and afghanistan and we have a plan that has benchmarks so that we are showing progress. and we have an exit strategy to these are the things we did in iraq and afghanistan. if that take boots on the ground, so be it. ..

the strikes and the training that we are providing to this eerie and rebels is not a strategy over the long term that's going to succeed. there needs to be more. i would like to see, but i think the american public deserves is a congress airing on this debate so that we know what we are going to be doing before we do it. ever since the iraq he war started, we have much more coming out of the executive branch and congress has taken a backseat and i feel like there is less accountability as it relates to foreign policy. no matter what side you come down alternately on the vote, the american public deserves to hear what we are doing and before we do it. this is not only a long-term investment militarily but when the troops come home we have to care for them and we need to look at this with a clear lens.

>> when we first went to iraq we we had the lowest members of the veterans in congress ever and you have to wonder how he made all of these blunders. i think that we need a veteran's perspective in congress and the folks that have served the nation's uniform to inform that because it is one thing to say send someone else's kids over there but it's another thing to do it yourself. in light of what is happening in the world and continuing to restrict the defense is that a good idea? in light of what the world looks like today. >> look at the challenges that we have in the middle east. here's the problem. the problem we have in washington, d.c. right now is we are not even all trading under a budget. it's continuing resolution after continuing resolution because the house and the senate cannot come to an agreement on a budget and the president hasn't signed a budget and so all of a sudden we have all of these demands as

a country and we are not even airing the issues that we need to speak about in order to make this budgeting priority. i think the question should be trimmed down into the military budget. i'm looking forward to answering your questions and not speaking in the general platitudes and also talk about the specific policy that i support or don't support and i don't think that there is a lot of waste and abuse and excess in the department of defense and frankly i was the navy policy that was my last two are on active duty. so i saw some of that excess. there are frankly really a dollar and billion-dollar weapon systems that will never see the light of day. the contractors that have their claws in the pentagon and a revolving door. >> moderator: because the time is so short if the percentage of the government outlays on defense alone but smaller than it was years ago and it continues in that direction is that the right way forward to go? trivedi: it is cutting the money that goes to these excess.

but i was on a project building the new destroyer class class it was a ten-year project in five years in, they burned up all the money into and the contractor comes back and says we need more money. and we have half of have have a vision of what you think the government did they pay them double. billions of dollars of waste is going to these contractors. we should make sure the troops are getting paid even more. we were cutting these access funding defense contractors that doesn't see the light of day. >> moderator: let me broaden this to the policy spending and so forth because that is where we are headed. something is very broken in the economy and job creation is so poor and flat. the recovery seems weak and the participation is as low as it has been since 1978.

where do we begin? trivedi: there's a lot we need to do. the budget that of the republicans have is the part i am budget. your review of the budget? costello: happy to. we need to balance the budget in a certain number of years. my opponent has offered nothing. >> about the paul ryan budget? costello: what i do at that level is quarterly. look at what is coming in and what is going up. this month i will pass another budget in chester county with a

0% tax increase. but i am not going to do is go back in time and look at a budget that made its way through the house that isn't being taken up by the senate on the democratic opponent who has offered nothing in terms of what kind of budget he would vote for that is a silly political stuff. let's address the fact that our budget process is broken in washington? lets work in a bipartisan manner that has an independent streak and that worked to find commonsense solutions to get everything done. that's what i've done in every single level of government. and my opponent as is his third run for congress every two years he tries out more and more of the far left talking points than his criticism upon criticism not focused on actually solving the problems. so if mr. trivedi wants to offer a budget that says it is going to balance in a certain number of years here's where the cuts are going to be an economic

growth and i'm willing to look at it. >> moderator: trivedi: holloway talks about it as taxes by 5%. i think it is my turn to speak. you raise taxes and modernize at the county. he cuts the open space funding. he cut the funding for children and families. is there is a record that is not shiny. let him talk and say his policies. you just talked about this as an open seat. the congressman said that he is voting for this budget and now that it is an open seat voters have a right to go how you will vote on the big budget issues so that is all we have ever asked for is a yes or no. was into talks but never concrete.

the partnership to build america is a bipartisan bill. 30 republicans, 30 democrats sponsored by the congressman in maryland and this bill doesn't raise a dollar in taxes. it takes a look of lot of the corporate money that is now overseas $700 million invest in infrastructure is. this is a bipartisan commonsense legislation and we can fund infrastructure projects. >> that is a good bill. that's number one. number two there was no washington talk coming out of this side of the table. you are the one that lives in the wash walks in washington, d.c.. so to attack me on a budget that invests in libraries and open states that modernize.

the reason why the chester county fire chiefs and i have the endorsement in my county and chester county is because i'm willing to make the difficult decisions to make sure that we are investing. >> moderator: what specifically are things that would be hard for you to do that you think would want to do to trim the federal budget deficit, something that is difficult. nobody wants to talk about the third rail of the entitlement. medicare social security at some point will thereafter be some kind of an adjustment as a means testing security.

the budget he says he does it now would turn medicare into a voucher program and end of the medicare guaranteed. this isn't what we can afford. i know that we have patients. >> i know that you get excited sometimes but look the budget i would support to fix medicare we need people that understand health care, healthcare, not the politicians like my opponent. let's talk about that. i will tell you i can talk about it until everybody is blue in the face but there is so much waste and inefficiency in health care it isn't market-based solutions that going to fix health care to these other guys like to talk about, but we need to get to the heart of the health care problem which is so much of what we do doesn't make you any healthier but it does jack up the cost if we have smart people in congress who know how to make health care more efficient by incidents of rising best practices. here's a perfect example.

anything that medicare does not distance advises the admissions of if you get admitted to the hospital for a diagnosis and you have to come back in after you discharge within 30 days they will not pay for it anymore and this is dramatically reduced because doctors and hospitals and clinics make sure they have a follow-up survey are not discharged. these are the innovations samet's birthday -- some experts say that's how we get to the heart of the problem that we need people that are smart and have experience. >> would you like to speak to the entitlement situation? >> the problem with our healthcare health care system right now is that the government has been between the patient and the doctor and my belief is that

we need to get the government out between the patient and dr.. my opponent wants more government which i think it's just going to drive up the cost even more and reduce access. >> i notice on the website replacing obamacare. is that the way that we ought to go versus the change? costello: obamacare is good to is great. we need good to be here and we need to fix it. i agree. number one, the definition of employees should go to 40 hours, not 30 hours. number two come if you like your healthcare plan you should be able to keep it that the president promised. my opponent bragged about it in 2009 and now we don't hear about

it anymore because it has turned into a big problem in terms of the delivery of medical care. >> do you have things that you would want to tweak? costello: and that the 25 employees that should go to 50. we need more options that employees can get which is a higher deductible over cost and we need to make sure that we are bringing costs down. the affordable care act is not sure. i know healthcare and i was asked to advise on these issues are caused i know what i'm doing and this is what we need in congress. >> moderator: everybody is climbing the political ladder.

costello: the funny thing is i am a real estate lawyer born and raised in the area. i think we should have medical liability reform. i separate the medical liability form throughout my time in this campaign but the truth is if you know healthcare it isn't nearly enough and these are the talking points -- it's been proven that if we address medical liability we will make a dent in the healthcare be needed or not. >> moderator: we have gone too near the ending so the endings of any task for closing comments. you can talk about either things we just talked about or something else you would like to kill people about why they should eat like you. mr. trivedi you go first. trivedi: thanks for coming.

look all i have to say to the voters who are making their choice here is look at both of us and we have done with what we have done with our lives. look at our careers and look up what we stand for and made your decision. there is no doubt that there is a significant dysfunction in congress and we need to change the way washington works and the best way that we can change the way that it works is by changing the people that we send down there. so thanks for your time. >> moderator: a closing comment from mr. costello. costello: thank you for the opportunity. but we need in washington, d.c. is. and we need folks that want to get to yes and not find a way to say no. in every level of government that i have served at the township level than the county level i've worked with republicans and democrats to get results whether it's investing in open space in our libraries, balancing budgets, making the difficult decisions, and as a

small business lawyer where we have grown our firm i know how to create jobs. i've done that and i want to work with others. i'm the only person in the race that can vote for themselves. so i ask you to vote for me, ryan costello, and i appreciate the opportunity to be here today. >> thank you. i have so many more issues we need another half an hour. thank you gentlemen for being here. and thank you all for watching. hang on just one second. we hope this helps your decision.

