so i would say look to that bill, start debating it. i have stayed consistent from the start. i think reagan build the right framework, to secure the border. it just was not executed. we need to make sure as this is one of our core responsibilities with the appropriate funds, the appropriate personnel for are allocated to the board to make sure it's secure so we conduct our first order of business which is outlined in the constitution. .. driven by the drug cartel which

is chasing the drug demand in the united states, doing it with the currency of the united states and weaponry largely produced in the united states. one of the things we could do to help the mexican government is to help drive up the demand for illegal drugs by recognizing the demand that drives much of the controversy is within the united states. the second thing we could do to help secure the border is to recognize that when people are less desperate they don't crash borders. they use lawful processes to apply for new opportunities, they go places peacefully to try to emigrate the ways many of our parents emigrated peacefully. it has to be affordable, it has to be understandable and it has to be -- we should give people who come to the united states because they love our opportunities, committed no crimes where they came from men

tried to live here without documents, a pathway to complete citizenship and welcome them. >> at the last debate mr. sasse said congress was too dysfunctional to do anything except focus on border security. leaving out the need to reform our worker visa program which is badly outdated and antiquated and leaving out a solution for what to do with the 11 or 12 million illegal workers in the country. the fact is all of them are connected. what mr. sasse does not appear to know is 40% of all the illegal immigration in this country is a result of people overstaying of the visa program. you cannot deal with the situation just by focusing as he wants to on the border only. what he should understand congress needs to understand,

you are going to have to get a compromise, democrats and republicans and senate and house and frankly we have a compromise in the senate and enough votes in the house to pass immigration reform. john boehner won't bring it up to vote. congress continues to delay, to gridlock, to be dysfunctional about this. george w. bush had an immigration program and a right wing of the republican party, that wing that is supporting mr. sasse actually torpedoed it. by not doing anything we do something and sasse's approach is to not do anything by advocating only closing the border and not doing anything else on the other aspects. kospi think next question from mike tobias. >> mr. domina and did this in his question on border security. i want to hear what this week 3 of you have to say about supporting any variation of a path way to citizenship for immigrants in the united states

illegally, and what other specific action would you take and let's start with mr. watson. >> i like this new definition called registered provisional immigrant. it is a class that can be defined and limited to what benefits we provide, a first step. we have this no middle ground straight to legal residents of some sort. we need an intermediary step involved in law, it has some potential because we can limit the benefits. no one has rights tomorrow, you are in this first stage before you get to the second stage and a good evolution of law and different class we need to work on the benefits that are much less, eligible tomorrow. status at some future point in time once you have shown the first five years of good record,

good work, this two step process may be a path way to find a compromise between two parties because you can limit benefits in the first step. >> i think i am the only candidate running a 93 county campaign. we are working hard in the ground in all 93 counties and the great news is what you hear across nebraska isn't a lot of division. you don't hear the same things regularly reporters try to do to divide people and candidates seeking office do when they begin their answers with a tax time after time. what you hear in the 93 counties in nebraska are people who believe what we need to do is be sure the u.s. government is fulfilling its first responsibility is first and then move on to a whole host of other each use, economy and intellectual i t workers from across the globe, certain conversations about agricultural programs, conversations about halfway to legal status, we are

a nation of immigrants but also a nation of laws and we don't believe you give people privilege to jump the line but the conversation about halfway to legal status is a conversation nebraska's wants to have. they just don't want to have that conversation until there is clarity that washington has done first things first and that is what i have been advocating. there are many aspects of the immigration issue that need to be tackled but in the border security before you can proceed but a conversation about halfway is a conversation nebraskan are open to but not to citizenship and voting when you did come through the orderly process. >> your thoughts? >> nebraska is impacted hugely by congress's and ability to address this issue. the fact is mr. sasse is not in compliance with the position that is being advocated for the 50 organizations around the state of nebraska. these are not left or right,

these are business organizations, nebraska cattle men, faith based organizations, they cover the full range of the spectrum so when he says he is listening to people in 93 counties he is not listening to those folks that want comprehensive immigration reform. here is to the far right on this issue and by being at the far right mr. sasse is taking a position that will undermine our economy and undermine any forward progress on immigration. he will continue to advocate gridlock which is where we have been as mr. watson pointed out for the last 2-1/2 decades. >> reminder to our participants to avoid directly addressing your opponents. next question to mr. domina from jacque harms. >> those who crossed unattended are in nebraska. to you think children should be allowed to cross the border and stay in the united states or

should they be sent home? >> they should be allowed to cross the border and stay in the united states until there is a legal education with it they are as they appear to be and claim to be refugees. refugees not an immigrant and that is a matter of settled law. united states has treaties with countries from which these children have come in central america. we have signed the united nations charter and abide by international law to which it subscribes in which it legislates an for which we have voted. there is a definition of refugee, there is a legal procedure we have agreed to administer as the recipient nation about how to deal with refugees. those children are entitled to the protection of the united states, though welcome of the citizens of the united states and due process of law before anything else about the

discussion. and horrible circumstances at home, mothers and fathers willing to entrust them to criminal elements to get them out of their neighborhoods. and every nebraskan and invite us to engage in the rule of law and due process of law, we are a nation of lost its soul. >> response? >> it is a tragedy at the southern border and we can resolve issues surrounding 55 to 65,000 currently unaccompanied minors. will be completely different circumstance if we end up at 1,000,002 million unaccompanied minors at the border. the lead of central american violence appears to have been in 2011 and yet the height of these refugees and certain categories of other unaccompanied minors arriving at the border is much more recent and according to u.s. intelligence data center out of el paso, 94% of those teenage kids being interviewed

at the border say the primary reason they are here is because they believe there is automatic amnesty and family reunification. this is a tragedy and nebraskan is don't begin as republicans or democrats but as people who love their neighbors and are worried about these unaccompanied kids at the border. parents who are spending this money to pay coyotes to transport their kids are doing something dangerous and we need the president of the united states to go and speak unequivocally to central america and clarified that the u.s. does not have a policy of automatic amnesty and stop the bleeding. then we can deal with the problems and challenges of the 55 to 65,000 kids. >> i know god loves the kids very much. he likes to talk about them in large groups, 65, 60,000. these are individuals in the eyes of god and they all have different stories. god created and ordained the family as up primary institution. if we can get them back to a

safe and loving family or an extended family, uncle, grandfather, grandmother, i would say we need to get those kids unified back at home with their families. situation, a violent situation, dangerous situation. the president should let the kids come to me and we need to find a solution to make sure those kids have a good chance when their lives are not in danger when we send them home. i wish it was easy, we could have one blanket statement to treat 60,000 people, but we are all individuals, that is the way god made us and we need to care for his creation. >> we are ready to move on to our next segment, the domestic issues. want to remind our viewers and listeners on radio that you are watching and listening to the boston u.s. senate debate in cooperation with the nebraska broadcasters association. we move now to domestic issues and the start that discussion. >> according to the latest

gallup poll, 14% of americans approve of how congress is handling its job, this is lower among those who consider themselves people who pay close attention to national politics. you talked about this in some way or another, all of you talk about is regularly in your campaign but i would like to hear specific examples of how you would conduct yourself, conduct business as a u.s. senator to rebuild public confidence in what is happening in washington. mr. watson first. >> it is about treating each other as humans. i enjoyed the conversation we had backstage. we were talking, our wives were doing. is how you treat people and in building people up we demonize god's creation for political gain. it is agreed and ultimately diss serves the citizens of this country. there are principles we need to stand strong on but i would

argue 80, 85% of the issues we can work on do not violate the constitution and in my case denied violating moral code but 80% of those we can find agreement on and you are never going to win on everything. if you get 65, 75, 70% of what you are looking for, it is called a pragmatic conservative. i believe in moving pragmatically forward. we won't get there overnight. these lines in the sand do not work as we have seen but ultimately i want to start with your original point. 85% are frustrated. the challenge is on the voter. why are we not changing? while we still listening to the money? while we listening to the propaganda? who is buying that? is not you. it does not represent you. i am happy to be a conservative but i am a populist conservative. i don't take the money. i don't listen to the money

because we are going to move people forward together. >> the answer to this is in part in attitude but in part identifying where a new united states senator can agree with people in the opposing party and disagree with people in his own and do that intelligently. it is also a matter of identifying problems of common interest and concern with our neighbors. south dakota and iowa will have new united states senators this year. we have enormous problems with the missouri river affecting those three states. lewis and clark lake, big engineering problems. they cost enormous amounts of money if we don't address the simple matter that the fact that the dam is sifting, something we can work on. we are still trying to clean up from the 2011 flood, something those three united states senators can work on together

