Transcripts For CSPAN Campaign 2020 Kentucky U.S. Senate Debate 20240712

Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell is among the candidates running for reelection. Tonight, he is facing his democratic challenger, amy mcgrath in a live debate from lexington, kentucky. My name is courtney. I am bill bryant from wk y t. The mostwatched senate race in america is happening in kentucky. Mitch mcconnell versus amy mcgrath. While we are not in front of a live audience, we know what is at stake is too important not to debate. I will talk with the candidates about everything from the covid19 pandemic to the u. S. Supreme court. Tonight, Gray Television and u. K. Student government will commute said the debate welcome you to the debate. I am bill bryant. I am joined by u. S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell and by retired Lieutenant Colonel amy mcgrath. We are following cdc guidelines tonight. The candidates and i are each 20 feet apart. Each candidate will have 60 seconds to answer our questions and brief rebuttals will be permitted tonight. A drawing determined the order of who will answer first. Lieutenant colonel mcgrath, we will begin with you. Our question is, going into this election, nothing impacts voters the. Than covid19 pandemic the two of you have sparred over whether each of you should be tested before this debate. The president and first lady have had covid19. Kentuckys governor and his family are in quarantine. What should the federal government be doing to mitigate this the spread of covid19 . Ms. Mcgrath the coronavirus has upended all of our lives. If you take a step back and recognize that senator mcconnell has the highest levels of National Security briefings of any member of congress and he knew about the dangers of coronavirus in january. Did he tell us . Did he come back to kentucky and say we need to prepare, did he get the nation prepared in the president prepared for what was to be this crisis . He did not. The first time he said the word coronavirus was not until the stock market crashed. Theseong, he is playing partisan, political games. Even now when kentucky and America Needs more aid. That is not what you are going to get from me. I have a plane to get us through this coronavirus our schools are opened up safely, so we get our economy back and stop playing these games. To this day, senator mcconnell does not have a plan, a National Testing and tracing plan and he is not going to do what is right for our country. Ms. Mcgrath i want to start by graduating colonel mcgrath for her service in the military. It has been my privilege to nominate 131 kentucky women have the same opportunity she did. I also was involved in making it possible for women in the military to go into different jobs like being able to fly in combat. With regard to the question you was shepherd did through the senate an almost 3 trillion Coronavirus Relief bill, which has provided 13 billion for kentucky. Over a billion dollars for hospitals and health care providers. I have tried to be a good example. When we went back in session in may, i was the one who said we need to wear masks, practice social distancing. Dr. Fauci has made it clear coronavirus is not going away. We need to practice distancing and masks until we finally get a vaccine and can put this in the Rearview Mirror. Bill lt. Col. Mcgrath, do you have a rebuttal . Ms. Mcgrath senator mcconnell, that legislation was passed in march. This coronavirus is still happening. House put up legislation in may and it has been sitting on his desk all summer long. He took a vacation and did not see the urgency to do anything. In kentucky, we have a million kentuckians who have filed for unemployment. We have three and 2000 kentuckians who still do not have health care. He is walking away from negotiations even now when President Trump even wants negotiations. Sen. Mcconnell what you supported after the cares act was the socalled heroes bill in the house, a 3 trillion which included tax cuts for rich people in new york and california, health care for illegal immigrants. By the way, that bill she supported, that they passed in the house after the cares act provided more money for puerto rico than it did for kentucky. She is a national democrat. She is in line with schumer and pelosi and all the rest on all of these issues. Bill for kentuckians, President Trump and governor andy beshear are the two most important voices they hear regarding covid19. The messages are often different. How would you rate their handling of the Health Crisis that we now face . Sen. Mcconnell i think they have both done the best they can with an unknown disease that we were all trying to figure out how to handle. Imagine the situation we had in early march when dr. Fauci recommended we shut down the economy in order to deal with the health care pandemic. We were confronted with a combination of problems, a Health Care Emergency and a shut down economy at the same time. What to do . The health care the cares act three b health the cares act began in my office. Withally flooded the zone ultimately 3 trillion to deal with the health care pandemic and the economic crisis created by shutting down the government. We learned some lessons. Dr. Fauci has indicated we are not going to shut down the economy again. A created a whole different set of problems. What we have to do until we get is to wear our masks,s practice social distancing and try to prevent the spread. Give themcgrath i president , the white house and this congress an f for its handling of coronavirus. Deadve 213,000 americans in nine months. That is more americans dead than ,orld war ii, korea, vietnam persian gulf war, iraq and afghanistan wars combined. Senator mcconnell things we have done a good job. We have 5 of the worlds population, 25 of the covid cases. We still have a president and mixed messages from this white