culture, the foundation, very important to show the opportunity but more than that you have to separate islamphobia and what is more fundamental, just about opinion and it is a great deal of problems, younger muslims moving up into businesses, government and sectors and the every day pressures they feel when they say what is or is not, where they come from, where their aspirations are. that is not something that is

involved to cause a lot more engagement. the solution in my opinion rests in the young muslim population in the west, and pontificate about this. university campuses, ruling with somebody or going to college with people, the burden falls on them because they are feeling this but i am not very optimistic in the short run. i think we are in a dark period. it is no longer about terrorism or 9/11 afford and policy. we have been entangled in some nasty forces going through american politics. immigration problems, a culture war, it is more difficult to

calculate western civilization, we are not, and they don't have easy strategies to entangle themselves sweeping across -- and find that. one of the most depressing things is having a president that was sympathetic, to actually provoke a worse reaction. >> changing discourse, it is not possible to have reasonable dialogue, not possible to have a

rational diplomacy, cultural diplomacy. and correcting our language, it is directly -- the change the politics of islamohphobia and the interesting notion of islamohphobia, this could go on a while and get worse before it gets better which is one more reason for what we are doing today, the efforts -- >> i can contribute families and friends recruited by isis and

when families were talking in isis territory saying come back four generations, the grandfather in world war ii and against the nazis and all the time based on his color and race, in the school, all the things he has gone through which is an expression of islam a phobia and no matter what i do, how much i tried to prove, they are never accepting me for who i am. these actions for me and everyone on the panel said it, they have a reaction and we are all part of it. this is not the same group of people doing the discriminating. it is all of us who are doing this. there are groups who are trying

to do something about it. the methodist church in minnesota trying to have a dialogue between muslims, hosting it in the churches, i am part of the problem because i think about islam and may have contributed islamohphobia with my ignorance and assumptions. we are all part of it and having these dialogues to demystify and have a safe place to happen. third, there are committees trying to find the mosque because people are afraid of it. the highest wave of attacks against mosque in this country than ever before or a small mosque to be built, the muslim community needs to demystify what goes on in the mosque. there is nothing happening here

and i think -- i am generalizing -- need to go on this issue. it is not about us and them and we are stuck in this dynamic and we need to own it. whatever one may be, some are religious and some are practical and some are secular and some are not. at the seam of the collective all of us need to go on with the issue. and say i have nothing to do with it. we are on top of this issue. we need to go on it and that means us taking more action and defining islam. >> we go to the audience. >> i don't see any quick solutions to this. we have to do what we can.

all these initiatives are going on. we have to start joining up some of these initiatives. good work being done here, there and everywhere, europe too, where it is happening, let's join up, it becomes more movement and we need to step outside the box and think of more imaginative ways of dealing with this. it is old-fashioned really. i think the young you mentioned, never thought i would hear myself say the following words but i like the way the pope is doing it. >> she wants to share your point. >> when i was a none no one

tried to take off my veil or my habit. what he is doing, he does fix a gesture, a world of pictures, the young can do this. and social media immediately, things, attitudes basically, articles for example. the younger can help us because it is their culture, we need to think of new ways of attacking this or dealing with it, dealing with this problem before we are

overwhelmed. >> quick further intervention, i see someone here. if you could identify your self and to whom you would like to address the question. >> a wonderful conversation. i would like to address my question to riley. what is the impact of islamohphobia on societies themselves in the sense we all need to question ourselves and we all need to question our system of practicing our own religions. we are behind in the muslim majority countries, what kind of impact does this phobia have on majority society, thinking and moving forward with our own practices? could you relate that to the

backward progress of secularism? freedom of religion basically everywhere in in a more diverse society can only be positively practiced and people can comfortably live together if we have secularism, if religion is one part of our life and governance is another. and issues are secular. not atheist but secular if you want that diverse city. thank you. >> good question. if there is diversity, not only in societies engaged in this conversation or reacting to it in the same way, most of the muslim world, the problem is not

islam culture but foreign-policy and they don't encounter in a major way what is described every day challenge to identity, muslims in cairo, not confronted with the kind of prejudice or challenges to religion, i don't think the debate is impacting on the ground the way it impacts muslims in the west and as a result, larger intellectual voices in the muslim world, important intellectual voices are not as engaged in the conversation as they should be. that is one of the reasons this is not moving as quickly as we think. i don't see it being driven by trying to resolve the problems

of fasting in the middle of summer, or are you allowed to do certain things to accommodate workplace pressures going on? in the muslim world there is a dominant view of a political power, colonialism hasn't ended to do. the last way to get population outside the united states is directly, the dynamic, the bush administration may exhaust people to modernize, they will oblige and accommodate

that. they said we want to be accepted as we are. we did it in france, rigidity about the definition of it.

how do we have, how can we develop acceptance in muslim countries? they are being forced to re-examine and muslim societies. and and and we are moving in a painful time, it is more fluidity of identity and acceptance on all sides all about it. >> a lot of questions from the audience. i see one here, right from the beginning and my colleagues in the back. >> i am a writer, thanks very much for a thought-provoking,

intriguing conversation. one of the things i came across when i came back to you in 1997, all the countries share unique names, indonesia, so different culturally and historically. that is religion which has so many interpretations, one aspect was extreme and i am very glad, this world, is it about time?

>> michelle obama, hillary clinton, which one is more christian. >> one criticism i have of media, how you feel about it, and the same aspect, when people look at you and see me criticizing the islamic republic and imposing one image, one interpretation upon the whole society, they tell me you are western so how do we -- is it not time?

as human beings so that -- do we not -- >> who would you like to answer that question? would you like to take a shot at that be change i take your point. it is strong and valid. the muslim world is putting one definition whereas it is very different. very different identities to recognize it. i take your point. >> i am sorry. >> i will ask you a question. >> among practicing muslims there is a sense of belonging to a community but you are right in

the sense that particularly westerners lost her balance, there has to be a balance in the middle on the understanding there is something in terms of the practice to connect somebody in turkey or nigeria but these differences belong to one community hurt the muslim world, many practices, diverse city, practiced between many regions the road in favor of a -- you are right. everything in moderation and imbalance, not only the muslim world itself but a balance looking at the muslim world we have to observe. >> who is that?

what is the euro? secular and scientific euro, christian euro, lost its soul. i don't think we can emerge but have to be conscious about diversity. have to do something in plurality. a social phenomenon but something in terms of that. >> we are running out of time. let me pick up two questions in the back, so many people want to ask questions and we will come back to the panel for a quick one minute of each to close. >> thank you. this is really thought-provoking.

as someone who has a jaundiced view of religion let me say the following. people are complaining the west is superior to islam. every religion sees itself as superior to the previous religion. the jews, the greeks, the chinese and the rest, the indians, the muslims, the best nation that came into being. this is as islamic as everything else. the other thing, we cannot talk about islamohphobia in terms of sacred religious texts. that is significant because the same sacred religious text is susceptible to all sorts of interpretations. it is true of the old testament

and the koran. people in certain periods of time, in the old testament and the koran, susceptible to all sorts of interpretation. i can justify anything by quoting the old testament. so we have 2 talk about islamohphobia in terms of the conflict between the arab world and the middle east, the invasions of spain, the crusades and all that. one final thing. for the arabs, what we have is an arab problem more than a muslim problem. the radical islamist groups in the 20th century were arabs. okay? not from indonesia or nigeria. ..

that talk. >> all right. let's take the last question you let's have one question and then we'll come back to the final round. >> i am moscowitz chair professor of economics. great panel. i would like to say some mean, which will show -- and ask questions while the panel members. i'm an economist so bear that in mind. i don't think this is something we can call secularism.

i am from turkey. i came to this country 20 years ago. i grew up in a secular country and i never felt oppressed because they're not poor or practicing muslim. america is actually very different from europe in that sense. i'm very well-educated. i can't be uneducated and then i came to this country because the way the united states of america works. the failure response to globalization, ms. armstrong said at the beginning. this is about globalization of the economy, capital markets, labor market. the winners and losers are about. for politician it's so easy to use many of these things. so this is about the failing of the policy shown and the policies towards that phenomenon to the last 10, 20 years.

