desk that would give me something to focus on. then you get what is the finished product. tell us what is the most urgent issue for the new president and congress to address in 2017. it is open to all middle school and high school students grades six through 12. students can route alone or in a group up to three to bruise a five to seven minute documentary on the issues. for one hundred thousand dollars in cash prizes will be rewarded and shared between 150 student's and 53 teachers, and the grand prize of $5,000 will go to the student or team with the best overall entry. this year's deadline is january 20, 27 teen. mark your calendars and help us spread the word to student film makers. we take you now to washington for the second debate between incumbent democratic senator patty murray and republican tristan -- chris vance. [applause] austin jenkins: good evening. i'm austin jenkins from public radio, and hosted inside olympia on tbw. welcome to the kodiak auditorium on the east campus of microsoft headquarters in redmond washington. tonight is the final debate between them across patty murray and republican chris vance for senate. to followge you through the #. and debates sponsors. we also think microsoft money .et support to host this event let's begin with our opening statements. saint you murray: austin -- thank you. thank you for hosting us tonight. thank you for all of these are here tonight. chris, great to join you as well. like many, i am often frustrated by the gridlock and dysfunction of washington, d.c. here's how to get things done. i start with my washington state ethics that were instilled in me in a very young age -- you work hard, you do not complain, and you persevere until you get it done. home every weekend and talk to people from communities from around the state and hear their stories and their hopes and their dream come and i take us back with me to washington, d.c., every monday morning, to help solve the problems that people face here. a few years ago, i was hearing from so many parents and teachers and students of the federal education law no child left kind was working for anyone. son hadnt said that his a good teacher, did well, but he got one of those letters home and said his school was failing, and duncan said that he knew that the education his son was getting was not a failure. he felt that the loss of federal education dollars for -- meant that many students that needed it most would miss out. i took tomkins pins story and get as many parents and students back with a to washington, d.c., and found a republican to work with. we wrote a plan and we worked through that gridlock and dysfunction to pass a law that now means that it will work better here for washington state families and parents and teachers. i hear people across our state talk to me about how the economy is not yet working well enough for them. their work -- they are worrying about paying back colleges and student loans. talking about violence in neighborhoods and what to get something done there. they want medicare and social security to be there for them. i take the washington state work ethic, i listen to their stories, and i take them back to make sure that the policies that investments that we make work for the people i represent here and that is why i ask for your vote. so i can continue to be a voice and fight for you with united states senate. finally, let me say this. the hateful, divisive rhetoric that we are .earing at the federal level i think it is time for leaders in our communities to stand up and say enough. i hope that we can listen to each other, be respectful, share our ideas, and have a good discussion, and begun with our example to help lead our country to a better place. thank you microsoft , thank you to the washington state debate coalition for making all of these debates possible. and absolutely senator, i'm looking forward to another thoughtful, adult discussion. lastt great reviews for debate, so we'll do it again. i've been like enough to live in our beautiful state our entire life. met in college at western washington university. we have been married 28 years. we live in auburn. we have two great kids. our daughter natalie is in poland. she should be studying right now. i have been proud to represent our community in the washington state house of representatives and olympia as a member of the king county council, and of the statewide leader of iparty -- of my party. i'm running for senate because like you i am fed up with washington d. -- washington, d.c. senator murray said she would be willing to work with anyone to bring down our debt and save social security and medicare, but then ruled out any options other than raising taxes, and onmed the wholeness republicans and george w. bush. we will never get an agreement that way. whenomise happens politicians have the guts to set aside their partisan talking points and come to the center. in washington, d.c., that never happens of the biggest issues that matter the most. america faces real challenges that demand real solutions. our national security is threatened daily. social security and medicare are going broke. we are $20 trillion in debt. the bottom line is washington, d.c. is broken, and after 20 years in the senate, patty murray as part of the problem. i think we need new, independent voices in the senate. people who will work to bring democrats and republicans together to solve problems, rather than being rubberstamps to whoever their president is or whoever their party leader is. this election is a lot of things but it comes down to just one thing -- it is time for a big change, and that is what i look forward to talking to you about tonight. austin jenkins: before we begin our formal questioning, there is a way for all of you here and those watching can participate in shaping tonight's debate. this is an thanks to our friends at microsoft pulse. tes.org, you wadeba can decide the subject matter we will discuss later in the hour. you