house on how to handle this virus. Senator mcconnell, his one job is to help america through this crisis in passing legislation to keep our economy afloat so people can keep so people can make ends meet. He is trying to ram through a Supreme Court nominee instead of negotiating, which is what he should have been doing all summer long to make that happen. Bill do you have an additional response . Sen. Mcconnell what you wanted us to pass was the bill that provided health care for illegals, tax cuts for rich people in new york and california had more money in it. Or puerto rico than kentucky we have been trying to put something reasonable together that attacks the problem. I laid out a bill in this in a month ago that provided Liability Protection so people did not get sued as a result of how they handled this. Kids in school, jobs, health care, we cannot get a single democrat to vote for it. It was pretty clear to me that her party does not want to get a solution. Lt. Col. Mcgrath can i respond to that . Bill yes, please. Lt. Col. Mcgrath senator mcconnell three years ago had no problem working overtime to pass a 2 trillion tax cut for the corporations. When it comes to kentucky families, when it comes to putting food on the table, and it comes to renters, 40 of kentucky renters are facing eviction, he will not pass the 2 trillion that even President Trump wants done. 2 trillion for corporations . No problem. 2 trillion for kentucky in the middle of a National Crisis we have not seen in 100 years . That is too hard. Bill you both made cleansing references to the Economic Activity in the problem we have right now and the trouble with getting a deal. The pandemic has had a devastating impact on our economy and we are well aware of that. A 600 boost to Unemployment Benefits ended and loan forgiveness expired. Airlines have started mass layoffs as federal assistance programs have ended as well. So this question, which comes from the university of kentucky student, where do you stand on negotiations from a second stimulus bill . We began with lead to with lt. Col. Mcgrath. Lt. Col. Mcgrath as i said before, i think it is a dereliction of duty to not be negotiating and working on this. Time inthe First Century in 100 years where we have a major interNational Crisis, where no one in the world is looking to the United States for leadership. Think about that. It is because we have such poor leaders right now. Cannot get the coronavirus under control. The one thing that our senate is supposed to do is help people right now. Here is the problem. Senator mcconnell built a senate that is so dysfunctional and so partisan that even in the middle of a National Crisis he cannot get it done. Think about that. For that reason alone, he should be voted out of office. We have got to get our democracy back again. We have got to get our democracy working because we have to get through this crisis right now. Bill senator mcconnell. Sen. Mcconnell my opponent is entitled to her opinion but not to her own set of facts. Here is the situation. We have been in negotiating in negotiation with the speaker. She has been demanding we throw 3 trillion at this problem in a way that is largely unrelated to solving the problem. What we have been trying to do is to reach an agreement where you have divided government, you have to region agreement. The speaker has been totally unreasonable and not interested in getting an outcome as we have tried and tried. As i just said, i put a bill on trillion. Of a half 1 about a month ago, to tackle this problem in a highly targeted way, going after vaccines, treatment, testing. We could not get a single democrat to vote for it. I think they do not want a solution prior to the election. Bill lt. Col. Mcgrath, 30 seconds. Lt. Col. Mcgrath all summer long, senator mcconnell did not see the urgency of doing anything. He sits here and says it is too hard to negotiate. Basically saying, that is too hard for him. That is not hard to do what is right for america. That is not hard. I will tell you what is hard. Strap on a 70 million jet to your back and landed on an Aircraft Carrier at night in bad weather with no navigational aids. Doing what is right for the American Public in the middle of a National Crisis, not hard. Bill senator mcconnell. Sen. Mcconnell when you have divided government, there has to be a willingness on both sides to get an agreement. Speaker of the house has clearly not been interested in getting an outcome. She chooses to blame the Republican Senate when obviously the biggest part of the problem has been the democratic house. If you are watching this debate, i am saying why cant you guys get this together . I think the answer is, proximity to the election has slowed the process and that is unfortunate for the country. It is unacceptable that she wants to put all of the blame on the senate. Bill go ahead. I will give you a second. Lt. Col. Mcgrath the house passed a bill in may. The senate went on vacation. You just do not do that. You negotiate. Senator, it is a National Crisis. You knew that the coronavirus was not going to end at the end of july. I just think here is the thing. If you want to call yourself a leader, you have got to get things done. Those of us that served in the marines, we do not point fingers at the other side. We get the job done. Sen. Mcconnell nobody went on vacation except the house was gone most of the time. Nobody went on vacation. We actually can do things like use telephones. We communicate with each other a lot. The challenge here was the speaker was simply unwilling to cooperate to the extent that we could get a reasonable proposal. The secretary of the treasury delegated by the president to talk to her went on and on for months. I think we belabor this point pretty thoroughly, bill. It seems to me she thinks we are the problem. I think they are the problem. What we need is a