we will have live coverage of his remarks at 11 eastern this morning. at new we will take you to grand rapids, michigan where the republican presidential candidate is holding a rally. the first of a couple of campaign stops trump is making in michigan today. hillary clinton campaigning in ohio today. she will be in cincinnati starting at 6:15 eastern. new york times reporting that hillary clinton has established in several swing states. at least talking one million people have voted across the

country and in the pivotal state, colorado and nevada, nearly a quarter of the voters had cast ballots. polls are starting to come in after last week's announcement that the fbi is expanding its investigation of hillary clemens e-mails at secretary of state. real clear politics averaged polls of what the voters and found in florida it's a virtual tie. chris so was a tweeting out the race is tight as a tick. >> on election day november 8 the nation decides our next president and which party controls the house and senate. stay with c-span for coverage of the presidential race including campaign stops with hillary clinton, donald trump in their surrogates and follow key house and senate races with our coverage of their candidate debates and speeches. c-span, where history unfolds daily. >> u.s. house candidates for

california's county first congressional district held a debate recently in bakersfield. in a wide-ranging discussion he talked about immigration, water cy inty, u.s. tax poli the affordable care act. posted by kg et tv. this is about one hour. >> from your local election headliners, california passed 21st congressional district debate between republican david democratnd challenger emilio huerta. local election headquarters. california's 21st congressional district debate starts now. >> good to have you with us tonight. i'm jim scott along with my colleague evan on stott. we recommend -- we welcome you to our debate between the candidates for california's 21st congressional district. gop incumbent david balla deyo

and his challenger emilio huerta -- david balla deyo and his challenger emilio huerta. >> we're broadcasting in bakersfield. here 90 minutes north of -- before we start our debate we wanted to take a look at the race, this 21st congressional district and see what is at stake. >> representing the 21st congressional district in washington means covering a lot of ground. the 21st covers much of the southern half of the san joaquin valley including parts of fresno , kern, king in tulare county. from a section of bakersfield to the south to just stop a fresno to the north. --ford's david valid a oh the republican dairy farmer has won big twice despite democrats having a double-digit voter registration edge. emilio huerta plans to change that.

the bakersfield lawyer and son of labor icon the lower sweat a. -- dolores huert tonight there is plenty to debate. the best plan to bring more water to the valley. -- a chance to make their case to the voters. >> we've gone over the roles with the candidates. we flip the coin a moment ago. huerta, your first. mr. huerta: thank you for allowing us to be here this evening and think if the opportunity to speak to residents of the central valley and your viewers throughout kern, king tulare and fresno county. i have been a resident of the central valley my entire life. i was born and raised here in

kern county. i attended local schools. what the california state university bakersfield where i was able to graduate in three years after dropping out of high school. i went to law school at santa clara university. i came back to the valley. , wemily, my mother and i have always been at the forefront of trying to make workingtter for people in the central valley. i was a labor negotiator for the united farmers negotiating collective bargaining agreements to improve working conditions for farmworkers to the central valley. later in life, i was able to represent many community nonprofit organizations as board chair legally, board chair of federal credit union representing workers the victims of wage theft in the county. i know when i go to washington that i will be able to fight to bring resources and represent the true interests of the central valley. >> thank you, sir.

mr. valadao: thank you, jim, thank you evan, thank you for this opportunity. i represent the 21st congressional district. the last 3.5 years. a dairy farmer by trade. still currently farm and part of that was my family. my wife and kids still live out on the farm. i get to travel back and forth to d.c. my goal in life was to try to make things better for my community and my children to have the same opportunity i did. going to washington has been a huge learning experience. i'm proud of what we thought for. water for our valley. something less and the majority of my time on and will continue to fight on. making sure we have a process that allows businesses to be successful. but also coming home and spending time with my family. being part of the farm in trying to raise a crop. keep people employed and raise good kids for the next generation. thanks are having me.

>> thanks for being here. political ads are airing a lot. we wanted to start with that. my first question is going to be to you congressman, the democratic party has tried to tie you to donald trump as much as possible. you wanted to take a look at this ad right now from the house majority pack as well as solidarity anti-. -- solidarity aft. adao --erse in val truck denied water is a problem in california. ,t's why we need emilio huerta born and raised in the central valley. you refer the united farmers union. health care and job creation for all of us. responsiblety pac for the content of this advertising. evan: i know that you have tried to distance yourself from donald trump in recent months.

