rate. did we end up throwing too much money at covid? mr. malinowski: let's remember where we were two years ago today. the american economy wasn't freefalling, as you correctly put it. tens of millions of americans were unemployed, through no fault of their own. virtually every single business, particularly the mainstreet businesses in america was shut down. and mr. kaine referred to every single economist in america telling us, do something big, do something fast to solve that problem. had we not done so, this country would today be in a great depression. those jobs would not have come back. those businesses would not have come back. i'd love to hear senator kaine tell us exactly what we did that he thought was wrong. i make no apology for bringing the american economy back from what would have been a great depression. what else might we have done wrong. i don't know, he hasn't been specific. in the final bill that we pass, we provided something that i vote for very hard. that was direct assistance to our small municipalities. do you know who i was listening to when i that that. our mayors, our county officials, republicans and democrats. i convened meeting, after meeting after meeting and they were bleeding revenue because of the covid pandemic, and many of them wrote to washington, they wrote republicans and democrats, asking for us to do this. i gather senator kaine -- kean would've been against listening to do what was right. we did what was right, they were able to pay the firefighters and cops, keep our public services going. the warden county commissioners, all republican. add a statement earlier this year said they were able to cut property taxes because of the american rescue plan. we brought back the jobs, we brought back the businesses, now we face the challenge of -- bringing back the patients to go with that because inflation is a very serious problem. i'd much rather be facing that challenge then having an american economy in a great depression. jim: thank you. mr. kaine -- mr. kean, inflation is running over 8%, a level not seen since the 1820's. why are we in the cycle and how can we fix it? to get back to a lower rate? mr. kean: i have a friend who lives in raleigh, he's a carpenter, he tells me his monthly living expenses. it's upwards of $800 a month. think about that. that's unacceptable in that household or any household across the state, in its directly because tom malinowski didn't listen to the economist who said you cannot continue to spend, even the new york times, in retrospect said, maybe they spent too much, maybe they continued to exacerbate the problem and make it worse. because he only listened to nancy pelosi. every single place she wants him to vote and to be, he was there. that's not the type of leadership we need on your behalf down and washington, d.c. in the legislator, i led the way to block billions in spending, to find responsible ones. i would never have allowed things like luxury golf courses to get funded. ski slopes, hotel with federal government funding the way he did. the extra irs agents. 85,000 of them, think about that, that's an metlife stadium full of permanent irs agents continually in government. the things you need to do, as i have done, tried to responsibly reduce spending and control costs. lower taxes. jim: we are out of time on this. mr. kean: make sure energy independent and finally, shorten the supply chains so there's more manufacturing here and less transportation costs. because all of the aggregate energy spent is everybody in our homes. jim: thank you. gas prices are a major component of inflation and probably the most complained about. i do it every time i fill up my car. should we take the brakes off oil production and use that to get prices down in this country? mr. malinowski: i think we are going to be playing the nancy pelosi drinking game. whoever has nancy pelosi is going to be really hammered by the end of this. so, there's a bunch there are would like to rebut at some point, but you asked about gas prices, absolutely. in one of the things we actually did in the inflation reduction act, which is light about all the time, we put a rule in there that said for every new lease that the government gives out for solar or wind projects or renewable energy projects, there has to be one police per fossil fuel contract in the united states. we understand that we need increased energy production in the united states right now. we also need increased energy production across the road. i and the leading voice in the united states congress right now for holding saudi arabia accountable for what they just did to hurt the united states and help russia by cutting oil production. i understand that. but at the same time, if we want to be free of dependence on foreign energy and foreign oil, you have to understand that oil is a global commodity. even if we increase oil production and refining in the united states, and by the way, refining is the big problem right now, we are producing as much oil in america today as we were three years ago, the problem is the refineries and the oil companies were not investing in maintenance of refineries. they shut down refineries. even if we did that, we would still be at the mercy of the saudi's, the russians, the venezuelans, and we will be until we moved to clean energy. so the bill we passed supports oil and gas development in the united states right now that represents the biggest investment we've ever made in making america the leader of the world and transitioning to clean energy. that is the way we break the back of our dependence on foreign oil and dictators. jim: mr. kean, same question, should we take the brakes off oil production in this country? mr. kean: my opponent is a leading voice for the failed policies that got us into the situations we are in today. we are dependent on other individuals that have different priorities that we do here at home. the fact that my opponent and its allies and washington, d.c. made it harder to drill at home, we need in all of the above energy shadow g. it includes nuclear. i support both of those. but if we are truly going to be energy independent, we have to make sure we have the cleanest oil and natural gas being drilled here in this country versus any other country. we should be energy efficient and energy independent. but the policies not just the actual bill. it is also making sure that the oversight over the administration, which is not allowing those to go through, not allowing these things going forward in a timely fashion, we need to ensure that we rely on american energy. in my opponent and his president has not allowed us to rely on our own energy resources and responsible way. and