bank up. i had two pennies to rub together and customer accounts were frozen as well as mine. i remember seeing $27 billion get dumped into the farm program in about 1985, and i river seeing 14 new pickups parked at the restaurant after that -- remember seeing a 14 new pickups parked at the restaurant after that. we are in a better shape than we were in the 80's, a lot of the land is leveraged. the $2 billion of value that i mentioned earlier, that will bridge us through. there is a draw or disaster, we sit down and figure out how to deal with it. ought or disaster, we sit down and figure out how to deal with it. there are reasons to be optimistic. that you areying optimistic, and we have any federal government a safety net?

-- in the federal government a safety net? >> we never know if it will be enough. if congress has to increase that, i will hear from the farmers. >> what are you prepared to do if that buyer protection comes prediction comes true. >> i will be a tireless advocate. i will work with democrats and republicans to get the job done. unfortunately, congressman king has been in congress for 12 years, and, if he had not pursued a selfish the party agenda, would be next in line for the agriculture commission. instead, congress when conway from texas will be the next chair of the agricultural committee. days ago, he said he was against the renewable fuel standard and a farmers would have to take a hit. >> since i went to congress, there has never been a better 12 years to be a farmer in iowa, or

in iowa in iowa. iowa.iowan in i am the guy that has long said, no. i said it earlier today. it is amazing what you can do, should you do not care who gets the credit. be a may be great to farmer, and yet farmers are still complaining about things, including regulations dealing with the environment. -- is there annk appropriate level of federal withenation dealing farmers to ensure clean air and clean water? have been better times to be a farmer than this year, i will make that point. the markets have dropped more than 50%, corn has dropped 60% from the highest. but what do we do with the epa and their overreach? particular, the waters over the united states and the legislation that they have written if it is a significant

nexus, they can regulate. they can regulate everything up to and including the kitchen sink. we cannot have a federal government that will change the rules. now it requires permission to do normal farming practices rather than prohibition on certain farming practices -- is therestion is, appropriate level of regulation, or do you want them out altogether? and if so -- >> there is an appropriate level . there was a time when we needed the clean air act, the clean water act, and the endangered species act. >> we do not need them now? >> we do need them now, but i think the epa has overreached in congress has to step in. that is why i introduced legislation called the sunset act, which will, incrementally, years, brings all the regulations up for an up or .own vote, so we have a voice

and that congress take responsibility for the is it a branch decision. -- the executive branch decision. >> are there areas right now where you see federal government -- the federal government over regulating farmers? and how about the level of cities, conjuring fertilizers on loans and wastewater treatment plants? >> there are things on the epa that we need to cut through red tape, the conservation is important. we need to ensure that our children can continue to farm the same land in the future. congressman king states that he does not care who gets the credit. the reason that he says of things is that, after 12 years in congress, he has never passed real legislation, but anything to iowa. he is not getting the job done. he will say that he has proposed things, worked with people, he does not care if he gets the credit, that is because he will never get the credit.

>> this gets really tiresome. the very first bill introduced in congress established the credit for small ethanol producers. and that became law. there was also a provision to enhance biodiesel for vision, that became law in 1985. i thought it was going to be easy, it is not that easy. you put your name on a bill, nancy pelosi season, she does not want to see that go further. so instead i brought amendments to the floor of congress, and other people, and there are only two that have brought more. in the mostam third amendments offered, and number one in the most that have been passed. that will tie you something, when you put judgment on the neoor and require someo to vote on if they agree with me, i have the highest percentage of agreement. trueat is something not

-- simply not true. claiming the amendments and proposing legislation are the same is untrue. will let you answer something that your opponent is saying. are most campaigns, you using television advertising to tell voters some things that you believe that they should know about your opponent. we have a couple of examples. mr. king, a commercial that you are airing. >> in iowa, we tell it like it is. i have been telling washington over and over about threats building outside of our country because of ignored border security. and financial threats from within due to obamacare and the stifling debt. on the other hand, my opponent is for amnesty, for obamacare, and for nancy pelosi.

and that is telling it like it is. mowrer, that is talking about you. >> it is blatantly false, but i'm glad he used the pictures of me. the claims are simply false, and he does not say anything. because of a i support nancy pelosi, which i do not read he says i support the affordable care, when i say i have a lot of problems with it. he says i support amnesty, we've talked about that. the ad is trying to scare invoke fear in people. he says there's a thread on the border from ebola and isis, which is simply not true there is no evidence. , he wantsg fear voters to be scared so they will vote for him. we know that halloween is

around the corner. are you trying to scare people? >> i've heard my opponents are that if he was elected to congress, he would vote against nancy pelosi. i've heard him say that he does not support obama care. i think that he has said that i do not understand what amnesty is. i leave that to the voters, i do amnesty, that is out there and clear. >> the commercial that your campaign is erring is about progress when steve king. -- congressman stephen king. elections are about races, and jim mowrer served in iraq. but in washington, steve king put his party first and shut washington down. he voted to raise his own pay about $20,000 a year and take perks like free health care for life. those are their choices. what will your speed? -- what will yours be? >> he took credit for that, you

just heard, i approve this message. you asked them to remove that from the airwaves, saying he would not even sit beside him at this debate if he were not take it off the air. >> i asked people to go see the lies.com.mowrer first of all, no congressman that i know if it's free health care for life. i know of debts free health care for life. no congressman got to vote on a raise, i have one opportunity to freeze my pay and i did that. my pay has been frozen since 2009. there are only cost-of-living adjustments. were times when we had the opportunity to go to freeze it, i did that when there was a clear standalone vote. with foras cluttered

the $10 billion of spending, i voted against that. -- $410 billion of spending, i voted against that. since has been frozen 2009. many of those statements are completely, blatantly fabricated from thin air, false. mowrer, when he asked her to take down the ad, why didn't you? >> i left, first. as those are real votes that he made. he can say that he voted against them for whatever reason, and you can go to my website to see those votes cited. he paid to have his -- voted to have his pay raise by $20,000, and during that time, thousands for minimumorking wage made $15,000 a year. he does not dispute the fact that he opposed middle wage while voting for perks.

in 2009, he voted for a bill to raise his pay that only 24 members of congress voted for. -- 398 toas 3982 24 24. republicans of voted no, and it was not able to raise the pay, it was an amendment that went into the .ule the night before there was no opportunity to offer amendment, they are 10rtainly rule, it was $4 >> in one of your ads you say that i ruffle feathers. what is the value for iowans? >> if you could go to washington and go along to get along, that is the problem. some of us have stood on

principle. i think that is a clear record. counties, i have been to all 382 towns. they say, keep doing what you are doing. these values are the heart of the heartland. we need the voices of everyone out here coming together. they know that if we can hold it together in iowa, we can hold our country together. if we fail in iowa, our country falls apart. >> in regards to the ebola outbreak, there have been democrats who have embraced the idea of considering a travel ban. is that something you would be for? think that all options should be on the table. from what i am hearing from medical experts, that is not the right approach. we need to confront this out rake in a cone, concise,

deliberate way. we need to stop it from spreading. we need to confront it at the source in africa. again, that is how we need to react. congressman king has a tv ad telling people that they should panic. that is not real leadership. this is the greatest nation on earth. we have been willing to react, calmly. i joined our military. i have never been afraid. the american people should not be afraid could we have a bright future. thester king, you said president ordered to send troops into those three west african nottries and it was something you would support you said soldiers should volunteer for that. why? >> i laid out a points on how to deal with ebola. that was one of them. i don't believe they should be ordered to face an unseen enemy that we don't under stand, the

silent killer of ebola. god bless everyone that goes over there to put an end to ebola. our health care workers there, doctors and nurses, the exports of the world, from the united states, they have been contracting ebola. convinced that we know how to do that well enough to send troops over there. 4000,uld say that out of that they will all come back without ebola. we are living in hotels. american soldiers in this room, liberians in other rooms in a hotel. this is an article that says the protection is they don't get to they hands, and sometimes work their feet. that is not enough. >> you volunteer when you raise your right hand. soldiers follow orders. this is the job it needs to be done.