starting on day one and should. from there you grow it out to another issue, another subject and be careful to speak when there's something to say. united states senator, appeared to be thoughtful, informed, interested in all points of view, willing to accommodate them and express himself on behalf of the people of nebraska only when there is something to say that requires a voting extremism. extremism can be detected in the campaign process, looking at sources of funds or the state's campaign on behalf of a candidate and we have seen extremism in this campaign already. >> the whole campaign talking about gridlock, the disfunction congress is consistent, we need fresh new perspectives and that is why i decided to run as a

nonpartisan candidate. i'm the only candidate on stage to has pledged from the beginning i would not caucus with the democrats or republicans but instead work to find common ground with both republicans and democrats on all the issues republicans and democrats have kicked down a road. neither house or senate will produce a budget this year, we are not addressing the deficit. we walk away from both parties from bowles-simpson, a blue ribbon commission four years ago to address the problem. you won't hear any of the other candidates talk about simpson-bowles, tax reform, again because of the pledge one of the candidates are assigned, very difficult to enter into good-faith negotiations on tax reform but immigration, kick the can down the road the entire time. i called for my campaign of bipartisan leadership commission, or committee similar

to we had in the nebraska legislature, ask congress to pick the top-10 issues every single year on a bipartisan basis to address those issues within the two year period. we need to advocate for and demand our political leaders stop the excessive partisanship which come to the middle where all the solutions inevitably happen. >> incredibly encouraged over the course of this year living on a campaign most of the time. 200 miles on the bus we blew the transmission and took a few days off. we're spending time in all 93 counties and what you find across the state is our people are very pessimistic about washington, the vacuum of leadership and the kinds of people we send who believe washington for taxes and regulations and mandates. they are optimistic about this

nation and with the glorious inheritance is we receive from parents and grandparents and pass on to some way but they want to washington--politics that tries to do fewer things. more urgently, more transparently, that starts by telling the truth about a fiscal house that is not in order. admiral mullen of the joint chiefs of staff believes the greatest military threat we face as a nation is the growing red ink. it is not good enough to sink u kubaya about what is going on in washington, when you travel across the state and i am proud to have been supported in a primary by 92 of 93 counties and proud to have 11 times as many nebraskan owners as all three of the other candidates on stage combined because we are actually spending time talking to nebraskans in every county and believe deeply in america but they want more humble

washington. >> miss -- todd watson. >> i believe i just cited. >> we are going to move to our next question from jacque harms for mr. domina. >> it is the job of agencies like the irs and the epa to enforce the laws that are written by some senators so what needs to happen to make sure these agencies don't overstep their bounds and create their own policies? >> the most important thing united states congress can do is to write intelligence laws that define the rules of the making authority. no agency has ruledmaking authority unless given by congress and it has to be given by -- congress can either occupy a significant part of the regulatory field by definition or it can pass a generalized law and default regulatory process for the agency. that is a choice made bill by bill. the former choice is usually the better choice. it hasn't been done very often

recently and the reason is that we had too much partisan gridlock. we haven't been able to get together on enough instruction, enough definition for agencies and that creates an enormous problem. that problem is dramatically attenuated by dark money in politics, dark money in politics creates a revolving door between the fry the sector and the agency, congress and the private sector and the agency, it encourages agencies to deal with those they are supposed to regulate in a way that isn't objective and isn't distant and it holds out people who seek nothing more than to get elected that holy grail of money for campaign finance. those are the problems. the states, the federal government for decades and in some instances centuries were not conflicted with regulatory ills. it all happened when industry

took over regulation and congress let it happen to finance elections. that is the problem. >> i spent a week in washington d.c.. i was sad to hear from our congressional delegation some members told me 50% of candidates time i spent raising money. raising money from special-interest groups. lobbyists have truly hijacked our system. i am not against lobbying. is clearly necessary that various groups have influenced. i sternly lobbied congress. the fact of the matter is when you have mr. sasse bringing in millions of dollars from organizations like club for growth or senate freedom foundation and use that, the first million dollars in the door, use that money is then to bring his campaign up to speed. >> thank you, mr. jenkins, we are agreeing not to address candidates directly. >> just pointing out we understand the position.

the fact is i am on the receiving end leva $2.7 million ad campaign running out of custer county and so some candidates, some candidates, some candidates talk about all the support. the fact is running out of custer county is different from running out of washington d.c. with connections back there. the bottom line is the irs on regulation is the most burdensome organization, we need to modernize the irs. you will see over the last 25 years neither party has taken any steps to simplify the tax code and make it easier for all the citizens despite it being one of those bipartisan issues that all of us understand need

to be addressed. >> we will move on to mr. sasse. >> five of six questions of rosa why will speak to a simple fact, the candidate to my right has 20 donors in nebraska. i have 3,200, i don't know what this is making up charges about this, 3,200 nebraska supporters. speaking to the question, the nebraska farm bureau, the largest grass-roots organization in the state. endorsed me because they say we need a fighter against the regulatory overreach of washington d.c.. osha and epa are trying to do things on farms and ranches that make no sense. c e p a is estimated by one recent study to have statutory authority for one third of the areas where they are currently writing rules. this is when the president says things like congress won't pass the laws i wish they would pass,

that is okay, i have a pen and i will phone and i will ignore the constitution a unilaterally write laws. we need bipartisan opposition to that and bipartisan defense of the constitutional system, the first branch of government, congress is accountable to the people every two years in the house and come home, doing the things they are doing. waters of the u.s. are absolutely asinine. people never even been on a farm in a ranch to micromanage these details. we need to use the powers of the person constitution, much more robust oversight process to be sure washington is more humble and the rules actually flow from statutory authority. >> thank you, mr. watson. >> proud have an amount of money. this should be i can represent you directly. i don't have all these people and interests to answer to.

a lot of donors, who is going to win or lose? like starting a church, never announce it until you have half of it raised. you didn't even know about this until a few months ago, now you do, you can get behind this, our campaign. answering your question, irs, i want the citizens to look at the federal reserve. it is unconstitutional. everyone usually wants part of 0 federal reserve or wall street's money. they have a role to play and not about redistribution but that is unconstitutional. how we do capitalism the last hundred years, how we did capitalism the first hundred years works for all people and rises the tide for everybody and by the way i bring that up because the irs was created, the income tax was created the year the federal reserve was passed and that is related. conservatives, you didn't have to have an income tax, pay attention to that. we reform the tax code and we won't have a need for the irs if we get to the right type of

code. on the epa is a different story. again a lot of it response to the president. has that authority so we restrict it is the way you do the budgeting but the epa is acting out of control. i agree with ben, the waters of the u.s. are just atrocious, a massive overreach but referencing an earlier point to the debate we need regulators if we have come to work with the private sector, not be against finding them out of business. we partner, we can build a better country. >> we are getting close to our time limit. we have a couple more questions we would like to get in. we may not get to everybody on these. our next question goes to colleen williams. mr. sasse will take the answer. >> with countless national incidence, high-profile shootings in omaha and according to an fbi crime report nearly 81% of nebraska homicides were caused by firearms. do you think the and are a's no

compromise stance on even the most minimal regulations like no background checks at gun shows is what is best for the safety of everybody? >> thank you for the question. i am happy to be the n r a endorsed candidate in this race. i believe strongly in the second amendment. our founders understood government doesn't give us rights, god gives us rights by nature and we the people come together to secure those rights. government is our shared project to defend our rights, government is not the source or author of the man's my rights as a dad or has been to defend my family and defend my property predate government so i am happy to be robust defender of the second amendment. you raise particular issues around the nra policy i don't know much about so one of the things about being in non politician new to this process is i am comfortable admitting what i don't know. i don't know the particular issue you are flagging at this point but we need more -- more robust defense of extent gun laws in america. most of the crimes that are

committed with guns in this country have a whole bunch of prosecutorial neglect or passing in previous moments and we need to be sure we are robustly defending of the extent gun laws. >> i am confused you are not familiar with the gun show loophole? >> you name another one guy didn't understand, the one prior to that was. >> the no compromise stance. >> i don't know what that means. the gun show loophole is obviously a journalistic category to call a loophole to begin with. it is often called the gun show loophole, it is regularly about family to family transactions and i don't believe that government needs to regulate the sale of guns between fathers and daughters or sisters and brothers but there are technical issues we can impact the >> we want to get to mr. domina please. >> thank you very much. i think the nra position is over the top. i do think what works at private gun shows, there should be universal background checks, there should be no exceptions. i also think it is altogether

clear what mr. isil -- sasse may have been endorsed by the nra if he doesn't know about the gun show loophole and if he doesn't know about but no changes in current regulations position of the organization that endorsed him he is not worthy of endorsement. i also think it is altogether clear the american people have had enough with the n r a. tea and are a is over the top, stands for the ideas that we should make no change of any kind in the interests of the people of the united states. where the states because of the essence of federal action have taken some steps in the direction of regulating the sale of handguns alone, the number of women killed per year is down 38% state by state. i am in favor of reasonable regulations. nobody on this panel has enjoyed shooting more pheasants that i have in my lifetime. i love owning a gun. i do now and i am happy to have anybody know i own it. to have anybody who wants to buy

it be checked before they can buy it from me. >> this is helping both of the gentlemen, want to address as well but we have to move on to our closing statements in order to meet the time of the debate. my apologies. we want to end with a final time to question for each candidate. ..