can pick from four topics. in a few minutes, we will check in on the results, and that will determine some of the questions in this debate. this evening, i'm joined by some of my colleagues in the news coverage failed. -- news coverage field. debate coalition has received hundreds of audience questions about immigration reform, especially as it affects people who are invited here on and employment-based pieces. senator murray, this is a question from redmond. i have been in the usa for 10 years on a h-1b visa. my green card is still pending come and it was no hope of getting one of the near future. every time i go out of the country to visit my family back home, i run the risk of getting stuck outside. i had to quit my -- i have to on my job, my house, my life -- at risk to take a vacation. do you support the removal of the per country limitation on h-1b visas? sen. patty murray: thank you for that question. i think it is safe to say that absolutely no one in our country thinks that our current immigration system is working today. we are at microsoft this evening, and for them they say it is not working for them. for our forms in the state of washington, it is not working with them. they cannot have a secure workforce. critically, it is not working for people like habib who live in the shadows and live in uncertainty. it is imperative that we take up this issue at the federal level. -- very proudyer to be part of a report senators who passed strong immigration reform. it secured our borders and provided a pathway for citizen 's. it fixed many of the roles that we face today, and make sure that we brought some certainty. unfortunately, it was stopped in the house and was not brought up for a vote. i'm determined to get this done. one of the stories i have heard is from a young woman named mari who came here when she was seven years old, grew here, worked hard, and she tells her that she now wants to start a business and get her business degree, but she is living in the shadows. what she said to me as she wants to be known. we should want her to be known, and we need to fix our immigration system so that can happen. >> would you essentially allow more people and under these visas? >> the way this has to work is it has to be done in a balanced way under our immigration system so that we take all parts of what we are doing and make sure it is fair and balanced. many people are concerned about the h-1b this cynicism -- h-1b these at that we have in place. they want to make sure the people here in the united states have access to job. we want a workforce trained for the jobs here, but it can be done in conjunction with the h-1b visa. same question for you come and do support raising the per country limitation on these visas? chris vance: we are at microsoft, where this has been utilized for a long time to get workers who supposedly have special high-tech skills that are necessary. that, but i have heard from a lot of tech workers and software workers here in some -- in washington state that they think the h-1b system is used to just bring workers in from overseas and lower the salaries, and they are concerned about that. i am pro-immigration the firm. -- pro-immigration reform. h-1b need a strong program, but there has to be a balance to protecting jobs of people who are already here. lot abouten talking a immigration during this election. everybody understands what has to happen. yes we need border security. we need a guest worker program for the 12 million people who are already here. we need a better guest worker program for high-tech. once again, congress failed to get this done. immigration reform has been stalled in congress for years. it is one of the best examples of gridlock that is going on. people, especially more republicans, who will work across the aisle to make sure the next congress actually passes comprehensive immigration reform and it is right for our economy and it is right for families across the state. >> you would not raise the number? i am pretty decisive about a lot of things. i need to study this. i have heard a lot of concerns. i going to go to congress with an open mind on exactly what they numbered east of the -- on exactly what the number needs to be. austin jenkins: the wave of cyber attacks recently disrupted major websites. we have been lot -- we have been hearing a lot about hacking during this campaign. what can and should the united states due to better safeguard our public and private networks and systems, and how do we balance the need for cyber security with the right for privacy? chris vance: the right to privacy is to not have your system hacked. i don't understand this. i don't understand when i read headlines that foreign ourrnments are according to intelligence services participating in a sort of activity and we tolerate it. united states cyber command is the world's best at sign the .ecurity and cyber warfare this is simple to me. if other countries are going to launch cyber attacks against us, they need to understand that there will be swift retaliation. countries can't be allowed to just do the sorts of things that are practically a form of warfare. i don't understand why if we have the technology to strike back if necessary we are not using it. we need to make it clear that if you are going to engage in cyber warfare against us, you are not going to have good relations with the united states. having ourmurray: information hacked by anyone is really disturbing. in this election cycle, we have heard about russia and cyber attacks to try to influence our election. we cannot allow that to happen. how we deal with cyber attacks -- whether it is our electric grid or e-mails -- we have to make sure we are working to protect the privacy that we all enjoy, along with taking sure that we have the information shared efficiently so that we can prevent them and make sure that we are doing everything we can to be prepared for whatever kind of cyber attack we have. that means that private