>> i think the judgment to do this debate will speak for itself. >> what you mean by that? thatdecided not to do elaborate on my response. me clarify my comment. soldiers volunteer. he cannot understand that because he is not a veteran. veterans understand that soldiers follow orders good this is a job that needs to be done. >> what did you mean? he does notng that understand because he did not serve in the military. veterans understand that when the job needs to be done, even if you like in danger, you do it. we are willing to sacrifice everything for this country. what is it mean to volunteer when it is a suicide mission. of soldiers out

there willing to volunteer to fight ebola. they should be the ones that have the opportunity to go. when the mothers and families and soldiers ordered into west africa, into an unseen enemy, when we can't even tell the public, when we have a center for disease control director who statementa blatant one day and two days later it turns out to be wrong. two days later, his neck statement is wrong. the president statement is wrong great we cannot the ordering people into a scenario like that and tell we can find of how those doctors contracted ebola. we are not getting honest answers from our commander in chief. he is the top military officer. >> we understand, enrichment come of the point you're making. i want to go back to the statements you made about man king not having served in the military. are you making that a relevant point? >> i am saying that he does not understand what soldiers and veterans have been to. that is ok. that is not part of his record. i understand that when you

volunteer for the military, you're willing to sacrifice for this country. i has been years in a war some for my country. clear, you're not saying that he is not a qualified candidate? absolute and not. i'm saying that congressman king the ideaunderstand -- that soldiers have to agree with orders to follow them is false. bless you for doing that, jim. and everybody who put on a uniform to save america. i am not convinced that that is the only qualifier for this job. >> i have a record of saving taxpayers millions of dollars. i have spent a decade doing intelligence work. theve gone line by line of ledger to save taxpayers dollars. the only thing he has ever accomplished is shutting down

the government. >> lets move on now. i'd like to go on to health care. owrer, you just said that you have problems with obamacare. howe also talk to you about your family feels you have benefited from obamacare. how would your family be affected? i think it has been clear from the beginning that there were things that were not working. when you look at dr. relicensing, taking doctors away from patients to go to relicensing procedures and other mechanisms, i don't think that is a right approach. i think we need to fix this. we need representatives who care deeply about our health care system. has voted toing

put the insurance companies back in charge, to take away health insurance for people with pre-existing conditions, like my sun, as you have stated. he allows insurance companies to charge women more than men. this is where public policy intersects people's lives. my youngest and has assumed pre-existing condition with no treatment or cure. if we went back to a time where pre-existing conditions could be thrown off their health insurance, that would be bad for my family. >> if you are successful in repealing obamacare. what is your answer for families mar?jim mowrer's question >> it seems there has lot of been -- a lot of research done on my record. i'm surprised it did not get back to my time in the senate.

we establish a care insurance for children. his children would be qualified. that exist. premiums forhe those with pre-existing conditions with tax dollars. i chaired the committee that manage that fund. the important thing for people to remember is obamacare is a disaster. gods a usurpation of our given right to manage our own health. it is a federal takeover. it takes away from us the ability to make her own health care decision and commands us to buy policies that are approved and produced by the federal government. if we repeal all of it, we get our freedom back. the next thing we do is we get back to things that were taken from us. our doctors, premiums have gone up, including me. my health percent of

insurance premium before the bill, now i pay 47% out-of-pocket. $4400 a year. being without it is a lot better. >> if the next congress fails to repeal obama care, what would your fallback position the? what comes next? how long are you willing to fight? put the repeal on the next president's desk. i look forward to january 20, 2017, when we elect a new president who will sign the repeal of obamacare. i want to be there when that happens. >> that's fine. we need to govern for the next two years. he was to wait. we can't wait. he wishes he was a better obstructionist. he wishes there were more obstructionist like him in congress. >> lets talk about something that happened to canada o.

the pragmatists or so they had an act of terrorism. what should be the response to isis? you were saying that congress should come back and vote. how would you vote? what would you want to see? the amendment in the previous appropriations we did. the president asks for $500 million to train the free syrian army. i'm not securely optimistic about that. i would empower the kurds. i would give them all the heavy weapons they can use. i would put our special forces on the ground and bring them closer support. for the president of the united , i believe he has the legal authority to intervene against isis in a part of the world. and 2002nder the 2001 status of forces agreement that were passed by congress. come back tohould

congress to refresh the authorization for use of military force so that he has the full support of congress and the people of the united states of america to defeat this enemy of the president says he wants to destroy and to grade. i think you at the word defeat to that. you have concerns about arming the rebels in syria. why? >> he shows he has a complete lack of understanding about what is happening on the ground. that is ok. i has been years on the ground in iraq doing intelligence work. the sunni muslim rebels and syria are the same extremist groups that we were fighting in iraq, that i was fighting there in 2006 and 2007. the obama game plan to arm them is exactly the wrong approach. the cia has produced a report that says it is the wrong approach. talk about arming the kurds. that may be the right approach.

congressman king does not understand the complexity. turkey is in conflict with the kurds. we have to be on a full diplomatic offensive. >> is the first time i heard obama game plan. it is completely ridiculous. the gym and has been iraq. got bless you for serving there, jim. i have been there too. i've listen and met with the kurds in the last three and a half weeks. i will be back before thanksgiving. i have been all over that part of the world. i met with leaders. when i received briefings from -- excuse me, from his cabinet members -- and i'm speaking directly to the secretary of state, after get all statements made in classified briefings, we have an administrative -- administration that is hard to

fight a war with. i am willing to give the president what he wants. >> are you willing to go further in iraq if it is needed? >> yes. how do we win a war with the president? that is the biggest question. >> he wants to invade iraq. >> that's not what i said. >> this cannot be seen as the united states versus isis. we have a broad international coalition. we have the saudis and other sunni countries leading the offensive. that is the right approach. this is the counterterrorism mission that requires a counterterrorism approach. the military forces are at the lowest levels in decades, and because of the sequestration they are expected to go lower if more money is not put into the pentagon. believe that the american military can operate and protect the country at those levels? what would you do?

cut'swere facing budget when i was at the pentagon. they have taken a significant toll, especially as we come out of iraq and afghanistan. we need to shift towards future complex. with the sequester in place, we don't have the proper resources. the sources, find realign our forces, realign to counterterrorism, given to asia, and a full cyber offensive. >> is the military too small right now? should the automatic us be allowed to go into effect? >> i voted against the sequester. i thought it was a bad bargain to put our military on the auction block. i don't think we should have done that. i think we should maintain the capability to fight a two front war. i think we need to expand the mobility of our military to do some of these things, be able to operate in multiple places simultaneously. the operation going on with isis

in that region, where they have created the caliphate, that is not just a special operation. they have evaded into iraq. turn them back. the people that are capable of doing that and on the ground now are the kurds. dohow much additional money you think is needed to bring forces up to where you think be?y should be question mar >> i have long been a supporter of our military and the resources to compete -- keep them as effective as they should be. >> but that you agree that the cut than the u.s. military should not be allowed to continue. >> you did it. we agree. >> we agree on that, yes. >> there was a time when there was not electricity and the federal government launched a program to a lecture for the rural parts of the country. is vital toity that

business interest and the farmers who want to keep touch with the markets. the federalle for government to do that with broadband? have 100 42o individual telephone companies. that was a pretty good measure. that brought a lot of resources to the table. the brought a lot of infrastructure. the biggest risks to broadband here is if the universal service fund is rated by the urban areas in the country. they see the money, they want their money to build their infrastructure in the urban areas. we need to protect the fund for the rule areas and get broadband out to everybody. when you have fewer and fewer rural representatives in the congress? >> he gets difficult to you have to be aggressive and vigilant. i appreciate the input that comes more local telcos.

