Live from the fine arts auditorium at eastern wyoming college. Good evening and welcome back to the beautiful campus for the wyoming 20 general election u. S. House debate. We are at the Fine Arts Center craig from wyoming pbs. I want to know tonights debate is being broadcast by our network by wyoming pbs and our network, on the wyoming Public Media Network and are social media platforms and on cspan. I am bob beck of wyoming public radio. Craig and i will question the candidates this evening in what we hope will be a thoughtful and civil change. A quick note, we are utilizing social distancing practices here, so there is no Live Audience for tonights debates. Three of the four candidates for the house cr with us and with assistance from the wyoming league of women voters, we have predetermined the order that the candidates will appear and take questions this evening. All candidates have been briefed on the ground rules for tonights debate. Libertarian candidate Richard Brubaker was invited to participate but declined our invitation. In addition to questions from us, midway through the debate, we will have a segment where the candidates, unscripted, will discuss issues among themselves. It should be noted that the questions craig and i will ask the candidates this evening have been drawn from questions from wyoming pbs listeners and staff and viewers and developed by craig and i. The candidates have not seen these questions. We want to get right to the debate. Each candidate is allowed an opening statement, questions will follow. We are ready to begin. Mr. Haggitt, you are first. Thanks to wyoming pbs. And eastern wyoming college. I am the Constitution Party state chairman and candidate for the u. S. House of representatives. I think we are all in agreement 2020 has not been kind to this country, with the fires in and covid19, etc. , but for all the things we can worry about, lets not lose sight of the thing we should hold near and dear, our liberties, which are the safeguard of our freedoms. The liberties i refer to are the principles of natural rights, liberty reflected in the teaching of john roth, who influenced many of our founders. If history has taught us anything is that, in the weight of national trauma, liberties are frequently attacked, repressed, or done away with. We should not be choosing between liberty and safety. Has been franklin famously said, franklin famously said, those who would give up essential liberty to purchase temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security. I offer a voice for the voter to choose someone who will work to rebalance the power of the three branches of government to their constitutional roles. Especially the executive branch, and start the road to reducing our National Debt, which is 107 of our gdp. This is likely to get worse under either biden or trump. Thank you. Representative cheney. Reprresentative cheney thank you to wyoming pbs and thank you to eastern wyoming community college. It is an honor to be here, and with miss grey bull and mr. Haggit. Im running so i can continue fighting on behalf of our freedom and on behalf of wyoming values to ensure we do uphold and defend the constitution, our Constitutional Rights. We have seen this year a set of challenges and threats we have very rarely faced, potentially an unprecedented set of challenges. And it is going to require continued focus every day to ensure we fight back against the very dangerous policies the of the democrats, particularly in the house, weve seen leadership for two years now under Speaker Pelosi that embraces antisemitism and socialism, threatening our Second Amendment rights, First Amendment rights, at all moments looking to impose partisan legislation, not working to get across the aisle to get things done, to provide the kind of relief we need so we can defeat the pandemic, get our economy growing again. Im tremendously honored to represent all of the people of wyoming in the house of representatives and i look forward to the chance this evening to talk about the issues we face and to earning your support for another term. Thank you very much. Thank you. Ms. Grey bull good evening. My name is lynnette grey bull. I want to thank wyoming pbs and the moderators. I want to thank my opponents, mr. Haggit and representative lynn cheney. I am lynnette grey bull, i live in the heart of wyoming on the Wind River Reservation and quite simply, i want represent the want to represent the people. I come from the working class and i represent the working class, because i know what it is to have lived a life here in wyoming, where most wyomingites are from the working class, and i know what struggle is. I know what hardship is. I know how hard it is to get that type of representation in washington, d. C. , because most of the representation in d. C. Are millionaires from the 1 . It is important we strengthen our Constitutional Rights, and strengthen micro seat in our country, because everybody deserves a voice. I am fighting for my seat at the table, so that i can bring others to have a seat at the table. I think diversity and equality and justice for all, and to promote the general welfare for everyday people, and people like myself from the working class, and people who know what community is. Thank you, candidates. We will begin our question portion of the debate. The first question is from bob. Mr. Hagan, Rural Mental Health continues to climb, mr. Haggitt, rural wyoming has one of the highest suicide rates in the country. Much of this is due to lack of access to Mental Health, clinics in rural areas, and easy access to guns. What plans do you have for communities overrun by despair . The subject of suicide touches me personally. I lost someone near and dear to me from suicide, due to mental illness. I went through that. Wyoming is such a rural