>> might call meant about ebola is we actually had ebola )-right-paren this country. patients in the texas hospitals, nurses and so forth. people are just reacting to a very serious disease where we have to send teams of doctors and nurses waiting on you constantly. but be of the isis theater showing the beheadings over and over and all of the media channels. you have to worry about isis coming over to chop off your head and ebola.

>> i think that the people in the area should be banned from entering into the nation and it is up to our leaders to do that. >> i would like to see c-span do a cluster of is this virus to prove that we need a national healthcare system or are we just seeing what happened in texas with this capitalistic healthcare system and now it is going to cost millions and millions to clean that up and that's what i was curious to see what we would get for the remarks on that and this is the proof that we need a national healthcare system. >> continue to let us know what you are what you. call us at 626-3400 or you can send a message of c-span hash

tag comment. join the conversation, like us on facebook, follow us on to other. more coverage now here's a debate in georgia's 12th congressional district where democratic congressman john barrow is up against challenger rick allen. the 12th congressional district encompasses the eastern and southeastern part of the state and includes augusta and dublin. the report and rollcall rate their race as leaning democrat. this is a half an hour. >> the 2014 atlanta press club series brought to you from georgia public broadcasting. now the race for the 12th congressional district. >> moderator: good morning everybody. i'm the co- anchor of the speedy

web and broadcast in augusta and we would like to welcome you into the audience to the press club debate series originating in the studios of georgia public broadcasting here in atlanta. this is where the 12th congressional district. these are some of the larger counties that in richmond, include richmond, columbia, even lawrence county the candidates are rick allen, the president and ceo of our associates construction corp. in augusta georgia. and john barrow serving the fourth term as the a congressman from georgia school congressional district. walter jones is a political reporter and news analyst, and michelle is a reporter for 90.1.

this will consist of three rounds. for more information please visit the atlanta press club.org. now let's get started. the candidates will be asked one question from a panelist and one question will be posed to both candidates. walter jones you get the first question. >> good evening and thank you for participating. and if she were in this campaign has been the percentage in which you voted with the democratic leadership of your party. what is the correct percentage and more importantly, you said that independent, what's important to you is not telling a lot of either party but how can the voters be assured of that as long as there is a d. behind your name one of them provide a reliable guide that you can cherry pick the

statistics and for example when my opponent says that i support president obama 85% of the time come he's counting votes in some years and and not others. he's treating the small points of agreement and that's why the people that watch congress never rely on this aggregate overall statistics because they know that it's meaningless. that's why the organizations like the chamber of commerce, the national federation of independent business and the national rifle association are endorsing the end if they agree the president would be endorsing him that they aren't. they are endorsing me because they know with what i'm saying about my record isn't true. allen: i would like to respond to that if i could. there will be opportunities for statements and rebuttals as we go forward.

it's your turn to ask rick a question. >> please tell us what you think of what mr. barrow said about the voting record. barrow: what we were referring to and what we put in the ad was a letter that he wrote two years ago in that cycle and he told his supporters that he did in fact vote with the president 85% of the time. i don't understand what you would write a letter telling your constituents that you were going to vote with them, you voted 85% of the time but then you tell something totally different. i could tell you this i will not be voting for the president. >> moderator: meredith anderson it's your turn to ask a question for both candidates tonight. >> i worked for for wrdw in augusta and a lot of your voters in fact most of them are our

viewers because we are from that area and i wanted to put out to them, to the people who will be voting for either one of you what do you want asked, and a whopping majority of those that reached out to me wanted to know about the ads. they say why he ended the wanted both of you to respond to that. >> moderator: you get to go first. barrow: i am not confident of the ads attacking my opponent. they are what i stand for and what i've accomplished. i share a lot of concerns. my opponent is the one that made his record as a private businessman for the sole qualification. so naturally people have a lot of concerns. when it turns out you've made a fortune dealing with a small number of the customers they are spending tax taxpayers money and people are more concerned set aside because they are even legally entered in the first place. here's my level of concern when everything my opponent says about my record you can look up

and say everything they questioned he wants folks to take his word for it and he says everything is on the up and up but everything about my record is demonstrably false. i'm not buying it and i don't think anybody else is either. >> you get to respond to the negative ads. allen: they are out there raising money and the almost $7 million trying to trash my business. and the biggest issue isn't the ads. the biggest issue is jobs about the economy. why in the world if that is the biggest issue would you try to take down a small business? me were the most trusted businesses in the country. i'm very proud of this fact that they haven't been able to find one owner, one employee or one

subcontractor they put up on television and talk about how bad we are. and furthermore, the added that he's talking about, we never did that project. the one he's talking about how, it was actually awarded the job. it is a lie and frankly yes i'm sick of it. all it is is a bunch of lies and we know why they are doing it because they want to stay in washington. >> moderator: that concludes the first round. the candidates now get to ask a question of each other and you will have 30 seconds to ask, 60 seconds to respond and 30 seconds for a rebuttal. your question will lead this off. >> you're a harvard educated attorney and i have to give you a lot of credit. you talk a good game. you even confused me a lot. but the bottom line is you've been in congress for a decade

and the budget in this country has doubled. the deficit has more than doubled. we have got all kinds of security issues. you can't keep your doctor come you can't keep your health care plan. i would like for you to tell me when you're going to go to work. barrow: the congress can pass budgets that don't go anywhere and don't deserve to go anywhere. that's why i support the legislation that would prevent congress from getting paid unless they do their most basic jobs, which is the act through congress and spending plans the next fiscal year that is the number one response ability as long as they fail to failed to do that and all the deficits pile up that's why i support a balanced budget amendment and why i support no budget and no pay but will make the congress do the job. that's the reason things happen because you're too many people like me but it's happening

because there are few people like me. nobody thinks the reason congress is on this path right now is because they have too many bipartisan folks on both sides of the i/o but because they aisle but because they have too many folks like my opponent. >> moderator: your rebuttal to that? allen: it's no politics as usual. we had our own no budget no pay bills and my opponent voted against that bill. so it is a terrible lack of consistency and that's very disturbing. but furthermore these are real issues. the jobs, the economy and the deficit. there are folks that are having a difficult time and they want a congressman that voted to work and create jobs and grow this economy and get things done.

barrow: one ad criticizes me for the so-called no budgets no pay and it goes to accuse me of lying when i claimed to support it when i had the chance to do so. so my question to you is direct and simple and straightforward what you have voted for the law that you criticized me for voting, yes, no were present? the >> i would have voted yes for that. >> i'm so glad we finally have a position because let me tell you what that bill did that we voted for,, with that build it is allowed at the congress did not adopt a budget of about the congress to keep on getting paid and allowed the debt ceiling to increase. that's what the bill was all about so you just endorsed the bill to raise the debt ceiling without anything to show. we need members of congress who are paying attention into our independent enough to do this in

the best interest of the district. >> if if you're just joining this is between the candidates for the 12th congressional district. we will now go to the third and final round and in this round of the panelists will question the candidates until we run out of time. you get the first question of this round. >> moderator: my question is for congressman barrow and this comes from david. one of the viewers reached out and said with a recent poll showing that 75% of americans support the term limit for the members of the house and senate why are you running again? barrow: i believe in the term limits that the framers gave us which is two-year terms for the branch of government they want to be closest to the people. here's the problem with arbitrary. you will not solve the problems making one is represented as it is. congress isn't as unrepresented as it is because we have too many folks elected in the same place. they do a good job of

representing their districts. it's their districts that don't do a good job of representing the country as a whole. that's why i endorse and support the redistricting reform. we had more look at the rest of the country and members of congress who look at the national interest when they deal with things nationally and that's what the framers intended. we need a system where the people choose their leaders rather than politicians choosing their voters that has to be fixed and nothing will solve the problem held until we do that. >> it is now your turn to ask a question. >> moderator: your opponent was organized by the center and you refused to participate in that venue. does that portray a religious bias or prejudice on your part? barrow: we never refused to participate in that debate.

