shifting. coral and seven reinhardt, thank you for being here. -- coral and seth reinhardt, thank you for being here. institute ofan certified public accountants holds a conference tomorrow. d a discussion. a look at financial management issues. you can watch both panels on c-span. >> next, a debate between the candidates in the virginia senate race. mark warner is running for a second term against ed gillespie and they faced off on a range of issues. co-hosted by the

virginia bar association and the pbs news hour. it is about 1.5 hours. >> i am delighted to be year, i am honored to be here, i want to thank the virginia bar association for sponsoring this, for inviting me to be part of it. i want to thank senator warner, ms. could -- mr. glass before participating. i want to thank the greenbrier and the state of west virginia for hosting us. i think maybe we will set a new trend, holding debates in the state next door. the candidates have agreed to a format that gives them as close to equal time as possible for my and we're going to do our very best to stick to that. i'm happy to say the pbs news hour is live streaming this debate, along with the vba. we expect a large audience to be watching in virginia and across the nation. if you miss it, it will live afterwards at our website, that is cbs.org/news hour.

now, let's begin. before we go to questions, each of the candidates have a two-minute opening statement and we will begin with you, mr. gillespie. >> thank you, judy. thanks to the vba for hosting us. mark, its good to be with you today. i'm running for the senate because i want future generations to have the same opportunities my family has seen. my father came to america from ireland because my grandfather found work here as a janitor. my parents did not go to college, but insisted that i do. i took out student loans and worked a lot of different jobs. i was even a senate parking lot attendant to earn my degree. over time, i became a counselor to the president of united states. what a country. but i fear that we are losing that kind of economic opportunity and upward mobility as a result of president obama's and senator warner's job killing policies. our economy shrank by new three percentage points last quarter. every matchup created, three people leave the workforce entirely. more businesses are closing and opening. his is not somehow a matter of faith, it is the result of the

governor that ashe of a government that is going to bake, squeezing too many virginians between lost jobs or stagnant wages and higher prices for health care, energy and food. i appreciate senator warner's service to our commonwealth am a but unfortunately his votes in the senate have tightened that squeeze on hard-working virginians and made it harder for the unemployed to find work. in voting with president obama 97% of the time, he has not been the senator he said he would be. instead of being an independent voice for us, he has been a blank check for president obama. i will be a check on the president. i will have a simple test for every senate vote i cast.

will this ease the squeeze on hard-working virginians if it does not, i will not vote for it. have a five-point economic growth agenda to create jobs, raise take-home pay, lift people out poverty, hold down health care costs and reduce energy prices. i look forward to an opportunity to fight for it and for us in the united states senate if you give me that chance. thank you. >> thank you, mr. gillespie. senator warner. >> thank you, judy. hello to all my friends at the virginia bar. ed, it is great to see you again. is been the greatest honor of my life to serve virginians. like ed, i was the first in a family to graduate from college. i first two businesses failed. the third went pretty well. the plumbing to public service was a recognition that in america everybody ought to get a fair shot. we can't guarantee success, but in america everybody ought to get a fair shot.

that is what i have tried to do my public life. first as governor, where with it two-one republican legislature we managed to turn deficits into surpluses and virginia got recognized as the best managed state for business. in the senate i've tried to bring the same approach, whether it is wrestling with issues around debt and deficit, whether it is trying to advance policies that will bring jobs back home. it is my recent work on trying to deal with some other crushing amounts of student debt. on these issues and many others, i have worked in a bipartisan fashion in a town where it is not easy to do. my opponent has a different approach. he spent his entire career as a d.c. lobbyist and a partisan operative. he views every issue through the lens of republicans versus democrats. he even went on tv and called himself a partisan warrior, his words, not mine. i worked there. the last thing washington needs is another partisan warrior. virginians want leaders who are willing to work for the common good, work across party lines and get things done. that is why have done throughout my whole career. if her jeans give me the honor of rehiring me, that is what i will continue to do. >> thank you, senator warner. we will return to questions by

drop. the first question does go to senator warner. you have voted with president obama most of the time in the senate, including for the affordable care act. your opponent, as we just heard, says this proves that rather than being an independent voice for virginia, you are in lockstep with the white house and you bear responsibility for the problems with obamacare, especially since you vowed not to support a measure that i quote you, takes away any health care plan that you like. how do you answer? >> judy, let's set the record straight on the statistic that is used. independent political observers have called it misleading and not revert -- not representative of my record.

the national journal ranks me in the center. one of the reasons why senator john warner had this job for 30 years. when i disagree with the president, i stand up with him. whether it is on oil or support for the keystone pipeline, whether it is supporting tort reform and that is a hard thing to say in front of a group of lawyers. i've taken arrows from both the left and the right on my efforts to deal with the debt and deficit. on health care, what i hear from virginians is that they're tired of this issue being used as a political football. they actually want to see it fixed.

