Thing, and then i will answer your question very quickly. Where you are being dishonest is the house admin actually scrutinizes every piece of mail that we send out, and it is signed by a republican and democrat to make sure it is nonpolitical in nature. I will also mention that he did not have a problem when matheson communicated more than the rest of the delegation. He did very well, he communicated with his constituents, and im proud of the fact that i have used the budget to communicate as opposed to use the budget to have a massive amount of staff members. I continue to behave fiscally responsibly by returning money back to the treasury. To your answer, it is very clear what we need to do when it comes to job creation. There are four pillars. People talk about three, but there are four that need to happen. First of all, job creation through innovation, removing regulation that is stifling our Small Businesses. It is harder to open a Small Business today that it has ever been in our history. Two, we have to make sure we are producing energy. We have to be competitive on the global market. Three, we have to make sure that we simplify the tax code. Tax code makes it so that it is easier for people at bigger businesses to get through those loopholes and more difficult for smaller businesses. And four, we have to create liquidity, make sure people have access to credit, purchasing a house, a car, or being able to start a business. You do those three those four, and you will be able to grow the economy and the United States will be competitive on a global market. Moderator mr. Owens, we will go back to you for rebuttal. You have the opportunity to respond to either the mailing issue or the economy question. Mr. Owens there is no issue with someone sending a mailer that announces a town meeting. Those were selfpromotional Campaign Pieces that were paid for by the taxpayers. My opponent just tried to excuse that by saying both republicans and democrats do it. I would never do something just because everybody does it. Moderator representative love, you have an additional 30 seconds. Rep. Love there is no response, this is just something he is using to his own benefit to complain because he has got nothing else. I understand that he has got a problem, so its ok, let it go. Moderator lets see how you respond to this question you technically cannot, because she waived her rebuttal time. More time will be coming. Mr. Owens all right. Moderator weekly our headlines are stained with recordings of mass shootings. Big cities, small towns, Community College campuses. In 2015, more than 10,000 americans were fatally shot, more than 25,000 wounded. Those figures do not include use of firearms in suicides. Apart from going on social media and praying for the victims and their families, what is the role of congress in addressing this issue . Representative love, you have the first 90 seconds. Rep. Love it is important to recognize that there are people in their communities who feel like they do not have a shot. There are people that do feel like they are being targeted. It is important to recognize that. But i also believe that the role of any leader would be to unify, not to divide our country. I believe that we are more rigidly divided today than we have been in seven years. And i think it is a lack of leadership on the administration side and, frankly, a lack of leadership in washington. As a mayor, what i did when we realized that people were having an adverse type of relationship with our Police Officers, we decided that we were going to get our own Police Officers that live in our own community, so that the people they are enforcing the laws to are their neighbors. These are the same people their children are going to the same schools, the same parks, the same church. It creates an environment where that person now is not an enforcer but a Community Police officer, a person who is going to help you in your neighborhood. It is incredibly important that we do everything we can to make sure we are trying to fix the problem at the end. We have to make sure that kids in the streets of baltimore, kids on the streets here in salt lake, actually have an education. That way, they can become Police Officers in their own community and be role models in their community. Moderator i have been informed by our timekeeper that we have enough time remaining for your full response to this, mr. Owens, but no further time. You have your 90 second opportunity. Mr. Owens i do want to go back and address one other issue. It is important to talk about what a sitting member of congress has been doing for two years. I think it is perfectly fair to point out the use of taxpayer money, and i would do that any day of the week. I certainly have not been abusing this privilege myself, i have never had any taxpayer dollars in my control to use in that way. I think it is terribly inappropriate, and it is part of the Ethics Reform i would do if i got back to congress, to get Congress Working again, to do away with those mass mailers, selfpromotion, luxury travel, and making sure Congress Works again. That is the bedrock of what we are going to be able to do to move this country forward, because we cannot make