he got two bills passed. they passed seven bells. i respect the congressman's public service but the question is on these major issues of the time who is going to lead and who is going to get the job done? >> moderator: we have heard from a lot of first-time congressman they say i'm going to go and work across the aisle. it will be really together. but then they get there and realize they can't. what makes you different? ..

that's producing results even today in nanotechnology. in 2011 we got $900 million for an extension. and just a couple of weeks ago we passed a bill bipartisan, went onto the senate, and being an appropriator i can make sure that that bill that will create excellence in research, like down the line, once it passes the process, i will be there to be able to repair to have that in the valley. just like it did for the u.s. patent office. on top of that we passed a data

bill, the data act that requires the government agencies to tell people where the doll is spent, how much it is and to be transparent about it. i think that's across the board work. >> moderator: we will talk with immigration which is always a big issue in this district including drought the country. will bring in the linda jackson from san jose state university. the question goes to mr. khanna. >> mr. khanna a recent poll found 50% of california voters believe you should offer shelter and support for the increasing number of unaccompanied children. going out into in the country illegally from central america. while this -- what do you think should be done with these immigrant children are now in california lacks what role should the federal government play in the dressing this problem? khanna: thank you for the question. it's a humanitarian crisis. my heart breaks as does anyone for the kids coming over from guatemala, honduras, el salvador.

we have to treat them with due process. i think the president's plan to have refugee obligations in the home country is a step in the right direction so that folks are not taking the journey. i do think we need to work with a local governments to reunite those kids with their families. because ultimately having them apart from the family isn't going to serve their interest or humanitarian interest. but we certainly need to give them due process. i do want to return to the congressman's point. i give the congressman credit on his role in bartlett to think the one, he is relying on something that no longer exists, earmarks. two, the real heroes in that where the santa clara taxpayers who paid for two tax increases and it took 14 years. here's the challenge but i hope it doesn't take another 14 years and two more tax increases to get bart to set a clear. the point is in the new world i

respect the congressman service and you were a earmarks. also longer exist. and in the world we need leadership that is going to said you know why we need to extend bart? not because we want to bring back port because we think america will lose its competitive edge. at the leadership we need. >> moderator: congressman honda, your response and please address the initial question about undocumented children. honda: i was a peace corps and el salvador before it went to texas to visit what was going on first and. i called some of the folks i knew that were from that area and confirm the situation where it's a table situations where kids are being threatened if you don't join a gang, we will kill you. i think the $709 without afford to help at the borders is being well spent. when i got there i saw there was a constriction, the border at advocates and there was nothing there afterwards to process

them. now there is and this process is in place where they are going to be able to get processed and the reunited with her family. but the whole thing that is if you pass the comprehensive immigration reform, and john been allowed us to have that vote, allow us, you know, fail or succeed we will have to deal with this. it would be much easier easier problem because it's very comprehensive. it takes in all the kids. >> moderator: next question is do you and i'll be asking, talking a special the last few days, a lot of talk and things have been written about possible ethics violations on your staff. internal e-mails were leaked by your staff suggesting possible violations when it comes to campaign fund-raising. you have acknowledged this but my question is are you an ethical congressman and how can you prevent this from happening in the future if reelected? trent lott i am a very ethical person and my policies and the ethical standards for office in the campaign includes my staff.

i know my opponent has made quite a bit of media attention on this, but i do different responsibility. these are real people we are talking about and i want to make sure they're going to be taken care of, you know, what they have to also answer the issues. those who work for me and work with me currently and in the past, they understand where that line is. so anything beyond that is a personnel matter. sluglike not to discuss the personnel part but i will say this, the high ethical standards for my staff has been reiterated and it's been made clear. expectation goes been legal boundaries and the legal expectations, but my chief of staff did not meet those expectations and she missteps and she was -- i was disappointed in it but she is apologized publicly and to me that this won't happen again. and so i think that this kind of

situation needs to be acknowledged, dealt with, and although legal complaints that are surrounding this i think you should be move forward and let that process takes it place. i would be willing to cooperate anyway i can to see the end of this. >> moderator: mr. khanna, 60 seconds to respond. khanna: i think congressman honda is a good man. i admire his life story but nobody is perfect. the serious allegation here of ethics pay to play scandal that they editorialized that is not personal to the congressman's integrity. it goes to the dysfunction of special interest in american politics. the allegations were that staff members traded on public goods to raise funds or private gain. it's exactly what's wrong with the political process or the congressman has said his chief

of staff apologized. here's what i would know. i hope here tonight, i hope the congressman would apologize for these ethical violations because ultimately it is he who is responsible for the citizens and the office is not in the tradition of the integrity we expect in silicon valley. >> moderator: next question, brian from the "huffington post." >> mr. khanna, a decade ago congress allowed companies that were stacking trillions of profits overseas to bring money back to the u.s. effectively tax-free. it failed to create the promised jobs. today, these companies are again advocating for what's known as repatriation. promising this time the they'lle the money to create new jobs. apple, google and microsoft would benefit from this, for instance, but if they decide it's a smart business decision to hire a new worker, why do they need access to tax-free money to do so? don't these companies have

access to tons of capital already? khanna: ryan, that's a great question. -- i wrote about repatriation in my book and i criticized it and i said somebody has a free pass. they brought all this money back and it went to shareholders and went to dividends. we need to link bringing that money back with expanding the payroll or investing in manufacturing. here's the reality. they have $1.9 trillion overseas and he talked to entrepreneurs in the valley and they will tell you they're telling entrepreneurs to incorporate in singapore or ireland because they want to be acquired for the offshore cash. went to figure out how we bring that cash back and invested to create jobs but not with no strings attached. is a problem in this campaign. i have tried to articulate a coherent position, big and upright position but a thoughtful position because i'm sick of the demagoguery on this

issue. congressman honda and his allies have taken on one hand he says he is for repatriation but on the other hand, he has a whole website criticizing the adopting the position on repatriation. you can't have it both ways. and you know what? people are sick and tired of, they know i don't know all the answers because i'm an economics teacher but they want someone who's going to at least say these are tough problems with tough solutions, and not just engage in thought populism. i promise if i could do congress i'm going to try to be straight about what this country and this region needs to grow economically. >> moderator: congressman honda, your response. honda: i support a repatriation of the corporate taxes overseas, but we have to look at the larger picture and a larger picture is not only making sure the wealthy and the shareholders benefit from it but we have to look at the national infrastructure. we have to look at ways we can increase the minimum wage and have more viable economy through

increase in salaries and things looked it. we need to make sure the middle-class is more vibrant because of this return. a couple years ago i joined republican texas congressman brady on his bill to repatriate the corporate taxes. people said, why are you doing this? i said, in order to be able to shape these things you've got to be in the team. if you're not on the team and just criticizing you can't make much impact. to working across the aisle and working with them is the way i win. >> moderator: you brought up minimum wage. president obama's been talking about minimum wage at length. >> hello, congressman honda. the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. many a full-time employee earns just over $15,000 a year. obviously, 15 grand won't go far

for a recent college grad in california. what should congress to to make sure the federal minimum wage is a living wage nationwide? honda: thank you. the minimum wage, i thought for here in san jose, and we want to make sure $7.25 is not a salary that you can raise a family with. and so 63% of the voters, we one. president obama's said they're taking the federal minimum wage and is increasing it through executive order to $10.10. i see these posters on billboards now and it's a fact, it is going to $10.10 but that doesn't answer the terrible burden of financing your education, higher education. so we have to find ways to allow students to be able to get larger pell grants, be able to get financial aid and lower interest rate, and like i

suggested, center for -- senator warren has a bill out on the house side to make sure interest rates that will be charged to students will be the same as the federal reserve bank coming from the $600 billion quantitative easing money. the other thing is we should be able, for kids, for loans, the students who go into public service. my wife had a larger loan. she went into teaching and she taught in schools that need teachers like her. and after five years of teaching, they cut her long in half and then after that they cut it again and after this is the kind of incentives we have to provide students. that kind of incentives will allow them to provide public service as they get their higher education. >> moderator: mr. khanna, your response. khanna: i strong support of the minimum wage. some of the union later, i thought with him to push for the increase in minimum wage in san jose and ugly the minimum wage

