me. you don't need to wait until november 8. because here in florida, you can vote early. here in florida, you can vote right now. vote, and turn out to i want the young people to listen -- hold on hold on, hold on. i want to talk to young people here for a second. people,ote, you, young vote. if you vote for somebody who wants to make sure college is more affordable. somebodynt to vote for who make sure we are dealing

with climate change instead of denying it. if you want to make sure we have someone who cares about civil rights. you will send hillary to the white house. you will send patrick murphy to the senate. it is up to you. you notay, for those of young but young at heart, don't be offended. i've got to speak to the young people because us older people, we generally vote. energy toave enough have as much fun as the young people do. we are not as distracted. we remember to vote. the young people, they have a lot of stuff going on. i need you, young people, to vote. the nearestay, early voting location for orange county is straight down the road.

the nearest seminole county location is up the road. here is the thing. you are being sweet to me and i appreciate it. understand this. all the progress we have made over the past several years, goes out the window if we do not win this election. care for 20 million people goes away. the progress we have made on congress -- climate change goes away. all the work we have been doing to make college more affordable goes away.

the stakes could not be higher. now, stakes right could not be higher and i understand that right now the polls show hillary having a lead -- no, no. hold on. hold on. you know, sometimes when you get a lead whether it's in sports or in politics, you start feeling good. you start celebrating too early. you start getting turnovers, you start missing free throws, suddenly it gets a little closer, you start tightening it up and next thing you know you look up and you let it slip away, see, i don't want y'all feeling too good. i want you hustling all the way until the polls close on november 8th. i don't want you to take things for granted.

i don't want you to do a usain do a usain bolton looking back smiling because politics isn't like track and field, you're not always as fast as usain bolton. you have to stay focus and run through the tape, we cannot kick back and think that we have this thing won because this has been a volatile race. folks are in a volatile mood. media stories go up and down and sometimes it's hard to sort out what's wrong and true and what's false which is why the other guy can say what he wants, right? and so we have to work hard, and by the way that's who hillary is.

hillary never takes anything for granted. i have worked with hillary, she works hard every single day. she doesn't take a day off. she is a grinder. she just keeps on working. i have seen it, i have benefited from it, i have seen her in the situation room making the argument to go after bin laden even when it was risky. i have seen her trouble the globe. it's not always flashy, people at home don't always see it. folks like big speeches and sound bites, she doesn't always get the credit but she does the work, she does the work. she understands the challenges we face. she knows what we are talking about. by the way, when things go her way, you don't see her whining

or complaining. saying that things were rigged, she just comes back and gets up and works harder and she works harder and she works harder until she gets done what she's supposed to get done. and the reason she works to hard is because she cares. she knows about hardships. her mom was an orphan. she knows the decisions that you make in the presidency are not abstraction. she knows this is in just about the game of politics. she knows that we decide, what i decide and what she would decide as president means everything to a soldier or a veteran or military families, a family who is trying to make ends meet for the children who is trying to go to college for the first time. for a young person that was

brought to the country as a wants to what's to -- contribute to the only home that she's ever known. hillary knows that ordinary people need a champion. she doesn't just talk the talk, she walks she doesn't just talk the talk, she walks the walk. she has details and read them through and thought them through which is why she's in a debate with the other guy, she's talking about stuff that she actually knows something about and the other guy is just making stuff up. [applause] president obama: listen, i was a good student in law school and when i was in high school my las first two years i was one of the guys that kind of was

talking and trying to get in good with the teacher, i was kind of charming and -- but i wasn't always doing my work. and you know, that's okay for a while. want to like you surgeon who has actually studied surgery. just like you want a pilot who did their homework when it comes to flying a plane. you don't want the slacker as your president. you want somebody who is actually going to work hard and do the job. you want somebody that knows what they're talking about. and by the way, you know who is also a hard worker, it's patrick murphy. [applause]

president obama: patrick murphy. unlike his opponent, marco rubio, patrick actually shows up to his job. he puts you ahead of politics. he didn't try to defund planned parenthood. he fought to make sure women could make their own healthcare decisions. he didn't say that he was supportive of florida's latino community but then when the policy got tough you walked away from comprehensive immigration reform. unlike his opponent he actually believes in science and that climate change is happening. in a recent debate, marco rubio didn't accept that sea levels are rising.

now, he's from miami. [laughter] so you can go to miami, and on a sunny day, you can see a foot of water. if you want, it is salty. it is in the middle of the road. it is a problem. what 99% ofly scientists and what your own eyes tell you is not true from marco rubio's perspective . meanwhile patrick murphy brought democrats and republicans together to fund everglades restoration, he cares about the environment and as your next senator, he will fight along side hillary to protect this planet for the next generation. [applause]

president obama: patrick. patrick. ther difference.er marco rubio still supports donald trump. don't boo, vote. don't -- you know what, i always have to say this. trump can't hear you booing but he will hear your votes. [applause] president obama: rubio doesn't care if you boo, but he will care if you vote.

you know what, for some voters -- hello. for some voters, marco rubio will say i think that what donald trump said is terrible and then in front of other voters he will say i'm still supporting donald trump. you know what, you can't -- you can't have it both ways there. this is a cynical as politics get. you can't just say anything or just pretend to be anybody in order to get elected or stay the elected. if you run for office on family values, then you should have been walking away from a nominee months ago who is calling women pigs or dogs or slobs or graded them not on the content of their character but on the

scale of 1 through 10. you can't with a slight face say you respect women and support somebody who brags about assaulting women. you don't have to be a husband, you don't have to be a father to stand up for women, you just have to be a decent person. [applause] president obama: and i will tell you that i know everybody has been knowing michelle has been pretty passionate lately. know, not only is it michelle's experience herself, but this is something that as parents when we think about our daughters and listen to that

kind of behavior, we say that is not the kind of example we set for our children, for our boys, for our girls. [applause] obama. obama. obama. obama: now, obviously i can go on and on why i don't think that the republican nominee is fit to hold this office. oes it himselfsn't\/\ every time he talks or tweets. but i will say this, in my two campaigns for president, i had very strong disagreements with john mccain, i had very strong disagreements with mitt romney.

i believed i had better ideas than them on how to lead the country, but i was never concerned about the fate of our democracy if they had won. [applause] president obama: michelle feels the same way. michelle doesn't love politics. she wasn't thrilled about me going to politics. but she is working as hard as she can because she understands because there's something more fundamental at stake in this particular and that is who we are as a country, what is our character, what values do we stand for. we cannot teach our children to treat women as objects. we want to treat -- we want to teach our kids to treat everybody as full and equal citizens, capable of doing anything.

we can't teach our children to vilify immigrants and people of with disabilities, or americans who practice a different faith, we have to teach them that everybody matters and everybody is deserving of respect and we are stronger together than we could ever be apart. we shouldn't let our kids think that politics is about pitching a new hotel or a new golf course or a tv contract. it's about working on the common good and promoting opportunity and justice. that's what hillary believes. that's why she has to win this election.

it's at the heart of the methodist creed her mom instilled in her, do all the good that you can as long as ever you can. that's why she's in this. she believes like i believe that we can summon what's best in each of us and we can make the country better for all of us. she believes that together we can do big things. that we could never do on our own. and isn't that what america is all about? we are a country like no other in the world. we are a country that was founded for the sake of an idea. we hold these truths self-evident that all men are created equal. that we are endowed by our eator with certain

inalienable rights. you don't have to be born in wealth or privilege, you don't have to look a certain way or have a certain last name, that if you're willing to give of yourself, you can move the wheel of history. that's what drove patriots to choose revolution over tyranny, that's what led gi's to liberate a continent, that's what gave women the courage to reach out for that ballot, that's what led marchs across the bridge in selma, that's what led workers to organize for better wages, that is what has made america exceptional. that is why america is great. and all that progress, all that work hasn't happened because some person from on high did it

for him, it's because we did it together. because ordinary people worked hard. because immigrant families like debbie's parents worked the night shift, they saved and scrimped. they sacrificed, they got involved, they spoke out and even though sometimes that progress is slow in coming, sometimes it's hard, sometimes it's frustrating ultimately that process of self-government moved us forward and that's what hillary understands. that's what she understands. she knows that in a democracy that's big and diverse like this, you can't be demonizing each other all of the time. you can't -- you can't just make stuff up about each other. you can't spend all your time calling each other names.