state, and it is important to have local, i mean, we have a State Hospital in evanston, and they do, they run the gamut of different aspects of Mental Health, bringing the criminal element in there and housing people that need Constant Care to monitor their medications. But you need to have that outside, in the rural areas too. Guns, that is not a part of this, but other than the fact that you need to keep guns away from people that might have a problem. Representative cheney . Reprresentative cheney these are Critical Issues and they are issues that we have seen take on enhanced importance as we face the threat of this pandemic, and the economic shut down, some of the economic consequences that we face. There are several things that are important. One is to work to empower local organizations, our churches, faith communities, the wonderful Counseling Centers we have locally in communities around the state commit to make sure that they have the resources that they need. We also need to ensure we do more for telehealth, both in terms of the physical exams as well as in terms of Mental Health. I have introduced legislation that will help to ensure we can continue some of the medicare payments that have been allowed during covid, for people who want to use telehealth to consult with their therapist as well. I think that kind of access is very important. Thank you. Miss grey bull . A. Grey bull in 2016, i gave on the tribal crisis. Native americans have the highest suicide rates in the country. This is not just a wyoming thing. This is a national problem. My history and working with youth, i understand the dire need of having resources there, to get the help they need. I have talked to mothers, i have talked to grandmothers who have children and grandchildren who are in the process of going through depression and even talking about suicide. And the resources were just not there. Again, this goes back to representation. This goes back to the suicide rates, usually coming from disadvantaged communities, from workingclass communities. We need to provide the Mental Health resources that are needed for every Community Across the state and nation. Mr. Haggit, you have an additional 30 seconds if you would like. Mr. Haggit telemedicines recent improvements have been great. One is legislation to join the interstate compact that makes it easier for outofstate telehealth providers practice in wyoming. I dont believe there is a parity law passed in wyoming yet. Anyway, this is the states issue, but i support. One wyoming is listed as one of 20 states having limited coverage for telemedicine, and to do to wyoming being such a rural state, this service should be improved. Thank you. Representative cheney, this question is for you. 32 million young adult americans are now living at home. In july, that was 52 of young adults who resided with their parents. Even for the pandemic, the number was 47 in february according to pew research. Does that concern you . Rep. Cheney well, i think it concerns me if we are facing a generation that is facing particular challenges. It depends on how you define young people. But certainly during covid as we have watched people who graduated, people entering the workforce, it is much more difficult to be able to find jobs. I think that precovid, we absolutely saw an expansion and in job opportunities, expansion and employment levels across the board, for young people, for women, for minority communities. I think what we need to do is make sure we get back to that. We need to make sure we can defeat the pandemic and get our economy growing. We know fundamentally it is Economic Growth and opportunity. We have seen things like opportunity zones this administration has put forward that help encourage investment and expand opportunity across the board. We need our young people to have opportunity so that the economy can grow, but it is going to require defeating the virus and getting the economy going again. Moderator thank you. Miss grey bull . Ms. Grey bull living in wyoming, i am in the nonprofit world and work it community building. During covid19 and the spike of it, i delivered food boxes to those in need in fremont county, so my connection to the community, not only in my community, but also statewide, the thing i hear constantly is the lack of housing. From my community, we have two or three families in one household, but that is not only true for the reservation, that is also true for Rural Communities across the state. This is a real issue wyoming faces. And so i know that for a fact, by being connected with my own community and people across the state. In the realm of job opportunity and economic structure, we had about 600 to 800 people laid off from the coal industry last year, and most had to go outofstate to find jobs. Our Unemployment Rate is 11 right now and rising nationwide, even precovid. Moderator thank you. Mr. Haggit . Mr. Haggit can you repeat the question . Moderator id be happy to. 32. 