progress on these other issues until we reform the way congress operates. Now, to the issue of policing, my brother is in Law Enforcement. I want to make sure every officer goes home safe to their kids at night. We need to get them the resources to do their job. We need to get them the resources to have the training to stop the conduct that sometimes we have seen too often. But if we train them, if we Work Together i am all about solutions. Im all about trying to bring people together rather than saying it is us versus them. We can Work Together to solve our problems, this is the United States, and i believe that is how we are going to go forward. It is just like your family, just like your workplace. If you take account of other people who see things differently, you can work out your problems and find common ground. I have done that as a lawyer. I will take this skill to washington. Moderator i sincerely wish i had additional time to redirect that question and hone in. We have reached the end of our allotted time. We must move to closing statements. Prior to air time, it was determined that representative mia love would have the first 60 second opportunity. Rep. Love thank you so much for being here. I have had the opportunity to represent the wonderful, Diverse People of the Fourth District for the past year and a half, almost two years, and it has been my honor and privilege to do that. I have gotten to know you and your families, and this is not just about a job for me. You have become my neighbors and friends. I want you to know that i believe we still live in the greatest country on earth. It is certainly worth fighting for, and it is certainly worth saving. And we should never let anyone tell us any different. You know, we are going to be able to have an opportunity here, an opportunity to make sure nancy pelosi does not become the speaker of the house, an opportunity to hold onto a Republican Congress so we can be a check and balance to whoever is the president. An opportunity to look within instead of without. I think it is important for us to be able to vote. I ask you all to get out and vote. Please join me in making sure we provide this country with great opportunities. Moderator the final one minute opportunity afforded to doug owens. Mr. Owens thank you all for coming tonight. I want to give a special thanks to my family, most of whom are here tonight. They have sacrificed a lot to make this run possible. I want to thank the voters of the fourth congressional district. I have been meeting you, ive heard your dreams, i know you have seen better times, and i want to say theyre coming back. Every time i have gone into a voting booth, i have gotten tears in my eyes every single time. I think about all the people in the world who have lived without that right, such a basic right. I think about all the people who have shed their blood to bring us that right. I hope you all vote. You are all going to get ballots in the mail in salt lake county. I hope you watch your mail this week and get those ballots back and remember those people who have not had that right. Moderator my thanks this evening to republican representative mia love and democratic candidate doug owens. A special appreciation to the administration, faculty, and students of salt lake Community College for their support of this exchange, and also to the Utah Debate Commission for their efforts to ensure public debate in this pivotal election cycle. They are prominent in a long list of people behind the scenes who labored to bring to life the concept of public debates to inform the voting process. Whether you intend to vote by mail or in person, the Utah Debate Commission reminds you election day is tuesday, november 8. If you have questions, please contact your county clerks office. Good evening. [applause] announcer tonight on cspan, [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2016] now look at another congressional race. This is from nebraskas second congressional district. Discuss cyber security, health care, immigration, and gun control, at this debate. Ashford,ressman brad retired general don bacon. Congressional district debate, presented by the omaha worldharold and kmtv action news. We will be your moderators. Thank you for joining us. We are hoping to have a Robust Exchange of ideas between two candidates, don bacon, a retired righetti are general and bird, the former state omaha. We will make the debate as freeflowing as we can, but want to give equal time to each candidate. We are asking them to keep their answers to about 60 seconds. In addition, we reserve the right to ask followup questions and will give you the opportunity respond if directly criticized by your opponent. Mr. Ashford, we start the debate with questions about the president ial race in your partys nominees. You received classified about clintons controversial email system, which the fbi director called reckless. How can you trust your nominee in the white house . Thank you for putting this together. Omaha to kmtv and the worldharold. Youre right, i received classified briefings on a pretty much weekly basis. We are told about the classified information were getting and is part of how i make my judgments