solution. The way you get a solution is bill we know we have a problem. It is continuing. So is the pandemic. It appears we have an escalation and that many of our states and as the pandemic continues and as winter and flu season are approaching, what is the appropriate balance between keeping the economy opening, students in school if they can be and protecting the health of americans . Sen. Mcconnell the single biggest thing is this is not going to be put in the Rearview Mirror until we get a vaccine. For those of you firmly with world war ii history, we had the Manhattan Project trying to get the atom bomb as quickly as we could to avoid having to invade japan. We have a Manhattan Project underway to get a vaccine. Some of our Major Pharmaceutical Companies are already producing doses even before the Clinical Trials are approved. We are going to get a vaccine in timeost rapid period of that this has ever been done without cutting any corners. The honest answer is until we get a vaccine, we cannot entirely put this behind us. We have a resurgence here in kentucky, a resurgence around the country. The vaccine the coronavirus is not going to go away until we can kill it. It is going to take the vaccine to do that. Bill lt. Col. Mcgrath. Lt. Col. Mcgrath certainly the coronavirus is not going to go away until we get a vaccine, but we still have the worst trajectory of first world countries when it comes to the coronavirus. There are other countries that have been able to get this under control and they have done it with a National Testing and tracing plan that we do not have in this country. This virus was so bungled at the federal level that we literally had states and communities fighting each other for personal protective equipment. There is like no leadership at all. So what do we need . We need immediate aid right now that unfortunately senator mcconnell does not want to work on. But we need Unemployment Insurance from those people, for those people who have been thrown off their work for no fault of their own. We need another round of ppe money for small businesses. We need a testing and tracing plan. I cannot believe nine months into this thing i am still saying that. We need leadership at the very top to talk to us, to tell us the truth about this virus and how deadly it is. Bill anything to add to this . Sen. Mcconnell i know how to make deals. I made three major deals with joe biden during the obama era. What the problem is has been an unwillingness by the speaker to make a deal. We can spend the whole debate on this if we want to. She wants to blame the Republican Senate. I think it has been clearly the case that it is the democratic speaker of the house. There are some other issues going on like a new Supreme Court justice. We might want to cover it at some point. Bill lt. Col. Mcgrath, if you want to lt. Col. Mcgrath i was a United States marine for 20 years. When you go into combat, you do not make excuses. You get the job done. You are the Senate Majority leader. He is the Senate Majority leader and all he can do right now is make excuses in the middle of a National Crisis. He has built a senate what was once the greatest liberty of body in the world, cannot even function in the middle of a National Crisis. It is because of what he has built. Morning, the Senate Judiciary committee began confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Nominee Amy Coney Barrett. This is on the minds of many people and as it turns out, many u. K. Students when he asked them to set their questions when we asked him to submit their questions. One of the students asked, should the hearings be happening this close to an election when early voting is already underway . Lt. Col. Mcgrath . Lt. Col. Mcgrath no, that is the short answer. Nobody should be voting on the Supreme Court nominee right now. Four years ago, senator mcconnell said by the mcconnell rule during an Election Year, we do not vote on the nominee. Let the people decide. Right now with 22 days until an election, we should let the people decide. What is really important is we should be focusing on aid for kentucky and not a Supreme Court nominee. Lets be clear about what this is about. Senator mcconnell, for a decade, tried to undermine and get rid of the Affordable Care act legislatively. He could not do it. So now he is trying to do it in the courts. The first case the Supreme Court is going to hear after the election is going to be about the Affordable Care act. That is something that we really becauseave in kentucky the Affordable Care act did a lot of good for many kentuckians. I do not want to throw it away. I want to fix it. Bill senator mcconnell . Sen. Mcconnell no one believes the Supreme Court is going to strike down the Affordable Care act. What this is really about is trying to change the subject away from this extraordinary nominee that is before the senate. An outstanding woman, and accomplished scholar, a judge on the seventh circuit, a marvelous family, seven children, two of them adopted, one of them with special needs. An absolute legal allstar. In this judiciary committee, they wanted to talk about anything other than the nominee. This is the progressive position. My book my opponent says she is the most progressive person in kentucky. What does that mean . It means they want to stack the Supreme Court, add numbers so they can get an outcome they like. She once to make the District Of Columbia a state, puerto rico a state, get rid of the filibuster in the senate. There is not a dimes worth of difference between my opponent and all the National Democrats that you have washed that you have watched. If you give them control of the government, that is what they will do. Bill any additional response yucca response . Lt. Col. Mcgrath lt. Col. Mcgrath i want to do what is right for kentucky. In washington, this is what you get, a man whose word means