should be indexed to inflation. a challenge though is this. when you talk to workers they say, can congress have the same standards as this? they have to show up to work every day. and i know public service is hard, and no one can everyone understands sometimes if someone is sick or someone is having surgery, people need to take time off. but the reality is, and it's just the fact that the congressman has missed 466 votes in his career, over 14 years. that is the worst attendance, one of the worst attendance records in the united states congress, one of the worst in the california delegation. and the people in this district, the hard-working folks, need one will be present, showing up and engaged because they have to do the everyday. >> moderator: congressman, i will allow you 30 seconds to respond in terms of your attendance record in capitol hill to i appreciate you recognizing that. there were deaths in the gun and

births in my family and other important things. the fact remains i have a 95% voting record. and i got results. i'm still there working, and making sure that we look at appropriations, a position where we can make. we made u.s. patent office locations happen here in silicon valley. that takes a lot of work and that takes a lot of cooperation. >> moderator: thank you. at tweeter document educating our children oppressed that they don't is in agreement how we do moving forward to your question now for mr. khanna. >> the common core curricula took full effect this year. it puts a focus on fiscal thinking and analysis and reasoning instead of vote morning. not all parents are happy about this of course. among their concern is too much emphasis on testing. they feel the math and reading standards are still too low. two week. what do you think of the core

curriculum, the, core curriculum? honda:khanna: i appreciate the question. it's an improvement over no child left behind. that's an honest his agreement in this campaign that congressman has supported and voted for no child left behind. i thought that was increasing testing. but it's not perfect. one, it needs time to be implemented in california. we need to be increasing the investment for teacher preparation so teachers can actually use it and be prepared for it. second, we need to make sure some kids get to take calculus. i was studying, and they had to pass exceptions for kids still end up taking tight just because of common core wouldn't have allowed it. it's clearly not perfect but it's a step, creativity is much better, that's america's innovation and avenge the that's what sets us apart from india and china is we are not learners but we are creative thinking

folks and i think it's a step in the right direction. the congressman has talked a lot about reaching across the aisle. the record is that he has one of the, second most partisan records in congress. i admired him for that. when the sikhs were being distributed against the congressman spoke up for sikh americans. but he is not bipartisan. that's not who he is. what we need now is someone who actually is going to work across the aisle with people like tom campbell and others because that's what we need at this time to move this economy forward. >> moderator: congressman honda, 60 seconds to respond please begin with the issues of common core. honda: the nationalcommon core i think is a positive step in the right direction. the 50 states have resisted having a national standard, but when you have 46 governors coming together, coming up with the common core, i think that that comes pretty close to a

national expectation. having said that, i think what we need to do is make sure that we reauthorize -- no child the youngest helping push for without reauthorization so we can't make more policy changes and more tweaks in that. so what president obama has done and what duncan has gone off to do $309 in competitive grants so that they can address some of these issues around critical thinking, some of the issues around assessment of teachers and individual students, not large students were filled out on a state under no child left and. to which an opportunity to learn. >> moderator: next question goes to congressman honda. we're talking about just the polarizing force of this district of people in terms of making money, to espouse a mine in terms of the inequality.

>> congressman honda there's been a lot of talk the last few years about the top 1% versus 99%. and as was mentioned earlier silicon valley is one of the places in the country with income inequality is most apparent. my question, do you believe the income tax cut contribute to this gap? and if reelected, what reforms which you propose to federal income tax policy, if any? honda: i think income tax reforms is something we're going to have to face and struggle with. it's a complicated problem but we have to do it fairly and copper into the. we have to make sure that everybody pays their fair share. with the bush tax cuts, not everybody paid their fair share for president obama had to fight for three seasons in order for him to go to get a guarantee that unemployed, an employment insurance the past so that people, will have cash to support and give the kids not

only food but present to the income inequality will have to be addressed in a fair, efficient, comprehensive way what everybody ends up paying their fair share. i think that's an american value and it's a family value. even warren buffett has said that it's unfair that his executive secretary pays more in her income tax than i do because of the way we calculate income tax. we don't include other portions of people's wealth. and so it's going to be a difficult but necessary kind of a function will have to face. because i think the very light -- better life of a country depends on. as a progressive i wrote the people's budget and i wrote the pledge for all that include all these things. i eliminated corporate loopholes and subsidies. and so we can do this. we have to do it. there's a question about it and for mr. khanna, your response.

khanna: i teach the kiddies work which talks are capital being the biggest channel to article the. and income equality of opportunity. i think we also the need to have those who could make a lot of money pay more taxes. i disagree with the congressman the because his budget would actually increase taxes according to "san francisco chronicle" on the lower and middle class, as much as 50%. the other thing which i picked up a lot in this big, you who is part of the 1%? members of congress. they are getting extraordinary perks and benefits. there is anger and that's why i said i won't take a single special interest trip when i get to congress. congressman honda has taken 52 of them and that's part of the system. that's how things used to happen but that needs to change. i have said while i respect pension for teachers and firefighter can weekend of double dipping of pensions.

we need a new system can when you do members of congress who lives like everyone else. >> moderator: congressman honda, 30 seconds to respond. honda: he is surprised by the 1%. i think that the kind of work that we've been doing with the people's budget come it doesn't increase by 50%, it increase 100% on middle-class. the 25%, 3% is 20% to 20% went up 3% and so one of the 35% to 49%. so it's a very balanced approach. it takes more than 10 years to do it. we eliminate the deficit. we draw down the debt try for you will have an opportunity after this debate. this question is for you, mr. khanna, we're talking about privacy. this is what in theory could shape a national, the national rules. privacy and government surveillance is a hot topic. it is said with companies like yahoo! and google. do you condone nsa surveillance

of our e-mails? can our online privacy be better protected? what could you do? honda:khanna: actually i don't e but that's why others have supported my campaign. if i were in congress i would've spoken out against the president, and i served in his administration for the massive surveillance that the nsa engaged in. one of the challenges i think, and unfortunate things is that we did have the congressperson from silicon valley speaking of, criticizing our president for the nsa and massively. i have introduced an internet bill of rights that would stand up not just to the government but also to private companies. many components, let me emphasize three. first, a right to net neutrality. because we should have people pay special by get special access to the internet. second, every person should be free from mass surveillance when they're on the internet. third, people should know what

their data is from what's happening with the data and google or facebook and yahoo! arusing the data. there should be a right to disclosure. this is the type of leadership that this district needs. it's not enough in this district, which is the heart of the innovation, to just be a vote or just go to congress. what we need is someone who is going to lead the national debate, and i'm very, very proud of the internet bill of rights that i campaigned and put forward an for congressman honda, your response on the issue of privacy. honda: i don't condone what the nsa did. in fact, what they did is exactly what they did to the japanese americans in the 1942. they looked into the sensitive to find where budd but he lived. they use that data to gather japanese americans and to incarcerate them and unconstitutional interment camps. that's got government impact that i have just the middle against and that's why voted against the patriot act.

in 2001 and then 2011, i voted against the reauthorization. privacy of the individual is paramount. it's one of the most foundational constitutional guarantees that we can have for our individuals. benjamin franklin said if you're willing t to give up a little bt of privacy for a little bit of secure become you deserve neither. this country has got figure out how to solve this problem without peeking into our private lives. >> moderator: realistically is this something that happened within the next several months or perhaps a year or two? honda: went to work and and i think with the technology to do it and the brainpower to be able to do it, yes try for next question from brian from the "huffington post." >> a corporate inversion refers to the u.s. companies make to lower their tax bill by pretending to be based in a foreign country. as long as inversions are legal and profitable, companies will engage in 10. what should the white is due to

crack down on this new phenomenon, and a compass that engage in this behavior un-american? honda: i support an ipod president obama for directing the treasury department to go after these corporations that are resettling and reincorporating a different actions to avoid paying their share of taxes. tax evasion is not a value that america really condones. and so i think that that's the kind of thing that has to be pursued. having said that, i think we have to look at, again, a we formation and reform of the tax structures that's going to be fair, comprehensive and simple to understand that's going to apply to big corporations, big business as well as small business, and that we don't have one size fits all were small business end up having to pay more for the staffing that they can really afford. so we need to be able to do that, and look at ways that we

can attract people from going overseas and doing this kind of activity. by encouraging them to stay here in this country, give them a tax credit for their innovation, and under america, make it in america, there are two platforms. one is you give tax credits to consumers on technology that is earth shattering. the other issue provide first time manufacturers to tax credits to be able to build here. those two things should rinse advice people to stay here and we sure they are into the business here. >> moderator: congressman honda, -- mr. khanna, your response. this could negatively impact a lot of compass in this district. khanna: i think it's obvious if a company is headquartered in the tiny, takes it as our current laws, takes advantage of the united states protection, they have to pay tax in the united states. i will stand up for that and i will stand up to any tech

