Transcripts For CSPAN3 Senator Lindsey Graham Town Hall Meeting 20170313

So ill make a comment about the latest tweet. Have you seen it . Okay. So apparently this morning President Trump tweeted out that he believes that president obama ordered wiretapping of his campai campaign. And that would be really . Yes, so i dont know what happened but i can only tell you the summary of the tweet. The president of the United States is claiming that the former president of the United States ordered wiretapping of his Campaign Last year. I dont know if it is true or not, but if it is true, illegally [ inaudible ] it would be the biggest political scandal since watergate. The other side the other side of the story, just be quiet, be quiet, if the former president of the United States was able to obtain a warrant lawfully to monitor Trumps Campaign for violating the law, that would be the biggest scandal since watergate. So heres the deal. As we get ready to talk to each other, im very worried. Im very worried that our president is suggesting that the former president has done something illegally. I would be very worried if, in fact, the Obama Administration was able to obtain a warrant lawfully about Trump Campaign activity with foreign governments. So it is my job as the United States senator to get to the bottom of this. I promise you i will. All right. Questions. [ inaudible ] volume. You want me to talk louder . Okay. I can do that. I can barely hear the video too. It was a good video, i thought. There you go. All right. Go ahead. All right, this question is from andrea from westminster. Stand up if youre here. Where is andrea . Are you going to push for a Russian Investigation and not just support one . Everyones involvement in russia needs to be investigated. All right. Im not only going to push for a Russian Investigation, im going to punish russia for trying to intervefere in our election. So i better do sanctions to punish the putin regime beyond what they have done in the crimea. These are bipartisan sanctions that would hit putin hard for interfering in our election in 2016. Heres what i think happened let me finish my question. How about this . I believe with all my heart and soul that the russians did interfere in our elections. It wasnt a 400 pound man sitting on a bed somewhere. It was russian intelligence services, hacked into podestas emails, the dnc, they through a third party in my view gave that information to wikileaks, and it was leaked out during the course of the campaign. That, to me, needs to be punished. Any republicans here . We should be as upset we should be as upset about this as any democrat because an attack on one party by foreign powers is an attack on all parties. As to the outcome, im not suggesting it change the outcome, im suggesting they interfered and they need to be punished. As to Trump Campaign, i met with the fbi director yesterday, well be holding a hearing and Judiciary Committee where im the chairman of the crime and terrorism subcommittee, my Ranking Member is senator whitehouse and well explain to you and the world what russia does to democracies all over the world, their toolbox and how they use it. Well do two things. Well explain to the world what russia does to try to break the backbone of democracy including ours, and were going to make the case why they should be sanctioned. As to trump, Russia Campaign ties, i had no evidence personally that there are any, but i will insist that the fbi be given full opportunity to look into this without political interference. Okay. Next question. [ inaudible ] this question is for emily chandler. Shes from South Carolina. Would you stand up . Did you need anything else . Im good. Youre good. Shes good. Who is this person . Emily chandler. Emily chandler. Emily. Where are you at, emily . Emily. Hey, emily. Her question read the question. Her question is given the 2016 South Carolina president ial election results, what are your plans to ensure all Donald Trumps policies and agendas are implemented . Okay. Heres what im going to try to do. Im going to try to help our president , donald trump, be as successful as possible because number one, i agree with him mostly. And i would like to get this country moving again. So for those who voted so i want to repeal or replace obama care because i think it is broken. I want to i want to put judge gorsuch on the Supreme Court because i think hes qualified. I want to cut your taxes because we need to. I want to rebuild i want to be rebuild our military because its broken. I want to build the Keystone Pipeline to get oil from canada so you dont have to buy so what have we learned . That im a conservative, damn proud of it, and im going to help trump where i can. The rest of you who voted for clinton, you should want him to succeed too. All right traitor. Paul liine roberts from westminster. Sit down. This guy hey. All right, go ahead. This question is is from Pauline Roberts from westminster. Pauline, would you please stand up . We need Affordable Health care. What will you do to make sure that middle class people can afford health care . Thats the key question. How many of you who asked the question . Pauline roberts. Up here. All right. Okay. How many of you have medicare . Whoa. All of you are on medicare . All right. How many of you like it . All right. Lets keep it. How about it . All right. How many of you are below of 65. Below 65 . Cant raise your hand twice. Cant do it. How many of you have insurance through your company . How many of you like it . All right. How many of you have problems b getting insurance . All right. Heres the deal. There is three ways to get insurance. From the government. Medicare medicaid va. Through your employer. Or as an individual. So what would i like to see happen . I would like to see medicare saved, because it is going broke. I would like to make sure that employers can continue to offer your health care, so it doesnt get so expensive that they have to drop it. Here is my problem with obamacare. Were down to one exchange. One Health Care Company in South Carolina. Why . Because of you. Because of you. Why are [ inaudible ] has anybody here lost their coverage from their employer . Because of you. See, heres what i think is going to happen if we dont fix it. If we dont fix it, those of you who raised your hand to get your coverage through your company, theyre going to drop it because it will be easier to pay the fine than it will be to cover you because the costs went up 27 . So [ inaudible ] how many of you how many of you would like to keep your Company Health care . Thats a good question. How many of you want Single Payer Health Care Coverage . You dont vote for me because i think thats a lousy idea. So [ inaudible ] so heres what were going to do heres why were going to replace obamacare. Employers employers of Affordable Health care, employers are eventually going to drop coverage, and everybody at work for a company that is going to go into a state exchange, were down to one company, one company youll have no choice, ill tell you what, youre go ing to get kicked out in 30 seconds if you dont shut up. Because im telling the truth. Because youre rude. Because youre rude. How many want to all right, so get him out of here. Get him out of here. So here we go. All right. So how many of you want competition when it comes to health care . How many of you are upset with the va heres my view. I dont want the whole country i dont want i dont want the whole country to be in a va system where you have to wait forever to get what the government gives you when they decide you want it. So were going to replace obamacare with more private Sector Health care, youre going to be able to buy health care all over the country, and South Carolina. The question is from Shelly Stewart from greenville, South Carolina. She asked, what are you doing about Law Enforcement targeting of africanamericans . Where is she at . Have you been targeted by the fbi . Do you know anybody who has because theyre black . Give me their names. Give me their names. I met with i met with the i met with the fbi director yesterday. I never had anybody i never had anybody come up to me in South Carolina who is africanamerican to tell me they have been targeted by the