he likes to talk about history. you he took money from coke industries several years ago. everbefore they were involved in running ads for the prosperity.r nick rahall took money from the cokes. don blankenship doesn't like me. against me in a number of my campaigns. one contribution back in race.ar 2000 in another we've gone 14 years since then. and he's worked against me, and support me. >> okay. thank you. >> we'll go on to our next question. has to do with health reform. the affordable care act has been the subject of much debate since it was passed in 2010 and be now, a year after its implementation. far, about eight million people have been enrolled through the program. the is your position on

affordable care act? should it be repealed, and if so, would you propose something place? if you believe it should be kept in force, do you think there should be some adjustments in program? senator jenkins, you're first. >> well, my day job is in the health care industry. i'm passionate about care. up every day, working to try to bring accessible, virginiae care to west yans. that's what i do for a living and it's a passion of mine. the wrong recipe. our health care system is broken. a true health care system that actually does improveaccess, does access to care and reduce costs. obamacare, come on, folks. a boondoggle. prices on small businesses. it has caused coverage to decrease. the congress has, a number of

make changes.o and in fact, rahall has voted provisions. of many is it not unbelievable that 2700-page bill that does not get a single republican that nancy pelosi says you've got to pass it before you it, that barack obama does of times have delayed, deferred? not even seen the tip of the negative consequences. but what we have seen is hurting our seniors. of medicare.out thank you, congressman rahall. home health care, slashed. thank you, congressman rahall. broken.e is it was not the right recipe. expand coverage and access. i hope we have a hearty discussion about a health care reform tonight, because it is

critical. and i have made it perfectly that the byrd amendment relating to black lung benefits, i will fight tooth and nail to make sure for our coal miners and our widows, the 1981 vote made that changed the eligibility and cut their benefits, i will make sure that preserved. because we owe it to our coal miners. >> thank you. congressman rahall? >> i've been in congress a long time. ought to point that out. i've never seen a perfect law congress. the affordable care act is not the perfect law. tweaking?eds you better believe it means tweaking. and i have voted enormous times to -- numerous times to tweak it. it's time we put the politics make it this bill and work for the american people. the robert c. byrd language in there that expedites the process for the black lung

claims for our coal miner. you repeal the affordable care you repeal that provision. you repeal the affordable care repeal the fact that they can no longer discriminate against one because of a preexisting condition. you would repeal the fact that they can no longer limit your capsage because of annual or life long caps. you would eliminate the fact holewe've closed the donut for our senior citizens, making it more affordable for them, to drugs undercription part d, medicare. we've closed that donut hole. made inrms we've medicare was eliminating waste, fraud and abuse, eliminating eliminating going to see this doctor 500 times before you go see another doctor a thousand times. those were the reforms we made in the affordable care act. and all of those savings, we put back into medicare, to ensure the solvency of the medicare trust fund for another years. the affordable care act, the roll-out was atrocious.

time, headst the should roll. the president should be held responsible. know about it, then heads certainly should have rolled much quicker than they finally did. have voted to extend the employer mandate. i've voted to extend the individual mandate. the employer mandate, the president did finally allow that extended. but as i said, it's time to put the politics aside on this issue. do you think that the billionaire backers of my opponent are worried about health care? i don't think so. rebuttal? jenkins, >> yes. here is the gentleman who said the 2000 -- either '12 or '13 year. the if you like your plan, you can keep your plan. saids what barack obama and guess what? that's what nick rahall said. radio last year after we had 9,000 people in

west virginia having their insurance policies cancelled. and what did he say on the show? you know what? their insurance cancelled was in their best interests. it's just outstanding to me that of touch, toat out think you know what's best for the people. in2 billion in new taxes obamacare. and each and every person in here is paying for it. our seniors are hit up particularly hard in the cuts to medicare and medicare advantage programs. outrage. >> congressman rahall? >> you know, we have to look back at what the situation was the affordable care act was passed. insurance companies were already -- premiums yusms through the ceiling. they were cancelling policies at

will. theyhad that right and were exercising it to the cruelest degree on so many people. health care costs were going u ceiling. and certainly something needed to be done. was unacceptable. the new law was designed in part to prevent that sort of thing new rights tomers protect themselves. for example, the new law forces publicly companies to justify unreasonable premium increases. cases, the insurance commissioner of the state has to exorbitant premium increases by insurance companies. has againnent, who been nothing but a shield for the insurance companies, would have us go back to the old days, when the insurance companies could force you off because of preexisting conditions, could say that children could no longer remain on their parents' 26.cy till age that's another positive aspect of the law. >> thank you. we'll move on to our next question. it has to do with education.