industry, along with government, has to have strong policies, and we have to do one of the thing which is vertically important, and we're doing it here in the state of washington. that is training people in the area, making sure we have educators who are trained to have professionals who are trained with cyber education, because it is a very complex field, it is not easy. anybody who says there is an easy answer to this has not seen all of the information that we know. we have to work together with our businesses and with our government to do this in the right way. ourn, that protects individual privacy, but make sure that we can share information at no those attack -- know of those attacks. my fishing license was attacks. these attacks are very complex, and we need to work together to address them. talkn jenkins: when you about striking back, demon a declared war, an undeclared war, what are the rules of the road? chris vance: there have been instances where countries have gone too far. i believe iran went too far at one point. you have this entire branch of the military called cyber command. we need to make it clear that if you're going to attack our community. -- our computer grids, you're going to face the same response from us. we cannot passively sit by and allow this country to launch attacks against us with impunity. it makes no sense to me. sen. patty murray: your question is do we launch a counter cyber attack? austin jenkins: and do you declare it? sen. patty murray: first of all, we need to be very careful that we know that a cyber attack occurred and where it came wrong. -- came from. we have toplex, and be smart and wise about our resources and what we may do in response. if we know that someone has launched a cyber attack against us and we are confident we have the right information, we need to stand up and have a strong response, and i am for that. we have to be very careful in wes arena, and that is why have to be sure we have the right investment in our nation within our budget to make sure we are not cutting back on this critical infrastructure. austin jenkins: now to another one of our journalists. >> a question for senator murray. the obama administration directed schools across the nation to provide transgender students with suitable facilities that match their gender identity. several states sued the department of education and one, -- and won, come -- temporarily schools to circumvent that. on thursday, the department of education announced it would appeal that decision. what is your position, and do you believe that states should have the rights to decide about transgender access to locker room? sen. patty murray: i am proud of my state that as forward leaning, at a great example to people across the country that we respect individuals not matter who they are or where they come around -- where they come from. i support the department of education challenging that in the court, because i want to make sure that any young person in this country has the ability to know that they are secure in who they are, and are not discriminated against. we have come a long way, but we have a long ways to go, and we need to use all of our resources to make sure that young people will comfortable about who they are and are not discriminated against. other thingay one -- this is why it is so important that we have a supreme court that has a full-court. these are decisions that they make that impact all of us, and the republicans have prevented a -- have nominee from sitting on that court for the last nine. we need a full-court, because these kind of decisions impact all of us and our families. vance, throughout the country, we are seeing conservative lawmakers trying to pass legislation that would and transgender people from trying consistentacilities with their gender identities. would you support legislation for these bands? chris vance: no. i want to protect the rights and safety and dignity of all americans, including tender individuals. believe in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. every american has the right to live their lives as they seek it, to live their identity as they see it. we need to an act policies that do respect everyone's rights and dignity and safety. we can do that, and that is happening in washington state. we enacted policies in our schools several years ago, and they do respect the privacy for all students. what they did in north carolina, where even people who had gone through the entire process and were now anatomically of one sex had to go back and use the bathroom that corresponded to that isrth certificate, just wrong and the cruel, and we don't need to be doing that. i agree with senator murray, this is an issue that will be decided in the courtroom. the 14th amendment says that all people have protection under the law. i agree with that. i think republican leadership was wrong to rule out consideration of any nominee that mr. obama would send them, but i think it was equally wrong when senator mori -- senator murray filibustered alito to the supreme court. both parties have not supreme court nominations, and it is wrong or did i won't. austin jenkins: this is a question for both of you. if you have the power -- and i know you don't -- but if you have the power to wave a wand over the federal budget and put any amount of money into one program, but would have to take an equal amount out of another program, what would those two programs be. mr. vance? chris vance: i know where i would put more money. we need to triple the money we are spending on clean energy research in my view. i think the federal government is to do much more to develop technology to address the issue of climate change. that is how we're going to deal with climate change. technologies clean , wind and solar and cleaner cars, but especially carbon capture and sequestration in power plants to virtually eliminate the amount of carbon being put into the atmosphere. that is where i would put