the reason we are at risk, whether it saudi arabia, iran, russia, venezuela, or anybody else, is because he's not trusting the american energy industry and for us to rely on our own energy for our own common futures and instead is relying on others to make decisions on behalf of americans. that's not leadership. jim: thank you. ok, we will move on to our second topic, which is the workforce. mr. kean, we are seeing rapid increases in wages that factor into the inflation rate. in large part this is because there are millions of jobs going unfilled. i often say that if i had 10,000 high school students with no skills and no experience, i could get them jobs tomorrow and between 34 and $50,000 a year. have our benefit programs gone too far? how do we get people back to work? mr. kean: i think there is no question to the nature of the american workforce, right now is changing. whether it's trying to get a car repaired or whether you are cooking your favorite groceries, cereal at your local grocery store, we've all seen delays. that means supply chains, it means the warehouses aren't being emptied, it means the ships aren't being unloaded. it's a many faceted thing. it includes many component parts. the first thing we need to ensure is we continue to have broadband infrastructure for those different work hours so individuals can work at home. infrastructure like the gateway project to ensure we have a robust transportation and infrastructure. we have to make sure we have skills trainings programs to make sure those individuals are educator -- educated and able to do the job. we also need to ensure we lower the overall tax burden on individuals so we can have that type of partnership to make sure people are able to get to work and have an education to achieve -- jim: thank you. same question, are our benefit programs encouraging people not to work, and how can we get people back to work? mr. malinowski: let me just go back to the last all-important exchange. senator kean said he would in inflation, he did not say a word about how he would do it apart from fixing supply chains and energy independence. the two huge bills that we just passed in the united states congress that he approached. he said there's too much spending, he did not name a single spending program he would cut apart from a golf course. by the way, that golf course that was funded is in union county, which you have represented for the last 20 years. you did nothing about the fact that we had a publicly funded golf course in new jersey, as if that would actually end inflation in the united states. this is silly, this is not serious. jim: the labor market? mr. malinowski: we ended the covert release benefit program. the problem is that we, right now the united states of america, have more jobs than before the pandemic early because of the infrastructure bill. all the productive investments that we have made, we have more jobs, we have fewer people. we lost over one million americans. we have people resigning from the workforce. people retiring early. we also had a four-year shutdown and legal immigration to the united states of america. so what is the solution to this problem? number one, we do need a different culture of training and work in this country. we need more emphasis on the trades, we need more emphasis on community colleges, not every kid needs to go to a four-year school. we also need to restore the ecosystem. the republican party used to believe in under ronald reagan, and that is that this country needs legal immigration. the only thing you said about immigration in your campaign, senator kean, on your alternative website, is that you will build a wall. in every single person i speak to who owns a business in the state of new jersey, large and small, is telling me the same thing, we need legal immigration to expand the size of our workforce, otherwise we cannot grow. jim: i'm sorry, your time is up. that was a really nice segue because mr. kean, throughout the history of our country, we have looked towards immigrants to solve labor shortages. since congress cannot seem to pass any type of comprehensive immigration reform legislation, would it be a good idea to totally revamp our guest worker program and make it fast and easy to use guestworkers to alleviate those shortages? mr. kean: i served in the state legislator for 20 years. and every day the congress didn't do its job on fixing border security for the immigration system. people on the local level had to make the decisions and react to that. clearly we need to have a broader reform. it's all part of a comprehensive solution. yes, we need to secure the southern border. yes, we need to continue the doctor program and keep those types of promises. yes, we need to work on the agriculture programs, the i.t. programs within the short-term to ensure we meet those needs. but that doesn't say that because congress hasn't been doing its job for the last 20 years that this problem exists. i will get down the washington, d.c. and find the common ground because we can have programs like dhaka and reform the immigration system in a responsible way that treats families barely across the globe, while making sure we have security here at home. jim: how can we get a vibrant guest worker program to help us through these labor shortages? mr. malinowski: elect people to congress who believe in legal immigration. look, there's a reason why congress has been stuck on this. 10 years ago we had a bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform that was passed by john mccain and lindsey graham and democrats in the united states senate that would've secured our border, and i voted for tens of billions of dollars for border security in the last few years, and it also would've give it a pathway to citizenship, to legal work for millions of people's hard-working immigration in the country that would've been verified for our employers. this was a good bipartisan middle-of-the-road solution in the ascendant wing of the republican party blocked it in the house. we passed, and the house last year, reform to our farmworker immigration program. we actually got about 20, 40 republicans who were brave enough to cross the aisle and vote for it. it's blocked by republicans in the united states senate. you think this guy who ran and announces campaign with kevin mccarthy, who demonizes immigrants everything a day, this guy, who in his republican primary, the only thing he said was we have to build a wall. you think he will go there and somehow convince a republican party that it's going to break with the maggio wing to break with trump and break with the wall descending in their party and pass immigration reform? are you