Major funding for Election 2020 for Arkansas PBS debates is provided by Civic Arkansas, a Winthrop Rockefeller Institute program.

Additional funding provided by the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce from the campus of the University of Central Arkansas and the studios of Arkansas.

PBS It's election 2020 for Arkansas.

PBS Debates by June 54321.

Hello, everyone.

And yes, it is once again debate week here on Arkansas PBS.

At this hour, the candidates for Congress and Arkansas's third district, and they are in alphabetical order.

Caitlin Draper, the Democratic candidate.

Bobby Wilson, the Libertarian candidate, and Steve Womack, the Republican nominee and the incumbent questioning the candidates at this hour.

George Gerard of talk, business and politics, Euna Lee of 4029 News and independent journalist Steve Bronner.

And now the rules of engagement.

Each nominee will have one minute to respond to questions.

The candidates will have 30 seconds for rebuttal if they choose.

And at the conclusion of questioning, each candidate will have one minute for a closing statement.

Now, as always, the order of candidate appearance was determined prior to the debate by a drawing that was observed by the candidates or their representatives.

And with that time to go to our first question and our first question, and that is from George Jarrett, and it goes first.

Caitlin Draper.

Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

More than 1200 Israelis were killed that day.

And since then, an estimated 40,000 Palestinians have been killed during the conflict.

What specific steps need to be taken to resolve this conflict and end war in the Middle East?

Well, first of all, thank you all so much for having me today.

This sort of discourse is so important and I'm really proud to be here today.

So thank you so much.

My heart is shattered for the loss of tens of thousands of innocent civilian lives in the region.

And we have to do everything that we can to stop the bloodshed and end the genocide.

What I would love to see is a cease fire.

I think the United States could be a leader on requiring and asking for a cease fire from Israel and from the other actors in the region.

I think that folks need to come together for a negotiated settlement so that we stop the bloodshed.

These are innocent people.

And what we're seeing is an extremist government and extremist terrorist organization leaving all of these people in the middle behind.

I would say that if Israel is unwilling to comply with a cease fire, I think that an arms embargo should be on the table.

I think that we should explore all options.

Mr. Wilson, you have one minute.

I, I think it's important to realize how we got here in the in the fifties, Iran was a democratically elected country and we overthrew it.

And our credibility in that area has pretty much not been great since.

And we're dealing with the effects of these policies in 90 years of the future.

And we're going to continue to deal with them by our constant intervention.

I think from a U.S. standpoint, our really only interest should be in maintaining the Suez Canal, an Hormuz strait.

We have you know, global trade is important.

That affects every American.

And outside of that, we need to let the people there figure it out.

If we're always there's I know there's countless, many times, whether it be in Syria, whether it be in Yemen to where we're funding both sides of the issues.

And this is something that we just need to step back, let the people there deal with it.

And it'll work itself out.

Thank you, sir.

Mr. Womack, one minute.

Well, October 7th, a year ago was unimaginable for the people of Israel.

And I've been there many times.

And to think that in an unprovoked way, a terrorist organization prompt propped up by Iran, invaded a sovereign nation and took well over 1200 innocent lives is as horrific as it gets.

And I think that Israel needs to be able to have the opportunity to defend itself and to prosecute whatever actions it deems necessary to hold Hamas accountable and to demand the release of the hostages, whether they are dead or alive today, should be that day that Hamas surrenders the people that they have taken after slaughtering thousands or hundreds of of innocent Israelis.

I don't think it's America's job to instruct Israel on just how they should be prosecuting this response to Mr. Draper for another 30 seconds.

Yeah, I think this is also a really excellent time to talk about campaign finance and money and politics.

Mr. Womack is funded by Boeing, Raytheon and AIPAC.

And so I think, you know, the system of power that keeps them in place is also keeping war going and something that we need to look at.

But again, I will say my heart is with the people in Israel and Palestine and the folks in the region.

Mr. Wilson, you have another 30 seconds.

I think it's when we look back two wars back and say, like World War One, we saw a time where, you know, Germans and English soldiers played soccer during Christmas and stop the fighting.