it is not the failure of the secularism or anything. in fact, the public education system in the united states of america and we all know the ones educating their children, it's very multicultural and i believe this is the solution. none of you said anything about the policies. not only multicultural, but also secular education. it is about not having religion and politics and education. i fully agree you cannot agree with how people dress, but it should definitely be the case that religion has importance of education. i think this problem can be resolved. again, this has to be in the context of the politicians that policies failure as a response to him, dave. so my question to you is how

your view in terms of how can you separate the failures. secularists and define what about religion not been in talks. >> as i think we can see through this discussion, not only is this conversation needed, but there's a lot of a lot of people in ibm's hungry for the conversation. so we are really at the end of time this panel. not the end of time in general. [laughter] and i just want to go down the panel from my last. one minute or less are in a observation of the teammate. >> he wrote a book about violence in a talked about miniaturization of identity and

anything that will be coming up all over the place. once you militarize an identity, it is possible to attack it. we are dealing with complexity here. religion as you pointed out and as i said earlier, religion permeated all activity. it wasn't something -- the french book, rid of religion no-space-on enriches the first secular state they beheaded 17,000 men, women and children in public. but they created a new religion and the nation, were attacked and pointed out and it comes to mineralization in late 19th century, british historian said that the new nationstate, with

the emphasis on culture, ethnicity and language in the nationstate would make a very political for people who do not fit the national profile and the chilling accuracy he said in some places they could be enslaved or exterminated. and we've seen that and that's what we've been thinking often what we tried. let's be triumphant about either religion or secularism. we try and discover meaning and we also miniaturized, especially as the world gets more complex and mature aware of. >> we are going to have another meeting, another conference. we have to talk about

militarization of this stuff as well. you complained about politicalization and we have been discussion this issue for almost one century. but unfortunately, it has become an issue. so what are we going to do with religion or where are we going to do in european countries. as you said, the minister of some parts of foreign affairs. 10 meanings is subject -- not only the politicization, but we've got all of this. now the problem has come to the point of securitization which is extremely important.

>> three points. one is the muslim world i think when i referred back, when we need each other, we have a lot of patience with each other. we don't see ourselves as all of the stuff united. our nationalities are different point of reference. that is one thing. we love each other. we hate each other. i can't, maybe going back to the crusade and the spanish occupation is too long, but the goal for us and us. war does have an impact on islam a phobia. so politics has been the impact.

when you look at iraq, and it is destroyed right now. it is utterly destroyed. and you cannot separate that destruction in america and the western world and that distraction from the anger and the hurt and the pain that is feeding into islamaphobia. so it is indeed interrelated, but i would argue for us for more immediate politics of what is happening right now. leon made to reflect on ourselves that the western world needs to reflect back to the point about its own meeting of freedom and liberty and all of that because these values are being threatened right now by the west within the west. i do believe the world does need to be forced -- not for us,

mr. reflect on itself as well but the point of identity and secularism. they don't need to be a reflection and how to come out of it. it is a point of contention right now and we are all part of this co-creation of it. what is going to happen, i don't know. >> i would say taken away from this conversation, i would say islamaphobia is not just about religious dialogue or historical understanding. it's a problem of identity and it is a problem for muslims in the west. i have children growing up here and i do worry about the future. i didn't used to, but i do worry about the future. it's a problem for the community and a problem that has been basically landed on this. it's also a problem for the

united states and european countries because within our lifetimes, before it can change the political map of europe as we know it and even in this country that can play a very important for us in terms of the kind of politics that will dominate. there's no easy solutions to the largely because it is not just about religion and history. it's not just about understanding. they really is the bigger political problem and in some ways we are at the point where these kinds of identity politics is a problem for everybody. and requires a much bigger solution going forward. if i were to say hope fully after last night you can think there's an opportunity for the u.s. to turn a page and having a

serious conversation about the direction of identity politics in america, which we are part of it is very important as we go forward and we have all essentially responsibilities in this country. >> thank you. final word. >> many things have been told in many different and also a reflection of the polarization of society. polarization and being intolerant of the other. so we have to talk about plurality where we talk about islamaphobia as well. there is a program about the failure of secularism, which i would love to have discussed for a longer time because i really do think that language is important and secularism for me is the division of data and religion. it is not attacking and not

wanting your cultural -- culturally -- live with you. but when we come to islamaphobia, we should also be thinking about how this radicalism is going to come to a place where we can really talk about issues otherwise there are many phobias within the cultures. >> thank you. before i ask you to applaud our panelists and this was such a rich conversation, we know we're just scratching the surface of some did not talk about for some time. you are going to applaud them. we are going to move stage right if we're then going to pull down the screen for a three-minute sneak preview of the video we've

been preparing her as part of our effort to defunct islamaphobia in the united states. you have the hash tag which is beyond islamaphobia. we are still going to make matters and changes to disk, so we would actually take your eyes, both about the panel and what you've heard today, but also any additional ideas you would have for this three-minute video things we ought to be saying about muslims in america and the world. round of applause for our panelists. [applause]

>> one of your predecessors, general hayden escorted to speak at describing russian hacking of the dnc is a legitimate intelligence operation. obviously legitimate operations are welcome on my also call for a response. do you have in the reactions to this characterization? >> i was led to what so-and-so said acts. what do you think about it? so, we have acknowledged that the russians were behind the penetration by the hackers if you love, behind the penetration to the democratic national

committee and several other targets clearly defined to generate insights with respect to political ideas. we need to step back as a nation and think about the implications. is that something we are comfortable with? in some ways i would argue this is a pattern of behavior in terms of the use of information, the attempt to persuade and manipulate others and a fairly consistent pattern for the russians over time. fiber as a whole another dimension to this. and now it enables individuals, at various combinations stayed to acquire data at massive scale. then make the data publicly available. there's a lot of things have got to think through. fundamentally as a nation it's important to us that we all believe and trust that the mechanisms of governance will generate outcomes we can all

believe in that are foundational for us. as we work our way through this particular issue, that is always at the front of our mind. how to we help engender trust and confidence and how do we send strong messages to others in the world outlining what a success it will and what is not. >> my travels overseas this year i have been taken aback by the intense interest in this campaign. people everywhere hang on every word a good candidate and some try to do more than just listen in. two weeks ago dhs secretary jeh johnson and i released a joint statement saying that the recent compromise of the e-mails directed by the russian government, the e-mails released on sites like wikileaks and the goose up for two online persona. our consistent with the methods and motivations of russian erected efforts.

go in after u.s. political organizations is the new aggressive spin of the political cycle. regardless, this election will happen on november 8th and by the way, we assess and be very difficult for anyone to alter the actual ballot counts are election results with the cyberintrusion, particularly since voting machines are connected to the internet. on january 20th, 92 days, that he was counted, we will have a new president. the u.s. intelligence community will be heavily involved in making sure that person is informed about our world and hopefully is ready to make decisions as we cannot put. >> see the rest of his appearances on c-span.org at that picture of donald trump speaking to supporters at the county fair in delaware, ohio live on c-span. take a look.

>> in case you haven't noticed rates are going up 60%, 70%, 80%. next year is going to be worse. we are going to repeal it, replace it. [cheers and applause] your jobs will come back. >> you can watch that live on c-span right now. coming up tonight at 7:00 eastern from the ohio senate race with rob portman of former democratic governor ted strickland will be debating for the second time this week live once again at 7:00 eastern on c-span. >> i must say i have traveled the circuit for many years. i never quite understood the logistics of dinners like this

and how the absence of one individual can cause three of us do not have seats. >> i'm glad to see you here tonight. you've said many, many times in this campaign that you want to give america back to the little guy. >> mr. vice president, i am batman. >> it's an honor to share with a defendant of the great al smith. your great-grandfather was my favorite kind of governor. the kind who ran for president and lost. >> you are right here to campaign require a lot of work your changes. blue jeans in the morning perhaps, suits for a lunch fundraiser, but it's nice to finally relax and where what can i wear around the house.