fbi because of their color. So i dont believe thats the problem if you got an example of it, call me, all right. This question is from james and lindsey zable. This question is from james and lindsey zable. Would you please stand up . Let him speak. Let him speak. Let had him speak. Have you been targeted by the fbi program . [ inaudible ] i would be upset if the fbi were targeting people. Sir, sir, my name is wayne thomas, from greenville, South Carolina, thank you for coming today. Yes, sir. I believe the question was about the police, not the fbi. If were targeted by the fbi, how do we know that . The question is about africanamericans being targeted by the police, like i have in the past. Okay. All right. Okay. Okay. The question is racial profiling. Anybody know tim scott . I didnt ask if you liked him. I asked if you know him. Hes africanamerican senator. He says hes been stopped eight or ten times by the capitol hill police. Ive been up there 20 years and ive never been stopped by the capitol hill police. I think thats your point, isnt it . Yes. So heres the deal with policing. It has got to be tough on a good day. We need to be sensitive to the fact that communities feel under siege by the cops, we need to be sensitive to the idea that the cop feel under siege, and find some orderly process to enforce the law, but i never have been stopped. Because if you listen to the end of the question, i never been stopped because im a short white guy and the cops are the cops seem not to be stopping me, but they do seem to be stopping tim. So lets talk about the cops for a minute. Ive been a prosecutor most of my life. Ive dealt with the cops and there is is nothing worse than a bad cop. You know why a bad cop is a bad deal . Because they got a badge and a gun. There is Nothing Better than a good cop. So the bottom line is i hope we will take a harder look at this. Im sorry, i thought you said about the fbi. Well, go around go around to the Police Chiefs in South Carolina and try to do more community policing, better training, better training for our police officers, spend a little bit of money making sure that because you got a young black guy Walking Around the neighborhood, in the middle of the night doesnt mean theyre a criminal. There you go. All right. This question is from james and lindsey zable. As a South Carolina, i was heartened to hear you speak out against trumps russian ties. When can we count on you to start putting words into action . Ive introduced legislation. I am the chief author of legislation to punish the russian for interfering in our election and my chief cosponsor is ben cardin from the state of maryland. That bill needs to be voted on this year. I just got back from france and germany and russia is all over their elections. What are they trying to do . Theyre trying to break the backbone of democracy. Vladimir putin is a thug and people who object to him, people object to him, they dont come to town halls, theyll get shot. The people who disagree with him wound up getting plutonium poisoning, i never had a friend of mine die from plutonium poisoning. The duma, their equivalent to congress, is a complete joke. Hes destroyed the independent media. And he has broken the back of the independent judiciary. I was in the baltics about two months ago with senator mccain, lithuania, estonia, and the other baltic nation that i can cant remember right now, georgia and the ukraine are all under siege by putin. Heres what the russians are trying to do. Theyre trying to break the back of nato, the european union, trying to get elected in france, who wants to withdraw from nato and the eu. This five star party in italy is being very i think supportive. So ive introduced legislation to punish the russians. And heres what i will predict will happen. That the congress in a bipartisan fashion will pass my bill to punish the russians for interfering in our elections and trying to break the backs of democracies all over the world, and if we forgive and forget putin, then he will keep doing it all over the world. And if you dont stop him, iran and china are next. This question is from Janie Shipley from seneca. This question is from Janie Shipley from seneca. Please discuss your position on allowing pharmaceutical companies to claim a drug is safe and effective for use that has not been approved by fda. These off label uses contribute to more than 50 increase in side effects compared to on label use. Thats a really good question. I dont know if i understand the answer to it. I dont want to take drugs not approved by the fda. Id like the fda to be more efficient when it gets into drugs to the market. The more generics the better, right . Generics lower the cost if theyre safe. So i, you know, who asked that question . Whats her name . Janie shipley from seneca. Here. Can i can i do something that you dont hear much of . I really dont know if i gave you a good answer, let me get smarter and get back with you. Okay. This question is from mick dale from seneca. How does your bill to defund the u. N. Help the people of South Carolina . Well, good question. Im an internationalist. I do believe that america should lead from the front, not from behind. I dont mind being part of the u. N. I like a place to go where we can resolve our differences without killing each other. The problem of the u. N. And israel is getting out of hand. Heres my belief about the state of israel. It is the only democracy in the middle east, not without fault, but it is our ally and we should gel ously guard the relationship with israel because the people want to destroy her, want to destroy you. There have been 20 resolutions passed by the United Nations condemning the state of israel for their settlement policies and six against the world at large. I think that is nuts. That is disproportionate and im not going to take any more of your taxpayer dollar and give it to the u. N. Who is getting more antisemitic so it helps South Carolina not to invest in a body that is antisemitic. All right. The question is from Emily Chester from simpsonville, South Carolina. I am concerned about the threat to american democracy. What is being done to ensure the diplomatic process . Thats a really good question. Have you have you been following the last ten years . We have been at war for 15 years, right . Ive been to iraq and afghanistan 40 times. Remember september 10th, 2001 . Probably dont. But it is the day before 9 11. We didnt have one soldier in afghanistan. We didnt have an embassy. We didnt give the taliban one dime of aid and the world kind of watched from the sidelines as women were drugged to the soccer stadiums and shot for sport because they showed a little too much ankle. There are great statues of buddha blown up because these nut jobs, the taliban, believes any image is wrong. And we kind of watched and did nothing and thought, well, thats over there, it wont come here. But what you didnt realize is that the taliban offered bin laden safe haven in afghanistan, he was their honored guest, and 9 11, the rest is history. So what about what have i learned . What have i learned . That the people who attack us, like al qaeda, have a religious motivation. It is not because of palestine. It is because they have got a warped view of islam that makes them want to kill everybody in this room. Heres what i believe. You may be tired of fighting them. But they sure as hell are not tired of fighting you. Heres my goal, to keep the war over there so it doesnt come here. And youll never youll never win this war. Youll never win this war. Well talk about the saudis. Youll never win this war by killing terrorists. Youre talking about a guy to the republicans in the room, if you want to destroy radical islam, you better invest in the lives of others over there. Because if you can drop bombs all day long. I have lost good friends in this war, many of them afghan and iraqi policemen, and lawyers and judges that i worked with as a reservist, 40 times in the last decade, 140 days on the ground as air force reservists. Heres what i know is going to take to win this war. Youve got to invest in those lives of others to be safe here. The terrorists are offering a glorious death. We have to offer a hopeful life. A small schoolhouse, a small