more money. in terms of taking from anyone of the things that bothers me with the debate over federal budget is people will look at small areas. we are never going to solve this problem by buying a few fewer paperclips in the department of commerce. the only way we bring down our debt is by addressing the big things like entitlement reform and social security and medicare. as i have said that the campaign, we need a simpson bowles style grand bargain to bring down our debt in that area , rather than having small debates. with a debt of $20 trillion, moving data around one not bring any of it down. i strongly support a bipartisan and bargain. so far, senator murray has not, and i don't think it will get done with the current members of the u.s. senate. sen. patty murray: i have always said that budgets are more than numbers on a page. they are what set the priorities and policies of our country. think arements that i most important today are the ones that help grow our middle class, making sure that we have a strong education system, the issue of college affordability, investing in our infrastructure, making sure that people have the capability to have a job that pays them more so we can grow our economy from the metal out. invest insolutely education and research and helping our middle class grow, and i would pay for that by closing corporate loopholes that benefit the wealthiest americans and biggest corporations, because i believe that the trickle-down theory does not work, that if we help grow our economy by investing in middle-class americans, that is how we can get a better budget that actually reflects the policies that are important for our country. austin jenkins: before we continue to question, we want to check in on our microsoft pulls topics. we have some early votes in. right now, national politics is leading with 34%, health care with 28%, melted -- mental health with 22 percent and paid parental leave with 16%. you can still vote. we now go to our next question and joining us now is pacific lutheran university student kate hall. >> a question for both of you. hillary clinton has proposed a plan that would allow every student from a family making 85,000 dollars a year or less to go to an in-state, four-year public colleges and university without paying tuition. by 2021, families with incomes up to 125,000 dollars a year will pay no to it -- will pay no income intuition. tuition. do you support your plan? , how do you plan on paying for? get thaty murray: i from so many people today. i get it from young kids who said in a grade that they don't plan to go to college because they cannot afford it. too often, there are people who say that they are working five jobs to pay for a college education, making a very long pay for them to college. they're not able to buy a car or home or have kids because i am paying back the student loan. that we areexcited having a conversation in our country today about how we can make college more affordable or people.- affordable for to getnomy needs people those skills so we can help grow our country. i am very interested in the proposal that ms. hillary clinton has put out there. i am looking at how we can make that work. i think it is a great conversation to have. one thing i think is important is that we put this together, and i hope we can get bipartisan support. we need to make sure we have accountability so that we know students are going to school and getting good grades, and that they are achieving what we want them to, which is get a degree that will allow them to get a job and contribute back. i think it is a good conversation to have, and i'm proud that democrats are putting that forward and look forward to working with hillary and others hope the in a bipartisan way to ensure that students don't give up when they are in a grade. keep working when you're in college, and that families across the country have student loans debts lessons for generations to come. daughterce: i have a who was a junior at washington state university. nothing would make me happier than free college. it would be great. there are things we can do to reduce student debt, such as allowing you to refinance your student loans. one of the worst things i have seen during this election season is politicians making promises for things inc. for free. we are $20 trillion in debt. what heller clinton is proposing h" higher taxes on "the ric for making colleges free. i do think we need to ask the wealthiest americans to contribute more to stabilize social security. to raise taxes, we need to use it to pay down the debt, not for more spending. i would love it if the federal government could make everything free for everyone, but that is why we are $20 trillion in debt. politicians keep promising things, and then raise taxes to pay for those things instead of using new revenue to bring down the debt. the real answer for college affordability is in state legislatures across the country. they have reduced their support for higher education, and that is why tuition is going up. here in washington state, we went the other direction and they lowered college tuition and the answer for this is in olympia, not washington, d.c. that is why the government is $20 trillion in debt is because politicians keep promising people free stuff. we cannot afford it anymore. austin jenkins: it is time to check our final microsoft pu lse results. the next two topics will be national politics with 31%, 28%owed by health care with . our next question goes to chris pratt. -- chris vance. you have taken grief from your fellow republicans for this position mr. vance: we have been living that issue. this has been a very difficult year to be a republican. [laughter] mr. vance: i haven't changed. i have not changed. i am a ronald reagan, jennifer dunn republican. i believe in limited government and i believe in bringing down the debt, i believe in free enterprise. i just could not support mr. trump because he has demonstrated over