on the floor and the votes we take in the committee. There is no excuse for secretary clintons use of a private server and i have said that over and over again. Thater, i do believe secretary clinton has the experience and the relationships ourhe congress to move country forward. Its critical to have those relationships. Mr. Ou have 30 seconds bacon. Mr. Bacon there were 20,000 classified emails. Some were top secret. Some had information about agents we were sending abroad. It undermines the National Security of our country and that she lied to the American People for 60 months and she still lives about the fact that some of the information was not stamped classified, but they were. Mr. Bacon, you have 60 seconds you have not ruled out the possibility of voting for donald trump, although you want to does she want him to step down. Do you believe he is fit to serve as commander in chief . I served as a commander in the United States air force. If i had said the things that he said, i would have been relieved. F duty they were embarrassing. They were wrong, inappropriate, unacceptable comments. However, if i would have done what Hillary Clinton did, i would have gotten courtmartialed and sent to jail for having secrets at home and compromising our security. I did take a hard stand friday and saturday. I still do. Havee known members who been sexually assaulted. We have to stand tall on this. He said something wrong. She has done something wrong. Mr. Ashford . Don, you cant have it both ways. First of all, i believe you said you were very supportive of donald trump throughout the many statements he has made up into the weekend, and then you suggested he called the generals rubble. Those kinds of statements are reflective of his character and i do not think hes confident or qualified to be president of the United States. if i may he was not my first or second choice, but brad has been in the Leadership Team of three clinton since last december. He said things that were inappropriate, but she did things that undermined the nations security and lied to our country. I will vote for someone i would have reservations about, because in the end we cannot afford to have her leading our country, spending more, taxing more, undermining our nations security. We will talk National Security. What you think poses the greatest longterm threat and why . Rep. Ashford russia poses the greatest longterm threat. I received classified briefings every week on the russian threat. There is absolutely no question to me there is no question that russia represents a threat that will be with us for a long time, and they have exhibited and theeat in syria crimea, throughout the baltic. I have had the opportunity to visit our leaders through the middle east and the baltic and russia isr to me that pushing and pushing. We have made some decisions in the last year or so to aggressively defend against that , these cyber issue is critical, and we need to stand up our Cyber Command, as we are doing, but russia is clearly, in my view, the threat . Mr. Bacon i have been to russia. I have been an Intelligence Officer for roughly 30 years, also doing reconnaissance. Also involved in cyber as well. I do think russia is the largest existential threat. You have the intercontinental ballistic missiles. This has seen weakness in president and is trying to push to see how far he can go. We need to be strong and have a strong deterrence. I think the more volatile threat is iran. They will have a Nuclear Capability that is recognized perhaps in a decade. That is what scares me most. What do you think about the struggle against Islamic State militants . Mr. Bacon i did to chores in the middle east. I spent probably the last 10 years roughly studying the islamic terrorism threat. I think president obama did too little too late. The Bombing Campaign was six or seven strike today. Those were pinpricks when you look at the size of the territory isis controls. We stepped up the European Campaign and we need to do more. Strategy tolistic defeat these folks. We have to go after their finances. To have ae conversation about what motivates these folks to join so we can undermine them. Mr. Ashford, 60 seconds on president obamas strategy fighting the Islamic State . Rep. Ashford first of all, we. Eed a nofly zone in syria we should have done that before. I criticized the president for not making that decision earlier. We have killed 45,000 isis fighters, but the fight will go on. It needs to go on. In iraq, we have been able to push back isis and get 45 of and 20 inry back syria. We need an authorization for the use of force. I have called for that since the day i came into congress. When i was in the middle east, i the middleours in east. I said we need to do this now. We have to make sure we do not cut the budget anymore. We need to add to it. When need an authorization for the use of force and then we need some sort of way of moving forward after isis is controlled is destroyed. If i may please, sir. Do need anwe authorization for force. I would agree there. But isis is growing every day. They recruit every day over the internet, and roughly 30 people a day are recruited. We have to go after this recruiting of isis which