>> moderator: that you refuse to participate in that location. barrow: there's nothing that came from my mouth but refused to debate anywhere anytime. >> moderator: why did it happen at the islamic center that day? barrow: we got a call that said we are moving it and he said he's not going to be part of the debate so he said okay what do we do now and they said it's going to be at columbia county and i said okay we will do that. >> moderator: it's your turn now to ask a question of one of the candidates. >> moderator: you are asking to repeal the affordable care act. what would you reveal and how would you improve the law? when my opponent tells folks that we are against 24 times, there's more than 50 votes for appeal in bits and pieces and parts of obamacare and they voted to repeal half of them.

my policy is to repeal the parts that are not working in support of those that do work. for example i believe that we should end of end the employer mandate of the individual mandate and the provision that tells the irs to decide what it's going to cost and what it has to cover. these are all provisions i've already voted to repeal. the parts i want to keep our those that do some good like the ban on the pre-existing conditions. i don't think that we should go back to the days on the basis of the medical conditions. i would support a repeal of the bill if it could replace it if it keeps the reforms we all need and want even the one governor romney says we ought to keep. that's been my policy all along and it hasn't changed one bit. >> moderator: meredith anderson it is your turn to ask a question. >> moderator: he wants to know what you would do to help veterans. allen: we have a very strong veterans committee and in fact i

spoke at the veterans convention saturday morning. i had a briefing at both the augusta va and the va in dublin. they operate and the thing is all the government is top down and we needed the decisions to be made locally but number one is we need to give our veterans every option for good care because our government has a pretty system upside down. >> moderator: walter jones is your turn to ask another question. congressman barrow that the democratic party of georgia sent out a mailer that essentially said if you don't vote, there's going to be another incident in

georgia. a lot of observers said that is a blatant race card. what is your feeling about that and do you agree with that? barrow: i am disgusted with its implication. i do not condone it afterwards. i know how to talk to folks in such a way to bring people together but it's on the issues that some folks have been culturally cajoling immigration reform and culturally and immigration reform and i have the ability to bring folks together. you can do that unless you can work in a bipartisan fashion. that's why i don't approve of it and i don't condone. >> moderator: your chance for another question. mr. allen your opponent said that he can work across party lines. are you willing to do the same and if so what are the issues that you can work with democrats on? allen: we know that it's worked in the past and i believe

that we need to be idea driven and if we are idea driven we can solve these problems in the country and the leave it or not, right now let me tell you what is happening in washington as far as bipartisanship there are 372 and 72 bills on harry reid's desk. that's the problem in the congress. these are the bills that we but we have worked on to help the economy and energy bills but stopped at the senate level. he knows that his own people are going to vote with us on those bills. harry reid is a member of the democratic party and carefully he directly he has absolutely no influence over here he read if we get something done over there >> moderator: this is from john in augusta he wants the position on average a quality.

allen: i think that it's a religious institution first. at the same time i agree with ronald reagan who doesn't believe in discriminating against anybody and it is the state for its purposes to borrow or make use of a religious institution for the governor's purposes and they don't fit i think it is the obligation to accommodate itself to the community and not the other way around. i know that puts us at odds with a lot of democrats but it's my job to tell them what i think and tell you what i think. >> moderator: mr. allen, you put about a million dollars of your own money into this campaign and some of observers might say could end that benefit the district more if you had given it to a food shelter or even your church instead of what looks like an ego trip?

allen: let me tell you about that and that is a great question because you know what, i have worked in the community and we are solving a lot of problems in the united way and health services into the heritage school but you know what i found out? we cannot solve our problems in the community as fast as washington is creating them. i've always be the have to go to the root of the problem and so i focused totally on trying to do something about washington leveled to stop this government from creating what we know how to solve in the local community. >> moderator: how about another question for the candidates. >> moderator: how would you reduce the nation's debt? we should identify the wasteful spending and get our budget in balance. that's why i supported and voted

for the balanced budget amendment. i also think that we need tax reform of the kind that's recommended in this and symbols commission. they pointed out that if we had tax reform everybody on the same income bracket we could actually lower the rate for everyone. that's one of the recommendations that i actually support. we have to make sure that the regulators regulators to me that the executive branch or the independent agencies are not sponsoring the private business with a bunch of high-cost low benefit ratio regulations. we need to make sure the job creators are into being smothered by regulation to prevent them from growing or hiring. rator: my question isy questions for mr. allen and this comes from andrea she wants to know what your views are on gun control concealed carry.

allen: i and a lifetime member of the nra and i believe in the concealed carry. as citizens we must protect ourselves and it is a dangerous world. and i will work to continue to uphold the second amendment. >> moderator: >> moderator: type requested from walter jones. >> moderator: beginning with a question about these ads a lot of them have been produced from groups outside of georgia. i would like to hear each of you talk about one of these ads but has been produced by a group making the claim that you repudiate that you don't stand by. start with you mr. barrow. barrow: i already said i don't approve the content of the messages put out that i can't say that i distance myself on my opponent's business record since they raised questions on serving

in congress. i don't know the message to be honest with you. i'm responsible with the messages i put out where i said i approved this message. and i can say and you can verify the message is talked about what i stand for, what i've accomplished and the only exceptions are made by the opposition. and that's the way that about to be for everybody. if we didn't have have this outside money it would be much clearer who was running the campaign and who is not. after two months i mentioned my opponent wants in a single ad. the standard of deciding when a campaign is is used to run a positive campaign. allen: as far as the ad that basically was running the fact

is john barrow only got one bill through and that was to rename a post office. i think that it's shameful. >> moderator: that is all the time we have. candidates have 60 seconds for a statement by random selection rick allen makes the first closing statement. allen: thank you so much and i want to think the atlanta press club for having us again. it's been a great time to talk about the issues but i want to leave you with this. november 4 you have a date decision to make. if you like the direction of the country, vote for my opponent but if you want to change and job growth and you want to grow this economy vote for rick allen n-november fourth. >> you may now give your closing remarks.

>> in my time in congress i earned a reputation as someone that can work with anybody, republican or democrat to get things done. i worked in a bipartisan fashion to come up with solutions to be accomplished and i'm very proud of that. i'm proudest of the fact i've been designated as the most bipartisan member of congress. and as far as this choice is concerned i think the last thing we need to do is replace him as the most bipartisan members of congress. i belief in creating jobs and accountability and accessibility if you want a congressman that will vote for you either party or both parties in washington then i ask for your vote and i would be proud to have your support. >> moderator: that concludes the debate and we would like to remind you that the election will be held tuesday november 4 and early voting is already underway. thanks to the candidates and the panel tonight.

great questions from the journalists and we would also like to thank the press club for arranging this debate. for more information about the atlanta press club and all the debates that they are hosting this season please visit atlantapressclub.org. it will also be available on demand at gptv.org. of the series the series is made possible by a donation from charles. please stay with us for the debate among the candidates for the united states senate. thanks for joining us from the press club debate. [applause] ♪

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now a debate between the candidates to be texas senator.

incumbent republican john warner and being challenged by david alameel. senator cornyn was elected in 2002 and it sits on the finance judiciary committees. he's also part of the republican leadership in the senate. this is courtesy of univision and it is about an hour. >> good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the debate. it is prohibited to applaud. the only exception is this moment when i ask you to please help me welcome the two candidates for the texas senate senator john cornyn and doctor david alameel. [applause]

[applause] the rest of the night it is prohibited to applaud or make any noise. reporter and anchor for univision 23. mountain view college honors the students. the rules are the following. in the opening statements and there are two minutes for closing statements. each answer and rebuttal will have a maximum duration of one minute.

if the candidates pass the time this bill will bring. i hope i do not have to use it. okay. everybody ready we will start with mr. john cornyn introductory message. mr. cornyn. cornyn: thank you for being here tonight and mountain view college for hosting us and univision for hosting this important discussion of the issues that confront the state and the nation. thank you for the opportunity and privilege of representing the 26 million people of this great state. texas has become a model in so many ways for governments and the policies that promote strong job growth, booming economy and people seeking their dreams. we know by way of background for those of you that don't know me very well i was born in houston. my father served 31 years in the

united states air force and grew up in san antonio and went to school in the san antonio and then ran for and was elected as a district judge as well. i later served on the texas supreme court where we built with issues like public education and public access to data quality education for all of texas. i later served as attorney general where we dealt with many other important issues but also served as the chief child support enforcement officer for the state collecting 1.2 million low-income children. we know that washington is broken. you don't need to be a rocket scientist to understand that and the dysfunction in washington doesn't serve the interest of the people of our state or that people of america. we need a new direction. we don't need people to go to washington and support the status quo. the obstruction of the majority