and over again that he is not, i don't believe , fit to be president. on the most basic issues that most republicans have supported, such as free trade, he has not taken positions that traditional republicans have taken. i don't support mr. trump. what is interesting here is senator murray is a wholehearted supporter of hillary clinton. i have criticized my party over and over again. i have yet to hear senator murray criticize the democrat -- for anything. we need people who will be independent voices, not rubberstamps to their party leadership or presidential nominee. i plan to go to the senate as a free agent. the last thing we need right now is to elect hillary clinton and give her a blank check rubberstamp congress. i think that is a major concern and a major difference between the two of us. moderator: senator murray, you do support hillary clinton. in a cnn poll earlier this summer, 68% of respondents said that trustworthiness does not apply to hillary clinton. how do you explain your unflinching support of hillary clinton? sen. murray: i am proud to support hillary clinton because i had the opportunity to work with her in the 1990's. she pressed a program to make sure all of our young kids have health insurance. i know where her heart is. i watched and worked with her when she was secretary of state and lifted up women around the globe. and i know today she understands what is happening to middle-class families. too manys that oo man people today cannot meet there ir economic potential. she is talking but workplace policies, like paid family leave, and making sure you get paid when you are on sick leave, investing in education, and college education. i know she will work hard to lift that families around the country and i am proud to support her in that. i am also proud as the governor e grandmother of two young girls that there will be a woman as the president of this country. moderator: here is our health care question. diana from bellevue asks, untreated hearing loss is reduced quality of life. would you cosponsor legislation to restore medicaid covering hearing aides? i understand her concerns. hearing is a critical part of learning and participating in society. i would love to talk to her about how we could do that. as we rightly know, medicaid is a health care program impacted by costs. we have to adjust as we look at how to do that. but health care is a critical issue for so many people in our country. and we have to make sure our federal policy, programs like medicare and medicaid, are there for people so they have the support they need. mr. vance: absolutely. medicaid needs to cover hearing hearing aids. it bothers me when i go into a doctor's office and there is a sign that says, "we don't take medicaid patients." one of the worst things that happens right now in congress is politicians respond to a need and they increase funding for a program, but do not pay for it, or they cut taxes and do not pay for it and it drives up the debt. this is why i am such a strong supporter of the bipartisan commission appointed by president obama to help with a concrete solution to bring down tax code,reform our and stabilize programs, like social security, medicaid, and medicare. it will involve increases in revenue, which republicans need to accept, and changes to our entitlement program, which democrats need to accept. all of these things have to be done to get there, not piecemeal, because when we do them bit by bit and do not pay for it, that is how we drive up the debt. the debt is not just a number, but one of the main reasons why our economy is not growing. if our debt is on a downward path, we would have 5% more economic growth. more people would find more good jobs. people are hurting out there. the gap between rich and poor is widening. we have had less than 3% growth for the last 10 years for the first time in american history. one of the main reasons why is our debt is crushing the life out of our economy. right now, this generation of politicians in washington dc have demonstrated they do not have the brains or guts to get it done. moderator: that brings to an end our microsoft poll segment. thank you to everybody who has participated. now back to my colleague, dave ross. >> we are talking about foreign policy. under what circumstances would you vote to authorize the use of force in the ongoing syrian civil war, and would you commit more ground forces than we have now? moderator: that is a great question. i would love to have more than one minute and 30 seconds to answer this. mr. vance: any question involving foreign policy goes back to the need to prevent war, to prevent a major war. i have a 24-year-old son. i have the fears people have about not wanting to get involved in foreign complex. syria is unbelievably complicated. you have the situation with isis, and the ongoing civil war between sunni and shiiate. and then you have the kurds who are in conflict with the turks. we need to be focused on job one, destroying isis on the ground. isis is an existential threat to many areas in the middle east. they are launching terrorist attacks across the country and killing americans in the united states. i'm glad we are putting pressure on mosul. we need to go farther and take back raqqa in syra. -- in syria. we need to do whatever is necessary to destroy isis. if that involves a few more ground troops, that is what is necessary, but our first job is to destroy isis. then we need to use diplomacy to settle the syrian civil war, which is causing the refugee crisis. it might even involve getting the u.n. involved in further partitioning. maybe as we did in the balkans. we need to redraw some borders to separate sunni and shia. that is the underlying conflict here. we cannot unfortunately, we cannot rule out the use of american ground forces to accomplish these missions. >> senator murray, same question to you. under what circumstances would you authorize the use of forece within the syrian civil war, and would