>> had you extend broadband service to rule areas? invest in to infrastructure. that means investing in roads, bridges, schools. investing in broadband internet access. that is the path forward. the greatest generation, when they came home from work, they invested in the future. congressman king has a conflict with investing in the future of this country. a lot of my campaign is investing in infrastructure. has -- congressman king opposes that. >> i want to get back to the subject of ebola. since we started this debate, the news has broken that another case of ebola is reported in the united states in new york city. congressman king,

change your mind on how we fight ebola? maybe the cdc and other agencies have been underfunded. does this change your mind? >> i will start off the answer with the fact that a lot of people drop your on a highway that i supported. were going to sioux city. we have increased funding into the cdc significantly. at least for the past five or six years. was due tois country the lack of vigilance. there are pieces in place that can protect the spirit we don't need to have flights coming to the united states with passengers on them that originate in the ebola infected countries. that is the first one. tsa to setneed that up a no-fly list or they can put

that in our computer system. they can stop people coming from those areas. we need to have a director for the cdc that we can believe. i think it is time for tom friedman to step down. he no longer has the credibility. we need to chase down each thread of ebola so we can stop the disease in this country. it is not a matter of spending money or the cdc as much as it is containment. was fearheard there mongering. our medical experts, have toldtion experts us the best approach. we need to react call me, deliberately, and need to invest in our cdc and nih. while congressman king has been in congress, funding has dropped significantly. >> let me interrupt. are you saying that as more cases are reported, we are doing just fine with the system we

have and it will contain it? >> no, we need to invest in it. we would be in a much better position of funding had not been cut. that the strut down the ,ongressman king led scientist were sent home, experiments lost, and funding cut. that is why we need to invest in those areas. >> i voted twice to keep the government open, september 20 and 20 a. i said i will not fund obamacare. we funded everything except obamacare. i wanted to open the government. to where the president had taken people offer furlough and said it is essential services to give .eterans out of the memorials i cut the ribbon. i swung the barricades i opened up the government when the president had shut it down. >> he put the barricades in place.

he led the shutdown. he said it was the best day he had in washington. the day the government shutdown. he said he was very disappointed. question we are running at a time. i will ask you a question about the role of government. are there any aspects of the society where the free market does not work. ? >> that is a good question. our military, for sure. i can think of a few. , educationportation for competition, research and that is another one. there are multiple places out there where the private sector does not drive enough capital into something that we actually need. what about the manhattan project? would we have one world war ii without that. this country is full of things the government does that is necessary for the survival and

preeminence of the united states. >> is there anything that the government is doing now that would be better off being done by the private sector? is the bestm economy in the world. that is why we are the greatest nation on her. we have to be continuously working hard to look at what a government is doing. to look at the unintended consequences of legislation that has been passed. >> is there anything that would be better off privatized? processes.permitting there are some areas of the need to be reformed. some regulations on small businesses need to be cut. >> you support the xl pipeline? gundersen king, there are people that are concerned about this transmission line that would take linn energy from i would to chicago. do you think the line should be

built? >> yes. i have a concern that we respect the property rights. i have spoken with the proponents of it and putting a plan together. we will get the leases that you can. butcher money down on the table to secure the maximum number of leases. go down with eminent domain and lets it is necessary and there is a consistence that is established by existing leases. congressman king, same-sex marriage is now the law of the land. possibility of rolling that back now? i believe that is a bit of a loose use of the law of a land. they have voted in favor of same sex marriage. marryple are allowed to states.ss of sex and 32

can it be rollback? >> i don't know. justices altrae bench in certain states because they made bad decisions. i want to see the voice of the people. i want to see it reflected in the legislation across his land. if it is the people's decision, i will support it. if it is judge made, not based on constitutional law, and i have ready decisions, by the way, then i don't support that. do anything to protect religious institutions, people who are concerned about their own morality, from being forced to recognize same-sex marriages if they don't wish to do so? >> we have freedom of religion in this country that needs to be protected. imposing any kind of requirements on religious institutions, no. >> what about private businesses question mark >> everybody deserves equal protection under

the law. >> we have a magic one and only 15 seconds. if you could wave a wand, which tax would you get rid of? >> all of the federal income taxes out there. i would replace it with a fair text. that would be a consumption tax on personal consumption. it would do them all. it would do them all better. hr 25. eliminate we can loopholes for billionaires, corporations, etc.. his tax proposal will be the largest tax for the wealthy. >> what is your priority for the next term? you have 15 seconds. >> i think the most important thing we can do here and i were his have the leadership that will help bring forward the best possible president of the united states, who will carry with him

or her the platform to go to the white house. >> i will go to congress and get something to done. i will pass a minimum wage increase. i will give 300,000 working iowans a pay raise. if you work 40 hours a week, you should not live in poverty. >> thank you for being with us. it takes a lot of talented people in truckloads of equipment to a congress what you have just seen. for our friends who supported and the attire i will public thank you forw, joining us today. [applause] thanverage includes more 100 debates. stay in touch and engage. follow us on twitter and like us

on facebook.com. in west virginia's third congressional district, the incumbent is facing evan jenkins. we will show you their debate of the moment, but first, here are some of the ads airing in the race. >> on fixed income, it's punishing. the carbon tax, skyhigh rates. cutting benefits for seniors on health care forcing some into nursing homes. for us.t the choice, evan jenkins. trusted to keep our costs down. he worked with joe manchin to get rid of the fruit tax. for west virginia, not obama. when evan jenkins voted against raising the state's

minimum wage, he abandoned west virginians and sided with his wall street financial backers. they want to privatize medicare. willing toanyone work hard should be paid a decent wage and medicare should never be privatized. putting west virginia's first. >> i approve this message. >> i'm evan jenkins and i approve this message. lights on heree and across the america. but then he pulled the switch. largest epa the budget in history bankrolling the war on coal with our tax dollars. four coalonitors -- miners, he slashed benefits and he lies about it. turn the lights out on him. i'm joe manchin.

we hear a lot of outrageous nones in politics but greater than this. nick is a straight shooter. he works with me everyday to fight the obama administration war on coal. don't let anyone mislead you. he nosed west virginia values. we need him in congress. >> i approve this message because i will never let anyone change our way of life. debate in west virginia's third u.s. house district including bluefield and huntington. he's running against republican state senator evan jenkins. this debate was held in huntington and comes to us courtesy of the herald dispatch. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [applause]

much for that instruction. as we get to our opening statements and their questions, please try to control that, ok? thank you. i would like to tell a little bit about the candidates. nick right, representative joe rahal, the democrat in this contest currently serving his 19th term in the house having first been elected to the position in 1976. he is the ranking member of the house transportation and infrastructure committee which has jurisdiction over highways, railways, airports, bus lines, pipelines as well as the economic element administration. the appalachian regional

commission, army corps of engineers, and fema. congress, election to nick rahall was a businessman who served as a staff aide for robert c byrd. yes three children and three grandchildren. evan left is state senator jenkins, the republican candidate. native.gton mr. jenkins has served in the west virginia legislature for two decades. he was first elected to the house of delegates and in 1994 to represent rain counties. he served three terms in the body. and 2002, he was elected to the state senate, where he is now serving his third term. his committee assignments and the state senate include education, and roll bills, judiciary, military, and natural resources. in addition to serving on the legislature, mr. jenkins is executive director of the west virginia state medical association.

it is a physician-based organization focused on public health issues. mr. jenkins and his wife elizabeth have three children. next i would like to talk a little bit about the format. the candidates are familiar. i want to explain it to you out there. each candidate will have three minutes for an opening statement , then i will ask the candidates a series of questions that were developed with ideas from our readers. each candidate will have two minutes for an initial response to each question, and then one minute for rebuttal or clarification to each question. we will proceed through the questions in that manner with candidates alternating and answering the questions first. after we have completed the questions, each candidate will have three minutes for a closing statement. we have a timer to help us keep track of the time limits. we are trying to adhere to that this evening.

