Together today, we will focus on issues of substance that may separate these highly qualified individuals enough so that we can cast an intelligent vote. Our Opening Statement based on the coin toss is from brian fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick thank you mr. President and steve for participating. This is about you and i hope to get involved despite what was said earlier about the vitriol thats unfortunately taken over a big part of this. Dont lose faith, because we need you in that involvement in the process. You need your voice b to be hea, whatever that voice is. My name is brian fitzpatrick, and i come to you from a very different place but he will get to that and a second. I am a lifelong resident of bucks county. I grew up right down the road in the middletown township and its where my parents still reside. I grew up here and went to grade school, and i went to penn state and im an eagle scout and a certified licensed attorney and i had the honor to serve my country as a federal prosecutor here in this district. For the past 14 years i had the honor of a lifetime to serve my country in a very Significant National security role with what i consider to be one of the finest organizations on the planet. Its a job i miss dearly and it was the hardest decision in my life to leave that place and i miss the people that i left for one reason and one reason only because like everybody in this room i love my country, and i wanted to step forth and do my part to offer my background and credentials and experience in what i believe to be the two most pressing issues facing the country to be growin today growe economy of defending the homeland. I started my career as a cpa and balancing books and budgets and creating jobs and as an fbi special agent, keeping the country safe from counterterrorism threats, counterintelligence threats, Cyber Security threats, Border Security threats, all the threats that face the nation i will be able to address them and confidently from day number one. I look forward to the debate. Thank you. Moderator we are not going to do that today. Mr. Santarsiero. Santarsiero thank you bill and crying and everyone for coming out. I want to thank especially the young people, the College Students here at Bucks Community college, as well as the high school students. Many of you know that after september 11, i decided to switch careers. I gave up my legal career and ultimately wound up teaching social studies and it was for me one of the greatest career moves in my life. I love teaching, and i saw the promise that next generation has come and it makes me fundamentally optimistic about the future. But i als also saw the great challenges that they face. In terms of being able to afford a College Education and in terms of being able to get a good job when they get out of high school or college. And it is one of the things that has motivated me to seek office and served in the state legislature where i currently serve and to run now because it Still Matters that we have people representing us in washington, no matter how disenchanted we make it in the political system, no matter how dysfunctional this may seem it matters that we have people fighting for the future, for those kids, fighting for working families today to make sure that their jobs will still be there and they will have a secure retirement and fighting for the seniors to make sure they will continue to get the benefits that thethey have earned over te of their lives. Im very happy to be here today to have these discussions. This is the most critical in my lifetime and i do echo the sentiment that its important that all of us do our responsibility and vote. Thank you. [applause] moderator again, we got it out of our system. [laughter] the first question is dressed one word long. You can respond in any way that you like and the word is taxes. Mr. Santarsiero. Santarsiero we need to make sure our working families do not suffer under the tax burdens. We need to provide tax cuts for those families by making sure the wealthiest are paying their fair share and that we close loopholes. Youve probably heard from Warren Buffett pastiche and be paying less than his secretary in taxes. Just the other night we have donald trump more or less admitting he hasnt paid federal taxes. There is something wrong with the system when the wealthiest people in the country can take advantage of those types of loopholes and not pay their fair share. One thing ive heard from people across the district is that they think it is rated. They think every part is an time that we inject fairness into the system to make sure we are doing the right thing for our working families and everyone is paying their fair share because at the end of the day our tax code like Everything Else it should be about fairness and that is one of the main reasons someone like trump has admitted that he isnt getting his fair share. Thats because every american should be concerned and should cause next congress to do something about it. Thank you. Mr. Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick i agree that its been rigged by politicians which is one of the reasons i got into this race. I spent my entire career of resting publications investigating government fraud. These are all the things thingt hand with my own eyes and i investigated and pursued through my career with regard to taxes i started as a cpa. I think we could use more people that know how to count and balance budgets and know how to end deficits. I can tell you most would agree that our Internal Revenue code is a convoluted mess. Tax professionals cant understand the code which is why you have a system today for the wealthy and the people that cant afford expensive tax attorneys are the only ones that can gain the Internal Revenue code. It is incomprehensible and it needs to end. Then we get to Corporate Taxes. We have the highest Corporate Tax in the free world. A 35 tax rate in the United States. The neighbors to the north into canada, 15 . Ireland, 12. 