you commit more ground forces than we have now? sen. murray: that is a really important question because one of the most important priorities we have is to make sure we protect america and american citizens. we do have to fight terrorism, but terrorism is not a country. it is across the globe. we need to fight terrorists wherever they exist. the situation in syria is extremely complex. i know that the thing we should not be doing right now is putting american troops at risk in a civil war in syria. we do need to fight terrorism, and we need to take terrorists out where they exist by using our airstrikes to take out their leaders and financial resources. we need to make sure we are working in global partnerships to go after terrorists wherever they are. we are doing that now in mosul, supplying support for the iraqi troops taking up terrorists there. but we also have to secure this country as well. we know that lone wolves are actually more likely here in the united states. we have seen that in san bernardino, as well as in paris. that is why we have to make sure we are interrupting their social media they are using to recruit terrorists, and fight that back on social media networks, which we are now doing. we also need to make sure that here at home we are protecting our own communities with our police. so, we have the resources here. finally, i just have to say this. the very least we should be doing is saying if you are on a terrorist watch list that you cannot purchase a gun. i am deeply frustrated the senate refused to pass that bill not very long ago. moderator: we now have another question from the tacoma new tribune. >> over the last decade federal education policy shifted to the every student succeeds act, granting more power to the state. you were one of the chief architects. what is the relationship between federal and state jurisdiction when it comes to setting standards in regulating nation's schools. ensure that thes quality of a child's education does not depend upon the state within which the live. sen. murray: that is a very important question. the federal role is to make sure there is a floor, and all students are getting access to education. our federal education policy has to assure that all students have an opportunity. it is actually the federal education law that is the essentially a civil rights law. that was why it was passed. in too many places, students of color and of lower income are not getting the same access. andet the floor requirements. the no child left behind act was too restrictive. teachers and parents were telling us the over restrictions with the testing was creating too much pressure in their classrooms. we have to make sure we are accountable with our federal education dollars. when you get that diploma, it has to mean something. but we also have to make sure that students who come here from other states enter school with the same kind of skills. our new law keeps the accountability, but has that directed from states and local communities, so they decide what they can do if they are not reaching those accountable rules. rather having the federal government say, if you don't meet these requirements, here is a one-size-fits-all fix, we have changed it so states themselves their response. >> mr. vance, you have called for an end to the federal government, forcing students to meet certain testing requirements, or have a loss in federal funding. should geography really determine the fate of our children and the quality of their education? mr. vance: of course not. i am a huge supporter of public education. my kids went to public schools and i went to public schools. tomorrow morning, my wife will be at an elementary school in auburn, where she is working with autistic kids and kids with down syndrome. i served on the education committee and am one of the senior advisers to randy dorn. i have been involved in education policy for a long time. the federal government should provide funding to our local goals. obviously, we should make sure that nobody's civil rights are violated, but the federal government has gone beyond that. we have allowed congress to become the great school board on the potomac. there have been cases when parents go into school board meetings and they ask, why do we have to use this textbook? they answer, because we have to otherwise we will lose our federal funding. this is better than the old law, but it goes too far in terms of interfering with local school decisions. schools should be governed by states and school districts, not by the federal government. they should not be looking over their shoulders, requiring them to do testing and adopt certain standards. under the new law, the federal government can threaten to withhold federal funds. i don't understand why all these members of congress, who many, like senator murray and i, started as state legislators, don't state legislators once they get back to washington dc. i think the federal government should help provide funding, but then get the heck out of the way. our school should be governed locally. moderator: now back to dave ross. >> taking the neck to supreme court justice will be one of the most important jobs of the next president, unless a lame duck session the prizes us all. -- session surprises us all. you support the delay in hearing the merrick garland nomination and you have a litmus test for the next the from court justice? >> i was very disappointed to hear the debate between the presidental nominees the other night. they talk about the print court justices like they are openly partisan. it is not supposed to be that way. the judges are supposed to be nonpartisan and interpret the constitution as they see it. i think the court has become far too partisan. i do not have a litmus test. i will look at federal judicial nominations for the supreme court. whether or not they are qualified, whether or not they are good, solid people. i think it is dangerous to our form of government. i issued a