i understand our markets. i represented the cattlemen across the united states and nebraska as they have sought and fought for fair markets. i understand our water problems. i also understand that there is an attempt made sometimes to subvert our attention with phrases like a humbler politics. nebraskans, it is not humbler in politics to accept seven figure amounts of money fromorg ageses outside the state committed to never adopting a farm bill. it is not humbler to want to take the social security system away from its present, safe, method of administration and give it to the bankers who brought us 2008. it is not humbler to dismantle the medicare system or breach faith with our veterans of the those are arrogant things those are things nebraskans stand for. anybody on this stage purporting

to represent a political party, either of the two who stand for those propositions misrepresents the party. >> thank you, mr. dom that. next closing statement comes from candidate jim jenkins. >> thank you to my fellow candidates and all of you viewing this debate. t has been great. some of my family members may have second thoughts but overall it has been a good time and, we are facing a real important decision here. we as a nation have to decide whether we're going to incentivize partisanship, incentivize it through big money. incentivize it but forcing highly partisan primaries where the most partisans of the partisans ends up winning. there no secret why congress not getting along and has a low approval rating. because we continue to elect the most partisan people. if they don't hugh to the idealogical position of their

party, they get primaried or they lose their funding or lose their committee assignments. my background is diverse. i spent last 18 years coming back to nebraska, i was raised here, building jobs, bidding companies. i created jobs. despite mr. sasse having farm bureau endorsement i'm the one candidate who run for this office over the last 30 years who has extensive agricultural, food, and alternative energy experience. i have a very diverse resume'. i'm well-known throughout nebraska. i have had the confidence of two republican governors who appointed me to a statewide commission and i really am working for nebraskans to rally around me to support this common sense, centrist approach to politics that we so badly need in washington. >> moderator: thank you, mr. jenkins. our next statement comes from ben sasse. sasse: i'm running for office because i'm a dad and i care

about my kid and nebraskan kids and grandkids and inheriting the free nation we were inherited from our parents and grandparents. i don't think washington is the center of life. one of the reasons i'm running i think we need more people involved in 308 ticks who believe the center of life is north platte and kimble and oshkosh and fremont. i'm a fifth generation nebraskan. born near north fork and raised in plain view. we're raising three little kids a mile from where i grew up. it is a wonderful bless egg. i'm also proud to be the republican nominee in the race. since it came up i want to speak to it for a second. i am proud to be in the party of great senators and governor mike johanns and all their support. i'm not a republican for reasons caricatured in the national media. i don't care about marginal tax rates of richest one percent of americans. i believe in limited government and defined constitutional freedoms. i believe the nebraskan life is

in our churches and communities. and i am happily a proponent of a humbler politics where washington tries to do more limited number of things but the more important things, more urgently and with less shouting. i've been blessed to spend this year across the 93 counties and have support not just from republicans but democrats and independents across the party. it has been a great time, nebraskans. i humbly ask for your vote. >> moderator: now we hear from todd watson. >> god gave me skills and gave you skills. i fundamentally care about the nebraskan people. i want to see your tide rise. i love you guys. you asked me to take an oath of office and i will take that oath with pride. i have to defend the constitution from threats foreign and domestic and the constitution says five things. establish justice, i will not create inequality under the law for donors, for elected

officials, because quality before the law is about justice. i will ensure the domestic tranquility. i will be a peacemaker between two warring parties. three, i will provide for the common defense. securing the border can not be prolonged more than 28 years. four, i will promote, not provide the general, not corporate welfare. and lastly, when i end my oath and i say so help me god, i will mean it, from the bottom of my heart. and i will seek to insure the blessings which is a gift from god and we the people need to get back there. of liberty, which is not big banking or big government. for ourselves and our posterity which requires us to address deficits, debts and unfunded liabilities for the next generation. but the vote is in your hand in

november. insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting different results. make the change. >> moderator: thank you. first of all, as we wrap up this evening's debate we have an audience on hand that has been very polite and very attentive. first of all i think they want to show their appreciation to our candidates this evening. [applause] so thank you very much to our candidates and our panel of journalists. we want to thank north platte high school to take over this great facility. they have been wonderful to work with. thank you to the nebraskan broadcasters association which partnered with net to bring you this event. we're airing on a number of radio and television stations around the state this evening to share the views of these candidates. finally the audience in the

auditorium thank you again. we will team up with the nea, nebraska broadcasters to host a gubernatorial debate in studios in lincoln. that will be broadcast live on net and net radio and television and streamed online as we. it will be available on many nba partner stations. website, net nebraska.org. 2014. i'm bill kelly. i've been your moderator for this evening. thank you so much for being part of the event. ♪ >> the house benghazi committee holds its first hearing today. witnesses include assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security gregory starr, whose post was created after the 2012 consulate attack.

you can see the hearing live starting at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span3. secretary of state john kerry testifies today at two hearings looking at the administration strategy to combat isis. we'll bring you live coverage of his appearance before the senate foreign relations committee at 2:30 p.m. eastern on c-span3. >> this weekend on the c-span networks, our campaign 2014 debate coverage continues friday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span. live coverage of the arkansas governors debate with former u.s. house member, democrat mike ross debate former administrator of the dea and former u.s. congressman, republican asa hutchinson. saturday night at 8:00, live coverage of the iowa governors debate between republican governor terry brand stat, his challenger, iowa democratic

state senator, jack hatch. sunday evening, jenny beth martin, co-founder of tea party patriots is on "q&a" at 8:00. c-span2, saturday night at 10:00 on booktv after words, director of astrobiology, caleb sharf talk about the life on earth and current debates on how it began. sunday, morton storm on his experiences as member of al qaeda and later life as a double agent. on american history tv on c-span3 we'll mark 50th anniversary of the warren commission set up to investigate the assassination of president kennedy. on saturday at noon, counsel and staff members to the warren commission describe their investigation. sunday afternoon at 4:00, on real america, the 1964, two-hour cbs special report detailing the warren commission's findings with anchors walter cronkite and dan rather. find our television schedule at c-span.org. let us know what you think about the programs you're watching.

202-626-3400. email us at comments @c-span.org. send us a tweet,@c-span with the hashtag comments. join the c-span conversation. like us on facebook. follow us on twitter. >> next, the debate between the candidates for kansas governor. incumbent sam brownback and democratic challenger paul davis took to the stage for their first debate at the kansas state fair in hutchinson. "the cook political report" has the race listed as a toss-up. we start with some political ads running in that state. >> i was raised on a farm in eastern kansas and my dad and mom still operate it. i go out to help once in a while but dad doesn't let me plant or drive the combine. i'm not old enough but the values and character, that they gave me in that hard work on that family farm is just amazing

and we've got people moving back to rural kansas. that is just music to my ears. that means families are coming in. >> sam brownback, kansas. >> since 2011, kansas welfare rolls have been cut in half, in half because more people than ever in history are working in kansas. >> the way out of poverty is not just to get a pittance from the government. the way out of poverty is what you taught us, it is education, it is work, it is family structure. we've got over 50,000 new private sector jobs. that is the way out of poverty. the sun is shining in kansas and don't let anybody tell you any different. >> one room schoolhouses just like this our kansas tradition of strong public schools began. i'm paul davis. of my parents were teachers and i know kansas can do better than governor brown back's largest single cut to school funding in state history.

for our daughter's sake, for our kids and grandkids we have to restore the cuts because education means economic opportunity and i will not allow strong kansas schools to become a thing of the past. ♪. >> hi, i'm paul davis, common sense kansan who looks proven solutions. i hired jerry, professional driver to demonstrate the direction governor brownback has been taking our state. low job growth and three kansas credit rating downgrades in one year. brownback said he would hit the act sell rate tore on his agenda. i'm paul davis, kansas dan do better. jerry, don't hit the accelerator. [applause] >> wibw radio and kansas radio networks i will be the moderator for the first debate which will focus on the kansas governor's race. before i introduce the

candidates i want to introduce the people who are going to be asking questions here today. our media panel and they are down front. our media panel includes nick sheen, managing editor of the hayes daily news. mike swanky, reporter, anchor, wichita, and alex dingmano with wibw news staff in topeka. etch. time keeper, todd pit engager, from salinas. keeping with statewide election we have statewide reporters here today. you are two candidates will each have 90 seconds for an opening statements and 90 seconds for a closing statement. they will each have one minute to respond to questions. the candidate who answers first will also have 30 seconds of rebuttal time. a note to our audience. this is important. please be courteous and in

responding to each of the can diets and please refrain from responding until they have completed their statements. the moderator, that's me, does have the authority to add time to a candidate if i feel that his response has been interrupt ed by audience members. now on to our candidates. governor sam brownback has served four years -- [cheering] this part of it is not timed. governor sam brownback served four years as the 46th governor of kansas. previously, brownback served as kansas secretary of agriculture. he has served one term representing kansas in the u.s. house of representatives and two full terms representing kansas in the u.s. senate. his running mate is lieutenant governor jeff collier.

governor sam brownback. brownback: thank you. thank you. [applause] >> moderator: his democratic challenger, in this election -- [cheers and applause] is state representative paul davis. representative davis has spent the last 11 years in the kansas house of representatives. that is 2008. he has served as minority leader in the house. his running mate in this election is jill docking. [cheers and applause] all right. as agreed to previously, governor brown back will have the first opening statement. brownback: second. >> moderator: second, my apologies. representative davis will have the first opening statement.