you've got to compromise sometimes even when you're right. she understands nobody is perfect, not even presidents, but we should try our best to conduct ourselves with just some basic home-spun values, honesty, decency, generosity, fairness, the things we try to teach our kids, the things most of us should have learned in kindergarten, that's what we should expect. look, i am here to tell you -- i am going to be honest with you. i understand that this is a polarized country right now. i understand that everybody is rooting for their side. i understand that so much of the news in this election cycle has

been discouraging or cynical and been these days because of the nature of the internet and social media sometimes it's hard to sort out what's true and what's false. i know that so many people can feel cynical sometimes about our prospects for progress and change and sometimes it feels like washington is very far away and very distant, but i'm urging all of you and i mean this, the choice in this election is really clear. you've got one person who is really, really well-qualified. who really, really cares about doing the right thing. who is committed to sustaining the work that you and i have done together over the last eight years. i believe hillary clinton will be a great president.

i believe she will move this country forward, but she's going to need our help. it's not enough just to elect her and then have a republican congress that is already talking about not being willing to cooperate with her on anything, when they control the senate and the house, right now they can't even pass their own stuff. and all we are going to see more gridlock and more obstruction and more threats to shut down the government and more threats to wreck the economy. they've given up on their own nominee but they are promising more unprecedented dysfunction in washington. they didn't work with me when i took office even when we were in the middle of a unprecedented crisis, they sure will not work with hillary now. some of them are already promising years of investigation and hearings and obstruction and repeal votes.

they're already saying they may not appoint a nice supreme court justice at all. they boast about refusal to compromise as if that in and of itself is an accomplishment and all it does is prevent what everybody is looking for which is fixing up our roads and putting people to work and cleaning up our environment and fixing immigration, educating our kids, keeping them safe. you know, if you think that the slogan vote for us because we are going to give you gridlock, if you think that's a good slogan, then you should vote republican. but i'm hoping that you're not that cynical. i am hoping you believe america can do better. if you care about creating jobs, the families can live on it. if you care about child they can afford, if you care about equal

pay for equal work, if you care about raising the minimum wage, then i need you not just to vote for hillary but i need you to vote up and down the ticket. i need you to vote for patrick murphy. i need you to vote for our members of congress. people who are willing to roll up their sleeves and move this country forward. so young people let me say this one more time, i know you maybe cynical sometimes and you may be fed up with politics, i know there's a lot of crazy stuff on tv and even crazier stuff on the internet, but you have the chance right now to reject a divisive mean spirited politics that would take us backwards. you have the chance right now to elect a woman, our first female

president, who has spent her entire life moving this country forward. [applause] president obama: you have a chance to shape history, so don't let that chance slip away. you've got to vote. if you've been marching for criminal justice reform, you have to vote for a president and congress who cares about reducing the pipeline from underfunded schools to overcrowded jails. if you've been marching for the environment, i hear you but you have a president and a congress who believe in science and will protect the progress we've made because they care about the children. if you have to vote for congress who doesn't consider immigrants rapists or criminals but

as people who love the country and are ready to contribute. whatever issue you care about, you have to vote. this is where democracy happens. this is not where it ends. it's where it happens. with your vote. hillary need your help. i need your help. america needs your help. because your enrollment -- involvement is how progress works. what you do is what's ultimately going to matter and if you -- if you do everything you can, not just to vote yourselves but to get your friends out there, your family, your cousins, your uncle, your neighbors, if you tell them, this is the moment where america has to take a stand and decide what it is that we believe in and who we are and

we are not going to succumb the cynicism. we are not going to believe in fear and instead lift up hope. if you want hope instead of fear, then you will elect hillary clinton as president of the united states. patrick murphy as senator and you will continue what we have started eight years ago and america will continue on this amazing journey. this amazing journey in which every single person in this country has a chance to live out their dreams. god bless you, florida. god bless you. the united states of america, let's get to work. [applause]

day, the nation decides our next president and which party controls the house and senate. stay with c-span for the presidential race including campaign stops. follow key house and senate races. c-span. where history unfolds daily. next, a look at some of the debates and congressional races around the country. one for theh candidates running in georgia. after that, the candidates running for the house district in colorado. >> now a debate for the u.s.

senate seat in georgia. candidates include johnny isakson. , and alan buckley for the libertarian party. the national debt and term limits for members of congress. this is about an hour. >> the 2016 atlanta press ub debate brought to you from the studios of georgia public broadcasting. series.me to the debate this is the debate among the candidates for united states senate.

let's meet the candidates. they are in alphabetical order. jim barksdale, a small business owner. and, investment manager. allen buckley is a georgia attorney and cpa working primarily in business and administrative law. and johnny isakson has been a united states senator for georgia since 2005. before that he represented georgia's sixth congressional district in the united states house of representatives from 1999 to 2005. let's now meet our panelists. we began with jim galloway, he writes "political insider," for "the atlanta journal-constitution." lori geary is a political reporter in atlanta. kimberely scott is a reporter and anchor for wjbf in augusta. tonight's debate will consist of three rounds. for more information on the rules for each round, please visit the atlanta press club website. atlantapressclub.org.

let's get started in the first round. we are going to begin -- i'm going to ask a question of all three of the candidates. donald trump has made on lot of noise over the last week talking about this election. according to him if he does not win, is rigged. is this election rigged? mr. barksdale. mr. barksdale: well, i certainly do not believe it's rigged. i believe that we're going to have a very strong turnout. i am willing to abide by that turnout. i do think we want to make sure no one is intimidated going to the polls. there has been some of the rhetoric that frankly is concerning. i want to make sure there are proper poll watchers out there and everyone turns up to vote. i don't think it's rigged. mr. hullinger: mr. buckley? mr. buckley: no. frankly i find that comment kind of bizarre. but, let me say this, 2004 when i first ran against senator isakson in georgia, a guy sent me an e-mail after the race and

said, it's a small county in georgia, only 80 people voted and this guy said, me and my whole family voted for you. but the official numbers showed up with you getting zero. i think any voting system will have flaws. do i think the election is rigged? i don't think that will be the appropriate term for it. no, i don't agree with that. mr. hullinger: senator isakson. sen. isakson: no, jeff, i don't think the election is rigged. they do a great job. i have been involved for a long time in georgia. i was in the legislature when we modernized our election system. i think it's fair. every candidate has an accountable place to go to if they think it is unfair. mr. hullinger: each panelist will ask a question to two of the candidates. we begin now with lori geary for your question of allen buckley. ms. geary: mr. buckley, you're kind of considered the spoiler in this race. no third party candidate won

statewide here in georgia. a brand-new poll out today shows you polling at 5%. do you have any realistic expectations that you can possibly win this election? mr. buckley: my campaign manager read an article saying i was 11%. i'm confused. jim galloway asked a question in 2004. he said libertarians typically poll 1% to 2%, what's the point? the point is our country has tremendous financial problems. in 2007, the gao said our debt would spiral out of control. the debts more than doubled. in nine years, we went from $9 trillion to $20 trillion. the sky is the limit. these two parties, are not going to do anything to solve the problems. in contrast, i'm an attorney cpa and i have fought these problems

over years and have come up with solutions that work, they involve sacrifice. these two parties are driving the country into the ground financially. libertarian party is the only choice. we're the only ones fiscally conservative. mr. hullinger: you may now ask a question of senator isakson. ms. geary: senator isakson, a couple of weeks ago we heard a lewd tape of donald trump that really made global news. you say that you're supporting the republican ticket. my question is, after you heard these tapes and after you heard accusations from women, did you ever have second thought about supporting donald trump? sen. isakson: i released public statement when those disclosures came out. i totally disagreed what was said. i thought it was totally inappropriate. my 12-year-old granddaughter elizabeth in the audience today. we have a responsibility as public officials to be role models to our kids. anything that is sexist or discriminatory should be abolished. ms. geary: do you support donald trump still? sen. isakson: i will vote for

him as i support the ticket. mr. hullinger: now a question for jim barksdale. mr. galloway: you are the founder of an investment fund firm that has done very well. during this campaign, you made some remarks about the shortcomings of capitalism. mr. isakson has accused of you of hypocrisy for profiting from investments and companies that have shipped jobs overseas. how do you respond? mr. barksdale: my job as an investor was to represent my client's best interest, not my own personal viewpoints. i've invested almost exclusively in companies in the united states of america. they all benefit from the various trade deals that senator isakson has put forward. those are the rules of the road in the united states. you cannot invest in american companies without being exposed to the fact that many of these companies have made profits and

benefited from the rules of the road that have been set in washington. my point in running for the race, and the reason i am in a it is that from a personal, social standpoint, i think those roles have benefited companies and made a lot of money. but it is hard on society because too much money goes to the top and not enough has been spread among people who are actually doing the work area when you get to that level of separation between where the money is, what happens is the capitalism can't work because there's not enough buying power for the demand to keep the economy growing. mr. hullinger: jim, your question for senator isakson. mr. galloway: problems within the veterans administration continue. this morning dhhs reporting on an atlanta v.a. employee who had been targeted for highlighting wrongdoing. you've been pushing a major overhaul of accountability practices at the v.a. for the better part of this year, but your proposal has yet to make it to the senate floor despite your chamber being controlled by the republican party.