5, russia, 20 . We have a 35 Corporate Tax rate in this country and we wonder why we are hemorrhaging jobs in the country. Ford motor co Company Announced that they were relocating all of the small car Manufacturing Firm michigan to mexico. If that isnt evidence that the Economic System in the country whether it is taxes or regulations is broken, i dont know what is. And the unfair trade deal is in the mix as well. It is an important component and we need to get the economy moving again and make america a fairer place and incentivize people to do business in this country because we will continue hemorrhaging jobs and if we continue to hemorrhage jobs, the underemployment will continue to rise which means people have more people paying into the system and will over revenues which means we wont be able to fund the programs that we need including National Security and at a point in time when the art within a more dangerous world now than we ever have. Thank you. One minute to follow. We do need to cut red tape especially when it deals with Small Business because it is the biggest driver in job growth in this country and it is absolutely true real wages for the bottom 90 of people in this country have dropped enormously over the last 45 years. We need to turn that around and create an environment that we have more job growth and that requires investment, investment in infrastructure and education and job training. If we do those things we can grow our economy even greater that will bring more revenue in and help us make the system fair for the working families. And as someone that has brought jobs into the district and thought to protect the jobs of thousands of families in the district i can tell you from day number one that is what i will do as your congressman. Followup . Second question is an increasingly dangerous world that we live in with so many challenges that we barely knows where to begin. Just yesterday the United States navy launched missiles against the rebel installations in yemen who had fired on the naval ships. The Nuclear Weapons in the hands of the leaders such as kim jongil of north korea is certainly worthy of our attention. I raised this issue with both of you. It is preempting this thread. We need to be proactive for sure. And we need to be proactive by working with our partners in delivering very heavy economic sanctions. They have to be delivered and they have to be delivered soon. In the last debate they conducted a nuclear test and in the possession of Nuclear Weapons conducted a nuclear test that caused a 5. 5megaton earthquake in north korea. A test that caused a 5. 5 mega earthquake. Hiroshima caused a 6megaton earthquake. We have National Security threats emanating all over the world right now. North korea was the example, iran, a Nuclear Agreement that doesnt block. It paves the path. The states of the Worlds Largest statesponsored trigger for some, we handed them 150 billion in assets because of the sanctions their economy will grow at 10 a year and then we had the cash being delivered under the cover of darkness in the foreign currency and unmarked airplanes to the largest statesponsored terrorism. You have russia annexing crania and continues with eastern ukraine. You have china literally manufacturing in the South China Sea the most important trait in the world. We live in a very dangerous world which is why i think it is critically important more than ever at this point in the countrys history we send people to congress that have been behind the curtain that understand the threats and know where they are coming from and how to cut that financing off. That is particularly true in the area of counterterrorism where devices, al qaeda, alshabaab, hezbollah, hamas or extending their reach. Throughout the middle east into the horn of africa in copenhagen, theyve attacked terrorists, munich moderator your time has expired. The actions of the regime in north korea are a serious threat to our National Security and global security, no question about that. As is the fact that the iranians have been working towards a Nuclear Weapons program. I was against the deal not because i thought it was a bad idea to negotiate but because i thought the ultimate deal didnt go far enough. But the fundamental point is this. We as americans need to be engaged in the International Community. We need to have certain goals that we are going to pursue. One of the most important of course is nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and its amazing to me that the republican nominee for president has said that he is for proliferation to lift the act access. He didnt even know that they had taken crania and he said such flattering things about Vladimir Putin that makes you wonder ultimately with the american policy would be. I raised that because the fact is that until about six days ago my opponent was voting for donald trump. And i thought it was okay to give the nuclear code. I think that is an important issue in this campaign because at the end of today it comes to issues of judgment. I dont think that was necessary for us to understand that donald trump is uniquely unfit to have that responsibility and i hope the voters will understand that on november 8. Fitzpatrick to clarify your position, and im accurately stating and use it on a stadium to because you opposed its implementation and that is exactly what you said back in the primary. Its incredibly dangerous for all of the reasons i just mentioned to give the extent of those to the largest statesponsored trigger is on the world has ever known and it continues to flow and we continue to learn more about it everyday to the plaintiff is being considered a grand sum payment and that makes every one of us less safe because every single american who travels abroad now that we have ended up on the policy that we dont pay ransom for terrorists because weve put in that policy because of the deal every single one of us to travels overseas now has a price tag on our head because they are everywhere. They are throughout eastern europe, western europe and they now know how to raise money. I think what is dangerous is supporting a man up until last saturday who is on record saying that hes fine with and actually woulit actuallywould encourage e proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. I think whats dangerous is supporting someone whos going to create a religious test for coming into this country, thereby making our ability as americans to fight the resume and to fight with our arab and muslim allies that much harder. What is dangerous frankly is supporting somebody that has absolutely no understanding of geopolitics, and that was your position up until saturday. Im going to ask a followup on this question with regards to iran and i will allow you both a minute to respond. Wasnt that iran. Money that the International Community endquotes ruled was their money . It depends. The second component is the lifting of sanctions that would allow the economy to grow ten to 12 per year. It is money that was frozen for a very good reason because we cannot allow them to continue to enrich uranium but they are accusing for energy purposes. They are using it unequivocally. We cannot allow that to happen. That would be the most dangerous thing is iran having a Nuclear Weapon and this, im telling you, this agreement is paving the path to that because there isnt a single Government Official in tehran, not a Single Member of the parliament that hasnt signed that agreement. We are abiding by it and they are not and we are fools for doing so. Having approved the agreement, what options would you feel the United States would have if you had a Different Administration and congress that was willing to somehow undo the agreement, what have to take . Fitzpatrick we continue the sanctions on the cash flow because like i said, theres not a Single Member of the parliament, no Government Official that is on that agreement than not a single one. We are the only ones abiding by it. Weve already seen violations on the side of this agreement. They are ignoring it and laughing