nothing. Integrity means nothing. Does one thing four years ago and then changes his mind and makes up an excuse next four years. It is what everybody hates about washington. We cannot change washington until we change the people we send there. Sen. Mcconnell at least in those ads she runs about the swamp . Washington is the swamp. She wants to give the swamp a place where they are full of influence peddlers and lobbyists two senators just like kentucky. That is one of the things she is in favor of. That is why she is one of if not the most progressive person in kentucky. They want to completely change the rules in the senate to give the an advantage, admit district and puerto rico as a state and then pack the Supreme Court so they will get the outcomes they want that they cannot pass through the congress. Bill do you want to respond . Lt. Col. Mcgrath i would just say that senator mcconnell is lying to you about my stances. You know, but that is par for the course. Bill would you favor enlarging the court . Lt. Col. Mcgrath i think we should be working on unpacking the senate right now because he has polarized and made this partisan mess of the Supreme Court so bad that people were even saying they were going to vote for or against the nominee before they even had the name. In my mind, that is not what we should be looking at. Im focused on kentucky. Sen. Mcconnell you notice she will not answer the question in joe biden will. Not answer the question. What biden said is i will tell you after the election. We are entitled to know now whether you are going to pack the Supreme Court. Ruth Bader Ginsburg who we all revere said in an interview last year nine is the right number. Nine is the right number according to ruth Bader Ginsburg. It has been nine since 1869. Lt. Col. Mcgrath except for the one year that you left eight all year long. Here is the thing, ruth Bader Ginsburg also said she did not think her seat should be filled until the next president. It does come down to this. When ruth Bader Ginsburg was initially nominated and confirmed, she was confirmed 963 at the time. Mitch mcconnell was not the Senate Majority leader then so we actually had regular order. Since he has become the leader, he has made this a partisan, complete weapon of a mess we have with the Supreme Court. We have got to get rid of him. Everyone of the Supreme Court controversies were started by her party. Thomas, cavanaugh, look what they did to cavanaugh year ago. Tried to destroy his reputation. Under the constitution, the for aent can nominate vacancy on the Supreme Court any time he so chooses. And as president has and this president has for a vacancy during Election Year just like a lot of other president s have over the years. 17 of the times they have been confirmed when you have the party of the president also in control of the senate. Bill not going to leave this general topic but if you judge barrett is confirmed if judge barrett is confirmed, there are some who are concerned that roe v. Wade could be overturned and a western kentuckian University Student wants to know your thoughts on the and where do you stand on womens Reproductive Health issues . Lt. Col. Mcgrath i am prolife sen. Mcconnell i am prolife myself and enjoy the support of right to life and the susan b. Anthony list and others who worked on this issue over the years. That is a different issue than what is before the Supreme Court. Every president has been surprised by how Supreme Court nominees that they have put up have voted. No one knows what may happen with any nominee. Every republican nominee has been projected to be a disaster for women and none of them have turned out that way. We do not know how the court may rule. Nominee, just like ruth Bader Ginsburg, will not answer any question about a case that might come before her. We will not know. That is one of the reasons judges have a lifetime appointment. They are independent once they get on the court. If they are strict constructionists, they follow the constitution and the law. Bill lt. Col. Mcgrath. Lt. Col. Mcgrath i am catholic and im the mother of three small children. This issue has been an important issue to me my whole life. I am somebody who believes that government should not be legislating my religion or my religious belief on others. I do believe we already have reasonable restrictions on abortion in this country as outlined in roe v. Wade. Womanaid, i am the only up here on this stage today and the only mother. I would like to point out if youre talking about life issues, you have to talk about the fact that before the Affordable Care act in kentucky, there was not a single insurer on the individual market that would cover maternity care. Senator mcconnell has had a terrible record of trying to get rid of the Affordable Care act all along. Kentuckyildren born in are born on medicaid. Senator mcconnell wants to cut that. Those are life programs. As a mother, i always want to protect children and protect health care for people. Bill additional response . Sen. Mcconnell speaking of health, what you really wants and came out for was a singlepayer system. That means the government is in charge of your health care. And then she is said a public option she said a public option. There is not a dimes worth of difference. If you put all of health care in the arms of the government, think about it this way, if you went to the department of Motor Vehicles and asked them to build you a corvette, do you think it would work out well . That is what we are talking about here. You do not want the federal government to be entirely in charge of looking for testing, vaccines, treatment and the long lines that will come as a result of the government taking over. They are disappointed in obamacare. They want to go the whole way and put all of our health care in the hands of the government. Bill lt. Col. Mcgrath. Lt. Col. Mcgrath im not sure what the sender is talking about when he talks about they. I can tell you where i stand. I defeated my opponents who were for the medicare for all system. Clearly, we need to Fix Health Care in the system this country. We have threaded thousand kentuckians who do not have health care in the pandemic. Senator mcconnell 30 years ago said he ran sender mcconnell 30 years ago ran an ad that said he was going to Fix Health Care. That is like my eightyearold son saying hey mom, i am going to take out the trash but i need another six years. He is not interested in fixing health care. Bill early voting starts in kentucky tomorrow. 