our business reporter at the herald dispatch, shane, raise your hand. thank you. hane has three sons. one minute, 30 seconds, and timeout. he will flash the signs to indicate how much time they have left for their opening and closing statements, as well as their answer to the questions and the rebuttals. any questions? i think were all set. ok. i want to remind the candidates that each of you has three minutes for your opening comments. we will begin with congressman rahal. >> thank you. i want to thank the herald dispatch for sponsoring this. i would to thank each of you for your participation in our political process. too many of our veterans have fought and died for the many freedoms that we enjoy in this country, one of which is the right to vote. we all have a duty to vote. as i have been in congress working hard for you, i feel we

also have a duty to work together. in this city and across southern west virginia, that is how you and i, together, have been progress on so many fronts. we work together, you and i, we have been getting things done. there my leadership position on the house transportation , numerous projects across southern west virginia from washington university, city of huntington, and throughout the southern area. this race comes down to one thing, one thing, my friends, who can you trust to stand up for the working values of our families and west virginia? can you trust, who will be on your side for our working minimum in? i have always and will always be a fighter for west virginia values. whether it is working with republicans in standing up to my party to stop the overreaching, overzealous, job killing epa diversifying our

economy, or working perfectly for you on problems you may have cutting through government red tape, social security checks, veterans benefits. i am proud of what we have been able to achieve in washington by working together and willing and able to cross party lines. for example, i should the house restriction drug abuse caucus with how rogers. secure been able to funding for drug prevention strategies and to fight drug abuse. another example, i have led the effort to secure funding for huntington. the development of the heartland corridor. it provides jobs for our people. i could go on down the list. to top priority will be continue to finish route 35.

we must create long-term solutions for our state. when we look at the loss of senator robert byrd and the retirement of senator rockefeller, and the lack this president will not be an office in two years, we have to think beyond to the long-term best interest of our state and what it means for a small state like clout andnia too have seniority in the halls of congress and the ill to work across the party aisles. this election comes down to one to fighto can we trust for our west virginia values in congress? i will be a champion for our working family, our economy, and are independent mountaineer spirit way of life. you wanted me in the past. i'm asking for your vote again. thank you. you, mr. rahal. this tremendous crowd turning out this evening. for those watching us on the webcast, hello, i hope you have an informed evening tonight. this is a great night.

i have been looking forward to a debate. i want to talk about the issues. i issued a challenge to congressman rahal the night of the primary. before heen until now is willing to stand on the stage with me and talk about the importance of the issues of west virginia. i was born and raised here. in the state it legislature for 18 years. i have my wife elizabeth and daughter olivia and sun charles here. i have one off the college. it is about our future. it is about our children's future. why am i running for congress? >> i'm running for congress this november for because i think we need a change of direction, not a change of pace. i am telling you, people are hurting and west virginia. it is the policies of barack obama, nancy pelosi, and their ,aithful soldier, nick rahall who has causes such despair.

it is time for a change. we have somebody who has been in office 30 years. .'ve represented west virginia we have done a lot of good things here. we brought autism coverage for children here in west virginia, and standing up to the insurance industries. we have fought the drug abuse crisis. i was the lead sponsor of the taxpayer's that make sure you got your tax refund and a timely fashion and that they did not -- if they did not, they have to pay you interest. i got an e-mail today from a gentleman. he said, you know, evan, there has been a lot of talk about coal and things that are critically important. forget, this is the house of representatives. he underscored representatives. that is what this is about. who will be your representative? i am proud of our record.

nick rahall was a staunch supporter of president obama tries brady voted for nancy pelosi for six times for speaker. he has cut veterans pensions. he has raised costs for our seniors. i am telling you, folks, west virginians are hurting. forward to the discussion tonight about those policies. about those votes. that me close with the last three seconds. in an interview with keith overman, here is what congressman rahal said. i keep on with my endorsement of obama because i am looking at the long range view of what is best for our democratic party. he puts his party first. i want to put west virginia first grade i want to put west virginia's back to work. i want to stand up to barack obama. i would be honored to have your vote. >> thank you, senator. our first question this evening. it will be addressed by mr. jenkins first. it has to do with energy.

as you both are fully aware, cole has been a big topic in this campaign. you both have stated your commitment to supporting coal. i want to put that into context of overall energy policy. we do each police expired to us what kind of energy policy you think the nation should have and what specific steps you would take as a congressman to stew the nation towards that policy? senator jenkins. is an energynia state we are proud of our coal history. we have made the manufacturing base of this country based on coal fired power plants. we have fueled america. we have 90% of the energy and west virginia that is coal-fired. we do have an oil and gas exposure and is well we need to do both. call as well as oil and natural gas and west virginia. we have a unique opportunity to lead the country and energy independence. we need to step up to the plate

and free up our coal miners and make sure that they can mine the coal that god has given us and bless us with. you can't the rollcall and vote coalnst -- you can't be pro- and vote for nancy pelosi for speaker six times a was to kill coal. aol and vote pro-c for a carbon tax, like nick rahall has. devastatinges are to our coal industry. he voted against the keystone pipeline. we can go on and on. he set up the first cap and trade initiative and our country. it gave the epa the biggest budget increase in their history. to comecific directions up with policies related to greenhouse gas regulations. what?

those policies are coming home to roost. we can't continue in this direction. this is killing our jobs. it is limiting our ability to grow and prosper in the state. pro-coal.100% i will be pro-coal miner. coall make sure our communities get back on her feet and like people get back to work. >> thank you. >> congress and rahall. >> coal is a way of life in west virginia. tickets are lights on. it is not just a business or job. -- it keeps our lights on. states everything to our of west virginia. i have always stood for coal, and standing for coal, and always will stand for coal. what is so important to keep in mind, my friends, is that we need the domestic -- energy

policy that embraces all of the above, as long as they are domestic resources. yes, we have oil and gas and was virginia. have other energy sources as well in this nation. as long as they are domestic, we need to stand up and use those resources. unfortunately, when you look at the facts in this race, the new york millionaires -- they did not make their money and coal, they made their money and whirling gas. coal will always be with us. agencyrgy -- information -- it is still 35 percent. coal will be here. i don't care who the president of united states is great i don't care of this bigger the houses. i don't care which party controls either one. coal is not going away. is a viablel natural resources that we have in west virginia. you know as well as i do, my

friends, our coal miner is the most precious resource of all. and fought for lower dust levels in our coal mines. i stood with our coal miners and fought for their health and safety. i thought for the pension benefits. i am proud of my record. i work on behalf of coal. brothershink the koch or the call rose of the world are going to change west virginians knowledge of nick rahalll's ability to fight and work for coal. that is who we are. it is our way of life. >> thank you. senator jenkins, any clarification rebuttal? >> lets talk about the one vote in particular. nancy pelosi, long before obama came on the scene in 2007, said we need to green the capitol. guess what? nick rahall introduced legislation, sponsored legislation, giving direction to

the architect of the capitol to reduce carbon emissions. guess what, the united states capital was field with coal from west virginia. here is a guy who sponsored a legislation to say, no, we will stop using west virginia coal in feeling the capital of our united states. rahall.essman, nick you have never met johnny-come-lately until tonight. he is on stage with me. 20 years, he has been in the senate of west virginia. ask his colleagues. as he been at the pro-coal rallies, the anti-epa rallies i have been in our nations capital in trenton, west virginia, testifying before the epa and their efforts to revoke permits. mr. johnny-come-lately, welcome to the battle.