kidding. look at what ron desantis is doing. look with the emerging leaders are doing on immigration. using human beings as pawns to try to get votes, to get people angry at immigrants and blame immigrants for the problems in our country. it's a joke. i will support comprehensive immigration reforms that include security, that includes enforcement was rules on employers, but is also consistent with the generosity of the country and the economic self interest of this country. that's what we need. [applause] jim: thank you. if we could hold the clapping, please. now we will move into the discussion of health care. and it will be about the affordable care act. we've had this every year since 2010 when the affordable care act was first passed. mr. malinowski, the affordable care act has become an accepted part of the american health care system. more than 30 million people were added to the roles of the insurer because of the aca. however, there is still 30 million uninsured in this country, why is that. mr. malinowski: we took a gigantic step forward with the affordable care act. that's not forget a few years ago it came within one vote in the united states senate of being repealed. we all know who's vote that was, it was john mccain. and then we lost john mccain. and the democrats also lost the house that year, the affordable care act would have been repealed in tens of millions of americans would have had no health care during the covid pandemic. now we feel like it settled law, i hope it settled law, but you know what else we thought was settled law in america, roe v. wade, for 50 years. and do not doubt this, that if, again, the ascendant maggio wing of the republican party takes control of the party, that the affordable care act will be eight in the crosshairs again. i hope it doesn't happen, it's on us to prevent that. what we have done, because the number one complaint about the aca when i first ran was that it wasn't affordable and that was a fair critique. -- fair critique. we passed legislation that middle-class americans pay for health insurance at 8.5% of their income. that was a huge advance in making health care not just accessible, but affordable for millions of middle-class americans who didn't have that before. i think we need to take additional steps forward. i think we should allow every single american to be able to buy and to a public option, to have light medicare so that it's not just more access to health care, more competition in the health care marketplace to keep those insurance rates there. so that's what i would do, i would build on that progress, and i will make sure if i'm elected, that we are not going to go back to the world that existed for the affordable care act. thank you. jim: mr. kean, same quest -- mr. kean, same question, still 30 million people uninsured, why is that? mr. kean: too many people in this district are making a difficult decision of whether they could pay for prescription drug, for food, or pay to keep their home. that's unacceptable. in my opponent, just this summer , gave the congressional budget office that the inflation act would increase the cost of prescription drugs, which would make people's lives west concern. we need to make sure there's more transparency to the drug pricing system. so there are no surprises to the supply chain. we need to ensure that we connect pre-existing conditions. we need to make sure there are more jobs and more cures found here at home so we can have those types of affordability and solutions so we can cure cancer and diabetes and build solutions. my opponent floated for a piece of legislation that makes it more difficult. my -- i on the other hand, on the state level, make sure that we ensure physical and mental health was treated the exact same by the insurance companies. i made sure that when you had the cancer people -- people being treated for cancer, that they had co-pays capped, and we ensure that we had more opportunities for people who had predict ability and the supply chain. we can do that down on washington, d.c. if we could find that common ground, tax pre-existing conditions, have more innovation and opportunity to find that solution, and that will help ensure more people are seeking insurance and affordability options as well. jim: mr. malinowski? providing subsidies for the affordable care act makes it more affordable for individuals, but that is simply shifting the cost from individuals to taxpayers. how in general can we make health care more affordable. the inflation reduction act takes a stab at this, but it only does tend drugs, only for medicare, and not until 2026, so it's not something that's going to really have much effect. but how can we make health care more affordable, or at least stop these tremendous increases we are seeing year-over-year? mr. malinowski: that's an excellent question and i agree with the premise of it. we made it more affordable but we have not yet done enough to attack the underlying problem, which is the fact that americans pay about 12% of our national income on health care. other countries have 6% or 7% even though there health care is pretty much as good as ours. again, we made prescription drugs more affordable. we made health insurance more affordable and i do not want to downplay the importance of those achievements because again, it'll class americans are going to benefit from that right now. the inflation reduction act does take on part of this underlying problem, which is the fact that in america we pay, seniors in particular pay three times, five times, six times as much for medicines than other countries. senator kean just said something very strange, that the cbo somehow said that this would make drugs less affordable and could cost more money. i'm sorry, the cdo said it would save medicare hundreds of billions of dollars over the next 10 years. even though, you are right, we are only negotiating 10 drugs in 2026, then 20, than 30, then 40, then 50, and more in succeeding years. this will save seniors money. that may be clear, i am in favor of allowing medicare to negotiate lower drug prices for our seniors. that is commonsense. everyone i speak to, republicans and democrats in the district believes that. president trump promised to get that done. just got it done in senator kean was against it. there's a very clear distinction between us and the campaign. in terms of dealing with the underlying costs, i already mention something else i would support, which is to create more competition in the health insurance marketplace by allowing americans to choose whether they want a private health insurance plan or whether they want to buy into an option on the public marketplace like etiquette. i