is worldwide. Next question, german. Thatan hacking claims they are trying to influence the election. How should the nation defend itself against the foreign cyber attack . We will start with mr. Ashford. Mr. Bacon rep. Ashford thank you. We have had a Cyber Command but we have not had the cyber force we are standing up now. We will have new Cyber Warriors under the Cyber Command force. I think it needs to be a separate combatant commands. Right now is under strut come. We need to bring expertise from Silicon Valley and, quite rightly, from here in omaha. At have the opportunity to speak to the ceo of mutual of omaha and we came up with this idea of linda release of private Sector Technology people. It is all hands on deck private sector military to get to not only defend, but havent offensive strategy against cyber. There is much more to be done. We have had a good start. We need to do more. I was there during the startup of the air force cyber and all of the teams. China is very active in our private industry trying to keep our intellectual secrets. There are other countries involved as well. Continue investing in cyber and growing the teams. I will tell you, we have gotten a lot of headway with russia and china, but we need to do more to understand how the sunni insurgents are using the internet. We need to grow that capability as well. Russianould you handle president Vladimir Putin . Should we treat him as a friend or a foe . Why or why not . He has become an adversary. Not really an enemy, but he is working against our interests. I think what happened in georgia where he took away sections of their land as well as crimea, if we do not stand firm in the we have to have a presence tod a serve as a deterrent. I think nato does perform a very valuable function and we need to continue working with them. Nato and the Baltic States need our presence as a deterrent. Handle vladimir is an rep. Ashford he adversary. We have troops in romania. We are counteracting some of the social media efforts in the Baltic States. I have traveled to the Baltic States and choose and to sweeten and our troops in england, and there is no question that russia is buzzing our 55th don knows probably that are then anyone about the 55th and the buzzing by the russian planes. We need to enforce our boundaries in eastern europe. We need to be clear in syria with the nofly zone that if a side continues to go after the of aleppoopulation and other areas we are going to resist that. We need to make sure that the russians understand that and that we are going to act, aggressively if necessary. One comment on that. To do a nofly zone with the russians already there is a recipe for conflict with the russians. I do not think it is a wise move to do a nofly zone now. We do do safe havens. We need to protect refugees and feed them closer to home so they in europeome refugees and here. To do recipe for conflict a nofly zone. Its not the thing to do unless we coordinate. Needashford i think we do be nofly zones. I think we need to make it clear we will aggressively and that i against a sod against assad. Assad. A make it clear by enforcing the nofly zone so ass ad is not out in the field going against our partners and the sunni population. And also those who have died in the tragedies of aleppo need to be stopped. Cordon it we have to with the russians on this one. They are flying sorties every day. The nofly zone should have been done before the russians got there. Our president was too weak. He did not stand up in time to get this done. We do need be safe havens for the refugees. Rep. Ashford i think we can cordon it with the russians, but assad needs to go. Go. Tually, assad needs to we are coordinating with the russians now. I have been in the bases and i know that don, of course, has. I know those conversations are going on. There is some coordination going on. Petraeus is right. We have met with him several times in the Armed Services to make. His plan for a safe zone is a good one and i would support it. Controversial portions of the Health Care Law the most on butler part is the mandate that requires everyone to have insurance. Without the mandate, people would get insurance once they got and what effect. Can we have one without the other . First of all, in the congress there have been 60, close to 70 now efforts to repeal the aca without a replacement plan. So we have wasted from 2010 until now, we have wasted time when we could be trying to reform it and i do think we need to reform it. Need to cover preexisting conditions for 34yearolds and their families and individuals are going to have to buy insurance. We to make that insurance more affordable. We need to work with Insurance Companies. We need to work with Small Businesses to remove the mandate from them. I do not think those are necessary. Employers do provide insurance to employees across the country. I do think the mandates for individuals having insurance are important, but we have to get the costs down by performing obamacare, and that means working across the aisle to do i have 10 bills to try to reform it, but it has to be done in a bipartisan way. Mr. Bacon we need to cover preexisting conditions. We dont have to do that with obama