at us because of it. And if you were comments are that you initially opposed the agreement would you support the implementation . Heres the point, the agreement is done. Sanctions are being lifted. Money is flowing into iran apart from the money that has been discussed here so far this afternoon. For the sanctions to be useful and actually have an impact as they did previously, they need to be multilateral. You need to have all of the major partners as part of that regime. By the time if i were in elected office this agreement would have in place for over a year. Its not realistic to think we can somehow undo it. I would like to play dont think that its realistic so what are we left with . We have to do everything we can to enforce this agreement to the letter and we have to keep them in abiding by that. The rest of the International Community doesnt do that they will not be in effect and thats the reality. They havent signed the agreement. Theyve already been in violation of the agreement. Im telling you everybody in this room, unlike steve, im not learning about this on cnn. I was behind the curtain and i understand the threats. Iran getting a Nuclear Weapon which they are on the path to do would be the most interesting this world has ever seen and we cannot allow it to happen. Theres a lot we can do. He can cut off the financing today if we want and we imposed the sanctions if we want if we agree is a government to do so. Im just telling you that iran getting a Nuclear Weapon it for us to put our faith in the regime that they are going to abide by an agreement they havent even signed is very foolish. Moderator you may respond for one minute. I didnt support this agreement was negotiated but the truth is, and we can demagogue this always want at this point and i dont know what curtain you were behind the truth of the matter is that we are left with this agreement now and we act unilaterally we are not going to have that impact. The sanctions were successful before because it wasnt just the United States can it was the rest of the International Communities come our allies, the chinese from all of those countries were part of it. For us now to unilaterally try to do something its not going to work. I wish it was because i do have concerns about this agreement in terms of what its going to do at the backend. But we are not in that situation now unfortunately, so we have to deal with the reality and thats the point. Moderator we are going to move on, thank you, gentlemen. The next question we start with mr. Santarsiero. Recent trigger attacks at home have refocused our attention to the use of electronic surveillance to identify threats from our own citizens. To what extent should we engage in domestic surveillance and how we build the safeguards while doing so . Santarsiero i think to the greatest extent there needs to be transparency. I think that there needs to be due process. We have to always balance the need to protect the public and the United States from these threats with our Constitutional Rights to privacy. And that can be difficult at times but i think the touchstone has to be to enable people who are potentially subject to this surveillance. If there is a challenge that we have due process rights, obviously we want to make sure that our government is pursuing every threat of potential evidence out there to be able to prevent an attack before it happens tha but part of that alo has to be we have to make sure we have strong relationships and communities where potential terrorists may be coming from and part of that has to be not demonizing muslim americans. We have a candidate who has told the world that he would institute a religious test for people coming into this country. Now i know, ive met many times with the Muslim Community here in bucks county and they are uniformly opposed to donald trump. If we are really going t to be effective in our Law Enforcement is going to get the information it needs to stop these attacks, we need to have first and foremost good relationships with the folks in those communities and i think trump is a disaster in those regards. I thought i was supporting him up until last saturday. And i think if he were to become president , he would put us in much greater peril than we already are. Moderator thank you. Mr. Fitzpatrick . Fitzpatrick once again im speaking not as a politician talking about it but someone whos actually done it with the premiere, one of the premier Law Enforcement agencies on this planet. The usa patriot act, there was a section that was considered a controversial provision which come to light during the scandal and the usa freedom act addressed the provisions of section 215 which was a bipartisan that dont with what he asked, dealing with safeguards to keep the country safe and also protecting and preserving the constitutional and civil liberties. With the scandal wouldve told d us is that under section 215, the nsa there were two parts other was a court order component where there was mass collection of what they refer to as metadata and second was the Prison Program. Metadata issue dealt with telephone records and what he called the information location where you are at while making a cell phone call and the president pro tem dealt with electronic communication such as emails, social media and the like. The usa freedom act addressed the controversial provisions in a bipartisan fashion which is something we need to do more in different areas, not just the area of National Security. Its a way to preserve the security of the country while still preserving civil and constitutional liberties. Anything else . Okay. Very good. I can if you like. [laughter] i can talk about electronic surveillance all day. [laughter] i will add this moderator would either of you or both of you expand on im not sure to which extent the public is aware of checks and balances with regards to the fisa court and the executive branch looking to do something and be branch has a role to play. Santarsiero the fbi has three components, the National Security component in cyber component. In the criminal context youve heard the context that is a provision of the omnibus crime bill in the criminal section of the code where you go before the magistrate and as an agent i would swear out the facts were true and accurate and it is a High Standard to attack somebodys phone line. Its considered a last resort from the standpoint. The evidence is great, however, it is considered an intrusive investigative technique. In the course that is the title iii wiretaps in National Security context and what the Second Circuit found in manhattan when they reviewed the case specifically in the Prison Program and the court order is that they were abusing their authority under the patriot act. Again i felt like it struck the right chord as a bipartisan solution to preserve the National Security and still preserve civil liberties. Santarsiero i think its Greater Transparency and opportunity to have a challenge with respect to what the rulings are but lets go back to the fundamental point that