company or any other company that isn't willing to do that. i did want to return to two quick points but the congress been talked about the budget. tax increases the middle and lower are upset and that's why an issue, president obama and zoe lofgren didn't support his budget. he's entitled to his ideology but it is not an ideology that would help lower taxes on the middle and lower class. and on privacy the congressman did show leadership on the patriot act. i respected and admired those almost 15 years ago. the reason the nurturing you said you're a relative on the policy issues of our time is because these issues are just about out due to its knowing david and scope of use and couples issues with the internet. >> moderator: use of something to stand up to tech companies. you have been supported by some of the biggest tech companies from ebay and yahoo! to salesforce. would you really stand up to the? there's concerned perhaps he

would side in the favor for any sort of legislation. khanna: i wish people knew my storyboard. i went to public school, paying off my student loans, and i'm proud of having the support of the top innovators in the world. one of the differences in this campaign is i've got the support from the innovators of the world and congressman honda is getting a lot of special interest money from washington, d.c. i don't apologize for the support, but the reason i'm getting that support is because of my agenda to educate the next generation to have the opportunity to purchase it in the new economy. >> moderator: speaking of the next generation we're talking about k-12 education, not necessarily college. >> mr. khanna, many people say public schools in the united states are failing our students. do you think it's a fair statement and what role should the federal government play in shaping our future education policy? khanna: i do think the public schools are failing. i went to public school and i

think it's crazy those folks a privatized public schools or just rely on charter schools. i am in support of charter school but to 93% of kids go to public school? think about it. i went to elementary school in san jose recently, a brilliant principle, jennifer who has been make it in america program, wants to teach kids craft come and she doesn't have the budget are basic for tutors. she doesn't have the budget. she is two miles away from apple computer's and the schools in the district, you wouldn't know, we were in silicon valley if you went to some of our public schools. that needs to change. i will fight for that to make sure the federal government is fully funding the special-needs mandates they are putting. to make sure that we are finding teacher preparation but if you go to finland, do you know what they say when is a what to do with bad teachers? they say we don't have any. do you know why? because they treat teachers with respect to the invest in them. that invest in making sure they

have credentials and math or science to teach the subjects they are required. here, congressman honda and i have a slight disagreement. i would be willing to sheikh up the system a little more, bring the teachers unions and to bring those in the charter school movement, i'd have an independent voice. i'm going to try to build a coalition and always with one goal in mind, i want every kid in this district to have a shot i did. to get it good public school education so they have a shot to make it in like. >> moderator: congressman honda come as a former teacher i know this is near and dear to your heart. your response. honda: not every school is failing. the problem with our system is that we have 50 states, 50 standards, and the constitution is assumed that the federal government has no role in public education. it's all nonsense. we have to reinvent ourselves and start looking at how do we look at public education, how do we take the things that are successful and scale them up?

the problem is there's not enough resources. 50 states, a battle with the budget every year and end up balancing the budget on the backs of children and teachers. this is not about teachers unions or poor teachers. this is about the community understanding that we have to step back outside the box and start looking at equity for education, for each and every child tha but if we start lookit each and every child's needs we know we'll have to change the system. obama has looked at universal preschool education. that's where we have to start cut for with a yes or no question. are you selling it to our committee? do they know? honda: yes. through my commission. we have a report called each and every child. excellence in education. >> trackpoint next question to congressman honda. >> there's a wage cap in this

country. women make 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man. the federal government is in the process of acquiring federal contractors to report aggregate conversation data. does that go far enough or do you think individual salaries should be reported as well? what would you do to help close the wage gap? honda: one of the things i've done, just to start it off, is voted with our leader, nancy pelosi, that we made certain people, the lilly ledbetter issue where she was not being paid equally for equal work. she had to sue for it and that's what i signed on to work with senator mikulski of maryland where she has a bill that will make sure that federal contracts will close all the loopholes that deny equal pay for equal work. it also extends the timeline for suing a company when a woman finds out she's been shortchanged. those are the kinds of things we need to look at first. and then work towards pay equity

and the concept of equal pay for equal work. this disparity between gender has got to stop. and i think that's the way we're going to be able to do this is to keep pounding away in making sure that people understand a pay equity is a necessary thing. i think more and more people are saying middle-class people are saying i work harder, work longer and i work more efficiently, but he don't seem to be getting ahead. it's because we're not looking at the work that decisions and technology has given us, and we haven't shared that well that inefficiency and i don't has created. we have to revisit that whole aspect. and do something about a. >> moderator: mr. khanna, your response. what would you bring to the table if elected? khanna: i support the equal pay act.

it's not enough to have equal pay. we need to have paid parental leave. men need to take as much responsibly for child rearing. of the countries come scandinavian countries have that. we need child care tax credits so that women don't have to choose between companies and the comes. i didn't come up with these ideas. i got these ideas listening to constituents doing townhouse. i like the congressman. i admire his campaign that has always be discussing a liking. one of the things i'm so disappointed in, if there's one thing in this campaign, it's that your handlers aren't letting you do town halls. i've done more town halls in the last two months and the congressman has done in the entire term. and this is the basic, so many smart, brilliant people in this district and we have to listen to them. when congressman honda started out, that's how he was like. >> moderator: a chance for a follow-up question. >> the first part of my question to answer, congressman honda

come a number of women's groups feels that aggregate reporting of conversation data is not good enough, that you really can't -- individual salaries and reported it isn't something you think the federal government should require contractors to do? honda: yeah, we should be able to do that. i think we can work on that and make sure if you don't know what it is, then you can't identify the culprits. if we do that, it could be done and we can move forward to put added pressure on those who say there in concert with having equal pay for equal work. the answer is yes, we can do that. >> moderator: so many of us have apple products and apple is in this district, and this next issue is among the companies that would be impacted would be apple. melinda jackson has that question for congressman honda. excuse me, mr. khanna. >> mr. khanna, what can congress

realistically do to encourage companies to bring manufacturing jobs back to the u.s.? how to compass like apple which truly does majority of its manufacturing in china? khanna: that's a great question. it's my passion. i would a book about how do we bring manufacturing jobs back to the united states. didn't sell a lot of copies but it is something i believe deeply in. when i was at the commerce department, fremont when it was affected and the newly plant was about to close, i recognize this area needs to be an advanced manufacturing how. so i helped work with labor leaders and business leaders to bring congress back to fremont e months of free but wouldn't have residential housing and would best advance manufacture. how do we do something and how can we get bipartisan support? there's some very simple things we should do. first, we have a skills gap. the workers of the on the factory floors, they need to be

adept. they have to understand speedy printing and robotics and customization to we have an eight times productivity advantage over china and one and have over germany and japan. we need to partner with san jose state and other so we are educating people with the skills that you going to need in the 21st century. we need to simple fight in reform the tax code so don't have companies like ge paying 0% tax, and we have incentives for those are actually making things in the united states. that would require not taking special interest money that i haven't taken a dime of it and the reason is because i want a tax cut that works for dinner to people, not for the washington lobbyists. >> moderator: congressman honda, 60 seconds to respond. honda: 80% of activities in the valley is manufacturing and i think we can go that even more. we are the number one manufacturing center in the country on that. i voted, and i vote ranked with

my democratic colleagues who voted for permanent r&d tax credit. we've also been able to pass a bill on the floor that will also allow our manufacturing centers across this country to replicate the kinds of things that we have your on the natural. and it's called the region, regional and centers for excellence, where we take private industry, public industry, universities, entrepreneur's and put them all together so that they can sit down and come up with the next technology that will take us right into the future. that will incentivize people to stay here. when we have to also make sure that we have appropriate tax credits for consumers who will be purchasing these kinds of technologies. >> moderator: on this topic, wind, follow-up question. >> jeddah you mentioned the skills gap -- mr. khanna from

you mentioned the skills get. is of the counties don't want to pay the necessary wages? in other words, there might be shortage, but if the table people our our worth, there might be more engineers. khanna: paula kerger makes this argument all the time and i think it's obligated. if you talk, they will take the ballot is filled with middle-aged folks of high skills and they're not being able to get a job. not because they don't have the skills but because ageism. folks are going to our people who are younger kids i don't think it's just a skills shortage. we need policies that are going to have tax credits for companies to have a partnership programs, to are those where middle-aged workers who have great skills, to bring better and faster work. >> moderator: i would like to have -- next question is for congressman honda. you serve the people in this area for decades in various capacities. some people do fear you might be