have supported that for everybody, i've been trying to pass a much more modest bill to support that for our firefighters, police officers, first responders. that is something -- i believe in capitalism and market competition and our insurance companies have been protected from that. that is an important thing we could do practically that would begin to get at the underlying problem you mention. jim: mr. kean, same question, what can we do to bring down health care costs or put more control over them for the entire population? mr. kean: as you discuss, too often, and the inflation reduction act is one of them, you remove money that should be in medicare, and use it for another purpose, which in the end, makes everything more expensive. i think the best way for us to reduce insurance, number one, the cost of insurance, we need to take on the large insurance companies. right now they have too much power in every single negotiation. i think that's a start. we have to have more competition in finding more drugs and more opportunities. people in this district don't support prices. one affordable health care. in the bill that my opponent continues to support will make health care now in overtime more affordable. and state levels i was able to find the common ground that actually address the affordability and accessibility. so you could do that while protecting these conditions and having a long-term plan that makes health care far more affordable and also more accessible, as we were talking about earlier. [applause] jim: ok, before we move into our next topic of discussion, which is public health, i want to note i've been asking about the aca since 2012, and i hope that one day one of the candidates or some member of congress is going to take note that 5% of the population accounts for 70% of health care expenditures. we have some really sick people out there in we need to start discussing how to efficiently and effectively deliver care to them because that's really where the cost driver is. this conversation is very relevant for where we are moving next into public health. and we are going to talk about the farm bill. so, for years, i've been trying to figure out how to get the farm bill into this discussion and finally, last week, senator booker showed me the way. so, we are going to talk about farm bill, probably something that is never discussed in new jersey's political circles. the farm bill was first passed in 1933 and is renewed every five years, so it's coming up for renewal in 2023, it will be a big part of the next congress. it was designed to make sure that the united states never suffered a shortage of food, and it did this by ensuring that there is so much production that even in a disastrous year, like this year, there is enough of a harvest that there is plenty of food for everyone. i think that it's one of the most important pieces of legislation that congress deals with on an ongoing basis. by 1939, and forgive me for giving all of this history, but since nobody knows what the farm bill is, and it's kind of important, by 1939 it became clear that the farm bill worked so well, that we just had huge surpluses that were in storage. so, to programs were developed to manage those huge surpluses. one was the export program to export u.s. grain, primarily overseas. the second one was the food stamp program. again, both were designed to cut down on the storage caused by excess production. so, as a public health matter, mr. kean, today the food stamp program, which is called the supplemental nutrition assistance program, or snapped, accounts for about 75% of the usda's budget. it is no longer targeted to eliminate food surpluses, but rather to provide nutritional support the low income houses. should the snap program be part of the usda budget, or would it be better placed in hhs where could be coordinated with other forms of health assistance? mr. kean: jim, you must not out very much. the farm bill is discussed with great frequency throughout this district and those issues. i'm just joking. sorry. when you go around this district, whether it's the snap benefits or agriculture, and making sure they are actually looking at the supply chain issue and that we are actually growing things, especially when you look at the war in ukraine and the impacts of substantial global withdraws and food supplies, it is an issue that's discussed. i think that continuing to ensure we meet the needs -- i think the answer is, whatever it is, make sure the food stamp program and the other programs are best and most efficiently delivered and i'm happy to work with senator booker and 7 -- and anybody else down there. we were able to transform several programs on health services in an efficient way by moving those responsibilities to other areas. but at the end of the day it's whatever it is that allows food security and the liability and affordability. jim: mr. malinowski, same question. mr. malinowski: if we are talking about snap, let's bring this back to the real world and what's happening in congress. we have an ascendant wing of the republican party in washington, d.c. that has tried time and time again. they don't have the majority right now, the but they tried time and time again to either significantly cut or eliminate the snap program or to impose work requirements, which would actually be an anti-work provision. because families who are struggling, making minimum wage or very low wages, they are working, but they need things like the snap program to be able to take care of their kids. no child in this country, no child should go hungry. no child should be deprived of the most important thing that everybody needs for survival, and that's having three healthy meals every single day. so, those are nice words, but let's remember what's at stake in this election, is, who controls congress for the next two years, and if we have a change, it's going to be attack after attack after attack on basic nutrition. in terms of the farm bill in our district, one of my concerns, and this is purely a public health issue. talked about problems with our health insurance systems and the importance of getting drug prices down, but we also have in agricultural system supported by big industry, and for many, many years, by the federal government, that emphasizes the production of things that aren't actually very healthy for us. we subsidize corn syrup more than we subsidize carrots. we have a category in the usda, i want to change this, that they referred to as specialty crops. do you know what specialty crops are, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, things we actually need. and i talked to our farmers in this district, that's actually what we