Wyoming pbs and wyoming public media present election 2020, the debate for u. S. House, live from the fine arts auditorium at Eastern Wyoming College. And our social media platforms cspan. Im bob beck of wyoming public radio. Craig and i will question the candidates and what we hope will be a thoughtful and civil exchange. We are using social distancing practice here, there is no Live Audience for the debates. A random draw was conducted and we predetermined the order in which they would appear. The candidates have been briefed on the ground rules for designs debate and i will note Richard Brubaker was invited to participate but declined our invitation. In addition to questions from us, midway through this debate, we will have a segment where the candidates, unscripted will discuss issues amongst themselves. It should be noticed should be noted the questions craig and i will answer will ask have been drawn from public media listeners and staff and developed by craig and i. The candidates have not seen these questions. Each candidate is allowed and opening statement. If the candidates are ready, we are ready to begin. Esther hagan, by luck of the draw, you are first. Thanks to wyoming pbs and Eastern Wyoming College for hosting this debate. Im the Constitution Party candidate for the house of representatives, the peoples house. I think we are in agreement that 2020 has not been kind to this country with the fires and covid19, etc. But for all the things we can worry about, lets not lose sight of the one thing we should hold near and dear our liberties, which are the safeguards for our freedoms and liberties i am referring to are the principles of natural rights reflected in john locke, whose writings influenced many of our founders. If history has taught us anything, it is in the wake of national traumas, liberties are frequently attacked, repressed, or done away with. Not be choosing between liberty and safety, as ben franklin famously said, those who would give up essential liberty to purchase temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security. Finally, i offer a voice for the voter to choose someone who will work to balance the power of the three branches of government to their constitutional roles, especially the executive branch and start the road to reducing our National Debt which is 107 of our gdp. This is likely to get worse either under biden or trump. Representative cheney . Thank you to eastern wyoming beauty college. With my two opponents. Im running so i can continue fighting on behalf of our freedom and on behalf of wyoming values and to be sure we uphold our Constitutional Rights. We have seen this year a set of challenges and threats we have very rarely faced, potentially an unprecedented set of challenges. And it is going to require continued focus every day to ensure we fight back against the very dangerous policies the democrats, particularly in the house, leadership for two years now under Speaker Pelosi that embraces antisemitism and socialism, threatening our Second Amendment rights, First Amendment rights, at all moments looking to impose partisan legislation, not working to get things done, to provide the kind of relief we need so we can defeat the pandemic, get our economy growing again. Im honored to represent all the people of wyoming in the house of representatives and i look forward to the chance this evening to talk about the issues we face and to earning your support for another term. Thank you. Thank you. Lynnette good evening. My name is lynnette grey bull. I want to thank wyoming pbs and the moderators. I want to thank my opponents, mr. Haggit and representative lynn cheney. I am lynnette grey bull, i live in the heart of wyoming on the Wind River Reservation and quite simply, i want represent the people. I come from the working class and i represent the working class, because i know what it is to have lived a life here in wyoming, where most are from the working class, and i know what struggle is. I know what hardship is. I know how hard it is to get that type of representation in washington dc, because most of the representation in d. C. Are millionaires from the 1 . It is important we strengthen our Constitutional Rights, and strengthen my chrissy in our country, because everybody deserves a voice. I am fighting for my seat at the table, so that i can bring others to have a seat at the table. I think diversity and equality and justice for all, and to promote the general welfare for everyday people, and people like myself from the working class, and people who know what community is. Thank you, candidates. The first question is from bob. Rural Mental Health continues to climb, mr. Haggitt, rural to decline, rural wyoming has one of the highest suicide rates in the country. Much of this is due to lack of access to Mental Health, clinics in rural areas, and easy access to guns. What plans do you have for communities overrun by despair . Jeff this objective suicide the subject of suicide touches me personally. I lost someone near and dear to me from suicide, due to mental illness. I went through that. Wyoming is such a rural state, and it is important to have local, i mean, we have a State Hospital in evanston, and they run the gamut of different aspects of Mental Health, taking the criminal element in their, and housing people that need Constant Care to monitor their medications. But you need to have that outside, in the rural areas too. Guns, that is not a part of this, other than the fact that you probably need to keep ones keep guns away. Representative cheney. Reprresentative cheney these are Critical Issues that we have seen take on enhanced importance as we face the threat of this pandemic, and the economic shut down, some of the economic consequences that we face. There are several