>> in the main district convention debate, bruce poliquin debates emily ann cain, gun control, environment, zero. abuse in the economy.

>> at evening welcome to your vote 2162nd district congressional debate. this contest between incumbent republican bruce poliquin and challenger emily ann cain has garnered national attention. tonight we'll hear from both candidates in a setting that is less formal than the traditional debate format. some background on the candidates in alphabetical order. emily ann cain moved to new jersey with her family when she was 17. shoot a music education at the university of maine and holds a masters degree in the harvard graduate school of education. in 2004 at the age of 24 she was elected to the main house was to become the chairperson of the appropriations committee and then minority leader in 2010. she later served in the main

fatah and worked for more than a decade at u. of maine. 10 years ago she lost to bruce poliquin and the second district or the man who won that contest, bruce poliquin studied economics at harvard and built a career in investment management in chicago and new york city and later returned to live in maine. where he has been in the real estate business. after losing a bid for governor in 2010 and won his first term in congress two years ago. thank you both for being here. the coin toss as emily kane is first. why are you the best candidate to serve maine's second congressional district. >> thank you so much good so much. i'm so honored to have the opportunity to talk directly to the people of maine about these important choices before them in november. my background and the legislature is one i'm proud of. a survey of the appropriations chair bouncing budgets are in a recession. i work across the aisle to help bring about the largest tax cut

in history to lower energy costs and bring good jobs across maine. that's what the election is about. a lot of people know my legislative background. my mom was an interpreter and the oldest of three girls and i learned about good jobs and hard work and getting through tough times. my parents worked hard to manage the ups and downs of the economy. sometimes be enforced and of our family and change jobs under situations. i'm proud that i learned from them the value of hard work and the value of staying on it time and time again. that's what i did in augusta and that's what i want to do in congress that the problem is right now we have right now we have a congress not looking out for us if we have a congressman is part of the problem and out for himself and the wall street numbers to fund his campaign.

this election is about who's going to have your back and who can fight for you effectively. i'm ready to do that and put my record work in congress. thanks for having me. >> thanks, emily. bruce poliquin, why did, why do best to to serve? >> thank you. first of all, it is really important to have someone who grew up in maine. i'm from central maine, born and raised here. mom and dad from central maine and my grandparents are also from central maine. to share the values of the people you represent, it's important to understand the people you represent and the communities you are representing. the key issue before us, jennifer in this election and our state and our district is jobs. we need more jobs. we need better paying jobs so her kids and grandkids can stay here. my whole career until several years ago when i got involved in

public life has been to create jobs. i understand how the economy works and how to create jobs. this is something i've been doing until i became state treasurer. emily set them off a result of that to bring something to everyone's attention. i sleep in my office on a pullout bed and i come back just about every weekend to stay connected to the people i work for. i also refuse the cadillac health care plan that is provided to members of congress. i have my own health care plan i've been paying for quite some time. i also refused the saving plan offered to members of congress. i had a career. it's been a great one. i have a wonderful son and his 26 and doing well. this is my time to give back. i am giving back by bringing job skills to congress. we have too many career politicians and as was mentioned, she grew up in new

jersey and she came and has been running for political office for a dozen years ever since. those are political skills. we need job creation skills, business skills in washington. we have too much bickering and too much fighting down the imac comes with career politicians doing anything to get reelected or get elected. >> the first issue question goes to you. an opiate epidemic is worsening. up 31% in one year. what can be done about the epidemic? what is the role of congress and of congress and what would you have the representative do about it? >> this is very personal to her family, jennifer. we do with this in our family for 35 years with my brother. jim is a great guy with the descartes and one heck of a musician by the way. he got wrapped up in the stuffing is no longer with us. i understand this issue very well and we've been doing everything humanly possible at

the federal level to help the state of maine. this is all hands on deck. this is federal, state and local. first thing, we cannot give up on this young adults and kisses and snuggles and parents. the folks addicted to opioids and, we cannot give up on them. they are trapped in this poison. second of all, if someone has a problem with addiction, you've got to tell someone. don't be embarrassed. go and tell someone. next we need to make sure we have plenty of beds for folks that are recovering and once they recover, we need to hold these individuals accountable for healthy behavior. some of the most wonderful experiences i've had is meeting with recovering addicts. it's very hard on them. it is incredibly hard on their families, but the researcher mendes. >> is it a need to be more beds.

who pays for the bats? >> we vote for an extended funding, additional funding at the federal level so that states have additional resources to deal with this. but this has got to be done at the local level. everyone's got to be involved. make sure that we help secure our borders. 98% of this poison is coming out of the mexican border. we need to make sure and that's why we voted repeatedly to secure our borders but the funding has to come from the federal level and that's what we've done. >> what can congress do to help stem the opiate epidemic in maine? >> too many families across maine. too many families that are being ripped apart by substance abuse, drug addiction. too many businesses being unsettled by workers who are dealing with addiction and need help. i believe we need treatment. we need education and enforcement.

treatment because addiction is a disease and people need help when they're sick. we need education to make sure we break the stigma supposed to get through, get sober can get back to work and get back to living a full life. we need enforcement. they do make sure law enforcement officials have resources they need to crack down on those who bring drugs into her straight. it has to be and all of the above situation. this is something there should be no partisan disagreement on. this is something that's everybody's challenge and everybody's obligation to dig in and how. when it comes to find a man of congress has a small amount of funding but the full request is over a billion dollars. i hope the congress can find it all the way through because this is the time where if we don't take action, we don't get our law enforcement treatment professionals and communities to support they need. it's only going to get worse. i'm at it a partner at democrats and republicans than anyone ready to work on taking on this terrible crisis across our

state. >> each of you has been both a beneficiary and the victim of a lot of advertising funded by so-called super pac money. given that, do you believe the campaign funding system needs reform and if so what has to change. >> the real problem is the secret money and big money in politics right now. it's terrible. whether it's negative ads or whether comes from. this is something we fundamentally disagree on. any of these organizations need to rebuild their donors. way to overturn citizens united which is really taken taken a voice away from people. i'm proud that in my campaign more than 3500 has stepped up and made personal contributions. people powers and people funded campaign is what's making me able to reach out to many across the state.

the congressman voted to say that the big organizations can keep their donors secret. when their donors are secret, that means foreign money can be coming into our state and speaking louder. that's wrong. i would never take about like that. the dark money, secret money out of the way. >> do you believe the system needs reform? >> this is absolutely tremendous. we have seen millions and millions of dollars poured into our state with these funds. five or six of them are falsely criticizing me, attacking me, what my career has been and what my record is. there is a super pac called and citizens united. and citizens united super pac.

they have come to support my opponent come to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars attacking me and their stated purpose is to get money out of politics and they have come up here to attack me. another example of this, jennifer is days and out-of-state group that claims to be someone from maine saying that i voted to cut a billion dollars from the da. i voted to increase funding to the va by $4.6 billion. there's a big difference from cutting a billion dollars are claiming to have had a billion dollars in voting to increase it to make sure our veterans get health care they need. that's the example. people are sick and tired of this. first of all, i absolutely believe in complete transparency. >> the voted the other way. another thing that's important is that this campaign has been

going on forever. emily has been campaigning for this office for almost two years. i won the election in 2014. within three or four months we started campaigning again. that's the difference. i represent business skills, job creation skills, hiring people. that's only made. not for career politicians who follow nancy pelosi's super pac plans to attack me. >> and i could respond. it's interesting to hear the congressmen but this out-of-state super pac or politicians that is just trying to distract when it comes to doing the right thing. i have a strong record focusing on transparency. a few years ago in a statement that terrible grade nationally for ethics and transparency in government we pass legislation to approve the likes of transparency right of transparency right here in maine state government. the truth is the congressmen did vote for the va budget is a

billion dollars short of what the request is. that is true. a billion dollar short, shortchanging our va by a billion dollars. that's not okay. when you look at the record, the record is clear. the campaign is funded by individuals across state who care about our future, who want to see the driver seat back in their hands when it comes to our economy and instead will congressmen is one of the top recipients of wall street campaign money and then higher congress. a lot of representatives from new york or california. that's shocking and that raises the question about who are congressmen is looking out or in the voting record is really what tells the story. time and time again voted to loosen registrations on wall street and to give tax breaks to those at the very top and leaving the middle class and working families behind. >> that is a great set of talking points, emily.