>> welcome to the state fair. i'm paul davis. i'm a moderate. a common sense leader, an independent thinker. i'm also the son of two teachers and parent of a soon to be kidder gartner. that is why the issue of public education is personal to me. i have been a 12-year champion of public schools in the legislature. i oppose governor brown back's single largest cut to public school funding in state history. i will make restoring those cuts my very top priority as governor and that's why i am supported by over 100 current and former republican elected officials. [applause] the governor's experiment just isn't working. we are trailing our surrounding states and the rest of the country in virtually every economic growth indicator there is and it is plunged our state deep into debt, $1.3 billion over the next five years, jeopardizing our schools

and our future. we can do better. we have a clear choice in this election about whether we're going to restore the cuts to our public schools and get our state moving again or whether we're going to hit the act sell rate tore on a failed failed economic experiment. today government will try to convince you i'm somebody different than who i am. try to convince you that his record is something different than it is. reality i'm a moderate common sense leader who values our public schools and make them my very top priority as governor. [applause] brownback: good morning, kansas. good morning, kansas state fair. [cheers and applause] representative davis, welcome good to have you here. i've been coming to these for over 40 years and i love the great kansas get together. this is fabulous.

now everything you heard from representative davis is wrong. i'm sorry to say. [applause] number one, there are more kansans working now than ever in the history of the state. number two, we put more money in education than ever in the history of the state. and number three, and this is a big one, number three is a big one, i support our rural schools. i'm opposed to forced consolidation of our rural schools. now, my opponent unfortunately doesn't have, share my support for our rural schools. his top education advisor, john grattle, is for forced consolidation. he said this about our rural schools. listen to this. consolidation is inevitable. quote, and the sooner they realize that the better off they will be. i say no. no forced consolidation of rural schools. i disagree with that. i think that is the wrong way to go. i went to a rural school.

we need to preserve those. i call on representative davis to remove john grattle as top education advisor and education commission he appointed him to. thank you for being here at the kansas state fair this is a great get together and we'll have a lively debate. good morning. [cheers and applause] >> moderator: i want to remind our audience as we get into this debate with the questions, please be courteouses because i will add time if i feel you're interrupting the candidate. after he has answered, you can do whatever you want to within reason, okay? all right. on to our questions. the first question will come from alex dingman with wibw radio news staff. >> thank you, kelly. all right. let's talk education funding. in 2008-2009, kansas spent

$4400 in base state aid per pupil. last year it was around 3hundred according to the kansas legislative research department. do you feel like we are spending enough money per student and what will you do to insure that our kids are set up for success. >> moderator: governor brownback will answer first. brownback: thank you very much for the question and we have put a record amount of money in k12 education and we'll continue to spend and spend aggressively for k12 education in the state of kansas. we put 52% of our budget in it and that is great. those are numbers. i want to talk people. my daughter is here as a fifth grade teacher and she loves teaching. and it is the teachers that do so much for us in making our state a great place. my oldest son is going into education. he wants to be a proevery if. i started out in education. what i am saying is we're putting record amounts of money in education but we do that because we as a state love education.

we see education as a transformative thing. like what gary harvey did for me, my voag teacher, when he brought me to the kansas state fair. got me involved in future farmers of america. he was elected state president of it. we'll put more money in education and we value the system that produces such great people like my daughter who loves education so much and here with us today. [cheering] davis: now governor brownback will try very hard to rewrite his record on education but he simply has never made education a priority. when he was in the u.s. senate he voted against head start repeatedly. he voted against after school perhaps. voted for funding, voted against funding for new teachers. then in his first year in office he implemented the largest single cut to public school funding in state history and he called it, a victory.

he has cut early childhood education. he has cut higher education. we need a governor who is going to make restoring the cuts that governor brownback made to our public schools the very top priority and that is exactly what i will do as governor. [cheers and applause] >> moderator: governor, 30 seconds of rebuttal time. brownback: i wish paul davis voted for money we put education. he has societied against it every chance he began. when he was looking for running re-election in 2010, no i'm not going to be governor again because i'm the architect of the largest budget cuts in the history of the state of kansas, the largest tax increase in the state of kansas and paul davis voted for that! that is what he voted for. he talks a good game and then he votes the other way. >> moderator: next question. next question will come from

nick sween, managing editor of the hayes daily news. and it will go to representative davis first. >> by not allowing the federal expansion of medicate to take place in kansas it is estimated we have left 380,000 rest den without coverage. hospitals in rural and depressed settings continue to treat these individuals with local communities eventually paying the price. representative davis, what would you do with this component of the affordable care act and governor brownback, do you have any future plans? davis: well, i will tell you what i do and not to play politics with this issue. i spent a lot of time listening to hospital administrators, listening to nursing home administrators, listening to physicians, listening to people who own home health agencies and listening to over 150,000 kansans who could get coverage from this our rural hospitals desperately need this i have had

too many conversations with rural hospital administrators who have said they may be have to close their doors if this doesn't happen. we can inject $3 billion into our state's economy. we can create lots of jobs. i will not play politics with this. i will follow what other republican governors are going to do. much chris christie in new jersey, jan brewer in arizona. that is what we should do. [cheering] brownback: now let me be clear here. what representative davis wants is to implement obamacare. that's what is after. he was for an early innovator grant in the state of kansas. obamacare will cost us a billion dollars to implement. it will move people ahead of the list that are on waiting lists,

created by the former administration in medicare. and medicaid. by the way on the rural hospitals, obamacare took money from medicare which goes to our rural hospitals and put it into medicaid which doesn't go as much and he supports obamacare. that is taking money directly from our rural hospitals. he shouldn't have supported obama care in the first place. that is not the place to do it. and we is expanded medicaid. we added0,000 people to medicaid since i have been governor of the state of kansas. and we've taken people off the waiting list because of doctor collier's work as lieutenant governor, a surgeon heading up our medicaid list. we have expanded and have a better medicaid system than obamacare. [cheers and applause] >> moderator: representative davis, 30 second rebuttal time. davis: governor, i just don't think you're listening to our hospitals because what i hear from them over and over again this is an issue of survival for

them. frankly on top of your kan care program which has been disaster for them they have had claim after claim after claim denied. they're not getting paid. not really managed care. it is limited care or no care in many circumstances. i'm going to follow those republican governors, your friend, who said they're going to do the right thing with this. for chris christie, jan brewer, john kasich. they have put the people of their state before politics and that is exactly what i'm going to do. [cheers and applause] >> moderator: i'm reminded again we're in the breaths and young injury lawyers arena. let's hope we don't have any injured lawyers before this is over today. by the way, it is a gorgeous day here on the state fairground. brownback: yes it is. >> moderator: our next question will come from michael swanke,

kwch-tv in wichita. it will go to governor brownback first. >> thank you, thank you for having me and thank you for gentleman. i want to know which one takes credit for the weather today. it is beautiful. brownback: i've been praying a lot. [cheers and applause] >> here's my question. the kansas legislature is non-partisan research staff shows a state budget shortfall developing by july of 2016. the reserves will cover the deficit next year but, but, by july of 2016, there will be a $238 million short fall. how do you address that, if you will cut, then where specifically, if not, will you raise taxes? brownback: thanks for the question. you know when i came into office the prior administration that paul davis had voted for and helped with left us $876.05 in