how do you respond to this ad? mr. valadao: i never once said those words that i support donald trump and they have put those in their. re. the local paper even said they deserve an emmy award. this is a -- this is what it is. when that statement was made there were 15 people in the race and since he became the nominee i separated myself and a few weeks ago when he said those -- when the audio came out -- it is a political world and we expect that when we get into these races. evan: mr. huerta? for theta: i think that most part it is pretty accurate. i think time is the ball valadao decided to put distance between himself. when mr. trump came out and andemned mexican immigrants

called them rapists and drug dealers, i myself, a mexican-american, was offended. i'm sure most residents in the central valley, a majority of which in the 41st district were latinos, were equally as offended as i was -- 21st district were latinos, were equally as offended as i was. waited until months and months later until donald trump was the presumed nominee for the republican party. he is a first generation son of immigrants. i don't understand how he can go home, faces parents, and basically say that he agrees with the view of the republican party. mr. valadao: that is not true. i never said those words. i never supported donald trump. i supported his opponents. we end up with a sort of thai. again, -- this sort of tie.

jim: you said this regarding this political ad. there, i can't change it so i think it clearly represents what we stand for. can you explain what you're referring to? i can't change that. mr. huerta: it was not my ad. it was an ad by an independent expenditure. the ad correctly portrays mr. valadao's position with respect to his views of donald trump and the republican party. he allowed the creation of donald trump. he enabled donald trump to be the republican nominee, the presidential candidate area you refused to stand up to donald trump even to this day. he's not called for mr. donald trump's resignation. jim: he allowed donald trump to become the nominee? mr. huerta: that's correct. jim: i thought that was decided

in the primary election. mr. huerta: he had a republic -- he had an opportunity and other republican leaders had an opportunity to condemn donald trump for his bigotry, his divisiveness. they did nothing. mr. valadao: endorsing his opponents and supporting his opponents, traveling to other states to help other opponents in the campaign and making statements i would not support that. the point i think meet three brought up is the fact that the best they can throw at me is attaching me to someone i've never been connected to. -- it's because a to what i've done in congress on product my record. -- so i am proud of my record. dishonestiving, it's and for those who care about the community and those who fight for our community in do the right thing this is the best they can throw at me. campaignvaladao released a political ad that criticizes you, mr. huerta, for making a profit off of a land

deal in fresno county involving the ufw and low income housing. let's roll that. mr. valadao: i'm david valadao and i approve this message. >> one of the worst real estate scandals -- emilio huerta used his influence to take land from the united farm workers that was intended for low income family housing. huerta sold the land for $1 million profit. abusing his power and turning his back on the families who needed an affordable place to live. emilio huerta, just another politician looking out for himself. jim: we should point out that the state attorney general found nothing illegal about that transaction. as to the assertion, mr. huerta, that you acted in your own best interest and not in those avenue low income family is not in those of low-income families, how would you were spot? mr. huerta: i never take position thaty

benefit myself or my associates. that was a transaction -- it was not property owned by the united farm workers. it was all i the national farmworkers -- the buyer backed out, the service center came to me and asked me if i could put together a team to buy the property. we purchased the property and were able to sell it and give the national farmworkers service center their money they needed to build educational radials and other affordable housing throughout the southwestern united states. investigation of the attorney general came as a result of false acquisitions from the l.a. times. a hit piece on the ufw. the attorney general's office investigated and found nothing inappropriate with the transaction. mr. valadao: i think it is unethical. when you try to represent an organization that supposed to be out there to help people, especially the most honorable, and you heard all the stories and things they talk about and you find out they are perfect --

they are profiting $1 million and you look at the national political front where you have paper play politics going on this is a scary situation. maybe it's not illegal but does that make it ethical? does that make it moral? can you look in the faces of those people and say it is ok to profit with that kind of money? jim: you said it was one of the worst ran deals -- worth land deals in the central valley. evan: is that an exaggeration in anyway? mr. valadao: i think it does a good job for trying what actually happened. jim: would you put mr. huerta in group of the carl kohl's of california? mr. valadao: i could not compare them. jim: probably the worst mortgage fraud scam and case in california history during the bust and boom of the wood real estate market. mr. huerta: i think the difference between my work in the valley as compared to mr. done housing for

poor people. he's never built anything. i've done credit unions for poor people. this transaction you mentioned probably happened more than 10 years ago. even subsequent to that article by the l.a. times i continued to work with low income community-based organizations with housing development corporations to continue to clean, safe, affordable housing to communities such as bakersfield, porterville, phoenix, arizona throughout the southwest united states. community groups have been willing to work with me. i've worked with the federal home loan bank, tax credit agencies from california, hours on a texas and new mexico -- arizona, texas and new mexico. -- tont together a deal bring together a deal for local community's. mr. valadao: it's typical of someone who's never actually built a business to undermine, to put down.