i hope everybody in the state of maine is listening to this. where you just heard of someone who's had cut and someone fell short of funding. that's the doubletalk we here in washington. if you increase funding by $4.6 billion, that's an increase. it has to be a 5.6 increase. if it falls short of someone's opinion that the funding should be, that's fine but congress' job to do that. what is happening is really interesting is that i want to talk about how i can help me in families, what i've done to help our second district. let's give an example. i don't believe in family cain's idea to impose a huge new tax on carbon. you drive up the price of energy. the reason why her one of the main reasons is the high cost of electricity. when they make paper or new

balance shoes, they use them in our mess machinery. they plan to increase the carbon tax to drive up the price that will kill more manufacturing jobs. it will drive up the cost of oil and matters are seniors. it increases the cost of gasoline diesel. that will kill jobs and that's the experience that emily cain has brought. >> i'll let you respond to that sensor touching on energy now. do you support a carbon tax and what other subsidies or plans which you have to change maine's energy future. >> let's start with the facts. no one wants to increase the cost of energy and my time working in the legislature, i worked hard to work across the aisle. working with republicans to expand access to natural gas.

i was at link had mailed the day we opened to keep that going. i was also there after the boiler exploded and hundreds and hundreds of workers lost their jobs. that's why i've been pushing solar. that's why i believe we need to make sure we focus on the renewable resources we have right here in the state of maine. it's one part of the puzzle when it comes to creating good jobs right here in maine. there's an opportunity because of our natural resources and because of the fact we can put ourselves in charge if we focus on expanding aspects -- access to natural gas to make sure we do everything we can to keep the cost of energy down which includes helping those with older homes winterize their homes. i had lunch today with some wonderful seniors who taught about the struggle they had because their houses need to be winterize. this is where we get our energy

and how we use that. even companies like exxonmobil say we have to change the way we think about our energy. that's where we come as a country and the state and to be a leader in this could be part of how we grow good jobs. i also want to touch back on taxes. i want to close the loop on that. i am happy to talk about taxes all day long because my record is clear. i was part of negotiating a larger tax-cut and the congressmen on the other hand was paying his own taxes late 41 times including the state treasurer and a member of congress. he's also made headlines for years because he avoided paying thousands of dollars for the tax loophole in the trade growth program. not the kind of leadership we need when it comes to paying taxes and my record of lowering taxes through bipartisan work.

>> do you support any kind of subsidies for solar, biomass, wind? >> wouldn't have all forms of energy, jennifer and our portfolio. the let's go back to this because we just heard a whopper. and it'll look right in the camera at the people of maine and tell you flat out the truth. i have always paid all of my taxes in full always. the reason i'm only cain wants to pay that is because her record on taxes is one of hurting our families. i think she skipped over or something about wanting to lower the price of electricity by wanting to huge new national carbon tax that drives up the cost of electricity that kills jobs. she also pushed through or help to push through several years ago a new sales tax, domain

sales tax on 102 items that have never been taxed before. haircuts from a trip to the beauty parlor. if i may. actually it was yes. i think was 2009. it was so onerous on the poorest among us to pay the sales tax never been taxed before that in the people's referendum in 2010. on top of that, she talks about working with the governor to implement income tax cuts. she campaigned and worked as hard as she could against those income tax cuts. i was state treasurer at the same time. once they were passed, she then said i hate those. but she doesn't say is those income tax cut removed thousands of the poorest among us who pay

main straight income tax. we need to help our families come and not hurt them. my record is very clear. lower energy costs, especially the working poor. our businesses can create more jobs. emily had zero experience running the economy and when she's in the state legislature she voted 71% of the time against maine businesses. this is something that was scored by the nfib, the national federation of independent businesses whose endorsed me. a nonpartisan group. >> i want to get to the bottom of the bad campaigns. are you saying you did not do any plans of the progrowth tax abatement that you never put any waterfront and into the program? >> what i'm saying is i paid every single tax i've owned always and in full.

>> could you lower taxes because he took advantage of the program? >> i properties in different parts of the state. when i get a tax deal is scrutinized it. my business manager does it with me. property is taxed different ways depending on the parcel it is. this happens to be along the coast and other parcels that are not and i paid every dollar i have been taxed as always. i'll tell you the issue and i paid outside. it's the taxes she has raised on hard-working families sales taxes. she hated the income tax cuts that were passed to now a huge new carbon tax. those are the taxes that impact or less in maine. >> deborah, thank you so much. i'm happy to respond to all that. when you hear bruce mentioned my age, it is him trying to discount my experience being a

part of the fact that serve the people of maine for a decade and the recession lowering taxes and working across the aisle to do it. i believe if you want to serve in congress who should be proud of public service. i think it's pretty much a cheap shot to talk about my age when really i come with more experience than anybody else in this race. i'm proud to talk about my record on small business. two years ago i heard the national award for supporting small business because they worked across the aisle within senate president kevin rank to create a program that has led to roll investment in our community including buddha added 80 jobs. unlike the congressmen who voted against the export import bank that into any jobs that didn't come. when we talk about the 2011 budget, we have to talk about the facts of the timeline. original budget proposed by the governor, the one in question was full of tax cuts for the rich. it was fall of the health care

program but i believe the best budgets are ones that are bipartisan. i stayed at the table with my caucus that the members of my party, many of them hated those tax. but i didn't. my definition of success is a balanced budget that lower taxes. i thought to lower the income tax with the last 12 years. been a part of every bipartisan effort to do that and that kind of work i want to bring the congress very good results in lower income taxes like we did in 2011. >> we are going to move onto another issue. both of you criticize president obama's decision to use an executive order to designated national monument but now with the martyrs monument is a reality. what is the best path forward? what you envision for the future and the communities? >> thank you so much. it's time to leverage the opportunity. there's no question that the monument was enough of a guarantee and that's why for me

in congress all beholding the national park service accountable. all beholding the department of interior accountable to make sure promises made about hunting, fishing, snowmobiling and local access archived in the finance supposed to cut will be there. i'm ready to work with local land owners to make sure the relationship is positive so we can keep that was working and make sure as a member of congress i believe it's my job to bring people together, to bring together local state federal officials as well as financial institutions, educational institutions and local businesses. i was just at the other day and heard a great story about a local bed and breakfast that's been full since august. that's a good sign but not enough. we need to have a concentrated effort on the region to build the infrastructure is so we are ready and the economy is not just about the monument but actually a year-round economy for rebuild things and make things that grow things to

create good jobs. the kind of jobs that used to be at the mill. a good jobs where you can work one job. earn enough money to pay bills you can do on a house, have a car, hug your kids go to college and maybe even go on a vacation every once in a while. that's not too much to ask and that's my definition of success is bringing back those year-round good jobs and i'm ready to be a part of doing that. >> bruce poliquin what is best possible for the region? >> we have to make sure local folks are involved in the management of the land such that we have access to snowmobiling, hunting, fishing, kayaking, canoeing, what have you but also the 4100 good paying career job supported by the force. i objected to any president have been the sole authority to come to maine, stick a flag in the ground and say this is not