, i am glad you recognize what coal means to our stately whatever about you referenced, lets look at the facts. we used to be friendly and i hope we can be friends after this. i am happy to say that he is a past supporter of mine. 2010ve my campaign in after barack obama was elected president, after the affordable care act was signed into law. that, he was a supporter of my campaign treat i appreciate it. >> thank you. we will go on to the next question now. it also has to do with the coal mining industry. west virginia is the second leading coal producing state in the nation to thousands of people are employed in what is a dangerous occupation. do you think steps taken by the federal government have been sufficient to keep minor safe and healthy? if not, what further steps should the federal government do to improve safety in the mines?

as part of that, i would like you to address whether the gentleman is doing enough to protect minors from black lung disease and to help those who suffer from it. congress and, nick rahall, your first. answer, no, no, and no. we are not doing enough. i was the first official who disastroushen that explosion happened in 2010. i was with those widows. --as with them 24 set of 24/7 waiting for word about their loved ones. we passed a mine safety bill, but it did not go far enough. 24/7 waiting for word about their loved ones. states that will provide additional protections for our coal miners. need to ensure that they have a number that they can call an honestly to support unsafe conditions and not be afraid of losing their jobs. we also need to step up to the

plate and protect the health and safety, as i said earlier, of our most precious resource in the state, i'll coal miners. i will continue to do that. 100% safe. be coal mining is a dangerous job. i have been in the coal mines. i just wish that my opponents billionaire backers would have invite to go into our coal mines and see what it is like. perhaps they will get there to hundred dollar manicure thing was a little duster. at least they would learn what coal mining is like. this is what it is about. being with our coal miners and whose side you are on. being with our working families in the state. whose side are you on? i am very proud of my record. that is why i have been endorsed.

i am proud of senator joe manchin calling nick rahall a straight shooter. that's what these ads are all about. outsiders running their own hidden agenda. >> thank you. senator jenkins. >> i wonder if nick rahall, when andas with those widows first re-squanders, that tragic incident. explosion,er the ubb while they were still in search and recovery, nick rahall went and sold his corporate ownership in massey. after the you bb explosion, nick rahall, instead of consoling the widows, instead

,f helping the first responders it must have been his first call, to sell his ownership interest in massey. this is the gentleman that in changed cut, reduced, the criteria for black lung benefits. said theumw a official worst about, the worst bill in the history of coal miners. it looks to me like we will have a fun night. i lot of cute comments. a lot of funny gestures. that is not going to do a bit to help hard-working west virginia go back to work. people thatll the you sold your corporate ownership the day after the disaster.

i bet not. he likes to talk about this money. he talked about a 500 conservation i made to him. guess what? $2000 illegalke a me.ribution to what i did with the maximum limits and west virginia, i sent $1000 back and cap the thousand he sent. [applause] >> congressman rahall? if he had been in that area, he would have known that cell phones don't work in that area. wascontribution he gave me $500. i don't know that the money shenanigans he is talking about -- since he brought up the issue of money, all we have to do is follow the money.

follow the money, my friends. look who the big backers of his campaign are. don blankenship, the koch wivesrs, they and their have maxed out to him to follow the money. that will tell you who sigh he is on. he is on.ide lets look at the facts of this race. less decide who is in the best interest of west virginia. is there fighting for our west virginia values, for the working men and women, to make sure, who is fighting for our coal miners. i am proud to have the umw a endorsement. i'm proud of that fact. you think they would endorse me if i was against black lung benefits question mark i don't think so. >> senator jenkins. >> you notice he did not deny selling his corporate ownership. a little deception there. congress apparently teaches you a lot of tricks.

i am tling you, what an outrage. before he took a personal financial hit, he ran. he got out of it. about theng to talk koch brothers. he likes to talk about little histories. he has not told you that he took money from coke industries. that was several years ago. long before they were ever involved in running ads for the americans for prosperity. the rahall took money from kochs. don lincolnshire does not like me. he worked against me. don blankenship does not like me. he made one contribution back in 2000, and another race, 14 year since then. he has worked against me and does not support me. >> thank you. we will go on to our next question.

it has to do with health reform. has beendable care act the subject of much debate since it was passed in 2010, and it continues to be so after its of limitation. about a million people have been enrolled to the program. what is your position on the affordable care act? should it be repealed? if so, would you propose something in its place? if you think it should be kept in force, do you think there should be some adjustments to the program? senator jenkins, your first. as i am passionate about care for it i get up every day, working to bring accessible, affordable care to west virginia and spare that is what i do for a living. it is a passion of mine. obamacare was the wrong recipe. our health care system is broken. we need a true health care system that is actually promoting access, does improve access to care and reduce costs.

obamacare, come on folks, this is a boondoggle. on smalled prices businesses. a cause coverage to decrease. the congress has tried to make changes. nick rahall has voted for a review of many provisions. is it not unbelievable that you have a 2700 page bill that does not get a single republican vote , that nancy pelosi says you reading, that barack obama has delayed come a deferred. we have not seen the tip of the negative consequences. what we have seen is hurting our seniors. medicare -- out of thank you, congressman rahal. health care/.

thank you, congressman rahall. obamacare is broken. it was not the right recipe. -- do need to expand coverage and access to it i hope we have a hearty discussion about health care reform tonight. it is critical. i have made it perfectly clear that the byrd amendment, related to black lung benefits, i will fight tooth and now to make sure that our coal miners and are widows -- the 1981 vote that that raise thee eligibility and cut benefits -- i will make sure that is preserved. we go into our coal miners. >> thank you. cumbersome and rahall? >> i have been in congress a long time. i have never seen a perfect law passed congressman the affordable health care act is not perfect. does it need tweaking, yes.

numerous times to make the amendments necessary. we need to put the politics aside on this bill and make it work for the american people. has language in there that expedites the process for black lung claims. you repealed provision. you repealed the affordable you repealedct, the fact that they can no longer discriminate against one because of a pre-existing condition. you repealed the fact that they can no log limits are coverage because of annual caps on lifelong caps on you would eliminate the fact that they closed the hole for our senior citizens, made up for -- more portable under part d medicare. we have close the doughnut hole. we eliminated waste, fraud, abuse, and duplications.

those were the reforms we made in the affordable care act. all of those savings, we put it right back into medicare. we went to ensure the solvency of the medicare trust fund for another 13 years. the rollout was atrocious. that the president should be held responsible. if he did not know about it, then heads should have rolled quicker than they finally did. i voted to extend the employer mandate, the individual mandate. the employer mandate, the president did finally allow that to be extended. as i said, it is time to put the politics aside on this issue. do you think that that the unit backers of my opponent are worried about health care? i don't think so. jenkins.r your rebuttal. >> here is the gentleman who said the 2012 or 13 why of the

year. if you like your plan, you can give your plan. that is what nick rahal said. that is what president obama said. he went on the radio last year, after we had 9000 people in west virginia having their insurance policies canceled, and what did he say? , maybe having their insurance canceled was in their best interest. it's outstanding to me that you can be that out of touch. to think that you know what is best for the people. an ndred each and every person in here is paying for it. and our seniors are hit up particularly hard in the cuts to medicare and medicare advantage

programs. it's an outrage. >> congressman rahall. >> we have to look back at what the situation was when the affordable care act was passed. insurance companies were raising premiums through the ceiling and cancelling policies at will. they had that right. and they were exercising it to the cruelest degree on so many people. health care costs were going through the ceiling and certainly something needed to be done sm the status quo was unacceptable. the new law was designed in part to give consumers new rights to protect themselves. for example, the new law forces insurance companies to publicly justify unreasonable premium increases and in many cases, the insurance commissioner of the state has to justify exorbitant premium increases by insurance companies. my opponent who has been nothing but a show for the snurps companies, would have us go back

to the old days where insurance companies can force you off because of pre-existing conditions and children can no longer remain on their parents' insurance policies. that is another positive impact. >> next question has to do with education. educational achievement has fallen below most other states in the nation and the nation falls below the performance of many other countries. what steps, if any, should the federal government take to improve the educational improvement in k-12 and the common core standards be improved to improve standards in learning? >> our federal government needs to be a partner with the states in promoting and improving our educational system, our teachers. thank god for our teachers. i can recall who my teachers were for the most part, but i can't recall who my congressman was.