the bank account and projected deficit, a projected deficit of billion 1/2, billiondollars over the next 16, 18 months. we fixed it. we ended this fiscal year with $434 million cash on hand. $434 million. and what we are doing, we are growing. we are hitting our budget numbers. and we'll put those budgets together and we'll be in great shape now my opponent for a long time has been saying look, sky is falling, sky is falling. the sky fell while he ran the place. our budget was in a catastrophe and our caper system was in the bankruptcy zone and it now isn't. we'll continue to perform and perform well and having a good solid budget, and investing in k-12 education, record amounts of money like we have been. [cheers and applause]

davis: you know governor brownback is just sticking his head in the sand on this issue. governor, you're $876 number has been disproved over and over and over again, you need to stop saying that. there was over $230 million in the bank when you took office and you know it. we are in this situation, make no doubt about it, we are in this situation of debt, debt, debt, down the road because of the governor's economic experiment. $1.3 billion over the next five years. that is jeopardizing the quality of education for an entire generation of kansas kids, including my daughter. and i'm not going to stand for it. we've got to do something about it. >> time. [cheers and applause] brownback: yes, yes, paul davis proposed to do something about it. to raise income taxes on the

lowest income people in the state of kansas. he is proposing, he is proposing to raise 17% income tax on people making $15,000. why do people making $15,000, why do pay income taxes in the first place? we should be allowing them to earn money that they can keep and they can use in their own lives. here is a nun fun difference. he thinks the government spends your money better than you do. i think you spend your money better than the government spend it. [cheers and applause] >> moderator: our next question will again come from alex dingman with the wibw radio news staff. alex. >> throughout the downturn in the economy agriculture has been able to withstand a lot of economic woes. in the past months we see announcements by ag

manufacturers at the plants are going to be laid off. any concern on your part, maybe early signs of struggles ahead for the ag industry in the state. >> moderator: this will go to representative davis first. >> we certainly hope not because our agriculture economy is vital to the future of our state. we need to do some very key things if we're going to be a i believe to help agriculture grow. we'll have to deal with this water problem that we have. you know, i will give the governor a little bit of credit here because he heightened the discussion about this, but the problem is that we have not made it a priority. everybody that you talk to, about the water issue knows we are going to have to devote some resources to this. the governor has defunded our water plan every year that he has been in office. we can not address this issue and other critical issues that we have not only for kansas agriculture but for our whole state when our state is in

$1.3 billion of debt and that is exactly where the governor's economic experiment has taken us [cheering] brownback: i have some concerns for the agriculture industry and a lot of it comes from the obama administration which my opponent supports. the obama administration wants to regulate water in every ditch in the state of kansas. they want to rule the ditch. i say ditch the rule. he is for this. i'm against this. the obama administration wants to regulate prairie chickens in the state of kansas so a third of the state you can't farm. they want to regulate all of the range. i want you to be able to have a home and business out on the range. this is what he stands for, an administration that opposed to rural america. that is opposed to rural america, that is fighting our way of life and our opportunities. i want to see us do is be able to grow and under our

administration we have grown. kansas dairy industry, fastest growing in america. kansas wind production has doubled while i've been in office. oil and gas production has increased. agriculture is growing and will continue to grow under second brownback administration. i'm the son of a farmer. i know agriculture. it will do under a brownback administration. [cheers and applause] >> moderator: governor you mentioned the wind industry and your support from the wind industry which seems to be changing here lately. if we're going to help rural kansas, we've got to have a renewable portfolio standard that will show the wind industry that we are open for business. the a few weeks ago, you said you supported it and then you didn't. now you don't again. what is your position on the renewable portfolio standard? are you going to support it? brownback: i'm sporting a lot more than you did who voted against it because it was

associated with the holcomb power plant. you're against the rpa. davis: will you receipt toe a bill that repeals rps? this is critical issue for our state. brownback: see if the bill gets to my desk. davis: i will stand up for the wind industry in our state. its future. we need it for our economy. [cheers and applause] >> moderator: well,. [shouting] we need to get on with our questions. i certainly glad i wore my control briefs this morning. nobody said this was going to abdul debate, okay? all right. our next question, comes from

nick sween, managing editor hayes daily news. 2 will go to governor brownback first. >> touching on the water issue, even as a plan to save rapidly declining aquifer is being put together it appears there therel be irrigatetors to cut down their usage. voluntary efforts would be great but fly in the face of economic times. would either of you advocate truly what is necessary, mandate dramatic reductions? brownback: thank you for the question on water. without water we have no future. that's why i put so much time and effort into the issues of water in this state. that's why we repealed use it or lose it water doctrine that should have been repealed a long time ago. that's why we implemented strategy i think is the right way forward. the local intensive management areas. that may be in the weed for you but what it is it is a group of agriculture, farmers, users, city people, that are using water and bind themselves

together to reduce the amount of water they use. we've got the first one in northwest kansas. they bound themselves together over a five-year period to reduce the amount of water using by six inches. that will amount over a lot over period of time to conserve and extend the ogilala aquifer. this is topic i've been working on since in law school and wrote on it. this is topic i worked on while agriculture secretary. we have a 50-year water vision being developed. i have credibility on moving this topic forward and we have to address our reservoirs some which are sitting in. we'll start next year first dredging in the reservoir in the state of kansas. we'll have water stops supplies in east of kansas as well. >> stop. davis: this is the most critical long-term issue that our issue our state has. it is a complex issue. a lot of people have very different opinions on this but i will tell you that everybody who is a stakeholder in this debate will agree on one thing. it is going to take some

resources to address this issue and we have to address this issue because it is vital to our state's economy. the governor the other day attacks me for not having credibility. well, you know, credibility would mean you would fund the current water plan that we have but he has defunded it every year he has been in office in order to subsidize his economic experiment that is failing our state. led to three credit rating downgrades. has us 45th in the country in new business creation and has run up $1.3 billion of debt that means more school cuts down the road. brownback: i don't know where you learned your math paul, but must be one of those newfangled things people don't agree with because your math is all wrong, all wrong. our unemployment rate is 4.9%. we have a record number of kansans working. we have the fastest growing

economy in the region and more new businesses created than ever in the history of the state. i don't know where he gets his math. and by the way on water issues, who do you think he would appoint at kdhe? somebody like rod bramby that shut down holcombe before. somebody that didn't agree with you. >> stop. >> moderator: next question. comes from michael skuzie, kwch-tv in wichita. >> schwanke. >> >> moderator: my apologies. >> did you say snoozecy? am i that boring? this goes to mr. davis correct? >> moderator: yes. >> i have a couple of directed questions so i will begin there. mr. davis you criticized your

opponent on education funding issues and said if he is elected again funding for kansas public schools will be cut. my question to you, what is your specific plan for education and how will you pay for it? are you willing to pay taxes to pay for education? >> that is interesting, the governor was talking about math problems. i haven't made any billion dollar mistakes, governor. we can not grow as a state if we are going to be encumbered by debt that is going to lead to more school cuts. governor brownback has shown us before that he will cut schools and he will have to do it again. what we've got to do is end this experiment that isn't working. i propose ad plan to do exactly that, freeze tax rates where they are on january 1. let's get our fiscal house in order. and let's make restoring our school cuts the very top priority. that is what the children of

kansas deserve. >> moderator: governor? brownback: i will continue to support education. we'll continue to put fund in it and more fund in it. i will continue to support our schools in the state of kansas, let's go through this cut. the cut was the obama stimulus money going away that paul davis agreed putting it in the budget in 2010 under mark parkinson. i came into office. they left me a $500 million projected hole. we put 100 million more in education that first year. it wasn't the 200 million that the obama administration pulled away with. these are budgets and situations that he left. he left us fiscal train wreck in the state of kansas and he is democrat leader then. he is the nancy pelosi of kansas. that's what he did. [cheers and applause]