we employed folks. we continue to build and grow and provide for the economy. when we talk about jobs, what we do for our community, especially when all the different groups come to us as business owners and ask for resources, as for money to support different events. does a lot of things we do in our communities but to say you've never built anything i would say the people that work for us and our employees enjoy coming to work. i would say that shows we've done a good job for our community. we've actually created jobs and we've created a business that is successful, gets the economy going and provides a resource, some dollars for our community. what more than that the one? -- what more than that do you want? different the appropriations committees making sure the resources are there so people can come in and help direct a little bit. in my role i provided quite a bit of assistance and i'm proud of that record as well. i've done it on both sides. jim: congressman valadao, many

observers in the valley, this republican-controlled congress has really done nothing to move forward on the issue of immigration reform. do you accept any of the blame for that and if reelected what you do to get this issue resolved? mr. valadao: does a lot of folks that i would say blame on that. i would start with the president and the former speaker. the very beginning of this congress there was an opportunity to get something done. speaker boehner told president obama do not do anything. let us move forward. he chose to take a different path and that ruined this conversation on immigration. thingsrt of policies and that have been a part of major piece of legislation but overall immigration reform is something i'm supportive of and continue to work on behind the scenes especially with other members who are interested and tried to prepare for the next round because a believe there's an opportunity for it. it is something that i take very seriously. something that i think there is a real opportunity.

for us to just throw it out would be a mistake. did not help the situation when he decided to make his -- what he did. huerta?. mr. huerta: political convenience. he's as to latino families in the valley that he supports immigration reform but he does everything he can to block it. in march of this year he signed onto a house resolution to condemn president obama's executive order on the dreamers. he asked the supreme court to strike down president obama's action in that regard. when he was on the appropriations committee he refused to sign the discharge petition. when he was in the state assembly he voted against allowing dreamers to enroll in local universities, junior college, as california residents so they could avoid paying

out-of-state tuition. he voted against allowing dreamers to having access to state financial aid so that they could continue their education and be contributing members of our community. at every turn he says he's for immigration reform -- his party leader, majority leader paul ryan, has made an agreement with conservative republicans to not bring the immigration bill to the floor. this is his party, his leader, and that is why we don't have -- mr. valadao: as far as the amicus brief, that was a controversial issue. anybody who decides to run for congress and put their name on the ballot has understand they are running for congress to write laws. that has nothing to do with immigration. specific on the president overstepped his bounds in trying to write law. the president is an executive. the congress writes the law. we had to reinforce that and protect that. anybody that thinks that that --

especially those that voted no on that have to understand that in four years, eight years, 12 years, 16 years, whoever the president is 50 said that president where they have -- set that precedent, what do we have is a future? do we end up with the dictatorship? i think we have to protect the institution invite to do our jobs and pass immigration reform the right way. evan: i'm going to ask a follow-up. mr. huerta: when he voted to deny dreamers and the children of immigrants the right to attend college, the right to be able to have an affordable college education, the right to secure financial aid, those children are now here in the valley. that was six or seven years ago. is that what he will tell the next generation of children? that it was a political move to question the authority of president that his reasons were not endorsing true immigration reform because it was not the right time --

[indiscernible] after signing on got attacked from the left. have groups like his come out and attacked me and made it more difficult because we have the opportunity to get something done but as soon as the three of us stepped up to the plate, got attacked on tv, a lot of other members who would've been there decided to back off. they figured out they did not have the support. evan: i wanted to ask about amnesty. millions of undocumented immigrants in this country. a lot of them in the central valley. where do you stand on the issue of amnesty for these people? mr. huerta: in 1986 my mother along with united farm workers union -- my mother sitting in the audience, was able to lobby for the passage of a bill which president reagan signed in which farmworkers tremendously benefited. we in the central valley, majority of farmworkers that pick our crops and put food on our tables lit in the central valley and they were able to benefit from the amnesty

provision. i'm not sure if amnesty is necessary for comprehensive immigration reform, but we do need to have a pathway to citizenship. we do need to have a mechanism where we can bring the 12 million undocumented immigrants, men and women that work every day and do jobs nobody wants to do in this country, and be able to give them legal status so that we can bring them out of the shadows so they can become andaying community members they can contribute to the building of roads and schools and make our communities better. mr. valadao: there is no such bill in congress that is amnesty by definition. amnesty is the pardon of a large group of people without punishment. every piece of legislation and a part of has to do with allowing those that are here to go through a process so they can become legal. is going to be some in that that probably are not the ones we will want to stay because they got some criminal backgrounds

but for the people that are working hard in the field, working hard in the restaurant ,ndustry, the service industry we got a come up with a system that addresses the 11 million that are here but you have to have a process to make sure we have just worker programs, visa programs that work. at the end the day amnesty by definition there is no such legislation proposed or in the process of being proposed in congress today. jim: we're going to take a break. you're watching a live debate here on tv 17. and it's for california's 21st congressional district. we're right back after these words. evan: welcome back.

