Assistance. And we didnt take away that program. We actually just raised the barometer to 20, and it saved taxpayers 8 billion in the program. Thats 8 billion that we can put towards making sure that those who need benefits the most are going to get them. Ial believe that we ought to implement i also believe we ought to implement some kind of work requirement that was common place under the clinton era welfare to work program thats been changed during this administration. And i, for the life of me, cannot understand why america should be satisfied with a program that doesnt require an ablebodied adult who has no dependent children, who is not enrolled in a training or education program, who doesnt take care of an adult dependent, who doesnt meet a plethora of other exemptions, i dont know why we cant pair them with a job. And if a job is not available, why cant we pair them with Community Service or volunteer Service Opportunities where they can learn skills that will get them the best benefit that their family can have . Thats a job. Moderator judge callis, we want you to chime in on this. Callis yeah. Talking to people in these Community Centers, i think it is not the right approach to demand someone that they have to have a job when you dont know what that person is going through in their own lives with whatever domestic abuse, drug and alcohol abuse. So i think it is a presumptuous way to govern. And if you listen to mr. Davis, they were burning the midnight oil there passing bill after bill after bill. I mean, this is the most nonproductive congress that weve had since the history of congress. So i think its a holistic approach, and we need to, first of all, we shouldnt let as congressman davis congress did when the longterm Unemployment Benefits were extended by the senate, they died in the house because everybody went on vacation there. 185,000 vet irans, 185,000 veterans were left out in the cold because they didnt have the longterm Unemployment Benefits. So what can we do . Well, i think strengthen pell grants, for instance, so these people can go to school, people that are on minimum wage can go to school and also be able to better themselves, get a better job. And it wouldnt be the ryan budget way where the Needs Analysis testing was constricted and the eligibility was reduced. Also what i was able to do as chief judge, and i think this is a philosophy that i would have as a congressperson, and that is youre on the ground, and youre listening. What can you do at these Community Centers . When ive gone there, people there are things that are going on with the urban league like man camp when people come out of prison or probation to teach them and how can they get into the employment universe. So im really having been a statewide leader on justice and Mental Health and Restorative Justice issues, not only veterans court, but a true believer in drug court and Mental Health court where people can become productive citizens by going through these programs. I could see where i could travel around our district to each county and see what they have going and see what they dont and really being a bridge to the Justice System which i think would fill a true gap to help the people in this district. Moderator weve got another we from twitter, what will you do to help improve new fuel energies in illinois and the u. S. . Judge callis . Callis well, i was pleased to see that illinois is number one in Renewable Energy sources. And we have great opportunities here with our nine colleges and universities, especially here at university of illinois with the wonderful innovators here. So what can we do to expand on this and grow great jobs right here . Draw out our innovators, join them with our local business. So our students graduate from this Wonderful University and want to raise their children in these Wonderful World class communities and how we can advance them forward. And i saw that decatur had the chance to get the genotype lab, and that was lost to fargo, north dakota. So how can we do that to sustain ourselves, but also draw in businesses, what can we do . So i would just continue to work, build coalitions, get things done. Moderator congressman davis. Davis well, i appreciate anns comments, and thats exactly what ive been trying to do, is build coalitions to insure that we make our next mission to the moon to make America Energy independent. When you look at energy independence, we have the ability to grow our economy by doing something as simple as building the keystone pipeline. The president and his administration have overstudied this permit more so than any other project in our nations history. And even members of organized labor estimate it will create 40,000 new jobs. That oil is coming from canada via train and truck now. Lets put it in a safe pipeline, lets create american jobs. And thats exactly the first step in becoming Energy Independent. And thats how we actually use all of our energy sources, especially those that are home grown right here in illinois. We have a perfect example of a state that decided to make themselves Energy Independent x chas and thats north dakota. North dakotas minimum wage is not set by government right now, its the marketplace, its about 18 an hour because they made the decision to make north dakota Energy Independent, and theyre reaping the benefits of a very low unemployment rate, an economy thats growing exponentially. And were sitting here in illinois with the worst job growth in the first seven months of this year. Its unacceptable, and things need to change, and i hope to continue to lead that charge from washington d. C. Moderator all right, next topic, moving to education. 