why is that? sen. isakson: we've had some difficulty with some members who don't like some of the provisions of that bill. it's an omnibus bill. it's not the accountability portion that's been the problem. for the record, the last night of the session before we adjourned, we passed 17 provisions of that bill. under what is known as unanimous consent. we're making progress everyday to work towards by the end of this year. having a full accountability measure approved by the united states house and united states senate and signed by the president of the united states. i forgot to say thank you to the atlanta press club and all of you making this possible. for each and every one of us running for office, this is an outstanding opportunity to talk about the issues that confront georgians in my position on them. mr. hullinger: kimberly scott now your turn. your first question goes to mr. buckley. ms. scott: mr. buckley, as a cpa, i understand why the tax code would be of interest to you. i wanted to ask you, you are

proposing ending income tax for corporations and individuals. explain how those numbers will actually work? mr. buckley: well, the problem is, we run deficits every year and in good years we run 3%. when we have a recession we run 8% or 10%. when the economy grows at 1% to 2%, that is the debt spiraling out of control. more years of social security -- i took two years and analyzed the tax system and wrote a 30 page article. i sent it off to "tax notes" magazine. i went through every possible tax system to replace the complex income tax system. the corporate income tax is the most complicated. that is followed by the individual income tax. i came up with a system, it is on my website. it includes consumption tax that's got an x rate. it eliminates the income tax.

you have credits against the fica/self-employment tax. everybody pays some tax. there's not a double layer of tax. it's simple. it prevents jobs from going overseas. i am out of time, thank you. mr. hullinger: you get the final question. ms. scott: mr. barksdale, the justice department just sent out a notice and said they would send fewer monitors to the polls. and the voting rights act, the section 5 of that act was struck down. you want to bring that back. what do you say about the justice department not being there to monitor since this section 5 is no longer viable? mr. barksdale: i did say that in the opening question that i was concerned that some of the rhetoric caused intimidation at the polls. i do think that continues. i think that particularly continues among smaller, more rural areas. particularly where african-americans maybe concerned about turning out the vote. that's why i think bringing back section 5 of the voting rights act is so important.

we in this country have a belief that all are created equal and every voice matters. i believe everything we can do to reinforce our own belief. we all benefit from that. mr. hullinger: that concludes our first round. in the second round candidates will question both of their opponents. each candidate will have 30 seconds to ask a question and then 60 seconds to respond and then 30 seconds for a rebuttal. are we clear? i think we're all set. by random selection, jim barksdale you ask the first question. you do so of allen buckley. mr. barksdale: mr. buckley, first of all, i know that you are conservative and you're concerned about the debt. i know senator isakson is also conservative. in many respects, i'm a fiscal conservative as well. can you tell me the areas that you feel like you most disagree with senator isakson? mr. buckley: first of all, johnny tells everyone he's a

conservative. if i had a penny every time i saw the word conservative next to his ads i would be a in this election, multimillionaire. the conservative review gives johnny a 30 score. which is an f. which ties him to maxine waters, a liberal democrat out of l.a.. johnny is not really conservative. when you hear all of these ads about him being conservative. i offer solutions to the problems. they involve some sacrifice. i proposed complete analysis and reasonable reform to all the entitlement systems. entitlement spending is 60% to 70% of all spending now. johnny hasn't proposed anything. he never proposed a tax solution. no offense johnny. i suggest we need to eliminate half of our 800 foreign military bases, when the rest of the world has less than 60. i produce numbers that were, you

can find them on my website. mr. barksdale: i happen to believe that major problem in our country is not on the tax side. i believe the problem is the distribution of where income is being earned by those who are able to make our economy productive. what i would like to see, where i disagree, is with the trade deals that have not been taking care of our workers here in this country. they have sent too many jobs overseas. when incomes are going down, our incomes in this country are down since 2000, since senator isakson went to washington. you can't have a growing economy when incomes are declining. mr. hullinger: mr. barksdale, now you can ask senator isakson a question. mr. barksdale: i know you that you continue to support donald trump. despite his statement about women, i know that earlier said that you disagreed with him. what i like to ask, given the

number of women that have come forward and have now accused him, not just talking about sexual assault but committing them. do you agree that all of these women are lying? i'd appreciate -- do you agree with donald trump that they're lying? i would appreciate a yes or no answer. sen. isakson: first of all, i will rebut what was said about mr. buckley. i think i get 30 seconds on that. if you believe what he was talking about the american conservative federation or whoever said, i have underwater land in florida i would love to sell to you. the fact is, if you go to nifb, american chamber of commerce, american conservative union, you will find me rated as a conservative. as far as mr. barksdale 's question. i made my comments on donald trump a minute ago what he said about women. i think it was wrong. i think he should be held accountable. mr. hullinger: mr. barksdale, you get a rebuttal. mr. barksdale: from a yes or no standpoint, are you saying that

the women were telling the truth and they should be heard? are you saying donald trump should be listened to? sen. isakson: i'm not about to defend anybody in the case because it's a criminal accusation, which sexual harassment is. mr. barksdale: my response, senator isakson continues to support donald trump because you have much more in common with him than you want us to believe. let's start with the fact that you both inherited your companies from your fathers. they were both involved in the real estate business. both were actually accused under the fair housing discrimination act for discrimination against african-american companies. in your case, your company, northside realty lost the case in the years before you were running for office. in the years before you ran for

office, there are over 3000 houses sold and not a single one sold to an african-american. sen. isakson: i need 30 seconds for each the five things he accused me of. my father was a great american businessman, a great man, i miss him to this day. he was accused in the case in the 1970's. it was failed to prove. we end up going through a exercise of teaching all agents fair housing act. don't ever bring up my father in a negative standpoint and make an accusation that my father was discriminatory. mr. barksdale: your firm was found guilty. you had 25 employees come and approach the firm in terms of violation of eeoc. sen. isakson: i have no idea what your talking about. mr. hullinger: senator isakson, you get a quick response. sen. isakson: i have no idea what he is talking about. in the 22 years that i ran the company, we never had such a case. i passed the first fair housing law in the state of georgia. i think every state ought to be subject to the voting rights act.

mr. barksdale: the reason it matters, i think that you showed -- when you started to run for office and the value of your own company, it didn't embrace the importance of economic opportunity knocking on the door. mr. hullinger: you have to wrap it up, mr. barksdale. sen. isakson: it's hard to shake hypocrisy. that's all i can say. that's all that you hear coming out of mr. barksdale. mr. hullinger: senator isakson, your turn. sen. isakson: mr. barksdale, i would like to know your rule proposed by the epa and the waters of the usa. mr. barksdale: we as americans have valued clean air and clean water. this goes back to seeing in los angeles the smog and the pollution of the river hudson. i fully support all aspects of making sure that we live up to those obligations and that is better for all of us. i do not feel like that hurts our economy. i feel like it helps us grow.

