play unless harm is done and unless you can prove unfair or deceptive practices. those are very high hurdles for security systems to be able to realize or be able to bring to the ftc. announcer: watch "the communicators" tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span two. -- on c-span2. inouncer: next, a debate that eight teams district -- at the house race in pennsylvania congressional district between republican rick saccone and democrat mr. lamb. this is about one hour. announcer: a local race on the national stage. >> a special house election drawing national attention. >> fascinating race. announcer: a special election for the 18th congressional district. >> i"m running for congress because i want to help the people of the 18th district. >> i just feel like i can go down there and be an asset. announcer: republican state

representative rick saccone. democrat and former federal prosecutor conor lamb. two military veterans spending time and effort to win your vote. >> i hope the voters of the 18th district will look at my record and look at my family, my background. >> i am running a campaign based on western pennsylvania values to solve western pennsylvania problems. announcer: and tonight they go head-to-head right here in the wtae studios. ♪ shannon: hello, everyone. i'm shannon perrine. on behalf of the league of women voters and wtae channel 4, welcome to our debate in the special election for pennsylvania's vacant 18th congressional seat.

the election is tuesday, march 13. our candidates tonight, four term state representative from the 39th distrcit, republican rick saccone. and a former federal prosecutor out of the u.s. district attorney's office, democrat conor lamb. welcome to our panelists. league of women voters representative kathleen clyman. news 4 reporter bob mayo. and freelance journalist and former kqv reporter elaine effort. candidates, you drew numbers to determine who would answer the first question, that would be mr. lamb. mr. saccone, you will have the closing word. here are the rules. you will have one minute for each response. closing statement, 60 seconds. if there is more to follow up on i will allow more time for , follow-ups at my discretion as moderator. so, the very first question comes from me and it will address the elephant in the room, something we have been talking a lot about over the last few months. we are here tonight because tim murphy made career ending mistakes.

after 15 years in the house of representatives, congressman murphy, who is pro-life and voted that way, reportedly asked his mistress to have an abortion when he thought she was pregnant. it was also reported that he was hostile in his congressional offices. some staffers reported being afraid of mr. murphy, citing impossible demands, personal insults and even threats. if you win, what specific steps will you take to simply be a man of your word? how would you model behavior that you would want to see from your staffers and other americans? this is not a question of will you but how will you. mr. lamb, you are mr. lamb: i first. learned to be a man of my word from my father and grandfather. i had the privilege of growing up in a family that is very demanding. and when i became a little

older, i had the honor of a lifetime of becoming an officer in the united states marine corps. i didn't become an officer to change for anybody. when i took the oath for the first time, i thought about the phrase semper fidelis. what the marines are known for. it means always. some things are nonnegotiable. telling the truth, having integrity and treating people right are basic things that we live by. you know, there is one thing that we say in the marines, officers eat last. we take it literally. when the group gets together for thanksgiving dinner or dinner out in the field the highest , ranking officer goes to the end of the line and junior marines eat first. you always put your people first. that is what i will do. mr. saccone: i worked in the state legislature where every word you say is picked apart and put on camera every day. and all of my speeches and appearances are put up on my

website. so i am always very much aware , that your word matters. and people look at that. i think people in the 18th district know i have kept my word. from the campaign promises i made years ago, i have kept them all. i am known as the man of integrity and a man of my word, and i will continue that. shannon: the next question goes to mr. saccone. kathleen: town hall meetings have traditionally been held, with questions in advance. do you intend to hold traditional town hall meetings in your district and with what frequency and what restrictions if any? ,mr. saccone: i am one of the most accessible in the state legislature.

the town halls are open to anyone. i field any questions. i have never run away from that. i think that, if a look of my record once again, you will see i have always been accessible to the people. my wife and i do over 200 events a year in my district. we are out at every eagle scout presentation, every fireman banquet every hundredth birthday , party. we are in the grocery store. we are always available, to ask us questions. mr. lamb: i believe anyone who wants to hold public office should hold regular town halls all the time. if you want to represent people, you have to be willing to answer the questions. i have learned the most from the town hall meetings, whether they are small as in someone's living room or in a large church or gymnasium. we have done them everywhere. and i have been lucky that people have come to share great stories with me, insights on some of the most important

issues we have, and hopefully it is something that i keep going for a long time to come. shannon: next question comes from bob mayo. bob: president trump says he is going to put tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. he also said that trade wars are good and easy to win. for both of you, do you agree with president trump's intentions? and are there trade wars good or easy? mr. lamb: i think we have to level the playing field. our steelworkers have worked for a long time. for too long, china has been making cheap steel and flooding the market with it. it is not fair and it is not right. i actually think this is long overdue. we need to take a little time to see how this policy plays out. i think it is not really clear who it will apply to. ,he leader of the steelworkers leo gerard, said we should focus on the bad actors focus on china , more than our friends. we need to stick up for our

steelworkers. and if we are going to do that, we also have to use the steel. i think it is time that we get this infrastructure bill going that we have been talking about. i want to get to work on that right away. we have seen gridlock, even though everyone agrees that we need infrastructure, so i want to work on that right away. mr. saccone: i believe our steelworkers can compete with anyone in the world, as long as the playing field is level. unfortunately many of our , competitors around the world have slanted the playing field. and i think that president trump is trying to even that scale back out. i have always supported the steel industry and my purpose is to protect jobs in western pennsylvania, so i think it is important what he is doing. i think this is the first volley, i am sure that there will be more negotiation and we should wait and see what happens. bob: i would like to follow that up, if i there are small

may. business owners. what do you say to the small business owners and workers whose livelihoods may be casualties in a trade war? mr. saccone: yes. that is the counter argument. you want trade to be free and fair and if you put tariffs on something, the consumers may pay more. what we are being told now is that would be minutes go, the effect on the consumer would be meniscal at this point. it is important for us to protect those jobs. it is the national security industry. mr. lamb: it is premature to know exactly what will happen here. we need to give time will be affected and how. if we focus on the bad actors if , we focus on china, we must protect our small business owners and their ability to compete. i am surprised to hear from my opponent how he has always stuck up for the steel industry because he voted for the use of

foreign steel. he has voted repeatedly against our steelworkers and the unions, people who rely on their union for a fair wage for the hard work they do, so when we say we stick up for our steelworkers and our steel industry, we need to actually vote that way. mr. saccone: can i have a rebuttal to that? shannon: go ahead. mr. saccone: thank you. that is nonsense. i have always stood up for our workers. the leaders of the democrat party support people who are against our workers. they are the ones driving jobs out of pennsylvania. our union workers want to work. they want jobs. i have always been for bringing jobs to pennsylvania. the left and the democratic party has been driving them out with over regulation and taxes. i have stood up for the union workers and that is why they have voted for me in droves. shannon: the next question will go to mr. lamb. elaine: the parkland school

shooting has renewed calls for a federal ban on ar-15's and the raised toement to be purchase rifles, and a ban on bump stocks, among other proposals. where do you stand on each of these proposals? a ban on ar-15's, a raise in the minimum age to 21 to purchase rifles and a ban on bump stocks? ,mr. lamb: i believe what is happening right now is unacceptable. we have had too many tragedies with no action whatsoever from our congress afterwards. right now what is happening is children are afraid to go to , school. i had a mother tell me that when she was in the drop off line for her child to school, she became physically ill when it was time for them to get out of the car. we cannot accept that. we have to do everything it takes to make our children feel safe and make parents feel safe sending their children to school. we know that there is a middle ground for us to act now and that is on the issue of

universal background checks. we both support the second amendment, but he has called for the elimination of a background check in pennsylvania. i support universal background checks. no loopholes. as far as the proposals you talked about, i think that the most important thing for us to focus on is to act now. if we can get agreement on any proposal, we should. but we are hearing agreement on one thing right now -- shannon: i will ask you to actually answer her question about raising the age to 21. yes or no? mr. lamb: i am open to it, but i do not support it right now. we should talk about the bills that we know can pass. universal background check systems can pass and we need to get it done. shannon: representative saccone. if you can adjust the question? mr. saccone: i want to focus on school safety at some point because i think that is the important thing. ar-15's we had this on

we did that in 1954. ,for 10 years we had it and it did not work. the department of justice looked at it and it had no effect on crime. so we brought them back. it is not a matter of banning those weapons. the left argument is always to disarm law-abiding citizens, but i think we should allow our people to exercise their second amendment rights. so banning a weapon is not the answer. as far as raising the age to 21, you always run into the argument of we send 18-year-old and 19-year-olds to fight for our country, they carry a weapon into harms way, but they come home and they are not allowed to buy a gun? is that what you want? they come home and they want to buy a gun to defend their homes and their families and children, but they cannot. is that what you want? shannon: kathleen is next. her question goes to representative saccone.

kathleen: pennsylvania uses non-mandated options in the medicaid program to provide home and community-based care to hundreds of pennsylvanians who are elderly and disabled, who would otherwise be deprived of their liberty. and confined to institutions. will you protect the current levels of medicaid funding to pennsylvania? and will you protect the use of medicaid for optional community-based services? please explain your answer. mr. saccone: yes, thank you. i have always a people with disabilities especially those , who want to stay in their own home. as a government we should be , encouraging people to function in their own home and not be institutionalized. i have always been an advocate of that. it is good for the people and good for the taxpayer. it is much less expensive than trying to institutionalize people. and it is morally sound, because

people want to help themselves. the government should help them first. kathleen: i will make it more clear. it is an optional service and not a mandated service and that is the issue, so will you make an optional program? mr. saccone: yes i will. shannon: mr. lamb, same question. mr. lamb: the most important thing right now is that there is a budget on the table in washington dc right now, in front of the united states congress. it cuts $1 trillion from our medicaid program over 10 years. if you cut $1 trillion out of our medicaid program, it will cause the optional programs to suffer. it is not right. this is no longer a chapter in paul ryan's book. it is not theory. this is the proposed budget the white house has sent to congress and it is waiting on a vote. i will vote against that. i will refuse to allow that cut to our medicaid program on behalf of our seniors, disabled and children.

accone that mr. suc will say that he will but the leadership of his party to go against that cut. shannon: the next question is from bob mayo. you will each get a chance to answer and then a rebuttal. the first part of this question goes to mr. lamb. records attacking your say that you got a plea bargain to get -- that you accepted plea bargains that got criminals off. what are your specific answers to the accusations? mr. lamb: there is not a person watching the debate tonight who has not seen the garbage that my opponent and the people on his side have put on television about me. they have lied about my record. they have run cartoon ads -- it is like a comic book version of a campaign. people are laughing at you, rick. they are tired of it. but it is not a joke. the hair when epidemic is -- heroin epidemic is killing

people across the country and i was proud in the u.s. attorneys office to do my job, to take as many drug dealers off the streets as we could for as long as possible. we took a dealer off of the streets. the specific case in these ads, we took over $300,000 in cash. he was one of 45 people in an operation called operation payday that we took off the street. we went down to the police barracks. we announced the indictments and people were telling us, great catch, we have been after these guys for years. shannon: time is up. representative? mr. saccone: this is the nonsense and deception that my opponent's campaign is all about. his campaign is running negative ads. i only have three ads out there. you can check them. his are all negative against me. outve not put a single ad against him. yet he purports that i am the one doing the negative ad campaign. i am not accountable for those

outside groups doing those ads. he is the one doing the negative campaigning. i do not buy into it. shannon: what do you think of the ads being put out in your name attacking conor lamb? what is your take on that? mr. saccone: as far as i can see he let some drug dealers off on , a plea bargain. i do not think we should be doing that. i think we should be giving the maximum sentence, not letting people off. shannon: the next part of the question. mr. lamb: can i rebuttal that? you are a good reporter. you know that that is not true. 10 years is a serious sentence and we are proud of it. when outside groups go after things that are not true, their candidate should disavow them, if he does not believe that. i think you should say that these are false. you should say that they are false. shannon: let's get to the second part of the question. bob: you have been targeted in some ads. there is an ad for despising -- criticizing your spending as

a lawmaker. expense -- level of why is that spending justified and would you be willing to pay any of it back to taxpayers? mr. saccone: another example of the deception of his campaign. i have so much money to run my offices every year. i give back money every year. i spend less than i am authorized. i do not take the state pension or the state car. i spend less than my predecessor and i have less employees. always defended the taxpayer. this is a deception from the other side trying to make eight years look like an overspending when i have saved money. shannon: your rebuttal? those are records. they are from the office of the comptroller. anybody can see that he took more money than most legislators in harrisburg. i did an event last night or

where somebody talked about how he had proposed bills to ban meals paid for by lobbyists. i was at a meal with rick, paid for by lobbyists. he has been at a lot of meals paid for by lobbyists. the first question was about the hypocrisy with tim murphy. we will see more of the same with mr. saccone and i do not think it is right. mr. saccone: this is the kind of nonsense the left puts out. anybody in harrisburg on any given night, lobbyists and legislators go out and have a dinner. they have been doing it for years. many do not think there is anything wrong with it. when i got to harrisburg, i said there is something wrong with this. we need to change the culture in harrisburg. i put out legislation to change that. it got bipartisan support. the only legislation that the government reform caucus actually endorsed, yet they try to demonize me for trying to change the culture in harrisburg. shannon: next question from elaine.

it is for representative saccone. elaine: do you support spending billions of dollars to build a wall along the u.s. border with mexico? if yes, how important is the border wall compared to spending on the opioid crisis, education , and roads and bridges infrastructure? please rank them in order of your spending priority. mr. saccone: it is not an either or. budgets are large and there are many, many priorities in there. walls work. and i have to israel seen the results of what they have done there. walls in other countries have worked. we need to secure our border. i want to spend a lot more time on that. it is very important and we need to work on that. it is a different answer to a different question. so i would say that we need to do both of those things. elaine: rank them in order of

their importance. shannon: infrastructure, opioids, education and the border wall. rank them please. mr. saccone: again i will say that they are all important and we will get them all done. mr. lamb: to answer your question, i would vote for infrastructure first. people in both parties are telling us now that we have probably $4 trillion worth of infrastructure programs that we are behind on. unfortunately, my opponent is someone who has voted against those very programs at the state level even when they are backed , by republicans. so highways and bridges, everyone gets to ride on them, no matter what party they are. next for me would be the opioid epidemic. it is life and death. in the next five years, we could lose 300,000 people to the opioid epidemic. if we were losing that many in a war we would do whatever it took to stop that. education, to me, would be next. we cannot continue to cut our public schools.

class sizes go up and we lose our programs. the border wall is $25 billion in expenses. it is our ports of entry that need the most defense. jfk airport, we need security there. shannon: this question comes from facebook. , "name three specific issues where you see yourself voting outside the majority of your party line. offer specific examples or say nothing at all." mr. lamb. mr. lamb: one issue would be the issue of health care. many people in my party agree the health care premiums are too expensive. we need to have health care affordable for everybody. but there are a lot in my party that want to transition to a medicare for all type of system, i do not think that is a great idea. it would be very expensive. many like the plans that they have. another one would be natural gas drilling. i support it. it is good for our economy, good

for our national security. it can be done better. toneed more cops on the beat make sure it is being done right and it safely. there are those in my party that are so far to the left that they do not support it at all. the third would probably be on the issue of leadership itself. i said i did not support nancy pelosi for any leadership position. i also do not support paul ryan. i think we need new leadership. anyone watching tonight who has seen the negative ads, i do not support nancy pelosi. shannon: i will ask a quick follow up question. on your campaign website, you talk about modern energy and the only thing you list is natural gas. is there room, if you are going to have a seat in congress to talk about other sources of energy in western pennsylvania? mr. lamb: absolutely. nationwide, we need a manhattan project for clean energy. china is doing it already. they are making massive investments and they are paying scientists and buying up fleets of electric cars. we are well poised in western pennsylvania to be a national

leader. we have the scientists, the universities, and people who want to do the work. i would like to see a big investment in that. it is not a trade-off, we can do that and have natural gas at the same time. rebut the question. mr. saccone: i have a long record of voting outside my party. and fighting for the taxpayers of pennsylvania. taxirst bill was property reform. i had to fight to get reform passed. it was the good by a republican governor. but i kept fighting. i did not give up. it took seven more years. and you know that, because you just voted through a constitutional amendment to change property tax and how we fund schools. i voted outside my party and kept pushing for that. and it got through. and you voted for it, so i know i am in line with what you are thinking.

taxes are another one. i voted outside of the party on that one. our governor tried to push a $5 billion tax increase. some of my party was going to go along with it. but i organized a group of people and we stopped that $5 billion tax increase and made a budget with no tax increase. and funding all the services that we need. shannon: i'm going to add to the question from facebook and talk about your party a little more. if you get the seat, talk about korea and the president and his approach to korea so far. you said you are an expert, you have lived in korea, so what is the one thing that you want to tell president trump about how to deal with that situation? mr. saccone: my purpose, if i was to get to washington, would be to advise the president on how to resolve the situation. it does no good to criticize. it would be, how do we find our endpoint, resolving the situation?

i am the only one has the skill set to do that. my opponent does not know the difference between north and south korea. i have been there. i have successfully negotiated with koreans. i have written two books about it. there is a path to dealing with north korea. it is very narrow, but i believe i am the only one with the skill set to reach that path. shannon: mr. lamb. you can respond. i am pretty sure you know the difference between north and south korea. mr. lamb: thank you. it is amazing the length they will go to on the other side to say things that are not true. i agree that negotiation is necessary. that we need experienced diplomats over there. unfortunately, we have seen a lot of people leave the department in this administration. that makes it hard to get the work done. we do not need another vote against korea in congress. we need someone who will stand up to the leadership on both sides, oppose the cuts to medicaid and pass a budget that is for our people, that gets infrastructure done. that protects social security

and medicare, that is what we need in congress. shannon: kathleen has the next question. it is for representative saccone. kathleen: health care. do you believe that health care is or should be a civil right for americans? do you have a personal vision for how health insurance should operate in the united states? mr. saccone: yes. i do not think health care is a civil right, but we should make every effort to make affordable health care available to everyone. there are a lot of reforms in the health care system. buying across state lines is one of them. reforms to our health savings account system would be another one. we have a lot of free market solutions that have not been tried. some have been tried. you might be using some of them right now some issues have taken , health care out of the emergency room and to a clinic. i have used those clinics myself when i am sick. it keeps me out of the emergency room. there may not be a doctor, it

may be a nurse practitioner, but those people can help us without eating up emergency room time and money because we know how expensive they are. there are a lot more solutions to the health care problem. i would like to be part of that discussion and debate. shannon: mr. lamb? mr. lamb: i think when your child is a sick, or you get hurt on the job, you should be able to go to the doctor and it should not break your bank account. that is not happening for people right now. we need to redouble our efforts. the affordable care act was making progress in bringing people back into health care. we need to bring the premiums down. i do not think the free market will do it. people on wall street have enough money already. it is not in their interest to make premiums go down. we need to look at things like putting the teeth back into the affordable care act. so people have health care they can actually afford. shannon: yes or no, do you think that health care should be a civil right? mr. lamb: i think that affordable health care is a

civil right and everybody should have it. bob mayo for mr. lamb. bob: do you think that social security is a benefit or something americans have paid into and are owed? in the interest of entitlement reform, would you support or oppose any type of cut to anyone's social security benefits? mr. lamb: bob, i know such a security is something that people have paid into and have earned. people are telling me when they insulted they are when they hear paul ryan talking about it. said came up to me and he that he started working when he was 12 years old and started paying social security taxes. he took out his key ring after he told me this and he had his dog tag on their when he served in korea. he asked me to hold it. when i did, he said do not break your promise to me. stick up for these programs.

we paid into them. social security is a promise we made to our people. i will keep that promise. mr. saccone: social security is a promise we made our people. and in a couple of years, i will be on it. i am 60 years old. of course we will keep it. my opponent has lied over and over and said that i plan to cut social security and medicare. it is a lie. i will say it again. i will look at you and say it i , have never advocated and never would advocate cutting social security or medicare. unfortunately, these programs are going broke and we need reforms. we have to look at overpayments to drug companies and some of the fraud going on there. we have to try to refine that so that we can save these programs. so that they will be available for everybody. that is what i have advocated for. i have done it at the state level and i will do it in the u.s. congress. mr. lamb: can i respond? i think it is time for him to stand up and say that he opposes the $250 billion cut to medicare that is in president trump's budget right now and the cut

staffing insecurity that budget. he has voted against programs like unemployment insurance for construction workers that are also a program that people pay into, but that also get cut. shannon: i will let the representative responded to that. mr. saccone: thank you. another deception. the biggest cut to medicare was obamacare. $715 billion drained out of that. he was for it his party was for , it. it was drained out of medicare. i would never support that. i will say it again. i do not support cutting social security or medicare. shannon: we are going to move on to a question from elaine. forne: marijuana is legal medical purposes in 29 states recreational marijuana is legal , in nine states. what is your best argument for

or against congress legalizing recreational marijuana? mr. saccone: the biggest argument is the people of the 18th district do not want that. i sat in the state legislature, maybe a dozen hearings, listening to the experts on medical marijuana and it is a s tendency to turn into recreational marijuana. the people in my district do not want that. i would not vote for making it recreational. i did vote for making it medical marijuana. shannon: mr. lamb? mr. lamb: i have been for medical marijuana as it exists now. as long as it is regulated. too many doctors have told me that their patients need it. too many parents have told me that it is the best treatment for their kids, especially kids with seizures. i think that is where we start. people on both sides agree on that. that is a good way to take care of our people and i am for it. shannon: next question comes

from kathleen. kathleen: gender equality has been the subject of federal legislation since the 19th amendment that gave women the right to vote. the 115th congress will have opportunities to impact these policies. have you identified any changes that you would push for related to gender equality issues, sexual harassment or gender and identity in the military or related issues? in theb: my first job military was to prosecute cases of sexual assault and rape. i stood up with victims both men and women who were afraid to speak up against superiors in uniform. but we did it and we got justice in all those cases. i learned a lot from that. we have to listen to the victims of sexual assault and harassment wherever they come from. we have to oppose attempts at by the legislature in harrisburg, by congress in washington dc, to cover up these settlements that they use taxpayer dollars for. we have to shine a light on all of that. as far as gender equality in the workplace, i support measures

that will correct the pay in balance. we still have women earning less on average compared to men, that is not good enough. paid family leave is something that i support. in the federal workplace, we still do not have it. colleagues of mine in the u.s. attorney's office would have kids and have to take all their sick leave to raise their first. kid. i do not think that is right. mr. saccone: i think it is really important that we never discriminate against anyone, that everybody feels welcome when they come to work. they should not be sexually harassed. we need to empower our people so that they feel if they feel mistreated, that they can step up and say something and their claim will be heard and investigated thoroughly. i like what is going on in the statehouse, they passed a bill to have a separate panel for those people who have a complaint, they would have a disinterested party listen to that complaint and make sure it is heard and investigated. i am a father and grandfather.

i have been surrounded by all of my legislative staff, who are women. i have been a military commander dealing with men's and women's issues. i have a record for policies that are supporting that. i will be for those policies. we do not want to discriminate. we want to empower people. shannon: i will follow-up on that. is there room for legislation, a legislative bill that you would put forward to advance that if you win? we will start with the representative. mr. saccone: yes, i would take a look at what the house just passed because i think it is a good bill. we might be able to add to that. i have not looked at additional legislation at this point. shannon: what about you, mr. lamb? mr. lamb: i would like to see legislation for paid family leave, especially for federal employees. it is not happening now and i do not think that is fair. shannon: next question from bob mayo. bob: do families whose loved ones are fighting opioid

addiction deserve publicly supported program help? or is it the responsibility of those families for dealing with it alone? mr. saccone: i'm uniquely qualified to answer this question. in a state legislature, we have learned -- we have had hearings on this. i have been to a dozen of them. we have heard from experts, rehabilitation specialists, we have heard from law enforcement and from the addicts themselves. i have done right along's with police and i have seen how the overdoses affect families up close. this is an all hands on deck problem. it is not a legislative problem. by the way, we have passed 12 bills in the state legislature dealing with opioid addiction. it is not just a law enforcement problem. we are trying to do our part in the legislature. we cannot arrest our way out of this problem. we have to have the industry become involved, and they are becoming involved. we are looking at how we can

prevent over prescription of opioids. we have to have the churches involved the schools involved, , our parents involved. everyone has to be on deck to solve this problem. it is a societal problem. bob: my question was, is there a place for publicly supported programs for those families or are they on their own? i understand law enforcement has their part, and talking about others having their part, but if you are a lawmaker do you , support taxpayer-funded programs to deal with the impact on families of the opioid crisis? mr. saccone: yes. i have supported that. there is a part to play for the government, but it is not just government. the entire society has to be involved to solve this problem. the government will not solve this problem for the people of pennsylvania. mr. lamb: there is a huge role for the government to play in saving our people. the first overdose case i ever worked on as a prosecutor was a young man who finally got into a 30 day rehab program after years of struggling with addiction.

his parents worked hard to get him in. he came out after 30 days and died on the 31st day. he relapsed. the experts tell us it does not take 30 days, it takes 90 days. you have to have a place to go and a bed to sleep in. we do not have enough of them right now. a judge can send anyone to jail. it is difficult for the judge to send a person to rehab. only the government can fill beds and get qualified staff. medicaid is the program who provides programs for those suffering from addiction. and you have to oppose cuts like the current budget that cuts $1 trillion from medicaid, that is new it will affect, those people who are at risk of dying if we do not do something about it. shannon: this is a big issue and we will stay on it. i will let the representative say something else. mr. saccone: everything is a big government solution.

we just had people testify before us about two weeks ago, the most effective treatments, better than methadone and other rehab programs are the faith-based programs. 75%-80% effective and they do not cost taxpayers a dime. shannon: i want to stay on this issue. we talk about living in pittsburgh, we have what we call the best of medical research minds in the world, so how much government money should we be spending on researching ways to fight addiction? mr. lamb: we should spend whatever it takes to solve the problem. we know from our treatment providers that there is a golden standard, 90 days in treatment and years of outpatient treatment afterwards. including medically assisted treatment, meaning medications take to change the brain back. it is a monster. it changes the brain.

i do not disagree with my opponent that there is a role for the faith-based community to play. there is. but for those running for congress, we have to do the job. the job of the government is to stick up for these programs, to fund them and do whatever it takes to save our people. shannon: talk about research and government funding for research. mr. saccone: yes government , funding for research is legitimate. we are doing that now. but we also have to look at the private sector. we just had a seminar on this, looking at how to curb the over prescription of opioids. there is a great program. if we cut back on overprescribing, we can do this without expense to the government and taxpayers. i am for exploring all of those things. i always have been. shannon: next question. it is for mr. lamb. elaine: what is the one thing that you admire about your campaign opponent? mr. lamb: i admire a bill that i am aware that he pushed in

harrisburg that would help people get driver's licenses after they have committed , i believe they were certain drug offenses. that is something i saw as a prosecutor all the time. you saw people serve their time and when they came out it would be hard for people to find a job, even if they wanted to. i would meet with groups of people that would come out of jail. i remember one of them telling me that it is not hard for a felon to get a job. it is hard for somebody without a driver's license to get a job and keep a job. i am aware that the representative, along with dan miller, have pushed that legislation and i think it is a good thing and it was needed. mr. saccone: i like the fact that he is young and idealistic. it is great. it is like fresh blood coming in. i understand that. of course he does not have a , record or any experience in carrying out any of these things, so that is the contrast between us. elaine: one thing that you can find, that you admire. mr. saccone: he is young and idealistic.

he has that hope that he can change the world. shannon: ok. we will go to a facebook question. this comes from colleen miller, she says, she would like to hear your views on redrawing the congressional map. this impacts all of us here. mr. saccone: this is great. the whole idea of gerrymandering -- i have been a victim of gerrymandering. how i got here, iran against a 26 year incumbent that was gerrymandered. so i ran and i won anyway. i hear people talking about gerrymandering, people complaining because they have been gerrymandered out. it does make it more difficult. we need to make sure that the lines are drawn as effectively as they can. we just put forward a great plan that improves the districts in pennsylvania, but the supreme court stepped in and overstepped its bounds. they vetoed those maps and

made their own maps, which are far worse than what they were complaining about. we have a great system in pennsylvania for drawing these maps. we have a 5% commission -- person commission. there was a bipartisan vote in the legislature. also, 139 of us voted for it 39 , democrats and 100 republicans. your elected representatives passed them by the supreme court vetoed them. shannon: thank you. mr. lamb. mr. lamb: when i started this campaign i made a promise that we did not have a voice in washington and i would give us that voice. i have only campaigned for the voters of the 18th district, that is who i would like to serve. i do not care where they draw the lines. we will shake that out in court. the current lines we have are strangely shaped and were drawn by a computer program called redmap in harrisburg.

i am happy that the court has stepped in and taken a look at it. i think they should keep looking at it and redraw the lines. shannon: kathleen has a question. kathleen: the first amendment says congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion. what is your personal interpretation of this and have ow do you intend to apply that in congress? mr. lamb: my personal interpretation is that when we decide any bill, we have to think about the public interest, not just what one religion thinks. for me, the issue that comes up a lot is the issue of a woman's right to choose. i support that under the law, even though i am a catholic and i personally oppose abortion. i believe life begins at conception. law in thisone country and it is for everybody, no matter what their religion is. i think there is a place for faith, religion and the public square.

when it comes to lawmaking, we have to get down to the facts and figures. figure out what is best for everybody. mr. saccone: yes, i have written a book about this. i think the establishment clause was meant to prevent any one the denomination to be named as the sole religion. god has always been part of our public life. he was there when president trump made his oath on the bible. making him the chief executive of our nation. god was there in the beginning and god was there right now. 5:10,gas -- leviticus says proclaim liberty throughout the land. god was a part of our founding fathers. they were part of that icon of our heritage, our history. our national motto is in god we trust. it is chiseled in stone in our

capital steps in harrisburg. there is a place for god in our public life, but that does not mean that we make one denomination over another. we should celebrate that. it is a pennsylvania history story. shannon: you have spent time and energy making sure that that argument was made during your time in the state government. how much time would you spend moving forward to promote issues like that? in god we trust as the national motto. mr. saccone: i will always promote things and encourage family values and celebrate our godly heritage, because i think in a culture of selfishness and greed that we are pushing back against on now, our godly heritage is worth celebrating. we need positive messages. it does have an effect as a leader that i promote and celebrate our godly heritage. have saidour critics

foras taken away from time the topics that are more important. mr. saccone: it does not take away time from important legislation and it really helps our society. shannon: mr. lamb. mr. lamb: he has been successful in harrisburg, passing things like loyalty day and talking about in god we trust. it is harder to do the real stuff, social security medicare , and infrastructure. things that really take bipartisan agreement and compromise. he talked earlier about his bill to ban meals paid for by lobbyists. he did not get it passed and he kept taking meals from lobbyists afterwards. even things that should not be hard like voting against the protection of animals, one of the few to vote against the mistreatment of animals, that is where people need us to focus, on these things that go straight to our decency looking out for , each other, leaving no one behind. i am running for congress, not cardinal. i want to stick up for the

things that are people really need. shannon: i will let our viewers know that the law is about toughening the laws for those that abuse animals in the state of pennsylvania, it got a lot of attention. you have a chance to respond. mr. saccone: i am glad that he is not running for cardinal. his right to life is part of that basic catholic ethics. i have 17 bills going through the legislature right now. i had three bills signed into law last year. he has never written a bill. he has probably never even read a bill. i have many that are signed into law. saying i cannot get things pas sed, you cannot get everything three last i got year. bob: on the investigation of russian efforts to interfere with american elections, do you support or oppose legislation to prevent robert mueller from

being fired as a special counsel as he pursues that work? mr. saccone: i do not think that is a legislative problem. we need to investigate that. russia has been interfering since the beginning of the cold war and we need to be on guard against them. cyber attacks are growing and it is not just russia, china and others are attacking us. i do not think the legislation is necessary to determine whether or not the president decides to fire robert mueller. bob: there are signs that that -- be the president intent do you view the investigation as something that lawmakers should keep independent as it has been in past history, or does there need to be a mechanism to ensure that the investigation would not be short-circuited, if president trump pursues what he might want to do? mr. saccone: that is a different question from the first one that

you asked me. i think this whole thing has been politicized. when you do make sure that these independent investigations are not politicized. if we detect that they are being politicized, we need to act. we need to make sure that they are doing their job properly. mr. lamb: robert mueller is a war hero, a decorated marine. he has a reputation in washington that is unmatched for integrity. he has respect from people on both sides of the aisle. he needs the independence, time and space to interview witnesses, review documents, figure out what happened and figure out how we best protect our people and hold anyone accountable that broke the law. i oppose any effort to interfere with his authority. shannon: should there be a legislative mechanism in place to make sure that that happens? mr. lamb: to protect his investigation? if necessary, yes. so far it looks like it is proceeding on pace, but i would support any legislation to make sure that he has the time and space to do what he needs to do. shannon: we are coming up to our final question. it is coming from yoelaine.

you say there is strong evidence that the russians --dled in the election intelligence officials say there is strong evidence that the russians colluded in the 2016 election. do you agree? what should congress do in response to russian interference in one of our most sacred institutions? mr. lamb: we have heard the same thing from our intelligence community and law enforcement. we need to do whatever it takes to protect our electoral system. we need paper backups at our voting machines. but we also need to invest in things like cyber security. people in washington are talking about new funding for more cyber agents, more technology. we need to be aggressive about this. this is a new domain of warfare and i believe we should dominate that domain like we have others. i will do whatever it takes to make sure that we do that.

shannon: representative? mr. saccone: obviously, we need to make sure that we do everything we can to prevent russia or any other country from interfering. that means we need to find out , where we are vulnerable and take action. if it means sanctioning other countries to do that, i support that. we need to apply all pressure we can internationally to anyone that we detect interfering in the process. shannon: ok. thank you so much. that concludes the question and answer portion of tonight's debate. now each candidate will have one , minute to make closing statements. we will begin with mr. lamb. mr. lamb: i think it helps to remember what we are doing here right now. we are here because the people of the 18th district have been without a voice and without a vote in congress for far too long. i have listened to you and i have learned a lot during this campaign. people are sick about the bickering in washington. they want somebody to go down there and get the job done. i have had the privilege and honor to stand up multiple times

to raise my right hand and take , an oath. i did that as a marine and prosecutor, overseas and here at home. i would like to take that oath again as your next representative. there is nothing in the oath about democrats or republicans. we need somebody to do the job. i will work hard every day with anyone, and i will know who i am working for. i am working for you. take you very much. mr. saccone: i'll thank everyone for tune everybody tonight. i want to thank my moderators and my partner. the world is in turmoil and our country is in turmoil. all the more reason we need to send the most experienced person to washington. i have a diverse background, and diplomacy, education, the military, the government, and

international business. that40 years of experience i can bring to bear. i have passed partisan legislation to show that i can reach across the aisle and get things done. i have been endorsed by the fraternal order of police, national right to life. i am battle tested and register. i am asking for your vote. it is important we have a country to save. shannon: gentlemen, thank you so much. the future of the 18th congressional district is in flux. no matter what the end result, the 18th will be different than now. considering the different towns in the district, different people and families with many of the same concern, a district that has not had a representative in congress since october. we know the political landscape is different than it was a year compared whatever the winner of this election does in congress,

the people who live in the 18th district will be following more closely than they ever have before, and the stakes have never been higher. a big part of the league of women voters mission is hosting nonpartisan political debates like this one. this is one of the most important things we do at the bt ae -- wtae. watching the debates is one of the most important things voters can do to make an informed choice. get out to vote, tuesday, march 13, it is a right and a privilege. you can stay up to date on the wtae mobile app. thank you so much for being here. i want to say thank you to our panel for their great questions and i also want to thank a special thanks to our candidates tonight. good night.

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] week, theress this house and senate are in session today. the house heavily for speeches -- gaveling in for speeches at noon. they will gaveled back in at 5:00 for legislative business. today,n the agenda naming offices. votes will take place at 6:30, and members will consider delaying or suspending rules. the senate is back today at 3:00 to consider nominations for three district judges, with votes at 5:30. tomorrow lawmakers are expected to begin work on legislation that would ease banking regulations. watch live coverage from the floor of the house on c-span, and the senate on c-span2. later we will hear from

education secretary betsy devos speaking to a gathering of state education officials in washington, d.c. live is afternoon at 4:15 eastern on c-span3. and vice president pence and the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. nikki haley will be speaking at the america-israel affairs commission in washington. that is live at 5:00 eastern on c-span3. >> tonight, on "the secunicators," the commissioner discusses the fcc's rejection of net neutrality, spectrum auctions, and how to expand broadband. she is interviewed by a technology reporter for political. >> you brought up the federal trade commission, and this week there was a big court decision involving the ftc's authority and whether it can sue for its

alleged misrepresentations consumers about unlimited data. what lessons do you draw from that court ruling, and particularly, about this loophole involving the common carrier exception? >> i try to start things out positively. on a positive side, there is one less loophole, meaning the court gave some clarity as it relates to whether or not there is whether there is a mix of common carriers or not there was authority given there. what is also clear is what is troubling to me, that the ftc is still not the expert agency. it is still not the agency that has any background when it comes to common carrier or net neutrality regulation. the fcc is still the agency -- the ftc is still the agency that

does not come into play unless harm is done and unless you can prove deceptive practices. those are very high hurdles for security system to be able to realize or be able to afford to bring to the ftc. communicators," tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span2. tonight on c-span's "landmark cases," we will explore the civil rights cases of 1883, the act ofat struck down the 1875, the law that created all people all caps is to public accommodations regardless of race. john marshall castellon vote in voteition -- cast the lone in opposition. explore this with the dean of howard university's law school

and an attorney on the u.s. commission for civil rights. watch tonight at 9:00 eastern on c-span, www.c-span.org, or listen with the free c-span radio app, and for the background, ordered your copy of the landmark cases companion $8.95 atilable for www.c-span.org. and there is a link on our website to the national constitution center's interactive constitution. you look at the week ahead in congress. 's "washingtonoday journal. -- journal." host: monday morning on the washington journal gives us a chance to discuss the week ahead in washington and we are joined uer and stevea dennis. one thing we are not expected to see