a debate between congressman david valadao and emilio huerta. mr. huerta, you have no prior experience in elected office which is not necessarily a bad thing. everybody starts there at some point. your critics say you would not be in this race if it was not the fact that your mother is dolores huerta who is here tonight. what he say to critics that say that you are riding on her coattails? mr. huerta: i'm grateful for the life that my mother has given us area think it was unique and we certainly were involved and have been involved in have been at the forefront of social change and bringing justice to social issues in the valley since i was a child. i think my track record speaks for itself. -- the last 40 plus years over 20 years as an attorney, i've been active in the community. just last week i was coaching my mock trial students. i travel to other communities.

i've done work throughout the central valley in the state of california both as an attorney, helping nonprofit organizations develop. building credit unions in financial engines duchenne's -- financial institutions. i think when you look at the work that i've done, my commitment to the community, my dedication, my work ethic, that i'm qualified. i believe i'm the best candidate for this office. evan: i'm going to move to this next question to you, sir. you spent two terms in office tried to push legislation that would modify federal environmental regulations. trying to bring more water into the valley. yours,ople -- critics of would say that you have not been able to do that. the end result is not a big change, people would say. how do you respond?

mr. valadao: we got closer than we've ever been. when you compare where we've been historically on water the situations gotten so much worse because of all the environmental regulations. the regular patient does not change -- the regulars and does not change it just allows for commonsense reform in between. we've actually got four or five different pieces of legislation on the senate side right now waiting for senators to come to the table. which isriations bill a step closer with ever been before getting senators to introduce the bill is something they've never done before so now we are getting people to the table and we are getting to the point where we are a most there. aside from that this other things i've worked on. picking sure we have funding for clinics. thatg sure we have -- sure the farm programs are working the weather supposed to. make sure when programs have more access points and purchase point throughout the valley. those are things are things that put into those appropriation bills and are laws that i helped

implement. there are things i put in the farm bill -- agriculture producers looking for new markets and treated with a price their product. evan: mr. huerta? mr. huerta: mr. valadao stood here and said he blamed harry reid and the u.s. senate for not passing his legislation and knocking laws passed and signed by the president. now we have mitch mcconnell. a republican-controlled senate and house. mr. valadao has been effective in getting his legislation passed it enacted into law. in the meantime, we in the central valley our air is getting worse. we are now in the third year of the drought. communitiessmall are being negatively impacted by the drought. as much as mr. valadao would like to boast that he believes that we will get legislation passed that will benefit the

valley the truth is that he's probably one of the most ineffective representatives with ever had from the central valley. -- as a freshman congressman what would your approach be to stabilize water deliveries from the delta to the valley is mr. valadao has been so ineffective? what would your strategy be? mr. huerta: the first step would be to reach across the aislemr. --rta: to talk to folks who folks from northern california to invite stakeholders to the table. the water legislation he's proposed there's been no public hearings. he's not invited any input from the folks of northern california. the water crisis we are confronting in the central valley is a statewide issue. if this drought continues this be inand the valley will a much bigger crisis the world are experiencing today. i would reach across the aisle and it will be suspending

environment the regulations. east of here, right over the sierras we have a place called mono lake. we've seen what unrestricted drainage of water would do to an area. a pristine area in the state. we're not going to want that to happen in northern california. we have to be able to demonstrate to them that we would use and manage water wisely to the benefit of all california residents. mr. valadao: anybody who's read the bill would know that most of the stuff he said is false. no clue what we're doing and what's going on. the bill is bipartisan, has support from democrats, has support from northern california. while california water districts that manage a lot of those projects we're worried about. we have worked across the aisle. the problem that we have is we have two senators from california who need to step up to the plate and deliver this. other senators are not going to

come into california unless we have at least one of ours supporting us. we need more help from our own senators but as far as legislation itself it does not touch the endangered species act. it asked for some common sense. make sure that you are actually going to prove it to us with actual science. common. a reason a piece of legislation. i would ask anybody who challenges it to sit down and read it and call me. to throw stones at it, read it first. it is evidence that he is no clue he has no clue is talking about. jim: the endangered species act. would either of you envision leading the charge to suspend any provisions within the instant interspecies act -- and the endangered species act that thericts water supply to w valley? mr. huerta: i'm not sure that's the answer. thenot sure the regulating

environmental protections in the endangered species act is going to get us where we need to be. all we have to do is we have to invite stakeholders to the table . we have to be able to convince them that the crisis here is not , it'sbout water for ag about water for families that don't have water. there's communities year in east tulare county. .elano, kettleman city up and down the valley. it's no longer a question of water to sustain agriculture economy. it's about water just to stay in families.- to sustain we have our own flint michigan going on right now today. we are going to need everyone's help in order to clean our water. in order to ensure the continued delivery of safe drinking cleaning water. mr. valadao: i appreciate he named all those communities.