federal land. we own it. he made that decision and had the authority to do it and i would need to work with everybody to make sure we protect those jobs. also i might say we need to walk and creation jobs. that is where congressional office has been very involved to make sure the management plant in the national park service is working out and make sure we protect those jobs then invite other jobs. back to one thing if i can. emily mentioned her ability to balance budgets. first of all the constitutional requirements to balance the budget by law. the second of all she voted repeatedly to expand welfare. what happened is we ended up in a huge $500 million debt to our hospitals because the state simply didn't pay what she voted for. that's a gimmick since i've been on washington i have voted for a budget that balances over time

and it does it without raising taxes on that the president budget and jacks up debt and taxes. we need to make sure we grow an economy where he can stay here and have an opportunity. businesses need to be more competitive. >> i want you to respond. >> thank you, jennifer. and the bipartisan budget that i was a part of, we not only payment for those hospital bills. they saw the sunrise to make sure that we got it done, and pay my bills is important. making sure that those who need help and get it and make sure they don't do that while sacrificing education are sacrificing health care for seniors. the congress' version of a

successful budget, last of the congressmen said he was excited to vote for a budget that cuts social security, turn medicare into a botched the program and cut telegrams which means working families who need help sending kids to college would have less. that's not my definition of success. what is is making sure we hold people accountable and public programs. i've been there to make sure we hold are welfare recipients accountable and make sure the programs are working well for us and we can save money and put our people back to work. >> we do have to go to a break. we will be right back.

>> welcome back to the second district debate between democrat emily kane with the recent cuts in social security and the city that to respond. >> i certainly would. that is another falsehood and a big one from amalie. i have always voted to secure and protect social security and medicare and be guaranteed for those benefits. that's the way of voted will continue to go. my mom is 88, my dad is 86. they paid in these programs their entire life. we need to make sure we secure these programs. if we could have some truth in the discussion, that would be helpful.

>> i really want to get -- >> i would like to respond to a false accusation and will he made pitches that i voted to cut telegrams. that's completely false. in the budget i voted to extend pell grants, including the maximum 5800-dollar per year grant and also save mostly for kids better than most in need for the next 10 years. as a scholarship student. i paid off student loans. to say that i voted to cut power grids is completely false and these are the things coming up in this campaign which is unfortunate. >> to oppose the affordable care act otherwise known as obamacare? what is your plan to provide health insurance for millions of americans who did not have it before the inception of the affordable care act? >> is one of three republicans in the house that voted last year not -- not to replace the affordable care act rather not

to do away the affordable care act because there was a replacement. i'm a businessperson trying to find solutions. we need to keep what works and replace what doesn't. i took the experience for mother's day and push for this and we got it through as a proposal in the house of representatives. we need to keep a preexisting condition. my son is asthmatic kids didn't have to the opportunity to buy a health insurance policy can not only take job to job but insure job but it sure had a preexisting condition. at the same time, we need to do away with pieces that kill jobs like 50 worker threshold or the 30 hour workweek. those are where we commenced our business is not to hire more. the tie between medicare and the affordable care act is emily kane has supported the affordable care act conception.

and then to find obamacare, $750 billion was cut from medicare in order to fund obamacare. that is wrong. second of all, i do not believe in the position that we should have a complete 100% government takeover of their health-insurance industry. everybody listening tonight, you see the premiums go through the roof. you have co-pays, deductibles. i have a health insurance policy i've been paying for years. mine was canceled from premium and went up 45%. other families experienced the same thing. the government takeover of the health-insurance industry which is what nancy pelosi and emily came once, you'll see premiums, co-pays and deductibles go through the roof and get less care, less coverage. >> you support the affordable

care act, but clearly it isn't perfect. >> the affordable care act is to be fixed. i was wondering which position the congressmen would take tonight. weeks later he voted multiple times to repeal the affordable care act. that is tough because that is not what we need to do when it calms to those preexisting condition unless people have been helped under the law. there's no question it's broken. that's why it's so frustrating congress time and time again focuses on repealing it. small businesses want to do right, but it's amazing and challenging. trying to get insurance on exchange go up. we have also an have also been issued a prescription drug benefit brings us back to medicare. the congress prohibits medicare from being able to lower the costs by negotiating prices down. that's part of fixing the cost of health care, too. i've done this before. when i was in the senate, i learned if you got cancer need a

certain type of chemotherapy in your private insurance that they wouldn't cover it costing families thousands and thousands of dollars every single month. that was wrong. it took two years but ultimately after bipartisan work the legislature overwhelmingly passed. he said that those in an oral chemotherapy could pay a co-pay and help families every single day. we need someone ready to take on the insurance companies and that is why i am so proud that two years ago the national committee to preserve social security and medicare came in and through susan collins in susan collins and this year the national committee to preserve social security and medicare looked at the records and mind and endorsed me. that's the champion businesses and individuals when it comes to lower the cost of health care. >> she's endorser nominee. do you endorse your party's nominee for president donald trump? >> you know, this is something,

that been so consumed with this frenzy, but the people in the second district hired me to do a job to help build a strong economy and more jobs and gates goes to washington. that's exactly what i've done. i know it upsets a lot of folks in the media because the confrontations causes more people to watch the show. >> my constituents are saying the following. how can you help us build a stronger economy with more jobs? we had a great victory last week that hasn't been reported widely in your audience may not have heard it. they convinced the european union not formatted to abandon the plans or the idea that the process about not allowing us to sell in europe. this is a huge deal. 10,000 jobs on the water main. they are screaming.

thousands of others subleasing tribes. they engaged susan collins with angus king and shelley pingree appeared to work together with everybody in a bipartisan way. we asked the university of maine to get involved and they provided terrific research and reapportion against trade representative, the white house and we convinced the european union to drop their plan to not allow us to sell. >> or you're not going to say whether you're endorsing donald trump? >> 25% of the losses we sell, we saw the europe. this is a big deal and i'm trying to answer your question. this is what the people of maine hired me to do. use my business experience to help create more jobs. >> so you're not going to say whether or not you endorser

party's presidential candidate. >> i cannot control who will be the next president. working with everybody turned a strong voice in congress for a better economy, my appointment is a career politician. that is what i'm focusing on. >> what's interesting is what we have in common. senator collins, senator king, congress and an angry economy, we don't always agree. one thing we all agree on is the questionnaire asking about who you're supporting for president is not about confrontation and about media circuits. it's about telling the truth. it's about being clear and honest. it not about whether we agree. it's about whether we can be trusted to speak up and tell the truth when it comes to where we stand on the fundamental questions about the direction of our country. >> have you ever broken from the leadership of your party in a significant issue. if so, what issue and why?

>> several times here for me it started with my work on the 2011 by jay. whereas to the democratic leader of my caucus, looking my caucus in the eye and saying it is time for us to step up. time to make good on all those times we talked about lauren and contacts. it's time to make sure we do it in a way that helps working families. it was difficult. .. it was a difficult time. there was a terrible budget when i started. but in the end that final vote was 147-3 because that's the

measures we need to extend up to my own party to get there. >> have you ever broken from the leadership of the own party? poliquin: i do this all the time. i don't work for the republican party. i don't work for the democratic party. i do work for the lobbyists are wall street as emily likes to say. i work only for 650,000 people that are represented in the second history. with i got, for sure that i got down to washington i realized the pentagon, the largest drops in the world was not issuing 100% american made athletic shoes to our men and women in uniform when mr. basic training. this is flat out wrong. you need used u.s. taxpayer dollars to buy u.s. manufactured goods. that happens be a long-standing love going back many years. i worked with niki tsongas, a democrademocratic member of cons from massachusetts and we worked together. we assured a new bill to the house of representatives, never

been done before saying the pentagon must issue 100% american made athletic shoes to our men and women going into basic training. those athletic shoes are made in maine. 900 of the best shoemakers in the world work for new balance. we have three factories. niki tsongas interdistrict has to. the same -- tonight dj faced opposition? poliquin: are you kidding me? nike absolutely pushed against me. once we got to the armed service committee 65 to nothing, i lobbied everybody, republicans, democrats to get that through with niki tsongas. then have to fight back a four vote -- for the from a number of my own party. we want on the floor. the leadership in my party didn't want this done but we did it. we did what was right and we

secured 900 shoemaking jobs. one more thing i might add is the senate to this language and secretary king help usher that this is a. now we have passed the house first time ever passed the senate, hopefully with the in the defense funding bill, the president will sign and we have more security and more jobs. that's exactly the people made. >> moderator: i'd like to find her stance i'm hoping we will take up the rest of the hour with these answers but just quickly, we'll start with question one. bruce, would legalize and regulate marijuana for recreational use. how do you intend to vote on that? poliquin: we've had experience with our family with substance abuse for a very long period of time. this is very personal for me. i have seen the referendum the way it is worded might be a problem for kids getting a hold of pot if this goes through.