burnt out. how do you address those concerns to those people? honda: i'm not burnt out. i've got a lot of gas in this tank, and so come and do not even a hybrid. and i think the kind of energy that i used to do the kind of work comes from a very deep-seated desire to make sure that this country does the right thing. i mentioned in 42 our government had gone awry, had made mistakes. and i don't want to see that happen again to any group, and it's been one of my desire is to make sure that the youngsters get the voice that they need. and as a teacher i want to be able to do that. to teaching youngsters to speak up, to be critical consumers of goods by thinking straight and thinking critically your get a powerful education so they can

choose their options in the future. did in education for a job. get an education to your greater options in your career, and your life. and so the energy that really, that i dip into it is from the people that i look at and the people i want to help. and also not everyone to see, the community, satisfied and have a constitutional guarantee set aside solely because they look different whether look like the enemy. that will never happen and my watch. >> moderator: mr. khanna, your response. khanna: i don't think the congressman is burned out. anyone has to admire his life story. and to dedicate his life to politics, public service after what he went through i think is admirable. but this question is about what we need in the future, and my argument, the reason i decided to run, and i've been

acknowledging the congressman has opened many doors for asian americans around the country, is who is going to solve the issues for this district and leave at this moment in time in a complex economy. and my belief is in republican control, unfortunately congress, we're going to need someone to be able to influence that debate. the congressman is no longer relevant in influencing the debate. the earmark system he relied on is no longer there. and this is what great democracies are about, that someone carries the ball and handed off and someone else goes and carries the ball and that's what makes the country move forward and for thank you. next question goes to ryan. >> jeddah much of gaza greece the corporate tax code needs to be reform. you and others have suggested that lowering the overall rate but at the same time closing loopholes simple by the cobol raising the same amount of

revenue. many argue corporations are gaining the system and pay nowhere near their fair share, often close to 0%. wouldn't tax refund that kept revenue levels the same be like solving the problem of bank robbery by simply legalizing it? or should corporate tax reform raise additional revenue to become these are paying more than they do today speaks they should raise additional revenue by the recent corporate tax of them is just a revenue issue. it's a competitiveness issue. the problem right now is you have the special interests on these attacks goes where some companies are paying 0% took some companies are being incentivize to go offshore, and small businesses or entrepreneurs want to set up shop here, the tax code is penalizing them. this is not just a matter of understand the economics. why does corporate tax reform act of done? if not because there's not enough smart people in washington. the reason is they'r they are al bought and sold by lobbyist. that's the reality. they are botkin sold by

corporate tax, by lobbyist the right these extensions into the tax code. that's what i said i wanted to try something different. i was inspired by larry jointed research for and it took a pledge when i started this campaign that i would not take a single dollar from a lobbyist, not a single dollar from a pack. my campaign chair was in d.c. and said why don't the jeff gove shall not be very popular, you want to come back when you get there. the reality is got to try something different. people say rod, you be naïve. you will be swallowed alive. it's time to get the special interest out there children died needs to take a stand and that's the only way we will give meaningful corporate tax reform. >> moderator: congressman honda, the stage is yours. honda: corporate tax reform is a necessity. you have to be comprehensive, has to be fair and it has to be understandable. it is about acquiring and

gathering more revenue for the federal government so that we can support the kinds of obligations that we have in this country. i think that when we say we want this reform, this, taxes has been turned and shared from overseas with our folks and be able to be part of a larger picture where we can apply these kinds of issues in national infrastructure, to make sure that people are getting a fair living wage and making sure that the middle-class becomes more vibrant and that we take care of them. and i'm not saying corporate leaders and shareholders should not get rich. i just think that they don't have to get rich that quickly and not share it with those who create the wealth, and that's their. >> moderator: we are in silicon valley and we're partnering also with facebook. we've got a few questions from facebook in regards to this debate and this will go to congressman honda and we want to

appreciate and think i thought that facebook on our site for submitting hundreds of questions. we appreciative. we picked this one from one of our facebook followers for congressman honda. what is your stand on the recent demonstrations taking place in hong kong? honda: i think that it's a phenomenon that was coming all along because the people of hong kong have lived under a british rule that said that you make your own decisions, and it's more of a democracy. and when he became absorbed into prc, it was a matter of time before these kinds of things start to mix and start to rise above the surface. and i think it has. i think that the united states has a role in facilitating with hong kong come with the youngsters and with the people of hong kong and their

government leaders, and with prc, to sort of facilitate this progress towards a more democratic society. it doesn't have to be the same kind that we have, but certainly the people in that part of the world want to have more self-determination. they want to be able to live a life that it's not intrusive, less oversight, less government restrictions. and we on the other hand, we have the same kinds of issues, too. so we should be able to feel some compassion, some understanding that there's young people who can say we can do better and we will more. >> moderator: you generally believe the prc will budge on this stands as it is right now? honda: and 5000 years they have moved a long way. since the revolution they have, we have seen china become our partners, as well as folks that we have to keep an eye on.

but our attitudes have gone a long ways with china. >> moderator: mr. khanna, your response to the facebook questions about what's happening in hong kong. khanna: i am sympathetic to the demonstrators who are marching for peace, for human rights, for democracy. my values, while i'm very proud of the entrepreneur's and all that is supporting me, my values really come for my grandfather. he spent four years in jail during gandhi's independence movement fighting for human rights and freedom. one of the remarkable things about our district is we have people from around the world, from india, pakistan, china, vietnam, philippines. and we have the shot to shape from this district a world that's not going to make the mistakes of the 20th century, not be bogged down in the cold war thinking or communism or democracy, but to stand up for human rights, to stand up for

democracy, but stand up for a more integrated world. that's what leadership from this district is perhaps the most important district in the entire country. >> moderator: thank you. for a panelist with just a few more questions so we will jump around to get to some topics i want to address before our time expires. with that said let's bring -- >> this is for mr. khanna. the landmark decision last june denounce the state's tenure and teacher layoffs system as a violation of the student's constitutional rights. it's having a ripple effect nationwide. do you think current tenure and left policies protect bad teachers? what would you do to address that? khanna: this is where we have an honest disagreement, congressman honda and i. i supported the decision. the congressman took to writing an op-ed in the hills think it puts students at war with teachers. my view on this is let's calm

down the rhetoric. my mom was a substitute schoolteacher. i love and respect teachers. i teach, not a teacher. i teach at santa clara instead for. i come across so many teachers in this district, michelle cosgrove and others are popping watching and teaching in fremont. we need to bring the stakeholders to the table and here's what i would do. first, respect teachers more. in other cultures teachers are treated with the extraordinary amount of respect. we'll do that in this country. second, pay teachers more. there's no reason lawyers or doctors or others should be making more money than a great teacher. third, require basic credentialing in the subject matter. require someone teaching calculus to actually understand or have a math degree in calculus. and forth is have some accountability. people so you can't evaluate teachers, and you can't, on test scores by a comprehensive

evaluation makes sense. let good teachers wanted because good teachers don't want anything teachers don't want anything to teachers in the classroom, just like politicians don't want bad politician because it is every politician a bad name. let's work in a collaborative fashion to do what's right by students and take the politics out of this. >> moderator: congressman honda, you opportunity to respond. the teachers union was against this. what is your response? honda: the fact is the supreme court, prohibits due process for teachers in terms of assessments, retention and evaluation. the important things teachers really want. they want a good assessment and retention process so that teachers who need to find another job can do that. this is not a war against students and teachers. this is a tweeting of education

they need greek a long time ago. so this is an opportunity for us to compose a straightforward education that law due process for teachers and also afford good instructors or our kids. it's an opportunity. i think we should take that. >> moderator: last question that evening for the question comes from melinda jackson from san jose state for congressman honda. melissa, if you want to do the approval of congress if you don't mind. >> congressman honda, a recent poll found 75% of california voters disapprove of the job congress is doing. why do you think the public holds such a dim view of congress right now? and why would you want to be reelected to such an unpopular group? [laughter] also, if reelected what would you do to try to improve the public trust and confidence in congress? honda: 75% are judging the sense

because of the word congress but if we were able to decide get the word congress into different parties and how people voted so that they understand that one word doesn't paint each and every congress person with the same brush, i think their feelings would be little different. because when they say how do you like your current congressperson, that's a different story. i think that we we report things has to be a little more disaggregated. i think congress is a wonderful opportunity, especially for me, you know, it's the job i can take all my experiences and put it right into policymaking where i can see gaps in policy and fill it. anticipate need and fill that come and work with people to make sure that the policies that we have in this country are 100% focused and they are really accurate and that they hit the points we need to get.