educational achievement in west long fallen below that of most other states in the nation, and the nation as a below thes performance of many other countries. what steps, if any, do you think government should take to improve the educational achievement in k through 12 do you think the common core standards initiative tould be part of efforts improve learning? congressman rahall, you're first. >> our federal government needs a partner with the states in promoting and improving our educational system. our teachers, thank god for our teachers. my know, i can recall who teachers were for the most port growing up, but i can't recall my congressman was. teachers effect the children's lives for an eternity. costst make tuition lower. we must provide for student loan interests that are a reasonable not exorbitant interest rates on student loan. must provide perkins loans and pell grants.

young peopleour need. we should make education affordable, accessible for any child, for any student, as long as he or she wants to go to school regardless of their financial wher wherewithal, nott open for the wealthy. yes, our teachers deserve to have the tools with which to do their job. proper toolsad the over the years. it's because of the efforts in budget,on to slash our to cut and gut. to cut and gut so many programs, tea party of the right wing, the ryan budget that -- that mye budget opponent has not said yes or no whether he would vote for it. it would cut the department of education. it would cut programs for our seniors, veterans. transportation would take a tremendous slash in this cut-and-gut rhine budget. the same gentleman who has come on hisd campaigned behalf. let's look at what the working

people of west virginia -- let's what is best for west virginia values, education is top. up there at the very as far as the core curriculum, you know, it's really up to the decide as far as what the teachers do in their classroom and what they teach. cookie cutter that fits all. each state is different. the no child left behind, a bipartisan effort under the bush administration to work.t, but it didn't >> thank you. evan jenkins? >> thank you. he likes to talk about who contributes and suggesting somehow we're supportive of their positions. and i've made it very clear. would not support the rhine budget. i will not express support for budget i have not had an opportunity to participate in. nick rahall, though, voted for the progressive budget. we can talk about that, i suspect, in a little bit. core.t support common i'm very concerned about what is

in this kind of national socialized one size fits all policy. i don't support that. know, big government, big washington, you know, he mentioned 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 but then all the strings are attached. we've got to get washington out our lives. yes, we need to address the student loan debt problem. crisis.a there are things we can do on that front. but this big government that we know what's best in washington for education. let's put, you know, 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. huge opportunities, free up our teachers. thes get education down to classroom and then the empowerhoods to try to or teachers and parents and local administrators. i was chair of the pensions a word about our teachers. my oversight for our teachers, increased the solvency of our teacher retirement program significantly. important.s are we wanted to make sure that they also had a safe financial retirement future. >> thank you. congressman rahall? rebuttal? have thei'm proud to backing of teachers in this state that have endorsed my campaign. i'm proud to fight for our

preschool kids, the head start the wic program, other get our so vital to children off on the right foot, so we don't have to pay higher on in life.ts later i have also worked and brought in the drug czar into this state work with our teachers, our educators, our law enforcement, so that we can education at an early level, which begins with the parents in the home, and then extends to our teachers in the school, and right on up the line. of us has the responsibility to join together and help improve and fight the scourge, regardless of what that drug is. so these efforts help our system yo, you know. too many kids have been going to education,earn, not but to eat, because their

parents are on drugs. >> a middle school teacher came up to me during the fair and said, you know what? earlier in this spring, the principal came on to the intercom and said any kids who parent who lost their job with the layoffs announced that in niklas county, come on down and sign up for the free program. that's the policies of barack pelosi and their foot soldier, nick rahall. the best education policy, the is getting oury people back to work. let's build our families. got, as i look out here with my stickers on, we've got a principal. we've got school teachers. i'm proud to be supported by and administrators, caring about the future. and they're here to support me and i appreciate that. thank you all. the nexte on to question, which also is related