i'm joining forces with senator susan collins, and until people of maine how to vote. we need to balance the rights, our constitutional rights to consume products that we want but at the same that it's a public health issue. the people will decide this on november 5. i agree with susan collins. i'm not going to tell the people how to vote tonight are you going to say that about every question? poliquin: let's go right down the line try to unify me clear and consistent on all the referendum questions. i'm voting no on question one. my focus is on break it addiction problem we have around the state and bringing more resources for treatment, education and enforcement. >> moderator: imposes a 3% tax on income, about $200,000 for school funding how will you vote? cain: yes on question two because i believe we need more funding for teachers and students and it's time for those at the top to pay their fair share. poliquin: 3% surcharge will put a top rate in the state, the

state income tax rate to 10.15%. i think the second highest in the country along with california and new york. we have a state right beside us, new hampshire, that has a 0% personal income tax rate. if that happens in many we've got to make sure we think about this long and hard. people will make this decision on november 5 tonight so you will not oppose it or . poliquin: i will not tell the people how to vote. >> moderator: how about question three? poliquin: my position has been very clear since day one. i've been endorsed by the sportsman, the alliance of maine which are the hunters and the campers and folks that canoe and kayak and so forth and so on. we need to make sure we understand this is what our constitutional rights. at the same time we need to do everything humanly possible to keep firearms out of the hands of terrorists, criminals and those that are mentally ill. the people of maine will decide this on november 8. my position is clear.

>> moderator: very clear that you are opposed to it? poliquin: unlikely to tell the people how to vote. they didn't hire me to tell them how to vote. >> moderator: emily cain, how will you vote? cain: the second amendment is fundamental to who we are to keep and bear arms as a country and as a state. this is something i have a lot of experience working with gunowners, whether it's been with the nra, with local gunowners protecting privacy rights when it comes to conceal carry permits. also making sure we protect gun owners rights to keep and store the gun safely whatever they want to. i've worked with the sportsman alliance of maine and also many maine hunters to expand access to hunting which is a key part of who we are as a state and voting yes on question three because i believe we need to make sure we do everything we can to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals come of those with sears metal elvis and domestic abusers. >> moderator: question that would change -- u.s. senate,

congress, governors, state senate and state representative. do you support ranked choice voting? cain: unfolding history i don't think it will be a perfect solution to all the challenges we have in politics. there's a lot of other things we need to do but i think question by gives more voice to people at the ballot box cannot bruce pollock would, question five, the ranked choice voting system, how would you vote on that? poliquin: this is our closer to shore right into -- republican issue the way the process would take place. i encourage everybody to look at this very carefully unlikely to tell the people of maine -- unscrewed acid people of maine go vote. it's responsible but i will not say what type of voting process will be passed the ball back. they can decide. that's a job. cannot how about question for? poliquin: i'm focusing on career high-paying jobs, jobs that in our manufacturing sector, jobs

in the waterfront jobs come with products area. that's what i'm focusing on. i'm not consumed with this issue about, about forcing a specific wage on business. we need to make sure we don't raise the labor costs so it kills jobs. we need to make sure we protect entry-level jobs, minimum wage jobs, and everybody wants a fatter paycheck, a bigger paycheck but we've got to do this by growing career jobs. that's our focus on. that's what i believe we cannot stand a huge new carbon talks to withdraw up the the cost of electricity into good manufacturing jobs china but asked about minimum wage. poliquin: the people of maine will decide this. i'm never going to tell people how to vote. that's their responsibility and that's the right to vote. >> moderator: question before would rage the states minimum wage by 2020. cain: i'm voting yes on question

four. i believe no one who works full-time should live in poverty and it's important put something in place that is predictable and sustainable for small businesses which is where we need to be growing at good jobs across our state. i hope it's clear to those watching, i was clear to those listening at home with the difference has been in his last five questions. i've been straight with you. i've been up front with you interact with you about where i stand. it has i think it is more to be truthful, important to be honest, important to be director what you are from the congressman is a lot of political doubletalk on these last five questions. >> moderator: we have about five minutes laughter i will give each of you two minutes to talk about a very important question to both of you, maine's second initiatives and hundreds of jobs lost due to the closure of mills. what is your plan, emily cain? to minister after, two of the counts devastated by these job losses. cain: thank you so much, jennifer. there are no working bills on

the penobscot river. the paperwork and the lincoln and the old town now are my friends. my friend roger wicker the now for decades. he had to make the tough decision to the station and try to cobble it together or take a job out of state. it was a terrible decision for him. he wants to come back and work at home. it basically that i met in farmington the sheetmetal worker who goes to work every week on monday morning but hasn't worked in maine for four years. he works honesty whether building things, where he can fix things. my dad use usually every week fr were previously compaq is back so sunday night, and leave monday morning. i was think about people like my dad who have worked harder than ever to just to try to do right by the family to bring those good jobs back. my focus will be to grow our economy by investing in assets under natural resources. of course, the biggest one of those is our hard-working people. people and everyday and are working harder than ever who just want to make ends meet but

i'm going to focus on farming and agriculture, fishing and agriculture. on manufacturing so we can make things in maine that they will all over the world. we do that by connecting the dots, focusing on transportation, focusing internet access and cell phone service. when you're trying to write a small business you can't connect our for cell phone service drops you are in trouble. my definition of success for our economy is an economy built on small businesses owned by us so we can be in charge of our destiny when it comes to our economy. i have a record of doing that by lowering taxes, supporting economic development in rural maine and working across the aisle to make tough decisions. i'm ready to work for you. not for wall street, way to go to congress to work for growing our economy, not growing more jobs someplace else. i'm going to stand up to bad trade deals that send our jobs overseas and maine people can count on me to bring this good jobs home. >> moderator: hundreds of jobs

lost. what is your plan to help the counts and kennedys devastated by these job losses? poliquin: five things we have to do, jennifer, to make sure bring these high-paying career jobs back to maine. first of all we need business skills in washington, not career politicians have no experience quitting jobs, number one. second of all we need to make sure we lower the cost of energy. we need, this new carbon tax emily is supporting is actually from way to go. it would drive up the cost of electricity and kill more of our manufacturing jobs. we need to have lower energy costs. we also need to make sure regulations are fair and predictable. at the paper, 850 jobs, i helped make sure the biomass regulations were not so punitive that it would cost them so much money that it would jeopardize the future investment of that mail. we need to make sure that taxes are lower. baby talk to all the folks that run these mills, it is high cost

of energy, taxes, regulations. and also by the way unfair trade. that's why i posted up to make sure trade is there. when i was a kid growing up, my grandmother worked at the shirt company. my best buddy across the street whose dad was a machinist at scott paper cup record i worked the night shift and my brother worked at the cascade mill. we have seen all these mills the wonder. the reason is because of this drip drip drip in maine. high-energy costs, high taxes, cutie regulation and trade deals that are unfair. i have the way, the knowledge and expense to deal with those. emily cain does not. >> moderator: i'm going to take a paint from the presidential debate and ask you to finish up bruce pollock when would you . poliquin: emily has made a decision to pursue a career in politics.