but what i do when i go back? to make a difference, i think that i would called town hall meetings. in silicon valley the word reinvented, i reinvented myself in town hall meetings. i had over five telephone town hall meetings, thousands of people at once and at the end of the hour, we end up with three, 600 people. i think that's a good way to connect with people and be present with them with using technology. >> moderator: mr. khanna, your response, but didn't review of congress. khanna: i appreciate the. the question when a knock on 5000 doors and i don't think that takes the place of facebook or electronic communications that i get asked or not, what am i better than congressman honda come is why do i want the job? the reality is, congressman honda started his career i think with the greatest of intentions.

ideas become a part of the problem. people want 50, 100 new members of congress. they want folks who are going to be effective, or not just going to passed one bill in 14 years of naming a post office or get republican cosponsors when they introduce legislation. they want someone who's going to work as hard as they are. for me, getting to congress is an extraordinary distinguished. it won't be the second most -- dutch but they want someone who be answerable every month to real-life questions, tough question. that's how the congressman when he started, that's how i will be from day one when i get there. >> moderator: congressman honda and turn on, thank you both for your thoughtful responses. as we come to close is your final opportunity for your closing remarks. we will begin your closing statements. you have two minutes for each of you. we will begin with mr. khanna. khanna: thank you, roger, thank you to the panelists, thank you

to congressman honda for participating. you know, when i grew up as a son of immigrants, went to public school, my parents told me that if i worked hard, made good grades, i would have a job. i would have great opportunity. and in this campaign one of the things i'm proud of is i've gone into almost every high school in the district. monte vista, irvington, and i ask kids, i asked kids, are you concerned by getting a job when you graduate? you know what? 80% of kids raised their hands. for the first time in our countries history there's a question, is the american dream going to be alive for the next generation? and at this time, unfortunately, we have a washington politics that seems so disconnected. a congress that has bolted.

despite the low rating, congress had article that says the turnover rate in the united states congress is less than european monarchy families. we fought a revolution over there. these things were not supposed to be lifetime. thomas jefferson said members of congress ought to return to their communities and live under the laws they passed. tonight, i ask not just for your vote, i ask you to join our campaign for change. we want to invigorate our politics. with new ideas, new vision. we want to bring something different because we've gotten so far astray from our founding ideals. i want to work to help make the american dream possible for the next generation, the dream that inspired my parents to immigrate to this country in the 1960s. thank you. >> moderator: congressman honda, you have two minutes for your closing statements.

honda: thank you very much. and i want to thank you, raj, the panelist. i want to thank nbc and our audience here and the dealership i want to thank them for tuning in on to us rather than monday night football. i think i would like to leave this impression that my history and my experience is the pattern of the way i work, think, and behave. in 1942, i said before, my government, our government turned our backs on us. there was nobody who said no when you took away our constitutional rights. there was no great at stood up and said, this is wrong. under my watch this will never happen. i will always speak up for those who need that voice. that passion was developed as i was growing up, and that drove me to look at serving my country through peace corps. and el salvador i spent two years learning the lay was going to culture but i also learned

about myself. i learned the things that i experienced i could turn that into a positive energy where youngsters can benefit from my insight so they don't have to go the things i've gone through. i what our youngsters to be critical thinkers, to be passionate about the constitutional rights and be knowledgeable about what they can do to speak up. ..

we've asked our audience to hold their applause which they've done great job but it's a good opportunity. [applause] and thanks to those of you watching at home or online or listening on the radio we hope to see you at the polls on election day november 4 at the post office before mailing in your ballots. for the entire panel and everyone here our coverage continues after this break with our political analyst. ♪

more campaign 24 team coverage now with another debate. one of over 100 people bring you this season. up next its candidates to be the next two represents new to represent new jersey's third district. republican thomas macarthur and democrats aimee belgrad replacing congressman jon runyan. the rothenberg political report lists this as a tossup and tilt republican. it is just over one hour and 20 minutes. >> great to see you all tonight. on behalf of the league of women voters and the county, i welcome you to the candidates candidates for him for new jersey's third congressional district. i wish to thank you, the audience and the candidates for participating in the township public schools for generously

donating the space that we are using. my name is barbara and i'm a member of the league of women voters in burlington county to be here with you. the league of women voters is a political organization whose purpose is to encourage the informed and active citizen participation in the government. it does not support political parties or candidates. we work to increase understanding of the major public policy issues and influence public policy through education and advocacy. elections and voting are the core concerns for the league of women voters. year in and year out we are committed to providing fact-based information about issues and to position the position the candidates take on the issues to help voters make educated decisions and to participate in the electoral

process. forums like this or an essential component of the mission. as a service to the voters, princeton committee tv is taping tonight for him. the video will be available online at princeton tv.org and lwvnj.org. it will be rebroadcast in its entirety by c-span so please check the c-span website on the local tv providers for the schedule details. before we proceed i will ask that you silence and put away all electronic devices, this includes cell phones, tablets and cameras with the exception of preapproved media. this is a courtesy to the candidates and in compliance prohibits audio and video taping

by audience members. remember we are being recorded for broadcast. any use of the league of maine orphanage from the debate and campaign material, literature or advertising of any kind including radio, internet, cable or television that has not been off prized by the league of women voters and recording that is other than princeton tv is permitted. we encourage you to visit the table in the lobby at the close of tonight's program where you will find voter registration and vote by mail application forms in addition to the league of women voters material. take him a membership brochure to learn more about our organization and the work that we do and in addition you will find information about the candidate events. before i close i would like to remind everybody that there is no electioneering in the auditorium so if you are wearing

a campaign button or t-shirt or hat it needs to be put away at this time. it's now my pleasure to introduce tonight's moderator. [applause] >> moderator: on your moderator and in the interest of the township lead in the 12th congressional congressional district i will not be voting in this election. i will like to talk on the general guidelines. candidates questions have a purpose to the office and the issues. audience questions can be submitted and should also be pertinent. these members will collect and pass them out to me. please maintain a respectful presence and i would ask you to hold your applause and comments until the end of the form. interruptions are not permitted and if there is a problem then you will be asked to exit the

building. both candidates will be given four minutes. there will be questions from the league of women voters panel and i will queue the panel and the candidates on such questions. candidates will have two minutes for the questions. should be a specific question addressed specifically to one of the candidates. i would ask each candidate gets one minutes for rebuttal. what else do we have? the candidates will have time to make remarks. i'm sure that you can see them and they will give you a yellow warning sign before your time is up for the two minutes, one minute or four minutes. and then the red stop sign means

stop. try to conclude your sentence at that point. now we have our league of women will have some questions and such i will start them tony is the president and ed is the treasure and the secretary on the board. >> we have the opening remarks and we will start with the candidate. >> thank you very much for hosting this event tonight and for everyone who came out to be part of this democratic process. it's a pleasure to be here with you this evening. so, i am amy belgard. i grew up in south jersey, and i currently live in edgewater park with my husband, and my two young boys leon and tommy also known as double trouble. i came to running for congress probably a little bit different

than most people. my background has been forged with community service and along the way my community service shifted after losing both of my periods to cancer much too early in life. i lost my mother unfortunately to breast cancer and my father who had been a vietnam that are in and exposed to agent orange lost him to stomach cancer. but i'm one of those people that believe that you take your life experiences and put them to good use for other people. so i became very involved in the american cancer society over the years and held various roles with them and one that i was very proud of is the new jersey state ambassador where i will lead groups of volunteers down to washington or trenton to meet with legislators and after years of doing that i decided that i was looking for people to make the right decision. so i decided that i would step up and get more involved myself. my first served locally in edgewater park in to the township committee. and now as many of you know i

currently serve as a burlington county freeholder and i'm proud of my service there. but now here i am taking a leave to run for congress and people ask me all the time why are you doing this when congress is such a mess. the reason is because i'm tired of the status quo. washington is broken and we need to step up and fix it if we are not okay with the status quo that is exactly what i intend to do. it's time that washington was our priorities back in order. here in the third district very clear that the middle class is struggling. i've seen it as a freeholder and i seen it on the campaign trail. we need to work to boost our economy to make things better for the middle class through a burlington county's. whether it is making sure that we are working so that instead of shipping jobs are getting the jobs overseas tax breaks to the big oil companies, used that

money right here in the third district so that we can make education more affordable,, investing in infrastructure here in the third district. also, we need to talk about raising the minimum wage for the hard workers here in the third district and make sure that women are paid equally for equal work. you know, right here in south jersey we have a great economic engine of the joint base. it's the largest employer right here in south jersey, the second-largest employer in the state. we need an advocate of that will go to congress to step up and speak up for a database. as an honorary commander having commander having grown up in south jersey i know just how important the base is in south jersey and i will absolutely fight for the base. we also need a voice for the veterans that have served. having seen what my father went through as a veteran, i know the struggle. and as we have seen the systemic problems in the va, we need to

make sure we have somebody speaking up for the veterans not only in their care, but in education and good jobs. we need a voice for seniors throughout south jersey somebody that is going to say i am not okay with taking away the hard earned benefits that i have worked for the medicare and social security. we need to do with not as democrats or republicans but as people that are willing to work as a whole for our community. that's what i've done as a volunteer and serving in edgewater burlington county and that's what i will do in the third district. [applause] macarthur: i want to thank the league of women voters for hosting this and belgard for joining me and all of you.