650,000 kentuckians have requested absentee ballots across the country. There are questions over mailin voting and the potential for fraud. Are you concerned about the integrity of this election . Thatol. Mcgrath i think we have here in kentucky, we have a democratic governor who came together with a republican secretary of state and they came up with a very good plan for everybody to vote. It is wonderful. They actually came together and negotiated. Isnt that amazing . I wish we could do that at the federal level. I think kentucky has never made it easier to vote than this year and that is incredible. Early voting starts tomorrow. I am very concerned about the u. S. Postal service. The Postal Service is such an important service. It provides Prescription Medication to our seniors, to our veterans particularly in rural areas and it needs to be helped through this coronavirus. Im afraid senator mcconnell has not done enough. I would be helping our Postal Service. Lets face it. If you can hand out 500 billion in flush funds for corporations, you should be able to help everyday people. One of the ways this to help our Postal Service. Bill their response . Sen. Mcconnell my opponents likes to mention how long i have been in the senate. She does not seem to be troubled by the fact that joe biden has been in washington 47 years. Would have been leaving the set up of the time i got there. For amused by her advocacy a position on term limits. It would have eliminated joe bidens career before i even got to the senate. The question is who can be effective for kentucky . They have for congressional leaders. I am the other one not from new york or california. I loud kentucky to punch above its weight. What does it mean to kentucky . 17. 5 billionterm, dollars for the commonwealth that would not have been there had i not been the majority leader of the senate. Give kentucky the opportunity to punch above its weight on National Issues and to bring home things for the state that it would not otherwise get. Senator mcgrath mcconnell like to talk about kentucky punching above its weight. We feel like we have been sucker punched. We have the highest cancer rates in the country, the highest rates of diabetes, the highest our economy has not been this bad since the great depression. It is just unbelievable. Senator mcconnell would like to talk about term limits. I would love to talk about them. Trump talked about term limits. It is top on his agenda. I agree with him on that. We should get them right now. Less just take opioids. 275 Million Dollars i brought into kentucky for the opioid fight. 87 million of that was the largest Grant University of kentucky has ever gotten. All of that was the outgrowth of two bipartisan bills, the past one of them during the last two years of president obama that i negotiated with him called the 21st century cures act. Then the cares act came later and all of that, i was deeply involved in negotiating what produced Extraordinary Results for the commonwealth. Lt. Col. Mcgrath meanwhile, you want to take away health care and Medicaid Expansion which ers 50 of kentucky kentuckians that are addicted right now and getting them the treatment they need. It is just ridiculous. Bill i will give you a few seconds to respond to that. That was a little bit out of order. We will move on. Youre watching the kentucky debate. We are here with the republican and Democratic Candidates for the u. S. And kentucky. And retiredell Lieutenant Colonel amy mcgrath. We are going through a series of questions. The death of Breonna Taylor and the grand jury decision has garnered national attention. Nightsrt more than 100 of protests in louisville, questioned about Racial Injustice and what happened are on the minds of many of College Student many kentuckian College Students. One student asked if you think justice was served. Senator mcconnell . Sen. Mcconnell i have great tolerance for peaceful demonstrations. They are a protected constitutional right. I dont have much tolerance for violence and looting. For example, in portland, they went on a rampage and tore down the statue of Teddy Roosevelt and abraham lincoln. With regards to the taylor case, sometimes does not point out the results that we all it does not result in what we all hope for. Incredible tragedy. A botched job, a terrible outcome. But Law Enforcement has to apply the law. They are doing the best they can. I dont have any advice to give them but i think in terms of justice in america, we have to follow the laws that were written. I am a strong supporter of Law Enforcement. I enjoy the support of police in kentucky. I dont think it is appropriate to condemn all of the Police Officers, some are bad but it is not appropriate to defund the demonize Police Officers in general. Bill time. Lt. Col. Mcgrath. Lt. Col. Mcgrath as somebody who wear the uniform, did three combat torso protecting her country and the mother of three small children, i have to say that i am never for looting or writing or destruction of property or violence in any way. I do not want to defund the police. Tragedy with, the Breonna Taylor was an absolute tragedy. I think that leaders have to take a step back and recognize that we need change in this country. Racism,re is systemic