womens rights are on the ballot. If you send me back a prochoice in it, i will work to pass my legislation to codify ro into law. Our democracy is on the ballot. I will fight to protect every americans right to vote, and our economy is on the ballot. I will keep fighting to lower costs and make sure your family has a fair shake. Thank you. At 23 years old, i walked into my husbands trauma unit at walter reed medical center. I had student loan debts, i had a car payment. He was in a coma, and that was my First Experience with the bureaucratic government system. My amazing husband is in the audience with us today. Thank god it was a nurse, because i wasnt afraid to take on the government and fight for him. I was going to be there, and unfortunately the suicide car bomber that he was negotiating with in service to our country detonated a car. He will be forever blind. I knew he still had purpose, and a fall for his life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. He came the first become the first blind active duty officer to ever serve our country. I knew i had to go back and make it right for everyone else, so i took on the v. A. I took on the da and we passed meaningful reform for veterans that was so needed. For me, it was truly in that fight that i knew we had so much more to fight for. My opponent works for washington dc, she is the image of big government. Washington state deserves better. Congress has tried and failed to fast comprehensive Immigration Reform for decades. Would you support a bill that increases Border Security as well as provide a legal pathway to citizenship for immigrants . We know that china is pumping the components of fitness lacrosse our southern border. It is in Washington State. It is also in our schools. It is killing our kids. One pill will kill our kids here in Washington State. I went to the southern border to see it for myself. I talked to Law Enforcement officers down there, and they said our number one roadblock to solving these problems is washington dc. I dont know of my opponent has been down to the southern border but i went down because i know how important it is to Washington State. We have got to secure our border and stop the flow of fennel that is coming across and killing our kids. The flow of fentanyl that is coming across and killing our kids. We can make sure that title 42 remains in place, ensure that our Border Patrol agents have every resource they need to secure our border, with technology and resources. Career politicians like to use immigration as a political wedge when it comes to immigration when it comes to election time david i will secure our border and ensure there is a pathway to legal citizenship in our country. Let me say, i have been to the border. I went to the border with the trump administration, and my opponent has said she would like his endorsement. The Trump Presidency was separating children from their mothers at the southern border, and i went not with the photographer, i went with a pediatrician, to go make sure that kids who were separated from their parents had the care they need. Our immigration system today, which is what you asked about, is not working for anyone. It is not working for our service industry, its not working for our hightech companies who are trying to attract new people here, to develop jobs here in the United States. We have to fix our immigration system. I have voted for and work for changing our immigration system to make sure we allowed pat to citizenship, that we find our Border Patrol and customs agents in a good way, and to make sure that we have a system that works for those who are seeking asylum. Why do we have that . Because republican stopped it from happening. They now use immigration during every election to score political points and have refused to come back to the table. We cant let this be a political fight anymore. We need to work to find solutions. It is important for our economy, it is important for humanitarian reasons, and it is important because we are country of immigrants, and we can do better than this. Nations around the world are experiencing high inflation in the wake of the covid 19 pandemic, as well as rising gas prices worsened by the worn ukraine. It is no different than what is happening in the United States right now. What should congress do to address rising costs . In every community i know, families are struggling. I know what that feels like. I have been very focused on lowering costs for families, as we get through this Global Challenge that we are facing. I have worked to lower Prescription Drug costs. In the Inflation Reduction Act, the biggest reduction and Prescription Drugs we have ever seen, allowing medicare to negotiate for lower prices, capping 35 for insulin, making sure that families have extension of the aca so they can get lower costs for insurance. We passed a bill to make sure that we are lowering energy costs. If we move to a Clean New Energy program and we lower our costs, that will help every families pocketbook. I am looking at every step we can take to lower costs, including my plan to pass childcare, and we will get that done so families can lower the cost of their childcare, get back to work and help our economy be productive again. That sounds like a washington dc answer to me. I took on washington dc and i won. You have never taken on washington