they don't want to go back to the days when people with pre-existing conditions could not get health care and women were charged to from even men, or when seniors appear higher price for drugs. the obamacare -- i wait out for plans and how we can improve it. it cheaper plan called the copper plan. working to try to get rid of some of the overly bureaucratic regulations, a plan that has been supported by a lot of small businesses, including all the national retail federation. why don't we allow insurance companies to ensure with appropriate consumer protection to sell products across state lines. what virginians want is get this health care working in a way that is fair and efficient. >> a couple of things. first of all, independent fact checkers have declared a 97% figure accurate and true. what it comes to offshore drilling, senator warner just said that he supports it. i know that he is said that, but in 2012, there was a vote for drilling for more oil and gas throughout the outer continental shelf. five democrats voted for it, including jim webb. senator warner voted against it. in 2012, despite saying he's for the pipeline, there was an amendment to move it forward for approval. levin democrats voted for it, including jim webb, his own

democratic colleague from virginia, and senator warner voted against it. on health care he voted to kill an amendment that would've prevented cuts to medicare advantage, which over 170,000 virginians are enrolled in. senator webb afforded against killing that amendment and senator warner voted for it. it is part of a pattern. as part of a pattern of not being a senator he said he would be. his press releases are very bipartisan, but his floor votes are very partisan. that is a difference. i will make sure that we replace obamacare with policies that work, that allow us to keep the insurance we like, that make health care more affordable, does not kill jobs and when it comes to energy of a part of my five-point economic growth agenda is to unleash american energy and actually fight for lifting the moratorium on our drilling off of our deep sea coasts and to make sure that we do get the keystone xl pipeline approved, along with the number of other proposals in that plan. >> senator warner.

>> i think my opponent has to get his facts straight. on keystone, i support that. i got protested against in harrisonburg. on offshore, i have had legislation for that for years. i believe virginia should have a share of the royalties. the bill that ed mentioned did not include that. the question that we didn't hear, we have heard my opponents criticism of obamacare, but we don't hear a lot of talk about before obamacare and before romney care, there was gillespie care. both a lobbyist and in his book, my opponent was a big supporter of the individual mandate. it is key to the obamacare approach. somehow he seems to have forgotten that. even today, the richmond fun -- richmond times dispatch has said that my opponent has said he is against obamacare but not laid out specifics. i laid out specific areas where we can fix this law. i think that is what most virginians want. >> can i give an additional 30 seconds? >> that is not true.

i never lobbied for an individual mandate. fact checkers have disputed that as well. i fought obamacare every step of the way. senator warner did not just voted for it, but he strong-armed his colleagues to vote for. i said it was going to end up killing jobs, raising the costs of higher premiums and harming the quality of our care. on one of the most important issues, i was right. senator warner was very wrong. >> let's move onto the next question.

this one is to mr. gillespie. you are running on a progrowth economic plank. he championed more tax cuts, less regulation, no increase in the federal minimum wage. in today's economy and the current tax system, corporate profits are booming. wall street is enjoying record success. in a working-class americans, as you say, still struggling. could it say your plan is basically a reprise of the policies of george bush under which the census bureau shows median household income declined, poverty increased and childhood poverty increased even more. are they right? >> no, judy. the me share with people what i'm talking about when i talk about e.g. squared, which is that gillespie's agenda for economic growth. if you're for growth, you are for me. we've seen the job losses as a result of obamacare, which senator warner work to pass. it will mean 2.5 million fewer workers in our economy over the decade as a result of our disincentives to work built into that legislation. i believe having the highest corporate tax rate is responsible for having other

companies go overseas. i believe we need to simplify and bring down the highest corporate tax rate and incentivize american companies to bring profits from overseas and invest them here in the united states. to believe policies like unleashing american energy, replacing obamacare with market oriented reforms, education reform which i believe is progrowth, and cutting wasteful spending could result in a doubling of our economic growth rate, which is low after a recession. if we doubled our growth rate for percent on average, it would mean 10 million new jobs in our economy. it would mean we would be able to reduce our deficit by one third. >> judy, there's no issue more important than getting our country's balance sheet right. 17 trillion in debt was a 3 billion a night.