teachers affect children's lives for an eternity. we must provide for student loan interest at a reasonable level and not ex who are by tant rates. -- exorbitant rates. this is what our young people need. we should make education affordable and accessible for any child, for any student, as long as he or she wants to go to school regardless of their financial wherewithal, not just open for the wealthy. the teachers deserve to have the tools with which to do their job. and they have not had the proper tools and it's because of the efforts in washington to slash our budget, to cut and gut, to ut and gut so many programs. the ryan budget that my opponent has not said yes or no. how would you vote on the ryan budget? it would cut the department of

education. it would gut programs for our seniors, our veterans. transportation would take a tremendous slash in this cut and gut ryan budget, the same gentleman that has came down here and campaigned on my opponent's behalf. let's look at what is best for west virginia values. education is right up there at the very top. as far the core curriculum, it is up to the states to decide what the teachers teach. there is no cookie cutter that fits all. each state is different. we tried under no child left behind under the bush administration and it didn't work. >> thank you. senator jenkins. >> he likes to talk about who contributes and suggesting somehow we are supportive of their positions. and i have made it clear, i would not support the ryan budget.

will not express for any budget i have not had an opportunity to participate in. nick rahall voted for the progressive budget and we can talk about that, i suspect in a little bit. i don't support common core. i'm concerned what is happening n this national socialized one-size-fits-all driven policy. i don't support that. you know, big government, big washington, you know, he mentions no child left behind, race to the top. we could go through all of the history of these different mega, big idea, washington, d.c., give you a little money and then all tft strings are attached. -- of the strings are attached. we have to get washington out of our lives. yes, we need to address the student loan debt problem.

yes there are problems. there are things we can do on that front. but this big government mentality that we know what's best in washington for education, let's put a big bill out there, but it's all the strings attached. let's free up our teachers. i'm for new research into school choice. i'm a product. i went to the lab school here in huntington for a couple of years. there are huge opportunities, free up our teachers. let's get education down to the classroom and in the neighborhood to try to empower our teachers and our parents and our local administrators. i was chair of the pensions committee, a ward about our teachers. during my oversight for our teachers increased the solvency of our teacher retirement program significantly. our teachers are important. we wanted to make sure they also

had a safe financial retirement future. >> thank you. congressman rahall, rebuttal. >> i'm proud to have the backing of teachers in this state that have endorsed my campaign. i'm proud to fight for our pre-school kids, the head start 12 gram, the wick program, k- program so we don't have to pay higher costs later on in life. i have also worked and brought in the drug czar into this state of ours, to work with our teachers, our educators, our law enforcement, so we can provide proper education at an early level, which begins with the parents in the home, number one and extends our teachers in the school. every one has the responsibility to join together and help improve and fight drugs regardless of what that drug is

in west virginia. these efforts help our education system. too many kids have been going in west virginia not to learn, but to eat, because the parents have given away money to drugs over the weekend. >> i was in a county this summer and a middle school came up to me and said you know what? earlier this spring, the intercome ame on the d said any parent who lost their jobs, come on down and sign up for the free lunch program. that's the policies of barack obama and nancy pelosi and nick ra hall. the best jobs policy is getting our people back to work. let's build our families. i look out here, we have a school principal, we've got

school teachers. i'm proud to be supported by teachers and administrators caring about the future and they are here to support me. nd i appreciate. >> towns such as hunting ton, cost of higher education and increase of debt of students as they pursue their degrees. what strategies do you think the federal government should implement to control higher education costs and help students manage the burden of loan debt. mr. jenkins. >> as i said, loan debt is a very troubling concern. we all know about the mortgage crisis. loans in the real estate business. we know what has happened to our country financially as a result.

every financial prognosticator says the next big crisis the student loan debt. we must roll up our sleeves. we don't need to bring our nation's economy down again like we saw in 2008 as a result of this. we need to step up. we need to address this. we must do it in a bipartisan way. we must do it to make sure that r children, our students are not shouldered with this absolutely unacceptable debt. w, in west virginia, we have fought tooth and nail to try to t money into marshal l university. i was right there when our medical school was having trouble and we got an extra million dollars for marshall.

i voted against the budget this year because it had cuts to education. so, we must do better about supporting education in our state and record of supporting and making sure our higher ed institutions to the extent possible, but candidly when you see this war on coal, sorry to bring it back, but i'm not apologizing for saying when this economy goes down, it's real trouble. and i have been a staunch advocate and been there throughout the entire time for the promise scholarship and making the promise by keeping it fully funded. >> congressman rahall. >> a good example is reconnect in mcdowell county. that's an effort by the private sector, providing free laptop

computers to all the students along with our teachers' union, along with the local government, along with state government. it's headed up by former first lady. and it is going to be something that will catch on in other counties as well, the private sector has come on board and they have an important role to play. you have not heard me advocating that the federal government is the cure-all. it's not. the federal government has to be a partner with us in so many areas. ut it's not a cut and gut type of philosophy that is going to solve our education problems. and that's all we have seen from the so-called ryan budget in washington that would devastate our programs to elementary and secondary education and higher education. i have been proud what i have been able to do for marshall

university. the federal grants because of my seniority, have come to marshal lsh's' way. the earmark that established the rahall transportation institute, gave incentives to our young people to get involved in the engineering field, to work with the army corps of engineers that i fought so hard here in huntington. these are the type of efforts that our federal government has a role. hooked up colleges through tapping the federal communications fund and that we have been able to secure funding from that fund to help our higher education in southern west virginia. and with the technology, students can learn from their home. >> thank you. senator jenkins. >> oftentimes, nick ra hall talks about all this -- rahall

alks about all this money. he is just doing his job in congress. let's talk about the stimulus bill. $800 billion. let's talk about that seniority and help for marshal l and other shovel-ready initiatetives. stunningly west virginia 3 under nick rahall's leadership got $100 million less than the first congressional district. west virginia 3, thank you, nick rahall, got a billion dollars less than west virginia 2. folks, the job's not getting done and he can talk about five million there or five thousand there and interesting, i heard that the rahall institute has been laying off people recently.

just not getting the job done. i would be interested in knowing how many people you let go, laid off as a result of not being able to bring home sufficient money to even handle the project with your name on it. >> congressman rahall. >> my opponent, and i'm not new at this game and been around and every two years you hear bad-mouthing. this gentleman has been in the state senate and was a democrat. as a democrat in the state senate until he switched to the republican party. what party he will be next year, i'm not sure. but nevertheless, where he has been the 20 years he has been in the state senate as a democrat? where has he been? come on, friends. this nay saying that occurs every two years, doesn't get us anywhere. number two, it doesn't work.

and number three, it's destroying the morale and the faith that so many hard-working men and women who hold our values dear have in our state. candidates like this are trying to erode that confidence and faith in our future. i believe we have the ball rolling. we are going in the right direction. coal is in the swamp right now. but coal's going to come back. [laughter] >> thank you. we are going to our next question. >> i can't remember where we are. >> we are done with that question. >> another issue that touches the lives of many has to do with the abuse of drugs, prescription drugs, heroin, meth. what strategies would you dvocate to rein this

destructive epidemic. >> i work across party aisles and this issue is a perfect example of it. i co-chaired the prescription drug abuse caucus in congress rogers. hall we brought in millions of dollars to fight prescription drug abuse and other types of drug abuse and prevention strategies. this summer, i brought the head of national drug policy into west virginia. i have had the head of the c.d.c. in west virginia and the discussing with law enforcement, including the judicial system and faith-based organizations that are working with us on the drug-abuse problem to try to address this issue. there is no one silver bullet that is going to solve the drug abuse problem. don't kid yourself.