dc, you are washington dc. Senator murray stood with joe biden with the Inflation Reduction Act and said this is going to help us. Dont be deceived by the name, because this isnt coming for me , it is coming from the cbo. It does nothing to combat inflation. In fact it raises taxes on all of us. 87,000 irs agents coming after us. Those making 25,000 or less are five times more likely to be audited by the irs. That is who i am standing up and fighting for. I think it is important that washington families know that senator murray was the deciding vote on the excise tax on natural gas. You will see your energy costs go up. In every room ive been in washington, in all 39 counties, ive listened tooth outer thousands of voters and ask are you in a better place. They say no, we are worse. It is not good use of taxpayers money. I will ensure that we reduce the spending, rain in the outofcontrol spending. I will make sure that 87 thousand irs agents do not come after you and i will permanently extend the 2017 tax cuts of the middle class and get our economy on track. After the Supreme Court overturned roe v. Wade, both parties have talked about crafting a new immigration law. What would you want or not want to see a new abortion law. I think there are good people on both sides of the issue and we need to be able to come into the center of this and acknowledge it. I been clear from the beginning, i oppose the federal abortion been. The Supreme Courts decision gave the power to the people, and that is where i believe it belongs. I respect the will of the voters here in Washington State. What i will do is ensure that women have access to health care, that they have access, and Affordable Access to contraception and childcare. Unlike senator murray, i will get that done for women. When women are in a time of crisis, i want to ensure that they have every resource they need, should they choose to keep their child, that it is not a lack of education. If you had in her way, she would change the will of the voters in Washington State. It would be taxpayerfunded abortion on demand all the way up until birth. Do you believe in any legal limitations to abortion . Dont take it from me, the most recent newsweek article that was out yesterday, senator murray has no right to lecture me are any women in this room or state or country for that matter on how we should be treated, or any of us. She told her National Security advisor that her luck had run out for having two children within two years, and she fired her. Theres a huge difference between me and my opponent on this issue. I believe that every woman should be able to make her own Health Care Choices about her own family, working with her doctor, her faith, and her own needs. This should not be decided by politicians. You just heard my opponent say politicians should decide. I do not agree with that at all. We should not be in a room with people when they are making medical decisions. I hear my opponent over there saying im 100 prolife, dont worry. I got to tell you, i was in the senate, i saw Supreme Court nominees come in front of us and say to us, im prolife, dont worry, and look what happened. They overturned 50 years of precedent and put this country and womens lives in chaos. We have women coming here to Washington State because they cant get reproductive care where they live. We have providers right here in spokane who live in idaho and are worried about the work that they do every day to save lives and help women. They will be arrested when they go home. We have trackers who are following women in this country coming using their phone apps to make sure that they know where they went and when they come home. This cannot be. If you elect me, i will pass my legislation to codify ro into law and put precedent back in place in this country and protect womens right to choose. I set i believe the people should, and i respect the will of the voters here in Washington State. Lets make it very clear, it was a constitutional right that we have under 50 years of precedent. What she said puts politicians in state legislatures could now decide. Politicians in a room with a woman and her family and her face and her doctor making that decision. You both abused rebuttal and you have one more to use throughout the debate. I do want to ask a followup on abortion. You will each have 30 seconds to answer this. Would you favor creating an exception to the filibuster rule to approve improve abortion rights nationwide . I believe that the rules of the senate should allow us when we are making a sit a decision about constitutional rights, whether its a womans right to choose our voters right to make sure their boat is heard at the polls, that is the Voting Rights while. These are rights that americans hold near and dear, and i do not think the rules of the senate should preclude us from codifying them into law. Again, senator murray made it clear that she wants politicians to the side decide this. I believe in respect the will of the voters here in Washington State and if anyone should change it it should be Washington State voters. I just met with the young mother, single mom from the university of washington. She said childcare is so hard to come by. I know what that is like. The filibuster is a longheld rule in the senate that balances the power and is good for our country. I want to move on because