It's general.

It's just governments getting in the way that caused these wars to happen.

And by us putting our, you know, putting our pressure, our front foot on their throats or sending money or however we're influence, it is just really making it worse for everybody else.

Mr. Womack.

Well, Israel is our common friend in the Middle East, and we don't have many.

And we share so much in common with the state of Israel.

It is important for Israelis to to understand that America stands with them.

And I unapologetically support Israel in in the Prime Minister Netanyahu for whatever they deem necessary from their own established leadership to handle matters that are in response to what happened a year ago, October 7th.

Euna Lee has our next question.

And it goes first to Mr. Wilson.

Mr. Wilson.

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v Wade left it up to the states to decide abortion rights in Arkansas.

The only exception is the imminent health of the mother.

Should there be a national exception, for example, for rape or incest?

For that I would say no.

These should be left up for the states.

I believe in the legislative process.

Things go for the legislature.

They legislate.

They pass a law, Governor signs it, and then it works the way up there.

We don't we don't want the FBI adjudicating rapes or any other type of crimes for those aspects.

Anyway.

We would want to minimize any type of federal overreach on there.

I don't think there is any article.

I don't think there's any constitutional duty in there.

And it's not any of the enumerated powers.

And keep in mind that this is an issue that's been a failure because of both parties.

Democrats have been in power for sense since Roe was first enacted, and they never did anything to try to fix it.

The Republicans for the last 56 years have ran on overturning it, and now that they have it, kind of don't really know what to do.

So we are stuck here because nobody actually tried to solve the problem and both parties have profited from it.

One matter for Mr. Womack.

Well, there's no issue that divides America quite like the issue that we're speaking of today.

And look, the the the Dobbs decision, the overturning of Roe v Wade essentially put the issue where the issue belongs.

And that's that's at the feet of the American people and the states of the United States of America.

And that's where this whole issue should reside.

So in response to the question about whether there should be a federal federal legislation or a federal law, that that provides for the exception for the life of the mother or the or rape or incest is is not important.

What is important is it be left to the states and let the states decide what is best for the people in those respective states.

Mr. Draper, to you, I will say, you know, I think bringing it to the states is a long standing excuse that we've been using since the time of the Civil War, and it doesn't work.

I say to this issue, trust women.

It's a really complicated issue.

And I, for one, don't want people without a medical degree making decisions about my body.

We have to restore Roe.

We have to protect IVF.

I'm going through IVF myself.

And I had a miscarriage back in April and my doctor thought it was a topic because they couldn't visualize the fetus and my hormone levels were all over the place.

I was very, very vocal about that story.

I asked my doctor if I present to the emergency room with symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy, will I be okay?

Are they going to treat me?

She's out of state.

Her answer is, I don't know.

You should probably make plans to go out of the state.

Mr. Womack was asked by a journalist, you know, to comment.

He said, no comment, None of my business.

And I thank you for that.

That was the right thing to say.

I just wish that you would legislate with that same sentiment.

Got to go to Mr. Wilson now for another 30 seconds.

I just like I said, I just want to reiterate the point that both parties have been in power for, you know, alternating for every couple of years, for forever.

And this is a problem that just keeps on never solving because that's what they do.

They don't actually solve any of the problems.

This has been something that I remember going over this when I was in high school.

I remember dealing with this ten years ago, and this is something too, where both parties profit by not solving from this.

So this is something where we want to make sure we look outside the parties, the two party system to come with a solution.

Another 30 seconds for Mr. Womack.

Well, the first thing I would say is my heart breaks for what Katelyn and her family have gone through in trying to conceive.

And and a lot of families go through that.

And so my my heart breaks for you on that matter.

I will tell you, as I said in my opening, we we have this issue settled at the Supreme Court level.

It's at the stage where it belongs.

And the federal government should not be in the business right now of trying to prescribe what can and what can't happen.

Leave it to the states.

Let the states decide.

Mr. Draper.

Well, I will say I do not profit from the threat of my death.

That's not something that I profit from at all.

This is a serious issue.

And women all over the country are dying.

We know their names.

We know where they live.

I think that pushing it to the states is not the answer when the states cannot be trusted to protect our lives.

I want the government out of my bedroom.

I want the government out of my exam room.

And I want those decisions to be between me, my husband and my faith leader, period.

Our next question comes from Mr. Bronner, Steve Bronner, and it goes first to Mr. Womack.

The federal budget deficit is projected to be about $2 trillion this year.

Many provisions of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act expire at the end of 2025.

Should those provisions be extended?

And what, if any, spending should be cut?

Well, that's going to be the question of the of the year for the Congress, because the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions of it expire.

The corporate rates, of course, remain in place because they were made permanent.

But I support a full throated debate on what should or should not be kept out of the tcja.

Among them, of course, is the fact that the individual rates go higher at the end of the year if there is not a solution.

There's an estate tax that's going to be cut in half.

And there are other provisions that also expire.

Now, in terms of what should we do?

First of all, we need to find out what the full cost of what we're trying to do is extending the rates for the for the the individual rates and the pass lose or the estate tax or any of the other expiring provisions.

Find out that cost CBO will provide that to us and then determine whether or not the growth in the economy, the pro-growth policies that we hope to have in place at that time are sufficient to be able to provide the cover for whatever revenue losses there would be, according to renewing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act or those provisions.

Mr. DRAPER One minute.

You know, this is a very complicated issue also, as are most government matters.

And to be honest, I don't know what we should cut.

I really don't.

But I can tell you, as your congressperson, I will listen to all sides.

I think it's important, regardless of what happens, that we come together in a bipartisan way to make sure that Arkansas comes first, to make sure that the people of Arkansas come before our party.

Mr. Wilson, are.

I would cut everything or had the worst case scenario just prevent the automatic, you know, cost for inflation adjustment that happens throughout all the budget issues.

This has been a joke for 35 trillion in debt.

The unfunded liabilities are anywhere from 2 to 400 trillion.

It's absurd and it's a joke that anybody's actually even talking about this from either of the two parties.

They constantly talk it up and then they'll pass this big omnibus bill that they don't read or they'll do a continuing resolution under the threat of shutting the government down.

And it's just it constantly means they're just going to keep on spending and spending.

And the only way they're going to pay for it is inflating the money.

Which who does that hurt?

That hurts poor people.

Who does that hurt?

That hurts people that save.

So if you're any of these people that actually that doesn't own a house, that doesn't own stock, and then they just keep on printing money.

You were the one that is hurt the most by this, by the fact that they just can't get their budget in order and they've proven that they just can't even get it fixed back.

Mr. Womack, for 30 seconds.

Well, the fact is we don't have a revenue problem.

We're collecting well in excess of $4 trillion a year.

You know, ten years ago, it was probably in the three range.

So we don't have a revenue problem.

We have a spending problem.

But what nobody really wants to talk about is what the true drivers of the deficit and the debt are has very little to do with the discretionary budget that we're fighting over right now.

And we have a C.R.

through the 20th of December.

It has a lot more to do with what we've promised America in the entitlement arena.

And those costs continue to escalate exponentially.

Ms.. DRAPER, This is an emotional issue.

Cutting everything.

I enjoy clean water and I enjoy roads.

Those are things that I think as Americans, we have a right to.

We also enjoy health care.

Right.

And a lot of people rely on the government for their health care.

So I know that I wouldn't cut Social Security.

I know that I wouldn't cut Medicare, Medicaid.

But it's an emotional issue.

And I think it's going to take levelheaded folks coming together to figure out how we can move forward while trying to lower the deficit again.

Mr. Wilson, 30 seconds.

I mean, the reality of it is, if it isn't us, we're candy not to be Christmas every day.

We cannot afford at the current rate we're going we're taking Zimbabwe levels of inflation to where a currency is just worthless.

All right.

So Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, those are the big drivers of the debt.

Sorry.