grow in this part of new jersey. we don't have huge commodity agriculture, we have a lot of smaller farms that grow things that people want to eat. i want to do with the farm program is to provide more government support for the types of farming that farmers in new jersey actually do and produce food that's healthy for us to eat. jim: mr. kean, when we discuss health care spending, i mentioned that a small number of people account for most of the health care expenditures. the bulk of the spending formalities is related to diets and lifestyles. they include heart disease, stroke, diabetes and obesity. the largest single expenditure by snap programs recipients is for soft drinks. it is followed closely by spending for prepared deserts, bagged snacks like potato chips, and other pretty unhealthy foods. these purchases are not that different from the general population, which should the government spending money on unhealthy food and then spending more money on the health care costs that result from those bad choices? do not allow food stamps to be used for alcohol and tobacco. mr. kean: i think that -- i did the snap program for a week and many other legislators here in new jersey. and when you go and search the grocery store shelves, if you are trying to live on that budget, you see that if the only food that somebody can afford his wonder bread, peanut butter, a number of other products. so, if we need to ensure that we need to get rid of the food deserts that exist in places and have existed over times, we need to have more support for funding into those areas. i would not limit, in that regard, with the money would be spent for. i think you could do both at the same time, meaning, very specifically, that you can ensure -- if you are looking at the end result expenses, we can figure out with a partnership between insurance companies, hospitals, families, schools, you need to have those types of health programs. at the exact same time we can ensure that they have healthy products in their food. jim: mr. malinowski, same question. should we be researching -- restricting what people should buy with food stamps? mr. malinowski: within reasonable limits, yes, so long as they are affordable and the food program. again, remember why we have these rules, because of the influence of very big corporate lobbies of members of congress. this is one reason why i have had a policy since i first ran for congress, of not taking campaign contributions from corporations, from corporate federal action committees. that's a big difference for myself and senator kean. and, jim, let me just say, you've exercised editorial judgment by introducing this issue, which i agree is very important, but if we are going to be talking about public health in america, how could we not talk about the fact that women across this country, and half of the states in this country, are being denied by legislation supported by my opponents party, one of the most basic public health services that we have taken for granted for over 50 years. there are women in this country who have miscarriages and doctors are free to treat those miscarriages because they might be free to discriminate. we are having women who are denied drugs at pharmacies that they need for life-threatening conditions, for pain, for arthritis, for things that they desperately need to preserve their health and pharmacies are denying them these drugs because they are afraid, under these new draconian abortion bands that they will be treated as criminals. one of the big differences is that i support legislation at the federal level that will restore the rights the supreme court took away from american women to have health care services and he believes every state should just decide for itself. [applause] >> i want to move into our last topic which is essential industry. agriculture was determined to be an essential industry in this country. recently, the creating -- the chips act, how long does it take them to come up with these names? [laughter] >> it's one of our most important responsibilities. >> the chips act was passed recognizing that semiconductors are essential to our economy and national security. was this a necessary piece of legislation and is it worth the $280 billion price tag? >> yes and absolutely. as you look at that price tag, remember most of that money is going to be provided in the form of loans and loan guarantees. it will be paid back to the american taxpayer with interest. the price tag is very deceptive. we are in a race against time. to bring back manufacturing of critical technologies like microchips. we used to make the stuff in america. we used to make 35% of the world semiconductors. that's about zero now. we have a massive shortage of semiconductors across the world. the reason we had inflation in the automotive market place was 100% because of the global chip shortage. 70% of the world semiconductors are now made in taiwan. if china does to taiwan what russia is doing to ukraine, the impact will be like nothing we are experiencing today. this was absolutely the right thing. it was bipartisan in the senate. it's a great thing for the american economy and in the last you weeks, we have had announcements of job creating investments in the united states producing microchips. i passed a second bill in the house, i wrote the supply chain provisions of this bill with adam kinzinger that would do for other industries what we are doing for microchips because we cannot be dependent on countries like china anymore. with this legislation, what it would do is create an office at the department of commerce that will monitor our supply chains 24/7, anticipating supply chain disruptions before they happen and invest billions of dollars mostly loans and loan guarantees to help manufacturers bring those jobs those supply chains back home to america and arias like battery technology, solar panels. ppe. pharmaceutical ingredients. did you know that more than 90% of the ingredients that make antibiotics that we need in the united states come from china? i don't think that is an acceptable vulnerability. if there is a war over taiwan, i don't want china controlling our antibiotic supply which they currently do. i passed that legislation. there is a version in the senate that we are negotiating right now. we are getting this done. >> [applause] >> same question was the chips act necessary? >> absolutely it should've have been done earlier. my opponent for 30 years in washington has supported exporting manufacturing jobs to china. only this year has he started to change his tune. he has put us in the position for outsourcing jobs to china and many other countries hurting manufacturing. now he continues