everyone of those that he mentioned is affected by the community. cattlemen's mentioned 900 acre-feet from the delta. there are communities on the west side who rely solely on water from the delta. today there are 55 percent of historical use. the legislation i introduced and is sitting now and for five different pieces of legislation does address that. it's far the east side, those we claimed to be friends with and have supported him in his race are the ones that sued to force us to send the water down that river. the communities along east tulare county, all the way down to arben, all guys who get water from the kern canal. that lawsuit, environmentalists came in forced us to send water from the canal although we don't the san joaquin river. what we see now is the cause of that. my legislation repeals that. it's commonsense legislation and as far as endangered species act, might request is if you're going to try to turn our palms

off proved to us with science that you're going to save a species and you can turn the pumps off. just turning palms off because they feel it's the right thing to do is not the way were going to operate. evan: both of you were involved in agriculture in different ways . what do you think of the new farm worker overtime laws that have been passed in california? paying farmworkers the same type of overtime as just about everybody else. mr. valadao: the problem with agriculture and it's a different world. when you look at any other industry you are year-round. when you look at harvesting crops, giving farmworkers the opportunity to work more hours of the get more money during the shorter amount of time is something they have benefited from. i expect to see more people make less money. evan: one thing that i've heard from a lot of growers and farmers, they say they will be cutting hours to a lot of -- mr. valadao: that's going to have a direct impact on salaries. they're going to be working eight hour days and that of 10 hour days.

it's going to make it harder for them to feed their families. evan: have you already planned on making some of these cuts? mr. valadao: we're going to have to make decisions as they come. a pretty long period it has worked in so we will see how it plays out. is something that my brothers and my uncles will have play a role in because i don't have that much of a management role anymore. evan:? what do you think about farmers are overtime mr. huerta: i think it's great. farmworkers are the hardest working people in the valley. we know the value and the contributions that farmworker have made. one of the reasons for denying overtime for farmworkers? every industry pays their workers overtime. we have laws for years in california and throughout the nation giving workers the right to overtime, paid meal period and paid rest period's. the united farm workers union came about to give farm workers

overtime. when i was negotiating contracts in the early 1980's, we had overtime in those contracts for farmworkers. employersid the complain that they were going to have to shorten hours. not once did employers complain that they were going to receive less hours. i think it's appropriate. we need lawsing the in the 49 the country of the stick that the provide the same level of protection for farmworkers to the country. jim: i don't think i heard of single political ad since i've been covering politics for 30 plus years that has not included a promise to bring more jobs to a constituency. i think our viewers deserve some specifics from both of you gentlemen here tonight. you've promised to bring more jobs to the 21st district. can you point to one specific strategy that would serve as a catalyst for job creation? mr. valadao: the water is the

one that has the largest impact in the valley because it's not just about farming, not just about communities. if you look at any city around that is trying to track investments they all talk about -- like they all talk about doing, not having a study water supply does play a role. if i'm investing in an area, if i make a decision i want to picture the have enough water so my floors. other things i've worked on, energy policy. -- the a lot of people last oil price drop we lost thousands of jobs in the valley. one of the things that i've done and i was a part of was the oil export ban allowing more markets for our oil industry. we've listed oil export bans so they would be more competition for products. hopefully that should help and i feel like it has helped little .it to create jobs as far as the energy side, make sure we have before noble

energy. we look at solar and all of these different things but anytime you make an investment in any technology at the end of the day you have to make sure it's affordable so people can keep their families culpable. if you're going to invest in the value to have the ability to operate whatever -- jim: specific ideas on generating new jobs. mr. huerta: we are not going to be will to attract industries to come into the valium as we have a skilled workforce. it starts with education. our educational levels are deplorable. -- a little more than 50% of our kids graduate from high school. of that less than 10% graduate from college. the children% of here in the central valley will not have a four year college education. how are we going to attract the industry's to come to the valley we don't have the skilled to attracto be able