schoolhouse in a remote region of afghanistan, iraq, syria, will do more damage if it would educate a young girl than any bomb you could drop on their head. So, heres what youre going to get from me about diplomacy. This budget being proposed by President Trump who i want to help cuts the state department by 30 . Heres what i will tell you. If you want this war to go on forever, bomb them and leave. If you think you got to be safe by dropping a bomb and coming back home, youll never be safe. Heres what you got to do in my opinion. You got to have some of our soldiers over there to protect the rest of us here, but it is not about them killing terrorists, as much as it is about them helping build up police and armies. And if you dont invest in the lives of others over there, this war never ends. What does winning look like . Heres what winning looks like. When the people over there have police and armies loyal to them, not to the dictator, when the imams over there can preach against this radical form of islam and not get killed, when the politicians over there, lets go to saudi arabia, when a woman can drive over there, youre going to be safer over here. This question is from emily boldly from salem. Why cant the Senate Demand trump release his taxes . Wheres she at . Emily . Where are you at, emily . Where are you at . Okay. Trump tax returns. There you are. Okay. Trumps tax returns. We can subpoena his tax returns. Emily, emily, i will do that when i believe there is a reason to do that i will ive introduced im in the process of introducing legislation to require anybody running for president in 2020 to release their tax returns. Okay. How many of you believe that benghazi was a bunch of bs . [ inaudible ] i thought so. Okay. The question is from Alicea Hudson from greenville. Alicea hudson from greenville. I didnt know. I didnt know there were that many liberals, which is great. Im glad youre here. You need to speak up more in South Carolina. What will you do to protect Affordable Health care and other support programs for people with disabilities. Okay. If you are disabled, then you need to come to my office and you will get Disability Insurance through medicaid. Okay. I dont know where you went, but were open five days a week. For the disabled, for the disabled, youre eligible for medicaid if you if the judge says youre disabled. Once youre 65, youre eligible for medicare no matter if youre bill gates or my aunt who worked in the cotton mills. Can we talk a little bit about medicare . Does anybody want to talk about medicare . So the disabled have Health Insurance through medicaid, and the medicaid Disability Insurance program is just about to run out of money. Can i tell you a little bit about what i think is the biggest financial problem for everybody in this room . In 1950, how many people paid taxes for every Social Security recipient, do you know . Do you know, john . 16. So today there are three workers for every retiree, again if youre retired, raise your hand. So there is three people now paying into the system. In 20 years there will be two. How can this be . Im the guy screwing it up. Im not im not married and i dont have any kids. We live longer. The average age the average age of a of retirement is 65, right . Thats when you become 70 now. No, 65 for medicare. And 62 you can get early retirement. In 1935, the average person lived to be 65. Today were living into our 80s. More People Living like strom thurmond. So to all the liberals and conservatives in this room, heres the one thing i have to tell you, if you dont get a bipartisan plan to save medicare and Social Security, theyre going to fail and were going to become like Ronald Reagan, like Ronald Reagan, like Ronald Reagan, Ronald Reagan and tip oneill adjusted the age of retirement in 1983 from 65 to 67 and it saved Social Security. To those who believe you can save medicare and Social Security by taxing the wealthy, let me tell you, the unfunded liability is 70 trillion. We made 70 trillion of promises we dont have the revenue for. If you take all the money of 1 in the country, including their dogs, thats 30 trillion. Thats half of what you need. Now, now, one last thing and well get to the question. To my republican friends to my republican friends, to my republican friends who think you can grow the economy and close the 70 trillion gap, it is impossible. Heres what has to happen. Have you heard of Simpson Bowles . We need to do Something Like that. We need to adjust the age of retirement to younger people, give them decades to retire a little bit later. I make 175,000. Im not saying im worth it, but thats what we get paid. I should pay heres what i think. I should pay more medicare than im paying today. I dont think i should be getting any subsidies from the government to pay my medicare premiums. And i would say that to anybody who makes 175,000. Now, when it comes to Social Security, im 61, ill get it when im 65, 66, i guess now. I would gladly give up whatever it takes for me to give up to make sure that people who need it more than i do get it. Let me tell you why. I was i was born i was born in central, anybody ever been to central . When i was 21, i was living in central, going to carolina, the first of my family to go to college, my mom was 52, she was diagnosed with hodgkins disease, she died a year later and we were financially wiped out because we had Insurance Coverage of four people. 15 months later, my dad who was 69 died and my sister was 13 and i was 22. It if it werent for an aunt and uncle in seneca, i dont know what i would have done. We moved in, me and my sister, i finished college, we got a Social Security survivor benefit from Social Security about 300 something bucks that made the real difference for us. Im 61, soon to be 62. I can get by without whats been promised to me on Social Security. When i was 22, i needed every penny. Im here to tell you, ive seen Social Security on both ends. You want to save america, young people have to work a little longer and people of my income have to pay more and give up some and i will. This question is from carrie brooks from central. Do you consider access to kwaelt health care a right or a privilege . What will you do to protect gains and access to health care that were made with the Affordable Care act . I think every american should have access to Quality Health care. Heres what im against. Every time you get sick, you run to the emergency room, i have to pay the bill. Thats called medicaid. I think medicaid is the most broken thing in the world. Heres what i want to do with medicaid. I want to get everybody in medicaid into a private Health Care Home and managed care environment and i dont want you to run to the emergency room, i want you to go to your doctor. Ill gladly help pay the bill, but ill telling everybody in this room, when it comes to health care, if you smoke you need to pay more. Im telling you right now, the only way were going to provide Quality Health care is to have more choices, not less. I think you should be able to buy health care anywhere in the country, just not in South Carolina. And let me tell you, when it comes to medicaid, it is fee for service, between it is about to bankrupt the state of South Carolina. What i would do all over the country is take every medicaid patient, put them in a managed care environment, have the federal government give some money to the states, and say deliver Better Health care. Thats what i would do. The last thing im going to do is take every patient in the country, and let the federal government give them health care and manage health care. If you want to destroy health care, go to the socialized medicine bottle. Over my dead body. All right. The question is from emily goolet from greer. Given betsy devos how many of you believe that elections matter . No, you dont. You want the same policies even though you lost. It dont work that way. For the last eight years, for the last eight years, we have had policies that i dont agree with, but obama had a right to act. How many people went to Public Education . Me too. How many believe that Public Education will be better if you just throw more money at it . How many of you believe that Public Education is never going to get better until it