to create those environments here at home where manufacturing is more difficult, the regulatory burden is harder, we are not energy independent in the ways that we need to be. wade to ensure going forward and i will as your next member of congress making sure we have the support for those types of industries. it's also agriculture. look at the new technology with going to help the land be more efficient and buildings be more efficient for agriculture production. we can do that, but for 30 years, my opponent has supported policies to outsource jobs away from america and now what we need to focus on is manufacturing and creating new jobs and more security here at home by lowering the overall tax burden, making sure we have responsible regulation and stop the irresponsible spending out of washington, d.c. and making sure we have opportunities for our own future in ways that he cannot even understand. [applause] >> we are almost at the end. you mentioned a couple of other industries that you thought we should focus on. economists usually frown on that. looking more for comparative advantage and moving more toward a global economy. outside of pharmaceuticals and semiconductors, what other industries do you think we should focus on? i hear from politicians all the time good manufacturing jobs. but i can't find workers to go to work in those good manufacturing jobs. an ongoing problem. >> i have to address the word salad. i'm not sure if anyone understood what he said. i've been in congress for four years, not 30 years. >> you've been in washington, d.c. for 30 years. you stay there you never left. >> this is our last question. >> this is silly. you've been in trenton for 20 years, what the hell have you done about cost-of-living? [applause] what the hell have you done about property taxes that have gone up? you were the senate minority leader, you are the most powerful republican in new jersey for the last 20 years. >> the question is about essential industry. >> i understand. you said absolutely nothing about what you would do. you mumble about supply chains, i got the job done. i've been in washington for four years, we passed and infrastructure bill, we passed the chips act, we passed medicare negotiation. you have offered in the last hour absolutely nothing specific that you would do other than what we have done. in terms of essential industry, i think i answer that question. i passed legislation in the house that would create a program at the department of congers -- commerce to establish things that aren't essential and things that are essential to our economic and national security. it shouldn't be politicians that make those decisions, but i did name examples of things i think are plainly essential like pharmaceutical ingredients, the technology that we don't want china to dominate in the future. recently, i was pressing joe biden to take action against the semiconductor industry in china and he did. we need those jobs that manufacturing for that kind of technology here in the united states. then you made another point that i also already addressed which is we are creating all of these jobs. that's a great thing through the infrastructure bill, the chips act. we are creating them in the united states. we need to train our workforce that are for the jobs that are actually being created which is why emphasize trades and community colleges and we need a larger workforce. there's only one way to do that. that is to break through the far right anti-immigration policies that have shut down most legal immigration to this country over the last four years. we have to have more workers, more comprehensive immigration reform that allows people who desperately want to work to be taxpayers to contribute to the american dream to be able to do that. if we aren't able to do those things, if we don't stand up to the toxic anti-immigration politics, we are going to solve the problem that you just raised. [applause] >> same question, what other industries other than semiconductors should we focus on? >> my opponent is apparently afraid to admit he has lived in washington, d.c. for the last 30 years. i'm shocked. i'm think you didn't admit that you have lived there. that's the only thing i said. manufacturing is the core of who we are in new jersey. as we look in patterson falls, there was something called infant industries. you made sure there were certain economic policies to ensure we have manufacturing and you create policies to ensure hundreds of years ago to make sure you could grow the businesses for a time. my opponents policies have made us less secure. all that the people in this room secure about -- care about, these are all things that we need to make sure. we need to send a leader to washington, d.c. who is worked across the aisle to find those solutions to create new tech elegies -- technologies. that type of leadership whatever industry which we feel is strategic disadvantage right now and whether that's agriculture various areas of technology other areas of chips whatever it is that allows us to compete because i think when we solve the pandemic hit we all saw the impact of what happened when chips were coming over from china and what they could do if they stopped pushing over the pharmaceutical and the band-aids. way to make sure we have more manufacturing here at home. way to make sure this is a regional effort going forward so we have a strong manufacturing base. low tax burden, energy independence because therefore you have liability. nobody wants to be told they can only plug their cars and from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m.. if there's an energy grid that doesn't work, how is somebody going to have a high-tech is this is created here. >> i'm afraid were out of time. >> solve the problems immediately so we can make -- going forward. >> now we are going to move into the concluding remarks. for your closing remarks, i want to ask a question to get to your underlying philosophy. people have jobs because of business. government has tax revenue because of business. without strong this dissector, the economy will fail and the government will fail. however, the business is aligned by the media and the government. what can you do to make people realize the importance of a vibrant business sector and get them the support they need? >> thank you for hosting this event. thank you to everybody for being here today. we need to focus on as a country quality of opportunity for people who are seeking the american dream. we have to have the tax policies and the leadership at all levels of government at all levels of industry at all levels of nonprofits. you are an extraordinary advocate for the business community. the