13th Congressional District includes the university of illinois main campus, u of i springfield, and a number of ore colleges and universities. Recent estimates show tuition continues to get more expensive while total Student Loan Debt has grown to more than a billion dollars for the very first time. Education is next. Hannah will get things started with a question to congressman davis. Congressman, two years ago in a debate in this studio you said you would increase access to pell grants and added you would not have supported the ryan budget that would have slashed funding, and in the end you did support a ryan budget that freezes pell grants, cutting about 90 billion over the next ten years. What changed . Davis nothing changed. And, frankly, that was a ryan budget that was done before i was elected. Just because paul ryan is chairman of the budget committee, each budget takes his name. That was a much different one than i supported that balances in ten years. But lets look at the ryanmurray bipartisan comprehensive appropriations package that increased pell grants. Its not just about putting a vision in place. And when you talk about cuts, only in washington, d. C. Can zero growth in a vision document be considered a cut. We are looking to make sure that we balance the budget, and if we get back to our constitutional appropriations process instead of running off of a continuing resolution where it allows the president and the leaders of both parties, of both houses to determine how washingtons spending money, if we can get away e from that process, youre not going to have things like acrosstheboard cuts and sequestration. Youre going to be able to allow a freshman congressman to have a say in spending decisions and how we reprioritize to make sure college is affordable. Im proud that a i actually voted to stop the student Loan Interest rates from doubling in june and july of 2013. This is something that should never have happened because at that time, thats something that should never have happened because at that Time Congress was in the beginning of setting student loan rates. Congress shouldnt be in the business of setting student loan rates, families should take advantage of rates that are at historical lows. And we need to change the debate from how much a student is going to pay for an everincreasing debt at the end of their College Education and what Interest Rate its going to be, because we stopped them from doubling. We need to do what ive been doing as a member of congress. When i go to College Campuses and universities, including my alma mater milliken university, thank you for mentioning them i talk to those who are in charge about when they ask me to raise the pell grant again, i say what are you doing to make sure that that pell grant goes further for our students . What are you doing to make sure that students have the ability to work on the university if they want to to help pay their college debt so they dont have that debt when they leaf college . Leave college . Thats the type of leadership ive been exhibiting in this district, and thats exactly what i intend to continue to do in my next term. And judge callis, would you support an increase to pell grant funding, and how would you pay for it . Callis well, absolutely. We need to support an increase in pell grant funding. And how we pay for that is, i think, what i talked about before and also there is a bill out there called the government waste reduction act. And it will go after and see where we can cut, see what we can slice, see where we can save some dollars into our national economy, and i just have to mention, mr. Davis, you sat in this studio, and you said you wouldnt vote for a ryan budget to cut pell grants, and then you vote ised for a ryan budget to cut pell grants. So you say one thing and do another and say another thing and do another thing. Another program that we have that can bring in billions of dollars is the heap program. It goes after medicare fraud, waste and abuse and medicaid fraud, waste and abuse. I think its in seven United States cities now, and its a u. S. Attorneydriven program thats been very, very successful. I think strengthening those types of programs. But talking to students, they do rely on pell grants. I talk to one woman whose husband and partner was deployed, and she was struggling to go to school, and pell grants were very, very important to her, and that was on a campus of Southern Illinois university in edwardsville. So also ive seen people its the next bubble, that a trillion dollars, student debt. So how do we address that . And i think people who have graduated and have these, the student debt should be able to renegotiate their Student Loans at the current rate. Also you shouldnt do what the ryan budget does, and that would be charging students interest on their loans while theyre still in school. Moderator all right. Weve got to move on to the next topic to get everything in. Earlier this Year Congress put off funding a comprehensive transportation bill until next year. The revenue for the program has dropped off rapidly in recent years. In a decade can transportation spending fell by 12 , transportation, the next category. Hannah has the first question here for judge callis. Would you support an increase in the gas tax, 18. 