is shaken up . Thats what i believe. So i believe in Charter Schools. I believe in choice. I believe in School Choice for people heres what ill tell you, every one of you booing went to a good school, you have no idea what it is like to go to a school that is this question is from mark from greenville. What is your position on foreign aid assistance, specifically for Poverty Reduction and International Development plans . Let her speak. Let her speak. We need a microphone. Give her a microphone. [ inaudible ] hurry up. Hurry up. Times running. For five years . Okay. Hello, senator graham. You may know me. My name is tara burnett. I created the online petition today to get you here. Online what . Petition. I created the online petition that had over 5,000 South Carolina residents to get you here today. Oh. Im here. And i would like to thank you for coming. Yeah. Before i ask you my question or my statement, i am a Public School educator. But first and foremost, i would like for everybody here that is a South Carolina resident to please stand. I just want to prove to the people and to the media that the people of South Carolina are here, were representing, were showing up, and were not from another state. I agree with that. Good. So whats your question . And were not paid protesters. Okay. One of the reasons i am here today is to ask you about education. Right. Over the past several weeks, the people of South Carolina flooded your office with phone calls, emails, tweets, and even in Person Office visits about the nomination of betsy devos. Right. A candidate so unqualified for her position that the Vice President of the United States had to cast the historic deciding vote. The people of South Carolina wanted you to be the one who stood on your own and said no. Only one more vote was needed. So my question to you is this, senator graham. Why would you vote for someone who wants to dismantle the Public School system by providing vouchers to those who want to attend private school while essentially dismantling the entire Public School system in the process . The same system in which you yourself were educated. Right. All right, i got the question. South carolina has long suffered from a lack of state and local investment in education. All right. Thank you. So please explain to us how providing vouchers for private schools with public funds will help students who need it the most. Great question. All right. Heres what you need to realize. Heres what you need to realize. That i did go to Public School. But the vast majority of people in my state dont believe with your approach to education where all you need is more money. Heres what i think you need. I think you need funding. If money could if money could if money could fix education, washington, d. C. Would be the place you send your kids. There are more the highest spending per student really in thele w whole country is in washington, d. C. Most in demand program in washington, d. C. Is a Charter School where parents stand in line for days to try to get one of those lottery numbers to get their kids. Now, youre from up here. Clemson, i went to daniel high school, one of the best schools in the state. Heres what it is all about. What about those schools that are predominantly africanamerican counties in our state, 11 of them, where the Education System is not what you would want, not what those parents want, not what i would want. So heres the challenge. Heres the challenge. The Public Education system is the great equalizer in america. It is one way that a guy born in the back of a liquor store in central can grow up to be a United States senator because you get an education through the public system that is free. What happens what happens what happens when that Public School system for decades fails to produce the quality people need to move forward. Heres what i think. I think we need a combination, we need a combination of alternatives when schools fail. No child left behind was an effort to grade school. And when you have a Public School that is not producing the quality you would want for your child, heres what i promise. We need money, lets do money. We need competition, lets do s competition. And the goal for me is to change Public Education where it meets the goal, to enrich every Young Persons life. Ill tell you, in our state, we got a ways to go. And i just have to tell you about betsy devos. She didnt give me a penny. I think im the only republican she didnt give a dime to. The bottom line is lets see how she does. I thought she was qualified. And i dont buy into [ inaudible ] this question is from mark. What is your position on foreign aid assistance, specifically for Poverty Reduction and International Development programs like petfar and Health Care Programs . Were going to keep control of this. Nope. Were going to keep ill get with you in a minute. Okay. She has been in Public Education for 15 years or more in michigan. The schools are rated 42. 42 out of you dont think shes qualified . Heres the way it works. Heres the way it works. Okay. Well, where are we at . Shes done the Charter School. I got you. I got you. Shes done the Charter School. I thought she was qualified. All right. Thank you. All right. Lets get back to foreign aid. How many of you are how many of you think Sonia Sotomayor was qualified to be on the Supreme Court . How many of you wait a minute. Wait a minute. How many of you think Sonia Sotomayor was qualified to be on the Supreme Court . How many of you think that elena kagan was qualified to be on the Supreme Court . [ inaudible ] how many of you there we go. How many of you believe how many of you believe that Sonia Sotomayor was qualified to be on the Supreme Court . How many of you believe that elena kagan was qualified to be on the Supreme Court . How many of you believe that judge gorsuch is qualified to be on the Supreme Court . So let me tell you, let me tell you about cabinet picks. I was the only republican on the Judiciary Committee to vote for Sonia Sotomayor and elena kagan and i got the i got the crap beat out of me. Can you hear me . You know why i got the crap beat out of me . Because there is people in my party upset that we lost and they didnt want obama to pick anybody they didnt agree with. And heres what i said. Heres what i said. The system cant work that way because there are consequences to losing an election. This president , this president obama, this president obama earned the right to pick qualified people. I voted for every one of his cabinet nominees. Hush, hush, please. Why did i vote for his cabinet nominees . I thought they were qualified, even though i wouldnt have picked any of them. Now, now, now, no, now, now, now, no, wait a minute. Now you lost an election. And youre acting like it doesnt matter. Foreign aid. Foreign aid. Foreign aid. I thought she was qualified. Gorsuch is beyond qualified. How many of you want to eliminate foreign aid . Raise your hand . How many of you want to eliminate foreign aid . All right. Foreign aid. Foreign aid is 1 of the federal budget. If you eliminate foreign aid, rand paul, in case youre listening, you dont balance the budget. Have you heard of petfar . The question was about foreign aid. The question ive already ive asked were talking were talking about foreign aid. Ive answered the devos question. If you dont like it, you dont like it. So heres hey. The question that was read by the young lady, this is important. If you dont get that foreign assistance is National Security in another form, youre going to get a bunch of us killed. Now, heres the deal. Petfar, petfar was a program started by george w. Bush where we put 40 billion over 10 years into fighting aids in africa, ive been to africa about five or six times, and the last decade, and millions of Young African children are alive today because of the money you spent to eradicate aids, not eradicated, but almost stopped. So heres foreign aid. All of those children are going to like you. All of those children are going to have a good view of us and we did the right thing. Now, when it comes to helping israel, we give them 3. 