we have a lot of other topics to discuss. It has been long running controversy over the snake river dam here in washington. As a senator, how would you balance these competing interests and conversations about the dams and are there any circumstances in which you would support . Reaching them . Growing up on a farm, i understand what farmers do for our economy here in Washington State, for the thirdlargest bag producers in the country, reaching our dams would be detrimental, it would mean more trucks on the road, as well as turning the lights out on every washingtonian. Our dams provide clean hydro energy. Senator murrays typical bureaucrat who went along and flipflopped on the issue. We have technology that protects us. Us to protects our salmon. We need to protect our dams. Senator murray wanted to breach them with no plan to replace that energy at a time when were heading into recession with energy costs going up. Our dams are essential to our economy, to our farmers into our families all over Washington State. Its important to know that salmon is part of our economy, its part of our culture, and part of our tribal obligations. We have a responsibility to solve the declining salmon population. Ive worked hard at the federal level for us here in the Pacific Northwest to make sure we have the resources to do it. Every year i fight for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund that allows us to restore our echo system. He to make sure we have the funds to fix the culvert that often occlude salmon from going back upstream and spawning. We now are starting to rebuild those and thats a critical part of this. Were working make sure we do everything we can to save our salmon. There was a question about whether we should remove some dams. I talked to stakeholders from every part of our state, from utilities to tribes to users of the river, including transportation, and we do not have in place today the resources we need for both resiliency, for energy, or infrastructure, to be able to take them down now. But we do have an obligation to make a plan to do everything we can to replace our energy, to replace or infrastructure, so that if in the future that decision is the one thing that will save our salmon, we are ready to do that. We are not today, but im working hard to make sure that we save our salmon in the Pacific Northwest. In recent months, the january 6 committee made its case for testimony with dozens of republicans, trump aides and officials that former President Trump was personally responsible for the january 6 right. How do you feel about the findings of the committee and how much responsibility to you tribute to trump . I was in the capitol on january 6. I was stuck in my office, i was locked in a room with insurrectionists pounding on my door. I heard what they said. I heard what their goal was. It was to take over a peaceful transfer of power using brute force. I will not ever forget that day. I walked away from a terrifically horrible situation and realized for the first time in my life that our democracy doesnt happen just because you think it is there. Democracy is something we have to fight for. We can never allow brute force to take over our boats or our bar our voices. I will fight everyday to make sure we never allow those people who continued the big lie, including my opponent on her website, the thats where she changed it in july, to question that election, because that sows mistrust and are country for our democracy. It is critical that we hold everyone accountable and never allow our democracy to be taken away. We have to fight for it. Im going to fight for it, and i want our country to know that this is a critical issue in this election. I dont know who gave you that talking point but i have my agenda for political recovery and a form and reform and address this issue which is important to everyone across her country. I think this is on both sides of the aisle. To be clear, we watched january 6 and i had to describe to my husband what was unfolding. It was heartbreaking for us. And those who broke the law should be held to the full extent of our judicial system and our law. But i want to be clear on this, i husband lost his eyesight fighting for our country. He is here at this debate listening to us. He lost his eyesight fighting for democracy, and our family lives that sacrifice every single day. It is certainly why im in this fight as well. So i want to ask, do you believe that me and my family are a threat to democracy . Tell everyone here today, either that or disavow your campaigns dangerous rhetoric that has sent spent millions of dollars to attack and paint me as someone i am not. Thats what is on the ballot this november. I am here to unify, to bring us together, to serve this country. This is not about politics. This is about the United States of america. I want to ask a followup on this topic that i dont know that usury has necessarily addressed yet. What do you say to washington residents and your constituents who believe that the 2020 election was not valid . I would say first to my opponent, no one questions her belief in our democracy or her husbands fight for our country, ever. But do not conflate that with misconstruing about the intent of insurrectionists who were using their brute force to overtake the peaceful transfer of power. Using our boats and our voices is