simpson bowles, not perfect, but i built a bipartisan group that would have taken on entitlement reform, tax reform and would've done more for job growth than any single program. you did not hear from my opponent was any acknowledgment of the fact that he was a cheerleader for the bush/cheney economic policies, policies that put two wars and the credit card, that added to entitlements, that provided tax cuts it can be paid for, that increased the debt 86% if that is my opponent policy, i'm not sure we can afford e.g., much less e.g. squared. >> when senator warner first ran

for the senate, he said he supported balanced-budget amendment. after he was elected to office, he voted against it. 10 democrats voted for it, including senator joe manchin from west virginia. again, bipartisan press releases, partisan votes on the floor, i believe that we can spur economic growth, but not with the kind of intrusive government regulation and mandates and taxes at senator warner has supported, again, nearly a trillion dollars in tax increases since being elected. $7 trillion in new debt and

support for mandate after mandate, including, obviously, the mandates an epa rule that i believe will result in devastating our coal industry further than it has artie been devastated in southwest virginia. >> i give them a chance to respond in the last round. >> what i find is a full two had to pay for the balanced-budget amendment, it is usually people that don't have a plan. california, new york, their balanced-budget amendments. if anyone here thinks that is how they got balanced budgets, i don't believe that is the case. on this issue, we have a record. i was governor. i turned deficits into surpluses. he was part of an administration that turn surpluses into deficits. >> we will move onto the next question. this is for senator warner. it is on the environment. both of you have artie raised. as you know, there are trade-offs between protecting the environment and economic growth. the obama administration's environmental protection agency has proposed new carbon

emissions regulations at the chamber of commerce charges would cost thousands of virginia jobs, would force the closure of existing power plants in the state, and cost consumers at least $200 a year. to these proposed regulations go too far? >> judy, one of the great success stories of the last decade has been the explosion of american energy sources. we are the largest provider of oil and gas. i have supported consistently and all of the above approach to energy. renewables, fossil fuels, conversation -- conservation. that includes use of coal. i do believe we have to find ways to use it cleaner. that is going to come about from american innovation and american technology. regardless of what we do, there will be 800 new coal plants built in china and india over the coming years. they ought to be using american cleaner coal technology. on these new regulations, they're in the midst of a -- period. we ask for that additional time and they should give it. my opponent has never been willing to acknowledge the science around climate change. and that man has an effect on it.

i would love to take my opponent to -- the navy has spent tens of millions of dollars just raising the piers. my opponent does have two energy credentials. he lobbied against increasing fuel efficiency standards. and as a chief lobbyist for enron, lobbied for regulations that basically allowed enron to gouge consumers all over america. >> this is another example where senator warner is not being a senator he said he would be because he says he's going to stand up for coal miners and are very important coal sector in virginia, yet when there was an amendment to offer on the senate floor to prevent the epa from regulating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, high democrats voted for it. jim webb cosponsored it. once again, senator warner voted with his party leadership against the interests of virginians. i was just out in southwest

virginia as i often am, campaigning. i visited with a gentleman my age, and he was telling me about the difficulties he has found since being laid off his job as a minor. and fact, he is not helping to support his family. he has three children like i have. he's now mowing lawns and doing odd jobs to help support his family.

i respect him immensely. for doing that hard work. the wages he is making our far cry from what he was making as a minor. we are seeing all across southwest virginia the damaging effect of senator warner's policies in support of president obama. i, to, agree we need to clean energy and cleaner air. we are all for clean air. when you shut down one third to 50 percent of her coal-fired plants in virginia and you force production overseas to places like china, india and indonesia where they don't have the same high air quality standards that we have, you're not going to enhance air quality, you may damage it. >> again, i'll go back to what i said. i support and all of the above, including coal. we need to handle the enormous challenges. we need have a coal industry that leads the world in cleaner coal technology. in carbon capture and increased -- i think it is a smart pro-business approach. what i'm curious with my opponent who talked about the gentleman who are know is had his circumstances changed, a lot of the folks who circumstances change are now on minimum wage. my opponent made some comments about minimum wage recently. he said minimum wage is a place where you learn the social aspects of work and afterwards you go play softball or drink a beer.

otto, there are an awful lot of folks around virginia that are on minimum wage. more women than men. we can debate the statistics, but most folks say about 20% of minimum wage earners are the breadwinners for the family. i don't understand why he refuses to acknowledge we have to increase the minimum wage. he can debate time and implementation, but i do think his comments are disconnected. >> i believe the senator knows a context of his comments because i said a lot of first-time jobs at minimum wage jobs, which they are. i'm sure there are many people

in this audience whose first job was minimum wage. what senator warner supports is destroying between half a million jobs according to the cbo and up to a million jobs. you're right, there are 20%, little bit less, of minimum age earners who are head of the household and responsible for the family. i agree with you, we need to make sure that people were working full-time can support their families. i don't think we should do it by making the working poor the nonworking poor. i would support a work incentive tax credit that allows people to keep their jobs and get the supplement -- to supplement their income so we can help people have a livable income as opposed to increasing minimum wage in a way that kills jobs and continue to work. there is human dignity and work -- in work. more people to experience that. >> the minimum wage, when i started it was one dollar and -- it was $1.70. i had -- there's less purchasing power at seven dollars and $.25 today. >> first, mr. glaspie, do you believe that science proves that climate change exists echo >> i

believe there is ample scientific evidence of -- that contribute to climate change. where don't believe it is i'm not entirely dismissive and sneering against those who have a different point of view and have different evidence. in my view, the evidence i've seen is that there is climate -- look, norfolk is the only -- with rising sea levels. it is indisputable, 2.5-5 years. we need to help norfork and the region adapt to that and deal with that. >> senator warner, a quick follow up. do those epa relations go too far? >> i'm not sure if my opponent agreed that man is a contribute to climate change. i think science overwhelmingly says yes. i think we need to go decides.