i feel like the trade bills have actually been a part of a llowing companies to bypass our standards of decency with the environment. you can look at the air in china. you can look at the waters in china. we don't want to go back there. we don't want to turn the page back to pollution like we had in the past. mr. hullinger: senator, you get a 30 second rebuttal. sen. isakson: the constitution gives the congress of the united states resonsibility of navigable waterways of the americans. what the epa is trying to do to take control of every waterway that exist. even if it's a pond or farm in south georgia. the overly regulatory environment of this administration, making it impossible for anybody to do business whether they're a farmer or developer. i am for clean water and clean air, that can be accomplished. but you don't have to regulate people out of business to do so. mr. hullinger: your question for allen buckley. sen. isakson: allen, in april, i

read an interview which is great interview by the way, talking about drug issue, which you i share a common interest in. but you were referred to an economist study that recommend the legalization of drugs. how do you reconcile that with the opioid problem? mr. buckley: that's not what i said. the drug problem is tremendous, it is huge, and it has to be dealt with. "the economist" magazine, which i read regularly said that the best way to deal with drugs to follow europe's lead. they said that europe has a clearer head on drugs. you emphasize, you go after the dealers and distributors, criminally. for the general population you treated as more of a health problem and attack it with education and rehabilitation. that is what i said. by the way, you said in that same magazine earlier, that we have $19 trillion in debt and

they will get their pocket picked if they do not get off their tales and get involved. you are the one picking their pocket. you voted for over $7 trillion worth of debt. you have the nerve to say you never voted for a tax increase. you voted for things that necessitate spending. huge spending. when the bill comes in, you vote for debt. you have the nerve to say that you never voted for tax increase. to me, that's hypocrisy. mr. hullinger: senator, you have a 30 second response. sen. isakson: i have never voted for a tax increase. i'm the one who proposed the budget. i voted for the constitutional amendment to balance the budget. the $2.1 trillion cuts are because the budget conciliation act that mitch mcconnell and myself and others brought to keep america from defaulting on its debt. we reduce our spending on the discretionary level. if we ever get a control of our entitlements we'll be able to balance the budget. mr. hullinger: mr. buckley about 15 seconds sen. isakson: in control of entitlements, you've gone nothing there. my proposal with drugs let the

states regulate them. they'll gravitate towards the best practices. they all have to balance their budgets. unlike the federal government. you know all about that. mr. hullinger: senator, you want a quick response? sen. isakson: i'll mention to conclude on the drug situation. the biggest problem is opioids, deaths are taking place all over the country. opioids can be legally prescribed today. that is not solve the problem. mr. hullinger: mr. buckley your question to mr. barksdale. mr. buckley: jim, in 2011, head of the joints chief of staff, mike mullen, said our greatest national security threat is our national debt. johnny voted over $7 trillion worth of debt. over the next 13 or 15 years, we got 13 more batches of social security and medicare baby boom or entitlements coming through and the debt will grow tremendously unless we make changes.

shouldn't we make changes and what changes should we make? mr. barksdale: i agree that the national debt is a significant problem. and while senator isakson does talk about not raising taxes. basically what you've done what i call a birth tax. all americans born today are born into almost $20 million of debt, whereas when you went to washington, it was $5.5 trillion. you can't wash your hands and say you weren't responsible. when you voted to deregulate wall street and then you supported president bush's approach to regulated wall street, that put our economy off the cliff. that created more than $4 trillion of debt. when you voted to take us into iraq unnecessarily and recklessly, that escalated more chaos and another $4 trillion of debt. these increases of debt that we have taken on do put our country at risk. we can't be militarily strong.

not when we are economically at risk and in debt. i think you have to take responsibility for this debt that happened while you've been in washington. mr. hullinger: the question to mr. buckley directed to senator isakson. mr. hullinger: senator i think you get a rebuttal. sen. isakson: the truth is what you ought to pay attention to. i voted for the t.a.r.p. it has returned a profit to the u.s.. i voted against the auto clunkers deal. i voted against the auto bailout. i voted against the stimulus under the first obama approval, because they were wrong for america. let's get our facts right mr. barksdale. mr. buckley: jim, no offense, but you are all hat, no cattle. you had no substance to the response for my question. i've heard you on wab radio spewing off these numbers that are wrong. you don't know the numbers. you said the war in iraq cost $4 trillion. the congressional research

service said it cost $815 billion. the department of defense said it cost $758 billion. the brown university said it cost $1.1 billion, that is nowhere close to $4 billion. you said the social security trust fund is at $4 trillion. nowhere near that. you don't know your numbers. mr. barksdale: i think there have been plenty of studies that look at the all in cost of the wars and the war in iraq, even afghanistan itself, the numbers i have seen are closer to $800 billion. these wars have significant cost. some of which we haven't owned up to. you look at the veterans administration, i feel like it's been severely underfunded. we have tremendous obligations looking for that are creating obligations that are the direct result of unnecessary wars. with respect to the economy, it wasn't the t.a.r.p. that i'm talking about. what i'm talking about is when people don't have jobs, they go on welfare. more people have to retire early. our unemployment insurance goes

up. we have more people in jails. there are tremendous social costs. mr. buckley: i was against the war in iraq. that's what got me involved in politics. that and the finance of the federal government. when johnny went to washington in 1999, debt to gdp is 68%. $7 trillion of that is on his record. look at my website,. mr. hullinger: a very long 15 seconds. senator you were mentioned again. sen. isakson: quickly, i voted to go into iraq. i believe in peace through strength. only through the use of strength you can have peace. as far but things i have been blamed for, i will take responsibility for my one part as 100th of the united states senate. i will take credit for the things that i've done that brought about great solutions. mr. barksdale made a terribly incorrect statement. the v.a. has the largest increase in appropriations. -- appropriations for the last nine consecutive years, averaging about 9% a year. mr. hullinger: we move on, the

final question of around is mr. buckley, it is your question for senator isakson. mr. buckley: johnny your campaign has been running ads saying you're the hardest working senator in d.c. you're one the most conservative. as i mentioned the conservative review gave you a 30f which ties you with maxine waters which is the l.a. times called an outspoken liberal, she gets the same score, 30d. the heritage foundation gives you a 53f score. what authorities do you base these ads upon, that is what i would like to know. sen. isakson: the references you're making are two uncredible organizations. the american conservative union is very credible. nfib is credible. what they've actually voted for and what they've done. we've cut $2.1 trillion because the budget control act of which i was a part of in 2011. because of that sequestration, where the congress exercises that right.

don't blame us for doing things that were not done because we got them done. mr. buckley: the budget control act immediately borrowed $2.1 trillion. we'll cut spending over the next decade. that's all been pushed back once. johnny, let me finish -- sen. isakson: i didn't say a word. i'm getting ready to. mr. buckley: people look at my website. he thinks the heritage foundation is not credible. the american conservative union that he sites gave mitch mcconnell a perfect 100% score for 2012. the conservative review gives mitch mcconnell a 40 score. you have been deceiving the republic -- the public for years. meanwhile our country is going down the tubes. you did it in 2004 when we were in a debate here. sen. isakson: the voters on the eighth day of november will have a chance to vote who they want to represent them in the united states senate. they will vote for a record of proven achievement. that is johnny isakson. mr. hullinger: that concludes round two for those just joining

us. this is the debate between the candidates for georgia's united states senate. we will now go to our third and final round. in this round, each panelist will ask a question to the candidate of his or her choice. until we have run out of time. as a point, as being the moderator here, i can ask a couple of questions too. if i so choose. let's begin now, lori geary, start for us. ms. geary: this question is directed to mr. barksdale. hillary clinton's plan, she says is to raise taxes on the wealthy and the corporations because they're not paying their fair share. you are a wealthy businessman. do you feel as though you have paid your fair share, and do you agree with hillary clinton's tax plan? mr. barksdale: well, again, what i -- i can promise you, i have paid my fair share. over some years, my amount of

taxes and gifts in the 65% range overall. i've done everything i could to turn my good fortune to help society. i think corporations should do that. what i see in corporate america as an investor, i look at how much taxes get paid. not the actual tax rate that's stated. when i started investing in the 1980's and 1990's, corporations regularly would pay taxes in the 35% range. but there's a long decline in the amount of taxes gets paid by corporate america. they have been bypassing our tax system by using offshore loopholes that senator isakson has not shut down. that has allowed over $2 trillion to sit offshore and not be taxed. that's a loophole we need to close. mr. hullinger: mr. buckley. mr. buckley: the public needs to know, when you watch these debates at the presidential level, hillary said my numbers don't wake things worse. we still going to add additional debt over the next decade.