what a democracy is about. All of you here tonight or participating in your democracy by being here. But we cannot allow brute force. What do you say to voters who say that the 2020 election was not valid . I say use your voices and vote. We have to move forward as a country. Senator murrays dangerous rhetoric is further dividing us. We need to vote, we need to come together and know that we live in the greatest country in the world. We are the shining beacon on the hill. We can move forward and we will move forward, but patty murray just goes along with washington, d. C. Im here to fight for Washington State. On another topic, we are now almost eight months into the war on ukraine. Congress on a bipartisan basis has continued to get funding and support to the country. Would you continue to support the amount of u. S. Support and aid currently given to ukraine, in spite of putins recent threats of nuclear war. We should never be in this place in the beginning. Senator the center and present about have shown weakness on the world stage. And Bolding Putin to take action. We shouldve stepped up and been tough on putin immediately. Cinnabar did not want to sanction the nord stream pipeline because she would rather lie in her pockets with her lobbyist and stand up and do what is right for Washington State in this country. Overall, we should not even be in this position, but we are, we need to ensure that ukraine has everything they need. They know how to fight. We need to plummet see. We need to show strength on the world stage. We need to plummet see, we need it now. Putin is working with iran. I havent heard senator murray denounce what is happening in iran. Stand with the women and freedom in iran. That is essential, because iran is now working with putin in russia to get nuclear weapons. This is an extremely dangerous situation. We need to show strength from the world stage, that is certainly what i am committed to doing when i am in your when im your next senator from Washington State. Putins invasion of ukraine was outrageous. We just talked about democracy. We have a responsibility to stand up and fight for those countries who are fighting for their democracy with our global allies. President biden was right to go to our nato allies and to our friends in europe to unite, to go in and support ukraine in their fight, their brave fight for their democracy. I was proud and am proud to support their fight with our u. S. Dollars. We do have to be careful not to get in a conflict directly between the United States and russia, and thats why its important that we use diplomacy and bring our partners together. We do have to condemn those countries that are dangerous, and i do every day, obviously. But i will say that is important for us to stand up and fight for our democracies around the world, ukraine is one, im proud that we are working with our nato allies in our european friends to show a united front, that we will fight back against putin. The cleanup of the Hanford Nuclear site has been going on for decades. Federal funds have focused more on building a plant to turn radioactive and Chemical Waste but not to address leaking tanks. Do you agree with this approach, and why . Its one of the things i do for the Pacific Northwest every sigel day in my role on the Appropriations Committee and as a United States senator. We have a moral and legal obligation to clean up the Hanford Nuclear site. Our first obligation is to protect those workers who are their day in and day out in dangerous conditions, making sure they have the training and support and the gear they need to be saved and cleaning up that site. We are making great progress in hanford. Ive had to fight republicans and democrats to make sure we get the resources we need to clean up that nuclear site. It has taken us a long time to get there. It is expensive, it will be expensive for a long time to go. We also need to clean up the tanks that are leaking into the columbia river. This is one of the most important tasks i do every day as your United States senator, fighting to make sure Washington State has the resources to clean up Hanford Nuclear reservation, protect the workers and keep our moral and legal obligation to the site. Yes, i believe we do have an obligation to clean up hanford. Lets do it in an efficient way, lets maximize the dollars that are spent there, not drag our feet on it. I believe that those workers need to be protected and i will fight for them. Im here for them. That is clear. It is interesting, my opponent will go fight for the government. We need someone who will go fight for the people as well. Its easy to take on the government and get what you need. I have no problem ensuring they continue to grow with the cleanup operations out there. I also want to recruit more scientists and grow art labs and our technology and research that is going on out there but i think it is important we have an economy and environment where house prices are lower, where cost of living is lower, that people want to come to Washington State. That is certainly what i will fight for. Recent polls have shown that americans are worried about crime rates. How should congress address crime across the nation when most is decided at the local level . It is also decided at the federal level as well. It doesnt matter if you live in spokane or where. Ive been everywhere, and