those types of industries? in developers industries it's not enough to have job-training programs. we have to invest in education. our community colleges. we have to invest in job training programs. and then develop a skilled workforce. it has been too long. the 21st congressional district is one of the poorest congressional districts in the country and has remained poor during easter valadao post-tenure -- during mr. valadao's tenure. mr. huerta: i agree that education is a big deal -- mr. valadao: i agree that education is a big deal. making sure that we brought back education to the local level. a bill that was signed into law by the president. one of the things we did at the end of the year last year and something that will have real impact area at another thing that has to play a role in all of this is making sure that we have good teachers. because of my heart for it on education over the last few

years i've got the support of the teachers association in california and the national education association have come out in support of me because they know i've been there for them on education. typeg sure carl perkins funding is there so we can continue to support vocational education. jim: we will give you the last word before we go to break it you have anything to add mr. huerta. mr. huerta: my daughter went to public high school. she got a law degree and she decided to come back to this community as i did as an attorney in order to serve our community. we need to invest. we are giving up on our children and if we continue to do that were not going to attract new industries. were not going to be able to give them the opportunity to achieve the american dream. evan: were going to take a quick break. back in a couple of minutes with the candidates for the 21st congressional district.

evan: welcome back. we thank you for being here. let's turn the homeland security how should the u.s. proceed with the processing of middle eastern immigrants seeking entry into this country? something that's coming up in front of us. congressman i'm going to start with you. mr. valadao: there is a process in place. the syrian refugees that have been waiting to come and usually a process of three to four years. i think the president achieved 10,000 last year. it is something we ought to continue to watch. we don't have way to another backgrounds and to allow people in without -- we can wait three years with the waiting in a refugee camp that not knowing what the real background is a scary situation. i've been strong in opposition to allowing so many in. we have to look at it from the perspective. ability to defend

themselves or allowing to be able to take over this country so other terrorist organizations don't -- i think pulling refugees out of their pulls the numbers against us. i think we should be reinforcing them and giving them the opportunity to defend their country. evan: hillary clinton wants to increase the number of immigrants coming in from the middle east. places like syria. do you agree with her? mr. huerta: absolutely. the american people have always been generous with allowing refugee immigrants to come into our country. i think we have to be able to war.me the victims of people who have no other options . to be able to preserve their ourly union to come into country. not using religion or the nationality as a litmus test, but to look at the circumstances in which they have applied for refugee status in our country.

give them the opportunity to become american citizens in the united states once they've been here for a while. jim: it only takes a couple of bad apples to really cause big problems. we've seen it in california and florida. people, homegrown terrorists, not to mention terrorists who may come over from another country seeking refugee status. do you not feel there should be any vetting process involved with these refugees? mr. huerta: there should be some sort of vetting process but there is no unique way to determine who's going to be a criminal and who has a predisposition to engage in a criminal act. criminality is not unique to a muslim or a syrian or someone from the middle east. race should not be a factor in determining who is eligible for refee status. mr. huerta: we literally don't know anything at -- mr. valadao:

we literally don't know anything about these people backgrounds. i know there is a slow process area it is a three to four year process but in three to four years it's still not enough. not knowing anything about their background. if they have a criminal record. a scary situation. pulling them away from their home country to bring them to the u.s. and even the talk of citizenship on a situation like this i think is absurd. you have to look at the situation and we look a country like that, we look for allies of these country we should work with them if we need to put up more camps if we need to meet the more comfortable, i support that. allowing them to stay there in their countries with their families and friends in the communities they really jim:.ized something we have to pay attention to. if the next president decided to put american boots on the ground in the overall effort to iraq, is isis from that something you could support mr. huerta is a freshman congressman? mr. huerta: isis is an

international problem. the entire international community should be prepared and should contribute to eradicating isis. i do think we, as the united states, should confront taking on ice is alone. those countries impacted by isis -- jim: certainly not alone but should our soldiers be there on the ground?? would you support for regular troops as part of a coalition force? there would have to be great deliberation. compelling reasons for sending american troops. area young men and women overseas to fight isis -- our young men and women overseas to fight isis. only when we have the exact circumstances, the introduction strategy and exit strategy for when those men and women would be there for how long. mr. valadao: i've personally gone and visited. i spent this past christmas with our troops in iraq. had the opportunity to take some -- justy from my family

a few months ago i had a chance to visit some of our troops in egypt. it's something i've thought about a lot. i think we have to play a role in this area i think the u.s. has played a leadership role. there is a coalition. every time i travel to any of these bases we work with there are lots of countries were playing a role. i've been briefed by british, canadian, i've even seen colombian soldiers out on the field. .t is nice to see the coalition as far as making the decision to go forward and keep more on the ground you have to look at the intelligence, the exact situation. it is something i'm willing to look at and have a conversation. it's going to take a lot of research and are going to have to have the commander in chief that you trust to make sure them evan:. care of

really almost no such thing as traditional war, traditional threats. their cyber threats, threats to our power grid for example, which could be destabilizing to our country in many different ways. in your view, how vulnerable is our country's power grid? how vulnerable are we to cyberattacks now and as a congressman what you doing to help protect america? mr. valadao: through the energy and water subcommittee i am on appropriations. cyberattacks and especially electrical grid is something abroad up quite a bit with them and i continue to put pressure on the secretary of energy and the department of energy in general. z has hurt for me quite a bit on this issue. the more we get into smart meters and things like that. more technologically advanced system. more computers opens the door for more hacking. when you get into faster and stronger computers like supercomputers or quantum computers this is something that could play a role and is something we are aware of.

something i continue to bring up. it is on my radar. evan: mr. huerta?, how would you approach this topic mr. huerta: i have not had the privilege of being briefed on national security issues. i truly believe we have to protect our infrastructure. with protect our water delivery systems, our electrical delivery systems. we have to protect those resources. our infrastructure so that we are subject to attacks. i think it's appropriate to make the investment in the commitment to protect the american people and the infrastructure we have in the united states. mr. valadao: it's not a briefing where you get this information. it's public information i know you don't have any classified credentials. that i have had good friends recommend to me. there's also people in kern county that have talked to me

and made investments computing -- computerguard technology to try to get ahead of this. evan: he wants to reduce fossil fuels in california. what to do it everywhere. mr. huerta, do you support the governor in this regard? mr. huerta: i support clean air. i support a clean environment. particularly for us residents in this of in central san joaquin valley where we have the worst air in the country. this seems to be very the movement on the part of congress to help clean our air and to ensure our families that live here that they will be able to live a healthy life that the children's life expectancy will not be shortened because of the bad air. i believe we have to reduce carbon gas emissions and we have to have policies that will lead to a healthy clean environment for us in the central valley. jim: the epa continues to punish the central san joaquin valley

for our poor air quality even though in the face of new audies that show that considerable amount of air contaminants that end up down here come to us from northern california and that we, some say, carry a disproportionate share of the board and for other people's pollution. is that a fight you're willing to fight in congress with the epa? mr. huerta: absolutely. agree significant portion of our air gets trapped. the bad air that comes from the bay area and down south to the central valley gets trapped here and it has no way out. we have to begin to clean up the air. there should be a man-made solution. mr. valadao: you bring up a good point. even the head of the regulatory agency in the central valley has said if we get rid of every single combustible engine in the valley we will never meet the standards. there's monitoring stations outside the bay in the bay area let's say some of the standards we are supposed to meet, the air coming in before it touches california does not meet the standards.

that is a real problem. we all want clean air and clean water but when you got ahead of the regulatory agency saying we will never meet the standards and we continue to have to pay every one of the hard-working people in the central valley paying those fees for a goal that is not attainable. i thought -- i fought a different avenues to mature we fix that. commonsense regulation. we've looked at ways of making sure the fees that are paid to try to keep them. the central valley so at least the central valley benefits from them. evan: mr. huerta, you've pledged to stand in the way of any attempt to repeal or defund obamacare. i think we recently did a story in fresno about a family's premiums are going up 300%. she's worried she's not going to be able to pay for care. why do you stand in support of this program? mr. huerta: there are 20 million people in the united states that now have health insurance that

did not have health insurance before the affordable care act. there were many insurance companies, including my own insurance company, that refused to provide health insurance to my daughter that she had a heart murmur when she was born. fortunately for her, later in life that was not an issue. without the affordable care act, which prohibits insurance companies to discriminate against folks with pre-existing childrenand allows the of working families to continue on their parents insurance programs until their 26, there would be hundreds of thousands of people in the central valley that will be denied access to affordable health insurance. you're correct in the sense that the affordable care act still need work. it's not a perfect model, but it is a lot better the interpretive in terms of denying working families afford will help insurance. mr. valadao: there are things in the affordable care act that

makes sense. the pre-existing condition is a concern but you want to make sure that people with pre-existing conditions are seen. we got a find a way to make sure that continues to be addressed. allowing kids to stay on until they are 26 is a positive. i have family members of my own who struggle because of lifetime limits. i know that is something a lot of families in the valley struggle with. the 20dy talks about million that have insurance cards and i know that makes people feel good. the problem that we have with that is people who have good insurance in the past to pay their bills, now the have this insurance card. doctors are no longer seeing them and the going to local hospitals and hospitals are not being reimbursed. i saw my opponent in kalinga and one of the things that was brought up is that the kalinga hospitals starting off with a $34 million -- half $1 million deficit to on the verge of closing their doors. a community on the edge of the valley like that so far away from fresno, we want to make sure we keep those doors open.