statement the day justice scalia passed away, calling on the republican leadership to work with president obama to jointly come up with a nominee who could be confirmed by the senate. it did not happen and in typical washington dc fashion, those folks have sent the last few months issuing press releases, while nothing gets done. i think it is wrong and it has gone on too long. both parties do it. as i said earlier, when president brush nominated samuel alito, some democrats, a few highly partisan democrats, including senator murray, try to filibuster the nomination. both parties have been blocking judicial nominations. and it is wrong. will never support anything other than speedy confirmation hearings and an up or down vote on the senate floor. >> senator murray, same question. if the republicans still control the senate, what would you do to get a clinton nomination confirmed? to address the filibustering of alito, go ahead. sen. murray: our supreme court justices are critical to every person in our country. they provide certainty and make decisions about a woman's right to choose and about our environmental laws, across the spectrum. my vote has to reflect the values and issues that my constituents care about. every nominee that has come before me, i have evaluated them on their life experiences. have they been out in about in our communities? what is their life experience? what is their judicial philosophy? and certainly, whether or not the reflect the values that me and my state consider to be important? that is exactly what i did with justice alito. when he came before us, unlike merrick garland, i had brought him into my office. i spoke with him and listened to him. he had a hearing. i listen to everywhere that was was. i made a judgment that he was not somebody that i could support. he is now on the court. but i will tell you this, what really disturbs me is that merrick garland did not get the same. he did not get meetings with any republican senators, he did not get a hearing, or any kind of ability to make his case to me, or any other senator, and i wanted the right for my state to have a vote. i hope that when this election is over, that the republicans will step back from holding up this nominee and we can move forward. we need a full court. >> now back to melissa santos. asks,xander from spokane senator murray, you and federal democrats have tried to pass budgets that increase funding for the veterans administration. how do you deal with your republican counterparts who continually vote down these budgets, while claiming they have the veterans' back? sen. murray: i think you are talking about the veterans committee i sit on, not the armed services. the veterans committee covers veterans. [laughter] sen. murray: first of all, one of my highest priorities as the daughter of a world war ii veteran and the first woman ever to ask to be on the senate veterans committee and to be there to make sure that even though i voted against the war in iraq, i made it very clear that if my country sent our men and women to fight for us that i would be there to fight for them. i stood up when nobody else would and said, "we are not providing the support we need for our men and women who are coming home from the war in iraq and then in afghanistan." we needed to be there for them with more than just a promise, to make sure the services that they earned they got, to do it in a timely manner. we are not there yet. we still have work to do. i hope every administration, republican and democrat, will continue. i have gone further than that to make sure our men and women who serve us that they get the skills and ability to get a job when they come home, so we can make sure the work they have done is replicated. i call on everyone of us as citizens and business owners and people to make sure that we are doing what we can to make sure the men and women who served us get what they deserve, and that includes fighting in the budget committee to make sure we have the resources to take care of those who have served us. >> thank you, i will let alexandra know which committee you are on. same question, mr. vance. would you vote for increased funding for the veterans administration? mr. vance: we need to spend whatever is necessary to keep our commitments to america's veterans. everything has to be done in the context of an overall budget agreement that will be directed towards bringing down our debt, stabilizing social security and medicare, reforming our taxes, and putting that debt on a downward path. but when you talk about the federal budget, the cost drivers are the entitlement programs, social security, medicare, and other health care programs. there is money available for the other programs, including veterans programs. and of course, we have to that. my dad was a world war ii veteran and fought in most of the major battles in europe and got a veterans disability check for the rest of his life. as soon as i and him for the u.s. senate, i started getting e-mails from veterans passionate about this issue. it is an alarmist issue here in washington state. what i hear consistently is many veterans like the service they get from the v.a. once they get in the system. the problem is getting into the system. literally, hundreds of thousands of veterans have died waiting to get service. whatever administration it is next year, congress needs to better fix the administration of the v.a. we need to give more veterans more options to seek services outside the v.a. system if that is what they want to do. >> are you supporting additional funding outside of the v.a.? mr. vance: i get very nervous about politicians promising, i will increase funding for that, and then not paying for it and being part of a comprehensive budget agreement. that is what we have to do. >> we have just a little bit of time left. i will give you one minute each for this. for both of you, what is the first website that you look at our open in the morning when you get