crime is on the rise everywhere. My opponent in june of 2020 went on the Senate Foreign called for funds to be diverted from our police force. What ive heard all over Washington State is that we didnt hear from her until she came out attacking directly in june. Our police are not being supported. In addition to the crime, we have fit all over our streets. We have fentanyl all over our streets. We are allowing a humanitarian crisis to unfold right before our eyes. We are allowing people to poison themselves to death, and we do nothing, just go along with d. C. And do nothing. What i will do in my agenda for recovery and reform is ensured that our Police Officers have access to federal grants for 5,000 retention and recruiting bonuses. I will work closely with prosecutors, especially the seattle City Attorney to make sure we prosecute repeat offenders. There are things we can do. We can ensure that title 42 is never lived until we have a plan for a secure border. Crime is out of control, patty murray is to blame, you can look at her record. We just heard a whole slew of things that i would love to take time to rebut, but let me just say this. Crime is an issue that Everyone Needs to address at the local, state, and federal level. That is exactly why under the American Rescue plan that every single republican voted for, and tiffany said she opposed, we put resources in there for our Police Officers so they can stay on the job and fight. And our communities are using that funding now and need to continue to. In that response you did not hear anything about gun violence. This is an issue we need to address. After uvalde, we made some small steps at the federal level, but we need to ban assault weapons. We need to make sure that we have really good background checks and enforce making sure that those that are dangerous do not have guns. That is what i fight for, because gun violence is a part of this. The other part she didnt address his Mental Health. Im working right now with republican colleagues, we hope to pass a bill by the end of this year to help with Mental Health resources for our frontline workers, making sure that they have training, that they have the capability to help people with one of the most Critical Issues we face in this country today, Mental Health and Substance Use disorder. You brought up gun violence, so i want to ask a question about that. The senate recently passed Bipartisan Legislation to address gun violence. Would you support further steps at the federal level such as restricting magazine capacity or eliminating those guns . The answer to that is absolutely yes. No one should have to worry about walking in their neighborhood are sending their kid to school are going to a Movie Theater are to the mall about gun violence. We need to do everything we can to address the issue of gun violence. One thing im working on is that weve never done any research the issue of gun violence and what causes that. Why . Because the nra, who supports my opponent, said we couldnt do any research on that. Last year i got money for the cdc to do research on what is causing gun violence, and when we thats when we have the research we will better know what steps we can take at the federal level to reduce the issue of gun violence. I will fight every day to make sure that your kids dont have to worry about somebody coming into their school, that you can walk through the streets safely, that we as a country standup to the nra and fight back and make sure that we put Public Safety first. We have a crime issue. We need to ensure that we protect our Second Amendment rights for lawabiding citizens and that we keep weapons out of the hands of criminals. Again, crime is out of control, senator murray, you are to blame, anyone can go to her record. 30 years in the senate, and this is where we are. Its not just guns, theres families who worry about people on the streets swinging bats. Students at the university of washington, they have to wait for someone to stop swinging a machete around before they could come out of their class. A woman was violently assaulted just walking to lunch in downtown seattle. She looked around and said, what do i do . Someone said dont call the cops because nothing will happen. So it is clear that we have a lot of work to do. Im proud to be endorsed by the fraternal order of police. They know that the bedrock of society is law and order. We need that now more than ever, for our kids, for our families all over Washington State. Senator murray has good points for washington dc. I will fight for Washington State, for our kids, and for your families. Do you believe that humans are contributing to Climate Change . If so, what should be done to address it . I grew up on a farm. There are no better stewards of the land and farmers. I believe in protecting our planet, doing everything i can. I am honored to be endorsed by the american coalition. They have a fighter and me who will ensure that we are protect our land, that we can plant more trees. Senator murray shut down our Energy Independence and gave it to enemy countries that hate us. Last time i checked, china and russia dont have any environmental standards. So if we really care about the planet, we will do it right here where we do it best. We are ruining our planet by allowing these in me countries who have no standards to emit missions in our