care. Obamacare is one of the worst things for our economy. When i talk to Small Businesses, it is always one of the number one or number two things we talk about. Skyrocketed. Ave obamacare has been a failure. It has been a failure to the middle class and a failure to Small Businesses. I would repeal and replace obamacare. There were good proposals right now in congress to put out there. We can fix this, put it down at the state level. Brett has voted for it twice and is a failure. What about the mandate . Away all i would take of obamacare. We can do preexisting coverage is that state level. We can make sure that folks are covered. We dont need washington, d. C. And bureaucrats ndc we need and bureaucrats in d. C. There are proposals we can in act. With nancy pelosi and supported her in this effort. , lets get the facts straight. When iran ran, i said i would not have voted for obamacare because it was not a bipartisan effort. What needs to be done in washington is we need to address all of these problems in a bipartisan way. Repealrty has proposed a of obamacare 11 or 12 times since ive been there, about 50 or 60 times before i got there. Without a replacement. What you tell the 20 Million People now that do have insurance . People withtell the preexisting conditions that are being dealt with, that they have insurance . What do you tell the people with Mental Illness . We have to reform it. I want to see the plan you are talking about. What is the plan . I would be more than happy to support changes, and i got 10 bills in cosponsors of getting rid of the cadillac tax lets specify one of the things you brought up there, mr. Ashford for those who say get rid of obamacare you throughout the figure 20 million, anywhere between 16. 5 million and 20 million is what we have been hearing mr. Bacon i think it is rep. Ashford i think it is 20 million overall, 9 million on exchanges. You do in terms of getting rid of obama care . Would you support stripping people of coverage . What would you do with people who signed up, got coverage, and in 2016, it appears the rules might change . Greatcon there are proposals right now congress. Dr. Price, a congressman from georgia, orthopedic surgeon, he was in town is weak briefing people on these proposals. What you do is get the Regulatory Authority out of. C. , out of the hands of bureaucrats. We want to make sure you can go from job to job and take average with you. Obamacare has let costs skyrocket. We need more competition. Provideover folks and preexisting coverage and still have the health care run at the state level. Rep. Ashford yeah, just thats not a proposal, don. I have been on the floor 19 months taking several votes on the issue, not to repeal, but to find a way to fix it. I know dr. Price. I know people talk about this mysterious plan out there. I have never seen it. I have never seen one single suggestion in legislative form. I would be happy to look at a reform of obamacare if someone would bring it forward in a legislative package. It is legislative negligence to take a purely political position to repeal something because its called obamacare and the president opposed it and passed in a partisan manner, which i dont agree with. That isnt fixing it. We have to fix it. We have to make sure that those 20 million continue to have coverage. We need more competition. We need to give Insurance Companies the ability to do that. We need to deregulate physicians, they have been overregulated. All those things we need to do, but we need to do it with a plan. I have not seen a plan. If you have a plan, i would love to look at it. If you have a divided house and senate, well the republicans control the house and the senate now, if the democrats take back the senate, what you just said about fixing it and improving it art we just going to are we not going to have just a stalemate . I think we are on the way to fixing it. First of all, the cadillac tax is gone. If you talk to Small Businesses and medium to large size businesses in human resources, the one area we could do right away and i think we might do it in lame duck is get rid of the cadillac tax. For the first time, we are taxing Health Care Insurance. We have never done that before. One of the reasons why employers bought into Health Care Insurance after the war is because it was a benefit that was not taxed. We need to get rid of the cadillac tax. An employer talked ant a large employer, a 40 increase in the premium costs if we dont get rid of the cadillac tax. We need to get rid of the mandate that business is 30 employees, they have to buy insurance. Its a crippler for Small Business. We need to look at the taxes in Small Businesses that they are required to pay. I would vote for all those things and i vote for giving the states more flexibility on products that Insurance Companies offer. Ok. We tackled National Security and health care. At this point, we will let the candidates catch their breath. When we come back, they will ask each other a question. Stay with us. You are washing the ashford bacon congressional debate here on kmtv. Back and we are at the point where each candidate will be given a chance to ask thereupon a question. Based on the drawing of