In the race for Congress. There is *** lot on the line. California's sixth district representing Rancho Cordova, Citrus Heights and Sacramento suburbs. Tonight. The candidates answer questions that impact you the cost of living quality of life and health care. Meet the candidates, Democrat, Amy Vera and Republican Christine Bush. This is the KCR *** three debate for Congress district six. Now moderator Ashley Zavala, welcome to the debate between candidates in the sixth congressional district. *** quick explanation of the ground rules for tonight. Each candidate will be given one minute to respond to each question. We have about 30 seconds for follow up or rebuttals. Viewers at home will hear an audible chime like this. That means *** candidate is out of time. We'll have some yes or no questions in our rapid fire round and we will ask those when prompted or for *** brief statement from the candidates. I wanna thank our viewers for submitting questions. We've received several of them and we tried to incorporate as many of them as possible. Now we flipped *** coin and the first question tonight is going to Mr Amira. Thank you for being with us. We're gonna start with the economy. Californians continue to struggle with the high cost of living in this state. What will you push for in Congress to make life here more affordable? Look, the pandemic was, was pretty tough, disrupting supply chains and, and the like and you know, while the economy is recovering too many working class, middle class families are struggling, you know, when they go to the grocery store to buy their groceries, they're getting less. You see, gas prices being pretty high. So I think there are *** couple of things that, that we can do. Obviously, we've got to address those supply chain issues, but we've also got to look at how do we get more goods and, and products on the shelves, um, and bring those costs down and then, you know, you do see what's happening with the retail theft and so forth. I do think some of that spills over into the cost of, you know, you go into *** cvs or Raley's, everything's locked up these days that adds to the cost of goods and services as well. So I think we've got to address that and I think those are *** couple things that are tangible that we can do to bring prices down for everyday consumers. Any, any specifics that you can provide to do that. You know, I think you certainly can go and to the petroleum reserves and, and try to make more gas available. We produce more energy than any other country in the world. But we export *** lot of that. So, you know, again, keeping some of that home could lower gas prices as well. Thank you, Mr Bea MB. Same question to you. If elected to Congress, what would you do to make life more affordable here? Well, one of the things we need to do is we have to return to energy independence. We understand that the American economy depends on our gas and fuel supplies and so everything that we consume the groceries, utilities, clothing, everything comes on *** truck and getting into our reserves which have already been desperately depleted from the last, uh, election in 2022 to help get people over the border. Uh, there's not reserves to go back to. We have to start opening up drilling not only in California, but in Alaska, we have to embrace the fossil fuels that help drive our economy to make gas food, everything that we consume more affordable. We understand that renewable energy is something of the future, but for right now, I'm gonna repeat Donald Trump drill, baby drill, Miss Fish. Thank you. Uh, our next topic is abortion, Miss Fish. We're gonna start with you. California is one of 21 states in which state law protects the right and the procedure to an abortion. Uh, following the United States Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe versus Wade. Would you support *** national abortion ban? Should you be elected to Congress. Absolutely not. The Supreme Court sent Roe versus or overturned Roe versus Wade and sent the abortion issue back to the states where it belongs where the voters will decide what the policies are and how that uh issue will be addressed. Now, we have to remember that abortion is not the only part of women's health care. We have got to as *** woman, I understand what we face as far as health care goes right now. We're struggling Nancy in Citrus Heights. She's on *** six month waiting list to get *** pap smear. We have to address our health issues particularly for women as wrap around. Not just one issue. Now, I'm *** cancer survivor. So I understand where our health care is in California and what we have to do to change it to make it more accessible to every person. Thank you, Miss B Mr Barrow. We're sticking on this topic with you. Uh California is seeing an influx of women as *** result of the overturning of Roe versus Wade uh health care in this state. Uh Is women seeking reproductive health care are coming from out of state. What would you do or what should, what should Congress do to ensure that the procedure remains accessible? Not just for women in California, but from those neighboring states. So I actually I see this as *** doctor. Um the oath I took was to do good to do no harm but really co that oath is patient autonomy. Every um patient men and women should be able to make their own health care decisions. And that's how I look at this issue and there's nothing more personal than reproductive health decisions. So, one of the things I'm most proud about is in my freshman year in Congress, I was identified and named Planned Parenthood's legislator of the year because we really, we did go to bat for those reproductive rights. Um I think it's *** shame that women in California have access to, you know, full reproductive health services, but *** woman in Texas doesn't. And those doctors that are training in Texas don't get the full training of OBGYN, which is why many of those students end up coming to California to get the full training. I think we ought to codify um in Congress, some