6 million young adult americans are living at home in july. That was 52 of young adults who resided with one or both parents. Before the pandemic in february, that number was 47 , according to pew research numbers. Is that concerning to you . Mr. Haggit well, it is just an indication of where we are at with homelessness is rising, and it is already a major problem and is going to get worse if things dont change. It is very concerning that they have to live back with their parents. They have to open things back up again. And when is the cure going to come, not the cure, when we get to the point where the virus is worse than the cure . And you are going to have these problems. That is just a minor symptom of what we got going on. Moderator representative cheney, 30 more seconds if you would like. Rep. Cheney it is very important we recognize, again, weve got to mixer young people make sure young people have opportunities. We have to make sure young people in wyoming have opportunities and people dont feel like they have got to go up out of state. One thing that has been so important about what the Trump Administration has been able to do, for example, is in short we ensure wee we ar are helping support our fossil fuel energy and industry, our ag industry in ways we didnt see under the last administration. Those other kinds of things, once we are able to defeat the virus, that will divide good paying jobs for young people so they stay in wyoming. Moderator thank you, minute question is for miss greybull. Moderator miss grey bull, the federal debt was already unacceptably high and with covid, it skyrocketed further. What is your plan for addressing it without hurting workers, the working poor, and the elderly . Ms. Grey bull in 2021, we are going to be in the midst of living through the pandemic or in the wake of working through the repercussions of this virus. It is important that we put Human Welfare first. I understand there is a National Debt. I understand the concerns of that. Everybody in leadership or policy should always have that, if youctor, especially were working on legislation, because that should always be at the back of your mind, how that is going to affect the National Debt. I understand that portion of it, but i want to reflect a little bit backward. But in 2006, we faced a recession, americans were losing jobs, stock market was crashing, millions of americans were losing their homes. I worked on the making Homes Affordable act where we helped over millions of americans stay in their homes. What im saying to this is we have the ability to overcome and achieve, if we put people first. And i believe we have the right hearts and minds of leadership to move forward in a way that we fly high in the wake of the pandemic. Moderator thank you. Mr. Haggit. Your opportunity to respond. Mr. Haggit the economy are we talking about the moderator the federal debt was high. Mr. Haggit the federal debt is 100 of what we bring in. We are talking bankruptcy. We have to turn that around. Weve got to stop it now. That means spending, we have to take care of people, which is great. We have a cares act, we need to make sure people are not thrown out in the street and hopefully, that is going to continue until we can get our economy back but we have to cut somewhere else. We cant keep increasing our debt and otherwise, it is just and we are a cliff not coming back from it. We need to stop spending money somewhere, so we can take care of the people. Moderator thank you. Representative cheney . Rep. Cheney it is an existential threat. When we look to the extent it will be 100 in 2021, 107 in 2023, we have to get control of it. There are several things we need to do. First, recognize the threat posed by the fact holds a significant share of our National Debt. That we know now china is responsible for causing this pandemic, the spread around the world. It increases the danger in terms of the size of our federal debt. We also have a problem that if you look at how much of the budget the United StatesCongress Actually gets to have a say on every year, it is under 30 . So you have got a lot of programs, even before you talk about how important it is to save social security, save medicare, they are going to go broke if we dont save them. There are other programs that are also mandatory every year, about 1 trillion worth it i cosponsored legislation to move those programs back onto the discretionary side of the ledger so that we can begin every year to get a hold of it and they dont automatically go over. Moderator miss greybull, 30 more seconds if you would like. Ms. Grey bull National Debt is a concern. Again, i referenced looking backwards, because we were able to get over the recession of several years ago, we were able to keep americans in their homes. We were able to help American People move forward and still build the economic structure. I dont believe it is a landslide after we get out of the wake of this pandemic. I do believe we have the ability to move over it and persevere move forward and persevere like we always have in our country. I think we have to put the people first. When we put the people first, we will build our economic structure moving forward in a bipartisan manner. Moderator thank you very much. Mr. Haggit, what has the pandemic tots you about taug ht you about the American Health care system . Mr. Haggit the Health Care System, i work in the mines in southwest wyoming. And we are blessed there, we have health care, we have insurance, but health care is important, and people have a role in their own health care. I would like to see people be educated. And right now, the doctors hands are tied with whatever regulations they have to follow or they could lose their license. I would like to see natural, homeopathic remedies that are proven and safe integrated into our Health Care System so that we have the best of both worlds, and we can go from there and keep people from getting sick in the first place. Moderator representative cheney . Rep. Cheney so many things. I think first of all of what heroes our First Responders are, what heroes our Health Care Workers are, day in and day out are treating patients with covid, putting themselves at risk, putting their lives on the line for all of us. We have made tremendous strides in terms of knowing how to treat covid. We have made tremendous strides through things Like Operation warp speed and beginning to make progress toward a vaccine, toward therapeutics. United states innovation in health care is not massed around matched anywhere around the world, but he have to make sure people have access to it. He should be able to get this treatments and have access to those tre