>> moderator: 30 seconds. >> as governor, you can blame everybody you want, but the fact is remains that you made the single largest cut to public school funding. all you have to do is talk to these teachers out here. i talked to a teacher the other day and over 30 kids in her classroom because of the cuts that you have made to public schools. you have never made public schools a priority unless it is an election right before you. we need a governor who is a 12-year champion of public schools. that is what i've been and that is what i will be of as governor. [cheers and applause] >> moderator: by the way, for the benefit of our radio audience, and this is airing live, on wibw radio. it is also being streamed on our website and i know it is going to be running on many other radio stations throughout the state, i want to tell our radio audience that there is no

seating room left in this arena. and we have many people on the sides. i've been at this fair for many years involved in activities and i have never seen this many people in here. [cheers and applause] much. all right. our next question will come from alex dingman and go to governor brownback first. >> with fewer jobs offering pensions some public pension systems facing underfunding and more than 70 million workers without access to retirement account at work, what will you do to help kansans save so they can have a secure financial future? brownback: one of the key things we've already done for kansans that are saving for their future is fix the kapers mess i inherited. the system within the bankruptcy zone and they're about a quarter of a million of kansans on kapers. it was in the bankruptcy zone

with about a 10 billion unfunded obligation. it was second least funded in america. fortunately illinois was there we would have been the least funded in america of our pension system. jeff and i went about fixing it. we put more fund in it. we put more funds in kapers for the system next year. they have a cash balance system on new folks coming in. now, a number of different ratings agency we're rated middle of the pack and we're out the bankruptcy zone on kape are s. it is amazing accomplishment we're able to do on bipartisan basis and move that system on forward so we can save. that is a critical one and been a fabulous accomplishment for us moving that system on forward to solvency. [cheers and applause] davis: i'm very proud to have as my running mate jill docking who devoted 30 years as financial advisor and she has been a

strong advocate on this issue for many, many years. you can bet she will be involved in in our administration. what we can do to help people save is get our economy above the national average, not below the national average. look where we are at right now. the governor's own council of economic advisors documented that we are trailing states in our region in virtually every economic indicator there is. our credit rating has been downgraded three times. we're 45th in the nation in new business creation. in 2013 more businesses closed up shop than opened shop. it is because we have an economic experiment that isn't working. let's return to a proven kansas model of growing our economy and that is how we're going to help kansas. [cheering] brownback: when he talks about a proven kansas model listen carefully. he is talking about raising your

taxes. that is what he is talking about. and initial tax increase goes on people making $15,000 a year. i again union why they're paying income taxes in the first place. why would you tax somebody making that much income? our plan is creating jobs. let me give you a quick story. patty foster, we cut income taxes. she is in a position now, she is expanding her business from topeka, to manhattan, kansas. we had record number of new business filings in the secretary of state office. i don't know if he can't find that office or what but that is what is happening in the state of kansas. [cheers and applause] >> next question, i believe. >> moderator: rebuttal time? >> next question. >> moderator: got it. next question will come from, next question will come from

nick sween. >> what are your thoughts and what is your stance on the proposed coal-fired power plant to be located in holcomb, kansas >> moderator: this will go to representative davis first. >> you know, when this issue came before the legislature a number of years ago i represented my district on this issue. my district had strong feelings about it and i didn't support the plant. but the fact of the matter is, that the permit has been issued and this issue is out of the hands of elected officials at this time. there is nothing that governor brownback or i can do more. but what we do need to do is to continue to grow the energy sector of our economy and the way that we can do that is to support the wind industry and to show the wind industry that we are open for business. if we're going to do that, we've got to have a governor that will stand up for our renewable

portfolio standards. governor brownback said a few weeks ago, he would phase out, then he said a few hours, later, no, i didn't really mean that. then a couple days ago i think i will phase it out. we need certainty. the wind industry needs certainty. they need a governor who will stand behind them because this is critical to the future of our economy. [cheering] [shouting] >> moderator: governor, those were your people so. i like the guy with the bongos. by the way. brownback: i support the coal-fired power plant out of holcomb be, a clean coal plant. i support ad proposal that it went together with which was an rps and coal-fired power plant proposal came together in front of the legislature. that was the deal that was brokered and my opponent was so

extreme, so liberal, so much the nancy pelosi of kansas he votes against what mark parkinson put forward is a proven deal to get both of those forward, rps and coal-fired power plant. by the way i supported renewable portfolio, the tax credit federally. i supported those. that is what doubled wind energy in this state. i will stand second to nobody on support for wind. it is doubled in this state while i have been governor. it's a great resource that we have. my dad was raced on a farm using wind energy. we can do it. we can do it moving forward and we will. [applause] davis: governor a lot of good rhetoric on wind but the other day you said you would support a faceout. that is going to hurt the economy of kansas. just down the road here, siemens, 400 great jobs. i want more of them. will you commit, as i will, to

veto a repeal of the renewable portfolio standard? >> moderator: all right. next question. it will come from michael swanke, in wichita. did i get it right, michael? >> you got it right. one more specific to a candidate, this goes to governor brownback, correct? >> moderator: yes. >> governor brownback i have to address the issue because it is so recent. you in reese weeks endorsed a kansas supreme court justice with less than a year experience on the bench and worked for your administration. can you answer your critics including your opponent instead of choosing a judge with more than 20 years on the bench, you chose a political ally? brownback: absolutely i will answer that question. caleb stiegel is the most qualified talented person on the kansas supreme court today. i would like, if you let me say what he is. he graduated third in his class at ku.

he is clerked for a circuit court judge, one of the most respected jurists in the state of kansas. he worked for the largest law firm in the state of kansas. he was an elected prosecutor in jefferson county. he has been a prosecutor there. he had a great private practice. he was general counsel for me. and he was on the court of a appeals. there is nobody that even applied that is close to his qualifications. nobody. that applied even close to his qualifications. this is an incredible, one of the people on the panel called him a legal prodigy. saying this guy is an amazing qualified, candidate. and he is. he could end up, up in the court of appeals on up to the federal court of appeals or further in the future. he is a amazingly qualified, brilliant, man. [cheers and applause] davis: governor had a choice between three people.

one had 24 years experience as a judge. the other had 23 years experience as a judge. a woman. and mr. stiegel, who has less than one year. i think it is pretty clear that he din choose experience here. and that is consistent with what he wants to do to the judicial selection process. he wants to take away the transparency. he wants the governor to have more power so he can inject morepolitics into our judicial selection process. we have a process that has served this state very well. and we need to keep that process. [cheers and applause] brownback: paul davis is a liberal and he would appoint a liberal on the supreme court. and there is another thing. the u.s. supreme court just overturn ad kansas supreme court decision 9-0 on a death penalty

case. 9-0. the u.s. supreme court overturned the kansas supreme court. i put a former prosecutor on the kansas supreme court. he is not going to vote for an opinion that gets overturned, 9-0 by the u.s. supreme court on a death penalty case. that is an important thing to have is somebody with some breadth of experience and that prosecutorial experience. >> time. [applause] >> moderator: next question will come from alex dingman, wibw radio news staff and will be directed initially to representative davis. >> a lot of news this year that the va systems here in the nation and, are broken. do you feel this is true for kansas veterans? is the system working or are they getting needed treatment they require and deserve? davis: well, i have a little bit of special perspective because my wife is a psychologist and she has spent her entire career

helping homeless veterans and there some serious problems in the va system. and you don't want to get her starred on it because boy she will give you an earful about it, but, there are a lot of things that we can do. our kansas hospitals and health care providers to help veterans across the state. many veterans are located in places where they don't have access to a va. i think we ought to create a system where they can get access to health care, va, government sponsored health care they have been entitled to, they are deserve and sacrificed for at hospitals all around kansas and i would like to work with the federal government to make that possible to do something very good for veterans. [applause] p. brownback: we need to do a lot better by our veterans and i think they're being let down bit va i said that then. say i it now.

unfortunately what you're seeing in the va system a waiting, a system where people have to queue up and you have got to wait because there is not enough care available. and they're making people do that. we need to add more resources in the va system. we need to take care of our veterans better but there is as a cautionary tale. this is what you get under obamacare. you're going to get a waiting system where you're going to get a rationing but their rationing will be out of a waiting. they're not going to say you're going to be denied any care. what they are going to say you have got to wait to get care. you want to get a knee replaced? fine, get in line. that is the problem. and that has been the problem with the va system. is they are making people queue up and wait. that is not what we should do to our veterans. certainly not what we should to do health care for all americans. and unfortunately my opponent supports obamacare and its expansion and implementation, which this administration isn't even implementing obamacare because it doesn't work.

[applause] >> you know i can understand why someone who spent 16 years is fixated on washington, d.c. you know there is only one candidate on this stage that has an open presidential campaign committee and i can assure you that it is not me. and governor, if you want to make this election about who it is that i supported for president, you might take a look at your last selection for president. he is under indictment in texas. [shouting] >> moderator: before we get to our next question, and by the way, thanks to both of you for keeping this lively. brownback: you're welcome. >> moderator: before we ask our next question, are your running mates here. davis: yes. brownback: yes. >> moderator: governor brownback, jeff collier, where

are you. brownback: there. >> moderator: representative davis. jill docking. >> jill docking. [applause] >> moderator: i might also add their families are here today. just, if you don't mind, just standing up. here we go. [applause] we've got time for maybe two more questions here. let's go to nick sween, managing editor, hayes daily news. >> thank you. many people in western kansas believe those in the highest power that speak have little regard for those in their region of the state. what are your plans to ease the minds of western kansans to let them know the highest ranking official in the state deems them just as worthy as those in the eastern portion of the state? >> moderator: governor? brownback: well, i'm going to do what i've been doing, that's be