leader and the policies of the president. the president has made it clear what this is about. he said his name may not be on the ballot that his policies will be. so i look forward to discussing with all of you the important challenges ahead and also the opportunities that lie ahead to pursue the dream once again. >> moderator: now we will hear mr. david alameel. you have two minutes starting now. alameel: friends come as, as a young man i thought of my career in working as a farm worker in the field. my wife and i struggled to make ends meet so after serving in the u.s. army to go to college then we moved to dallas and started a small business that grew to 26 locations. we are able to achieve the american game. the education that i received

was three and our economy was the envy of the world but today it is out of reach because wall street has taken over washington by spending billions in here to buy the whole republican party and the group of wall street democrats and over the last 35 years they shift all of the manufacturing jobs overseas with c-charlie charlie and of dollars into the safe havens and they destroyed the middle class. john cornyn is one of the leaders of the establishment who only care about themselves and whose policies have left our country broke and without jobs. he's turning our country into a minimum-wage nation and we say enough is enough we are going to send him to see how he survives on minimum wage. friends, i know how to build business and create jobs. i know the value of hard work and educational opportunity. i know how to move our country

forward and i would be honored to serve as your next u.s. senator. >> we are going to move forward with the first question. >> moderator: good afternoon. the first question the records show the release that face serious charges such as kidnapping, sexual assault of a trafficking and homicide. to be re- elected what would be your priority and getting them on the comprehensive immigration reform or finding an additional funding to capture and send back to the criminals that were

released >> ideally there is no one regardless of their position on this sometimes contentious issue that the leave the immigration system is working the way you should. i it should. i support the system that reflects our values and also protects our interest as a nation. right now our system is one of chaos largely controlled by the criminal organizations that get rich off of people in and out of the country. these are the same people that traffic drugs and human beings and basically the business is human misery. so we need to restore the system to the legal one because we are the most generous country in the world. we need to shut down the cartels that traffic and restore order to what is now chaos through the system that reflects our values and interests.

>> moderator: the next question is from pedro. go ahead. >> moderator: good evening, senator and mr. alameel. the question is for you. now that the immigration and customs enforcement are now in, known, the controversial release of the undocumented immigrants had some background. if you were elected as a senator with what you do to prevent this from happening again? alameel: although i am a supporter of immigration reform, it is for people that are hard-working and law-abiding who commit crimes should be deported immediately and should be sent back to their country and i don't belief that we should tolerate any criminal activity or any people who connect to the criminal act. most of the latinos here are people that have been here for many years and who are

hard-working and some of these people have been here for many years and are married and have children and grandchildren and ivy league that they need a path to citizenship and i believe that they deserve this same path to the american dream as every other community and i would fight tooth and nail to let them have that. >> the next question. >> moderator: welcome senator cornyn and doctor alameel. this question goes to both. the immigration and nationality act for the united states to award 175,000 each year. do you bb that increasing the amount would benefit the country and if so how many would you be willing to approve for these programs? >> moderator: mr. cornyn will

answer first. cornyn: we shouldn't set a hard cap on the number. it depends on how well our economy is doing and if our economy is doing well and we have full employment for the american citizens, then i think we could look at the more flexible cap that would reflect the demand for the legal workforce here in the united states, but we do have as i said earlier at the immigration system doesn't protect the national interest but the colleges like mountain view college and other colleges across the country people who have skills and talent that we need in the united states particularly those that have the kind of skills we can't currently find. ..

>> m oderator: next question is from -- [inaudible] >> thank you, wendy. this question dose to senator -- goes to senator cornyn. according to "the new york times", about 200,000 -- [inaudible] of children who are american citizens were deported between 2010 and 2012. and 5,000 participantless children -- parentless children are now in foster care because

their mother or father was detained or deported. are you able to put yourself in those parents' shoes? what would you do if you were one of them? cornyn: well, we know that people come to the united states for opportunity and for the american dream that we've are referred to, we've spoken about before. what i've always said is we need a -- nobody supports a status quo on our immigration system. i don't think anyone's happy with it. so the issue is how do we find some consensus, and i think the way we begin to do that is to find a way to break this down into smaller pieces. because, frankly, there's so much distrust and division in washington, d.c. these days, it's hard -- if not impossible -- to pass a comprehensive bill that does everything. and as we we've seen, the delayi think makes my point. if we'd been able to do it, we would have already done it. i introduced a comprehensive immigration reform bill in 2005

is senator jon kyl of arizona. but like all of the other comprehensive bills, they haven't gone anywhere. so that's why i think it's so important. let's find the parts that we agree on; the children -- >> moderator: your time is up, sir. if mr. alameel doesn't want rebuttal, we're moving forward to the next question. alameel: no, i do. the only time he voted for immigration reform is when he knew that the house wasn't even going to consider it. it is inhuman and anti-christian to separate kids from their parents. that's why immigration reform is needed as of yesterday, as of last year, as of ten years ago. the only way to solve this problem is to stop deportation and keep these families together until we figure out exactly what immigration reform is going to look like. >> moderator: next question is from pedro row has. >> as a veteran of the u.s. army, are you in favor of the deployment of the national guard to the texas/mexico border, and

if so, could you explain why? pale meehl well, i think it's a joke because it's just a political ploy. we need to secure our border for many reasons, but it's not the national guard who should take care of our border, the federal government who takes care of our border. texans should not bear the cost of securing our country's border, the federal government should. and i believe we should secure it because we have cartels, we have enemies around the world. it won't take very long before they start figuring out that our southern border is wide open for terrorists to come in. so is i do believe it needs to be secured, but you know what rick perry did was just a political ploy, it's not going to work. they don't have any authority to arrest anybody, they don't have authority to do anything, and i think it's time for our federal government to take care of our border. cornyn: well, given the fact that the president refused to even visit the rio grande valley

during this humanitarian crisis -- that's what he called it, and it really was a crisis. my visits down there show the border patrol and officials were overwhelmed by the flood of unaccompanied children, 62,000 since just october alone. they didn't have adequate detention facilities, and i remember one young man we asked, and he was being detained at the border patrol facilities there in squalid conditions, we asked him, i asked him how old he was, he said he was 13. i asked him where his parents were, and he said, they're dead. that young man could qualify for an immigration visa in the united states if he was able to appear in front of an immigration judge on a timely basis and make that claim. i worked with henry cuellar, a democrat from laredo, texas, to try to offer a bipartisan solution to just this little piece of our broken immigration system, and we couldn't even get a vote from the majority leader, senator reid, in the united

states senate. and the president said he would veto it if we sent it to him. that's not a way to solve the problem. >> moderator: jessica hernandez has the next question. >> senator cornyn, you have supported student loan reform. do you future policies include federal aid for low income students that have benefited from the dream act? cornyn: well, i believe that, i believe that education is the way out, and i've indicated earlier that for children who came with their parents into the country and did not comply with our immigration laws, they are guilty of nothing other than coming with their family. and we ought to provide them an opportunity not only to go to school, but to eventually serve in the military or complete a college education and earn a american citizenship. i believe that. and i believe in the process they should be treated just the same as we would any other

student based on need. it makes so much more sense for us to have these young people here in texas and here in america as productive citizens. it makes absolutely no sense to condemn them to minimum wage jobs for the rest of their lives when they could produce so much more, when they could be so much more, and they would benefit, their families would benefit, and our nation would benefit. alameel: our federal reserve has given wall street $32 trillion in the last -- $3.2 trillion in the last five years, and yet our children have the burden of student loans. and when elizabeth warren introduced a bill to reduce the interest payment on our students, john cornyn voted against it. if he really cares about education, he should tell the country that our education should be practically free, and our students should not have to have loans, much less pay 7%.