what she's saying, i will add spending of x amount and raise taxes by x amount. she's not going to solve the problems. i want people to understand that. the tax proposal that i put out uses algebra. x balances the budgets, it discourages jobs being sent overseas and corporate inversions -- does not matter headquarters. mr. hullinger: senator? sen. isakson: i think taxes ought to be fair and equitable. everybody ought to pay their fair share. in terms of the federal tax code, i believe we ought to go to a territorial tax code for businesses. that's why you have so many inversion proposals going on. we ought to have a territorial system. that's number one. number two, we ought to end the gimmicks in the code and take away deductions and other use of

the tax code to get people to do things. instead use the money that you buy down, use that money that you saved to buy down the rate to have a fairer tax. mr. hullinger: kimberley scott. ms. scott: senator isakson, i want to talk to you about the affordable care act. there are people who have healthcare coverage with preexisting issues. on your website you said you want to repeal and replace the affordable care act. how will you make sure preexisting cases are covered with your proposal? sen. isakson: i'm glad i got a record what i proposed in the congress when we debated the affordable care act in 2009. there are some things in the act that ought to be preserved. one of them is preexisting conditions. second is allowing a child up to age 26 to stay on their parents health insurance plan. that is actuarially sound. but you really got to replace the whole system. it's driving us to a single payer system with government control where we need to bring about more competition. for example, we ought to allow

the interstate sale of health insurance across the state line. and allow people to form groups together to negotiate in a large group for their health rates. those are just two things we can change immediately to make a huge difference. mr. buckley: i agree with johnny on universal availability of coverage. that needs to exist. that's all we had in the if healthcare law, that would have been a great result. but the problem is, the affordable care act goes way beyond that. it's got so much bureaucracy and so complicated. johnny had an opportunity to amend the affordable care act when it came time to fund the bill. he chose not to. he pushed forward with the funding. i understand why he didn't. because the republicans don't have a plan. they've never had a plan for healthcare. i don't like most of the affordable care act but at least democrats did something. mr. hullinger: mr. buckley? mr. buckley: my feeling is this is another case where senator

isakson has not fulfilled responsibility of doing something about the rising healthcare cost. i would like to see someone in our government standing up to negotiate the cost down. i agree we need more competition. i don't disagree with your statements. what i disagree with, sitting there and not doing anything about it. mr. hullinger: senator isakson. sen. isakson: 10:00 a.m. on christmas eve 2009 i voted against the affordable care act final passage for the united states senate. so his statement is patently incorrect. secondly, i was on the health education labor and pensions committee which did the mark up over 67 hours of the affordable care act. it introduced legislation like what congressman tom price has pending today in the house of representative. the affordable care act is a bad act for america. mr. hullinger: jim galloway, your question is next.

mr. galloway: gentlemen, this is for all of you. we'll start with mr. isakson. we see the daily horror in aleppo. one of the great conflicts in multiple wars in iraq is underway in mosul. in his two terms, george w. bush was criticized for injecting the u.s. military into places ought not to have gone. in his two terms, barack obama has been criticized for his failure to engage. what's the correct balance here? sen. isakson: i have voted for the wars i've been accused of voting for. i'm proud to be for peace through strength, proud for a strong military. i love the united states military to keep us safe. number two, i regret that fact that the obama administration pulled us out of iraq after the surge was successful, which allowed isis to to home base, which is the root of the problem in aleppo today. i voted for the war to go into iraq. i'm sorry the current president pulled us out to create a vacuum that was filled by isil. i think until we put the boots

on the ground necessary to have coalition willing in the middle east to go in and root them out, we'll continue to have the threat of terrorism. not only in the middle east but at home in america. mr. buckley: i was against iraq. that got me off the couch. i knew it would make our terrorism problems worse. a lot of innocent people would be killed and it would make our financial problems worse, and all three have happened. we've had two wars that we shouldn't have been in since world war ii, vietnam and iraq. if i am elected, i will everything i can to investigate when something is proposed. dick cheney went up there in d.c., rammed it down into the republican throats and johnny bought into it. you should've stood up to do your own investigation and realized it was a fraud. it would do all the things i said it did. it destabilized the middle east. we have to realize that. we've been in more wars in any country since world war ii. we only go to war when we really need to. this situation now, it is more difficult because barack obama, i'm sorry, he's been pretty weak

on foreign policy. drew the line in syria and then backed off. at that point, it was open season for the foreign countries. that's one of his weaknesses. we got to be prudent when we get in involved. they result in a lot of deaths of innocent people. mr. hullinger: mr. barksdale. mr. barksdale: over and over again my sense senator isakson purports to be a careful conservative. but what i see frankly is recklessness. iraq is just another example of that. at the very least, a conservative should have learned the lesson of iraq, and i do not think you have. you continue to call for boots on the ground in iraq and in syria. you talk about going into the ukraine and crimea. we are tired of this. they want to see us doing what we are doing now, which is making sure we are supporting our allies, supporting our partners and letting them take the lead. ultimately this is a fight that only they can win. we can't go in and have no exit

strategy again. we've got to learn from the lessons and we got to be prudent with the lives of our sons and daughters. so i disagree vehemently with senator isakson's trigger-happy approach of more troops on the ground and bomb, bomb, bomb. mr. hullinger: senator your sen. isakson: combat is always the last resort. but ability to conduct that is to win negotiations. i heard a lot of criticism of johnny isakson in the way he has voted. i have not heard your idea to solve the problem. as far as i'm concerned, a strong fist is more important than a weak mind. mr. barksdale: if you didn't hear that, he was not listening. i said that right now, we are working with iraq and curd -- kurdish partners. we are pushing isis back. i think that is the way to go. i don't believe that we should be out there in the lead taking first responsibility. instead it's their fight to win. it is a terrible situation where

religious fanaticism has taken hold. we went into iraq without an exit strategy and that is what you need to be held responsible for. ms. geary: i want to switch years and talk immigration reform, a big issue here in georgia. senator isakson, your republican presidential candidate said to build a wall, have mexico pay for it. i want to know your thoughts on this. also, realistically, what can be done with the estimated 11 million people living in the united states illegally? sen. isakson: first of all, barriers are a part of the solution. there are pictures i can verify this next statement. mike pence and i, along with senator chertoff went about seven years ago, worked on the first project to build a new wall in arizona. it now exists today to help protect the border. what you have to do is be able to stop people from crossing at will so you can control the people coming in your country. like smugglers in san diego, where we have very little problems with illegal

immigration. the problem with -- i'm a second generation american. i support legal immigration. we've got to make sure that legal immigration works. the best way we do it is by enforcing our laws, number one. number two, going through a secure identification for every visa issued in the u.s.. you do not see illegal immigrants coming through the airports because the u.s. visit program has fingerprints embedded in their identification so you can identify somebody who has a passport that is not really theirs. if we did that, we would have a way to begin to clamp down on illegal immigration and honor legal innovation. ms. geary: is there a path way to citizenship? is there amnesty? sen. isakson: there should be no amnesty and no pathway should begin inside this country. ms. geary: then what happens to the 11 million people here? sen. isakson: you create a system where they can go back to their home state and apply to go back in the country. you can't just grant somebody amnesty in this country and make them a citizen if they came here illegally.

mr. barksdale: we have two problems. one is how do we want our workforce constituted with immigrants? this is a political discussion which i'm happy to enter into. we are nation of immigrants. we welcome and grow and thrive by people who have bought into our ideals. that the human rights issue of the people who are here is a significant. we need the fastest path to honorable citizenship that we can get. these are people that have been here for decades working. some of them came here to help us build the olympics. we cannot be demonizing them and separating them from their families and trying to just throw them out. mr. buckley: i am the only one who seems to fall the time limits here. mr. hullinger: that's not true. it's right on target. mr. buckley: unlike isakson, who voted for amnesty, he did. jim barksdale is for amnesty. we're also a nation of laws.

i'm all for enforcing the laws. we have a batch of illegal immigrants in the 1980's. we made them legal, now we have a second batch. if we make -- if we make them legal, another batch will follow. we do need to let more people in legally going forward. we've had the same quotas for decades. we need to let some of the students who come here and excel, state. ms. geary: mr. buckley in the past you mentioned the need for judges to interpret the law. judges are the last step before many men and women are incarcerated for a length of time, long sentences. how do you propose tweaking the judicial system so that those sentences are looked at on an individual basis and people aren't just pushed in like cattle? mr. buckley: there's been a number of studies recently that show our incarceration rate involves more repeat offenders. we've got to find the right mix which involves less imprisonment. there was an article this week

about michigan teaching prisoners to become machinist. they have 43% lower repeat offender rate. we need to do things like that. i'm for appointing judges who follow the strict letter of the law. the constitution. looking at the intent of the drafters. i don't believe in this living and breathing constitution in -- i have a friend in the audience who is in favor of it. let me give you a direct quote from the conservative view about johnny. isakson is usually a reliable vote to confirm most liberal executive and judicial nominees. that's one reason alone to not vote for johnny. we need to get conservative judges who follow the constitution and statutory law. mr. hullinger: senator, your response. sen. isakson: i don't know what to say to somebody that will take any subject and make it the statement he says is true which is hanley wrong. he is wrong on that statement. mr. buckley: i have the quote here.