things, one is to work to empower local organizations, our churches, faith communities, the wonderful Counseling Centers we have locally and communities around the state commit to make sure that they have the resources that they need. We also need to ensure we do more for telehealth, both in terms of the physical exams as well as in terms of Mental Health. I have introduced legislation that will help in sure but can continue some of the medicare payments that have been allowed during covid, for people who want to use telehealth to consult with their therapist as well. That access is very important. Thank you. Miss grey bull. Lynnette native americans have in 2016, i delivered a congressional briefing on tribal suicide health crises. Native americans have the highest suicide rates in the country. This is a national problem. My history and working with youth, i understand the dire need of having resources there, to get the help they need. I have talked to mothers, grandmothers who have children and grandchildren who are in the process of going through depression and even talking about suicide. And the resources were just not there. This goes back to representation. This goes back to the suicide rates, usually coming from disadvantaged communities, workingclass communities. We need to provide the Mental Health resources needed for every Community Across the state and nation. Mr. Haggit, you have an additional 30 seconds. Jeff telemedicines recent improvements have been great. Wyoming legislation to join the is adopting interstate compact that makes it easier for outofstate telehealth providers practice in wyoming. I dont believe there is a parity law passed in wyoming yet. Anyway, this issue is when i support. Wyoming is listed as one of 20 states having limited coverage for telemedicine, and to do to wyoming being such a rural state, this service should be improved. Representative cheney, 6 million young adult americans 32. 6 are now living at home. In july, that was 52 of young adults who resided with their parents. Even for the pandemic, the number was 47 in february according to pew research. Does that concern you . Reprresentative cheney well, i think it concerns me if we are facing a generation that is facing particular challenges. It depends on how you define young people. But certainly during covid as we have watched people who graduated, people entering the workforce, it is much more difficult to be able to find jobs. Precovid, we absolutely saw an expansion and job opportunities, expansion and employment levels yes but that does across the board, for young people, for women, for minority communities. What we need to do is make sure we get back to that. We need to make sure we can effete the pandemic and get our economy growing. We know fundamentally it is economic both and opportunity. We have seen things like opportunity zones this administration has put forward that help encourage investment and expand opportunity. We need our young people to have opportunity so that the economy can grow, but it is going to require defeating the virus. Thank you. Miss grey bull. Lynnette living in wyoming, i am in the nonprofit world and work it community building. I deliver food boxes to those in need in fremont county, so my connection to the community, and also statewide, the things i hear constantly is about the lack of housing. We have two or three families in one household in my community. But that is not only true for the reservation, that is also true for Rural Communities across the state. This is a real issue wyoming faces. I know that for a fact, by being connected with my own community and people across the state. In the realm of job opportunity and economic structure, we had 6800 people laid off from the coal industry last year, and most had to go outofstate to find jobs. Our Unemployment Rate is 11 right now and rising nationwide, even precovid. Thank you. Mr. Haggit . Jeff can you repeat the question . 32. 6 million young adults are now living at home. Before the pandemic in february, that number was 47 , according to pew research numbers. Is that concerning to you . Jeff well, it is just an indication of where we are at with homelessness is rising, it is already a major problem and is going to get worse if things dont change. It is very concerning that they have to live back with their parents. They have to open things back up again. And when is the cure going to come, not the cure, when we get to the point where the virus is worse than the cure . And you are going to have these problems. That is just a minor symptom of what we got going on. Reprresentative cheney it is very important we recognize, again, we have got to make sure young people have opportunities. We have to make sure young people in wyoming have opportunities and people dont feel like they have got to go up of state. One thing that has been so important about what the Trump Administration has been able to do, for example, is in short we are helping support our fossil fuel energy and industry, our ag industry in ways we didnt see under the last administration. Those other kinds of things, once we are able to defeat the virus, that will divide good provide good paying jobs for young people so they stay in wyoming. Miss grey bull, the federal debt was already unacceptably high and with covid, it skyrocketed further. What is your plan for addressing it without hurt workers, the poor and elderly . Lynnette in 2021, we are going to be in the midst of living through the pandemic or in the wake of working through the repercussions of this virus. It is important that we put Human Welfare first. I understand there is a National Debt. I understand the concerns of that. Everyone in leadership or policy should always have that, especially if you are working in policy, at the back of