nonprofits in this region. you lead the strongest chamber in new jersey but you do it with strength and foresight and passion. when i go and talk to people about what they want and how to create the policies going forward, we can't malign the people who create the economies. you have to go and listen to what their problems and concerns are. the new regulation that has to get out of the way, the policies that when somebody says i'm moving honeywell from new jersey down to tennessee, i'm moving the pharmaceutical sector from here up to boston, i moving the energy production somewhere or worse those individuals that make the decision not to move into the state and for that reason, we have to have that philosophy as americans. those solutions that create the opportunities that reward success. that's who we are as americans. we as americans want people to succeed. those individuals who lead and participate in businesses are those types of leaders. we to make sure we create an environment that allows them to succeed. when you listen to what my opponent has done, for his 30 years in washington, and his four years in congress he supports the regulations that make it more difficult to create opportunities. that's not what we lead -- what we need. i will be that leader who will listen and fight to make sure we break the back of inflation. thank you. [applause] >> again, how can you work to make them realize the importance of the business community. >> i think the question was on my business philosophy. simply and i have said a lot about it already today, i believe in capitalism and the free market economy so long as it works for everyone not just those at the very top. there's another aspect of my economic philosophy that we have not spoken about much today. that is if we want capitalism to work here in america, democracy has to work in america. the business community needs us to respect and defend the constitution. and the rule of law. the business community needs us to resolve our differences by voting and not by violence. i was there on january 6, i know what happens. another extremism has gotten worse. my opponent could have chosen to run in this campaign as a conservative republican criticizing me on issues that democrats and republicans usually argue about. while standing up to the rising extremism in his party. and to the election lies, the threats of violence like so many with integrity and courage have done. instead, he chose to make his peace with themaga wing. he ran as a mag eight republican. he said he would stand with donald trump. he said he would support the trump agenda that he would have trumps back no matter what he does. i'm simply quoting the words on his own campaign literature. if he is elected as our congressman, i don't think we are going to be hearing much about tom kane in washington. we are going to be hearing a lot about kevin mccarthy, jim jordan, marjorie taylor greene, god forbid herschel walker. these extreme candidates who are winning election after election and replacing republicans of principal and courage like liz cheney and adam kinzinger who are being thrown out of their party. this is not a congress that will be passing economic legislation. this is not a congress that will be attacking inflation. this is a congress that will be impeaching and investigating and doing things that are outright crazy for the next two years. i've been different. i'm a democrat, but i do not hesitate to criticize joe biden as i did over afghanistan, the withdrawal from that country. as i did over the student loan decision that he made. i have put together a campaign with republicans, independents, and democrats. i'm the only one on the stage that has cross party support. in that spirit, i am asking for your support for another two years in congress to keep serious governance going it to keep the crazy out of our government. thank you. [applause] >> that concludes our debate. i want to thank everybody for coming. and for being a pretty courteous audience. [laughter] i also want to thank the candidates for taking the time to be with us today. i hope everyone found the discussion as informative and worthwhile as i did. november 8 is election day. thank you. this runs just over an hour. good morning >> i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america into the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> thank you. we take seriously our responsibility to promote civic engagement at the -- importance of a diverse and free society. our student leaders and employees have been working hard this year on a get out the vote campaign. and both colleges aren't a great standard -- great standing. in fact we've had the highest student voting rate of any community college in the country. i want to acknowledge that we have student leaders and ambassadors here today to help with the event. thank you for that. i want to acknowledge we have elected leaders here, i think we also saw superintendent mary crigger. thank you for being here. i'm not wearing my glasses at the moment and it's not helping. it's my pleasure to introduce our moderator, president of the dakota county chamber -- dakota county regional chamber of congress. >> good morning, everyone. thank you for waiting. quickly, those wristbands that you are wearing, i was hoping that the college would open their brewery down the hall afterward. if we can arrange that we will need a drink when it went and done. -- when it it is said and done. you are going to get to know me well during this conversation but, thank you michael. we are deeply appreciative of the colleges support for this event. the ctc and the community college are great partners of the chamber and we are deeply appreciative of your leadership and partnership especially in the workforce issues for all of our communities in dakota county. for all of you, again my name is maureen, and it's an honor to serve as the president of the dakota county regional chamber of congress. thank you for joining us for the only debate that we have for the congressional district two-seat. the dakota county regional chamber is the voice that promotes the business environment cultivating regional and local communities. before we began i would like to acknowledge the organizations that make this event happen, to our sponsors the amber hills community foundation. an velocity public affairs. i also want to give a special thanks to the townsquare tv and without these people, this event would not happen. let's give them a round of applause. [applause] it's also important to note that the dcr chamber partners in many ways with many partners throughout the metropolitan area. i am pleased to have our partners here today. we have