to you. this week marked one year since the hamas attack on israel. do you believe the united states should unconditional, fully support israel and if not, what conditions do you support.

absolutely. yes, i do. israel is doing everything that it can through the idf. it is trying to root out terrorists in hamas and in the gaza strip. and these are individual who have raped and killed and pillaged throughout that region. and have said with great frequency that they want to do it again once they get and they're being supported by iran and the hezbollah and and so israel needs to do is have the time and the resources necessary to win this fight and make sure it prosecutes that case, because we this is a position where we need to be strong in our alliance. it's a is a it's a democracy. it's a country that we need to support and fight for the same world rights that we do as a country. and allowing the israel to fight against hamas and in that strip and in hezbollah, because that's

extraordinarily important for the future of this country. so what? yeah, i mean, if you are born a woman in the middle east, you want to be born in israel. if you are born gay in the middle east, you want to be born in israel. and it is of the utmost importance that we give israel the same support that they need. what happened on october 7th was a horrific, horrible terrorist attack by hamas on innocent civilians. and hamas knew what it was doing. it went up in, attacked, and then it ran underneath tunnels where it's been hiding and holding hostages, who we still need to return home. and so it's an ugly, awful, horrible war. and my heart goes out, particularly to the women and children of gaza. but israel has to be able to defend itself. and i will fight with everything i have to make sure that that democracy succeeds because it's the right thing to do, but also because they are an ally in the middle east. we have conditions on all aid

that we supply all around the world and we should not hold israel to any different standard. they should be held to the same standard as everyone else, which i believe that biden administration has done. moving on now to joy fox. don't you 30 seconds, original journalist as 2021, please remember my opponent's support is conditioning aid in ways that were different because true working families party. and so we have to vote as make sure that israel has the the weapons and the intelligence necessary and the world stage needs to know that we are standing with israel in this regard. because when they look at what's happening, hamas and hezbollah with iran with hostage and trade with hormuz, we need to show strength. we need to show at being an aggressive ally on our allies. congressman, so you can make your point. yeah, you can make your point without lying about my background, without lying about my stance.

i have never held a public stance on israel. i have fought against the bds movement on the left. i've been to israel. i biked across israel. i got teaching materials from yad vashem, the holocaust museum, so i could teach my high school history students how to watch for antisemitism, how to watch for hateful propaganda. and you know which party has the most hateful propaganda. it's the right wing of your party. where were you when neo-nazis, nazis were being hosted in the bedminster golf course that belongs to trump? you were nowhere. there were jewish leaders around our district and around the state who signed a letter to have you speak out. and i know you got that letter and you've done nothing, so spare me. i know we could probably spend an entire debate on any one of these questions, but we are going to move on. joey fox, you are next with your round of questions. i want to shift over to the topic of organized labor. the international longshoremen's association strike from earlier this month ended relatively quickly and painlessly, but if it had gone on for longer, it was clear that there could have been serious repercussions for american consumers. so mohamed, i'll start with you

on this. do you think that there needs to be any sort of reconsideration of how much power unions hold in situations like this? unions are crucial for democracy. they are the balancing we need to make sure the people have power and workplace organizing is crucial for a healthy democracy. organizing in general is, but particularly workplace organizing. there was a wonderful op ed today in the star-ledger that i hope everyone will read by hetty rosenstein in. it outlines precisely why my opponent is terrible on labor. he has fought against osha safety requirements. he's fought against the minimum wage. he's cut the retirement benefits to law enforcement and to teachers. when he was in the state senate. he has fought against the pro act, which is, by the way, a big partizan bill that chris smith from new jersey, a republican, signed on to. congressman kaine has never had to work hard.

he's never had a physical job. i don't know if he's ever had mud on his shoes. when i'm in congress, i will fight like i've always fought for working people, for the dignity of retirement, for the strength of our labor sector. because in states where there is no labor sector, you see terrible things like what happened in north carolina, where a ceo forced his workers to go to work on the day of the storm and people died. i will always remember where i came from and be a fighter for the working class. congressman, before you jump in, i just want to quickly press you, ms. altman, do you think that there is any sort of imbalance of power here that needs to be to be corrected? do you think that unions have too much ability to to make these these major things like these strikes that impact supply chains happen? i mean, i was pretty delighted that the strike ended the way it did, because i think that's the power of collective bargaining with collective bargaining. you can exercise your muscle and then you can negotiate terms that make sense. so if anything, i think the power is the wrong way around. the billionaires controlled too much capital in our society.