there a lot. i've been in all 105 counties as governor. i've been in all 105 counties many times. i don't know if my opponent has been in all 105 counties at all. i love the rural parts of this state and i go there often and i work on their issues. i work issues like water. i work on issues like preserving our schools. i work on issues like variety and on education and things to be able to grow the economy. i will involve a number of them in our administration. the head of kdhe was a rural doctor in tribune, kansas. can't get much better than that or further west than that. pat george out of dodge city is head of the secretary of commerce and does a fabulous job and understands the heart and soul. by the way my running mate grew up in hayes america and there is only one of those. we'll involve people in our administration that are from all parts of the state and from the rural parts of the state to bring in that attitude. and our rural opportunity zones has been a great opportunity for

rural areas. zero income taxes if you move into one of these counties and helping with $15,000 on student loans through our rural opportunity zones that our administration started. [applause] >> moderator: all right. davis: we are a rural state. this fair is a great celebration of rural kansas and when i spend time in rural kansas i have got some great supporters, folks like fred kerr in pratt. steve morris, former republican member of legislature supporting my candidacy for governor. we can offer all the incentives we want and some of them are very, very important and governor, i supported your rural opportunity zones but folks are not going to continue to live in rural kansas if we don't have great public schools and that's why we have got to restore the cuts to our public schools. earlier governor, you mentioned

consolidation. your school finance plan would have been a disaster for rural kansas. the superintendent of schools right here in hutchinson said, this was a worst-case scenario for his school district. that is one of the reasons it didn't go anywhere in the legislature. i will be a governor that will stand up for rural schools. no forced consolidation. [applause] brownback: paul davis is a democrat leader in the house. there are now no elected democrats in the statehouse west of 81 highway. they have got so lib a, that january pauls, the state representative from here, switched parties to become a republican because of that. [applause] and, people are important. so tyler longpine worked for paul davis. long time person that worked for him. he wrote this, no two kansas

communities less interested in one another than douglas county and western kansas. it is important who you have around you and how they associate and what they say. >> time. . .

they are trying very hard to do something about it and i want to work with them as governor to help grow the economy in wichita. some of the highest unemployment in the state there and we need a governor who's going to roll up his sleeves to be a partner with communities and use proven solutions to grow our economy and that's what i will do. [applause] brownback: i agree with representative davis. that's a local decision for their at the state level we will and we do use state money to be able to recruit businesses in. that's how we got mars in the state of kansas but it was a sweet deal. glad we got them here. it's also but as creating a better tax apartment in kansas we are growing private sector jobs on the kansas side of kansas city three times faster than on the missouri side because we got our taxes down and that's a critical thing for growth. we can make kansas city a kansas

city with more private sector jobs if they're the better environment on our side, a great education system, better tax system, good highways and that's what we will continue to do in my administration. [applause] >> moderator: all right. we're going to go to closing statements now. as agreed you prior to the debate governor brownback will have his closing statement first. brownback: thank you all for being here. thank you for making this entertaining and it certainly has been that. i love coming to the kansas state fair. it's one of those great chances get-togethers. i love seeing all the people and products of the land and what the state is about. the goodhearted people of kansas are fabulous. there are none better anywhere in the world. these are the best people anywhere. i'll stand up and fight for you everyday and i would love this job been able to do. just called you and i want to think that we want to make this state the best place in america to raise them and grow a small business. we are a long ways along a path

to do that. we are going to keep pushing that dream, keep pushing that model. of kansas campus bright shining star. moving forward with a debate out of a lot of problems from the past, a lot of things that haven't worked well in our past and we're on the right track now in moving our state on forward. this is what we want a great chances come back to be all about, the great chances come back is about your kids and grandkids moving home, not to texas. we want them here. we want them so we don't have to fly somewhere to get our kids. we want them here. they are coming back and people are moving back into the state of kansas and ceding all the things that are happening here. it's happening here and people are investing their lives because they have a great future. this is a fabulous place. there is no place better, no place better to watch a sunset, no place better to have a family, no place better to live

in kansas. we're going to make it even better. thank you for being here. god bless you all. and god bless kansas. [applause] go. >> moderator: all right. now in the interest of time, in the interest of time we must get the closing statement in from representative davis. please. davis: our state simply is not headed in the right direction. the governors experiment isn't working and it's not going to work. it's damaging or schools, hurting our economy, jeopardizing our future. we have a clear choice in this election. i've been a champion for our public schools. i've been a 15 year member of my chamber of commerce. i know how to make a payroll. that's why i am supported by over 100 current and former republican elected officials. [applause] so if you believe that your government shouldn't turn our

state into an ideological laboratory, i asked for your support. if you believe that we don't need a red state model or a blue state model, but what we need is a proven kansas model to grow our economy, i ask for your support. and if you believe we need a true champion in the governors office for our public schools, i ask for your support. if you believe that we need a governor will work with people from all political parties to solve the issues facing our state, i ask for your support. and if you believe that we need a governor who will always put the people of kansas before his own personal political agenda, i ask for your support. i'm paul davis. i'm a lifelong kansans i'm a moderate. i'm an independent thinker. i am a commonsense leader, and together, we can restore kansas and get our state back on the right track. thank you very much. [applause]

>> moderator: you've been listening to a live debate, gubernatorial debate at the kansas state fair. >> the house benghazi committee held its first hearing today. witnesses include assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security gregory starr whose post was great after the 2012 consulate attack. you can see the hearing live at kenyon eastern on c-span3. >> secretary of state john kerry testifies today at two hearings looking at the administration strategy to combat isis. we'll bring live coverage of his appearance before the senate foreign relations committee. at 2:30 p.m. eastern on c-span3. >> this weekend on the c-span networks --

>> president obama announced an expanded u.s. response plan to the ebola crisis. his remarks came during a visit tuesday to the centers for disease control and prevention in atlanta. it's 10 minutes.

[inaudible conversations] >> good afternoon, everybody. please be seated. i want to thank dr. frieden and everybody here at the centers for disease control and prevention for welcoming me here today. tom and his team just gave me an update on the ebola outbreak in west africa, our efforts to help mobilize the international community to fight it, and the steps that we're taking to keep people here at home safe. tom and his team are doing outstanding work. between the specialists they have on the ground in west africa and here at headquarters, they've got hundreds of professionals who are working tirelessly on this issue. this is the largest international response in the history of the cdc. after this, i'll be meeting with

some of these men and women, including some who recently returned from the front lines of the outbreak. and they represent public service at its very best. and so i just want them to know how much the american people appreciate them. many of them are serving far away from home, away from their families. they are doing heroic work and serving in some unbelievably challenging conditions, working through exhaustion, day and night, and many have volunteered to go back. so we are very, very proud of them. their work and our efforts across the government is an example of what happens when america leads in confronting some major global challenges. faced with this outbreak, the world is looking to us, the united states, and it's a responsibility that we embrace. we're prepared to take leadership on this to provide the kinds of capabilities that only america has, and to mobilize the world in ways that only america can do.

that's what we're doing as we speak. first and foremost, i want the american people to know that our experts, here at the cdc and across our government, agree that the chances of an ebola outbreak here in the united states are extremely low. we've been taking the necessary precautions, including working with countries in west africa to increase screening at airports so that someone with the virus doesn't get on a plane for the united states. in the unlikely event that someone with ebola does reach our shores, we've taken new measures so that we're prepared here at home. we're working to help flight crews identify people who are sick, and more labs across our country now have the capacity to quickly test for the virus. we're working with hospitals to make sure that they are prepared, and to ensure that our doctors, our nurses and our medical staff are trained, are ready, and are able to deal with a possible case safely.

and here i've got to commend everybody at emory university hospital. i just had the opportunity to meet with doctors gartland and ribner and members of their team and the nurses who -- sorry, doctors, but having been in hospitals, i know -- (laughter) -- they're the ones really doing the work. and i had a chance to thank them for their extraordinary efforts in helping to provide care for the first americans who recently contracted the disease in africa. the first two of those patients were released last month and continue to improve. and it's a reminder for the american people that, should any cases appear in the united states, we have world-class facilities and professionals ready to respond. and we have effective surveillance mechanisms in place. i should mention, by the way, that i had a chance to see dr. brantly in the oval office this morning. and although he is still having

to gain back some weight, he looks great. he looks strong and we are incredibly grateful to him and his family for the service that he has rendered to people who are a lot less lucky than all of us. as we all know, however, west africa is facing a very different situation, especially in the hardest hit countries, liberia, sierra leone, and in guinea. tom and others recently returned from the region, and the scenes that they describe are just horrific. more than 2,400 men, women and children are known to have died, and we strongly suspect that the actual death toll is higher than that. hospitals, clinics and the few treatment centers that do exist have been completely overwhelmed. an already very weak public health system is near collapse

in these countries. patients are being turned away, and people are literally dying in the streets. now, here's the hard truth. in west africa, ebola is now an epidemic of the likes that we have not seen before. it's spiraling out of control. it is getting worse. it's spreading faster and exponentially. today, thousands of people in west africa are infected. that number could rapidly grow to tens of thousands. and if the outbreak is not stopped now, we could be looking at hundreds of thousands of people infected, with profound political and economic and security implications for all of us. so this is an epidemic that is not just a threat to regional security, it's a potential threat to global security if these countries break down, if their economies break down, if people panic. that has profound effects on all of us, even if we are not directly contracting the

disease. and that's why, two months ago, i directed my team to make this a national security priority. we're working this across our entire government, which is why today i'm joined by leaders throughout my administration, including from my national security team. and we've devoted significant resources in support of our strategy with four goals in mind. number one, to control the outbreak. number two, to address the ripple effects of local economies and communities to prevent a truly massive humanitarian disaster. number three, to coordinate a broader global response. and number four, to urgently build up a public health system in these countries for the future, not just in west africa but in countries that don't have a lot of resources generally. now, this is a daunting task. but here's what gives us hope.