no one person, no legislation, no one level of government. we are all in this together and it's going to take all of us. as i said earlier, from the parents, to the educators, to the law enforcement, to the pharmacies and to our doctors and perhaps there is a lot of work that needs to be done there so our doctors understand what these prescriptions are that they are prescribing their patients and scream and want a little pill for any little thing and doctors satisfy them and get them out of the door quickly. that's the type of thing we have to review, all of us together, including our pharmacies. i led the effort in the congress highstore and increase the intensity drug trafficking initiative. it brings in law enforcement, because of the state lines and detroit is a big supplier of drugs and becaused of that we need increased federal

resources. i announced a million dollar grant for this type of federal effort. we have more federal officials interfacing with local officials and providing the technologies to track down the bad guys. >> thank you. senator jenkins. > this crisis is at an epidemic. it is ravaging our communities and state, and we are working very hard and the congressman would like to say what have i done. let me say what i have done. i was the lead sponsor of a new law in west virginia establishing the tampering prescription bill. i was a co-sponsor that closes a loophole that allows prosecutors to go after doctor shoppers. lead sponsor of the bill in west virginia to go after fill-mill

doctors and make sure we shut them down. just a few blocks from here tonight, there are three or four babies at lilly's place that me, sarah and rhonda and mary and countless number of other people brought to a reality, a first of its kind in the nation. and these babies are there being taken care of because they are drug-withdrawn babies. they were exposed to drugs during pregnancy. this is an epidemic. and there has been nobody that has fought harder to eradicate this ravage. i was the one who led the charge to stop the synthetic cocaine and marijuana, bath salts being sold in retail stores. i could go on and on.

we have all been affected personally by this in some tragic ways. we can do a lot. it is job one. >> congressman rahall? >> this is not a political issue. there is a lot which my opponent just said which i agree. who can disagree? we are at ground zero in southern west virginia when it comes to the drug epidemic. we curtail prescription drug abuse and heroin abuse jumps up. it is an effort that is needed and i'm talking about not only education, treatment and prevention, but i'm talking about all levels of government as well and all political parties. doesn't matter if you are republican or democrat or rich or poor or 9 or 90. this is something that cuts across all lines and we need to address it together.

my opponent has been to drug sum myths. i appreciate that. we worked together on this issue. why shouldn't we continue to work together to try to address this drain on our economy, drain on peoples' lives. >> senator jenkins, further comment? >> but votes matter. votes matter. right before they took their recess, congress put up two immigration bills. it's a hot topic. and one of the bills, nick rahall voted against. guess what was in that bill? a provision that said if you were a drug dealer, drug thug, somebody from another country that has been dealing drugs, you can't come to this country and be eligible for asylum. you know, look at our border to mexico.

look what's happening in central america. these people are coming across the border. yes, i feel for the children, but we have some bad apples and some drug dealers cooming into this country and voted against a bill to secure our borders and say, you can't be a drug dealer and come into the united states and be eligible for asylum. >> thank you. we'll go on to our next question, it's about another kind of threat. the militant group known as the islamic state is wreaking havoc in the united states and views the united states as an enemy. as the u.s. response to this threat been so far efficient in your opinion? if not, what further steps do you think should be taken. senator jenkins. >> we have all been moved obviously in profound ways with the beheadings and what has happened. and every discussion always starts with, why did we wait so

long. the president called it the j.b. crew. it didn't take it seriously. ck when assad in syria a couple of years ago horrifically used chemical weapons against his citizens. nick rahall said, i want to give the president of the doubt. we need leadership. our country is not respected around the world. are a johnny-come-lately -- [laughter] >> it seems like to every crisis. i fully support air strikes in iraq. i fully support air strikes in syria. but i also want to make sure that all of the arab communities step up to the plate and put

their boots on the ground, put their men and women like we do on the line. i'm telling you, this isis stuff just shows how much our lack of leadership has led to a much more dangerous world we live in. >> thank you. congressman ry hall. >> isis is a threat to america's national security. it must be taken seriously and no joking around here with this heinous group. it's vital that we cut the head of the snake off. president obama is conducting air raids as we speak to hit at the head of the snake. the command and control centers in iraq and in syria. i support those strikes. i voted for a limited

authorization, not for these strikes, but a limited authorization to arm the moderate syrian rebels until december 15. should we have identified these moderate rebels years ago? sure. to make sure the arms are not used against us in the future. it's a risky strategy upon by the president has embarked. i'm opposed to any boots on the ground. i opposed the iraq war. and i don't want to see us go through that again. any further actions that the president takesn my opinion, deserves an open debate in the halls of congress, so that the peoples' representatives can speak so we can have a free flow of information. yeah, i have been to some of these classified briefings. and yes, this is a serious issue. and have there been mistakes made in the past? you bertscha.

but that's gone. we have to look to the future ap we have to address this growing threat to our national security. and yes, we must bring our allies on board. and build an international coalition in which the first president bush did and which i supported when he went into iraq to get them out of kuwait. that's the type of coalition building we need now. to ensure that the allies in the region have a skin in the game. it's their security that is a threat immediately before this threat crosses our board iris. >> senator -- borders. >> senator jenkins. >> the house and the senate went out on recess. it's the longest break in anybody's memory so they can go out and campaign.

i think it's an outrage that our elected representatives are not in washington, not putting up a vote on whornt we should engage more fully in this war in the middle east and iraq and syria. but, no, they put politics first and spending time on the campaign trail talking about it. >> that's obama. the house of representatives controlled by your party, your new-found party. second of all, you know, we need to be back home meeting with our people, hearing their issues. that's why we in the house are the closest elected federal

officials to the people. nobody gets to the house of representatives by appointment, only by elections. we ought to be hear what you are saying about isis and about social security and medicare. we should not be allowing these out of state billionaires to be pouring millions of dollars in west virginia trying to buy this state so they can have a puppet in the congress that they can control. west virginia is not for sale, my friends. we are not for sale and we need to stand up for the working values of west virginia families and what we need to push harder in our nation's capital. >> thank you. next question. has to do with social security and medicare trust funds. a significant portion of the people of west virginia rely on social security and medicare benefits and many in the future ll be counting on them for

benefits and health care. the trust fund supporting social security will be depleted, forcing a reduction in benefits if nothing is done. for medicare, the forecast for plication fund will be further. how do you think action should be taken? >> social security is a contract that our seniors have with their federal government. that contract should in no way renigged upon or changed in any manner, shape or form. social security is not the reason we are in debt today. social security has not been a part of the problem with deficit spending. this is money everyone pays into and that money should be there, should be there when we are ready to retire. i have supported cost of living

adjustments more than the 1.5% that went to our seniors this past january. i have legislation that would recalculate the way the formula is did he rived that makes up the cola adjustment. the formula doesn't take in the true cost of the economy, like electricity going up and gasoline going up and if you read the bill, was never in the bill i supported. what was in that bill was a tax on billionaires. why do you think the billionaires are ganging up against me. duh. social security is a contract. i'm against privatizing social security. the best way to shore up long-term issues of social security, put people to work. pass an infrastructure, jobs bill, that puts our people to work in good-paying jobs and

good-paying jobs, when you have a job, you pay taxes and that helps reduce the deficit and can help shore up social security. let's not forget about a grl old-fashioned jobs bill. that's what we need. medicare, i'm not for changing medicare into a voucher system as the billionaires and ryan budget wants to do. medicare should be there, not changing a voucher system and pay more and get less. >> senator jenkins. >> i agree that social security, edicare is a contract, a moral obligation. we must do everything. i oppose privatization of social security. i op ease a voucher program for medicare -- oppose a voucher program for medicare. more rhetoric trying to scare.

these ads that he has been running are falls and deceptive. when he talks about the carbon tax, he has been saying it's not in there and has the nice u.s. house of representatives seal on it. here is the progressive caucus. maybe this is like obamacare and didn't read the bill before you passed it, so let me read it. [applause] >> let me read it. let me read it. impose a price on carbon pollution, the progressive budget he voted for would impose $25 per ton price on carbon dioxide. there's only one person that i can find, because every political commentator, all the washington folks, the people who

drafted it say there is a carbon tax in it. he wants to keep running from it. i want to leave the last second and mention this campaign finance, my 30 seconds. campaign finance. individual contributions versus pac. 80% of the jenkins for congress contributions are from individuals. only 32% are from individuals for nick rahall. in state versus out of state, 61% of my contributions are from in state. only 28% of his are from in state. we want to talk about who's owned, look at the facts. and read the law. >> first of all, never passed a law of two pages.