4 billion a year. That helps this country fight terrorism. It is money well spent. My view is that foreign assistance helping helping people over there is a form of National Security, and ive tried to say it everywhere i know to say it. If you take diplomacy off the table, if we become fortress america, and we leave over there hoping they wont follow us here, not only are they going to follow us here, theyre going to kill a lot of us here. Here. So one of the ways to stay safe is to invest in the lives of others. Im going to fight for this foreign aid budget because i believe in it as much as i believe in the military budget. [ applause ]. The question is from jim from greenville. I want you to change the health care to the same as you have. How many people want the health care i have . Good. You need to join the air force and serve 33 years and you can get it. [ laughter ]. Now, lets talk about congress and health care. Remember when we passed the obamacare act on Christmas Eve that was jammed down our throat as republicans . I decided to opt out of government sponsored health care. Now, just listen to me. Listen to me because of this very question listen. For this very question i decided to opt out of this system that congress was allowed to be in in virginia. So i came back home like the rest of you as a little short white guy from South Carolina. I went into South Carolina obamacare system. My deductible went from 750 to 6,250. And my premium quadrupled. And im still as healthy today as i was then. So, bottom line is, obamacare for middle class people who are working is driving up your cost, increasing your deductible. Theyre taking money to you from you to buy it for free for somebody else and that aint health care. Thats redistribution of income. I want to improve your health care, not punish people who work. This question is from susan from clemson. Everyday an environmental regulation is eliminated or a whole department not funded. What can you do and what can we do . Okay. [ applause ]. The first thing we have to do is pass a budget. You cant run the government without a budget, right . So, the president s budget is going to increase military spending. Im all for that, but here is the problem. Well, let me tell you why im all for that. How many of you depend on the military to keep you safe . How many of you are happy with the fact that 70 of the marine core cant fly because of training problems and spare parts . How many of you think its okay to have the Smallest Army since 1940 because of insane budget cuts . How many of you think its okay to have the Smallest Navy since 1915 when the whole world is falling apart . So, im going to support increased defense spending because we need it. The people defending us need it. But when it comes to the environment, the worst possible thing you could do, the worst possible thing you could do is increase defense spending and take all the money out of the other parts of the government. How many of you believe how many of you believe that Climate Change is real . Okay. I do, too. Here is what i want to do. [ applause ]. I want to get us to a lower Carbon Economy without destroying the economy and i think we can. When it comes to environmental regulation, let me give you a good example of how far weve gone. A wet spot has been considered knave kabl waters under the Obama Administration clean water act. I am all for going through the environmental regulations and cleaning them up, some of them are just ridiculous. But i promise everybody in this room, i think Climate Change is real and i look for a bipartisan effort over time to lower Carbon Emissions and pass on a good, clean environment. The question is from sara beetle from clemson. Hi, senator graham. Im a clemson grad student from iowa and the dapl is going through my hometown. As much as you mid as much as the midwest oil is the world supplier of affordable crops, why privatize the apl over creating solar or wild farms safer for the environment and my family . All right. Are you talking about the Keystone Pipeline . Is that what hes talking about the Keystone Pipeline . Okay. All right. Im for building the pipeline. [ boo ] im going to vote to build the pipeline. You know why i want to build the pipeline . Because because if you dont have a pipeline, you have to use oil trucks. And the likelihood of a spill from a truck is greater than it is a pipeline. But let me tell you this, some of you believe we could do without oil and gas. Im not in that category. So here is what im going to do. Is im going to vote to expand the ability to find oil and gas in our country so we dont have to buy it so we dont have to buy it from people who hate our guts. I would rather buy oil from canada who is our cousins than buy it from a bunch of people overseas who would kill us all if they could. So here is what im going to do. Im going to find a way to extract natural gas and oil from american held territory to make us Energy Independent as quick as possible, and im also going to invest in alternative energy to get us away from our dependence on fossil fuel as quick as possible. If you dont see the need for both, youre living in a bubble. If you dont see the need to increase our military, youre living in a fantasy land. And if you think theyre going to leave us alone over there by just turning our backs on over there, then youre setting up another 9 11. This question is from mary lee from greer. The gop proposed Health Care Replacement plan involves vouchers. Doesnt that make it more difficult for the lower and middle class to afford adequate Health Care Coverage . [ applause ]. Can i give you a little secret . I dont know what the gop plan is. [ applause ]. Let me tell you, did yall see rand paul on tv . You know, rand i dont agree on much but hes right about this. What was our big knock on obamacare, they did it without any of us, somewhere hidden away and well, you know what, im not going to let me tell my Republican Leaders who may be listening, dont give Lindsey Graham take it or leave it options because ill leave it. I want to be part of this. I want you to know what were doing. I dont want to replace obamacare with a process thats just exactly the way we passed it at the beginning with. I want you to understand why it should be better. I want to take responsibility if its not. I want to have a say about what we do with your health care. I believe obamacare is really designed to get the private sector out of the market and have a single pair of health care through the back door. And i dont like i dont like that. I think its a lousy idea. Now, where the dog that caught the car, its up to us as republicans to replace obamacare for something thats good for working people. And its all about working people and its about people who are disabled and its about people down on their luck. So, here is the deal, folks. I promise you the following that there will be transparency, that youll have a chance to understand what were doing. Im going to understand what im doing for a vote. And here is the truth of the matter most of you in here are liberal compared to most South Carolinaens. And thats not a bad thing. Thats not a bad thing. Listen, listen, thats not a bad thing. You know what i like about me, if i went to if i went to a Tea Party Meeting i would get the same reaction. As a matter of fact, i may not have made it this long in a Tea Party Meeting. So, here is the deal, here is the deal. Were going to take a few more questions, but here is the deal about the country. Here is what im trying to do. Im trying to be as honest as i know how. Health care if we got a better idea, you need to know about it before we vote on it. You need to be able to call me and tell me i dont like this. As far as i know theres no voucher component to it. So, we owe you that. And here is what i owe you, every time i vote for somebody you dont like, i believe im doing whats best for this president who deserves ability to have his cabinet. Well whether you like it or not i can tell you this i can tell you this, i can tell you this,ky tell you this, i believe president obama deserved to have the cabinet that represented his views. And here is the one thing you get here is the one thing im trying to do, here is the one thing im trying to do, im trying to make sure im trying to make sure that the system works after im dead. You know whats going to happen . You know whats going to