As we're getting older, old people are expensive to take care of healthy.

So we need massive cuts in spending and we need to enable technology to add deflationary pressure on costs.

George Jared has our next question and it goes first to Mr. Wilson.

Illegal immigration has been a problem during the last several years, and in fact, it has been a problem realistically for decades.

What specific steps will you take to curb this problem?

The first steps I would take would be to first defund the NGOs.

We have too much welfare for everybody that comes over here.

We create these incentives where they're just they're coming here and then, you know, they get a cell phone, they get flights somewhere, and then they get housing.

So first, a stop there.

Next, I would in the drug war, the aspect of it, the cartels and all these destabilization that's happening and, you know, Central and South America is a direct correlation to our failed drug policies.

And I think that's where I would start first on that.

And then also to we need to do a better job of processing.

People were very government bureaucracy.

It's it's a big DMV.

When the processing people to go through and right now everybody they just they just come and then they use the you know, they just claim asylum and then they pretty much can get in.

I think we would want to close those loopholes on that.

And.

Mr. Womack, one minute.

Well, the first thing we could do is we could pass H.R.

two.

I have voted on H.R.

two at least two or three times.

But our friends in the Senate won't pick it up.

It's the best border bill that I've seen since I've been here.

It provides the the largest number of border.

Border agents on the border.

It allows for the finishing of the wall that President Trump started.

It again reinstates some remain in Mexico policy.

I mean, these are the kinds of things that we have to do first to stop the bleeding.

We have to secure our border.

Nothing else.

Interior enforcement, the visa programs, all of the other issues dealing with immigration are just not going to happen unless and until we solve for the porous border.

And I think it starts with passing H.R.

two.

Ms.. Draper, you have one.

But what's happening at the border is absolutely a crisis.

Border towns are overwhelmed.

There's health care infrastructure that is being overwhelmed as well.

I think we need to focus on the humanitarian issue as well.

Now, Senator Lankford out of Oklahoma, a very conservative senator, put forth a bill that had a lot of bipartisan support, but former President Trump called everyone and had them kill the bill so that he continued to run on the issue and that's a huge issue.

H.R.

two and the other ones that some of the other Republican members of Congress have supported are not feasible.

And they know that.

So we need bipartisan support to get this work done.

And we cannot forget the humanitarian piece of this issue.

30 seconds for Mr. Wilson.

Again, this is another one of the issues that both parties have been playing hot potato with.

We they were we were dealing with this in 2008.

We were dealt with that.

We dealt with this in 2016.

And we're you know, we dealt with it through the pandemic.

They they don't want to actually solve these problems.

And when I say they, I don't mean, you know, the actual people there.

What I'm saying is there's incentives for them to fundraise.

And then when it comes time to do the real votes, they back down.

Mr. Womack, 30 seconds.

Well, I've been to the border several times.

I've seen the, you know, the the poorest nature of this security apparatus.

And if you don't have any kind of ability to keep people out that don't belong here, then what's to stop them?

They just come around the gap in the fence or they cross the Rio Grande in our policies are such that we encourage more of that same type of behavior.

Secure the border and you begin to solve the problem.

Back to Mr. Draper.

430.

I agree with parts of what Congressman Womack said.

I do think that we need to secure the border.

I don't think a wall is the way to do it.

And I certainly know that Mexico is not going to pay for that wall.

So I think that we have to come together on a bipartisan level to make some problem solving and get this issue taken care of.

We go to Ms.. Lee now and a question first to Mr. Womack.

Congressman Womack, it is becoming even harder and harder to rent or buy.

We have a housing crisis nationwide in Arkansas, especially northwest Arkansas.

There's tremendous growth and people are having a really hard time finding a home or a house to rent.

Many local cities are trying to tackle the issue, the housing crisis at a local level.

But what can be done at the federal level?

Well, I'm not sure you want the federal government involved in trying to create.

That's not a conservative position to ask the federal government to come in here and solve for a challenge that you happen to have in your local communities.

We have to have conversations across the spectrum.

