Steve Jones thank you so much for being with us today it is my pleasure and quinneth before we get started I want to tell people go and immediately subscribe because this is the kind of quality information that PBS supplies oh well thank you very much so you live in Ruidosa although you have only lived in New Mexico for a few years five years uhhuh your OPP opponent was born and raised in New Mexico right why are you the better candidate to represent a district whose residents uh our majority living in the big city well there's another way let me reverse it don't blame any of this that's happened to New Mexico on me because I wasn't here now I always say you've been here why didn't you solve the problem we've been at the bottom of a lot of list ranking States it's abundantly clear that we have issues and so we've given my opponent an opportunity to cure the problem and yet what I'm saying is that you cannot throw money at a you've got to figure out the root cause of it so that's where I come in my number one skill gyth is problem solving I'm a strategic thinker and I've done this literally worldwide so I I want to talk to you about FEMA project 2025 recommends dismantling the Department of Homeland Security oh you're going to talk about 2025 well let me get your opinion uh homeland security overseas FEMA um and they want to move its duties to other departments although project 2025 does support the mission of FEMA but the plan uh you know crafted by about 100 conservative groups including the Heritage Foundation says that states over rely on federal disaster relief do you agree no absolutely not actually I think the better cure instead of disbanding it is to reconstruct it and I would even say distribute it so my theory is that if you have it here low locally set up for what are anticipated disasters already basically within the state of New Mexico and by the way at least under the direction of part of it under the governor so that we have an immediate response team set up now we don't need Hurricane Relief here in New Mexico but we darn sure need FEMA set up ready willing and capable with equipment and Personnel to deal with not only the fires but the burnscar flooding that we and Roso suffered let me ask you something how important do you think it is how much of the job of a US congressman is it to bring federal dollars home to New Mexico you're on my favorite topic you know before we get to that we have a an existential crisis to use the term that everybody loves to use now and that is that we are spending so much and incurring so much debt that we actually have Debt Service now equal to the total of the defense department budget transla that we are on an unsustainable course for bankruptcy of the US government now people like no that'll never happen well you know what they do GTH is they just simply turn on the printing press the M1 money supply increased substantially over the last five years now back to your question taking a lot of money that we don't already have needs for well we obviously have needs for it but in excess of what we're already doing basically exacerbates inflation accelerates the government's potential financial disaster and worse yet I don't see it solving problems we spend more as an example on education than many states and have the worst achievement so I'd like to say that's like looking at things through the wrong end of a telescope the system right now is throw money throw money throw money and that's got to solve the problem wrong it doesn't you've got to get much more into the problem and solve it and then fund it without U Prejudice if you will to the fact that we are going bankrupt let me ask you about Trump in 2022 you tweeted while Twitter contemplates allowing Trump to use this social media I am resolving to do all that I can to take us away from his form of hatred and division division now you have pledged to vote for Trump this year yes but you're clearly not that fond of him no why are you the right candidate to support a district an area of the state where voters are quite passionate about Trump well gwenth I've seen litmus tests for candidates before it's one of those little things that we like to wave the red flag oh no this guy's going to be horrible because he does this or that this is probably the least of those issues I I'm almost in agreement with the Pope who says what you got this year is the choice between the lesser of two evils and I've heard that comparison made before so the fact that I'm voting for Trump does not mean that I can't solve the problems that congressional district one has is almost inconsequential to that now if you want to say well it's a reflection of your character okay I get that argument a little bit more but the point that I made earlier on when we were talking is for decades we've had problems we at the bottom of these lists we cannot keep doing electing the same office holders over and over and over again and expecting a change that's the very definition of insanity you've been critical of uh Trump's actions on January 6th and and the riots um and you have said that you would absolutely uh accept the results of this election that we have one of the best election systems in the world are you worried that he would do that again well certainly certainly if you read the rest of those text messages that I did at that time I said I fear Donald Trump but here is where I believe that we in the United States have something that they didn't have and say example Venezuela and that is that we have a series of of uh control mechanisms set up so that if someone were to exceed the boundary of their Authority that they could be brought to bear there's a control mechanism here that doesn't exist in a lot of the the countries where this could be a much bigger issue is he a threat to democracy no not because of what he thinks but because our government our country uh and the Constitution provide us with protection against any excesses so our mechanism would be impeachment and removal from Office should he have been removed from office well they tried they did their nness and gwth I don't think there was anything left on the table when they got through they threw the kitchen sink at him and didn't get there you know the biggest problem that you've got in this country is we as a country are divided you know the the the great unwashed that support Trump well they're half of our country really an issue is we've got to become more amicable more amiable with those who disagree with us and that's why you'll hear me over and over and over abhor solve problems when it gets to that's my segue to immigration there you go go for it in a recent debate you said you did not believe that there should be a pathway to citizenship necessarily like a guaranteed pathway for those who have entered the country illegally yes thank you GW yes so um but there are close to 6,000 DACA recipients here in New Mexico a lot of young people here at the University of New Mexico studying to be engineers and lawyers and doctors accountants uh like you um so and we have a state law guaranteeing their right to access our state universities what do you say to young people here in New Mexico who are um at school right now trying to build careers and stay here I'll give you the rest of what I believe on immigration and that is it ought to be a mirror image of Mexico and I know very well Mexico I love Mexico I love the Hispanic culture there been to the immigration offic