happen . If we get into our camps, if we get into our camps, where we dont recognize there are other people who disagree with us and when election is over the people who won it if they cant have a chance to implement their view of why they ran, then the country is going to fail. Next question. Where do you stand on russian interference which tends to be widespread in the current regime . Okay. We got a process and were going to use that process. And the process was were going to randomly pick questions. Im going to answer them and everybody that wrote a question is going to get an answer from me. And the question again was about russian interference. How many of you believe how many of you believe that if we give putin a pass well regret it . Me, too. And here is what i would like here is my message to President Trump here is my message to President Trump mr. President , mr. President , im not suggesting that you did not win the election. I am suggesting, mr. President , that russia interfered in our election. And im asking you, as the commander in chief and the president of the United States, to push back against russia. It was democrats today. It could be republicans tomorrow. Mr. President , youre the leader of the free world. Youre the protector of democracy. Democracy is undersiege from putins russia. And let it be said let it be said to push back against putin started with the senior senator from South Carolina. This question is from ryan masters from anderson, even after making several promises to release his tax returns, trump refuses to release them despite being audited, nixon released his. Do you believe as i do that he should release them . I think if theres any Campaign Context between the Trump Campaign and russia, then well cross that bridge at that time. I dont theres no law requiring him to do it, but i think the next president ial election you should release your tax returns. The question is from robin fox from greenville. When will you stop aiding and abetting the enemies of the people with your stride comments about the president. Thats a good one. Now, who is that . Stand up. Hey. All right. We got a lot of press here today. Let me tell you my view of the press. Pain in the ass but necessary. A free press is the first thing you want to get rid of if youre an autocratic type person, right . In russia, in russia, you would have been gone a long time ago. But you got nothing to worry about because im not listening to you. So here is the deal, here is the deal, im going to introduce next week a press freedom shield law. Im going to do it with all people, chuck schumer. We dont agree on much but we agree on this. [ cheers and applause ]. And the person who originally introduced it was mike pence. And what it does, it it protects reporters from having to reveal to the government their sources. Now so, i am absolutely in the camp of a free press is essential to democracy. However, to our people, to our friends in the press, youre going nuts. Youre acting like the party in opposition. Youre acting like a lot of people out here who are so upset about trump you have no idea what it takes to run a democracy. Youre so upset, youre so bitter that you can only see one side of the story. So to my friends in the press, if i were you, i would report the news and let us make up or own mind. Every 30 seconds doesnt have to be a breathless take on trump. This question is from victoria corbin from clemson. Do you believe that President Trump should release his tax returns . Yes, he should. I think he should. Now, here is the question, am i going to subpoena his tax returns . No, not without a reason. Am i going to am i going to introduce legislation that will require anybody running for president in 2020 to release their tax returns . Yes. The question is from ben marshall from spartanburg. What is being done so that the future generations of americans can successfully run this country . Oh, boy, what a great question. What a great question. You know what, isnt that the ultimate question really . Here is what i think needs to be done. I think democrats and republicans need to realize our common threats and our common values. Here is what i think we need to realize, that medicare and Social Security by 2042 are going to consume all the revenue that future generations thats absolutely the gods truth. 80 million baby boomers like me are going to retire in the next 20 years. Were down to two workers for every retiree and its going to break the back of medicare, Social Security, then you got medicaid. Youre not going to tax your way to fix this problem. Youre not going to throw the economy. Im dying for a Ronald Reagan tip oneal moment. Im dying where people can get together and find ways to fix problems. So here is what i want to do, to those of you who believe Climate Change is real. I would like to be the republican to reach out to a democrat, to reach a lower Carbon Economy, increasing the ability to create jobs, not lessen them. I do want to pass on to the next generation clean air and clean water and let me tell you, let me tell you, in terms finally, to the next generation, who ill never meet. Here is what i want to have happen on this watch when its all said and done. I want people to say that senator graham saw that threat from radical islam for what it was, existential but can be defeated and will be defeated. That he understood that you cant win the war through military force. That he had the foresight even though it wasnt popular to invest in the lives of others other there even though were broke here one day we can take that radiology and stomp it in the ground. Young girl can have a say about her child. I hope theyll say that politics rose to the occasion. And i cant tell you were anywhere close. Were so divided. Were so bitter. Were so upset with the process. Were so down on each other. But let me tell you this, as to future Education Opportunities in South Carolina, theyre not going to get better with money alone but it sure as hell would help. As to those who are fighting this war, as to those fighting this war, im going to do everything i can to make life easier for your families. I cant promise youll ever go to iraq and afghanistan again. We probably will. We can all take better care to your families. To the veterans who have been hurt or those disabled, we will pay your bills because you deserve it. To every veteran in america, to every veteran in america, you dont have to choose between the v. A. And nothing else. You can choose between the v. A. And any doctor in the hospital you want and well pay the bill. So to the future to the future generations, i hope youll look back on a town hall meeting like this and say that out of this came something good. What do you plan on doing to protect the environment in the wake of the roll back of regulations . [ cheers and applause ]. I think we need environmental policy to address number one the clean water act that the epa who created the epa . Remember when Boston Harbor was on fire . The one thing i can tell you about South Carolina, god dealt us a pretty good hand. Late joe cassidy, we put thousands of acres off to development. The space senator holings idea. If you dont care if youre not an environmentalist, youre not a really good South Carolinaen. We have a really good deal here. What i want to do is make sure that conservation is elevated, that conservation easements we have more not less, where people are incentivized to take their private property and put it in public trust. Number two, i want to make sure we dont roll back clean air and clean water protections. [ cheers and applause ]. That hooep harmful pollutants like mercury and other things from going into the air. The bottom line is the bottom line is we want to ensure that we dont overregulate to the point that you cant create jobs unnecessarily. To our farmers out there, we want to make sure we dont regulate pesticides well put you out of business but we dont want pesticides hurting the ecosystem. Here is my view, the epa under obama went way too far. And now is the time to correct. To the republicans here, what is our environmental policy . What is the environmental policy of the Republican Party . So here is what i would urge here is what i would urge to