at least they should pay only a quarter percent just like wall street corporations do. >> moderator: next question is from angel pedrero. >> thank you, wendy. this question is for dr. alameel. according to the "dallas morning news", about ten years ago -- [inaudible] you gave money to senator cornyn's campaign. what did senator corps man have -- cornyn have at the time that you would say he no longer has? alameel: well, he was only two years into his office and had no record. and of all the things that i have to live with in my life -- and i stand by all my mistakes -- this is one terrible mistake i have to live with. cornyn: well, i would say dr. alameel was an enthusiastic supporter of mine and of governor perry's and lieutenant

governor dewhurst up and down the ticket. he decided, for reasons i'm sure he can explain, to switch parties and run as a democrat. he ran in an 11-person primary, he came in fourth. he's decided to self-finance this race. i enjoy the support of 17,000 texans who have contributed to my campaign. dr. alameel's primary campaign contributor is dr. alameel. so he has that right, and i'm glad he is here tonight and making his case for election to the american people. but i would say that people can judge for themselves whether he is being consistent or inconsistent, his actions match his words. i would suggest they do not. >> moderator: next question is from pedro rojas. >> this question is for both. if elected, what would you do to secure the border and avoid the humanitarian crisis like the one that we saw in the summer, and

how can we prevent those massive amount of children coming in by themselves and mothers with children? >> moderator: this time mr. alameel will begin. alameel: okay. i already stated exactly how i would like to secure our border. a federal government job, and i will fight for that as your senator. these people are coming because they have strife in their country. they're killing their parents, they're killing themthey join gangs. one of the things we have to do is when we give them financial aid, we have to put conditions on them. we can't allow the leaders of that country to squander the financial aid we give them. we can put pressure on them to stop the killing with the cartel in their country, to stop the abuse and the corruption in their government so they can provide a better life for their country. as far as the border is concerned, it has nothing to do

with humanitarian crisis on the the border. it has to do with our national security. >> moderator: mr. cornyn, you have one minute. cornyn: well, we know how to do this, we just haven't had the political will to do it. this is one of the problems with a so-called comprehensive approach. everything is connected to everything else, and when you insist on everything your way or nothing, most of the time you get nothing. so what we need to do is to make the commitment in terms of federal resources. i'm talking about people, technology, but mainly it's a matter of national will. we know how to do this. but we also need to separate the people who are cartels and the drug running and the human trafficking from the legitimate traffic and trade. we benefit to the tune of six million jobs in america from binational trade with mexico. but we haven't funded our ports of entry, and we haven't staff ised those port -- staffed those

ports of industry in a way that would allow us to separate the illegal and the harmful from the legal and beneficial. once we decide -- >> moderator: your time is up, sur. excuse me. excuse me. julia hernandez has the next question. >> if elected as a texas senator, what concrete action will you take to make your office more accessible to student population and to motivate those students to get involved and express their needs? >> moderator: this time mr. cornyn will begin. you have one minute. cornyn: one reason i'm very happy to be at mountain view college tonight is i think a lot of students who perhaps haven't been as involved in the political process get a chance to see firsthand what it's like. and, hopefully, this will be the beginning of their active engagement over the course of their lives. because we have a unique form of government, and because the government is us. we're the ones who decide who

gets elected and what the policies will be based on how we vote and if we vote. and so i think students have a vested interest. unfortunately, your generation has not been treated very well by the current office holders, and there's plenty of blame to go around. but right now there's absolutely no discussion about the $17 trillion in debt that's going to have to be paid back and the unsustainable social security and medicare systems that we know how to fix, we know how to keep those commitments to our seniors and future generations, but there seems to be absolutely no commitment under the current leadership to fix them. >> moderator: i would like to make a question to both of you, and this time mr. alameel will answer first. we have been hearing a lot about ebola. what would do differently to deal with the legislation.

alameel: well, the ebola problem is the same problem we have that he said there is no political will in washington to fix, retirement, education and everything else that we need. he doesn't have an open door policy, he didn't answer that question. the reason ebola is a big problem is because they keep cutting funding to every agency that we need. and cdc was not ready to handle an epidemic. our hospitals were not ready to handle our epidemic, and we totally bungled that whole incident, and is we have doctors and nurses and patients going around with fluids infected, and they're allowing them to fly, they're allowing them to sit in rooms. yes, we need to restrict flying. in any epidemic you have to restrict the flow in and out of that epidemic area. but i think start to fund our emergency health care ponce is more important -- response is

more important than anything else, and making the screening more strict at airports help -- >> moderator: your time is up, sir. mr. cornyn, what would you do? cornyn: i know we all celebrate with the family of nina pham, i saw that she was with the president. i think it was even this afternoon in the oval office. but, yes, i've called for a travel ban from those affected west african nations. increased surveillance as we pursue a vaccine through wonderful institutions like the galveston national lab and the utmb branch at galveston and other world class medical facilities that we have. unfortunately, dallas was not prepared primarily because they were looking for guidance from the federal government. and the center for disease control was giving inconsistent or inadequate, incomplete advice on the protocol that the health care providers were supposed to use to protect themselves.

so thankfully, people who came in casual contact were not infected. the people we thought were at the lowest risk were, basically because there was no leadership from the white house and from the federal government. >> moderator: angel pedrero has the next question. >> thank you, wendy. this question is for both. 2,000 children in texas are using medicinal marijuana to get better, but their parents get the cannabis out of texas. would you support the legalization of medicinal marijuana in the country? >> moderator: mr. cornyn. cornyn: i believe that it would be dangerous and risky for us to approve the use of marijuana for this purported medicinal reason. we see experimentation taking place all across our country in places like colorado where now marijuana's being openly sold as a recreational drug with no real knowledge of what the results of this exparty will be in d --

experiment will be in terms of public safety and public health. and as we know now, underage individuals, children, get access to alcohol even though we know it's not legal for them to do so. so i don't think it'd take a great speculation to say that this will, if approved for adults, will make its way to children who its impact on their growing and forming brains and their productivity is really unknown. so i do not support the legalization of marijuana. >> moderator: mr. alameel. alameel: well, of course many christians thought alcohol was satan, and they had the psalm argument back when they -- the same argument back when they did alcohol prohibition era. first of all, the question was about medical marijuana, and i think medical marijuana should be available to patients who need it. second, i think most of the people being arrest ared and going to prison -- arrested and

going to prison are african-american and latino kids, disproto portion nately so even show the anglo population are using it much more than that community. so i believe it's time to have those kids go back to their families and decriminalize marijuana and make it more like a civil fine, and i think that will go a long way to allow the latino community and the african-american community to unite with those young people who never committed any violent crime. and i'm sure we will have to deal with our young people the way we do with alcohol, but having prohibition like we tried before did not work. we wasted trillions of dollars on this drug war that doesn't work. and i think marijuana should be decriminalized so people either pay a fine or do a -- >> moderator: your time is up, sir. alameel: thank you. >> moderator: pedro rogas -- rojas has the next question. >> thank you, wendy. as we all know, this ebola crisis that we just have here

originated at the texas presbyterian hospital here in dallas. put on reality the health care system throughout the country. if any of you gets elected to the senate from the state of texas, would you promote any changes in the senate to make hospital management more accountable to their patients, their employees and the public? >> moderator: mr. alameel, you will answer first. alameel: of course our hospitals, like everything else in our health care system, is for profit. and sometimes people go too far with profits. they start cutting corners. the dallas hospital that had this outbreak did not have proper. even after their patient went to be treated, they still did not have the gear necessary to take care of him. and they tried to muzzle the staff from complaining. i think everything has to do with us having a plan. we have four centers in the country to handle ebola, and the

total number in the country is nine beds. so if we have an epidemic, the first nine patients will be taken care of, and the other 100,000 will die. yes, we need to take care of our response system, as i said before, and we need to fund it. >> moderator: mr. cornyn, please. cornyn: well, i visited with judge jenkins and mayor rawlings as well as the chief medical officer for the state of texas about this, and what struck me is that they were waiting for guidance from the the white house, from the federal government. and it took the president three weeks before he appointed a liaison officer -- sometimes called a "czar," -- what we needed was somebody to coordinate the care between the federal government, state and local government to make sure that the emergency resources we had were available and they were acting on the best possible information. so texas presbyterian hospital and the county did the best they could, but they were handicapped by a lack of help and useful

guidance from the federal government. the center for disease control has world class epidemiologists and doctors, but they aren't the kinds of boots on the ground needed to guide and to direct people who are trying to save the life of somebody like mr. duncan who are real heroes. >> moderator: we have to move forward to next question. hiewl ya hernandez, please. >> senator cornyn, according to the use of the centers for disease control, 20% of young adults did not have health insurance in 2012. one of your efforts as senator has been to bring an end to obamacare. what would you instead implement to increase the percentage of young americans without insurance? cornyn: well, it's true that the affordable care act, or obamacare, was sported by its -- supported by its advocates as a solution to our broken health care system. there were many people, like me, who were skeptical that the

federal government had the competence or the ability to change the law, especially using the tools they did, that would actually cover more people. in fact, there's still today 42 million people who lack health care insurance even now four years into obamacare's passage. and we've found all of the promises that were made -- if you like your doctor, you can keep him -- they've proved not to be true. because, unfortunately, what the federal government did is made health insurance more expensive, not less expensive and more affordable. so i have a plan to put in place an alternative that would let you choose your health care and would bring down prices primarily by increasing competition and making it more transparent. alameel: well, of course, obamacare is no different than romneycare which john cornyn did not have a problem with it.