the world knows how to fight this disease. it's not a mystery. we know the science. we know how to prevent it from spreading. we know how to care for those who contract it. we know that if we take the proper steps, we can save lives. but we have to act fast. we can't dawdle on this one. we have to move with force and make sure that we are catching this as best we can, given that it has already broken out in ways that we had not seen before. so today, i'm announcing a major increase in our response. at the request of the liberian government, we're going to establish a military command center in liberia to support civilian efforts across the region, similar to our response after the haiti earthquake. it's going to be commanded by major general darryl williams, commander of our army forces in africa. he just arrived today and is now on the ground in liberia.

and our forces are going to bring their expertise in command and control, in logistics, in engineering. and our department of defense is better at that, our armed services are better at that than any organization on earth. we're going to create an air bridge to get health workers and medical supplies into west africa faster. we're going to establish a staging area in senegal to help distribute personnel and aid on the ground more quickly. we are going to create a new training site to train thousands of health workers so they can effectively and safely care for more patients. personnel from the u.s. public health service will deploy to the new field hospitals that we're setting up in liberia. and usaid will join with international partners and local communities in a community care campaign to distribute supplies and information kits to hundreds of thousands of families so they can better protect themselves.

we're also going to build additional treatment units, including new isolation spaces and more than 1,000 beds. and in all our efforts, the safety of our personnel will remain a top priority. meanwhile, our scientists continue their urgent research in the hope of finding new treatments and perhaps vaccines. and today i'm calling on congress to approve the funding that we've requested so that we can carry on with all these critical efforts. today, the united states is doing even more. but this is a global threat, and it demands a truly global response. international organizations just have to move faster than they have up until this point. more nations need to contribute experienced personnel, supplies, and funding that's needed, and they need to deliver on what they pledge quickly. charities and individual philanthropists have given generously, and they can make a big difference. and so we're not restricting these efforts to governmental

organizations. we also need ngos and private philanthropies to work with us in a coordinated fashion in order to maximize the impact of our response. this week, the united states will chair an emergency meeting of the u.n. security council. next week, i'll join u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon to continue mobilizing the international community around this effort. and then, at the white house, we're going to bring more nations together to strengthen our global health security so that we can better prevent, detect and respond to future outbreaks before they become epidemics. this is actually something that we had announced several months ago at the g7 meeting. we determined that this has to be a top priority. this was before the ebola outbreak. we anticipated the fact that in many of these countries with a weak public health system, if we don't have more effective

surveillance, more effective facilities on the ground, and are not helping poor countries in developing their ability to catch these things quickly, that there was at least the potential of seeing these kinds of outbreaks. and sadly, we now see that our predictions were correct. it gives more urgency to this effort, a global health initiative, that we have been pushing internationally. let me just close by saying this. the scenes that we're witnessing in west africa today are absolutely gut-wrenching. in one account over the weekend, we read about a family in liberia. the disease had already killed the father. the mother was cradling a sick and listless five-year-old son. her other son, 10-years-old, was dying, too. they finally reached a treatment center but they couldn't get in. and, said a relative, we are just sitting. these men and women and children are just sitting, waiting to

die, right now. and it doesn't have to be this way. the reality is that this epidemic is going to get worse before it gets better. but right now, the world still has an opportunity to save countless lives. right now, the world has the responsibility to act, to step up, and to do more. the united states of america intends to do more. we are going to keep leading in this effort. we're going to do our part, and we're going to continue to make sure that the world understands the need for them to step alongside us as well in order for us to not just save the lives of families like the one i just discussed, but ultimately, to make sure that this doesn't have the kinds of spillover effects that become even more difficult to control. so thank you very much to the entire team that's already doing this work. and please know that you've got

your president and commander-in-chief behind you. thank you. >> senate republican leader mitch mcconnell here's part of this leader time to talk about his support for the president people initiative. his comments were followed by senator lamar alexander. >> today president obama will visit the centers for disease control and prevention to announce new efforts to contain the ebola epidemic in west africa. the u.s.-africa command will stand up a joint force command in monrovia liberia to provide command and control of u.s. military activities and help

coordinate international relief efforts. current estimates are that 3000 military personnel will establish an intermediate base for supplies and equipment set up a training site to prepare 500 health care workers per week to provide medical care to patients, and stand up a field defense department hospital to take care of any of our health care workers who become ill. also contributing to our national reaction to this epidemic are the u.s. agency for international development, the cdc has deployed personnel to africa, and the national institute of health is developing an investigational ebola vaccine. cdc is also working with the customs and border patrol to identify travelers showing any sign of infectious disease. i support these efforts to contain the ebola epidemic, and know that we will monitor this humanitarian crisis in the weeks

ahead. >> under the previous order, the senate will be in a period of morning business and till 12:30 p.m. with senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. >> thank you, mr. president. before discussing the legislation involving the national labor relations board, which the republican leader mentioned, i'd like to align myself with his comments on the ebola epidemic. he's right, in my view, to support the presidents effort to a more urgent response to this epidemic. i'm not given to making overstatements. i think that would be a fair reputation in this body. but i believe that we should treat the ebola epidemic as seriously as we treat the

dangers of isis. why would i say that? because the head of the center for disease control and our united nations ambassador who is working with other countries to get them involved, say this. this is one of the most deadly explosive epidemics in modern times. it moves rapidly. there is no vaccine and there is no cure. one infected person can fairly quickly infect 20 other persons within the family in these west african countries where it's now a problem. one can see how quickly this could spread and become hundreds of thousands of cases, or even millions of cases. this is a case where samantha powers said to me, we should be running toward the burning flames with our fireproof suits on. in other words, we know how to control it. we know how to identify infected

people and isolate them and treat them, even though half of them die. we know how to do that. but the rate of growth of this epidemic is so rapid that we need to have a response that is as urgent as the problem. so i congratulate the republican leader for supporting the president's efforts today to put an important, to call attention to this. so much is happening in the world that there's a possibility that we would treat the ebola epidemic as an important issue but not a major issue. as i said, thank you i believe that we must take the deadly dangers of threat of ebola as a serious, seriously as we take the threat of isis. and i support the administration's recommendations to spend $30 million in the

continuing resolution to upgrade the humanitarian efforts there. i support the reprogramming of a $500 million to involve the military in a way to deal with this. and i support the effort to spend $86 million which would be to fast-track an effort effort to find a vaccine and then to find, then to find a cure. >> the house benghazi committee holds its first hearing today. witnesses include assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, gregory starr, whose post was great after the 2012 consulate attack. you can see the hearing live starting at 10 a.m. eastern on c-span3. >> the 2015 c-span studentcam review competition is underway. open to all middle and high school students to create a five to seven minute documentary on the theme, the three branches

and you, showing how policy, law or action by the executive, legislative or judicial branch in the federal government has affected you or your community. there are 200 cash prizes totaling $100,000. for the list of rules go to studentcam.org. >> c-span2 providing live coverage of these senate floor proceedings and key public policy events. and every weekend booktv now for 15 years the only television network devoted to nonfiction books and authors. c-span2 created by the cable tv industry and brought to you as a public service by your local cable or satellite provider. watch us in hd, like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. >> the senate is about the gavel in this wednesday morning with the floor open for general speeches until noon eastern. at the time senators will hold a confirmation vote on the nomination to the u.s. ambassador of turkey. then it turkey.

then there would be several more confirmations expected by voice vote including ambassadors to namibia and zambia. later in the week lawmakers are expected to take up a short-term government spending bill through december 11 which includes an amendment to armed syrian rebels against isis. and now to live senate coverage here on c-span2. our guest chap, reverend canon andrew white of st. george's church, baghdad, iraq. the guest chaplain: lord god, to you do we submit the affairs of this new day the work of this senate as it takes it role in leading in a broken world. today may you give this place great wisdom. may this senate be the channel