she came from new jersey to go to university, and after graduation she's been camping for public office ever since. that's not my career. mike reed has been job creation, hiring people and growing the economy. but that's are clear and she's made that decision and i salute her for having the passion. it's not what we need but i salute her for having a passion. cain: thank you so much. i admire bruce because he's a good dad. there's a question about that. i haven't had a chance to meet sammy but under the bruce is a good father. let's be clear, when bruce talks about my background, the fact immigrant when i was a kid, he's attacking my family and that's something i would never do to the congressman. i would never question his family or his background. when he takes cheap shots of the that when i was a kid my parents had to move in order to find good jobs, it's not fair and it's not right. working families across maine the that's disrespect for to the kind of work that they do in the tough choices have to make every single day.

bruce is a good dad. my dad was a good had come to your but in order for them to make ends meet, we had to move several times when i was a kid. i'm proud of that. that's how i understand the tough choices maine families make everyday trying to this debate has been part of maine public comprehensive coverage, your vote 2016, everything is online at maine public.org. emily cain, bruce poliquin went from thank you so much for being here and thank you for watching. this program will be repeated on maine public television greatest of times between now and election day. for times and schedules go to mainepublic.org/your vote. at night. -- good night. ♪ ♪

♪ if you missed any of the presidential debate go to c-span.org using your desktop, phone or tablet. on our special debate page you can watch the entire debate choosing between the split screen or the switch camera options. you can even go to specific questions and answers from the debate funding the content you want quickly and easily. use our video clipping tool to create clips of your favorite debate moments to share on social media. c-span.org on your desktop, for a tablet for the presidential debate. >> candidate for south dakota

senate republican incumbent johnson and democrat jay williamson took part in a debate on the national debt, sal sacchetti, terrorism and cybersecurity. ♪ ♪ ♪ spent a little unwelcome to election 2016 brought to you by south dakota public broadcasting and aarp south dakota. we have teamed up to bring you a form between south dakota's united states senate candidates. this broadcast is not a debate. it's a forum so we can provide a conversation on the issues rather than type answers to each candidate as an equal time to address the issues. there are no opening statements. over candidates have the opportunity for a closing statement.

our partners have solicited questions from our members and their members and i will name the source of the question. now let's meet our guests. first republican candidate united states senator john thune, welcome senator. also with us tonight jay williams, the democratic candidate for the office of united states senate. welcome. we've got a lot to talk about, a lot of issues that i know south dakotans want to hear about. sender, i will start with you. i really want to talk about the state of politics in our nation and the south dakota. when we vote on november 8, there are a lot of valid questions we will talk about, a few of those could change the way the elections happened. maybe reform the election policy here in our state. some have suggested the reason these issues are on the ballot is because americans have lost trust with government. they don't trust politicians anymore. i'm just cheeriest you think we can change that as a nation and how you can help do that. thune: thank stephanie faq to

public broadcasting anti-aarp and to my opponent jay williams for this opportunity to discuss the issues important in the election. i think there's a lot of frustration around the country and i here in south dakota about the political process. one of the things i hear probably more than anything else is it just seems like washington can't get along, that things are broken and dysfunctional. i share that frustration, because sometimes it seems we already with the big issues in reforming our tax code and in with our debt and other programs and that sort of thing. but what i tell people is you may not see this because it probably doesn't make the cable news but there are a lot of good things going on behind the scenes. i survive three committees, the ag committee which deals with are arranged economy in south dakota which is our number one industry, the finance committee which deals with taxes, trade, health care, social security issues that are important to south dakota. and had the privilege of

chairing a committee called the commerce, science and transportation committee which deals with trains planes automobiles, technology space and all sorts of things. we got a lot done. we've had a great deal of success just a futures. levelevel to move, i authored al to reform our freight railroad system in this country first time in two decades went to the president, signed into law. first long-term highway bill in a decade. i authored a major portion of that. it cuts red tape for our agricultural shippers, creates funding for freight programs and provides important money for roads and bridges in south dakota. we passed an aviation film that went through the senate, came out of my committee out of my committee at all for that and then went to the president and signed into law which creates new aviation safety measures that are important for people who travel in south dakota, run the country and the world. we've done a lot of things that you have to grind out. we were able to dramatically expand the size of the training range for else force air force

base announce it in your project or we are getting things done. it'is that often reported and i think the way you get things done, just to build relationships. you've got to build bridges and find common ground. too often in his teenage our politics is very full of ice, partisan and it's toxic to most people. people want results. the things we've been doing in the work that i'm doing independent senate, we getting results, hitting things done and that's what we need more of that night jay, some of the issues voters will vote on in terms of the ballot questions would have us thinking they want things done differently in terms of how we vote for our politicians, finance reform, and nonpartisan elections. what can you do to make things better if you make it to washington? do you think that south dakotans, the american people no longer trust what's going on in terms of politics? williams: thank you. want to thank south dakota public broadcasting is will and aarp and senator thune for this opportunity to discuss the issues with you and with your

viewers. i think you're right, the state of politics is kind of dismal right now. we don't get a lot done and it seems like there's a lot of fighting going on. i'm not a politician. in fact, the only elective office i've ever served in is my local school board which is a nonpartisan position. and one of the reasons i'm running is because i feel that frustration. i've talked to people around the state and i know there's a lot of frustration because it seems like there's a my way o or no wy attitude especially in the u.s. congress. the u.s. congress has a very low approval rating. i think they've earned that. i think the only way to change that is to get the new people. that's of course what i am running. incumbents mostly get reelected, and it's too bad because the voters look at their incumbents and a look at congress and they say congress is not doing the job we want, and then they say but my particular congressman or senator is doing great so they

vote for their own. the truth is the only way we can change this is what putting people who really are nonpolitical much like myself. as a nonpolitical person i think i can go to washington and reach across the aisle and work with other people and get things done. give you a quick wfound things we could agree on and move forward on. that things we didn't agree on, we had to just disagree on. we could find things to move things forward. that's what has to be done and i think that's what the people of south dakota are looking for. we the people of the nation are looking for. i think i bring that to this election and help the people of south dakota will see that and what they like me, and to think i can make a difference. >> moderator: senator, you talk of some of the politics that are polarized and what is right that is hard presidential election. i do want to talk about at the beginning. when we look at the role of the president of the united states, do we still consider that to be a role model? thune: it should be.

unfortunate this year it's not. i mean, i've made no secret of the fact i'm not happy about the options we have in front of us. we have two candidates that are deeply flawed, and i think unfortunately the american people are going to have to make a choice between the two. i said, made it very plain that i would love to see our nominee donald to step aside and allow mike pence to become the standardbearer for our party. but i do know this. there are people are extremely frustrated with what's been happening in washington under the current administration. we are going to prevent the next four years something like the last features in washington. we've got to defeat hillary clinton. that's what i suggest what i suggested i think the best way to do that is for mike pence to be the nominee of our party. i still hope that's the case but at this point we have to deal with the reality that the hand that we've been dealt with.

we have two candidates need a film in terms of being a role model for some would point to and say too much on this assignment i want you to look up to. having said that, the policies of hillary clinton in my avalanche of regulations would continue. she would double down on obamacare. she would for sure when it comes to the court court appoint libel activist judges who put at risk many of our basic constitutional rights like the second amendment. there are important policy differences that are on the ballot but, unfortunately, the candidates themselves don't represent the kind of character qualities that i would like to see in presidential candidates because they should be role models yazidis donald trump does make it to our next president do you think you could work with them in this administration? about the challenges are too big. we need to get things done for the good of this country are naturally a couple things a lot

on the domestic important it would got to give economy growing again. we've had now the worst economic recovery since the end of one or two. this'll be the first president literally in history that will not have one year in his administration would economic growth rate is more than 3%. we've got sluggish growth, a flat or declining wages are the country and the world is more dangerous than it's ever been before. we are going to need leadership, people do want to step up to whoever the president is as i pointed out early, i'm going to get results. i have proven we can get things done even at times when the politics of a country is very polarized. >> moderator: same question. whoever does make it to the office of president, are you going to be able to work with that person if you make it to washington? williams: that is the point of major disagreement between senator thune and myself. we have two candidates all right. one of them is seriously flawed. donald trump is seriously unfit to be president.