those reimbursement rates, the insurance card is not what it's all about. we are to mature we keep those doors open. -- we have to make sure we keep those doors open. mr. huerta: from down south in san diego county here in kern county my own father was the executive director of a primary health care clinic in fresno for many years. my brother is a doctor and kern county. you have seen the benefits of the affordable care act. the excess money that has been brought to our community locally so that we can build new clinics and oil they'll, western kern county. there are hundreds and hundreds of farmworkers, working families than that have access to primary health care did not have it before. jim: time for closing statements. by virtue of the coin toss, mr. huerta will go first.

mr. huerta: thank you for having us again. my life has been dedicated to helping working families in the central valley. as a young negotiator, as a lawyer representing women who have been discriminated in the workplace because of their pregnant condition. who haveing workers been denied reinstatement to employment because of existing medical conditions. helping workers regain lost wages. in california, on average among $3000 tore deprived $4000 on annual basis because their employers have refused to pay them over time for missed meal periods or missed bric period's. i have dedicated my life and career to helping working families in the central valley and i will go to washington and continue to fight for us in the central valley and for all californians because i know california is the great state. we live in a great community yet we are the poorest congressional district or one of the poorest

congressional districts in the country and one of the richest agricultural economies in the country. mr. valadao: thank you again for the opportunity. i enjoyed this conversation we've had. i worked my butt off doing everything i can for the district. everything ever focused on estimate shall the people of the central valley are happy. we are getting through things but at the end of the day when you have a representative in congress that makes as much effort as i do to go out to small communities to make sure that my constituent casework is taking care of so that you see the stories on tv about a veteran who was held or a family with social security issues that was helped, that has been my goal, to ensure the people of the central valley are successful. i positioned myself on committees that tie directly to the central valley. everything of ever done in my role in political office has always been for the central valley. i feel like my personal experience as a business owner, as someone who is to deal with regulations, also has to do with

the unemployment -- also has to do with the employment side. we have thensure ability to attract businesses. i feel like i bring that to the table. evan: one of these men will be representing california's 21st congressional district. mr. huerta, congressman, we appreciate you taking the time and wish you the best of luck as we head down the home stretch. jim: it's coming up. ,rom a colleague evan onstat scott. scott -- i'm jim we want to thank the candidates and you for spending time with us tonight. go out and make an informed decision at the polls on november 8. good night. ♪

>> c-span brings you more debates this week from key u.s. senate races. tonight at eight: 8:00 eastern rand paul and jim gray debate for the kentucky senate seat. live coverage of louisiana senate debate between a field of candidates republican ,ongressman charles per stanley foster campbell, fayard, john fleming, john kennedy, republican david duke. republican senator kelly ayotte and democratic government and he has an debate for the new hampshire senate watch key races on the

c-span networks and listen on the c-span radio app. c-span, where history unfold daily. >> i did research information because this is the case with a lot of pieces that will be done for this competition. mental illness especially. it's a complicated issue. it is so multifaceted that i had to research to get a base knowledge of what i wanted to talk about in this piece. it's so complicated that i can't talk about it all in five to seven minutes. >> pharmaceuticals is a really broad topic. i thought it would be nice to have a focal point that i want to focus on. before i started interviewing my parents. before i started shooting i researched this topic. this is my dad's pharmacy.

talked to the pharmacist there. i talked to my mom and her coworkers. i actually went to the library. >> a lot of internet research to find facts and data and statistics about employment of those with dement -- developmental disabilities and to see what was going on. most of the information that i got off the internet came from government founded websites. that's how i knew that most of the information i was getting was legitimate. >> this year's theme, your message to washington dc. what is the most urgent issue for the new president and congress to address in? 2016 isan't -- our competition open to middle school and high school students grades six through 12 with $100,000 awarded zes.ash pric include some c-span programming

and also explore opposing opinions. the $100,000 in cash prizes will be awarded in shares between 150 students and 53 teachers. $5,000 will go to the student or team with the best overallor team with the bel entry. year's deadline is january 20, 2017. so mark your calendars and help us spread the word to student filmmakers. go to our website, studentcam.org. >> live now to the national press club on this monday morning for paypal cofounder .eter thiel he discusses the presidential election and why he is supporting donald trump. live coverage here on c-span should start in just a moment. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]