your mind, how that is going to affect the National Debt. But in 2006, we faced a recession, americans were losing jobs, stock market was crashing, americans were losing homes. I worked on the making Homes Affordable act. We helped millions of americans stay in their homes. We have the ability to overcome and achieve, if we put people first. And if we have the right parts and minds in leadership to move forward to fly in the wake of the pandemic. Thank you. Haggit mr. Haggit. Your opportunity to respond. Jeff are we talking about the . The federal debt. Jeff we are talking bankruptcy. We have to turn that around. Weve got to stop it now. That means spending, we have to take care of people, which is great. We have the cares act people we need to make sure people arent going to be thrown out in the street and hopefully that is going to continue, so we can get our economy back. But we have to cut somewhere else. We cant keep increasing our debt. Otherwise, there is just going to be a cliff. We need to stop spending money somewhere, so we can take care of the people. Thank you. Representative cheney . Reprresentative cheney it is an existential threat. It will be 100 in 2021, 107 in 2023, we have to get control of it. There are several things we need to do. First, recognize the threat posed by the fact holds a significant share of our National Debt. That we know now china is responsible for causing this pandemic, the spread around the world. It increases the danger in terms of the size of our federal debt. If you look at how much of the budget the United StatesCongress Actually gets to have a say on every year, it is under 30 . So you have got a lot of programs, even before you talk about how important it is to save social security, save medicare, they are going to go broke if we dont save them. There are other programs that are also mandatory every year, about 1 trillion worth it i cosponsored legislation to move those programs back onto the discretionary side of the ledger so that we can begin every year to get a hold of it and they dont automatically go over. 30 more seconds. Lynnette National Debt is a concern. Again, i reference looking backwards, because we were able to get over the recession several years ago, we were able to keep americans in their homes. We were able to help American People move forward and still build the economic structure. I dont believe it is a landslide after we get out of the wake of this pandemic. I believe we have the ability to move over it and persevere like we always have in our country. I think we have to put the people first. When we put the people first, we will build our economic structure moving forward in a bipartisan manner. Thank you. Mr. Haggit, what is the pandemic talk you about the American Health care system . Jeff the Health Care System, i work in the mines in southwest wyoming. And we are blessed there, we have health care, we have insurance, but health care is important, and people have a role in their own health care. I would like to see people be educated. And right now, the doctors hands are tied, there are regulations they have to follow where they could lose their license. I would like to see natural, homeopathic remedies that are proven and safe integrated into our Health Care System so that we have the best of both worlds, and we can grow from there and keep people from getting sick in the first place. Representative cheney . Reprresentative cheney so many things. I think first of all of what heroes our First Responders are, what heroes our Health Care Workers are, day in and day out treating patients with covid, putting their lives on the line for all of us. We have made tremendous strides in terms of knowing how to treat covid. We have made tremendous strides through things Like Operation warp speed and making progress toward a vaccine. United states innovation in health care is not massed around the world, so we have to mixer people have access to it. He should be able to get this treatments and have access to those treatments no matter the challenges you are facing from economic consequences, no matter where you live. That is crucially important. The numberone thing is the tremendous debt of gratitude wheel to our health care professionals. Miss grey bull . Lynnette for my community, health care is not equitable. Health care is not easily accessed. During the peak of covid, we had tribal members who went into a nearby town to seek Health Care Help through the local emergency there. And they were turned away. These were people who were facing dire need. And some of them have passed away. Our community has faced a high death rate, 50 compared to the wyoming death rate for covid. Health care is not equitable. Ended this is true for disadvantaged communities across the nation. If you as a leader do not understand that aspect of it, coming from a majority of hardworking, middleclass people, you are doing a disservice. Because leadership should represent every person that needs help. Thank you. Mr. Haggit, additional time . Jeff im good. Moderator representative cheney, i was watching a documentary on 1968 1968 and some issues facing the country at that time, and i feel we are reliving that and enjoying a pandemic and several other things along with that. The race issue seems to be as bad as they are in some time. How seriously are you taking all this . And what do we need to do as a country . Reprresentative cheney the riots we have seen across the country, and the violence we have seen, into many instances overtook peaceful protest in too many instances overtook peaceful protests. We need to protect the right to peaceful protest violent rioting is not peaceful protest. When you look at challenges we face as a nation, issues around race have been challenges for some time. One of the most