4 per gallon, excuse me, federal gasoline tax for bridge and highway repairs and other transportation items given, you know, what jennifer has laid out . Callis no, i would not. I think theyre just too overly burdensome on our middle class and working families. But the transportation bill, it was, it kicked the can down the road which causes a lot of uncertainty for our labor whether theyre going to have any Infrastructure Projects or not. And ive heard this from a lot of our labor unions. So, again, i would be against the gas tax. And congressman, you sit on the transportation committee. Davis i do. What do you think . Davis well, before i get to that, let me address what my opponent has said. Let me be clear, the ryan budget i voted for did not cut pell grants. The only issue on pell grants that ive addressed is actually voting to raise pell grants. It is an issue that im going to continue to address, and im going to continue to make sure that we put College Affordability first. Because ive got a dollar whos going to be going to college next year. I know that many families are facing costs that they didnt imagine would be that high when they took their child to kindergarten for the first day and dreamt that they would be able to get that College Education. We need to work to reduce the cost of attending colleges, make sure the state lives up to its promise. Transportation, i during my endorsement from the chicago tribune, i was called an infrastructure wonk. And this is an issue that ive been talking about throughout my entire campaign in 2012 and now. I was one of the few republicans who actually stood and said we need to invest more in infrastructure. And how do we do that . Do we do it by simply raising the gas tax which even most policy organizations on the right and the left agree is going to go down and dwindle and put ourselves in the exact same position we are today with an everdecreasing amount of money we can dedicate toward Infrastructure Spending . Thats not the best idea. What we need to do and what identify been talking about is putting together a portfolio. Lets take revenues from making America Energy exhibit and put it independent and put it towards rebuilding and building our crumbling roads and infrastructure. And thats exactly what we did on the Water Infrastructure bill that i was proud to cosponsor and pass. And thats exactly the type of bipartisan leadership that im going to continue to exhibit when it comes to our highways and our bridges. And i want to make sure we have that debate. And as a matter of fact, i actually, i drove an electric vehicle here in the champagne area because it was a trade with my colleague, janice hahn, who talks about having an electric vehicle and never putting her car up with gas. It was a great example, a bipartisan example where we talked about the different Transportation Needs in her region which is Downtown Los Angeles and my region which is. Counties, and the 14 counties. Id like to thank charlie for representing, i couldnt get home to taylorville. So these are issues we need to address and put that portfolio together, and i cant wait to get back to do that. Locally, theres a lot of talk about highspeed rail in Central Illinois and especially through champagne urbana. How could such an expensive project be financed with todays federal transportation revenue . Davis well, its being financed, and its becoming a reality in the chicago to st. Louis corridor. Ive been somebody thats worked on that project in its infancy, and were seeing the improvements. And what we need to do is make sure that we put good policies in place, and well make sure we get that portfolio of sources that are going to go beyond i guess what im talking about is the one that would operate at, i think, 220 . Is that really possible, the cost of that . Davis i dont like to say anythings impossible when it comes to infrastructure. We just have to make sure we put good policies in place and mechanisms to make sure that americas able to afford that infrastructure so champagne can be the beneficiary of a highspeed rail corridor thats going through champagne. Im proud to work with laura wise and mary gerard and all of the officials who have come to me and talked to me about this project. Were going to continue to make sure that we put infrastructure first, and thats exactly why i requested that seat on the transportation and infrastructure committee, and thats exactly why i want to go back to remain on that committee. Judge callis, do you think thats a doable project . Callis well, i wouldnt absolutely say no. My role as your congresswoman, if im honored to be elected, is what kind of Infrastructure Projects are feasible and reasonable, and what can we do to improve our communities here. And mr. Davis said he was in leadership, leadership on transportation in d. C. , then why wasnt a comprehensive transportation bill passed . Why was the can kicked down the road . And im sure its fun driving around in an electric car, but i dont know how that helps the people of this district. We need to get back to serving the people that we were honored to be elected by instead of serving ourselves. So its an entire philosophy change that needs to be done here. Moderator were just getting down to the last couple of minutes. Tom, you had a question about military to local Police Departments yeah. Judge callis, one of the issues around here was the militarization of local police. Weve prorted that a federal reported that a federal program sold dozens of assault rifles to area Police Departments, i know its happening in springfield and here. Is that something the federal government should do . Callis well, it probably sounded like a good idea at the beginning, because it was excess military gear. But seeing the visual on tv, what happened in ferguson with these tanks and these Police Officers dressed in absolute military gear and on with assault weapons with demonstrators on the other side shouldnt happen. So there should be some transparency and oversight. And i can tell you my son is an expert on m4 assault weapons. That takes a lot of training. So it can concerns me that Police Officers wouldnt have the training even to handle these types of weapons. So, yeah, i think tha