it's on my website. it is from the conservative review, johnny wants to say it is not credible. do your on research to see how credible it is. mr. barksdale: our country should not be a country that puts more into incarceration than to educating and making citizen have opportunity. we have 5% of the world population but 25% of its prisons. part of that is due to mandatory sentencing which we need to end. we need to give judges discretion to make these decisions. i have been in the prisons and seen what a terrible situation that is. we simply cannot allow that to continue. we need to invest in do it we can to get these people brought back into our society as productive to do since. mr. hullinger: thank you, jim galloway. mr. galloway: donald trump has now endorsed term limits for

members of congress. six years for health, -- for the senate. senator david purdue has done likewise. mr. isaacson is seeking a third term. from all of you, what do you think of term limits and do we need a constitutional amendment to enforce them? mr. barksdale: i have to say that, i'm perfectly happy to support term limits. i personally would not seek to serve that many terms. one or two for senator i think is plenty enough. in the house, i think frankly it should be a similar time frame. more like 12 years for the house and 12 years for the senate. i think we want the government that allows people to come in, new voices to be heard, and basically keep the voice of the government, people, present and government. a part of the problem has been that without term limits, all the money flows to the incumbents. we see that with senator isakson, and that robs the voice of the people.

mr. hullinger: senator? sen. isakson: jim, that's a great question. in my career, i've been term limited three times already under the system we now operate on. on the eighth of november, voters of georgia want to send me home, they can turn me in on the eighth. the best term limit when the voters go to the polls and vote. we had 100% turn out in every election. we had term limits to where they ought to be applied rather than an arbitrary system of eliminating. mr. buckley: i was talking to my campaign manager in advance, i said there should be 12 and 12. 12 in the senate and 12 in the house, i do believe it would require a constitutional amendment. i will say something now, i don't mean to be mean. if that were the law, johnny would not be running now. the best thing for johnny, his family, our stay, our country, would be if you were not running right now. i talked to a lot of his friends who will tell me that confidentially. mr. hullinger: senator? sen. isakson: i think that's veiled reference to the fact that i disclosed a year and a half that i had parkinson's.

which is the hardest thing that i ever did, but also the best thing i ever did. every week in this campaign, people come up to me and thank me for making known publicly what they themselves privately known about themselves. the only way you attack things like parkinson's is to be open about it. i intend to win that battle. it is an inspiration for me to be here to stand up here today with these adjustment gentlemen. fight for your vote on november 8th. let the people of georgia decide who is best for them. mr. buckley: johnny, i wish you well on your health. honestly, it wasn't meant that way. your voting record, you're not voting conservatively. that's the main problem. we're a conservative state. you're telling everybody, we got to get our finances in order. you are just not proposing anything. you talked about a new tax bill. where's the bill? i never heard of that thing. in contrast, i got all of these proposals i worked on for 13 years to solve the problem. i got the energy to go up there

and put in the fight. no offense, i'm younger than you. mr. hullinger: senator, you get to respond. mr. buckley: you got more experience. sen. isakson: i am not going to hold your immaturity and inexperience against you. i look at jeff, i have to say this, i was saving this for the closing. your job like channel 11, hold the powerful accountable. hold us accountable november 8 and do not fall for any short story you might here today from one of these candidates. mr. hullinger: mr. barksdale. mr. barksdale: again, my main issue -- i have not been privy to his conversations with his doctors. i frankly applaud them for revealing it. i do not think you would be standing here today if he did not think it was appropriate so i will not question that. i do think it's appropriate that we ask that a commitment to serve out the full a six-year term, but i will not question why he is here. ms. geary: mr. barksdale, i want to ask you, there's several he -- high-ranking democrat supporting senator johnny

isakson. what do you think about that? is that insulting to you that these high profile democrats have decided to support the republican candidate? mr. barksdale: i'm not going to a grudge senator isakson the fact that he is been in politics for 40 years and made relationships. many go back to his college days. that is fine, i do not have a problem with that. i am viewed as an outsider. people don't know me as well. that can be upsetting to people who have been in the establishment for so long. what i'm up here to do is to say that i'm trying to fight for the people to get campaign finance reform to make sure that the big money is not controlling the decisions that people are being cared for. we need to make sure that incomes and jobs are present. that needs to be a priority. we can't have campaign contributions governing the systems of the basically we serve profit and party instead

of people. that's my objective is to go to washington and serve people. not profit and not party. mr. hullinger: mr. buckley. mr. buckley: let's face it. if johnny was really conservative as he claims and he's not, none of these people would be supporting them. they might like him. he's a likeable guy. everyone likes johnny. i like him, from what i know of him. sen. isakson: i was hoping that would be the case. mr. buckley: but the bottom line is, if he were really really conservative, they wouldn't be supporting him. why hasn't the democratic media gone against him for refusing to debate? mr. buckley: i have run it twice before and we had six debates, are they protecting him? i came to the realization, other than the second amendment, he's a democrat. if he wins or jim barksdale win, you get a democrat. there are some differences, i will admit. jim is a little bit more liberal than johnny. my time is up.

mr. hullinger: senator, you're time is beginning. your time to rebut. sen. isakson: i urge you to go look up this american conservative whoever it is he's quoting. check them out. mr. buckley: conservative review. sen. isakson: i know who some of the characters are. you will find out, everyone has an opinion. there is just happens to be dead wrong when it comes to me. mr. hullinger: last question. ms. scott: many say that in addition to women, millennials will be very important in november. do you think that is the truth? if so, how do you plan to engage them to bring them to the polls to vote for you? we can begin with mr. barksdale. mr. barksdale: i absolutely agree and hope it is true. the future belongs to that generation. we need to make sure they're actively involved. that was part what was so inspirational of what senator sanders accomplish in terms of bringing a voice to the public.

likewise, not because i am channeling senator sanders, i want the most effective people on my campaign, they have hired sanders former staffers. we are running a very aggressive campaign focused on social media and millennials to make sure they turn out to vote. mr. hullinger: mr. buckley. mr. buckley: the young people, please look at my website. i'm the only one looking out for you. democrats will give you free college. and the reality, on our current path the system will collapse in 20 years. you're getting a free college education and seeing financial collapse of the country likely within 20 years. i got all of these credible authorities on my website. many of them work for the government or did, and they all say the same result. when democracy collapses and republics collapse, they become dictatorships. look at adolf hitler. i'm the only one looking out for the young people. sen. isakson: millennials will play a huge role. the answer to this question is,

i don't have a facebook face. i don't do very good on twitter, but i got a designated tweeter. i do facebook all the time. i do facebook all the time. i try to reach millennials. they don't turn on the tv or read newspaper. they communicate through each other electronically. i'm trying to make sure we get our message to them because they are the future. my granddaughter out there, she can do things i can't do on my television. they are born with better intellect and ability to do those types of things, they're about the future. i want to make sure their future is rich and prosperous as the one i got from my parents when they left. mr. hullinger: all right that, is all the time that we have for questions. each candidate will now have 60 seconds for a closing statement. senator isakson, you get the first closing statement. sen. isakson: you have had a chance to hear from your three candidates, you know their issue and temperament. you know what they will say about each other, it's up to you on november 8th.

we've done our job to run. it's your job to make the choice. i'll end with a story in the last debate i had in 1990. we looked at an audience and he said if you ever walked down a country road, you come to a fence post and there is a turtle on top of the fence post, you know one thing for certain. it did not get there by itself. i didn't get where i am by myself today, because a lot of people including my wonderful wife, the georgia republican party and citizens of this state. i treasure the opportunities i have had. i thank you for your vote in the past. i will respect your vote in the future if you see fit. god bless the united states of america. mr. hullinger: mr. buckley. mr. buckley: georgia voters, our country has financial cancer. let's talk wasted vote. a vote for senator isakson who is now in his 70's, shown no interest in solving the nation's financial problems, but in fact has been a large part of grading the problems, would be a wasted vote. he's not going to turn a new

leaf and come up with fight and vigor and ideas. or bill to solve problems. a vote for mr. barksdale who will be a freshman democrat senator in his 60's, who has no unique ideas different from the general establishment of the democratic party, would be a wasted vote. in contrast, if i win this election, georgia, our state takes the country in a new direction. one that works and last indefinitely. i got the vigor, the fight and ideas and what we need. lastly, i asked the libertarians

at age 18, he had to take over raising a family of six siblings when his father passed away unexpectedly. my family learned you always step up for your responsibilities. that is why i was out cutting grass when i was eight, delivering newspapers at 11, working at the gas station at worked all through high school. i had a sense of responsibility to my family. i never inherited a dime. in 2008, when the financial crisis hit, i knew how bad it would be and i went to the bank and borrowed every penny i could to make sure i did not have to lay off any employees. i believe senator isakson has lost that responsibility to you the people. i will stand with you and together, we can accomplish some

great things. >> that concludes our debate. the general elections will be held tuesday, november 8, and early voting already underway throughout our state. our thanks to the candidates and our panel of journalists. like to thank the atlanta press club for arranging tonight's debate. atlanta pressthe club.org. thank you for joining us. have a great evening, everyone.