to education. manywing issue faced by people, especially in university towns such as huntington, is the the of higher education and increase in debt taken on by students as they pursue their degrees. strategies, if any, do you think the federal government should implement to control helpr education costs and students manage the burden of loan debt? mr. jenkins? in my previous response, loan debt is a very troubling concern. we all know about the mortgage crisis. the real estate business, we has happened. we know what has happened to our country financially as a result. every financial prognosticator says the next big crisis is the student loan debt. sleeves.oll up our we don't need to bring our nation's economy down again like saw in 2008 as a result of

this. step up.o we need to address this. in a bipartisan way. we must do it to make sure that our children, our students, are shouldered with this unacceptable debt. now, in west virginia, we have nail to try tod into marshal university. i was right there when our marshal medical school was having trouble. and we got an extra million dollars for marshal. against the budget this tor because it had cuts education. better about supporting education in our state. record of a supporting and making sure our

higher ed institutions, to the extent possible, but candidly war on coal --is keep bringing it back to that, but i'm not apologizing when i say when this economy it's real troubled. and i have been a staunch i've been there throughout the period for the promise scholarship in west and making sure we honor the promise by keeping it fully funded. >> congressman rahall? >> a good example of what we're doing in west virginia to improve our education is in mcdowell county. that's an effort by the private sector, providing free laptop computers to all the students, teachers union, along with the local government, along with state government. headed up by the former lady, gayle mansion. this is going to be something that will catch on in other

counties as well. has come onsector board. and they have a very important role to play. up hereot heard me advocating that the federal government is a cure-all for all of our problems. it's not. indeed, we have to support public education. federal government has to be a partner with us in so many areas. it's not a cut-and-gut type tophilosophy that's going solve our education problems. and that's all we've seen from so-called ryan budget in washington that would devastate elementary and secondary education, would devastate higher education. i've been proud of what i've been able to do for marshall university. the federal grants because of my have come marshall's way. forearmark that i obtained marshall established the rahall institute, which is giving for our young people to get involved in the

engineering field, to work with engineers,rps of that i fought so hard to keep in huntington so they didn't move out of our city. type ofe the cooperative efforts in which our federal government does have a role. hooked up marshall, concord and southern western community tapping theugh fcc's connect america fund. an assessment on our tech companies that we've been able to secure funding from that fund to help our higher education in southern west virginia. technology, students can learn from their home. you.ank senator jenkins? >> oftentimes nick rahall talks this money. well, you know, that's just doing his job. it's just doing his job in congress. let's talk about the stimulus bill. one-shot wonder. $800 billion. about that seniority and help for marshall and other

shovel-ready initiatives. 3,nningly, west virginia under nick rahall's leadership, million less than the district.ressional west virginia 3 -- thank you, $1 billion -- got less than west virginia 2. folks, the job is not getting done. $5 milliontalk about here or $5,000 there. just heardting, i've that the fact that the rahall institute has been laying off recently. so just not getting the job done. in knowinginterested how many people you've let loose, let go, laid off as a not being able to bring home sufficient money to handle the project with your name on it. >> thank you, senator.

>> well -- >> congressman rahall? >> you know, my opponent -- and i'm not new at this game. few years. a every two years, you hear this bad-mouthing about west virginia those inside our state. this gentleman has been in the state senate as a democrat, i you, as a democrat in the state senate, until he the republican party. what party is going to be next year? sure.t but nevertheless, where has he been in the 20 years that has aen in the state senate as democrat? where has he been? come on, friends. this nay saying that occurs, usber one, it doesn't get anywhere. number two, it doesn't work. and number three, it's only destroying the morale and faith that so many of our working men hold our west virginia values dear, have in our state. candidates like this are trying to rerode that confidence and

faith in our future. the ball we had rolling. we're going in the right direction. thehave coal -- coal is in slump now, but coal is going to come back. [laughter] >> thank you. thank you. to our next question. where wet remember are. >> i think we're done with that question. can you believe it? [laughter] >> another issue that touches many westof virginians has to do with the of drugs and addiction. what strategies would you at the federal level to rein in this epidemic?e >> as i said in my opening statement, i work across the party aisles and this issue is a perfect example of it. the prescription drug abuse along with my friend from across the river, hal

rodgers, we've been responsible for bringing in millions to fight drug abuse and prevention strategies. this summer, i once again headed the national drug policy, virginia.m into west i've had the head of the cdc in withvirginia discussing our officials right here in huntington and other law enforcement from across southern virginia, including the judicial system, including faith-based organizations that us on the drugh abuse problem, to try to address this issue. no one silver bullet that's going to solve the drug abuse problem. don't kid yourself. no one person, no one legislation, no one level of goth. government. we're all in this together. and it's going to take all of the parents up to the educators, to law enforcement, to the pharmacies themselves, to doctors, and perhaps there

is a lot of work that needs to there so that our new doctors understand a exactly what these prescriptions are prescribing their patients who come in and just scream and want a pill for any little thing. more thans are willing to please them and satisfy them and get them out quickly. that's the type of thing we have to review. all of us together, including pharmacies. i've also lid the effort in the congress to -- led the effort to restore and increase funding for the high-intensity drug trafficking initiative, which brings federal resources in our state lines, because the huntington area we know is a big supplier of drugs. need increased federal resources. because i've been able to get $1 just recently announced a million grant for this type of federal effort, we have more officials providing the technologies to track down the bad guys. you.ank senator jenkins?

>> this crisis is at an epidemic. ravaging our communities. it is ravaging our state. very hard.working the congressman likes to say, done?what have i let me tell you what i've done on this particular issue and many others. sponsor of a new law establishing the tamp-resistant prescription pad in west virginia. i was the lead sponsor of a bill in west virginia that closes a loophole that allows prosecutors to go after shoppers. lead sponsor of the bill. in westnsor of the bill virginia to go after pill mill make sure we put them -- shut them down. a few blocks from here, three or fourare babies at lilly's place that me sarah and rhonda and mary,

and a countless number of other a reality, aht to first of its kind in the nation. these babies are there being because they're drug-withdrawing babies. they were exposed to drugs pregnancy. this is an epidemic. been nobody that eradicate harder to this ravage. i was the one who led the charge stop the synthetic cocaine in marijuana being sold retail stores. i would go on and on. affected been personally by this. ways.e tragic we can do a lot. it is job one. >> congressman rahall, any further statements? >> this is not a political issue. there's a lot which my opponent

agree.th which i who could disagree? certainly we are at ground zero southern west virginia when it comes to the drug epidemic. we make progress in one area, such as curtailing prescription drug abuse and heroin abuse jumps up. it's a multipronged evident that's needed. onlyalking about not education, treatment and i'm talkingbut about all levels of government as well and all political parties. doesn't matter whether you're a republican or democrat. doesn't matter whether you're rich or poor. doesn't matter whether you're nine or 90. this is something that cuts across all lines. address it to together. my opponent has been a drug -- in huntington in the past. i appreciate that. we've worked together on this issue. why shouldn't we continue to work together to try to address this drain on our economy, drain lives?le's

>> senator jenkins, further comment? >> but votes matter. votes matter. theirbefore they took up two congress put immigration bills. it's a hot topic. bills, nickhe rahall voted against. bill?what was in that what was in that bill was a provision that said if you're a thug,ealer or a drug somebody from another country drugs, youen dealing can't come to this country and asylum.ble for you know, look at our border to mexico. look what's happening in central america. t these people are coming across the border. yes, i feel for the children. but we've got some bad apples. we've got some drug dealers coming into this country. and he voted against a bill to our borders and say you can't be a drug dealer and come

into the united states and be eligible for asylum. >> thank you. on to our next question. it's about another kind of threat. group known as the islamic state is wreaking havoc the middle east and has made it clear it views the united states as an enemy. to thisu.s. response threat so far been sufficient in your opinion? if not, what further steps do taken?nk should be senator jenkins? >> thank you. been movede've all obviously in profound ways with what hasdings and happened. in every discussion about this, did weys starts, why wait so long? you know, the president called the jv crew. didn't take it seriously. in syria assad hor ho f years

riffically used chemical weapons against the citizens, nick rahall said, well, i want to give the president the benefit of the doubt. we need leadership. our country is not respected world.the we are a johnny-come-lately. [laughter] like, every crisis. i fully support air strikes in iraq. i fully support air strikes in syria. i also want to make sure that all of the arab community steps up to the plate and puts ground.ots on the put their men and women, like we line. the stufflling you, this isis shows how it just

much our lack of leadership has more dangerous world we live in. you.ank congressman rahall? >> isis is a threat to america's national security. it must be taken seriously. here's no joking around with this heinous group. it's vital that we cut the head of the snake off. president obama is conducting as we speak to hit at the head of the snake. the command and control centers and in syria. i support those strikes. limitedfor a authorization, not for these strikes, but a limited authorization to arm the moderate syrian rebels until december 15. now, should we have identified these moderate rebels are years ago? you bet you we should have, to and ourhat our arms help does not fall into the wrong hands and is used against

us in the future. risky strategy upon which the president has embarked. to any boots on the ground. opposed the iraq war, for example, and i don't want to see us go through that again. actions that the president takes, in my opinion, deserves an open debate in the halls of congress so that the people's representatives can speak, so we can have a free flow of information. some of thesen to classified briefings. and yes, this is a serious issue. and have there been mistakes made in the past? there's been mistakes made in the past. but that's gone. we've got to look to the future, address thiso growing threat to our national security. and yes, we must bring our allies on board. we must build an international coalition like the first george did, and which i supported,

when he went into iraq to get them out of kuwait. that's the type of coalition ensureg we need now, to that those of our allies in the region have skin in the game. ats their security that's threat immediately before this threat grows to our borders. >> senator jenkins? weigh in, youould know. they went out on recess, the house and the senate, what, two, three weeks ago? by all accounts, it's the longest break in anybody's out ando they can go campaign. an outrage that our elected representatives are not washington, not putting up a vote on whether or not we should this war infully in

the middle east, in iraq and syria. no. they put politics first and they're spending their time on the campaign trail, talking it, and not in washington doing something about it. >> so that's obama rahall's fault that congress is out of session? the house of representatives is controlled by your newfound party. [laughter] second of all, you know, yeah, we need to be back home, meeting our people, hearing their issues. that's why we in the house are closest elected federal officials to the people. gets to thedy that house of representatives by appointment. it's only by election. so yes, we ought to be home listening to what you have to say about isis, about what you have to say about social security and medicare. we should not be allowing these

out-of-state billionaires to be pouring their millions into west virginia, trying to buy this puppetso they can have a in the congress that they can control. west virginia is not for sale, my friends. we are not for sale. thewe need to stand up for working values of west virginia families, west virginia values harder we need to push in our nation's capital. >> thank you. next move on to our question. it has to do with social security and medicare trust funds. believe we're all aware that a significant portion of west virginian's rely on social security and medicare benefits and many on the future will be those benefits for income and health care. as of now, officials project trust fund will be depleted within a couple of inades, forcing a reduction benefits if nothing is done. formedicare, the forecast the deflation of that fund is

slightly sooner. be doneyou think should to strengthen the long-term viability of these programs, and how soon do you think action taken?be congressman rahall? >> social security is a contract seniors have with their federal government. that contract should in no way reneged upon or changed in form.nner, shape or social security is not the reason we're in the deficit we are in today. acial security has not been part of the problem with deficit spending. ofs is money that every one us pay into. myself included. and that money should be there, there when we're ready to retire. cost-of-livingd adjustments, more than the 1.5% that went to our seniors this past january. i have legislation in that would recalculate the way the formula is derived that makes up that cola adjustment. today in no way takes into account the true cost

areiving that our seniors facing, like electricity going no, electricity is not going up because of a carbon tax. the house ofed representatives and was never in the bill i supported. what was in that bill was the on billionaires, so why do you think the billionaires are ganging up against me? duh! so social security is the contract our people have. i am against provide tieing social security, as my opponent wants. to shore up the long-term issues of social security is put people to work. at's pass an infrastructure, jobs bill, that puts our people inwork in good-paying jobs, good-paying jobs. and the last time i checked, when you have a job, you pay taxes. reduce the deficit. that can help shore up social security. let's not forget about a good old-fashioned jobs bill. what we need. medicare, i'm not for changing

voucher system, as the ryan budget would do, as the out-of-state billionaires supporting my opponent want to do. medicare should be there for our seniors, not changing to a system where they have will pay more and get less. >> i agree that social security, moralre is a contract, a obligation. we must do everything. sociale privatization of security. i oppose a voucher program for medicare. it's just, again, more rhetoric, to scare. you know, these ads he's running have been labeled false, they actually call them medi-scare. about the carbon tax. it's even got the nice little u.s. house of representatives seal on it. budgetthe congressional

of progressive caucus. is like obamacare, you didn't read the bill before you passed it. [applause] so let me read it. it.me read let me read it. impose a price on carbon back-to-worke budget, the progressive budget $25oted for would impose a dioxide.rice on carbon person, only one candidly, that i can find in the politicalause every commentator, all the washington folks, the people who drafted tax in there's a carbon it. he wants to keep running from it. leave the last second and mention this campaign finance, my 30 seconds.

campaign finance. contributions versus pac. 80% of the jenkins for congress are fromions individuals. 32% are from individuals for nick rahall. state versus out-of-state. fromf my contributions are in-state. only 28% of his are from in-state. we want to talk about who is owned? >> your time is up. at the facts. >> thank you. >> and read the law. [laughter] >> first of all, congress -- is it my response? >> yes. >> congress never passed a law with two pages. i don't know what you're reading of summarytype printed up after the fact. but i have read that budget. on my desk. and nowhere is carbon tax mentioned in it. billionaires. it preserves social security and it protects medicare and

netects the social safety for working families in this country. that's what that budget was all about. campaign get back to finance, since he brought it up. i believe all this dark money that's flooding our state should disclosed. we have to do it in our personal campaigns. the pac funding i have. i am very proud of the voluntary contributions i have from the women of thisd state, from the umwa, from from dentists,s, siercyclists. has a right to form their pac's of voluntary donations. what my support is all about. i don't back away from that one iota. i put out there and signed. but unfortunately, my opponent doesn't want his dark money disclosed from wence is coming. a government be hijacking our democracy. that's a fear we should have in this country. >> senator jenkins?

what?ss the irs employees pac to his campaign. [laughter] the irs employees pac to your campaign. i'm telling you, it's an outrage. you know, and, again, i only have 30 seconds. talking a lot be more about this outside spending. who, when me counter-pac's said let's get the let's doy out, i said, it. and he said, no, it would put him at a disadvantage. up a weekthat showed ago for a meeting to get dark money out. he didn't show. no action.lk and where were you? your campaign manager showed up. said, well, where are you? he said, you know what? i'm not at liberty to say where is. i said, are you authorized to sign this?

he says no. can you get him on the phone? no, i can't. >> any response, senator? >> i'm sorry? >> we're on to the next question. have to askn't about campaign finance, though. [laughter] >> no, no. talk about it. let's talk about it. >> no. we're going on to another topic. closingave your statements. next question is about jobs and the economy. revolvinge debate around the coal industry in west virginia has to do with jobs. knower, i think we all that preserving jobs in that industry alone will not move virginia's economy forward to any great degree. apart from the coal industry, or policies dos you think should be implemented to promote job growth in west across the well as nation? mr. jenkins, you're first. you.ank also, the progressive budget cut $900 billion.

we ought to keep talking about this, folks. you know what? the best jobs bill in west virginia, the best jobs action in west virginia, would again be get this administration off of our backs. every time a question like less future, well, what's the after coal? it makes me think that, no, i'm into the to get baited idea that coal is over. you know, nick rahall may think it's a slump, which is -- when on a coalhis back miner in logan, when the coal approached him and said, why did you support obama twice? nick rahall said, because he's a democrat, and he turned and walked away from him. [laughter] you, what we need to do is get west virginia back to work. we need to get our coal miners

back to work. sponsor of the legislation bringing the trail in west virginia. i believe in tourism. manufacturing. i believe in health care. critically important, but i will never turn my back on miners andking coal our coal communities in west virginia. >> thank you. congressman rahall? >> coal is, has been, always will be our number one industry in west virginia. i'll never turn my back on our or our coaly miners. but let's face it, my friends. our eggs int all of the coal basket. we need to diversify our economy. and i'm very proud of the efforts i've taken to diversify in west virginia, using my leadership on the

transportation and myrastructure committee, ability to work across party aisles and get things done for our people, has produced in southern west virginia, just as one example in the tourism field, after i protected the new first year in my the congress, i built upon that the mid-80'sd in built the largest system of federally protected rivers east of the mississippi. guess who was president of the united states then? reagan. guess who his interior secretary was? watt, who strongly recommended a veto of what they thought was the federal itsrnment extending protection of land. but we had republicans, because i had worked across the party aisle. i had republican friends in west virginia and said, can you call the president? knowing their close relationship there, and get him to back off of this veto. it was dope. the bill was sign -- it was

done. the bill was signed into law. the largest system of rivers, which was the anchor. helped draw the boy scouts to west virginia. my opponent mentioned the hatfield mccoy provision. i got the funds to study it. us whatng for whitewater rafting is doing for the southeastern part. for the first time ever, i corps corps of engineers for rafting purposes. previous to that, they'd been fighting each other. producing revenues and jobs for our people. jenkins?r >> he talks about not turning his back. for a carbon tax, he turned his back on west virginia coal miners. against the rains act to limit the epa's that joe mansion

supported. he voted against it. turned his back on hard virginians. i could go on and on on the votes. he said, in 2009, when all of those permits were held up by said thend nick rahall epa is just doing their job. on westd his back virginians. and when he runs these ads and let anybodyver stand up in the way of our west telling ways, well, i'm you, barack obama, nancy pelosi, reid, are standing in the way of our jobs. sitting there helping them every step of the way. he voted for her six times for speaker. if he's elected here in two, what?weeks, guess he's going to vote for her again. >> thank you, senator. congressman rahall?

>> there he goes again. becamen tax that never law, that was not even in the bill.if you read the i am for coal. every coal miner in this state in the face and say that, as i have done. have theirud to endorsement in this election. reference has been made to the act, which would have required every regulation of the federal government costing over $100 million be subject to congressional approval. outrageous. that would have endangered our food safety laws, our highway our air traffic safety laws. i would rather zero in on the in aas i have done bipartisan fashion, being a democrat, whom the republicans can reach across party aisles and get my help for anti-epa bills that pass

the house of representatives one the other, with nick rahall's name on it. that's the type of bipartisanship we need. >> thank you. well, we are done with our evening. for this and now we'll go to the closing statements from the two candidates. senator jenkins will be first. >> thank you very much. quick. minutes went by i, again, welcome the fact that the herald-dispatch was able to facilitate this. i have been pushing for debates.ve as you can tell, we have a very spirited exchange. i've been hoping for this, for it for asking months. finally, congressman rahall agreed. you to the herald-dispatch. thank you to all who are watching. back to my first point. the house of representatives. you know, our constitution and goodramers set up a process. we elect a president for four

years. but we have the house of representatives elected every two years. an opportunity to make a change, to make an adjustment, what?, you know is it really working for you? and i don't know how you can the last 38 years or the lifetime of being a west virginian or on this campaign understand west virginians are hurting, families -- families are hurting. our coal 43% of employment in appalachia wiped out. has anot obamacare that medicare.on raid on we've got problems, folks. maybe justhink -- or ask yourself, do you think your 39 and 40 are going to be any

different, when you've got a has?d like he so i stepped up to the plate to say i wanted to give the voters of west virginia and the third congressional district an change.ity for a not a supporter of barack obama. voter for nancy pelosi. oursomebody who cut military pensions as the congressman has done, when he back their colas. we can go on and on. robusthas been a campaign. but let me close with this bringing up,keeps about the ads. is nancy majority pac pelosi's superpac. billionaire this money into her pac to run against me. these are anti-coal people, to him elected. for theout environmental policy, helping

nick rahall. his ad that's recently the mostas declared dishonest, one of the top five dishonest ads in the entire country this election cycle. i ask for clean elections. i ask to get special money out. but he said no. he's beholden to the pac contributions, and the out-of-state interests. i would be honored to have your vote for a change of direction, a change of pace. >> thank you, senator. [applause] >> can we please let the congressman speak now? thank you. congressman rahall?