we ask for additional time so we can try to get them right. i think one of the key things administration said it is are they going to use 2005 baseline or something else. all across the state, we are both ends of the -- where do believe is, part of the energy mix in america and the world going forward is going to be cold. let's find ways to use it cleaner. >> the may be clear, the epa relations go too far. >> next question for mr. glaspie has to do with immigration. in 2012, president obama gave some undocumented children in this country a shield from deportation. if they're therefore 2007, if they had a clean work record, and had graduated from high school, they were given work authorization. now, senator ted cruz of texas is proposing to overturn this executive action. if elected, would you vote with

senator cruz to repeal the protection from deportation for these so-called streamers? >> it is an executive order. i think it is an executive order. by acting you -- unilaterally as a president has come i believe he is contributed to the crisis we are seeing on the southern border today. what we're seeing there is because people in guatemala and honduras and el salvador and other countries saw the president and it created a spike in people coming to the border. i believe we need to secure our border. we need to enforce our existing laws. the something senator warner said when he was running for this job six years ago. unfortunately, when there was an amendment brought to the senate floor, after saying we need to secure our border in 2009, senator warner posted -- voted against the requirement of a fence to be completed by 2013.

21 democrats voted for it. jim webb was one of them. senator warner, after saying it should be the first priority voted against it. i do believe we need immigration reform. my father is an immigrant to this country. i'm proud to be the son of an immigrant. i believe that the reform that -- the reforms we should enact legislation that would allow us to keep out those who don't want to enter illegally or allow us to bring in people that we do want to come in legally. >> would you vote with senator cruz? >> i have not seen the bill. >> he would repeal or overturn what the president signed. >> i have not seen senator cruz is bill, but i think that president obama overreached when he issued an executive order in this regard. i think we're seeing the consequences of it today. >> i think the tragedy at the border is an example, one more example that our current immigration system is broken. it is why in a bipartisan fashion and a bill that was

fashioned by john mccain and lindsey graham, the senate passed a comprehensive immigration reform that would've doubled border security. i'm not sure if my opponent says they're not tough enough on the border, but we want to put in place a process that would deal with guestworkers and dreams and others. it was probably supported by business, by labor groups, not a circumstance in central america we need to do two things. we need to speed up the processing of these children. that was going to require additional judges. many of these children will be sent home. we need to intervene, stopping the flow. we met with those ambassadors is weak. we said you have to tell you people not to come. cut out the drug smugglers and coyotes. again, what is curious is, a year ago, a bipartisan bill passed in the senate.

my opponent said it was good policy and good politics. i do know what is changed. is it that politics now? why were you for it then against it now? >> i said it was a good approach. i also said as you know, the time, that we needed more border security provisions to be added to it. i support those steps by the house as well. my position has been consistent on this. red river disagreement in terms of policy here. senator warner believes that in addition to the reforms, some of which we agree on in terms of the reforms of immigration system going forward. i do not believe as a son of an immigrant who came here legally, was processed to ellis island, that it is in the country's best interest to grant citizenship to those who are here by virtue of having broken our laws. it is not fair to those who play by the rules. the same time, i do not believe

that we will deport 10-12,000,000 people who were here in this country. i favor a reform of our visa system that would allow them to have fresh fees is after meeting some criteria, for example criminal background checks and self-sufficiency and other measures. my position on immigration reform has been consistent throughout. >> ever follow up for both of you. it now there are about two dozen undocumented immigrant children being house about 100 miles from here in stanton, virginia at a juvenile detention center. some of them came in from central america just in the last couple of weeks. should these children be deported? >> i think these children, 20% of these kids under 11. they -- the process to go through the border with a get health checkups, immunizations and other things, i think they are due somewhat of a process. that process will result in sending some of us kids back, but they are teva process.

i've been concerned with the administration's approach. they didn't inform the community and i said we shouldn't do this. i believe there is a humane, appropriate process. that will require conference of immigration reform. it will require more judges so children can be processed, many of which will be sent back. >> mr. glaspie, these children in stanton virginia. >> this is heartbreaking, there's no doubt about it. i can imagine. my father king at the age of eight and a two-week boat journey from ireland. but with his mother and brothers and sisters. the notion of turning a child over tricky are the -- coyote to go through churches territory to come to this country, can american should -- imagine with his parents go through in this children go through. the compassion responses to make clear, don'