up, and what is the last that you look at when you go to bed at night? websites: the three you guys work for, absolutely. [laughter] mr. vance: in addition to the local news websites, i look at all the websites that aggregate the news. i love the websites that take the various news stories together, so you can pick and choose. the internet is a wonderful tool for finding the news online. so, that is very much where i go. moderator: senator murray? sen. murray: i would love to tell you the very first thing i look at is all of your websites, but i will be honest. i want to find out how my grandkids are doing and how my family is doing, so i look at what they are up to on facebook. other sites i do look a, many of our newspapers across the state and media, so i can keep current and continue to be a strong voice for whatever the issue is our people are facing. moderator: i knew you could both do that in under a minute. that brings us to the end of our formal questions. it is now your opportunity to provide closing statements. sen. murray: thank you very much to our moderators. thank you to our audience and chris, thank you again. i think we had a thoughtful discussion and chris and i both agree our country and economy is not working as well as we would like it to. we disagree on our approaches and policies to get us there. here's what i want you to know. i am watching my grandchildren grow up in this world and i want for them what you want for yours, that they get a good education, that they go to college if they want to, that they have health care, that they dream their big dreams and be what they want to be. i want them to know that their country is there for them, as it was for me when i was growing up and my dad got sick and lost his job. my country was there to make sure he got his veterans pay. they gave my mom the ability to go to school and get thae skills she needed to go back to work and get a job. and my country was there to invest in me to make sure i had grants to get an education and be here in front of all of you tonight. i want my grandchildren to know that in this country, we respect our neighbors and all americans and treat them with dignity. i want them to know it is not ok to demean anyone for what they look like or what they believe in, in our classrooms, or in our workplaces. i ask for your vote so i can continue to fight for you and those you love, to help them realize the american dream. no matter where you are, what you come from, the color of your skin, how much money you have, your country will be there for you. that is the promise i will work for every day as your united states senator. thank you. moderator: and mr. vance. mr. vance: thank you senator murray. i think you and i have shown how debates should be conducted. [laughter] mr. vance: and most important lay, thank you to the washington state debate coalition. you guys are fantastic. i hope the debate coalition grows and expands because our democracy needs more of this. folks, we are coming to the end of one of the most disappointing and divisive elections in recent history. i am very concerned that after all of this, the gridlock and dysfunction will continue in washington dc. i am equally concerned about giving hillary clinton a blank check rubberstamp congress. i think we need independent voices in washington dc. we can fix america's problems, but we cannot continue to accept politics as usual, excuses, and blind partisanship. electing the same people year after year, decade after decade will not change anything. if you want to change, you have to vote for change. i will be a different kind of senator. i will work hard every day to change the culture in washington dc, to bring republicans and democrats together. i will be an independent voice, and never anybody's rubberstamp. i would be honored to have your vote. thank you and good evening. moderator: thank you to our candidates. if you have not received your ballot in the mail, expect to get it by this tuesday, october 25. new washington state voters have until october 31 to register in person. don't forget to vote by november 8. ballots must be postmarked or dropped in an approved box by election day. boxes to get 8:00 p.m. on election day. goodnight. and please vote. [applause] >> thank you to our lead sponsor microsoft. supporting sponsors, the bill and melinda gates foundation and the henry jackson foundation. debate sponsor pemco insurance. and the of howard voters campaign. the executive producer for the washington state coalition. production services provided by david and john birch. i am austin jenkins with the northwest news network. thank you for watching and good night. >> c-span brings you more debates this week from key u.s. senate races. live on c-span on monday, the debate between pat toomey and democrat katie mcginty, at wednesday night and 10:00 on c-span, the debate between senator marco rubio and democratic congressman patrick murphy. and thursday night at 8:00, republican senator kelly ayotte and maggie hassan. now until election day, follow key debates on the c-span network, www.c-span.org, and on the c-span radio app. c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1970 nine, z's band was created as a public service by america's television company and is not too today by your cable or satellite provider. -- brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. author, q and a with j.d. vance. followed by prime minister's questions. later, washington u.s. senate debate in washington state. ♪ announcer: this week on "q&a," author j.d. vance. mr. vance discusses his best-selling book "hillbilly elegy: a memoir of a family and culture in crisis." ♪ brian: j.d. vance, did you have any idea, when you wrote this book, that it would be a huge bestseller? "hillbilly elegy." j.d.: no, i didn't. i definitely did not expect it to have quite the response that it's had. brian: why do you think it has? j.d.: well, a couple of things. so one, i think, just the weird