we are going to talk about a lot of things over the next 90 minutes. a lot of issues. i want to introduce myself as a person first because on november 4 you're not just going to send a political party to washington, you're going to send a real life person experiences and convictions, capabilities, opinions, and that is going to shape how they act. i was born in a middle-class family family one of five kids. my mother and father were very different. my mother was a liberal democrat and a catholic. and my dad was a conservative republican and a protestant. and we spent our nights talking about two things that you are not supposed to talk about. and i learned from my parents that you show respect for other peoples views but then you also have the courage of your own convictions. that served me well when i got out of college. i went off to business and i fell in love with my first job. i was an insurance adjuster in new york city $1,813,000 a year

with my new bride. and i stayed in the insurance for nearly three decades. towards the end of my career i had an opportunity to lead a company. it started with 100 people in one location and we grew across the united states we grew by thousands. my greatest joy was seeing people build a better future for themselves and for their families. i couldn't have done any of that without my bride now 32 years debbie and i have been married. we had our challenges along the way. our first child was born in 1985 severely handicapped and if she does a lot in her life and death in 11 years of age she showed me the value and the potential of every person. we also had the privilege of adopting two children. my son is 24 now, youth pastor

and married and my youngest daughter isabella is right here. she's 17. my children have inspired me to want to make a difference in this world that they are going to inherit. now, you are going to hear tonight a different story about my life. you are going to hear my opponent have talking points from her national handlers in washington, d.c. because amy has and i believe she will continue to attack my career in business. that doesn't change what i created thousands of jobs and is a local elected official text jobs. you are going to hear that she attacked me on women but that that does not change that there is only one of us on the stage that is actually lived that out and has given air paid to women for decades. and i will work with both parties in washington to make

sure that we achieve a quality. amy has and will continue to attack me on healthcare which is very hurtful and offensive to me because i lost both of my others, my over debate co- birthmother and and another that raised me from cancer. i have two women sitting in the front row that i would give anything for him to suggest that i don't care about women's healthcare is offensive to me. amy has and will continue to attack me and has no caring about you. i think she would like to forget that for a decade my wife and i have her in a family foundation and we have done many things like give away thousands of wheelchairs in memory of our daughter, help wounded warriors, help victims. our children are poised to inherit in america going in the wrong direction. and i'm running because it is enough of the finger-pointing and it's time to to washington and seoul problems.

thank you. [applause] >> moderator: no more applause until the very end. okay? now tony will ask a question. the first respondent will be candidate belgard. belgard: >> moderator: please discuss your position on the campaign-finance regulation reform and including the free-speech and politics and what do you believe is the proper role of the corporations when it comes to god and what is your position on the super pac spending on the limited amount of under the estate owners? belgard: i appreciate that question because i absolutely think that we need to work to overturn citizens united. what we have seen has happened

with campaign financing. i think that we need our candidates to be working for the people and not working for large corporations that are under them. and i think it's -- we can see just how expensive the campaigns have become and that is not what it's about. it's about representing the people and the interest of the people. and we need to return our elections to that. so, in congress i would be very vocal and very outspoken to work on the campaign-finance reform. it's become very apparent in this race where my opponent has said the philadelphia inquirer after spending millions of dollars that aimee belgrad will never outspend him. he has plenty of resources. while that is not what the election is about. it's about serving the people, working for the people come and that is what we need to return to elections to.

>> that is a good question and i like the concerns about the unlimited something of the sort. money can have a corrupt influence in the campaign, and yet against that it is also the balancing free speech and that is what is up in court has struggled with. i think that the balance is not quite where it should be. and yes i have invested in this campaign, but i have seen the corrupt influence of outside money because my opponent has been bankrolled by handlers and washington, d.c. and they are spending millions of dollars in negative ads about my life and about who i am coming and i've asked my opponent number of times to disavow those ads two of which had to come off of the air. even the one added to come off the air so false and defamatory come yet they don't care about

the people in burlington or ocean county. and in a sense, my opponent is getting the advantage of other people smearing my good name. and i think that is a corrupt influence. as i do think that some reform is necessary. and i would call again tonight for my opponent to disavow the ads that are based on lies. there is no place for that based on the campaign. >> do you want a rebuttal tax >> if i may i just want to share a quick story that i'm really proud of in the campaign trail. in order to run and raise money, we have quarters and my first quarter in the race ended on december 31 and i have a situation where a woman sent me an e-mail and said to me i'd be leaving you. you worked so hard in edgewater park and the worked so hard as a freeholder and i know that you will represent the interest in congress.

she said i'm giving you all $9 for your campaign because that's how important this is to me and it brought tears to my eyes and that to me is we need to represent. that is free speech. that is the power of the dollar. >> moderator: thank you. congressman, rebuttal. macarthur: i will take that as the answer that aimee belgrad does not wish to disavow the the lies that are coming out of washington, d.c.. i will take that as a no. >> moderator: the order will be candidate macarhur first. >> what should the federal government's priorities be in setting the sound and energy policy for the u.s.? included a discussion with regards to fossil fuels, renewable energy sources and protection of the environment. macarthur: it starts with

america needing to be energy independent. we are today dependent on countries that are sometimes adversarial to us and sometimes not dependable and we need to make sure that we explore every resource at our disposal that includes phony and all of the above approach you cleared and other renewables, fossil fuel. ibb that we should be looking to build natural gas facilities. we should do things like the xl pipeline. right here in new jersey we have opportunities. we have a nuclear power plant coming off-line. we should be looking for an opportunity to put another type of power generation facility there. it's critical that america stands on its own and be a tremendous resources and natural gas and oil. we should be looking at all of that. i'm also excited about when because it's clean and i think

with proper research and investment it can become more efficient and i would want to explore offshore wind is a possibility. >> moderator: thank you. candidate belgard? belgard: thank you. this is a very important topic in the third district especially when we have seen some of the impacts of climate change especially along the coast line. i think the first goal would be to remove ourselves from reliance on foreign oil. we have an amazingly innovative country and instead of investing in companies and giving tax breaks to companies that are big oil companies let's move that money and innovative solutions right here in the united states like solar, wind, geothermal and other ideas that maybe haven't been developed yet.

we are an amazing and innovative country into the can do it and i think that there is a very large distinction between myself and mr. macarthur: in this regard. we talked about reforms in the campaign that he's invested in the foreign oil company in the state owned companies by russia and china. it has been sanctioned by the united states and by the european union for their involvement in removing the gas tower from ukraine so that is a conflict here. i also think when i hear things like we need to exploit every resource at our disposal that gives me reason for great concern. oil exploration off the coast of the beautiful jersey shoreline and that's something this district certainly doesn't want so it is about looking to alternatives, investing in

alternatives alternatives that not only makes for a cleaner environment but also boosts our economy at home in the third district. >> moderator: thank you. a macarthur: i would like to respond. i've heard the that suggestion about oil subsidies and number of times from days belgard: . i'm not sure this is more of a political talking point for this reason. the bold of these subsidies, the largest of them is for the strategic oil reserve. are we not going to fund to find that? of course we have to. the second goes to farmers. it doesn't go to oil companies. it goes to the farmers because they don't drag their equipment on the road. and going to transportation, are we going to cancel that? the third largest subsidy goes to the people that cannot afford heating oil in the middle of the winter.