>> c-span brings you more debates this week from key races . saturday night at 10:00, the pennsylvania senate debate between pat toomey and katie mcginty. the debate in the south carolina fourth district race. admit night, the north carolina governors debate between pat cooper, and the libertarian candidate. monday night at 8:00, rand paul and jim gray debate for the kentucky senate seat. watch key debates from house, senate, and governors races on the c-span networks, c-span.org, and listen on the c-span radio app. c-span, where history unfolds daily. >> the candidates in minnesota's eighth u.s. house district are

rick nolan and stuart mills. the recently met for debate in st. paul. this is just over 30 minutes. ♪ >> good evening and thank you for joining us for this special. later in this program, we will take an in-depth look at minnesota's legislative races. we will discuss what is at stake for the candidates who are running for state house and senate seats and issues that are at the heart of many of these races. first tonight, the candidates running for congress in minnesota's eighth district will take part in a live discussion of the issues. you will hear from the incumbent rick nolan and republican challenger stuart mills.

minnesota's eighth congressional district covers the northeastern part of the state and include -- state. rick nolan first one the eighth district seat in 2012. this year's race is a rematch of 2014 when nolan be republican by less than 3800 votes. this race is on track to match, even beat that total this year. and now joining us tonight, we have eighth congressional district candidates rick nolan and steward mills. >> when i first went into public life, my father said if you just do a few things i will always be proud of you. be honest, number two, work for the common good.

nothing against the rich and powerful, but do not worry too much about them. they have a good way of taking care of themselves. staff and i do to create more jobs with living wages and benefits. to provide better benefits for our veterans. i am glad to say universities have found me to be one of the most effective members of congress and others have found me to be among the most respected for integrity. i am proud of that record. >> elections are about values and priorities and who is the

best fit to represent those values and priorities. congressman nolan is f-rated by the national rifle association, thinks obamacare is a great first step. engaged in a war on coal. think the iranian nuclear deal is a victory for diplomacy. hillary clinton wants to bring in 65,000 syrian refugees. congressman nolan wants to bring in 100,000 syrian refugees. we have to take a look at whose value systems matchup with our

part of minnesota. congressman nolan's value system match up with hillary clinton and the washington, d.c. elite. >> we will dig into a lot of these now. we want to start with the economy. we found a lot of minnesotans are concerned about the economy. minnesota is one of the top states when it comes to having low unemployment. not all industries are specifically in the eighth district are created equal. what needs to be done to make sure the eighth is economically viable when it comes to creating and sustaining jobs and job growth? mr. mills: the eighth congressional district is energy reliant. whether it is the paper industry , the number one cost of doing business is power, energy. when you have the obama administration that is engaged in a war on coal, that has it -- has made it more expensive for us to be competitive and

would have reigned in the epa and the obama administration's war on coal. we have seen that how our energy policies have put us at a competitive disadvantage. rather than going and perfecting clean coal technologies, which we have. we have taken away a vital power source that would have allowed us to be much more competitive on the world stage. we need tax and regulatory reform. congressman nolan voted for one of the biggest regulatory regimes foisted upon the american people. we have seen time and time again how washington, d.c. has gotten the tax and regulatory policy wrong and that energy policy. we need to make sure that in a main street oriented economy, and a economy that is so energy dependent that we get the priorities of greater minnesota

straight. mr. nolan: when it comes to the iron range mining, it is what we are all about. everyone in my neighborhood worked in the minds, i have tried to remind people that mining is not just important for the iron range, it is important for our national economy and our national security. it is vital to this nation's success. i am proud to say that as a result of the work i have done in expediting commerce claims against illegal steel dumping, getting more personnel at customs to catch the cheaters, more importantly, getting tariffs as high as 500% on cold rolled and hot rolled and corrosive resistant steel, we have seen a decline in illegal steel dumping into this country which is good for our national economy and also good for the iron range creek we have seen 1000 myers go back to work on the iron range at forbes and

-- 1000 miners go back to work at forbes and silver bay. natural resources, no one has done more. it is the work that i have done that inspired them to put 1000 workers back to work and inspired them to invest $65 million more in new technologies for development. i am proud to say that i enjoy the support of mining executives, of steelworkers, the support of industries and have been named the iron and steel institute as the national steel champion of the year. mining is who we are and what we do. in addition, paper and for street and tourism are vital estry and tourism are vital parts of our economy in the north country. >> let's talk about some of the trade deals that have been discussed lately. the tpp, nafta, those have been discussed a lot especially in

this political season. i want to ask what is your stance on these trade deals and if elected, would you try to keep them the same or make any changes? mr. nolan: starting with nafta, we saw tens of thousands of american manufacturing operations move overseas along with millions of good american jobs. i'm built my own sport trading company so i have seen how the rest of the world works. and no little bit about these trade issues. i am opposed to the transpacific partnership agreement and i think all these deals that we did in the past have to be every -- renegotiated. we built the strongest middle-class economy anywhere in the world in the last century. which included social security and medicare and rules to protect our air and water and environment. and then to come along with the model for the world and we have area can breathe and -- here you

can breathe and what you can drink they are paying $.65 an hour. we can begin to compete with -- we cannot begin to compete with that nor should we be expected to compete with that. we have to have trade guilds -- trade deals that require them to rise to our level of affluence and prosperity, not drag us down to their level of poverty and deprivation. mr. mills: i agree. nafta was something that should have had a sunset or a view period, it has not worked out. bill clinton signed that into law, it should never have become law. i am opposed but we cannot hermetically seal our economy inside our borders. 95% of all of our potential customers are outside the united states. what we need to do is get aggressive and negotiate some really tough trade deals to make sure that our trading partners cannot cheat. they cannot dump products onto the market and manipulate their.

-- their currency. they have to respect our intellectual property. and furthermore we have to stop farming our national sovereignty out to the world trade organization or to an appendage of the u.n.. we need a u.s. based trade remedy authority that is staffed by united states citizens to make sure that if there is cheating or dumping, that we are able to snap countervailing terrorists in place a must meet -- almost immediately we do not . have to have an endless series of hearings. we need to take control of our national sovereignty but negotiate extremely tough trade deals. >> we have seen something that is computed. we need to make sure that folks beyond -- behind the poverty rate do not pay more income tax. we need to have a limited number of deductions. it does not have to be one or two but small enough where we can fill it out.

the internal revenue service has gotten too big. it has gotten unwieldy. they are administrating parts for health care, we have the likes of lois lerner that are making some horrible decisions that have been punitive against pro-american groups. time and time again, we have seen what our tax policy has done to our economy. 1% economic growth is not a good result. we need tax and regulatory reform and we have to get back to our last best place of success when we had to o'neill and ronald reagan, two great bipartisan's work together for -- true bipartisan tax reform that ushered in the largest and the longest economic boom in u.s. history.

mr. nolan: this is probably one of the issues where we could not disagree more strongly. my opponent favors more tax breaks for the superrich and wall street billionaires. i oppose them. i think their taxes should be increased. they have benefited enormously from the readiness of our nation and they should be willing to step up and pay their fair share. which many of us would argue they are not. in minnesota we found, for example, people making 20,000 dollars to $50,000 a year are paying up to 33% on average in a you combination of real estate sales and income and other taxes. someone making a million dollars or more is paying 13%. if you made 30 and only got 22 live on but if you made a million you still have a hundred 70,002 live on. -- $870,000 to live on.