of the protections that Roe V Wade had and any, any specifics as it relates to medical training, funding, anything that Congress could provide California to help. I mean, so we are at the state level providing some of that funding. You know, I talked to the, the various teams around the the medical schools, the training programs. We've also introduced legislation at the federal level to help support some of those students that wanna get full reproductive training coming in from states like Texas or Missouri places where they have really restrictive laws coming to California for us to train them. Mr Barra Thank you. We're going to switch to immigration. Now is our next topic earlier this year, *** bipartisan deal to address issues at the southern border fell apart in Congress. Among many things, it would have required, it would have given the president new power to close the border. It would have required detention and supervision of all migrants processed at the border and attempted to quickly add more border agents and personnel plus systems to deal the judicial backlog. Would you support this measure if revived this question? First goes to you, Mr Barra, actually, I'm on the record supporting it and I wish it had come to the floor for *** vote and then sent to the president's desk. President Biden has also said he'd sign that measure. So I think it was smart. It was bipartisan kudos to Senator Lankford from Oklahoma and Senator Cinema from Arizona for, for that negotiation. Um But that's *** starting point, not an ending point. When I think about immigration, I would think about our borders from *** national security perspective because uh as someone who's on the intelligence committee, I do know some of the, the threats and dangers that are coming across our southern border. But I'd also think about um immigration from an economic perspective. We're *** nation of immigrants, one generation after another, woven together, bringing traditions, um religions, cultures together. We shouldn't lose that heritage. You know, my family immigrated from India in the 19 fifties. And again, I think that's what makes the United States such *** great place that we are welcoming to immigrants. Mr May just *** quick follow up question. Why is it so difficult to pass immigration policy in Congress? You know, because everyone, again, I would think about, I'd separate and think about the border from *** national security perspective and think about um legal immigration from um an economic perspective. We know those immigrants that if, if we could do that, you could come up with the policy. We know immigrants add to small businesses, you know, they come in here with their hopes and dreams and add to our economy, which is why we're still the the most remarkable country in the world. And then if we thought about the border from *** national security perspective, you would actually have more border agencies agents there. I wouldn't build walls and things like that necessarily, but you can use technology to secure the border. Mr Barra. Thank you, Miss B the same question goes to you. If that measure is revived and you were elected to Congress, would you vote for that bipartisan border deal? No. Uh I support legal immigration now, I also supported the remain in Mexico policy. Now, Mr Barrow, we, we witnessed him at the southern border during the Trump administration protesting the remain in Mexico policy. And under the Biden Harris administration, we have seen the free flowing of drugs and human trafficking across the southern border. It has decimated our economy. It has made the resources that are available to American citizens, people who are suffering. It has made our homeless crisis even worse. It's taxed valuable resources as far as food and affordable housing. We don't have to re invent what's going on at the border. We have to enforce the laws that are on the record. Close the open door. I am in favor of continuing the wall but putting people who are trying to come here legally, put them at the front of the line and we have all but so stopped legal immigration. M fish. Thank you. Our next topic is social security. The annual secu social Security and Medicare Trustees report released in May said the program's trust fund will be unable to pay the full benefits beginning in 2035 without any action from Congress. How should Congress address this depletion? This question first goes to you, Miss B well, the first thing that we do need to do for hard working seniors, people who have worked up to retirement who are being taxed on their social security benefits. They were taxed when they were paying in. It is reprehensible that we are taxing them when they are now receiving those benefits. Next thing that needs to happen is we cannot provide benefits to the world. So if you haven't paid into those benefits, we're seeing Congress now try and push legislation where we would pay social security benefits to people coming across the border illegally. So to shore up the program for the people who are currently in it, we need to overhaul who is receiving those benefits. The next thing is, is we have to prepare for the next generation who are going to be depending on social security and that's opening up to private uh social security plans, the ability to plan for your own future. Because right now we've seen the Social Security Trust fund rated for every project under the planet. Thank you, Miss Fish, Mr Barrow. The same question goes to you. How should Congress address the decision? So Social Security has been one of the most successful programs lifting tens of millions of seniors out of poverty. Um folks that lived in poverty uh before Social Security's advent. So we've got to strengthen and protect Social security, some simple things that we could do. You know, if you talk to uh Warren Buffett, one of the richest men in the world, he pays the same amount of social security tax as his secretary does. So we should actually raise the cap and make sure millionaires and billionaires