the minneapolis regional, the shot the pierre area, and the st. paul area chambers of commerce with us today. we deeply value our partnership. we are streaming this event live for those who were unable to attend. please refrain -- please post and tweet on social media with the #mo to -- #mo2. we have the right to cast our vote for representatives that represent art interest. the leaders you elect to make the decisions that impact you. your business, job, health care, taxes, economic security, our future workforce and more. today's form is one opportunity to educate and engage voters from the minnesota congressional to strict to -- district two. we are glad to have with this representative angie craig and the challenger tyler kistner. [applause] i have the deepest regard for both of you for running for public office and your willingness to serve. thank you for coming and participating in the important discussion. dakota county is one of the fastest growing counties in the state of minnesota, it is important that our communities in cd2 continued the success of economic growth, educational opportunities and overall health and vibrant the. it was last in 2020 that the candidates meant to debate. we were over at egan tv and it was just the three of us. a little different. now we are here for the rematch. much has changed in our world, but a lot of the issues that are important to many are still the same. i would like to quickly go over the rules and code of conduct for the debate. a coin dos -- a coin toss determined which candidate would open the debate. angie, i believe we are having gord -- your remarks first. each candidate will have a 32nd rebuttal. i would like to acknowledge our timers. we have jared vanhorn and emily, let us give them a round of laws -- applause [applause] they are students here at ctg c. emily, meet jared. they will come up and stop you. they will hold the yellow card at the halfway point and send the the mess -- and then the famous red stop. if you could be respectful of that that would be great. we will alternate questions. as your moderator i have the right to take a mistake. if i do that please say it's their turn. at the end the candidates will have two minute closing remarks. now i would like to review the code of conduct for the on -- for the audience. i appreciate you being respectful at this forum. we ask that you not hold up signs while in the room or on the premises. refrain from applauding or demonstrating support or nonsupport for the candidate. most importantly, everyone get out their phone and please silence it. very important. i went and did that right away. there is no taping of the debate by audience members, please note again we are livestreaming. all questions have been prepared and vetted prior to the forum. written questions were submitted in advance. security will be stationed throughout the debate. if you cannot comply with the code of conduct you may be asked to leave. with that being said, let's get the party started. we will start with the opening remarks. congresswoman. rep. craig: thank you so much of, thank you to the dakota county regional chamber of commerce. let me extend my condolences to the friends and family of paula overby. it has been a pleasure to represent minnesota in these last two terms in congress. i ran for people like jody and dave who are paying thousands of dollars every month for her insulin. i ran for katie's lythgoe whose son died after -- serving as a police officer and she could not get access to the benefits she deserved. i work for the lives of the people in these -- in this district. my opponent opposed efforts to lower drug prices. big pharma thanked him for that. he opposed renewable energy and big oil thanked him for that. he refused to -- abortions at the federal level, and he was thanked for that. i'm honored to represent the people of minnesota. mr. kistner: i want to thank you for posting -- hosting the only debate in the second congressional eagle. -- cycle. i am but one sitting here and suffering from the last two years of your voting record. truly what may be run for congress again was that disastrous policies of joe biden and his democratic allies who have made it impossible for us to have an affordable living. let's not forget, less than a year ago congressman craig set with president biden promising to push that field agenda. where has that gotten us over the last two years, i would ask you one simple question during this debate. can we survive another two years under the field leadership of congressman craig. >> thank you tyler. into the questions. here we go. all right, recent polls have shown the economy is the number one concern for americans. this is also true in dakota county. what do you believe was the cause and what was the solution to our inflation? we will start with tyler. mr. kistner: when you look at the cause of inflation you only need to look at the voting record of congresswoman craig and the nearly trillion dollars we spent to increase the cost of living. the stock market is about to drop again. it will only get worse. how do you make the cost of living affordable for people we start by reining in that government spending. we invest in american energy dollars and tap into our own resources in the united states. that's how you make it affordable, to make sure that if we go to the pump it not for 80 it is -- $4.80 it is $1.80. rep. craig: inflation is a global serious issue. if you look across the world right now, the supply chain from a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic have caused inflation. i think about mr. kistner's comments and the question i have, what about spending in this room would you not have done. 1.7 billion dollars went to save businesses in the second district of minnesota over the past two and a half years. 176,000 jobs in the second district of minnesota were saved over the past two years. and my opponent has said that inflation is something that is helping republicans in the election. i've had my head down doing everything to reduce drug cost, while mr. kistner is being funded by big pharma. i've had my head down fighting for supporting our family farmers, you can't just complain about it but you need to put your head down and do something about it. >> thank you, angie. tyler, 30 seconds. mr. kistner: coming from the most special interest receiver -- the second most special interest receiver. i get my funding from grassroots efforts. i see almost all of them in this room right now, that is exactly who i'm fighting for. every american household is struggling with inflation we need to address it and make living affordable again. >> thank you tyler. 30 seconds, i am sorry. rep. craig: