family, i want this program to survive and thrive and be there when i and my children retire. but it won't be if we continue on the corset is on now. >> congressman murphy, you said you would oppose cutting limits or reduce benefits based on income. what will you do to protect social security? moderator: there is the stark contrast when it comes to -- rep. murphey: that is the stark contrast. i believe these are the top achievements in our country. they have brought more people out of poverty than anything else. money, my opponent has taken millions of dollars from special interest groups that want to take -- dismantle these programs. which explains why he said social security and medicare have weakened us as a people. two -- senator rubio wants to turn medicare into a voucher program.

i couldn't disagree further. i believe we need to strengthen these programs and have introduced a bill that gives seniors arrays. else with their cost of living adjustment. i believe we can assure these programs are not only there for my current seniors, that my generation and younger because these programs have to be protected. the comments he makes are as true as the cpa license israel. what i said is debt is weakening our country. if you think about social security, it was designed when we had 16 workers for every retiree. we are down to three workers for every retiree and will sue you down to two. everyone should be able to do the math and realized quickly that this program is in trouble unless adjustments are made. i don't want to dismantle some -- social security. how do you explain that to my mother who is on social security and medicare?

i want to improve it. there will have to be changes to the way it works for future beneficiaries. moderator: i will offer an opportunity for rebuttal. rep. murphey: it is nice that you are talking moderate about these programs. , beyond that,ote it is the programs you supported. privatizing social security and turning medicare into a voucher program. that is a huge change for these programs. it is not just what you are saying on stage, it is what you have done as a senator. that should be scary to our seniors. we can do more to ensure these programs will be there for future generations. sen. rubio: i did not want to privatize social security. privatizingport social security and do not support turning medicare into a voucher. i support turning it into a choice.

medicare advantage, which it claimed to have saved, you did not, is a choice. it lets people decide if they want to stay on traditional medicare or go with another provider. moderator: gentlemen, thank you. we are going to move on with the question from a colleague. >> good evening. let's talk about health care for a moment. congressman murphy, yesterday we manyed that premiums for many insured under the affordable care act are expected to arrive -- rise 25% next year. you said you would support changes to the law. can you be more specific than you have been so far as to what needs to be done? the focus now has to be on getting it right. working across the aisle to make we -- sure we are fixing it.

making sure we have more affordable coverage. i can do that, but you have to show up for work and be willing to reach across the aisle. has spent the last six years trying to undermine this legislation. he wants to take us back to the days where you can get dropped from your health insurance plan if you get sick. when you can get denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. where women are charged more because they are women. seniors being charged more for prescription drugs. that is where he wants to take us back to. i know he is going to tell us about his plan. that should be renamed the florida premium increase. insurancey our health rates are going up right now. because of his plan. i don't know why he brags about this, it has made it more expensive for you all. i believe we can expand medicaid. that means 900,000 more people in florida would have access to

more affordable health care. i would push to make sure our government is negotiating with pharmaceutical companies. we could do more to reduce fraud in our health care system. i believe we should be looking at a public option, especially in rural areas. one of the major premises of the affordable care act was that there was competition. more people fighting to ensure you. but the private option would be available to help those with insurance rates. let me ask you this. you have vowed to repeal obama care but today, 20 more million americans are insured then when you ran for office the first time. if you repeal the affordable care act, what will you do tomorrow to people who have health insurance today? let me begin by

saying you call it a risk corridor, it is a bailout. the ways the obama administration got big insurance companies to support obama care is they put a provision in the law that said if you lose money toer obamacare, we are going bail you out and use taxpayer money to do it. yes, i am proud of the fact we got rid of that. moneyould we use taxpayer to bail out private insurance companies were making millions of dollars in profits? why should you be bailing out private insurance companies? and i want congressman murphy to answer why that is right for our country. why should taxpayers be bailing out insurance companies? i am proud we got rid of that. i do not want to go back to the old system, it did not work. he did not have an answer on the plan. he said he wanted to make obamacare bigger. here is a better approach. today, if your employer wants to give you money and say instead of buying an insurance plan, we

will give you health care money to buy any plan you want, you have to pay taxes on the money. i will get rid of that. i want to make sure an employer gives you money, you can do it tax-free. i want every american to have a fully refundable tax credit which they can use to buy health insurance from any company across state lines, of the kind of health insurance you want and people with precondition -- pre-existing conditions, where we can assure people -- ensure pre-existingve conditions that makes them uninsurable. right now, you are forcing people onto a obamacare because if they don't, they get fined on their taxes. rep. murphey: i'm glad you brought up high-risk. that plan you put forward has been tried in 35 states. it failed in all 35 states. billions of dollars to the deficit, makes it more

expensive and drops people from plans and has already failed. but that is the talking point given to him by special interest groups. that plan does not work. we can make the affordable care act more affordable, make sure more people have access to it -- ind risk corridors these risk corridors, the idea was to smooth cost because they did not know who was going to sign up. level that to help out so we did not have surges in prices that we see now but because of your legislation, we do have a spike. peoplehanks to you that are paying more and you are bragging about that? sen. rubio: congressman murphy should answer the question i asked. american right for the taxpayer to bailout private insurance companies? these companies are making record profits, this is not about evening anything out. this is about ensuring companies participate in obama cap -- care

with the condition. they say you can bail them out with their money, but not with taxpayer money. just to show you the lawlessness of the administration. they have gone to insurance companies and said, don't worry, sue us and we won't defend ourselves in court. you will get your taxpayer money anyway. this is an outrage. no one should be in favor of taxpayers bailing out insurance companies. moderator: we are moving on to the supreme court. the next president is expected to send nominees to the senate for nomination. -- the president of an opposing party? rep. murphey: the constitution is pretty clear on this one. it is the president's role to nominate supreme court justice and it is the senate's job to confirm that individual. i think this is one of the most important jobs of being a united states senator.

it is critical that who ever that choices, number one understands the constitution. that they will follow the rule of law and they will be able to make sure that is played out fairly and equitably for everybody and our country. areas that if the think is pretty disturbing to a lot of americans because the senate has not acted. they haven't even had a hearing on merrick garland. as qualified as anybody we have in the supreme court. senator rubio hasn't even taken the time to meet merrick garland. he hasn't even taken the time to get to know him to ask these simple questions. the american people are so frustrated with congress, mad at the house, the senate, mad at republicans and democrats. but i don't think they ever expected the dysfunction in the house would bleed over to the supreme court and that is what is happening now.

the supreme court isn't even taking certain cases right now because they know it is going to be a tie. that is a complete unnecessary course of action, and all of is of the obstructionist tea party republicans like senator rubio that care more about their own ambitions than getting things done for the people of florida. sen. rubio: we should understand the role of the supreme court in this country. i don't care what the justice's personal views are. let me tell you the proper role of the supreme court is not -- it is not to write lost. that's right laws -- right laws. that is the job of the legislative branch. the proper role of the supreme court is to take the case and apply the constitution according to its original meaning. what do those words mean to the people who wrote them? if you don't like what the constitution says, we have an

amendment process. that is the way you change the constitution. my number one criteria is, they are all smart people that went to ivy league schools. but do they understand the proper role of the court? if the people on that court or -- are not those that understand the proper role, we will lose our own constitution. control of the court is to apply that according to its original meaning. that is the singular criteria i will use in evaluating any nomination that comes before the senate. >> nearly half a million people have died in the war in many people fleeing their homes opened the door to isis. voted against u.s. airstrikes in syria in 2015. --himmit

sen. rubio:. asked, the president chose not to pursue that route. moderate groups declined in their capabilities, creating the vacuum for isis to emerge. the bottom line is this -- our interest in syria are singular. that is to ensure that it is not a safe haven for radical islamists to take route.

it's a president comes forward with a plan that works that could achieve that aim, i would consider it. i believe ground troops would be counterproductive. i think the u.s. should be more in the furtherance of that plan. the reason why i voted against the president's proposal is because he wasn't promoting that. basically a symbolic strike to send a message, but not backed up by a clear plan. i articulated what we should have been doing instead. his president left a vacuum that is now filled by radical islamists, iran, and vladimir putin. we now have less influence than we did years ago. rep. murphy: things have become more complicated in syria. the people spoke out five years ago that they wanted to have a small voice.

assad has done nothing but murder and kill his own people. we have to make it abundantly clear that assad must leave power. what we're seeing is a more complicated situation develop. as a member of the house intelligence committee, it is critical we unite to ensure this problem doesn't get any worse. vladimir putin is getting more and more involved behind assad, boosting him up. i believe it is our alliances that will help bring assad down. it is these alliances. those alliances that will give , donald trumph and marco rubio wants to tear of those alliances. that will not strengthen those. senator rubio has lost credibility by supporting donald trump in this election. donald trump, we all know, has

millions of dollars in financial ties to putin, thinks he is " a strong leader" and wants to tear up the alliances that will help us get rid of assad. it is pretty confusing to me, especially someone on the house intelligence committee that knows how precarious this situation is. sen. rubio: i disagree with donald trump and have repeated twice he is wrong on these issues. i am not sure which alliance you are talking about. the u.s. is working with kurds, creating incredible strength for our turkish allies. which alliance are you talking about? the syrian kurds, or the one with the turks?

the president has put us in a situation because he has no credibility with the turks and the syrian kurds. these are the consequences of a field foreign policy. --failed foreign policy. we have less influence in syria as the result result of broken foreign policy instituted when secretary clinton was in the senate and state department. rep. murphy: it is important to note how many factions are involved, whether that is the kurds, peshmerga, russia, hezbollah, the moderate rebel forces that we have not tried to our in many ways. i think it's important to talk about them. senator rubio and i know how complicated it is. we both know that donald trump cannot name or identify any of those groups or their involvement, yet you continue to support donald trump, who we have seen 16 u.s. senators not only does about, but on endorse him. how how dangerous he is to our

country. you have to be able to stand up to people like donald trump if you care about our national security. sen. rubio: but you criticize someone for knowing no accident the region. the peshmerga are not in the region. are iraqi. be news not going to zealand in the future. our interest is to ensure there is stability. stability so that there is not a vacuum that can be filled by radical jihadist elements, who use that vacuum to block against our country. -- plot against our country. rep. murphy: the same point, senator rubio continues to support donald trump. it is shameful that he stands there with him when you know that trump does not know any of this. donald trump is something that mosul is a failed plan.

we have to continue working with all of the various factions we get along with. , andven't had any action have not had leaders willing to stand up. i will stand up to anybody, whether they are republican or democrat, to do what i think is best. host: we have other issues i know that you want both want to get to. take a drink of water. we are going to take a quick break and come back. again, we will return in just a moment. ♪ >> now back to decision 2016, the u.s. senate debate live from broward college. bf news anchor todd mcdermott. >> i will ask our audience to retake their steeds. let me check on them. i promise, just 30 minutes left. everybody gets to talk. he will go -- we will go to a question for both candidates.

>> as president -- the president for one of the most -- mistreatment by police has led to ms. trucks among blacks and hispanics. that mistrust justified, and what can you do about it in the senate? sen. rubio: i believe the overwhelming majority of men and women in law enforcement do and extorting a range of for a country. and if there is danger we will call them and they will show up not knowing what is on the other side of the call and we have seen far too many cases of women and men, our police officers who have lost their lives protecting us. it is impossible to ignore that there are many communities in this country, predominantly minority communities who do have a terrible relationship with police department and huge level of mistrust and i talked about this and talk about it for months even during the presidential campaign about people i know personally, one of them is a police officer who had

numerous timesr without phonation and he was resentful and did not know how to explain it to his son and he was upset. when you hear the stories you understand that and you can understand while at the same and womening the men who serve us in uniform. here's the bottom line, with the agree with what i just said, if a significant percentage of the american family feel they are y because oferentl the color of their skin we have a problem and it needs to be addressed. it is important to talk about that there is that such thing as the police department, there are multiple law enforcement agencies in the thousands, some do it on job, for example, the sheriff of deval patrick, the have a great program and a pretty good relationship with their communities. other places need to improve. the one thing i have been in support of -- supportive of is creating grants for smaller law enforcement departments to

afford body cameras. i believe that is in the best interest of the officers and the community. christie say you have a criminal justice reform plan if you get elected but what have you done to showse member floridians in law enforcement and minority committees that you have cared about this issue in the past? the vast majority of sheriffs and law enforcement are dedicated, brave men and women putting their lives in the line for all of us each and we day but there is also no question that there has been a breakdown in trust in so many of our communities. just the past several months in my congressional district, there has been too terrible tragedies. one young man named corey jones, he was my is who was a drummer in his church band every sunday chiefly. he was on his way home and his car broke down and minutes later he was shot and killed by a police officer. demarcusoung man named

getting shot up and killed by police officers. i have had a chance to worship and pray and get to know these families and see how not only does this tear apart a community , it tears apart the family and we have to do more and we must make sure that we are building more trust and i have introduced the trust act that will help build more trust between the police officers and the communities that they are serving. a believe we have to make sure that all of law enforcement has the resources they need for things like body cameras so we know exactly what happened. we are getting more transparency with more technology and we have to make sure that all law enforcement has this but what we cannot do is a presidential candidate like donald trump who racist, bigoted people to run for office and they are espousing this hatred which is the exact album, that is the vision that is ripping apart our communities and we deserve better than that.

the answer to every answer is donald trump. i am paraphrasing. asked her vice -- paraphrasing the vice president that someone else's platform is a noun and a verb and now donald trump. we do have a breakdown at the community level. it is a deep rate down and in many committees the force they put forth does not reflect the community that they are supposed to be protecting. law enforcement entities are realizing that there are deeper issues we have to confront. one of the things i am proudest of is the worker did to bring about children's zones modeled after the harlem children's zone's, and has spread to in jacksonville. it goes into inner cities and delineates a geographic area and says we're going to do everything we can to help people living in this area to overcome the challenges they face. here is what we do know. if a child is born in a broken

family and substandard housing -- i did introduce a criminal justice plan and i worked with it with senator cory booker and in developing this plan i can tell you how frustrated senator ocher was with senator rubio for not setting on his legislation which has overwhelming bipartisan support and there are provisions sense that help with recidivism and ensure that folks who have done enough time to make sure they can get back in a workforce and vote, commonsense things that we can do to make sure everyone has an opportunity but senator rubio did not support the plan. i am in favor of criminal justice reform. i am not in favor of rolling back the reforms that have walked out back -- bad people. do i believe a lot of people are being arrested for crimes that wraps you should be diverting them, absolutely.

if you are 18 years old and you are arrested for a minor offense and you cannot afford a private attorney, you are assigned a public defender and that public defender has 400,000 cases they are handling so the convention you to plead guilty and now you have a record and now you can get into the military, you can find a job, absolutely. for first-time offenders we should be doing more to divert the amount of the system but that is largely at the state level. it is under state laws they are getting prosecuted. i am not going to let a bunch of dangerous people out on the street. talk: let's go to neil brown. christ another big issue that did not get much airtime in your last debate, the economy. florida is doing better than most when it comes to job growth but wages as we know are generally stagnant. a recent study by bloomberg news showed miami and tampa among the 10 worst cities in america when it comes to the income gap between the haves and have-nots.

each of you have to get more floridians a pay raise? a critical: that is question and no question that we have made some strides over the past several years. there are far too many people that are still being left out. as i traveled the state, i hear the same story, evil are telling had a reason 15 years, that their child has $50,000 in student debt and still cannot get a job. or their mom cannot afford their prescription drugs and they tell the economic about recovery but they are not feeling it. far too many people have been left out of this recovery so we've got to do more. i believe that starts off with investing more in education, from pre-k to phd programs and there should not be a difference in the quality of education depend on what neighborhood you are from. we should be investing more in infrastructure. there is $2.5 trillion offshore, why in the world are we bringing that money back and investing it

into good middle-class paying jobs? why are we raising the minimum wage? we have to address our tax code as well. we have to address our overly burdensome migratory environment and these are commonsense things that i think we can solve and help our economy. when senator rubio was asked about one of these ideas, the minimum wage, his quote was that it was a waste of time. there are hundreds of thousands of people living on minimum wage and i believe that we can do more to help them out because anybody that is willing to work a full-time job in this country should not be living in poverty. we know that you think being a senator is a waste of time which is why you miss 41% of your votes, more than anybody else while running for president but the difference is it a paid 100% of your salary when you are missing those votes. those folks on minimum wage, they are not getting paid. you have to show up and roll up your sleeves and be willing to work across the aisle. in. rubio: i find it ironic am being lectured by the plight

of the working class by millionaire who inherited his money lecturing the son of working-class immigrants who inherited no money. it is not just the wage gap, it is the cost of living that continues to rise, it is basic access to the internet. you cannot do homework if you do not have access to the internet. people's phones are catching fire, data plans are out of control. appreciate the indictment of the obama academy. you talk about more jobs being created, they do not a enough especially due to the cost of living. what creates better playing jobs -- better paying jobs? a rapidiving through and dynamic economic transformation. america today is not globally competitive, we have one of the highest's nest tax rates on the planet, we have over $2.8 trillion of american corporate cash parked overseas, $2.8 trillion, larger than the size of the entire russian economy.

we have regulations that are out of control making america a more expensive place to do business. we have to become more competitive eye rolling back taxes especially on small business and by rolling back the regulatory burden. we need to begin to diversify our educational choices. it is not just have to be a four-year degree, we need more vocational training, something i have worked out since my time in the legislature, we need more alternatives to traditional higher education and i have a detailed bipartisan plan that i have worked with with numerous senators that would create options for single mother who has worked for years, for example, as a receptionist that wants to become a paralegal. we need to allow more dual enrollment allowing high schools to use programs to go to a committee college and graduate certified and ready to work as a plumber, electrician, or pipefitter. rep. murphy: elite of the same failed trickle-down economics, more tax breaks for the millionaires and cleaners and

the largest corporations. you might have forgot my family story to because we've all got them. my dad never graduated from college. he was a union carpenter and a union labor, work every single day out of the back of his pickup truck to build a family business, to build the business to provide for his family and the number one thing that he taught me was hard work. showing up to work, something that we all know you forgot you and senator, it is important to note who you are fighting for a now because you are fighting for the millionaires and billionaires and the largest corporations. you are against way -- raising the minimum wage and protecting social security and medicare. -- -- against guests investing more in education. i admire your father story but that is not your father's -- that is not your story. you have not worried a day and a life about where your next check will come through. i do want to increase people's wages by my idea for wage

enhancement which is better than minimum wage increase. we have learned a could eliminate between 500 and 600,000 jobs. you make more expensive than machines, they will be replaced by machines. on -- in less than five years the majority of these fast food restaurants will not have people at that window, it will be a touchscreen. we do want to help workers with the skills they need to find a better paying job for the 21st century. >> thank you, senator. this next question is for both of you. for the first time ever, the u.s. abstained from the u.n. resolution vote against the u.s. embargo on cuba. they hissed -- that is history making. it shows that the world is against us when it comes to the embargo. i will start with you, congressman murphy. he said you would support

targeted sanctions against members of the cuban government. you did not say where you stand on the trade embargo. would you vote to lift the embargo on cuba? rep. murphy: we did get a chance to talk about this in our last debate and i will tell you the same story i told last time. i know this is a very personal situation for many people and i relatives, some are here this evening. i have talked to them at length about this. i understand this is personal but i also believe we have had a policy in place for over 50 years that has not worked. it has only empowered the castro regime. i want to help the cuban people and i do not believe that anybody does democracy like america. what -- let's make sure we are providing more opportunity for those cuban people. would we rather see our own crews ships, royal caribbean and carnival in havana or would we rather see russian spy ships there and we can do more to protect our country and help the cuban people out. i would continue to ensure that we have targeted sanctions

against the castro regime and those have terrible human rights violations. we cannot do this overnight but we have to continue down that road to help the cuban people. sen. rubio: what the president did two weeks removed further sanctions. members of the communist party and the government in cuba are eligible for remittances for the first time in our history. there's a not targeted sanctions, that is a massive opening for nothing in return. what happened at the u.n. today is nothing short of lawlessness. that is the law of the united states and the refusal to enforce that and stand up for that is lawlessness. if you do not like the policy, work to change it, i know that is what they're try to do but i will tell you you can just ignore the law the way this administration habitually does. of cruise ships will bring democracy to cuba?

it is not. the government is a dictatorship. we have made over two years of concession after concession. they have not taken a quarter step toward democracy. by the way, on the same day the president announced that we were going to be allowing the false sale of cigars and rum, you know with the cuban government did, they invited the russians to open a base on the island of cuba for the first time in 30 years. this is not working. is iner -- a better model myanmar or burma. this is in all one-way deal and in cuba today, there are still people living there who still your medicare money. they are fugitives of american justice harbored by the castro government. a cop killer lives there. the cuban government continues to protect her. it is a crazy, broken deal that needs to be revisited because it is rewarding the castro regime and asking nothing in return on human rights and the freedom and

dignity of the cuban people. rep. murphy: i do appreciate your efforts on cracking down but this weekend donald trump was on a sunday morning show in when asked about violating the cuban embargo, he basically admitted that he did it. coreow this is one of your issues and i am not trying to be critical because i do respect your position the person you chose to be our next president has basically admitted he violated the embargo. you continue to stand by his side despite this being one of your core initiatives you care about. what will it take for you to not endorse donald trump, it is anything he will do or say that -- you agree with him.

at this moment, moving forward when it comes to cuba, it is important for us to have leverage. the cuban leadership is in their mid-80's. they are not going to be around much longer and our hope is they will be replaced a new generation of leadership that is open to makes -- making steps forward. there is no precedent in human fullry for tourism or economic engagement as being the sole catalyst for democracy in a country resistant to democracy. the cuban government is not interested in democracy. they are interested in dollars. they want dollars to be able to fund their oppressive regime, they want more money to leave what is in place now permanently and they want us to accept them as a legitimate form of government. why are the cuban people the only people in this hemisphere that cannot vote? next question goes to both of you. first to congressman murphy. last january in

a town hall in iowa, you said, we're not going to fix america with senators and congressmen. the fact is it looks like the american people agreed with your statement because this average of six polls this last summer shows almost nine in 10 americans disapprove of the job that congress is doing. that is representatives and senators. the disapproval is tied to partisan infighting and gridlock and inaction. how and on which issues will you work with the opposing party to effect change come a positive change in america? is a veryy: it gridlock that i think is holding this country back more than anything else. i did the first things when elected to congress was start a freshman bipartisan group called united solutions. they were to bring 40% of the freshman class together to talk about issues we agreed on rather than issues we disagreed on and from that group i have been able to put forth legislation to help