are paying their fair share into the trust fund. We all benefit from the, you know what the country offers. That's *** simple way to do this and you can do that gradually over time and that would strengthen um the Social Security Trust Fund. We should make sure it's not just there for today's retirees. But for that generation, my daughter, as she's paying into social security, we want that trust fund to be there and that security would be there for her. We can also think about other ways to help folks save in, into, um, retirement accounts and so forth. But I would not privatize social security. I think that would be *** dangerous thing. Then it goes up and down with the stock market just to follow up on the ensuring that the wealthy pay their fair share. Would that be through *** tax? How would you propose doing that right now? What your first? I think 120,000 or so gets taxed into social security. But everything you make after that doesn't get taxed. So someone who's been 100 and 20,000 or so *** year pays the same social security taxes, someone making $500 million *** year. I would actually raise that cap *** little bit. So, you know, you could raise it to 500,000, you could raise it to *** million dollars. So folks that are doing very well in this country are paying *** little bit more into the cap, into the trust fund. Thank you, Mr If I may respond. Yeah, I do not believe we can tax this system into prosperity. It just doesn't work. What we have to do is manage the program and as people pay into the program that those are the people who are entitled to the benefits right now. It is not *** trust fund, it is *** slush fund that has been abused, not only by the current Congress, but going back as far as I can remember, the term trust fund is wildly abused and we are on the edge of bankruptcy. Thank you, Miss B our next topic is housing and homelessness, which is on the tops of every Californian's mind. We heard from many of our viewers who have said homelessness is *** major concern for them. The most recent local count estimates the number of unhoused people in Sacramento County totals more than 60,600 people. What role should the federal government play in addressing California's homelessness and housing affordability crisis? This question for goes to you, Mr or Mrs, excuse me, I, I agree with um most of the viewers that homelessness has become *** much greater challenge today than it was even *** decade ago. We're not gonna build our way out of this. So, you know, I've had conversations with me, Mayor Steinberg and others. You won't be able to build enough units. What we're doing right now though isn't compassionate either. You know, seeing someone sleep on *** sidewalk when it's 100 degrees outside on K street. That's not compassionate. We've got to get those folks off the street. You know, we could get them into vacant big box stores. It'll only work though if you have wraparound services, social workers, case managers trying to figure out, ok, how did this person end up homeless? Did they lose *** job and then lose their apartment? Is there untreated mental illness or substance abuse? We've got to address those underlying issues to start helping folks rebuild their lives. But the first thing is you do have to get folks off the street to *** place where you can actually start to find out what those root cause issues were. Thank you, Mr Barra, Miss Fish. Same question to you. Well, we're gonna go back to the root causes of homelessness. Now, I was *** homeless child right here in Sacramento. So I understand the difference between *** hand up and *** hand out and you know, to take *** little girl who has lived this life, lived in *** car and be able to be in the position that I'm in. It's based on hard work and choices. We know the border crisis that we have with the drugs and the human trafficking has desperately challenged our system and it has created much of the homeless problem that we have the addiction that leaves people on the streets. I agree that we will not build our way out of this. It needs to be at the federal level, creating incentives for drug and alcohol treatment that cause people to end up on the streets. We're also seeing valuable resources for low income people, not everyone that's homeless, not everyone who is living on the street has *** drug, alcohol or mental illness problem. *** lot of it has to do with the illegal immigration eating up the valuable resources, affordable housing. We created this crisis. MB. Thank you *** quick follow up. How do you propose that Congress address the addiction issues, the incentives that, that you mentioned just now, that's going to be not only securing our border which will stifle the flow of illegal drugs coming across the border, it will make them more expensive and harder to get. I do agree with prop 36 which we have here in California that will start help holding criminals accountable. And that includes uh shoplifting, dealing drugs right now. It's *** free for all out there and it is created *** desperate situation where we see people living as if this is *** third world country. California deserves better. American voters deserve better. Thank you. We need to protect the citizens of the sixth congressional district. Thank you. Our next question revolves around the technology industry. Besides the possible Tik Tok ban Congress has not done much to regulate the giant growing industry that has impacted everything in society. From youth mental health to the workforce. Should Congress regulate tech from social media to artificial intelligence? And if so how this question is first going to you, Miss B we need to start by repealing section 230 that gives absolute autonomy to the uh social uh media world. They have no accountability. I can tell you in with my oldest daughter, Kara, she had passed away. She had ordered the fentaNYL that took her life on social media. It was delivered to our house. It's easier to get than pizza. And there is no accountability to the social media company that