that we have to tackle issues of equity and equality. I actually have a plan to do that. It is called equality for all. We put it together not just with me but leaders all around kentucky. That is what youre supposed to do. Senator mcconnell is not interested in that. George Floyd Justice in policing act is sitting on his desk. As is the john lewis Voting Rights act, sitting on his desk. Violence against women act, sitting on his desk. I could go on and on. Taylors death and other cases like george floyd in some americans have demanded reform. Some have asked for the defending defunding of police department. You have both going on record against that. What reforms do you think should happen within Police Departments on a National Level . Lt. Col. Mcgrath i think we nationalovide on a level, body cameras to all police. Be ank there should National Database for Police Officers that in other words, if you get dismissed from one police department, you dont get to go into another one without people knowing your record. I always talk about the fact that you dont get kicked out of the u. S. Army and get to roll into the u. S. Navy. These are commonsense reforms that we need to do. Banning no knock search warrant for federal warrants for federal drug cases. I think this comes down to less getting our send it back again so that we can actually debate these things. The george Floyd Justice into justice in policing act, senator mcconnell would not even debate. We can make changes in this country and we have to. Sen. Mcconnell there is a role for the federal government. I put on the floor of the senate, the justice act. That was drafted largely by tim scott and i. An africanamerican himself who has experienced the kind of extra suspicion that africanamericans are frequently given. He crafted a bill that we thought made a lot of sense. I put it on the floor of the senate. We could not get a single democrats even let us take it up and debated. And amended. How was another example of democrats in the congress the last few months have not wanted anything to succeed. They have been slow walking everything that comes up, either by the house putting up totally outrageous proposals or Senate Democrats slow walking efforts to get an outcome. I think what has happened here, it is not uncommon in proximity to the election, our democratic friends simply dont want anything to occur that gets an actual outcome and a president ial signature. Bill time. Lt. Col. Mcgrath you are hearing it all night long. More excuses. Thes not just a member of senate. He is the Senate Majority leader. He still cant get it done. We know we need reforms. I also want to work on not just criminal Justice Reform but there are real inequities in this country. We have a 20 billion gap between majority white schools and nonmajority white schools in this country. In kentucky, but kentuckians are dying at 2. 5 times the rate of white kentuckians. We have to fix the things. These things. Sen. Mcconnell i am glad that you brought up the fact that i have the majority. If she goes to washington, she will make Chuck Schumer the majority leader. Transferring the influence and power that kentucky has not because i am one of the four leaders out new york or california to new york, further degrading kentuckys influence in washington, making it less likely that kentucky gets preferential treatment with me being in the position that i am in. This takes the majority leader title away from ducky and giving it to new york. Sen. Mcconnell we in from kentucky and giving it to new york. Sen. Mcconnell we know better. Senator mcconnell likes to talk about his clout and power. The price of insurance has gone up. The price of housing has gone up. Our people with preexisting conditions are about ready to be thrown off their health care right now. We have the worst economy since the great depression. Worst job losses since the great recession. We have the highest cancer rate in the country. The highest rates of diabetes. Senator mcconnells clout is literally killing us in kentucky. Bill additional response . Sen. Mcconnell i use my clout to help our state. Lets take coal. Barack obama destroyed the coal industry. I am dealing with the Collateral Damage. Ask sen. Roberts , the head of roberts sen. Of cecil roberts, the head united nine. Jobs to betting new employed once again. That is how i used the clout that i have help kentucky. Bill we will try to get an additional question in here. Funding for Higher Education has consistently been reduced here in kentucky, especially the higher burden on students and families. The federal government owns 92 of all student loans. With tuition increasing, Student Loan Debt mounting, how can leges make college more 6 accessible and more affordable . Begin with senator mcconnell. Sen. Mcconnell i started by creating a program at the university of louisville at no cost to the government. The 40 best and brightest kids the goal isme for them to get an ivy league type education right here in kentucky in hopes that the stay here. Most of them have. Lets take a cares act. Kentucky75 million for education, k12 colleges and universities. That, the u. K. Produced over 300 million 75 Million Dollars for western kentucky university. I paid a lot of attention to in ourto help kentucky education. On the other end of the scale, the southeast technical college, i will be there tomorrow. They were about to go out of business. I intervened with the secretary of education and saved them from going out of business. Bill time. Lt. Col. Mcgrath in the last 15 years, college debt has gone up about 540 . Here in kentucky, we have some of the highest levels of cows debt in the country. The first thing all of that happened on his watch. The first thing i would do is hold betsy devos accountable. We have a program already in people of they cow was dead but 70 of the applicants are denied. I would be jumping up and down in the senate right now finding out why that is. Why do we have a program where 90 of the applicants are denied . We need nevers a prek. Maybe it is because im the only mom appear but if we had more moms in the senate, we would have universal prek yesterday. Fore is 1. 