air. I will fight to work with our local government, the fires were started by manmade fires. I wouldve led the charge in working with local officials to get in front of that and stop them. But getting input from local governments all over Washington State is the key to Better Climate solutions. It is best handled at the local level with unique situations that come up. I look forward to ensuring that we have Forest Management so we stop these out of control large forest that are burning continuously every single year. We just heard a whole slew of republican talking points but we certainly didnt hear any way that my opponent is talking about how we reduce the impact of Climate Change. This is having an impact all across our country, here in Washington State we are seeing the impacts of drought and extreme heat that keeps the fires that start from being able to easily be put out into last longer. We all see the healthy fix of the Health Effects of that smoke in the air that weve been breathing for far too long. Is causing asthma and Health Effects for many people. We also have an Economic Impact here. We are losing some of our Critical Industries like our shellfish industry because of the impact of Climate Change. I was proud that democrats took this on two months ago in the u. S. Congress. We passed the biggest investment in Climate Action in the history of this country. Not one republican voted to help us do that. We voted for Climate Change investments because it is the right thing to do, to move to a new clean energy economy, where we begin to develop new Energy Techniques and begin to sell it globally instead of having to buy oil and gas from other countries. This is how we become energy independent. This is how we lower energy costs. We are making Major Investments and it will move our country forward. I want to follow up with both of you. Im not sure either of you answered the first question, which is do you believe humans are contributing to Climate Change. To be clear, we need to have an approach, and my agenda for economic recovery and reform calls for immediately unleashing our natural gas and oil pipeline so we can lower the costs for you now, immediately, while we work for a longterm perspective and expand our green energy and clean energy. Washingtonians should not have to suffer for some pieinthesky idea of climate. You just heard a plan to increase emissions. Our plan to stop the effects of Climate Change is to lower emissions. That is what our bill did. And yes, humans have an impact on this. We use products that create emissions, when companies do, creates Climate Change, and we need to address that. What you heard from my opponent is, let local cities deal with this. Thats what Corporate America wants. I think Corporate America is what contributed to Climate Change in the beginning. We have an audience submitted question. Will start with you, ms. Murray. The pandemic impacted our educational system in many ways. What will you do to address the opportunity gap . When the pandemic it, as a former School Board Member and is a grandparent, i was so concerned about all of our schools being shut down, and what i did from the first was to make sure that we have the funds to give our schools to make sure they could reopen safely. My opponent keeps talking about this like it was a national decision. It was up to our local School Boards based on Public Health reasons. At the federal level, what we did was to make sure that our schools had the resources to open. In terms of loaning starting loss, thats been a concern ive had from the beginning. I wrote the provision into the American Rescue plan that tiffany opposes, to make sure that we are dealing with learning loss. I instructed teachers and communities all over our state, and i know the impact of kids who have not been in school, we are still dealing with learning loss. I put money into the American Rescue plan for afterschool programs and tutoring. We need to do more. We are not there yet. It is the number one priority for me when were doing our appropriations bill in the next month and a half. I think the problem going on here is to pass policy based on good intentions. We need to be passing policy that delivers results. Our children are set back terribly, their test scores are plummeting, childhood anxiety and selfharm is on the rise. You double down and said you have no regrets on how we handle the pandemic. You are a champion of mandates and shutdowns and our children suffered because of that, with no plan to catch them up. This isnt a money problem. This is a solution problem. This is a leadership problem for our country. I have an agenda for our children in this state. I want to ensure that the one he follows the child. That your zip code doesnt determine your destiny in Washington State. We pay teachers more, the average bureaucrat in washington dc makes 180,000. They dont set foot in her childrens classroom where they are teaching reading and math. College education isnt the only pathway to the American Dream in this country. We need plumbers, we need truck drivers, there are multiple ways to achieve the American Dream and we need to make sure that we reduce the stigma that college is for everyone. We are falling behind. Im here to fight for Washington State. How much can i correct in 30 seconds . First of all, it doesnt surprise me you just heard