cards, mr. Ashford will go first. Rep. Ashford the congressional said that i am the sixth most bipartisan member of the congress. Im and objective observer of the hill. I voted to keep gitmo open, against the iran deal, and full accountability of the veterans administration. Is there any issue where you would buck your party and tell me what those are . Nato. Con i will support i think it deserves support. If President Trump comes in and moves with those initiatives, i will have a strong voice for nato. I will also be careful about the use of force in syria. , i have seen combat firsthand and i want to be careful about the use of force. I will be a voice so we dont overreach. Two of them there. Mr. Ashford nato and syria that , mr. Bacon noted. Rep. Ashford i dont think those are, the republicans on the Armed ServicesCommittee Support nato. I dont think thats a republican position you would be bucking. As far as syria, theres a difference of opinion. The republicans support a no fly zone and republicans who dont. I would ask, are there issues you differ with the republican position, not the trump position. I dont think the trump position and the republican positions are necessarily the same. Mr. Bacon the thing i would point out, i only got the two of them a third one is be careful , how we talk about immigration. We have 3,000 to 4,000 coming here illegally. Once we do that and secure the border, i would have a more moderate approach of how to handle 12 million folks here. I dont think a one size fits all approach works. Some people are Good Neighbors. They are doing good in their community. We ought to create a pathway to legalization. I have a more moderate approach. Im not a blank check for either party or either president. I want to do what is right for this district. And i want to be a defender of our constitution. Mr. Bacon it is your turn to , ask mr. Ashford a question. Mr. Bacon i want to talk about isis and terror. Do you know which cities in nebraska are on the isis kill list and what would you do after 48 hours after a major attack if one occurred in nebraska . Rep. Ashford i dont know what cities are on the kill list. I have never been briefed on that, that i know of. If you do, tell me. Mr. Bacon i will. Go ahead and finish your time. Rep. Ashford what is the next question . Mr. Bacon what cities are on the isis kill list but what what but what would you do if there was a major attack in nebraska from isis . Rep. Ashford my First Response would be to bring together the local Law Enforcement people, Homeland Security people, fbi and to determine, number one to, first of all, aggressively resist the attack, obviously and our local Law Enforcement people need to have the thats why i voted for local Law Enforcement has the equipment they need if such as attack an attack occurs. I would then make sure the prior attack hopefully we have an integrated response to any kind of attack or future attack and i would have those individuals, those groups, fbi, Homeland Security, Counter Intelligence groups, to come together and i would also, i would also make certain we have access to the technology so we can find out, find out what sort of additional attacks are occurring. Get into their cell phones, into their technology to make sure that Something Else doesnt happen. But number one, local Law Enforcement has to have the equipment to be able to respond, then bring in the national team, the fbi and whoever is on that team to enforce it. Mr. Bacon these actions would be done by the governor in a president ial decision. There is one city on the isis kill list, bellevue. It is because of its association with the air force base. I think its important to know because they list the cities they want to attack. Someone on the Armed Force Committee should know that, i think. The real reason i brought this up is i have a close relationship with the mayor of bellevue, who supports me. I have known her, because she is a soccer mom, we have done that together since the 1990s. I would talk to her to make sure she knew what i needed to help with congress and congressional actions. The commander in the 55th wing is someone i served with 3 times. I would call him. Both county sheriffs, they are in this district and support me. I would talk to them. The county attorney is also a supporter of mine. I have a lot of great relationships i could leverage and i would make sure i would know how to support them through my actions in congress. A final word . Rep. Ashford yeah. I like all the people that support you, by the way, don. I like the mayor of bellevue, shes a runner like you and i are. Shes great. We are talking rita sanders. Rep. Ashford yeah, shes great. She does a great job in bellevue. One of the proudest things i have been able to do with my colleagues, when you were there and years before that, the runway could not get done. I worked with the white house, the other members of the delegation, worked with their strengths. We were able to get the air force to go along with that runway, which will help protect the 55th presence there. And protect our National Security. We are going to move on to Racial Injustice. In the past year, theres been increased talk about racial tension and