we are making sure we are doing everything we can to prevent acts of tourism on our homeland. To do that, yes electronic surveillance is part of the mix but so is making sure that we have good relations in these communities that we can get information in a variety of different ways that will enable us to prevent an act of terror before it happens, and that at the end of the day is equally important and something the next administration and Congress Needs to have foremost. Moderator the idea of a major job creating Infrastructure Programs he was popular with both parties. We need to build roads, repair and replace our bridges, modernize our airports and power grids, all needed projects. Listening to the two president ial candidates this week i felt like i was watching a monopoly game. 500 billion rival double that or spend a trillion. Can we have a discussion about first of all i assume you support the Infrastructure Program for many reasons. Infrastructure is one of the several areas from education to the environment, ideally wit win investment thought and expense. We need to invest in the critical Infrastructure Programs in this country and its not just roads and bridges. It goes to the electrical grid and underground pipes. In many respects we have an archaic Infrastructure Program in this country, and i think we need to fund it significantly because it is an investment, not an expense. It all comes back to the economy. The problem that we are in right now from an economic standpoint is we cant afford to fund critical Infrastructure Programs in the environment, Fund Education so that we can have the best educated youth in the world coming into the reason we cant do that is because we have a terrible Economic Situation in this country, with 19. 5 chilean dollars in National Debt when the entire value of the economy, the entire gdp is about 18. 5 trillion. The interest component alone in last years budget was the fifthlargest in the country and those with historically low interest rates. If they take up even a little bit as well become the largest in the country. Country. That is just the surface debt that we have. We are hemorrhaging jobs as i gave the example most recently with Ford Motor Company to mexico and you have regulations that are strangling businesses and the Overall Economic climate is strangling businesses and every Single Company that i visited in the district is telling me the same exact thing, they cannot grow, they cannot hire new employees because of their increasing regulations, everincreasing burdensome tax rate. And if we can create a progrowth economic environment we can afford to fund things like infrastructure which is critically important. Moderator thank you. Santarsiero it is a critical issue in some of the things i care very deeply about and one of the things ive been involved in as a member of the state legislature. We were able to pass a major infrastructure funding transportation bill just a few years ago and i see my colleague in the audience who also voted for that and it was important because you look around at the roads and bridges being prepared is because of that and the republican governors bill and members on both sides of the aisle came together and made it happen. I think the act was passed back in december was a good first start is probably about one third of what needs to be done. We need to invest not just in the roads and bridges but in the eighth district we have a navigable river and we need to invest automatically and the Energy Grid Infrastructure as well that will help us invest in renewable sources. How do we do that which is the central part of the question. We need a president and ultimately a congress that will make this an absolute priority. We can put people to work, we can create more jobs their body and grow our economy while at the same time making our roads and bridges safer and ultimately making us more competitive by having a firstclass infrastructure. Moderator your view is we would somebodys in Economic Growth and we would have to funding to do it and you are indicating that we float bonds into pay for it that way. Reaction to either one of those plans . Fitzpatrick i want to grow our way out and youl you will e that distinction between the two of us. Santarsiero let me tell you something, for decades in this country we funded projects like this through bond issues. That was done by republicans and democrats. I would love to grow our way out of things, too but thats not going to happen overnight and the truth is that if we are going to have a stronger economy that employs more people and has wages rising and brings more revenue into the government, we need to have a worldclass infrastructure. Just saying its going t to hapn for growin growth in the economt an answer. At the end of the day we need to make sure that we are making this a priority and it needs to happen on a bipartisan basis. The good news is that happen on a bipartisan basis and it can happen in washington, d. C. As well. Moderator thank you. Moving onto the next question. In case you havent noticed, its rare that a democratic president of the United States and the Republican Leadership of congress agree on economic issues. However, they did agree on the Transpacific Partnership trade agreement. In fact the speaker of the house has explained that one of the five jobs in america is based upon foreign trade. In this campaign, both donald trump and then later Hillary Clinton said they opposed the agreement. Thats a problem for me. How can the highest ranking democratic figure in the country and highestranking republican figures in the country agree on a plan and say this is good for america and to candidates for office of the two major parties say that its bad for america . To what extent in your view is the proper balance between free trade and protectionism do you support the Transpacific Partnership as an example that i dont want to get into the weeds on that as a general concept of free trade versus protectionism and specifically how did these impact your potential constituents . And we start with mr. Santarsiero. Santarsiero is a critical issue but it is a false question between the two. Its not as if the alternative to these agreements was protectionism. We need to have trade agreements that are fair and the fundamental problem with the tcp is that its not fair. It leaves American Workers and american jobs at risk because you still have in the other potential signatories to the agreement, systems where they dont have the same environmental protections we have in the United States or the same worker safety protections that we fought for. In fact this would subject those regulations here in the United States as a potential litigation challenge so the issue isnt so much whether its going to be protectionism. Its whether we are going to have fair trade agreements that attempt to level the Playing Field so that American Workers and american jobs can compete with these developing countries. Thats what we ought to be fighting for and i think we lose that if we think