the talking points you did. I will tell you this. Our Public Education system is the backbone of our democracy. I fight every day to make sure we have the funds to assure that every child has an opportunity to get a good education. We cannot funnel that money to private forprofit unaccountable public schools. I support the Charter School law here in Washington State but i do not support federal funds going to private forprofit schools that are unaccountable. Earlier this year the house passed a bill to guarantee the right to same second interracial marriage. The bill will come up for a vote in the senate. Would you vote to codify the right to samesex and interracial marriage . The rising gas prices and crime, i been very clear i would support that bill as long as there is strong religious protections within it, absolutely. Lets be clear, im here to fight for life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness for all. We need to ensure we rein in the outofcontrol spending that is ravishing are state. It would cause the greatest inflation that weve seen in a generation. It is not a money problem, it is a solutions problem. So i will fight for everyones quality of life, weve got to lower the gas prices in this state and in this country. There is a plan to do that. We need people to get back to work. We need to ensure that we have the best economy in Washington State. We are falling behind on every level. We want all children in Washington State to have a shot at the American Dream. So yes, i would support that bill as long as there were strong religious protections in it. Its like im listening to Mitch Mcconnell on the senate floor. The question was whether we would support codifying samesex marriages into law, and i absolutely do. End of statement. But i will tell you this, the reason we need to do that is because the Supreme Court overturned roe v. Wade, using the privacy exemption, and that puts in danger, as Clarence Thomas himself told us, the right for people in this country to have samesex marriage. So yes, we do need to codify it into law. In 2018, the Senate Passed the mission act which made it easier for veterans to get care outside the v. A. System. Critics say it is heading down a path toward privatizing the v. A. You voted for it. What should the v. A. Look like in the next 10 years to better serve veterans . I fight every day for veterans. My dad was a world war ii veteran. My mom had to take care of him when we were growing up. He got ms and he lost his job. So i know what our veterans families go through. When i came to the senate, there had never been a woman on the Veterans Committee before. I signed up for that committee to fight for the men and women who serve. I am proud of my record, making sure that we are doing everything we can to fund our veterans services. To make sure that when our veterans come home they have access to good jobs and the training they need. I passed the care legislation to make sure we are taking care of our caregivers. Passed legislation to make sure the pact act, which we just passed over Mitch Mcconnells objections, to make sure that veterans who are exposed to toxins get the care when they come home. I just talked to a gentleman here today whose son will now be covered. And yes, i do think we have to look at how we find privatization of our veterans services. Our veterans deserve the care that we promised them when they went to fight for us. Privatizing it has cost us a lot of problems, overcharging, long lines, the inability to get the kind of care that they know they can get at the v. A. , and so i want to make sure that we fund it. They will get the care they deserve when they come home. I wonder what insurance you have, senator murray, because our family certainly went through the process of the v. A. That you been in charge of for the last 30 years, oversight. It was a system that wasnt ready for our veterans. That is certainly why i am in this fight, its a bureaucratic government system that is putting redtape in front of our heroes who deserve that care that they earned. The pact act is great, and i absolutely wouldve voted for it 100 , but why did it take 30 years . Our veterans deserve the best that this country has in front of us. I certainly will put veterans at the top of my list. 20, you voted for cutting pensions are working age veterans. Thats not ok. Veterans need a leader and a fighter. So we will cut through the red tape, we will cut through the government bureaucracy, who will make the government work for them and ensure that the enduser, that the customer, our american soldier, our veteran, gets everything that they earned. I had to take on big government, and i won. Thats what i will do for all of you if you send me to washington dc. I will be honored to earn your vote. You are not the mom and tennis shoes anymore. You have become a career politician. I want to ask a healthcare question. Are you satisfied with what was in the Affordable Care act, and if not, what route what would you want to be changed . As a nurse, it was hard because it was very clear that we wouldnt be getting any races. Our bonuses were cut, and they asked us to be more see more patients in less time. I dont think that is good health care. That doesnt lead to good outcomes for our people. We need transparency. We need accountability. We need to lower costs. At the same