it's a good step in the right direction can. it's already helped five million people to get insurance. it also changed our health care. for the fist time in history, insurance companies cannot drop a patient when he gets sick by not renewing his policy. for the first time in the history, when he moves from job to job, they cannot tell him you have pre-existing condition, they have to cover him. for the first time, they allow kids to remain on their parents' policy. yes, it's not perfect. we need to make it more affordable, but i think it's a great step in, you know, the right direction. it's the law of the land, and republicans need to stop saying no and start figuring out how to help and fix it. >> moderator: we're going to move forward to the next question. angel. >> thank you, wendy. dr. alameel -- alameel: yes, sir. >> you say increasing the federal minimum wage to $10.10 is a good proposal, and if so, would you be willing to apply that increase in your business before it becomes law?

alameel: well, minimum wage in my company that i sold in 2009 was $10 an hour. we used to pay latina and latinos paid out of high school -- straight out of high school $10 an hour. of it was great for my business. they became good consumers for my neighbors' business. they also became very loyal employees, they also became people who stayed there, and we didn't have to train other people. the more employees make, the more consumer makes. the more consumer make, the more small business will profit. and i think it's a silly argument that minimum wage hurt business. >> moderator: next question from pedro. >> senator cornyn, would you support -- changing gears here -- would you support the deployment of u.s. troops to the ground in iraq to fight the terrorist group isil, and if so, how many soldiers should be deployed? cornyn: well, i'm waiting for the president to tell us what his strategy is to degrade and

defeat the islamist state. he recognizes, and i think we all have to recognize, that it is a threat not only to the peace in the middle east, but as we have learned on september 11, 2001, what happens over there can have a very direct impact on our safety and security here. but i don't believe the president's current tactics of airstrikes alone are add quality. -- adequate. don't take my work for it, you can ask martin dempsey, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, former secretary of defense for president obama, lee nonpanetta, and both of them have said that. ideally, if we could recruit allies like turkey, like the kurds, the peshmerga and others, iraqi soldiers for them to be the boots on the ground, we should do that. but the fact of the matter is we in america have capabilities that yo one else has. and -- that no one else has. and if we don't stop it there, we could be well defending ourselves here, and that's

unacceptable. >> moderator: your time is up. alameel: of course, john cornyn has been saying he wants boots on this ground since this crisis started, and i say our president is doing right by bombing them to degrade them, and before we end up like another iraqi war, we need to have a foreign policy vision, we need to have a plan, we need to decide what our goals are in the middle east. it's a domino effect type of region, and we don't need to create another big war. but if we have a good vision and a plan, i will support our military to take care of them, because they are a threat to our country. >> moderator: next question is from julia hernandez. >> dr.al alameel, do you support funding for higher education? alameel: yes, ma'am. [laughter] [applause] >> moderator: okay. mr. angel pedrero. >> thank you, westernty. senator corps -- wendy. senator cornyn, from all the

decisions that you have made in your 12 years in the senate, which one do you regret the most, or would you rather say that you have never made a mistake in your tenure? corps corps well, i would never -- cornyn: i would never say that i have not made any mistakes. my wife is in the audience, and she would disagree if i said that. so, of course, we all make mistakes in life, and hopefully we learn from them. one of the things i regret is that when we passed the prescription drug program for medicare to make prescription drugs available for seniors, that we didn't insist that it be paid for. and that was a mistake. because what we've seen is a bipartisan tendency to want to do things, but not to pay for them. and this has happened over a period of time to where now we have $17 trillion in debt. and someone is going to have to pay that back. unfortunately, it's going to be the next generation is going to

have to pay that back. and that's immoral, for us to be spending money today and giving them the bill to pay back in the future. that's why i support a balanced budget amendment to the united states constitution to force the congress to do what states do -- >> moderator: time is up. cornyn: -- and we all should do. alameel: of course, i learned more from my mistakes in life than i learned from my successes. that's why i'm successful today. you have to turn every stumbling block, every stumbling stone into a steppingstone to reach higher. and i think i have made many mistakes. one of them was john cornyn. [laughter] but there's nothing wrong with making mistakes as long as you learn from it. we all have to learn. i still learn. i'm already 62 years old, and every day i'm learning something new. and it's okay to make mistakes. >> moderator: mr. pedro rojas has another question. >> this question is for dr. alameel. you have traveled throughout the state promoting your political

platform, and i was reading a little bit about it, and i found out you would like to obligate big banks to pay their fair share in taxes and create more jobs by doing that. can you explain, please, more in detail about those ideas? alameel: remember what that establishment in washington? they passed special legislation so that companies can hide profits overseas for deferred profits, and they don't pay taxes until they bring it home. they have trillions and trillions of dollars that they're hiding in overseas. they also gather the ability to do business in overseas like china, produce a product for $5, send it to cayman island for $95, and the subsidy will sell it to us for $100 and claim $5 profits. there are many ways that big corporations are cheating the system. another one is they gather special privileges, special

outsourcing tax incentives to pay them to take our jobs overseas. it's very simple, we reverse those policies, and we will get our jobs back. >> senator cornyn, do you see this idea feasible? you've within around congress for the -- been around congress for the past 12 years. is it possible to overturn the status quo big corporation have in this country? cornyn: well, we need to change it because it's hurting american jobs and investment here. we have the highest corporate rate in the world, and i was at the dallas hispanic chamber today at lunch, a small businesswoman told me that she's at the 30% tax rate, but large multi-national corporations have the lawyers and accountants and, basically, can manipulate the current system and end up paying zero in effective tax rate. that's a wrong, and we shouldn't be forcing her and her small business here in north to subsidize and affect the activities of -- in effect, the activities of a multi-national

corporation that has a team of accountants. i support a flatter, fairer tax system, i think that will create more jobs. unfortunately, the obama administration has told us that it will take about a trillion dollars in new taxes for them to agree to come to the table, and that's not acceptable. >> moderator: our student from the college has the next question. hulij -- julia. >> would you support an abortion law in. >> moderator: mr. cornyn, you will answer first. cornyn: personally, i will tell you that i'm pro-life, that's my view and those are my values, but i believe that women's health is important. if they're seeking abortions lawfully and that the steps that texas took to improve the clinics to make sure that women

did not suffer malpractice and poor treatment there was a step in the right direction. the problem we saw in pennsylvania, for example, is when dr. kermit gosnell, basically, he was a human butcher, and women died seeking otherwise lawful abortions at his facility. we can't let that happen here, and i believe that the steps that the text legislature took were steps in the right direction. >> moderator: mr. alameel, you have one minute to answer the question. alameel: in case you didn't notice, the first question last time he made my case about my economic platform. second, his answer just now, he just declared he's pro-choice. so i'm catholic, like him, and we don't believe in abortion, but we respect others, and we want them to have good facilities, like he said he would. so we agree on this. [laughter]

[applause] >> moderator: next question. >> thank you, wendy. this question is for both. can you explain your position about same-sex marriage? could you support a constitutional amendment to define what marriage is? cornyn: well, i believe the issue of marriage should be decided at the state level by the people of our state. and the people of texas have made that judgment, and we should not have unelected judges force different can policy other than that voluntarily chosen by the people of our state. i would say i am pro-traditional marriage. i believe that's good for families and good for the country, but i understand the supreme court has now basically said this matter should be decided at the state level, and i believe the verdict of the people of texas in favor of traditional marriage should be respected.