get our fiscal house in order. there is a great quote from president truman where he said it is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. i'm proud of all of my achievements in the congress over the past four years because they have been bipartisan, there have proven my ability to reach across the island get stand, whether that is working with a conversation in north florida to ensure that veterans are getting the care they need by reducing the backlog or working with congressman posey to pass legislation to help our estuaries that are being devastated by discharges. that was signed by the president. hoping to work across the aisle to bring home billions of dollars for the everglades, helping to pass insurance that will help flood insurance rates for floridians. working with congressman rumi -- rennie to help our citrus farmers that are dealing with greening and i will continue to reach across the aisle and soft problems and that is in stark

contrast to senator rubio i already pointed out when he shows up to vote votes 98% of the time with the koch brothers. rightspecial interest wing groups. he is doing the bidding for them. not you all. daniel ortega has banned me from traveling to that country. i worked across the aisle and we pressured the industry should to theicize them for stealing election. i am barred from traveling to venezuela but i am attacked i their leader. you know why? not once but twice in a bipartisan way, i worked to impose sanctions on maduro and his cronies. hezbollah has criticized my name. i worked in a bipartisan way to impose sanctions on them. is conditionedd on whether or not countries are doing a good enough job of taking on human trafficking. you know why? i was able to work across the aisle and get these results. these are laws in measures that happened because there worked

with people across the aisle to get consequential things done. her answers when you get to congress you started a club called united solutions. we need a lot more than that. we need actual results on behalf of the people of our state. look at the record of achievement, he puts -- points to the money he got in the budget. he did not. he had nothing to do that. he has been in congress for four years and never passed a single law that has been signed by the president with his name on it after four years. i have been in the senate for six and i've passed law after law including working across the aisle signed by a democratic president even though for those six years i was in a senate controlled by harry reid were nothing was happening. as far as dysfunction, absolutely. the best example was this year when we needed sake of funding, i was the first republican to come forward and support the $1.9 billion request. i voted for every sake of funding bill and we got it done. that is what we need in washington.

rep. murphy: he just talked about seeker, it took eight months to get a vote on zika. the president came out in february talking about how we needed to do something. i started working on this immediately making sure that we were working with the private sector and nih to make sure we had the resources to fight it but he had zero influence and getting mitch mcconnell, his leader, to ever bring this up for vote so he has no influence because everyone knows he has one foot out the door. you got to show up to work and get to know your colleagues and i wish you would have come to my bipartisan group because we had numerous leaders to help fight to bring money home for the everglades. the -- for theto two closing statements. otherwise we could go all night with this discussion. the first closing statement goes to congress murphy. rep. murphy: thank you and thanks to the moderators and thank you, senator rubio. as the miami herald said this

election is about courage and senator rubio has failed that test read i am proud of all the endorsements i received from our newspapers, i am proud of the support and received from so many of you because florida deserves a senator that is going to show up to work, someone who will roll up their sleeves and get things done for florida. i have a 97% voting record in congress consistently proving my ability to reach across the allen get things done. think about what is at stake. the supreme court hangs in the balance. the majority in the u.s. senate. there is way too much at stake right now to have this missing center. we have to do more. i am asking for your vote and your support. if elected, i will be the hardest working senator the state has ever had. thank you. for being: thank you here and thank you, congress and murphy. i respect anyone who seeks public office especially in this day and age and i appreciate your candidacy. as i do anyone who steps forward. i think there is a big difference. you talk about courage and politics, there is no courage,

people that courage is people who put on a uniform and are willing to die for freedoms and liberties. i am proud of my record and it stands in congress -- in to congressman murphys. he talked about zika, senator nelson refuted the argument. the u.s. senate passed to go fund ring -- funding and i was instrumental in that. i tell you are this is so important, i know that this is an ugly campaign, not ours but in general. this has been a difficult year especially for young people that are voting for the first time. here's what i want you to know, we are going to be ok. we're the greatest country in the history of mankind and we will go through this election and turn it around and i believe america is great. >> i am so grateful for both of you being here tonight area

leaving me 15 seconds to thank you for your service and thank our audience all over florida and across the nation. and the audience here. thank you for being part of democracy. good night. [applause] >> thank you for watching decision 2016, the u.s. senate debate. estimate was made possible by the financial support of leadership florida, the florida press association, broward college, aarp, the black alliance for educational options, the claude pepper foundation, florida realtors, the league of sou >> c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies.

and is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. a newthe nation elects president -- or will we have a former president? learn more about the influence of the americans influential spouses. first ladies gives readers a look at the personal lives of the impact of every first later -- first lady in american history. it features interviews with the nations leading first lady historians. 35 presidential spouses and archival photos. first ladies in paperback, published by public affairs. available as an e-book. >> with just over one week until election day, secretaries of

state and the cochairs of the presidential commission on administration look at the integrity of the electoral process. we will take you to the partisan cash the bipartisan -- bipartisan policy center at 10:00 a.m. eastern live on c-span. now debate between connecticut's u.s. senate candidates. richard blumenthal and republican state representative dan carter. from wfsb in hartford, connecticut, this is one hour. >> now, eyewitness news presents the campaign 2016 u.s. senate debate. >> good morning and thanks for joining us on this very special edition of face the state. special edition of face the state. the united states senate debate featuring richard blumenthal and dan carter. >> thanks for joining us. this debate will be one hour with no commercial interruptions and will be live streaming and on our facebook page. we welcome your comments during

today's event. each candidate will have two minutes to answer with one minute rebuttal. >> we have senator richard blumenthal and for the republicans, state representative dan carter. >> welcome, gentlemen. >> thank you for joining us. one of the responsibilities of the president will be to nominate someone to the supreme court. forither came to to ask suggestions from connecticut, who would you recommend and what about the cases they presided over? he or shees to you would be a good justice and why would your choice be better than your opponents? >> thank you for giving us this opportunity to speak today to the people of connecticut and thanks to everyone from

connecticut who is listening. i believe that merrick garland is a supremely well-qualified candidate for the u.s. but also important, this has to be a decision by the president of the united states as to the best qualified in the country. i can think of a number of candidates and connecticut. the u.s. attorney for connecticut, deirdre daly is one, she has the credentials and background but i believe that the u.s. senate must do its job before the end of this year and ite a hearing, hold a vote, is a constitutional duty of the united states supreme court and the failure of the u.s. supreme court to do its job is due to -- is due directly to the obstructionism of the republican majority. clerk on the united states supreme court and i was a u.s. attorney and have argued

cases before the court. i have asked ordinary respect and reverence for the court. we need to fill the vacancy as soon as possible. 4-4 deadlock is damaging for the whole country and that is why i have been leading the fight to appoint and confirm the next justice for the united states spring court. deadlock in fact that branch of government with the kind of gridlock we have seen all too often and all too prevalent in the legislative branch. i believe the supreme court should do its job, hold a hearing, hold a vote, and confirm merrick garland. carter: as we know it has been difficult to get a debate as i think you have provided source here for us to get these questions out in the open. it is something that is pretty important to do.

with respect to the supreme court, we get the russian a lot, what kind of justices would you want to put on the court and i would say this. i don't think anybody should be afraid of hearings, i think the republicans should have supported hearings. if i were in those shoes would advocate to my leadership that we hear the case. whether or not garland is one we should put up, i don't know how you make that case before the hearings. that said, it is important to -- that we provide their core with the ability to do its job. that is the question, can 4-4 make a difference? important we have the right person in that job. when i look to someone to be on the supreme court i want to look , for somebody who is not a judicial activist on either side of the aisle. i look at their judicial history, that we take a look and find that they are not biased one way or the other and i think that is very important. it is important to the citizens of the united states and

citizens of connecticut because we have seen gridlock. frankly, it is not the supreme a gridlock. us it is definitely the legislature in the congress. we will have a lot of discussion about gridlock over the next hour. that will be my answer. blumenthal: i think that the next justice on the supreme court should be a mainstream thinker who believes in the rule of law, regardless of partisan differences, and -- differences and has respect for past precedents. and therefore will uphold roe v believe the next justice should be someone who has experience as a litigator, perhaps as a prosecutor, but hands-on. s-on experience. the decision should be made on

the basis of the merits. merrick garland is a mainstream thinker with experience as a prosecutor and he fits the profile of somebody i think should be confirmed. at the very least, the senate that he should be giving a hearing and a vote before the end of the year, the senate should do its job and its cost additional ditty. second question is for you, mr. carter. the job of a u.s. senator is to look at your state's interest and bring home federal dollars. the state is declining and polls show people are unhappy with the high cost of living here and the population is declining. what would you do to make the state more affordable? mr. carter this is an important : thing a senator should be focused on. ladies and gentlemen, we have had financial ruin here. we have lived through to large tax increases -- two large tax increases. some people are getting jobs

out-of-state. i met a family the other day who is searching for a way to earn enough money so they can go get a job out-of-state. .here has been a big problem we all know friends and neighbors who are leaving in droves. what i should be focused on is making important changes to the tax codes, looking down the line, we have to make changes to our tax code to get it fair and flatter. we need to reduce the number of brackets available and reduce loopholes and something -- do something that is important to bring corporations back. other countries are bringing in companies to stimulate their economy. i don't understand why the united states is not an "tax haven." we have to make sure we do -- we we do what we have done with corporate taxation.

part of the problem has been out of control spending. it is the same at the federal level. there was light they known it would do little to get people back in this country. we need to reformat the corporate tax bill and lower the interest rate and lower the interest rate for corporations and get them back in the u.s. and get jobs to the folks a live here. number two is control our spending. part of the problem in connecticut has been the spending has been out of control, no question about it. it is the same at the federal level. when you have him a $600 billion in deficit every year at $20 trillion in debt, we are not spending wisely. that needs to be important and we need to support balanced budgets. >> you have two minutes to respond. mr. blumenthal: thanks for that important question. here is what i am doing to create jobs in connecticut. the federal government should do more to help.

i have been leading the effort principally focusing on investment in national defense, bringing jobs. investment in our roads, bridges, rails, and infrastructure through the transportation bill i helped to lead is bringing construction jobs to connecticut. people need the skills to fill the jobs that exist now. there are thousands of more jobs to be brought to the state by those investments. of course, lowering taxes, tax credits for investment in research, development, new capital, machinery, lowering the medical device tax, all of this is accomplished through my advocacy and i will fight for tax credits to bring jobs home

and stop the rewards and special rights for companies that bring jobs overseas. this is part of the "bring jobs home." rather than tax rates for oil companies, billionaires, lowering the cost in connecticut involves roads, investment in defense, and skills training to provide the workforce we need to bring more companies to connecticut. mr. carter: it strikes me that the answer to improving the economy is spending more. i'm not going to argue about the

crumbling infrastructure. we need to work on this, federal and state, to make that happen. i do not think the answer is to spend money on every different program. at the end of the day, we need to spend more wisely. with respect to the "bring jobs home" act, it does not team lies -- penalize companies. it is not a big change or benefit to anybody and it does not help us. we need structural change in the way that we do business in washington. it is open. -- it is broken, it is time to fix it and people have been

there for 30 years are not the people who are supposed to fix it. >> the next question is about gun legislation. there is now an effort to pass in congress. no-fly, no buy, do you support this? mr. booth all: i strongly support the law that would prohibit people who are too dangerous to board airplanes from buying a gun, along with other sensible gun measures and taking guns away from domestic abusers who are under a court order. i have been working on this issue and i was at the sandy

hook firehouse and the church with families, holding hands and working with loved ones of the victims. this is a public health emergency, a crisis or our country. these measures must be passed and congress must cease to be complicit with the gun lobby. we are breaking the grip of the gun lobby. my opponent and i have a disagreement. he voted against the ban on domestic abusers having guns and he received an honest grade from the nra. that could be the reason. i will continue to fight for these commonsense measures, including the ban on terrorists buying guns.

people are dying as country, this -- in this country and we should deem this as a health measure requiring immediate action. that is the way we need to regardregard our gun violence pm in this country. >> mr. carter, you have two minutes. we do have a gun problem in this country. we have people dying in our streets every day and it doesn't he to be solved. the question is how do you get there? first off, let me explain. we have to not be complacent. i addressed one of the most important challenges and how do we keep firearms out of the hands of something with an -- a mental illness.

the only thing people need to do ban the gun that was used in that single shooting. the bill i voted against would have done nothing to prevent sandy hook. i believe my legislation would. my opponent and folks like him do not get to corner the market on compassion. presenting new town. i understand how divided people are on this issue. i will tell you that people want to solve this and the way to do that is looking at illegal gun tracking in this country. and provide resources to keep those guns off the street. there are a lot of good democrats who voted against the bill and the recently did is they understand that the bill does nothing to actually protect lives. i say to you, my opponent, why is nothing getting done on this? they keep making the nra the bogeyman. we have a serious problem to go

after and they are raising money off of it, exploiting it, and using it for their campaign coffers. it is important to not have people who are labeled "a terrorist" being able to get a gun. i agree with all that. let's go after these criminals on the streets and address where guns are falling into the hands of the wrong people. mr. blumenthal: the reason why congress has been complicit in failed to act is simple, as the gun lobby and nra have congress in its grip. they give grades as they did to my opponent, honest grades or endorsements. we need to break that great and we can do it as is shown by connecticut where a strong, bipartisan majority voted to put -- in favor of commonsense proposals, putting connecticut at theef