connected the dealer with her. And this is *** common problem. We are seeing emotional problems with Children, the depression. Now I do not favor or will support bans, but we do need accountability with social media. We also need free speech right now. What we are seeing is social media companies silencing people for their opinion. And again, this is where the repeal of section 230 is going to make *** difference. Thank you, Miss Fish. Same question to you, Mr Barra. Thank you and I'm sorry to hear about your daughter. Um I agree with you that we need to regulate social media in the sense that if there are dangerous things, you know, what human trafficking, selling of illegal narcotics and, and things like that. We do have to crack down on that and you know, certainly we should work together on, on addressing that issue. I do think Congress was slow to setting up guardrails on social media and now we are seeing the impact it has on anxiety, depression, other issues that are plaguing our young people and misinformation as well. I'm on the bipartisan *** I task force. That speaker Johnson and leader Hakeem Jeffries put together, um, we are in the process of trying to figure out what are those appropriate guard rails, not to stifle innovation, but also to make sure you know, dangerous things don't, don't happen. And I do think you'll see the next congress starting to legislate. We wanna get that right though, ok. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Follow up Mr Barra has had more than *** decade to address this issue. Section 230 is one of the quickest and uh most effective vehicles to holding social media companies accountable. And as far as free speech, we have seen how they have silenced people, everything from uh the COVID COVID epidemic to just social issues, political issues, it is holding them accountable but also embracing free speech, not monitoring it. Thank you controlling it. Thank you, Miss Fish, Mr Beer. Would you like *** quick second to rest? I mean, again, I'm in agreement with you that, you know, we should work together Democrats and Republicans to address the negative impacts of social media. And that is, you see, rising anxiety, depression, illicit drugs, human trafficking. I don't think there's any disagreement on that. We should do it. And yeah, I'm very willing to, to support and, and pass that legislation. Um We've got to get this right though because you know, *** I is going to be *** big part of, you know, all of our lives and you know, we've got to figure out how to continue to be the most innovative country in the world but also protect against the negative impacts of technology. Thank you, Mr Barra. We're going to move on to our next round. Our rapid fire round. It's either *** simple yes or no or brief statement if you are prompted for one. So our first question goes to you, Mr Barra, should voter identification be required at the polls? You know, there's very little um illegal voting. So, you know, I think it'll just get in the way of legal voting. It's just *** yes, no. So is that *** no, I don't think, you know, again, when you register, you're having to show proof of citizenship. Uh Same question to you. Should voter identification be required at the polls? Yes. In *** brief statement, it is the most important thing *** citizen can do. Just say yes, we're gonna require uh voter or I mean uh ID to buy spray paint to buy cold medicine over the counter. It is imperative that we require voter identification in federal elections. Thank you, Miss B uh our second question. We'll start with you, Miss B uh yes or no. Many of our viewers admitted this question and want to know who won the 2020 election. Joe Biden or former president Donald Trump. Joe Biden was sworn into office. But we do need to secure our elections to make sure that everyone is confident that they are fair and secure. Did, did, did who won the election? Joe Biden or President Biden was sworn in as president? Thank you, Miss Fish. Uh, same question goes to you, Mr Barrow. Joe Biden won the election. Thank you. Uh Yes or no. Should there be term limits for us? Supreme Court justices starting with you, Mr Barra? You know, I think we've got to reform the, the Supreme Court and one of those things could be term we should debate. That same question goes to you. No, thank you. All right. Well, we are going to take *** quick break when we come back, we'll have closing statements from the candidates and their final thoughts. Stick with us. Welcome back to our debate for congressional district six. We will now hear the candidate's closing statements. Miss B, let's start with you. Thank you. Well, my name is Christine Bish and I am the candidate for Congress right here in California's sixth congressional district. If we want to move forward, it's going to mean energy independence, making food utilities, housing, everything that we need to survive, to move forward, more affordable for every person, not just uh uh uh, *** class of people. We need to make sure that our tax is fair, that our health care gives equal uh opportunity to every citizen. We have seen the history of Mr Barra's. Uh, thank you, economy and everything else that has done for Congress. Thank you, Miss Fish. Mr Barra, your closing statement to voters. Thank you. It's been my honor to serve Sacramento County for over 30 years first as *** doctor and over this last decade as your congressman, there's still *** lot more that we need to do as we recover from the pandemic and move forward. We've got to address the, the cost of living. We've got to build more housing and so forth. I would be honored to have your vote um this November and continue to serve this community, *** country and community that we love. Thank you. Thank you, Mr Barra. Thank you, Miss Fish and Mr Barra for being with us. Thank you viewers for joining us and submitting such wonderful questions. Election day is November 5th. We have our voter information guide on our website KCR a.com. Thank you so much for joining us tonight.