i don't know what you are reading from. some type of summary printed up after the fact. i read that budget. i have it on my desk. no where is carbon mentioned it. it is a tax on billionaires and protects the social safety net for our working families in this country. that's what that budget was all about. let's get back to campaign finance. i believe all this dark money that is flooded our state should be disclosed. we have to do it in our personal campaigns. the p.a.c. funding that i have, 'm proud from the umwa, from business leaders. dentists, cyclists. it ties fully disclosed. that's what my support is all about. and i don't back away. i have a pledge that i put out there and signed, but

unfortunately, my opponent doesn't want his dark money disclosed from where it's coming. could be federal government hijacking our democracy. that's the fear we should have in our democracy. >> senator jenkins. >> guess what? the i.r.s. employees p.a.c. contributed to his campaign. [laughter] >> the i.r.s. employees p.a.c. contributed to your campaign. m telling you, it's an outrage. i only have 30 seconds. we are going to be talking a lot more about this outside spending. it was me when sount counter p.a.c. said let's get the dark money out, he said no. it was me who showed up a week ago for a meeting to get dark money. he didn't show.

it's all talk. and nor action. where were you? your campaign manager showed up. we said where are you? not at liberty to say where he is. i said are you at liberty to sign this? he said, no. i said can you get him on the phone? he said no, i can't. >> we're onto the next question. i won't have to ask about campaign financing. we're going on to another topic, you'll have your closing statements. next question is about jobs and the economy. much of the dwailt revolving around the coal industry in west virginia has to deal with jobs. preserving jobs this that industry will not move west to any great nomy

degree. what initiatives or policies do you think should be implemented to promote job growth in west virginia as well as across the nation. mr. yenchingins. >> the progressive budget cut the military $900 billion. we ought to keep talking about this. you know what? the best jobs bill in west virginia, the best jobs action in west virginia would again to get this administration off of our backs. ery time a question like was asked, well, what's the future after coal? it makes me think i'm not going to get baited into the idea that coal is over. nick rahall may think it's a slump, which is when he turned his back on a a coal miner in logan when the coal miner said why did you support obama twice

and nick rahall said he is a democrat and turned and walked away from him. i'm telling you, what we need to do is get west virginia back to work. we need to get our coal miners back to work. i'm bringing the hatfields and mccoy trail system back to west virginia. i believe in tourism. i believe in manufacturing. i believe in health care. these are critically important, but i will never turn my back on our hard-working coal miners and coal communities in west irginia. >> coal, has been and always will be our number one industry in west virginia. i'll never turn my back on our coal industry or our coal

miners. we cannot put all of our eggs in the coal basket. we need to diversify our economy. and i'm proud of the efforts i have taken to diversify our economy. using my leadership on the transportation and infrastructure committee, using my past chair manship of the house resources committee. and get things done for our people has produced in southern west virginia, just one example in the tourism field, after i protected the new river in 1977, my first year in the congress, i built upon that protection. and in the mid-1980's, got the largest system of federally-protected rivers east of the mississippi. president was reagan. his interior secretary was james wa tmp t, who recommended a veto thinking that the federal government was extending

protection of federal lands. everybody was for it in west virginia. i had republican friends in west virginia saying can call the president and get him to back off this veto. it was signed into law. we have one of the largest federally-protected rivers and helped draw the boy scouts of america to west virginia. i got the first $600,000 from the federal level to study such a trail system in southern west virginia. it is doing what whitewater rafting is doing for the southeastern part. i directed the corps of engineers to release water for whitewater rafting. that is another additional rafting season. producing receive news and jobs for our people. >> senator jenkins.

>> he talked about not turning his back. when he voted for a carbon tax, he turned his back on west virginia coal miners. when he voted against the rains act to limit the government overreach, he turned his back on west orking people of virginia. when he said in 2009 when all of those permits were held up by the e.p.a. and nick rahall said the e.p.a.'s just doing their job, he turned his back on west virginia. and when he runs these ads and says i'll never let anybody stand in the way of our west virginia ways, well, i'm telling you, barack obama, nancy pelosi, harry reid are staying and standing in the way of our jobs and he's standing there and

helping her every step of the way. he voted for her six times as speaker. if he is elected here in two, three weeks, guess what, he is going to vote for her again. >> congressman rahall. >> there he goes again. carbon tax that never became law. that was not even in the bill. if you read the bill. i am for coal. i'll look at every coal miner in this state in the face and as i have done. references has been made to the rains act which would have required every regulation of the federal government to be subjected to congressional approval. outrageous. that would have endangered our food safety laws, our air traffic safety laws.

i would rather zero in on the eep as i have done, being -- e.p.a. as i have done. republicans can get my support and get my help in death getting democratic votes. that's the type of bipartisanship we need. >> we are done with our questions for this evening and now go to the closing statements from the two candidates. senator jenkins will be first. >> thank you very much. 90 minutes went by quick. i again welcome the fact that the "herald dispatch" was able to do this. we have a very spirited exchange. i have been hoping for this, wanting it, asking for it for months. finally congressman rahall agreed.

thank you to all who are watching. but again, back to my first point, this is about the house of representatives. you know, our constitution and our framers set up a pretty good process. we elect a president for four years. but we have the house of representatives elected every two years. this is an opportunity to make a change, to make an adjustment. to say, you know what? is it really working for you. and i don't know how you can spend the last 38 years or the ast lifetime of being a west virginian and not understand that we are hurting. families are hurting. we had 5,000 coal jobs lost. 43% of our coal employment in appalachia wiped out. obamacare has an $800 billion

raid on medicare. we have's got -- we've got problems, folks. maybe just ask yourself, do you think 39 and 40 are going to be any different when you have eye got a record like he has? so i stepped up to the plate to say i wanted to give the voters of west virginia and third congressional district an opportunity for a change. not a supporter of barack obama. not a six-time voter for nancy pelosi. not somebody who cut our military pensions, as the congressman has done when he rolled back their colas. we can go on and on and has been a robust campaign. but let me close with this issue as he keeps bringing up about the ads. the house majority p.a.c. is

nancy pelosi super p.a.c. and gets this money in her p.a.c. to one against me, these are anti-coal money. the d.c.c.c. because they are out for the ep tall policy are helping nick rahall. and his ad that is recently unning was declared the most dishonest, one of the top five most dishonest ads in the entire country this election cycle. i ask for clean elections and ask to get special money out. he said no. he is beholden to the p.a.c. contributions. i would be honored to have your vote for a change of direction and not a change of pace. cheers and applause]

>> let the congressman speak now. >> congressman rahall, as i said in my opening statement, i have and always will be a fighter for west virginia values. i'm very proud of my record. i have run on it every time i have run for re-election and it is one that represents west virginia values and represents our love of god, our love of family and our love for this great state of ours. you know, it means work ing across party aisles toorks. and today's dysfunctional congress, it means a great deal to work across the aisle and work with republicans against my own party when it comes to passing legislation that seeks to reign in overreaching

anti-coal e.p.a. agenda and it coal g to protect our miners health and safety benefits and raise the minimum wage which my opponent opposed in the state legislature, making sure that a good education is available to everyone not just the wealthy. i always put west virginia first. who's going to be able to help the people of southern west virginia the most? that's the big question in this election. i can bring investments, highways and water and assuming construction and -- sueage reconstruction. i have broadened our tourism potential and aided our colleges and universities. strength agenda our veterans services, $16 billion bill we passed this year. or on the other side of the equation, who is going to be