who is benefiting the most? my theory of economics is the percolate up theory. to build from the middle out, not the trickle-down theory. which has proved to be so disastrous and the imbalance between the rich and the poor right now in this country is perilously close to exactly what it was before the great depression that occurred in this country sometime ago. we have got to support a minimum wage which i believe you oppose. if someone goes to work every day, they are entitled to an income from that. to allow them to live with some modest degree of comfort. what this country does not need is more tax breaks for the rich. what we need is more income for the working men and women in this country. >> that is a mischaracterization. i am not going to congress to serve wall street. i am not for making sure that wall street is more successful. >> why do want tax breaks for

wall street? >> i certainly do not. i am focused on the individuals, i am focused on [indiscernible] those businesses that -- >> are you say -- are you saying you have not advocated for tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires? >> just being against the cap desk cash for clunkers -- the cash for clunkers program does not mean i am against those programs. programs. >>. you sell a lot? >> that is a member of my family. i am not involved in that is this and i had a front room seat. that was a double. the federal government screwed it up and it was not a net benefit. not to the automotive retailers. that is untrue. just one other thing. as far as the minimum wage is concerned, i am against the federal debt among wage. it should be the states that are deciding what the correct minimum wage is for their state.

we should not have washington, d.c. bureaucrats decide for all 50 states what should go on inside their borders when it comes to minimum wage. >> we are one nation and i think everybody in this country who is willing to go to work and put in eight hours, 40 hours a week, they are entitled to an income that would allow them to live with -- some modest degree of comfort. third -- you are telling us you do not support tax breaks and i am confused on what your position is on trade. i see an ad running on television by some group, it sounds like you saying you support free trade and you support these trade agreements, and you support these -- this asia-pacific alliance. >> that is a lie. >> was that not you? >> we need to get out there and negotiate much tougher trade deals. you have not released the entire

audio recording. do me a favor, you call on whatever committee put that out that is supporting you and have them released the entire audio recording. have them released the entire -- have them release the entire recording. >> what you're suggesting is illegal. you can make the call right now. you can turn and face the camera and asked them to release the entire audio recording right now. >> i would be more than happy. you know for fact we cannot coordinate and collaborate with these independent agencies. >> you can turn to the camera and demand that. >> every do say you support free trade. -- i heard you say that you support free trade. >> we're making sure we can -- take control of our national sovereignty. we cannot seal ourselves out from the rest of the economy.

95% of our customers outside of orders, we need much tougher trade zones. >> here's the point. i don't know what you said before or after, all i saw was a tv ad saying use of the free trade in these trade agreements. >> let's talk about more of these issues. our viewers have seen a lot of these ads and they want to hear more about some of these other topics we have. national security and terrorism, that is an important topic. let's move on to this. we have seen isis inspired attacks happen in the u.s., attack of the st. cloud mall, 10 people were hurt. minnesotans have been leading to syria trying to join isis. what needs to be done at the federal level to stop attacks and efforts that are happening here at home and things that are happening abroad, what efforts need to happen on the federal level to stop terrorism?

>> we have to defeat isis and that involves taking away their territory and taking away their money. interrupting their social media and propaganda programs, making sure that any of them attempting to come into the u.s. are carefully vetted and do not get into this country under any conditions and circumstances. at home, we have the homebred terrorists. we have to strengthen the resources that are -- our police and officers are able to utilize and -- in stopping these attacks. the police and peace officers association has endorsed my campaign. we just have to do a better job of interrupting all of their propaganda and their access to guns and weapons which is another issue between the two of us here. why on earth you would want to be able to sell guns to someone

who has pledged allegiance to killing us and are not even allowed to get on airplanes, why you would allow them to walk into your store or anybody else's store and buy guns is beyond me. perhaps you can explain that. these are some of the things we need to do to fight terrorism here and abroad. >> i am endorsed by the fraternal order of police. he is talking about endorsements. congress when nolan has a record on this subject. barack obama drew a red line in syria and we did not follow up on that red line. i believe that congressman nolan got in a shouting match on a phone call with secretary kerry over enforcing that red line in syria. we did not and into it created a vacuum. the russians are leading in syria. they are leading in favor of the assad regime. part of conversational instructor is that he wrote a letter on september 11, 2015 to

the obama administration. demanding that we bring in 200,000 refugees, 100,000 from syria. on the 18th of november of that same year, the homeland security committee concludes that we cannot bring in the refugees, 100,000 syrian refugees that conversation nolan why to bring in safely into this country. director call me said there is no way we can get these people, we do not know who they are. on the 19th he politically conveniently voted for the safe act but on the 24th, covers when nolan told the brainerd daily dispatch that even that he voted in favor of the safe act it does not change his original position of wine to bring in 100,000 syrian refugees for desperate for the end of this year and there no way to vet them. it will >> let's talk about the issue of syrian refugees. you have said you want to bring in 100,000 refugees from syria. is that the right course of action to take in this

situation? mr. nolan: -- these were found to be false and misleading. mr. bell: you wanted to bring in 100,000 syrian refugees. there is no way to vet them. mr. nolan: it takes two and a half years to go through that process which is why i voted for the safe act, requires the defense department, the cia, the fbi, immigration, and national -- mr. mill: in your letter you gave them eight months, not to and-a-half years. -- not 2.5 years. mr. nolan: i do not want to let anyone in this country unless they are carefully vetted. that is the keywords and i believe under the vetting process that we have in place now, we have let 24 syrians into minnesota, about 18 or 20 are women.

and children and a couple of them are men. it is important to know -- mr. mills: you are saying it is impossible to bring in 100,000 based on the vetting process. mr. nolan: i will not rely on any specific number until they are properly and thoroughly vetted. you're missing the keyword. mr. mills: i read the letter. >> my question to you then is on the topic of syrian refugees and there is a crisis in syria, what is the solution with a humanitarian crisis? mr. mills: we cannot control what russia and the assad regime is doing. we do not need open warfare. we should be targeting isis but

we have a humanitarian crisis and we need to get them in safe orders -- areas and we need partners to help participate and staff those safe areas. helping them there is the right answer for them, it is the right answer for us, bringing in 10,000, 100,000 syrian refugees does not make any sense. we have to put america and americans first. mr. nolan: we are talking about women and children, some 10 million of them, that the country is a living hell. i know from my experience in the middle east, a good measure of them are good, strong supporters of the united states of america. they stood by us, they translated for us, they fought alongside of us, they supported us in every which way imaginable. to say we are going to under any conditions or any circumstances that you into our country after they have been thoroughly and carefully vetted and send them home where they will lose their heads, it seems antimilitary and

-- unhumanitarian. there has to be a way for us to take our fair share of these 10 million refugees, provided that they are carefully and thoroughly vetted. >> let's move onto the topic of health care. we have a lot of opinions on this one. affordability is a big issue with health care. rates are going up 67% for some people in the individual market. i think this question is for you. how is your opinion of how the aca is working, would you leave it or repeal it altogether, what is your plan? mr. mills: i agree with bill clinton, it is the craziest thing and i agree with mark dayton, the affordable care act has become unaffordable. it is collapsing underneath its own weight. the crown jewel of the afford will care act was the co-ops.

starting with 23, we will have six or seven by the end of 2017. they will not be anything left. we know what has happened in the state exchanges and it has happened in the federal exchanges. if we start putting people into medicare cost of putting everyone into medicare, we turn it into a high risk full -- pool and we wind up collapsing that system the same way obamacare is collapsing. that system is set up for the benefit of our seniors. not only are we taking $716 billion out of medicare to pay for obamacare, congressman nolan's solution is to put everybody into medicare and collapse that system. mr. nolan: the current system that is run by the insurance companies is spending on average about 30% of all of our health care dollars on administrative costs and the insurance company profits and executive profits. that is why we converted for seniors in this country into medicare which is a single-payer

system. it operates court to a repeat -- for two percent to 3% and covers anybody, everyone pays into it. it is a wonderfully good program to emulate. most of the countries in the world have single-payer universal health care plans were everybody pays, everybody has got the basic fundamental care and everybody has a good policy. they provide health care to their citizens for less money and they get better results. we do need to go to a single-payer system. affordable to the care act, it does a lot of good things. with pre-existing conditions, it enabled them to get insurance. it allowed parents to keep their

children -- those are all good things. it required that women pay the same price for policies as men. i do not want to eliminate any of that. but we have to take it to the next step. the answer is not just to turn it all over to this free market insurance company that is so costly administratively. so many of our health care dollars get wasted. mr. mills: if i may have a quick rebuttal. just because you have insurance does not mean you have care. co-pay deductibles have gone up to the point where working families can no longer bring kids to the doctor when they get sick. because it is so expensive, you can't afford to use it even if you have insurance. the other thing