as many times and what they will tell you is the same thing I would tell doy and response to your question gwenneth and that is you've got to First leave the country and then lawfully reenter it they didn't uh Prejudice my re-entering and by the way I was an illegal American Mexican so I was an illegal and they said fine you go out you go back through the process and you come back and you pay a fine it was a hefty fine for Mexico I I would suggest the same thing but I really have a fundamental problem with us accepting illegal uh well breaking our laws as a basis for being able to go forward it needs to be two steps back across the whatever the border and then come back now I would say part of my immigration program is if they're educated here they should have a right an opportunity to stay if they're here legally I think that's one of the things that our immigration has done that was really bad is that we have really first class graduates and then mandate that they return to their home country but with the DACA with the people who are already here not of any of their choices the solution is not to give them because they entered illegally instead the pathway to citizenship but rather say you are going to be eligible but you got to go back and come in Legally so you have strong opinions about this oh absolutely but you have not given such detailed opinions on abortion for example you've said it should be a state issue but if you were elected to congress and had the opportunity to vote in favor of a law that would criminalize abortion nationally would you vote to do that absolutely not I don't believe that the the federal government relative to this topic and many many many others ought to intrude on states rights you know the colonies were very reluctant to sign let stay away from St States's rights do you think that abortion should be illegal in this country no it ought to be a state issue okay uh in vitro fertilization you told the journal you didn't have a position on it do you believe that uh women and families should be able to choose IVF when they're building a family you know the connotations to that and having it tied back to roie white or the other issues is what caused me to say I had no opinion do families who want children have an ability to become uh let's say Seek other ways and there's a multitude of ways of doing that as you well know G yes is the answer to that but as part of a national policy then I have taken the position of saying no I don't have a position Congressman you would have to vote not on that issue right that's the State issue uh well if there were legislation as people are saying they like you would well let me say if there were legis ation guaranteeing the right to IVF I would vote against it if it comes from the federal government okay because you don't want a law pardon me because you don't want a law I don't want to violate the the original construct of the Constitution of the United States which said these are United States of America a republic the Republic is the key here and at no point in our history have we we ever fully dissolv that we've threatened it many times many times there has been this Federalist movement to say no no no and there's a lot of that now when it's I oppose let me bring you back though to Crime you have said that New Mexico's problem is tolerance um research does overwhelmingly show that stiffer penalties do not deter crime uh what solutions would you offer New Mexican New Mexicans who feel frustrated by property and violent crime well again I'm I'm going to tell you something that is probably not real popular about this because yes courts are a part of the retention issue and the retic ism issue but when it comes to the voters they have rights and their rights are being violated by the system that is here in New Mexico they are how would you restore those rights can't that's a state issue federal government should not be in New Mexico telling them how to one form a police department two the the conduct of the police the state courts the district courts the U the state Supreme Courts those should be autonomous and San Sanctified against Federal intrusion I feel very strongly about that go now I do think that that's where the problems need to be solved but as a congressman I would be very very reluctant now you remember the F the reaction of the voters to the citizens to the FBI coming in that was a very small subset of what could have happened in terms of the federal government's intrusion uh it was not desired not appreciated a lot of people objected to it I did as well well let me ask you about guns yeah the Biden Administration is trying to crack down on ghost guns uh which have been used in an increasing number of crimes the Supreme Court recently heard a case uh from Second Amendment supporters who say the public has a right to these guns even when they come in a kit that can be easily assembled in a manner of minutes and produce a gun that is totally untraceable do you support any restrictions on guns we have so many gray areas on this subject that I almost have to say I defer to the Supreme Court and those who are much more constitutionally attuned to it but you remember the word conservative came from a group of people who said you know I literally translate word for word the Constitution and hold it as being uh word for word accurate and the Liberals weren't people who spent a lot of money liberals said no no no you've got to take it with an interpretation you got to interpret it with an eye of what's happening in your Society right now and so those two have been around literally since the Constitution was drafted I'm in the conservative Camp I say the word words in the Second Amendment sadly couldn't be more clear on this subject unless and until the second amendment is amended we're Bound by that as the Supreme Court has ruled many many times I think probably a lot of the stuff that was just cancelled uh here in the state would have been deemed unconstitutional had we carried it that far so here's the predicament we're in I abhor I was a conscientious objector in the military when I mentioned to you already I'm a pescatarian I don't shoot animals I don't own guns you couldn't talk to someone who is less affiliated with arms but yet the Constitution is a whole we can't start chipping parts off saying well that's no longer relevant and that's no longer relevant unless and until the Congress passes acts which would basically put before the states an amendment to the Constitution we I believe the Integrity must be maintained I abhor School violence but in that regard and you may get to it with your questions I really think we have a number of issues as a society well hang on let me narrow it down because we actually have one minute and one question left oh what is the single most important issue to you in this election the one thing that you most want to accomplish if you're elected to congress a CPA I am definitely interested in preserving our country fiscally for our our children and our grandchildren and that's my number one I've got to be the voice of reason to stop inflation where it's coming from which is overspending decrease our debt and tie I'd love to see a budget so fiscal now that's boring to a lot of people watching qu but it's critical if we want to save this Con country of ours we've got to address the financial site Steve Jones thank you so much for coming in and it's been a pleasure a lot of talking