so it is easy to say, those three are alone about $4 billion in subsidies. it's easy to say let's just cut this and that there is real consequences and i don't think that you have thought through very well. >> moderator: thank you. candidate belgard? belgard: it seems to me that it's pretty easy to be for [inaudible] subsidies when you've invested in the the companies at a profit company had a profit when the oil companies profit. >> moderator: the next question will be for candidate belgard. >> how should the federal government and sure that americans have health insurance and do all women have access to the reproductive health services? please discuss your position with healthcare access in general and the inclusion of the services that will benefit the packages in particular. belgard: is a longtime

advocate of the american cancer society, i have been working for affordable and accessible health care for all americans for a very long time. and i know that there's been recent talk obviously with the affordable care act. and i will touch on that briefly because i want to get to the rest of the question. but, you know, you can tell you i have seen first-hand problems in the affordable care act. even in my own life. and i talk to small business owners who are worried about the affordable care act is going to be too much of a burden on them that i think there are ways to fix it and make it better for all americans rather than forwarding the purpose of the act was actually make it better so that we have more access. and i think we do that by containing the cost making sure that we are reducing fraud. making sure that there is transparency in the process. i think that if one is patient for the ultimate consumer and actually understood what the

money was going to words they are paying $3 for a band aid at one facility and $40 for another facility. this would help the prices come down so i think that those are issues that we need to work on that right now now but the congress isn't even discussing it and that is where we are at a standstill where we have the problem. we need to come together to fix it. i've seen first-hand the people that have actually benefited from the affordable care act. i have a volunteer in the american cancer society so for the first time in ten years has coverage now that she did it before because of her pre-existing condition and cancer and i think that when we are turning back the clock on things like health care and turning back the clock on things like women's healthcare these are absolute issues. we need a voice for the women in congress, we need a voice for people who have healthcare issues in congress and that is exactly what i will do. thank you.

>> i don't believe that fixing obamacare is about discovering the cost of band-aids and i think much of it is just a platitude. obamacare was and is a bad idea. it is a takeover of one of the largest industries in the united states and its already resulting in higher costs, reductions in care come to become massive massive reductions in choice and it was a mistake. and you don't fix a mistake by the band-aid approach which is what i just heard. to allow real competition and bring the cost down we need small employers to be able to pull so they get the benefit of the larger group discounts. we need tort reform, real significant tort reform so that medicine can be practiced differently in the united

states. those are the things that will result in more choice from a better quality of care and lower cost. last i think that we need a safety net. we have to have a safety net for people at the state level i believe. i mentioned my daughter briefly who died at age 11. in her lifetime we had over a million dollars with medical bills. that was two decades ago that she died. i would have been bankrupt. i don't believe anybody should face healthcare crisis like that below. i don't belief that this should be at the federal level because it is too big. there is a lack of accountability, competition and i believe that this safety net can be done and that's what i would advocate. >> rebuttal? >> i've seen first-hand the people that have had to make the decisions putting food on the table or going for the next

chemotherapy treatment. i've seen these people have the coverage that they needed so that they have the security for themselves and for their family. i seen and i talked to college. who now feel they have the security of knowing that their college-age student has coverage while they are away at school and i think that we cannot turn the clock back on that and what i'm hearing is exact the what's wrong in congress right now there is black or white teeth or repeal it don't work to fix it and that is exactly what's wrong. there is another solution here we need to work together to fix this and work together to make sure that women continue to get the contraceptive care that they need despite what washington is doing. these are not decisions to be made by employers or by bureaucrats in washington.

macarthur: with regards to women's health and contraceptive care of these are important and i want to make it clear as a ceo i made sure that we provided both and all through my tenure at new york i also want to say i'm very pleased to have gotten the endorsement of the multiple unions many of them are here tonight. i unions have been discriminated against in obamacare. the government has picked winners and losers and obamacare includes $900 billion worth of subsidies over ten years for the major commercial health insurers. the union health plans and they are being frozen out of the market by the government picking winners and losers and it's a mistake. >> the next question is from jody zimmer and it will be candidate macarhur first. >> what policy should the federal government pursued to improve the nation's economy

please discuss federal government responsibility for addressing the growing economic disparities across the economic income groups and also include increasing the minimum wage. macarthur: this question touches on the most important elements of the economy. the economy is the bedrock foundation of so much else that we will talk about tonight and the basic building block of the economy is jobs. this government is pursuing policies right now that are killing job creation. we have 8 million people that have dropped out of a search for a job in despair into 7 million people stuck in part-time jobs and we have millions still unemployed completely. there is no silver bullet unfortunately but there are

concrete things that this government can do to improve and foster job creation. a few weeks ago i issued a jobs report, pretty comprehensive. it's on my website and i called for action in various industries like infrastructure investment as an example or things that can be done in healthcare important things to ensure continued and growing employment. there are things the government can do in every industry that would help with job creation. one quick example infrastructure. a dedicated stable source of funding is essential if we are going to have a highway trust fund that can create infrastructure projects and put people to work like the union members i've mentioned that have endorsed me. we must pursue those policies and i believe that is what will lift up and create opportunity

for people that are struggling to a. >> moderator: thank you. belgard: there are a number of ways that we should bolster our economy. first i think small businesses are a backbone to our economy. we should look to increase the access to small businesses have to c. that we can encourage small businesses not only to start up with to move forward and to grow. i think that we need to reduce the tax burden on small businesses and give them a double tax credits for their startup costs and also make sure that small business loans are accessible and available to them. i would agree we need to make sure that we are investing in infrastructure which is so critical here in the united states. with regards to the joint base of this is in salute economic issue in new jersey with 40,000

jobs right on the the base and an additional 60,000 indirect jobs relating to the base i'm very familiar with this having grown up in south jersey and having served as an honorary commander we absolutely need an advocate for the base in washington. it's something that i've advocated for and i will continue to advocate for in washington, d.c.. as far as the minimum wage, there's no doubt that we need to increase the minimum wage. with regards to women alone, two thirds of people on the minimum wage are women. these are people who are trying to make ends meet and rolls on the table for their families or by increasing the minimum wage, we can bolster the economy for women and for their families and with regards to women, and again we need to make sure that women are being paid fairly and they are being paid equally to their male counterparts. >> moderator: do you want to

respond? belgard: macarthur: i do want to respond. helping small business it is a social small business is the mainstay of employment in this country and as somebody that has had the privilege of creating thousands of jobs i have an understanding of the decisions i made as a ceo based on tax policy and regulatory policy. my opponent was a local elected official in edgewater park and she voted for a resolution to put a jobs tax and speaks tonight about wanting to help small businesses grow but she voted for a tax on small business. i've never heard of anything like that at the local level on top of the 100 fees on the middle-class that middle class that she voted for she voted to tax certain businesses every time they hired a new employee. i don't understand how that helps small business. >> moderator: you like to

respond? belgard: i will mention my husband is a small-business owner in edgewater park, so i have seen how small businesses are struggling to make ends meet and again i think we need to make sure that we are working for small businesses so that they can continue to grow and so that we can encourage the startup of small businesses. and as i outlined some of the ideas with regards to access to capital, reductions of the fees on small businesses these are all ways that we can help small businesses right here in the third district to grow. >> moderator: a small housekeeping note to someone left a pouch and they had a bad -- handbag outside of the building. if that's yours, it's their. order will be candidate belgard first. >> what are your ideas for overhauling u.s. immigration policy?

in your response please address the issue of undocumented youths seeking access to higher education in the u.s. and the current influx. a belgard: i think that we have seen obviously recently especially in the news the problems we are having with immigration in this country, immigration issues in the country especially with minors that we have also seen it here in the third district. as i mentioned just a moment ago my husband is a small-business owner index emitted my own life when he has lost jobs because of companies that were able to outbid him because they were using illegal workers. as i talk to people throughout the district i hear similar stories so it is something that needs to be addressed by making sure that we have secure borders. i am not for amnesty. i am for a tough but fair path to citizenship which would include making sure that those

who are in line are at the front of the line, making sure that folks who are criminals are sent home, making sure folks that want a path to citizenship for paying their back taxes. i also think an important thing to look at his hearing the third district where we have a large veteran population and and veteran immigrants who want a path to citizenship, put them to the front of the line as well which is a unique position for the third district and these are all different elements that can be weaved into this problem but the problem right now is that we've got legislators who are not even willing to talk about it or are not even willing to come to the table and negotiate and that is what's broken. so we need to get our legislators talking about these problems so that we can work to resolve the immigration problem. >> moderator: .

candidate macarhur? macarthur: we have a major immigration problem. new jersey has the fifth highest population of undocumented illegal immigrants in the country. it's hard to believe we are not a border state, but we do. i have laid out my position for many months now on immigration. it will sound familiar to you, tough but fair returning criminals to the country of origin, payment of back taxes. if you go to my website you'll find that. if you go to ms. belgard: website you won't find the word immigration as of yesterday the word isn't even on her website. she just gave you my position from my website which i think is kind of interesting. i also believe this president when he changed policies issued a signal to central america that has brought about the crisis that we are experiencing right now and we must address border security first and foremost.