just the old question about whether we should engage in protection when youre done with that area. We need to make sure that countries like china are being fair when it comes to how they treat American Companies doing business and how they deal with trying to steal other our intell property and espionage against American Company interests. Those are things we need to be dealing with in separate agreements but ultimately, our trade policy has to be governed by the concept of fairness first and foremost. Moderator thank you. Mr. Fitzpatrick . Fitzpatrick im opposed to the tpp for one simple reason. We cannot afford to engage and enter the trade agreement leading jobs out of this country. And it crosses party lines. It is a bad idea with nafta and it is was a bad idea with haveo under president bush. And its a problem now with tpp under president obama. The trade agreement would encapsulate 40 of the worlds Gross Domestic Product and we have a very bad history in the country of entering into the trade agreements because you can just hear we are going to have a massive trade deficit. Every single one of these we enter into the jobs in the and e economy ive seen it in my hometown perhaps more so than anywhere else in the district. The Manufacturing Base is being decimated. The middle class is being crushed and it is to part and parcel to these trade agreements there are 12 member countries approximately a dozen. It seems like a very bad idea to me for one reason. A lot of reasons but the main reason is what we have seen and what we have learned in history is when you enter the trade agreements with countries that have different and lower labor standards than we do, lower environmental standards, countries that manipulate their currency sometimes as a matter of public policy, it is time and time a loser for this country and its time we stand up against that. Trade is good and necessary. We need to trade but it has to be fair and benefits of the United States of america. You dont have a followup let me interject before you do because i have a concern which both of you have said so far. I want to reiterate the democratic president of the United States and the leadership of the congress have said this is a good trade agreement. They supported it. What were they thinking . Are we pandering to populism . Im speaking nationally now not just two of you. I understand the frustration among the American Workers. Jobs are leaving and we need to blame it on someone and something. What are they thinking, the leaders of the country that negotiated the deal and said good deal of what support it. Santarsiero i think they had good intentions but just because they support it doesnt mean being against it is pandering. At the end of the day theyve come up with an agreement thats not a good agreement. I understand youre trying to do, create a trade bloc that would also be a counterbalance to china and that makes sense strategically. The terms of the agreement make a lot are important as well. And because that makes sense strategically and just because in this case president obama happens to be in favor of it, it doesnt mean its the right thing. I would not vote for it for the reasons i stated, its not balanced, its not fair, and ultimately itll cause more jobs to leave the shores of the time we cannot afford that. Moderator thank you. Mr. Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick it doesnt make sense and they never have. We have a track record. Nafta was a bipartisan agreement. This apparently is a bipartisan agreement. I dont care who comes up with the idea. I am a cpa and have a look at the numbers from what ive seen, i dont like it because if it follows the same path and we dont learn from the past lessons, shame on us. Lets discuss healthcare without the tired old predictable rhetoric. We know the problems and the benefits, so we want to hear your position moving forward. On the upside we know that millions of additional americans now have coverage because of the Affordable Care act. On the downside, we also know the costs have risen well beyond expectations. How do we continue to expand coverage by a at the same time bringing costs under control . Please be specific. Fitzpatrick we all want everybody to have Health Insurance in this country. I believe healthinsurance is a right, not a privilege. We need everybody insured. The question is how do we do it. What we are seeing in the Affordable Care act as the implementation of you look at the three components to the Affordable Care act, the individual mandate, the corporate mandate and staterun exchanges will start with the individual. What you think five years after implementation of healthcare costs have gone up and not everybody is insured in fact in this district alone in the eighth Congressional District five years after implementation, we have roughly 35,000 people in the district but still do not have Health Insurance mainly by choice because the way that it wawas a setup similar to the Social Security model is the younger and healthier population would subsidize the cost but what we have seen however well intended it was, it collapsed under its own weight because the younger population the numbers have shown they are finding it more Cost Effective to pay the fine than they are to insure themselves and thats the problem with the employer mandate. Ive spoken to so many in this district especially in the Restaurant Industry which is interesting because a lot of them were told as we all heard that it would only apply to organizations with more than 50 employees. But they didnt know many of them are filling up a spreadsheet for the first time now. Thats putting a lot of these restaurants in a position they either have to lay off employees or pay a fine but its their business in jeopardy. In the staterun exchanges with crc time and agai again as theye falling out because they cannot afford it. The way that we expand access is reducing cost. Theres ways to reduce cost. Competition breeds excellence. Bwe see it in every industry. Portability from one to the next and reform that most will tell you is a significant cost either in the defensive practice of medicine in ordering tests that are unnecessary. There are steps we can take the model has to be to reduce cost. One problem is making sure people are uninsured to make a insured. The other is the cost issue and it takes two forms. One is the cost of policies. The other is the cost of these high did the double policies that are out there. So many families that have insurance are paying very high outofpocket costs and we need to do something about that. We have another issue with the cost of Prescription Drugs, so what do we do . There are a few things we should do and that is the public option. Even the speaker supports the public option and i think that would give yet another opportunity for competition with the Insurance Companies to help bring the cost of those policies down and ultimately the cost of the deductibles but we also need to look on the Prescription Drug side things like lettingcareegog the