>> moderator: pedro rojas. do you want to add something, mr. alameel? alameel: yes, if i have a rebuttal -- >> moderator: remember, you cannot make any noise before we continue or applaud. mr. al meehl. alameel: yes, of course. i'm catholic, and i believe god has told us love one another the way we love thee. and the constitution always said that everybody has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and i believe that lesbian and gays have the same right as everybody else, and we should move on from this divisive issue. >> moderator: next question, pedro. please. >> this question is for both as well. should english be declared the official language of the united states, and should oh languages be spoken -- other languages spoken by minorities be considered for documents and

legal agreements? >> moderator: mr. alameel. alameel: i'm always leery went somebody starts to say something ought to be the official language. in a way it is the official language, but we're allowing people to have time to learn the establish language. i think nobody can become successful in america unless they learn the english language. every immigrant, every undocumented person should learn english, their kids should, and they will become successful like i became successful, and i will encourage everybody to learn english. until they do, we ought to help them and gear them toward that path. >> moderator: mr. cornyn. cornyn: i agree with dr. alameel. [laughter] >> now, should english then -- should other languages being used for documents, for, let's say, a lease agreement, that sort of thing or not? alameel: in places where it's needed, sure. we don't want to abandon millions of people and their right to participate just because they haven't learned the language yet. we've always had that problem.

we had it with the irish, the germans, the italians, and now we have it with the latinos x it's up to us to help them learn to appreciate. cornyn: i don't agree with that statement because we have to understand that we are a common people with a common language, and we can all come from different places, we can speak other languages too. i know governor at the time george w. bush used to talk about english plus as being good policy. but every immigrant family understands, as the doctor said, that in order to be successful in america, english is the language you need to learn and need to speak. that doesn't mean we disrespect people who come from other countries who also speak other languages, but we encourage them to ais simulate. -- assimilate. america's really not just a place, really it's an idea. it is a place, it's a place where people come from many different backgrounds, different

parts of the world, and we become americans. and english is our common language. but that doesn't mean we forget about who we are or where we came from, and we have to show due respect to that but also acknowledge that english is the language in which business is ne is done and the language people need to learn in order to be successful. >> moderator: you have 60 seconds. alameel: i've said what i need to say. it's not how much you say, it's what you say. i say what i mean, and i mean what i say. [laughter] >> moderator: okay, we're going to move on to the next question, and this question is for both of you. assuming you are really interested in a comprehensive immigration reform, why should we believe that you will be the one able to break the deadlock surrounding it in congress? the time, mr. alameel, you will answer first. alameel: well, of course, my wife, martha's, family is from mexico.

i'm an immigrant. my children are children of immigrants. i've been living in the latino communities all my life, and i know that this is very important to them and very important to me. it's very important for us to recognize that immigrants make our country stronger, and i will, like i said is, i will fight tooth and nail for inflation reform. and i -- immigration reform. and i can tell you one thing, that the republicans are never going to do immigration reform because they have their base that tells them, tell them to go home. and i have talked to republicans many times when i used to help them about immigration reform, and each and every one of them say send them home and make them stand in line. thank you. >> moderator: mr. cornyn? cornyn: i don't agree with the presentation about my position or the position of most republicans, but i support as i said earlier immigration reform. but i think we do have a crisis of confidence in washington, and

primarily that's because of the promises that have been made by thed administration on the economy, on national security, on so many fronts, and people are really beginning to wonder can we believe what you say? will you actually, if we pass a law, will you actually enforce the law the way congress passes? this president has taken extraordinary liberties at saying i have a pen and a phone, and i'm going to do to it myself -- to do it myself, and i'm going to go around congress, i'm not going to work with congress. that's not the way our constitution was written. it was written to force us to work together on a bipartisan basis to build consensus. so it can't be my way or the highway. that kind of attitude will yield absolutely zero. >> moderator: [inaudible] alameel: john cornyn voted against the dream act and immigration reform. john cornyn never stood up to his republican friends when they demeaned, ridiculed and bashed the latino community on a constant basis. i don't recall him defending the latino community when they said

that latinos have big cash because they're drug mules. i wouldn't hold my breath for republicans to offer you any immigration reform. >> moderator: okay. this question is for both of you. should the term limit be reduced for members of the senate as much as the house members that have to be elected every two years? this time mr. cornyn will answer first. cornyn: well, the reason why senators are elected statewide and for a six-year term is presumably to give us the opportunity to make longer-range decisions and policies for the american people. i think it serves the american people well. every six years we get to vote on our candidates for office. we can vote for them or kick them out of office if we don't think they're doing a good job. i think the term limits that are provided by elections are the best kinds of term limits. i wouldn't do something that would empower the lobbyists or

the staff, the permanent staff because that would not -- they would not be responsive to the will of my constituents, the 26.5 million people that live here. i am -- because i work for them. i work for you. and that's the reason why i believe that six-year terms are appropriate. ers you can have senators scurrying around the state every two years, they'd never have time for anything else. >> moderator: mr. alameel, you'd have 60 seconds. alameel: i agree that election is a term limit process. but unfortunately, i'm beginning to realize more and more that the longer people stay in washington, the more beholden they are to big lobbyists who spend so many billions of dollars a year to buy our government. and if we cannot get this big money out of washington, we ought to make term limits. >> moderator: i would like to make another question, and it's for both of you. how will you address the need for undocumented immigrants who are not qualified to receive benefits the opportunity to

receive affordable health insurance? this time mr. alameel will answer first. alameel: well, we have to do immigration reform. it's one of the best ways to solve most of the problems the latino community have, because every latino community has either a relative or a friend that they care about who's suffering from not having their documentation. but unless we do that, i don't think there is a way to really legally help them, and that's why i believe that as long as republicans are obstructing immigration reform, they're hurting the latino community. it's about their families, it's about their health, about putting food on the table, it's about the education. we have to do immigration reform. it solves most of the latino community problem that they're suffering from. >> moderator: mr. cornyn. cornyn: i agree we need to deal with the issue of immigration reform and that that would be the best approach to this

particular problem of access to health care. right now anyone who goes to a emergency room of a hospital is entitled to be treated basically without any compensation. but we all know that's not the best way for people to receive care. many times they wait too long or get too sick and, indeed, they're far more expensive to treat than they would have been if condition had been addressed earlier. but i think that is going to require us to come to grips with this broken immigration system, something i'm willing to do. you know, i hear the doctor talk about doing this, but -- and he lambastes the other party, but the fact is you can't get anything done in washington unless you do it on a bipartisan basis. it's impossible. that's the way our system is constructed. so i would look to work with democrats, people like henry cuellar who i mentioned earlier, and we need to get some things done to fix that. >> moderator: we are

approaching to the end of the program and, therefore, i ask for candidate david alameel to give us your closing statement. you have two minutes, sir. alameel: okay. the san antonio express news recently wrote that john cornyn has never led as a senator. the houston chronicle added that john cornyn could not cite a single accomplishment in all his 12 years in the senate. wow. talking about a do-nothing senator. our country burns while cornyn fiddles. we need to provide a first class education for all our children, not just the privileges few. privileged few. we need to rebuild our own industrial economy right here in america, not in china. we need to make wall street corporations pay taxes on those trillions and trillions of dollars they hide in offshore accounts. we have to eliminate unfair trade agreements that punish the american economy.

we have to eliminate the outsourcing tax incentives so we can finally bring our manufacturing jobs back home from overseas. it's time to put america first and put our own families back to work. and if john trickle-down cornyn loves his wall street factories in china so much, then maybe he and his wall street buddies ought to move to china and leave us alone to rebuild our own economy for the benefit of the people of these united states of america. our party, our party, democratic party, has pulled us out of the great depression, gave us 50 years of the best education, the best economy and the best middle class in the world. need to distance itself from wall street and go back to its roots so we can restore the american treatment. the american -- the american dream. the american dream for all people. it's time for change in america, and as your senator, i will lead that change. i'm david alameel, and tonight i

humbly ask for your support. thank you. >> moderator: thank you, sir. mr. cornyn, you have two minutes for your closing statement. cornyn: well, thank you, wendy, to you and our panel and univision for sponsoring this exchange of views and mountain view college for providing us the venue and this wonderful opportunity. and i hope those listening online and who will watch the univision broadcast tomorrow night or the c-span replay next week will get useful information out of this. it's been an honor and privilege for me to serve in the united states senate representing all texans whether they voted for me or not. it's my responsibility and privilege to do so. and i think that dr. alameel's exactly wrong when he says that the american dream is out of reach. he is an example of the american dream working. somebody coming to this country with nothing, working hard and

becoming very wealthy in the process and creating jobs. i think that american dream should be available to everyone. but right now on the path that we're on in washington, d.c., nothing seems to be working the way it should. that's the reason why congress and the president's approval ratings are in the tank, because nothing is getting involved. i believe we need a new direction, we need new management, we need new leadership, and i think the american people are ready to give republicans a chance to lead because, clearly, under the status quo under the two years under majority leader harry reid and president obama, the country is not better off. we are worse off. but we're only a few decisions away from, i think, the sort of opportunity and growth in our economy and jobs that we need in this country to keep the american dream alive. unfortunately, washington has gotten in the way, and it's time for washington to get out of the way, and they need to look no further than the state of texas

for the sorts of policies and the type of governance which has created prosperity which will cause people to vote with their feet and to come in here at the rate of more than a thousand a day. so thank you very much. >> moderator: thank you to both of you. and, ladies and gentlemen, this marks the conclusion of -- [inaudible] i would like to invite the candidates' families to come on stage. and thank you so much. have a good night. [applause] >> c-span's campaign 2014 coverage is bringing you more than 100 debates for the control of congress. stay in touch with our coverage and engage. follow us on twitter @c-span and like us at facebook.com/c-span.