people like elon musk are funding my opponent's campaign to the tune of over a half a million dollars. so far and counting. and they don't even know how to pronounce his name right. and so from my standpoint, the working person needs a champion in congress, and that person will be me. the pro act is only the beginning. we need to fight hard for working people. tom kaine. listen, we need to ensure that. i mean, i support collective bargaining and i support prevailing wage. and i've long supported those positions and i support unions. in fact, the building trades support me. the carpenters support me, the ironworkers, the fort lee police and firefighters supporting me because they know that i have their backs, that i will make sure that they have the opportunities to grow and focus and ensure that they have a seat at the table, because that's what i have done, not only in the state legislature, but now in congress. my opponent has an extreme position. she would never reach across the aisle to find the common ground

on policies. we can actually find the issues that find, you know, find the common ground, you know, support strike was solved because people who've known each other for a number of years came together to make. we have to find that solution. i support the solution. i think it should be implemented. it was done and negotiated. and we need to make sure that while we continue to do that, we also need to have more manufacturing and more opportunity in this district and in this country. so, congressman, i actually want to ask you about that union support. you have indeed been endorsed by some unions who consider you a reliable ally, but in an objective sense, a democratic controlled congress is more likely to pass pro-union legislation than a republican controlled, controlled congress. so why should union voters vote for you rather than someone, regardless of your personal views, rather than someone who will give democrats control of congress? well, we need people who've worked with me on, of course, my tenure in congress and before

that in legislature. no, i reach across the aisle to find that common ground to find that solution, to make sure that we respect prevailing wage and davis-bacon and make sure that we can make sure that the people and also on the apprentice programs that we can find that common ground to make sure that we've got the right that people are graduating from high school, college and career ready, that they're able to go to an apprenticeship program they want. we also need to ensure that they can go into a two year or four year college and make sure that the programs are there. and we need to do it at a time and a pace that more affordable. my opponent supports spending increases and tax increases, and for that would actually make it so unaffordable to actually locate new jobs and innovative jobs here in this country. if we're going to be doing things that are necessary to build the future of this country, the future of new jersey. new jersey cannot afford to open extreme positions and overspending. so what we see away n.j.s.a a

hefty 11 9932 the machinist. i pity the electrical workers, the health care workers. i think there's even more nurses. we have gotten a palapa ira, a plethora of labor support, and i am proud to be their champion in congress. project 2025, which is like the playbook for what the next administration's republican agenda is going to look like specifically wants to outlaw collective bargaining and outlaw the formation of labor unions and leave that up to the states, which for me is a euphemism for taking away rights. i know this is a district that believes in the dignity of the working person and as a representative of this district, i will fight to make sure that all people who work hard every day. will get a dignified retirement, will get important benefits like health care. and you, congressman, have voted against those things at every turn. you voted to cut the pensions. you voted to cut the retirement

benefits, the cost of living for teachers and law enforcement. congressman, you are a fair weather friend of labor and there are many republicans who are much stronger on labor than you are, which like the 30 seconds to respond. the interest that people who are literally building are economy and protecting our communities are bipartisan concerns aren't republican and democratic approaches are people can find that common ground like i have. when you look at the carpenters and the other members of the building trades who were supporting me, the police officers know that to a person i support me. when you look at the firefighters, they all support me because they know i have their back, that we will find those solutions as i did just this past year when joe biden signed my bill into law, pushed the grant across the finish line to make sure that firefighters are protected. we we need to do that. whether republican and democrat in congressmen sign on to the pro act or sorry, joey, we're

going to go back to you. yeah. so i'm in the new jersey minimum wage hit $15.13 earlier this year. but the federal minimum wage is still just $7.25. do you support raising the federal minimum wage? and how high do you think it should be? absolutely. we have to tie it to cost of living. my opponent voted down the minimum wage increase here in new jersey multiple times. minimum wage is one of the best ways to make sure that our workers, at least at the bare minimum, to sustain themselves. but it's barely enough. i mean, if you're making $15 an hour, you might have to work two or three jobs to live in the seventh district. so we have to be very, very mindful about the fact that the minimum wage only gets us so far. we need to make sure we're supporting health care and things like dental and vision. we want to make sure that we're supporting things like paid family sick time. the minimum wage is only the tip of the iceberg, but it's absolutely vital and we should absolutely 100% pass a federal minimum wage law. and if my opponent was so

pro-worker, then he would be rushing out the door to sign on to that bill. so i'm confused how he can claim to be pro-worker and against a minimum wage. tom kane. i think this is an issue that's best handled at the state level, but we also need to make sure we get the regulations and the taxes lower than they are right now. right now, new jersey's unaffordable and because of the policies of my opponent supported. and we have to make sure that we have the jobs that are necessary and make sure that people can continue to seek and gain employment. the most important thing we can do in this regard is ensure that we lower the costs. my opponent supports every single spending increase over the last two and a half years that caused the most dramatic increase in inflation in the last couple of decades. she supports the regulatory policies that make it unaffordable for people, you know, open small businesses. she supports the policies that and overregulation that make it simply too expensive to operate.

too many local and small businesses here in the state. we need to make sure that we get those regulations less than they currently are on the state as well as on the federal. so i'd just like to ask a very brief job. i know we want to move on to more topics, but just a number from each of you. what do you think is a reasonable federal minimum wage to have made when you can go first? i would like to see it in line with new jersey at $15 minimum wage. and by the way, there's no chance elon musk puts half a million, half a million dollars into the campaign of somebody who is pro-worker, that it's just not going to happen. okay. congressman kane, what's your number? as i said, i think this is best handled on a state by state basis. so you think that 725, the current federal minimum wage is is a good place to leave it? as i said, i think there's an issue where the local economies know the issues that are important to them and having the policies that reflect that and also understand that we need to create new jobs and for poor families as well and lower the cost because right now all this

federal spending is making this state far more unaffordable. and we need to make sure we're competing against our people who we need to be. okay. okay. we're going to move on. michael rasmussen and your next round of questions. ms. altmann, americans largely wind up with the policy options that are put forth by political parties. so what are the ideas you see being championed by either party that you think ought to be part of the solution on immigration and the border? would it be more effective to move troops currently stationed overseas to the u.s. mexico border or to shutter the border if illegal crossings reach a certain average threshold? or should we raise the requirements for immigrants to receive political asylum? or are there different policy options that you'd prefer to be part of the solution? mike, as you know, i've never stayed within the bounds of what political parties were offering. when i was in trenton, i worked hard to do things that no one ever thought were possible, like abolish the line. but i will move with your

premise for the sake of conversation on the issue of immigration, we need to increase the amount of border security. we need to invest in security at the border. and i do think the border has been a little bit of a mess. but we had a bill that passed through the senate that took a big steps forward that would have made it they would have done a step towards comprehensive immigration reform, which has been something that politic from the time i was in middle school have been talking about. and yet what happened was that bill would have possibly passed the house. mike johnson put the kibosh on it, and he did that because donald trump told him to. what's so frightening about a next mike johnson speakership is that nothing got done in washington. we had the most ineffective congress in history, and dare i say the least, least effective congressman, when i'm in congress, i will believe it or not, work across the border, work across the aisle to fix the border. tom coburn i voted for the most

comprehensive border security bill that ever passed the house of reps. in fact, passed on it on a bipartisan basis. and we need to ensure that we put back in time for it to. we need to come forward. doca is something that we also need to be looking at as a promise that needs to be kept. but at the end of the day, let's just remember there was no bill that passed the senate. my opponent is lying about that. but that and the bill that she would have supported, she says, would actually increase the number of illegal detention because it would on a daily basis, we set a number of illegal border crossings that were oc before the the border between. were able to step in. that's an extreme position. and in fact even kamala harris and joe biden have backed away from that position with their current new proposal. we need we need to build the wall. we need to have more border patrol agents. we need to make sure that we have education,