cost down as well. We have an aging population in this country and it is skyrocketing and many people have to choose between their medication and being able to feed themselves, so i think those are changes that need to be made and they have had a real impact ultimately on both the scope of coverage and the cost of bringing them down. Followup . Public option, what do you think . I think more competition is good. And malpractice reform and defensive medicine what do you think . Santarsiero malpractice reform is largely that is a red herring in terms of the cost of healthcare. It hasnt been driving up health care costs. The fact of the matter is they arent making healthcare more expensive. I do think we have to be mindful of the fact that what is driving it frankly is the lack of competition right now and the fact that we need to make sure people have another option and thats why the public option is a critical piece of this. Fitzpatrick i think it is a significant cost driver. Every position you meet will tell you that. I know you are supported by the trial lawyers and why you have your position. It is a cost driver. I dont think theres many people who look at the problem but dont think that adds to the cost of healthcare. When youre ordering a physician to protect yourself from liability and your medical malpractice premiums are through ththe wisdom of the factors into the cost of healthcare, absolutely. Steve levin what i will say is that when you are in turkey want to make sure you have recourse. And at the end of the day, that is an important policy point as well. And if there were actually evidence that this issue was the main driver behind health care costs, we could have that discussion. But there arent, there isnt any evidence and that is just the reality. Moderator thank you. Isis is an amorphous enemy while centered in syria and iraq is also in Northern Africa and other parts of the middle east. I like to think the voters are tired of bombastic rhetorical nonsense and fingerpointing on this topic. They want to hear something of substance. Can you identify three specific steps you think we should take to combat isis, and do they include American Forces on the ground . Starting with mr. Santarsiero. Santarsiero they dont include American Forces on the ground. What they do include our number one, working with our arab allies in particular to make sure they have a coalition that can effectively defeats isis and the good news is that effort has been proceeding and effective. We need to make sure that we are working with those allies and not offending them as donald trump has in the course of this campaign. Second, we need to make sure that we stay engaged in one of the reasons i think isis came into being in the first place is we were less engaged as we should have been with the Iraqi Government at that time because it was dominated by shia, was doing things in iraq that was targeting the minority that provided fertile recruiting ground for isis. Isis is the problem today. There may well be and likely will be other radical groups to come in the future. We need to make sure that our engagement is constant and consistent so that that does not happen in the future. The last thing we need to do is make sure that we are working with our allies and outside of the region particularly our nato allies to make sure we are doing everything we can to combat this threat not just in the middle east but making sure that it doesnt become trigger person that gets exported into the United States, and that means among other things, having the absolute best screening process for people coming into the country making sure the europeans do the same thing so there isnt a conflict there to the United States. Moderator mr. Fitzpatrick . Fitzpatrick i hear the problem well because i was in iraq myself and i interrogated the Islamic State of iraq. This was before the migration. The problem started quite frankly by the initial invasion into iraq that i thin but i thie best decision followed by an even worse position to precipitously withdraw without a status of forces agreements when you create a vacuum like that in a dangerous part of the world where people live it should come as no surprise that it has risen up. I was engaged up until this year and the first and foremost measure we can take is cutting off the Money Laundering that is funding every terror group on the planet and there are ways to do it. They do business with the United States and the cant force the countries to work with the international Law Enforcement community which i was a part of investigating the international Money Laundering to cut down on the laundering that is funded in this case to the question, isis because just like every other organization or any other company or nonprofit, the terror groups are no different if you cut the funding off you cut the head off a snake. If they cant purchase the tools they need to perpetuate the schemes, they dry up. Second is working with the allies in particular the kurds that have been infected at helping us fight back and there is effective Law Enforcement thats something thats taken a hit in recent years. We need to support the National Security committee, the department of homeland security, the fbi to fight these terrorists here and abroad as well as the military. I am hearing a lot of agreement between the two of you. Is there an area you more strongly disagree . Santarsier santarsiero there are a lot of things we havent discussed moderator i meant specifically santarsiero i dont know, but i will tell you business. The other thing we need to be doing right here in the United States that will help make the Community Safer is passing reasonable gun safety legislation because that is part of the equation. Its not going to solve it all that there is no reason why we should not have universal background checks in the nofly bill. The Republican Congress has not even entertained a legislation. We need a congress that will bring the bills up for consideration. Will they solve all problems, knotheproblems, no but there ars we should take in our federal government. Moderator mr. Fitzpatrick . Fitzpatrick you want me to comment on moderator your level of agreement between the two of you or your response to the gun issue. Fitzpatrick i agree, we need to take reasonable measures to End Gun Violence for sure. The fight against terrorism has a Foreign Policy component from a terrorism component, counterintelligence component, cybersecurity, bordecyber secury and gun safety component. But its not just guns. Its all weapons here is to use. Guns are certainly on the list and we absolutely neethat we abe measures to make sure that they stay out of the hands of dangerous people including background checks. Moderator working with our muslim allies and cultivating and remaining at keeping our eye on the ball being engaged, working with our allies, stopping the flow of illicit money that funds them and giving lawenforcement tools it needs seems to be what youre saying so why dont we send a letter to washington today to clear this up . [laughter] next question i stood on the stage for 12 years and asked congressional candidates bear a view on the millions of undocumented immigrants in america. Ive heard tough talk about sending them all back and compassionate talk about creating a path to citizenship. But little of substance has changed in that time. Can today be the day that he we hear a proposal that is pragmatic, workable and still respect the rule of law, and we start with mr. Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick well, the first part of any immigration process is stopping the illegal flow of immigration which is securing our border. Its important for a number of reasons, no longer just drugs and guns coming across the border and it is people that want to do us harm. We saw this all too frequently in my days in the fbi. Once you secure the border the next question is how to deal with the undocumented immigrants in this country and i believe they need to be dealt with here mainly that are becoming of american values. Immigration isnt a bad thing, it is a good thing. I am the grandson of irish immigrants and i think most of us can trace our lineage back not going too far back into that is a good thing but the guiding principle must be that we do not reward that behavior ahead of good behavior. People that have done things the right we have come in through the front door and have done things the right way for the status, that being said i think it is a silly idea and it shouldnt even be discussed. We can deal with them in a humane manner that makes sense and is becoming of american principles. We need to make sure that those who are here illegally and legally who played by the rules doing what citizens need to do for this country, have the opportunity to become a citizen. And those who commit crimes should be deported. I think that should be the main basis for Immigration Reform that we can pass in the United States to keep Families Together and ultimately make our economy safer because it will bring them out of the shadows into the economy. To be productive members of our country. One of the greatest things of the United States is our history of immigration and the fact that our culture is diverse and makes us stronger. Would you like to extend your comments . Person 21 years old today would be in middle school with the Great Recession hit 2008. Since then they have known nothing of a sluggish Economic Growth and a painful absence of civility present company excluded. It is not surprising that they are turned off by the twoparty system. What can you say to them today about you or your candidacy or the Political Party to renew their faith . As i said at the outset i did see the promise of of a nextgeneration. Even though they are concerned of the challenges that they face. As a former history teacher to face those challenges before we have overcome them to make that happen in. And then dividing ourselves into red or blue. It makes it nearly impossible illness so disturbing at the president ial level with donald trump. His campaign is all about division and setting people against each other. If we will solve these problems we need to do this together. We can invest in education. To make our country safer. We can reform governor government. Whether Campaign Finance, whether gerrymander before and can through the elected officials. And even some decisions united as i have fought for as a legislator and as a member of congress. But what i would say to them is with the past generations. Is incumbent upon us to make sure that we are doing the things of the past generations to put them in the greatest possible position. And sounds like he read that off of my website so we will talk to the region under generation dont lose faith we cannot allow you to lose faith because you are all we have right now. This election is about you. As far as fixing the system system, and that tells us all that we need to know right now watching that gridlock did Congress Tells you all that you need to know right now. And we have this great divide the we have never seen before. Part of the problem is decade after decade of gerrymandering where you have politicians growing with the self preservation is a human instinct those that draw the of mind to benefit of those lines a situation of 435 seats in this country of the Congressional Districts will be 50 or 20 that are remaining that our legitimate. Thanks in large part to my brother who wants to keep it whole. Whether split equally because if you have that you dont get what you have any of their districts. With 65 or 70 percent of one Party Registration or another than that made election is the primary, not the general. And as a result is a cavernous divide as far as fixing the of gridlock and washington. Lets be clear. It was gerrymandered to some extent and i voted against those maps and i can tell you those of us that were opposed were shut down by raising objections. When it was taken away of to be more democratic but the fact is that it is a balanced district but make no mistake there was the attempt. We need to have the nonpartisan commission not elective officials as redo and pennsylvania. Eight is a serious problem is a whiz Campaign Finance reform and Citizens United to enter into the races is a disaster for the democracy. That case needs to be overturned with Campaign Finance reform that takes the money out of politics once and for all. I hope some day in the future we can have the symposium devoted solely to reapportion and gerrymandering the lets keep the audience awake while we do it but it is extremely important topic in we are fortunate to live in a district that is balanced and competitive. I do want to say that i think we are very fortunate of those outstanding individuals to conduct themselves in a professional manner to share the issues and information to be informed and it is refreshing to see that and i wish you both block in earned by only debates with if elected william returned to this campus. Only if your that moderator. I hope if youre in the audience we should have more these debates it is important of where we stand on the issues and theres still a number of issues we have not talked about. We have not talked about that much issue of choice. What we would do plant to have a critical issue. This is denigrate debate did we ought to have more. Save yourself the trouble to tell the of moderator what he did not bring up, he knows. We did not discuss russia, military spending spending, veteran combat training with military and education and we will do this after a quick break. Our closing statements one minute. It is important to stay involved. Let your voice be heard. I wish the debate could go on much longer. There are so many issues facing an underworld today. So when mears selecting the next representative there are two critical issues. So who has the experience better facing our country . Economic growth and National Security . Our experience of Financial Services background is very helpful and second, working coasttocoast and global the round