>> as i said in my opening i always, i have and will be a fighter for west virginia values. record. proud of my i've run on it every time i've run for reelection. and it is one that represents west virginia values. god,presents our love of our love of family, and our love ours.is great state of you know, it means working across party aisles too. and in today's dysfunctional congress, it means a great deal across theto reach aisle and work with republicans, against my own party, when it comes to passing legislation seeks to rein in an overzealous, overreaching, anti-coal epa agenda. rather, it is working to protect safetyl miners' health, and pension benefits, whether it's fighting to raise the minimum wage, which my opponent opposed, making sure that a good education is available to

wealthy, not just the i always put west virginia first. going to be able to help the people of southern west virginia the most? in thishe big question election. i can bring in investments in highways, water and sewage reconstruction, building such systems throughout west virginia, many legislative initiatives i've do sponsored that.one i've broadened our tourism potential. i've strengthened our veterans service, through the bipartisan veterans bill, $16 billion bill year.sed this or on the other side of the equation, who is going to be the bidding for out-of-state billionaires, who adverseagenda totally to west virginia's best values? we don't need the extremes of the republican party or the extremes of the democrat party. do is end theo gridlock and dysfunction to

our own, rather than follow those hidden agendas, billionaires have. believe you me, they're after a hidden agenda. virginia. help west they're supporting all these efforts in congress to cut and so vital to our working families in west virginia. i say follow the money, my friends. when out-of-state billionaires wenttalking, my opponent awalking. that's what it boils down to. he'll do their bidding. i support coal. i believe that to support coal, you have to support our coal miners. i have good democratic friends. i have good republican friends. across party aisles. very divisive congress, i can bring both sides together and keep the national politics.above party i was born and raised in west

virginia. always home and it will be my home. it's where my heart is. you've honored me with your past.t in the for the sake of our state's future, i'm hoping, asking you again.k with nick keep the ball rolling. and i ask for your vote. thank you. thank you for participating. god bless each of you. [applause] >> all right. >> everybody, applaud both candidates, please. [applause] well, thank you, everyone, for here this evening. special thanks to the candidates andsharing their views barbs with each other. but it's been a great event. here.you again for being thank you. >> live at 8 p.m. eastern here a debate from the

massachusetts governor's race coakley andha charlie baker. republican david purdue nunn.s democrat michelle and then we head to minnesota where democratic senator al seeking a second term. he debates republican mike mcfadden. 10:00 p.m. eastern. right now, a look at some of the campaign ads from minnesota. 97%l franken is hiding his voting record of president misleading false attacks. >> make no mistake. these policies are on the ballot. franken, 97% obama. >> i'm mike mcfadden. i approve this message. >> waiting for rain can make farming unpredictable. but waiting for congress to pass bill, come on. >> gridlock was hurting our farmers. proud that i worked with democrats and republicans to

five-year parma bill that's good for minnesota. one in every five jobs in our tied to agriculture. >> i'm proud to be working from minnesota. >> i'm molly mcfadden. my dad, mike mcfadden, is running for senate. tries.ly but he's not very good at this political stuff. >> not good. oh! >> problem is, dad is super honest. hard.ks he'd rather help people than attack them. has been all over minnesota, telling people his plans. tell you this. he's a good guy with a great heart. he'll give everything for minnesota. >> i'm al franken and i approve this message. >> where do you go to avoid taxes? how about bermuda? that's where mike mcfadden's taxany benefits from a loophole to avoid paying

american taxes. ireland. mcfadden's company made $11 avoidn on a deal to help taxes by moving there. china? mcfadden supports tax breaks for our jobs that move overseas. anywhere you >> the minnesota senate debate between al franken and mike mcfadden is tonight on c-span at 10:00. -- the0, hawaii governor lost the democratic primary. the men who beat him david ige will debate duke aiona. >> abc seven eyewitness news pr