2 billion dollars kentucky schools sitting on his desk right now. They have been sitting there for six months. He is not interested in helping schools and public education. We will move on. 502018, a dozen of the top force counties were in Eastern Kentucky. U. K. Student is asking. Here is the coal question, how would you address the losses left behind from the dwindling coal industry that feels more in helping and communities . We begin with lt. Col. Mcgrath. Recognize thath six years ago, senator mcconnell sat here and said you have to vote for me. All of your coal jobs will come back. Last six years, we lost 60 of those jobs. Toused you and our state bicker with the other side and he has not planned for the future. Coal powered this country. I want to go to the senate to make sure that our cocommunity get whatommunities they deserve for powering our country. Getting infrastructure for broadband and cell phone coverage. No business will come to a county in kentucky that cant talk to the modern world. It means investing in education and health care. Those are the types of things we have to do to rebuild for the economy of the future. We have to. Senator mcconnell has not done it. He let the coal industry guy with no plan for the last 36 years. Died with no plan for the last 36 years. Bill time. Sen. Mcconnell kentuckians are not confused about who fights the war on call. At the beginning of the obama administration, 50 of the electricity in america was provided by coal. It read havoc all across coal country and particularly in Eastern Kentucky. We were then left to clean up the mess. The Collateral Damage from the war on coal. What i did is ensure Health Care Benefits and pension benefits for coal miners so they did not lose what was almost wiped out by the administration. Could getning so they another job. Unfortunately, some of them have had to leave the area to do it but they love Eastern Kentucky so much they will drive all the way up to the toyota plant every day in order to attend to their new job. That is why we are in the situation we are in Eastern Kentucky. There is no mistake about who caused it. I thick itgrath starts with being honest with people. The decline of coal is a energyn of renewable being cheaper. It is a function of automation. It is a function of franking fracking. We have to have a plan for the future. Act isow, the reclaim sitting on senator mcconnells desk. This is an act that is bipartisan. It was put up by hal rogers. Good,ld give kentuckians clean jobs. That is also introduced in the senate by senator joe mansion. Why is it sitting on the senators desk . Sen. Mcconnell what is that plan that you have that will produce jobs in kentucky . Laid out for us right now. Lt. Col. Mcgrath all right, what the reclaim would act reclaim act would do is it would provide 100 million to clean up the environmental hazards we have seen from the coal industry for many years and allow people to clean up the environmental hazards with good, quality jobs in the transition to the future. That has to include infrastructure. We badly needed. We have Water Systems in Martin County that dont have clean water. We have sewer systems in Anderson County that need to be fixed. We have to get into the 21st century. I know you have been in washington dc for 36 years but i have served all around the world. I have to tell you, no business is going to want to come to a county in kentucky that cannot talk to the modern mobilize world. Sen. Mcconnell everything she is talking about is already being done. Lt. Col. Mcgrath tell to the people in kentucky. Sen. Mcconnell i think her entire campaign is she is a marine, she is a mom and i have been there too long. Our we need to see specifics about what she has in mind to fix the issues that she thinks need fixing. I can tell you what she has in mind. She will go to washington, she will make Chuck Schumer the majority leader. Senator, youath have been there for 36 years. How is it looking, kentucky . That we fixed of the stuff . Sen. Mcconnell what that 36 years has produced in the last term alone is 75 billion for kentucky that we would not have had if she had been there on the back bench, having made Chuck Schumer from new york the majority leader of the senate. There is a very specific question. Kentucky has a real problem with drug addition. We know that. Drug addiction. We know that. It has increased since the pandemic started. How do we turn the tide on this horrible Opioid Crisis . Lets get a more detailed response. Senator mcconnell. Sen. Mcconnell good question. It has been a devastating issue. Not just for us but around the world. Around the country. The 21stve done is century cures act in the last two years of barack obama. The cares act after that produced a total of 275 Million Dollars for kentucky. In that 200 sunday five Million Dollars is the single largest grant in u. K. History. 