the world with counterterrorism encounter intelligence is important. Second that i believe the only way we fix our problems is people coming and outside of the system our problems some will not be fixed by politicians who represent board gridlock and the status quo we cannot fix the problems we have from the economic and nationalsecurity standpoint but we are running out of time. My dad used to say talk is cheap. There is one candidate on this stage who has protected thousands of jobs for our people and one candidate supertax say womans right to choose. That time and again Power Outages even with half lighthouses that disney. Now we can talk about career politicians who is an outsider or not that my opponent is as much of the insider. If his name was not fitzpatrick he would still be living in a beach house in california. The fact of the matter is we can talk about these labels but at the end of the day what matters is what we have done. I have the record of accomplishment. And ask for your support. As agreed to end of rules those closing statements the either candidate may have more time. Edits unfortunate and theres only one who will put their life on the line for their country and it is not you. [applause] moderator please. It is time the insulting to criticize someone who leaves their home town to serve their country. The only time theyre out of their hometown in National Security role to protect everybody in this room and to protect you to criticize me for that is unfortunate. Make no mistake. Ive not criticizing your service but and i talked to many people in this community there is a different set of rules for those who are connected and would you be ready for the seat if your brother was not the congressmen . He would not have been given the nomination. Has nothing to do with your service. At the end of the day who has been working in this Community Year after year . Who has been living here and who knows what people are feeling . And i think when people go to the voting booth on november 8, they think about who was working for them. Moderator we will give another 30 seconds each. If you want to know the biggest difference on stage one is the current politician the other spends his carrier questioning politicians that is a big difference. Number two, again with the rhetoric from this campaign and wish you would stick to the issues that dont attack my service side of from this area. Borden raised i have lived here wonder then you add a bitterly twice as long as you. I left my home town to serve my country that ally of the end of the betty in this room. If there is a mark of a career politician it is somebody who comes into redistrict and then during the 11th hour would jettison the president ial candidate. Those comments from donald trump were offensive but so too was a federal judge because of his ancestry and so to that he was okay with nuclear proliferation. It is awfully convenient now when we get close to the election. Moderator your time is up. Boaters need to remember that. Moderator your time is expired sees. [applause] the press will be meeting with the candidates downhaul privately and im sure they will pursue the discussion further. Please vote. [applause] it is less than half or maybe 30 percent of the cost the college but the real hang up that they have are those that have to pay their rent and pay the utilities and buy food and they cannot do those in the same way when they are college if they have to spend time in the classroom. So that is what trips that up over time. In the fight for the u. S. Senate democrats aree counting on colorado to keep senator bennett in his seat so far the poles are none his side at the republican dominated commissioner glenn has struggled to get his name out to voters and has calling himself a conservative opposing much of the Obama Administration and by contrast benefits supports liberal politics and samesex marriage in the year dominated by the president ial race he supports a limited clinton although he has gone back and forth about supporting donald trump. As they go headtohead in their live debate. Live from history colorados Center Downtown denver, this is decision 2016, race for the senate. [applause] moderator good evening. Thank you so much. Our audience will be skipping their applause forse the majority of the night to maximize time for senatoror bennett and his challenger Darrell Glenn but we will break the silence rule one more time as a can participate to night. Au [applause] everyone watching at homechit on the 9news. Com has the opportunity to guide the debate to weigh in on the issues discussed. Our live polling will appear at the bottom of this screen you will have the opportunity to hear about the issues. We alone choose the questions. They have not been shared with the candidates. S. So lets get started. In the last four days you have had three different positions on donald trump for the use supported him then calling it others to drop out and said he is disqualified for becoming commander in chief. Then i will support him later . Im once and for all those in food used to be disqualified so thanks for being here and in honor you think about t repentance in hampshire because of a strong woman in that was frustration and hurt because we should never disrespect women. I grew up in the family with Domestic Violence so anybody to put said he and don or talks about with men in that way. Is shameful. It but on sunday you saw it individual who made an apology. I have made deep band of faith in it is extremely Important Assembly makes an apology to show grace mercy and respect. I have extended the invitation that is out there t to have a conversation with mr. Trump. Want to know what is in hiss art because of what to know what he supports that is why i indicated and when we have that conversation i can address the issue. He apologized before youog said he was disqualified from being president. What happened after that moment . . He performed fairly well in the debate. His apology was not scripted. We apologize one of the toughest thing is you have to do is address the members. He is part of the family. Some of the toughest conversations you have a deal with Substance Abuse if it is rare to call you on the carpet to show you my pathway out. When i go into thee underserved communities but how do you know, he doesha not fit that way . We were able to talk to him. S your obviously not going to tell us that want to waste the entire hour but to talk about values and leadership, the core of recant paid is on the principle christian or conservative about supporting in abandoning the going back towards the mannd ing whod degrades women and boast about sexually assaulting them . To teach a moment to about faith if the individual says they need help and they want to replant then your faith teaches them to give them that opportunity. I am trying to show him grace to say i want to learnnt from you what is in your heart. Want to share what i have learned on the campaign trail. There are two problems the people suffer from. I want to show that i