that has to be the starting point for anything, any policy. i would also like to ask ms. belgard how she feels about in-state tuition. i would be interested if she's willing to answer how she fears about granting in-state tuition to children that children or hear it legally. >> moderator: would you like a rebuttal? there is no necessity to answer a question from another candidate. we will now proceed to the last question and the order is candidate macarthur: first. >> please detail gun safety measures that you would support. please discuss in general your thoughts on the need for greater gun safety in the u.s.. macarthur: my starting point is that ideally that americans have a second amendment right to defend themselves, their family and their property without relying on the state and that is

the starting point for me. i do believe that we need to work with law enforcement and mental health advocates to make sure that guns do not end up in the hands of criminals and those that are mentally unstable. new jersey has the most stringent gun control laws in the country today and i believe enforcing existing laws are not adding new ones is a better approach. >> thank you. candidate belgard. a belgard: thank you. i fully understand and appreciate the second amendment. my husband owns guns but as a mother i feel that it's about gun safety. so while i understand there are sportsmen who use guns and folks want to protect their homes with guns i would agree i think we need to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and out of the hands of folks with mental

health issues and i think there are ways we can look to further address this making sure you're keeping guns out of the hands of criminals we are also keeping them out of the hands of those that have been convicted of domestic violence issues and i think that we need to make sure that we are closing loopholes at gun shows and we need to make sure that we are -- that we have background checks. again this is an issue that needs further addressing as we have seen some of the tragedies that have happened recently across the nation even most recently the incident in arizona with the young girl from new jersey 9-years-old who told her gun instructor with a doozy to veto uzi. she's never going to be to return to her life and that is sad. we need to make sure that we have measures in place to keep them safe. >> moderator: for the remarks? macarthur: no thank you.

>> moderator: pinellas? -- panelists? i'm going to ask these in the audience. this first question will begin with candidate belgard on social security. do you believe changes need to be made in social security to make it more secure and solvent in the future? belgard: social security is a promise we have made it to our senior generations. these are earned benefits and i'm not in favor of changing or privatizing social security.

going back to bolstering via connie. when we are looking at a minimum wage for example just raising the minimum wage without $4.3 billion by 2016 e. will pay for women. there are a multitude of different options of ways that we can increase social security going forward rather than changing it and i'm not in favor of pushing them down the field. again we are a smart nation and we need to talk about the ways that keeping our promises to our older generations. >> moderator: mr. macarhur? macarthur: social security is a promise that must be kept and for those that are nearing or in retirement, people have built their whole lives around the. and it must be preserved for

them. the first and foremost fixed with this would be to fix the economy. it's to create jobs. social security was set up and it is a system where today's generation of workers supports today's generation of retirees. and the problem is when we have a baby boom generation moving into retirement and we have so many people out of work or who are stuck in part-time jobs, social security is under tremendous stress we have to get the economy working with jobs. if that's not enough, then we can work at people my daughter's age just entering the workforce to see if there are amendments and changes that might make sense. but my hope would be most of the stress would be removed by getting america working again. >> moderator: the next question will begin with

candidate macarthur and the question is on fracking. where do you stand on the transport of fracking waste through new jersey? macarthur: we don't do fracking in new jersey because we don't have the shale deposits here to do it. in general, i think fracking is something that should be exported. it's a way to extract natural gas. with the transport of one state to another, new jersey does permit waste coming from pennsylvania to new jersey today >> moderator: candidate belgard? belgard: i'm concerned given that we don't know the processes that are used in the chemicals

that are used in the fracking process. so i think that it's something that needs to be more transparent. i also think that there are other alternatives that are safer and are cleaner that can be explored. i mentioned a couple earlier. solar, wind, geothermal options, and i would agree we don't have the marcella shale here in new jersey and i don't be made that our legislature has even banned fracking in new jersey that our neighbors to the west it's obviously an issue of concern for people who are worried about their health and welfare and i think that as i mentioned the transparent as needed, and i think that we need to look at different alternatives. >> moderator: this begins with candidate belgard do you think that there is a need to further stabilize the financial position over the service?

belgard: i think that the postal service is a bedrock. it's like an american institution. it's not like one, it is an american institution and i think that we need to make sure that our postal service remains solvent moving forward especially here in the third district where we have such a large population of seniors that are relying on getting their mail six days a week whether it's for their medications or even to make sure that they are seeing a postal person on a daily basis who they kind of end up checking in on them. so, again, it's an american bedrock here in the united states that we need to continue to maintain for the delivery of so much. >> moderator: candidate macarthur? macarthur: i'm glad to report that we agree on an issue this morning. [laughter] >> moderator: less than two minutes. okay.

next question will begin with candidate macarthur. to view the leave that to the law should recognize marriage a quality for all? macarthur: i believe people should be treated equally under the law. but i also believe that marriage is between one man and one woman. and the challenge is to reconcile the two to make sure that people are treated equally under the law but i don't believe the definition of marriage should be changed. >> moderator: candidate belgard? belgard: i believe in marriage equality. this is a civil rights issue and i've spoken at it as a three county holder when my colleague and i put forth a resolution to send to the governor after his original veto of marriage equality legislation here in the united states.

i don't think that it's for the legislators to decide who can love each other and who can be by each other hospital bedside as they are dying. these are again true civil rights issues and i think people should be able to love each other and be married if they want to. macarthur: when i speak about equal under the law summit that you just devoted to for example the visitation rights in the hospital to have certain legal rights does the word granted in new jersey other other institutions those elements are important. >> moderator: the next question will begin with candidate belgard. you both already addressed the social security. what you or would you not recommend making changes to the medicare system?

i don't recommend making any substantive changes to the system. this is another promise that has been made to folks. we have seen through the current budget that was passed by the house this year dramatic changes to medicare. i think it's there are tweaks that can be made to make sure that medicare remains solvent. for example, some of the prescription drug negotiations that happened with medicaid let's look at using those for medicare to make it more solvent and more affordable. but i'm certainly not in favor of reducing or in any way changing our medicare benefits to our seniors. again a promise that has been made and that must be kept. macarthur: i'm concerned about changes that have been made.

the $700 million that obamacare took out of medicare to support obamacare. that concerns me and that will affect the quality of care to seniors over time. i also have been as i tried and as i prepared a jobs plan which i mentioned earlier, i went industry by industry and when it came to health care which is one of the largest employers in the region, i visited six hospitals. i went to the health institute of new jersey, the burlington county medical society and a host of others and i was asking what is the affordable care act in the medicare change doing to you? and i discovered the hospitals in particular are being hammered by medicare changes. i will just mention two. one is the re- admission rule. if you go to the hospital and you are released and if you go back for any reason within a certain amount of time, you don't get paid in the hospital. so, somebody can be in for an illness in a week later they can break their leg.

and when they are readmitted, the hospital doesn't get paid. there is also the audits that are audited companies that are allowed to reclaim money that the hospitals have been paid under medicare and they don't have to prove their case. they simply say you have been overpaid and a gift to take it as an offset on the hospital and then they have to fight to get it back. the hospitals when nearly 80% of the time that it takes them years to get that money and i am greatly concerned about the stress that is placing on the hospitals. under obamacare as well, the deductibles are so high that hospitals are being saddled with bad debt and people who can't afford to pay their bills within those deductibles. these things do need attention or the hospital systems are under stress. >> moderator: expansion for one minute? belgard: i would agree that

there are exactly as you mentioned issues that do need to be addressed, but unfortunately he had a congress right now but refuses to do that, and it's we need to bring folks together so that we can address these issues without cutting the benefits to our seniors who not only have received this promise but who need them in their older years in life. but as you mentioned the folks from the hospital systems and the medical profession so that we can fix these issues so that we are making sure that our seniors are getting the utmost care and the most efficient and effective ways. >> moderator: do you want to expand? the question, since you mentioned and i will segue into it and we begin with candidate macarthur. are you bothered by this

approval rating for the congress and why do you think that this is and what can we do to change it? macarthur: the president's approval rating is terrible. congress is even worse. and it is one of the primary reasons i'm running for this office is the congress is a total impasse. people are stuck in their camps unwilling to work together, and i believe the answer is for people who can work together to be in congress. ..s how we grow. we have to work together. we have to work sometimes of companies that we might want to acquire, competition in the marketplace. it is one of the things i am most proud of in this campaign, getting endorsements from business groups like the u.s. chamber of commerce, the national federation of independent business in at the same