my republican friends. Dont give an inch for caring about the environment. Be for clean air and clean water. Understand that Climate Change man is contributing to it and over time it will hurt us all. Come up with Environmental Policies that are better for business. Al gore made Climate Change a religion. I want to make it a problem to be solved. The question is from mary collins. In light of so many questions about russian connections, shouldnt trumps taxes be released . All right. All right. Here is what i think. I think most of the people in this room voted for Hillary Clinton or somebody other than trump. As a matter of fact, and theyre very upset. Theyre very upset. And they lost. And they cant get over the fact they lost. So, thats why you have a lot of questions. Now, but every american should be asking about russia. Every american should be concerned about russia. Ive told you about ten times that im very concerned about what they did in our election. I dont believe it was a 400 pound guy sitting on his bed. The russians did it and i want them to pay a price. About his tax returns, ive told you i think he should release them. Im not going to subpoena them unless i have a reason. In 2020, everybody should release his tax returns. But why so many questions . Why so many questions . Because people came here thinking if you yell at me enough i will stop being a conservative republican. I wont. Some people came here believing that i will never help trump because i say bad things about him. I will but im still going to push back when i think hes wrong. Senator graham, this will be the last question. This question is from jeffrey from clemson. At what point do we need a bipartisan special committee for russ russia . Thats a really good question. Okay. Can i give you a Little Information here . This may be news for the news people out there. So theres two lanes here. What should congress do about russia . Right. And what should the fbi and other criminal investigative organizations do about allegations of illegal contact between the Trump Campaign and russia. Here is what we should do. We should make sure the fbi if they are investigating trump russia ties and i dont have any evidence of them should be able to do it without hesitation or fear. Congress should be looking into all things russia. Right now we have the Intelligence Committee looking at the role of the c. I. A. In terms of all things russia. Im starting an investigation march 15th well have a hearing with senator whitehouse who is my Ranking Member. Well have oversight over the fbis role in terms of the role they played regarding russia and the 2016 election. If i believe this thing is getting so complicated that we need to put all the committees together and we may be getting close to that where you have the intel committee, the Judiciary Committee and maybe finance if there are business connections, then well need a joint select committee to look at it wholist wholistically. Well see. Well see how the current process works. As to the criminal part of it, i talked to the director of the fbi yesterday and here is what i told him. The reason Jeff Sessions needed to recuse himself is ive been saying this for weeks. I just dont see how anybody involved in the campaign could make could be seen as giving fair advice to an investigator and could dispose of it. And i love Jeff Sessions as a person, but he to me well, i dont care if you like him or not. I didnt say you liked him. I like him. If you dont like him, fine. Hes my friend. So here is the deal. Here is the deal. The Deputy Attorney general is coming up for confirmation tuesday. And the question for him is can he impartially oversee an investigation . Could he dispose of it . You dont even know who he is. So here is the deal. Hes recommended by the two Democratic Senators from the state of maryland. Hes the attorney general of the state of maryland. Mccallsky the first woman senator in decades, longest woman serving senator says this guy is a good guy. Here is what im going to do, if i think hes capable of doing it, i feel comfortable with him, i will. If i dont think hes capable of doing it, ill call for an independent council. Why . We have to get this right. I tell you what, i dont count on most of you wanting to get this right. You know why . You know why . You know why . You dont want to get it right. You just want to get trump. So, okay. It may have been a horrible thing for me to say to you, but here is what. I believe that the emotions right now are so high, so high, that if i went to a Tea Party Event they wouldnt want me to appoint anybody. Im getting bombarded because i wanted Jeff Sessions recused. Yes, sir. Right. Good question. Investigation has been going on almost a year. And what were concerned about, especially us gray hairs. Right. Who are independent. Right. Okay . We dont like is the fact that its not being released to the public thats a very good question. Right. And while the administration is in can i repeat what he said . Okay. So we got to end in a minute. Hes worried if you dont watch it, some of the evidence is going to go away, right . Yeah. The other thing [ inaudible ] i got you. So hes worried that we need a system to protect the evidence. Okay. [ inaudible ]. I got you. I got you. I got you. Okay. I got you. I got you. Okay. I got you. Let me tell you the problem with this investigation. The reason you cant release a lot of the things that you want now, the flynn transcripts, weve asked for them to be sent to the Judiciary Committee by the fbi. I want to see them myself. Most of this stuff that were finding out i cant tell you how we find it out. People would get killed. This is the problem here. A lot of this is classified. Im having my first hearing in the public. Ill be the only member investigating russia that i know of that will have a public hearing. Im trying to find a way to inform you about whats been going on for the last year, to convince you that i care about it and were going to stay on it until we get to the bottom of it without compromising confidential classified information. This is where the idea of a joint select committee becomes more relevant. Youve got the c. I. A. Who deals in the world of spooks. Right . You have the fbi who has a counterterrorism role in a traditional Law Enforcement role. They have merged here. The one thing i want to be able to convince you of is that i care about what happened in 2016 in our election. And i hope i can convince you of that because i do. I think the russians did it. I think the russians are going to keep doing it until they pay a price. Okay. Now, about how we can explain what happened. The tweet today by President Trump was earth shattering to me. Just think about just think about just think about what he claims. He claims he claims that the former president illegally wiretapped his campaign. We need to get to the bottom of that, dont you agree . Yeah. This is actually a good conversation. [ inaudible ]. No. Not okay. Here is all im going to tell you. We have ability to monitor foreign agents throughout the world, including here at home. You cant monitor american citizen without a warrant. Monitoring content. So all im going to say is that when i can find a way to release transcripts if theyll exist without compromising the sources and methods i will do so because im tired of asking you to speculate about what somebody did. Nobody should be accused of a crime in the paper and everybody find them guilty, but at the same time you need to know is your government working . In terms of the flynn transcripts, i think it would be appropriate to release as much of that as we could so you could understand what flynn was saying to the ambassador. As to Trump Campaign ties, before the election, i dont have any personal evidence that anything happened that was inappropriate, but if but if theres an investigation going on and well know here pretty soon, it should go on and go wherever it takes. Hes a republican president. Im a republican senator, but this is about america. I promise you were going to allow them to go wherever they need to go. So, i got to go. One more . One more. All right. No. Heard from you. Okay. Okay. All right. Ask your question. Okay. Here is a question. Can you