>> as campaign 2014 heads into the home stretch, here at c-span we are continuing to show you debates from around the country. join us tonight for more. here on c-span2 at eight, it's the new hampshire governor's debate. at 9:00 you'll hear from the candidates to be oregon's next governor, and at ten a south dakota u.s. senate debate. in the meantime, over on c-span tonight, we'll kick things off agent eight -- at eight. at nine it's a new york governor's debate and at ten the candidates to be new hampshire's next senator square off. bringing you more than 100 debates for control of congress. follow us on twitter @c-span and like us at facebook.com/c-span. this weekend on the c-span networks, friday night starting at eight eastern on c-span our campaign 2014 debate coverage

continues in prime time. on saturday night at eight the funeral for former washington post editor ben bradlee, and sunday evening at eight on q&a, author harold holzer on his newest book, "lincoln and the power of the press." and friday night at eight on c-span2, author chris tomlinson on the story of two families, one white, one black, and the slave plantation that bears their name. saturday night at ten on booktv's "after words," james mcpherson on the confederacy's president, jefferson davis." and sunday at noon, "in depth" is michael korda, former editor-in-chief at simon & schuster publishers. one of the first african-american labor unions, the brotherhood of sleeping carporters, and saturday night at eight on lectures and history, propaganda and america's view of the japanese during world war ii. and sunday afternoon at four on "real america," a 1936 film on

tuberculosis in america. find our television schedule at c-span.org and let us know what you think about the programs you're watching. call us at 202-626-3400. e-mail us at comments@c-span.org or send us a tweet at c-span @comments. like us on facebook, follow us on twitter. here are a few of the comments we've received on our ebola virus coverage. >> my comment about ebola is we actually have ebola right here in this country, doctors coming back with ebola, patients in texas hospitals, nurses and so forth. and it's not hysteria, people are just reacting to a very serious disease where you have to have teams of doctors and nurses waiting on you constantly. but we had the isis fear too. they showed the beheadings over and over on all the media channels, over and over.

i suppose we should have got hyped up about isis coming over to chop off your head but not ebola that's actually here. >> i think the people who are in the area of the ebola should be banned from entering any other nation. and it is up to our leaders to do that. >> i would like to see c-span do a question about is this ebola virus the proof that we need a national one-payer health care system? we've just seen what happened in texas with this capitalistic health care system and what it -- now it's going to cost us millions and millions to clean that mess up. and that's what i was kind of curious, see what we'd get from out there for remarks on that, if this is the proof that we need a national health care system. >> and continue to let us know what you think about the programs you're watching.

call us at 202-626-3400, e-mail us at comments@c-span.org, or send us a tweet at c-span @comments. like us on facebook, follow usen twitter. -- follow us on twitter. last month a panel of state and federal officials from texas discussed the security of the southern border, the recent surges of undocumented immigrants and what resources are necessary to prevent violence, crime and possible terrorism. this discussion was part of the fourth annual texas tribune festival at the university of texas in austin. it's just under an hour. >> let me get started with some brief introductions for our panelists that were gracious enough to take the time today to be here. i'll start with lieutenant governor david dewhurst, he began his public service career with the u.s. air force where he served as an intelligence officer.

he speaks better spanish than i do which is, you know, pretty impressive there. and before he served as lieutenant governor, he was elected texas land commissioner. and last week, lieutenant governor, you wrote a letter to the mexican government that was highly critical of what you deemed their create system -- criticism of the deployment of the national guard, especially on the anniversary of 9/11. and i think you said mexico's response was a call on texas to throw open our international border, so this is definitely something we'll get to. congressman henry cuellar, he's the only texas democrat to serve on the powerful house appropriations committee. he also served on the subcommittees for homeland security and state foreign operations and related programs, and congressman way car recently -- he was the only democrat to vote with the republicans on a controversial measure -- >> actually, they voted with me. [laughter] >> yeah, exactly. >> i want you to know that, they voted with me. >> he couldn't even wait until i

was finished with the introductions. >> and this would have rolled back a provision to a 2008 trafficking law that would have, congressman cuellar says it's important to have hearings for a lot of these central american minors which have come over the border. of course we'll get to that. to his left is agriculture commissioner todd staples who was first elect today that post in 2007. he and the congressman are good friends, and before that he was in the texas house and the senate as well on the palestine city council, and he was -- congratulations, commissioner, recently named next president of the texas oil and gas association. and he'll start that this winter. in 2011 the commissioner, he launched a web site called protectthetexasborder.com which caron to cls events from farmers and ranchers, and he's got a great news aggregate site where it's got everything that's going on on the border. whether you agree or not to,

it's there for you to look, and that was a topic of controversy and probably still is for folks down there in the valley, sir. congressman robert francis beso -- [laughter] he currently sits on the veterans affairs and homeland security committee -- >> i don't thinkman, behave yourself. [laughter] congressman, behave yourself. [laughter] it's so much more relaxed now compared to last year. before that he served on the el paso city council, and in 2011 you co-authored a book called "dealing death and drugs" which wasn't for a repeal of marijuana prohibition, what the congressman said is he wants to have a new dialogue on what changing marijuana laws would do for the violence on the border, the car els that were -- cartels

that were battling each other and law enforcement. obviously, whether that was going to spill over into el paso and texas was a big point of controversy. thankfully, it's a bit more calm now, but it's always something to look at. and last but not least, i have lieutenant colonel steve mcgraw, served for more than two decades in the fbi. and he was also governor rick perry's chief of homeland security where he oversaw efforts to increase border security and curb violence related to the drug-trafficking cartels. earlier this summer your organization began a $1.3 million per-week operation that continued something that you, your leadership had started, lieutenant governor, where there's a surge of troopers on the border. i don't know how many you you guys have been down there lately, but you can't drive can without seeing at least 50, 15 or 20 call them smokies, call them troop is, whatever you -- troopers, but there's a lot of black and whites out there. contrary to what the national guard represents, most people

are on the board of the eps, but the national guard is a different story. and we'll get to that as well. a round of applause for our imagine, we'll get going. [applause] >> colonel, i want to start with you. obviously, the border surge has been in the news a lot. you recently, your office recently released some statistics on how that's going. if you could give a brief recap, but i think that's something you would like to know about. especially your party is the party of government responsibility, so i think people want to know what's going on specifically in the rio brand valley with eps. >> yet. week 11, we're into week 11 right now. when we started, it was week one when the speaker and governor and lieutenant governor directed us to begin this. we're talking about a surge operation. for those in law enforcement, really it's hot spot policing. it's just, you know, saturation patrols, okay?

in high crime areas. and the crime we're looking at right now, obviously, is smuggling, organized smuggling. the first week there was in the area of operations, zone 1-13, there were 6,606 undocumented aliens apprehended and detained. of course, there was concern about the continued, within that population, 17% was unaccompanied children, but the other concern was the organized crime as it relates to the cartels, cartel operate toives and criminal alienings. that number from 6,606 has dropped to 1,997 in week 11. it decreased 20 since last week. the important part of this is not, you know, the numbers -- you know, all those numbers matter, except the numbers dropped at a time when we saturated the area. when we increased our apprehension capability. and the point is deterrence. you know, if we don't have -- if

we can drive down one of the direct is we're given, it's to do something about the felony pursuit, the home invasions that are being expressed in the rio grande valley. also the stash houses. when i'm talking about stash houses, human and drug stashes. when i talk about human drug houses, or apartment of the business model to cartel is once you pay your money to get here, oh, by the way, you're not going anywhere. >> what is the national guard's role specifically? i think there's been some question about if they have policing power, immigration enforcement powers, it's been well documented their doing a lot of surveillance. if you could tell us exactly, i know there are sensitivities within specific operations, but if you could just let the public know, because i think people ought to know what they're getting -- >> what they're doing is direct support of civilian authority, and when they were called up, and which means what we've done is we've looked at, you know, with our local and federal partners, specifiy