Racial Injustice. Do you believe the black lives Matter Movement has a valid complaint about Racial Injustice mr. Ashford . ,rep. Ashford i served as chairman of the Judiciary Committee for a number of years and we dealt with these issues. I worked with the Network Since it was formed in omaha. In nebraska, we do have legal responses to these problems. I speak with many of my friends that are from cities that have this issue. We have a grand jury in paneled whenever there is a death, when a Police Officer is involved and it provides transparency and the ability for the public to know that this particular incident has had an immediate look see. On the Judiciary Committee, we made sure that the Crime Commission collected information on all traffic stops, we know and anybody can look at when they occurred. And it gives us the data we need. And i have worked to promote programs on the state and federal level to prevent violence. The question is, do you believe the black lives matter had a valid complaint . Rep. Ashford sure. Thats why we have to have, you know, abdullah had a great response to what happened at northwestern. I would not have knelt when the National Anthem was played, but those young people had a point and they have a right to protest. Abdullah who plays for to protest. And abdullah who plays for the lions had a great idea. Bring Law Enforcement together. This is an opportunity to have a collaboration and discussion. Mr. Bacon, 60 seconds. Mr. Bacon i would say yes, because there have been situations that were wrong. The gentleman in North Carolina who was pulled over and he was behind on childcare payments, who ran and was shot in the back, that was wrong. I think black lives matter also has a higher meaning when you look at unemployment rates that are 3 and 4, five times higher in those urban areas. We have to fix that. We cant, thats unacceptable. We have to work on that. Or we look at the victim or victimization rates in the same areas. I really believe in the dream of this country that we are all created equal. And we have to work hard to make sure we get there. I would also say we need to also , defend our Law Enforcement. They put their lives on the line every day. We are talking exceptions of this. Most of them are the best of american citizens. Is wrong to throw them under the bus as sometimes people have done. I had a shooting at the base when i was commander. One thing we did was brought in someone from the county to investigate it, so people would know if there was honesty and transparency. No cover up. We need this philosophy when these situations occur. Can i respond . Sure. Rep. Ashford we actually have a bill in congress, my republican colleague kevin kramer and david scott from georgia, we have a bill that targets, i think its a very important bill that targets 18yearold to 35yearold black males, 41 of them are unemployed in this country. What this bill does is any large public project that is financed partially or publicly or whatever, that the department of labor meet with Community Based groups in the area where the project is, develop a plan to directly employ black youth or males between 18 and 35. Thats the problem don is talking about. Hes right. It needs to be addressed. This is a bill that can do that in a bipartisan way. If we could continue along on the same track, you said we have to fix this. You cited an example. And mr. Ashford just mentioned a bill in washington. What is Congress Role in addressing Racial Disparity in the country . We have seen local level efforts. But can the federal government play a role in addressing racism in the country and the institutions . The federal government . Mr. Bacon we do have a role at the federal government level. But it is a team effort. I had a team in omaha working , so i cannity leaders learn more about how to support these issues. One thing i talked about is to ensure the agencies in washington, we find out where to spend money and get into the right spots so that it is working. I want to ensure what programs are working to invest more there than reduce spending. At large, we have to do more to support our business community. Regulations make it hard for Small Businesses to open and grow. Its the worst Economic Growth we have had since 1949 coming out of a recession. Its the regulatory environment. Big government. We have to do better. We need outsiders in washington that can push this. Because the insiders and career politicians are not getting it done. Is this a federal issue, a state issue or local issue . Rep. Ashford it is all of the above. All hands need to be on deck to address the issues. They acknowledge they are out there. Community policing is incredibly important asset in every community. We have, i have said, i have worked with every police chief since the mid1980s and had a remarkable number of Exceptional Police chiefs and members of the force. I mean, we have a bill in congress that gives special status to people in military for the spouse of a Law Enforcement person killed in action. We need, the federal government has two roles. It needs to make sure the cops , the funding, the federal program is robust and goes into helping support community policing. You talk to any