hear me . Is this on . Wait, wait. Wait, wait. Let me say something. First of all, i want to congratulate, senator graham, for coming here. Look at the other people . Look at rubio, he dont want to go. Where is jeff dunken. Where is that guy louden. This guy came. Here is a question. Here is a question. It is strictly hypothetical, okay. What happened what would happen if Hillary Clinton were the president . This is hypothetical. This is hypothetical, okay . Okay. What would happen if Hillary Clinton was the president and she did one of the things that trump does or did 100 things that trump did, wouldnt you want to impeach her . All right. Thank you for coming. Here is what ive learned. Here is what ilearned. We need to give you more information about the republican alternative to obamacare. I think were deficient there, right . Right . We need to tell you much about the investigation as we can so you wont have to read about it in the paper and speculate on the news. Right . We need to be as open about it as we can. It needs to go wherever it goes. Theres nobody to reward. Nobody to punish. Got that. When it comes to russia, we need to hit them and hit them hard so they dont do it again. So here is my view about how to protect the nation. You need to strengthen military, but if you dont have soft power, were all going to regret it. Ive tried to tell you bipartisanship is being lost if we dont regain it, i dont know how you fix medicare with just republicans working by themselves. I dont know how you save Social Security by yelling about it. So here is the last thought. I dont know what 2017 is going to wind up being like, but i am worried. You know why im worried . Im worried that democracy all over the world is under siege. Im worried that in france theres a movement because globalization is scaring people and i get it. Life is changing so quick that you have a leading candidate in france thats talking about withdrawing from the eu, withdrawing from nato, that were all afraid. I dont mind extreme vetting, but remember the young lady from clemson. Well, here is what im saying vetting from fail states makes sense, but throwing everybody in one pot because of their religion is dangerous. Now, the only way well win this war is so partner with people in the faith. Im going to leave you with some good news. After 40 trips to iraq and afghanistan, most fathers and mothers over there are not buying what isil and these nut jobs are selling. Believe it or not, theyre different from us, but they want for their kids the same thing we want for ours and we need to help them. So the bottom line here is i will be back. I will come somewhere else during this day. Ill keep you informed. And im not here to try to convince you to agree with me. Im trying to convince you that im doing the best that Lindsey Graham knows how when the country is so sideways. And you know what, you know what, i think what do i need . You need to know that these people here you refer to us as liberals, we are not upset because a republican won. Were upset because trump won. Okay. All right. Maybe thats a good way to end it. Okay. All right. This is a good way to end it. All right. All right. Hey, maam, maam, thank you. Is that a good summary of it all . You know what i have in common with some of you i didnt vote for trump either. All right. All right. I voted for Evan Mcmullen who is i wouldnt know him if he walked on the stage. I was pretty hard on trump and he was pretty hard on me, right . But let me tell you, maam, you may not like the fact that he won, but he beat me like a drum. He beat 16 very talented republicans. He beat he beat the former first lady and secretary of state. And you may not like the outcome of this election, but i am going to help the man who won this election, help him govern a nation that is undersiege internationally, has problems back here at home. Im going to honor the results of this election. I feel duty bound where i km help him where i can, say nowhere i must and when it comes to russia, it goes wherever it goes. Thank you very much. [ applause ]. A live look at the u. S. Capital here on this monday where the u. S. Senate is in session today. Senate lawmakers are continuing work on the nomination of sina verma. A vote on her nomination is scheduled for 5 30 p. M. Eastern today. You can see the senate live on our companion network cspan2. And judge Neil Gorsuchs confirmation hearing is scheduled to last two days beginning on march 20th. Well have it live for you on the cspan networks. Check cspan. Org for our coverage plans. Tonight on the communicators, michael powell, president and ceo of the ncta, the internet and Television Association talks about major issues facing the industry and what we might see from the new fcc chair. Mr. Powell is interviewed by lydia, tech and tell come reporter from bloomberg. Can you speak more specifically about those opportunities and what this change in leadership from democrat to republican, from tom wheeler to ajet what does that mean . He is a visionary. I think hes very focussed on the concept we have heard for many years with the exception of the last commission about light touch. The understanding that this market moves at breakneck speed. Theres a huge amount of futility. By the time theyre over, this market has shifted radically. That businesses dont have the luxury of sitting on decisions for six montsd and eight months and a year before they have to make decisions and i think the new commission is committed to that kind of speed of action. Watch the communicators, tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan2. In case you missed it, here are some clips of cspans programming this past week. Nominee for Deputy Attorney general rod rosenstein. So if we charge somebody with a crime and its appropriate to introduce evidence against them in court, we do it. If we dont charge them with a crime, we have a responsibility not to disparage their character. From the senate floor, Senate Minority whip dick durbin on President Trumps revised travel ban. This new executive order includes some cosmetic changes, but these changes dont alter the fact that President Trumps travel ban is still unconstitutional and still inconsistent with the values of this nation. House Speaker Paul Ryan on the Gop Health Care plan. So we said in 2016 to our citizens, to the american people, to our constituents, if you give us this chance, this opportunity, this is what well do. Now is our chance and our opportunity to do it. Senator chris murphy on the legislation to replace the Affordable Care act. Well, trump care is here and you are going to hate it. This is a Dumpster Fire of a bill that was written on the back of a napkin, behind closed doors, because republicans know its a disaster. Ambassador to the u. N. , nikki haley, on north koreas use of ballistic missiles. This is someone who is trying to get attention. This is someone who is trying to cause a reaction, but this is what bothers us it hit less than 200 nautical miles of japan. They said that their goal is to be able to reach u. S. Bases in japan. This is not something we can take lightly. The Global Community needs to understand every country is in danger from the actions of north korea. Congressman Elliott Engel during the energy and commerce markup of the bill. This is one of the most important things were going to vote on this year and its rushed through and were buying a pig and a poke because we dont have all the details. Thats why were so disgruntled on the or sight. We dont like this being jammed down our throats and rushed down our throats. Cspan programs are available at cspan. Org, on our home page and by searching the video library. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a committee on death of a Customs Enforcement agent in the line of duty and other controversial operations. Several invited witnesses from the atf and Justice Department did not appear as requested for the hearing. So congressman jason cha fitz sited subpoenas on the spot. He deserved to learn the truth. This is about two and a half hours. Committee on government and oversight reform will come to order. Were here today to talk about atfs failures in the death of i. C. E. Agent zapata. Theres nothing more difficult th