87 million, the single biggest grant of the ever got. In addition to that, there are lawenforcement areas called high intensity Drug Trafficking areas. I have gotten a number of those for kentucky. Roughly half of our state is covered. This combination of lawenforcement and social workers working together to go very intense Drug Trafficking areas. We are still fighting the battle. Not over yet. My cloud has made a big difference in providing funds for kentucky on this big problem. Bill thank you. Lt. Col. Mcgrath senator mcconnells clout has allowed billions of Prescription Medication pills to flood into kentucky. The first thing we need to do is hold big farm accountable for that. He is incapable of doing that. He is incapable of doing it because he gets the most money from big pharma than any member of congress. That is why. He is basically bought off. But what we really need in addition is more resources for treatment and prevention to include making sure that we dont take away the Affordable Care act. What senator mcconnell would do is take that away, take away the Medicaid Expansion worth 50 of our fellow kentuckians who are addicted, they get their treatment through medicaid. He wants to undermine that. I dont. I want to make health care easier to obtain so that people can get the treatment prevention treatment they need. Sen. Mcconnell next topic. Bill we will do that. You then have earned a few extra s. Conds for closing statement thent instead of traditional speech at the end, we thought we would know to this closing statement. Senator mcconnell, you have often said that your leadership position and seniority pay big dividends for kentucky. Lt. Col. Mcgrath, you have turned the senators 36 years in washington against him with much of what you said tonight, saying he is out of touch with kentucky and out of ideas. Who is right . We will begin with lt. Col. Mcgrath. Dont thinkrath i this race is about mitch mcconnell. I dont think it is about amy mcgrath. I thick it is about kentucky. Kentucky deserves a senator who sees you, listens to you and who will serve you. Along timee marines ago to serve my country, to make a difference for my country. Every single combat mission that i did, no matter how high i flew, no matter where i was in afghanistan or iraq, i never forgot who sent me there. Who i was that i was serving. Senator mcconnell stop serving you a long time ago. Six times in my life to defend the constitution of this country, to defend our country. To build a better america for American Families and for my family. Kids, teddy,young george and eleanor. I want to do the same. I want to be your senator because you deserve better. I ask for your vote, i want to remind everybody that early voting starts tomorrow. This is the most important election of our lifetime. It would be my privilege to serve you. Thank you. Thank you. Sen. Mcconnell our opponent seems to not be bothered by the fact that joe biden has been in washington 47 years. He was there 12 years before i got there. It is important to not be confused about what this election is about. Number one, if my opponent replaces me, her first vote in the senate will to will make Chuck Schumer the majority leader of the senate. That includes changing the rules of the senate to make it easier for liberals to win. Make the ultimate columbiae district of estate. They will do that for puerto rico as well. Fourfor new liberal senators. The reason that joe biden wont say whether he will pack the Supreme Court is because he is. That is what they intend to do so that the courts dont get in the way of any of their leftwing proposals. She will be a part of all that. She will enable all of that. Vote you castgest in the senate is the first vote, who is going to determine the agenda. She will make Chuck Schumer the agenda setter. This is 2020. Surprise, we have 30 seconds left for each of you. Senator mcgrath, we will give you lt. Col. Mcgrath, we will give you 30 seconds and cut you off. Lt. Col. Mcgrath how was kentucky working out for you right now . Are you better off than you were six years ago . Are you better off than you were 36 years ago . The Senate Leader of right now that is so dysfunctional and so partisan that even in the middle of a National Crisis, he cant get things done for kentucky. You want more of that . I dont. I want change. I know our country is better than this. Bill thank you. Sen. Mcconnell it is not complicated. Do you want somebody from new york setting the agenda for america and not terribly interested in kentucky or do you want to continue to have one of the four congressional leaders from our state looking out for kentucky, giving kentucky the opportunity to punch above its weight, providing extra assistance for kentucky . That is the question. She will transfer all of that to new york. I will keep it in kentucky. Bill that is our time. Candidates, thank you very much. Everybody getting a chance to hear from you this evening. We would like to thank our sponsors. The the university of kentucky student demonstration. The election is tuesday, november 3. The polls on election day will be open 6 00 a. M. 6 00 p. M. Take you for joining us and have a good night. Who will control congress in january . They informed on all the competitive congressional races leading up to election day with cspans campaign 2020 coverage. Watch the candidates debate and Election Results on cspan. Watch online on cspan. Org or listen on the free cspan radio app. Unfiltered view of politics. Journal,s washington everyday we are taking your calls live on the air on the news of the day and we will discuss policy issues that impact you. Coming up tuesday morning, we will discuss the future of Health Care Including legal challenges to the Affordable Care act with julie ruffner. Watch cspans washington journal, live on tuesday morning. Join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, Text Messages and tweets. The u. S. Supreme court began his new term, hearing oral argument via conference call. Tuesday, listen live to two cases, the consolidated cases of the United States the braves and the United States v collins. On wednesday, the justices here will hear arguments. You are watching cspan, your unfiltered view of government. Created by americas Cable Television company as a public service. And brought to you by your television provider. Day one of confirmation hearings for judge Amy Coney Barrett which got underway before the Senate Judiciary commit. Lindsey graham and Dianne Feinstein start of the hearing with opening statements. This portion of the hearing is st