that's not just my opinion because it opinion of plots and lots of mainstream republicans. george h. w. bush our former president is going to vote for hillary clinton. i can and many, many more. donald trump, he is a sexual predator. i mean that has made statements and then just a day to one as a woman came out and from the statements made. i'm despite an senator thune even though he said donald trump should step aside and mike pence should step up, that he still going to vote for donald trump which is really, it's troubling to me because i think donald trump is actually dangerous for our country. if he was elected president, sure, we would have to work with it but i think it would be a really dangerous thing. so hillary clinton on the other hand, i don't think is a flawed candidate. she actually is, she's overcome some modest midwestern means. she went to public school. she went to yale law school. she's work for women and

children all of her life. shiva secretary of state. she was a senator from new york. she's a faithful wife. she's actually been a great role model. i served with have my daughter take her for a role model. donald trump is exactly the opposite of that. in fact, he is so unfit that that really illustrates the problem we have really with the republican party today. senator thune savickas a lot of things done but actually he's been very, very obstructionist in the country. we don't have a supreme court. we have a split court in spite of the fact it's the constitutional duty of the senate and senator thune to consider president obama supreme court nominee. he fought against everything president obama has done. he talked about the slow growth. actually our economy is doing great. we've had since president obama took over an economy where the stock market was at 6500 with double-digit unemployment and brought to the stock market will be a record stock market prices and unemployment is near full

employment right at 5%. he's done a great job. unfortunately, he's had to do that with no help at all from the republican party. they have obstructed everything. in 2004 when senator thune ran against tom daschle he said i'm running against them because there's a lot of obstructionist going on. he was very cooperative with republican president bush but when president obama took over he did just the opposite. is been fighting against everything. one of the main things the senator thune was against with you tom daschle was a judicial appointment. at the time president bush had 91% of his judges approved. the same time a president obama easily had 76%. the obstruction additionally unprecedented. between the time president obama was elected at the time he took office, republicans into legislative maze in which they said you were not going to go along with anything the president was going to do. i think we would have to change that.

i'm not a documented democrat but i'm a nonpolitical got and i will work to change that. >> moderator: i want to move on to immigration but before i do, the issue -- the issue of obstructed and become acquainted. some may say that could happen if mrs. clinton does taken. others look at it was not obstruction, obstructed this. your follow-up. thune: here's the thing. in the time i've been in congress, i stood up without the coast interest me to be stood up for. i stood up to my own president when president bush was in the office. i stood up to president obama when i think he's wrong for south dakota. the coinage wanted somebody who will represent south dakota values and stand up for the things that are important in the best interest of our state. with respect to role models, hillary clinton has repeatedly lied to the american people about whether or not she sent or received e-mails on her private e-mail account. she has destroyed 33,000 e-mails

after she received a subpoena, and told them, told her to keep them. she has been told or describe a james comey, did investigation as being extremely careless with national security classified information. that to me as if somebody that's a role model. williams: i don't want to belabor this point but the truth is, secretary of state clinton has actually been a role model for all women. i mean, she's been working for women and children are whole entire career, and this e-mail controversy is just something made up by the republicans. innuendos about e-mail knows you can't just destroyed e-mail because e-mail has two sides of the. so any e-mail that hillary clinton may have sent or received as another side of the. that he noticed out the. in fact, wikileaks is releasing e-mail today that service some

of those 33,000 are in. this just isn't there. and to say that south dakota values, i swear what south dakota vouchers senator thune things that donald trump has. >> moderator: let's talk about the issues. i that some of the saudis will come out. immigration. it is something that south dakota is think about. what would you be able to do to protect, secure our borders, help those patrol agents that are on the borders but also handled so many of those illegal immigrants that are in our country? williams: it's interesting because illegal immigration has gone down under president obama. as far as illegal immigration come across our border from the south, that's almost nonexistent now. what we would have our immigration from is that we have a doing 10 and 15 million people in this country who are here they say publicly but they are here, they guided somehow or they overstayed a visa or they can across the border.

those people are living underneath the current if they don't have the protection of our country. we need to find a way to address that can to make it so those people have a fair way to access our country. and really eventually participate in it. these people came here because they see that united states for what it is, the greatest country in the world. they can get and they're working right now paying taxes doing this kind of things but they're not enjoying the things are country has. we need to be vigilant of course. i think we should bring refugees in from the middle east where people are being killed and bringing in women and children refugees. that is the thing the republican party did. the 1956 republican party platform, they wanted to provide asylum to refugees. is something republicans have walked away from. i think the illegal immigration problem isn't the problem that it was. we have to be vigilant but what we living that could probably do

is find ways of those people who are here in this country and to meet the covers. we need to let them come out and participate in our country. get the fruit for the work they're doing. >> moderator: senator, the same question. what more can we do to protect our border and deal with the illegal immigrants that are here? thune: right. there are two important points that we are a nation of immigrants. my grandfather came in from norway back in 1906, didn't speak a word against the only worse thing you were apple pie and coffee. but they can become had to learn the language. of that a given name wasn't even soon. the immigration official at ellis island asked them to change their name and so they picked the name of the farm where they work in norway. so nikolai, my grandfather. we have a long tradition of being a nation of immigrants in this coach but became according to the rules. we're also a nation of laws. we've got to enforce the laws at

the key to the debate and my view is it starts with enforcement. i don't think you can do with the people who are here illegally and kill you first deal with securing the border, creating a biometric exit entry system so that we can track people here who overstayed their visas. that's about 40% of the people who are here illegally. have a way of verifying of workplace with the somebody is a legal person when they come to work in this country. we've got to do enforcement first. i think that something which there is broad bipartisan agreement but if you don't get that part done first and right, you know trust by the american people to deal with the population that already here. frankly, i think it's high time we fixed immigration system is broken but it's got to enforcement first. >> moderator: national debt. as we were getting questions from viewers this was one of those those at the top of the list. americans are nervous, scared with the national debt. going to know that it can be

fixed. senator, can we fix this and how can you be part of that solution? thune: advocate since the time of rental congress the first time, without a couple of votes, haven't been able to get past my balanced budget the same way the citizens of south dakota has to balance its budget every year. the federal government ought to do the same thing. the debt has doubled since president obama became president. we can't fix the debt in less we just a couple of issues. one is we have to get spin and to control, and two-thirds of federal spending is what we call mandatory spending, it's not money that is appropriate each year by congress. it on autopilot. we've got to figure out a way to reform the program's counsels is good, medicare, medicaid to make them more efficient, more sustainable for future generations. reforming those programs is what the board. the second thing we have that its economic growth. you've got to grow the economy. if you want to see the deficit

get a lot smaller by comparison start growing the economy that three to 4% which is bound average up until this presidency going back to 1948. the average was in the 3.2-3.5% range. coming out of a depression, and recover it's been 3.7%. when the economy is growing and expanding at a faster rate it means people are working common testing, taking the realizations and paying more taxes. government revenues go up to face a one percentage point increase in gross domestic product in the size of our economy generates an additional $300 billion a year. that's $3 trillion over a decade. we should be putting policies in place to generate the growth in our economy and that's what we're not getting out of washington today. the heavy hand of regulation, heavy hand of tax. we have a fundamental disagreement. i'm anxious to his answer because he believes in raising

every type of tactic he wants to raise payrolraise payroll taxes. he believes south dakota under attack. he wants a state income tax. he wants to have a gas tax, at the number i heard was 1 dollar per gallon. he wants to a carbon tax. you go right down the list. that's not the way you do with the deficit. that kills economic growth. what we need to get growth in our economy is tax reform that lowers rates and broadens the base and creates incentives for people to invest based on the return in the marketplace. tax reform ought not be about growing government. got to be about growing the economy. >> moderator: what i did go to take to washington to help with our debt? williams: our debt is actually