chief here, don, mentioned by dawn and they need that cops funding. Secondarily, guidelines or training and how to deal with violence and interacting with police and Community Leaders and people in the community. But, the decisions have to be made on the community level. I think there is a funding opportunity as long as its efficient to the right purposes. Mr. Bacon i think expanded federal oversight would be a mistake. We need to make sure that local police and the authority with the mayors at the local level. Theres more and more proposals about the long arm of the federal government to micromanage and training. There is even talk about federalization of the police force. Its Big Government and i oppose it. Rep. Ashford i absolutely oppose it, too. I have had a lifetime of work with the Omaha Division and all the police forces, the judiciary chair and other projects i worked on. It shouldnt be a federal program. What im saying is there is money there for cops and cops Funding Program should be robust and it should be expanded to address the concerns you have raised and enhances cities like ours. It shouldnt go to every city. Cities like to the ours that have actually done the job of enhancing community policing. We have to move on to immigration. You agree the nations borders need to be strengthened. This deals with the 11 Million Immigrants living in this country illegally. Would you consider a pathway to citizenship . Or do you side with donald trump who has vowed to deport them all . Mr. Ashford . Rep. Ashford we are not going to deport 11 Million People. I dont support, i support a path and always have, i believe it makes sense economically and on the humanitarian basis that we provide a way for individuals who are here. About 50 of those that are here have overstayed their visas and 50 have not, of the 11 million. We need to find a way for those individuals to earn their pathway to citizenship ship. To citizenship. Whether they have to pay their taxes, they could not have violated the law, they need to adhere to the laws that apply to everybody else. Congress doesnt debate this issue. They talk about securing the borders, which i support. I dont support a wall, but they always, what poll sixiticians what politicians say, first of all, secure the wall then talk about the issue of citizenship. We need more Border Security people, more technology on the border. We dont need a wall, but a pathway to citizenship so individuals know what the rules are and can get there. Mr. Bacon . Mr. Bacon we have a failed policy with immigration. The last 7 years with executive orders, going around congress has been wrong. President obama has been wrong with the executive orders supported by nancy pelosi. We will have a speaker again this next term. I think the thing we have to do with the 11 million to 12 million folks that are here, it has to be connected in a comprehensive way of securing the border. You are not going to be able to come up with a compromise with the 12 million here, unless folks in our country know we secured the border. I think its going to involve employer enforcement so folks cannot get a job when they come here illegally. Once you do that, they will be more willing to discuss how to handle with compassion the 11 million that are here. I oppose the pathway to citizenship for those who come a illegally, because people have been waiting 10 years to do it right. I think theres a pathway for legalized status for those working and the Community Neighbors and our Good Neighbors in general. Those who are bad or have had crimes or not supporting themselves, we need to ask them to go home. Rep. Ashford someone committed a crime and has to go home. Under president obama, he has issued executive orders because congress failed to act. And the excuse given by those who oppose Immigration Reform , and i dont think you can say to a Young Dreamer who came here two or threeyearsold, gone to school here, lived a good life, played sports, is a constructive part of the school and of the community, you cant say they cant earn citizenship . Why on earth can that young person not have the opportunity to earn citizenship. We have deported more people than we have ever deported before because congress has failed to act and set forth rules and regulations. Bush had a bill that i supported and support now, Something Like it. It passed senate and congress wouldnt take it up. Speaker boehner would not take it up. Mr. Bacon were not supporting more people than ever. We are releasing folks. It is catch and release. Its a mistake. Letting people out of jail that were arrested and commit crimes is wrong. Its because of president obamas executive orders of which ashford helps to fund. , we should have taken a harder line with the Homeland Security funding when this came up. In the end, we have between 300,000400,000 people coming illegally. Its more than the United States air force. We have to do better. We have to secure that border. And then we can do the compassionate and right thing with the folks that are here. It wont be a one size fits all. Rep. Ashford i need to respond to that. My vote is not what you suggested. I voted to maintain and keep the homeland secureity office open. T