time, i think it is important to know that within the health care scope, we need to support our private practice doctors as well. Were losing more doctors in the rural communities. Theyre having to drive miles, sometimes days to get the health care they need. That is something certainly that i will fight for and ensure that women, families in Washington State have Affordable Access to health care, that there is transparency and consistency within our health care system. What you heard was my opponent tell you that she would be willing to repeal the aca. Mitch mcconnell 70 times has come to the floor of the u. S. Senate to repeal the aca. Insurance prices work skyrocketing, so we passed the Affordable Care act to make sure that when you bought insurance, you were covered for what you need to be covered. You couldnt be kicked off because you had a preexisting condition. That has saved so Many American lives. That you would get contraceptive carefree. That is so important for women. That you could keep your kids on your insurance up to the age of 26. That has made a huge difference for so many families as they transferred out of k12 and into a world where they dont have the resources to buy insurance. And to make sure that we are subsidizing health care so we lower the price of Health Insurance for everyone. In the bill that we just passed, we major that we extended those aca subsidies. That means right now were not going to see huge increases in insurance costs. Thats what she just said she would not support. This is another audience submitted question. Congress continues to use deficit spending and budgeting while others are heading toward insolvency. What should be done about that . The most important thing you should know is in the Inflation Reduction Act, we just helped medicare in a great way. We passed legislation that ive been fighting for for so long, for you, to make sure that medicare negotiates Prescription Drug prices with the support of the federal government to lower costs of Prescription Drugs for all families. That is an important step. We made sure that those on medicare, we would cap the price of insulin at 30 per my. The republican 30 per month. The republicans would not give one vote for that. On the issue of Social Security and medicare, those are extremely important programs in our country. I will work to strengthen them. I have, and i will continue to make sure that when you work in this country and retire, you have the support you need. In fact, right now im working on legislation to strengthen Social Security. The loss were really written decades ago when women were not in the workforce, so we need to revise them to make sure they work for women today as well. Thats what im working on for all of you, because id come home and heard from you that these are programs that have meaningful impact on families, and im there to protect you. I want to be clear, i will not touch anyones benefits for receiving Social Security. Career politicians use this as a wedge, and when its time to vote, a wedge issue to scare seniors, and i think that is absolutely wrong. In 2003, there was a bipartisan action in the senate with republicans and democrats coming together to ensure that seniors on medicare had access to Prescription Drugs, and senator murray blocked it. So if she had it your way, you wouldnt have access to Prescription Drugs. So i believe we need to sit down at the table and work across the aisle and get this solved, so its not an issue that comes around every election season to scare our seniors. We owe it to you to uphold it, to fix it, to get it right. That is certainly what i will be committed to in the senate. We have now come to our final question, and it looks like you will each only have about 30 seconds to answer it. We dont have a closing statement but hopefully it is wrought enough that you can bring up anything else you wish to say. Both of you have said there is a lot at stake this election. Slain how you would work with the other party and those who did not vote for you. I am happy to work, look at my track record of building coalitions and taking on big government. Senator murray has put millions of dollars behind me to smear me. She showed you the picture of me and donald trump but she doesnt show you the picture of me and her, because thats who i am. I will work with anyone to deliver results. Senator murray wants to scare you. Im here to serve you. Im here to ensure that we rebuild our reputation in Washington State, that people want to come here because its the best way to id be honored to earn your vote. Im proud to work with anyone in the senate who works for Washington State families with me. Thats why i worked to do the budget agreement with paul ryan when government was shut down and no one else could get us an agreement to move forward. I passed a bill with Lamar Alexander to change no child left behinds our kids could learn at school in a way that wasnt testing them every day. Right now im working with my republican counterparts to pass a pandemic act to ensure that we never go through what we went through again. Thats why i ask for your vote and your support. Thank you to our candidates and to everyone in the audience it and for those watching at home. Thank you to our sponsors, the league of women voters, dont forget to vote on november 8, and have a good night. Thank you