Government, the private sector, the the the the nonprofit sector and try to figure out how can we build housing?

And then maybe if the federal government is going to have a role in it, what are the tax incentives to be able to provide for housing that is more affordable, if you will, then than what we classify today as affordable housing?

Land costs have gone higher.

The cost to be able to develop has gone higher.

And in some cases there are policies in place by local municipalities that drive up the cost of housing that add 12, 15, 20% to the cost of a house that, you know, if if we're going to be have a serious conversation about it.

These municipalities are going to have to figure out how can we do this without encumbering the builder with a lot of additional cost.

One minute for Mr. Draper.

So a bill was put forth the Infrastructure and Jobs Act.

And first of all, I want to say the housing crisis is very real in northwest Arkansas.

People are feeling it.

We have nurses and social workers that cannot afford to place a place to live.

We're seeing the rights and or the rise in homelessness go through the roof.

And so it's absolutely a problem that Congress needs to help to solve.

You do represent your local community.

That's that's what our job is.

I think that there's a lot of good pieces of legislation in the infrastructure Act that would help partner with the local communities, investing in the local communities so that we can help to solve the housing crisis.

Mr. Wilson, One other this is something that I'm kind of an expert on.

I work at a I manage a tremendous company in Northwest Arkansas, and I pretty much help people, you know, build houses.

I help a lot of builders on this.

And the process of building a house is is very complicated.

And we already have enough of the federal government involvement on it.

A lot of the aspects on the regulations affect how many vendors there are when it comes to national.

There's maybe like three or four.

There's two major ones when it comes to importing material from around the world.

The customs agents and the process in there is really difficult.

I mean, I've had shipments sit there for like three weeks and then they'll throw a bill of like $4,000 on you.

So we want to get the federal government out of this.

We have far too much consolidation going on in the building market.

And the the low interest rates just fueled massive price inflation that that everybody that doesn't have a house is appealing to Mr. Womack, to 30 seconds.

Yeah, well, Mr. Bronner had asked a minute ago about what do you cut in?

There would be a lot of people in Congress and some on my side of the aisle that would like to go after housing.

I chair the Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, so we already have federal government involvement in our housing programs.

My bill, the FY 25 approach bill that hasn't been signed into law, hopefully will be does protect the tenants and the project based housing arrangements that we currently have so that we're not kicking people out on the street.

So the federal government already has a role in this.

I don't think it should be expanded.

Mr. DRAPER And of course I disagree.

I do think that it's great that the federal government is helping to some extent.

But Womack voted against the Infrastructure Act that is going to help bring billions of dollars to Arkansas and to our communities so that we can build.

And he will vote against these things time and time again because he falls in line with his party and he puts his party over the needs of Arkansans.

Mr. WILSON Housing is now one of those problems that I think we're probably going to be dealing with for the next 50 years if we keep going with these same two party members are not party members.

The two parties in general are.

It's something, too, where everybody talks a big game when it talks about building more housing.

But the solution really is just let people build.

It's illegal to build a lot of type of housing and we need to make sure that housing is legal to build and the market will provide.

Steve Brunner has our next question.

That goes first to Mrs. Draper.

What do you think is the state of our elections today and what reforms do you think are needed to make them better?

Well, first of all, I think it's very important that when an election is called that we trust what they say.

I think election denying is an absolute hit to democracy and something that our troops have fought for since the inception of our nation.

So I think it's absolutely critical that we accept the results of our our elections.

I would like to see reform in the Electoral College.

I don't think it's necessary anymore, or at least to the extent that it's being used.

I also think, you know, civic engagement increasing civic engagement, teaching civics is a great way to get people involved and to understand the voting process.

I think it's a lot of Republican rhetoric that tons of people that are migrating here are voting illegally.

There's just not a lot of evidence to support that.

Mr. Wilson, One minute.

I think the big answer is transparency.

I think we've seen a lot more transparency in our system in the last four years.

The government has not only, you know, has a duty, but they really should be required to be much more open with how, you know, the process is how does the nuts and bolts happen?

And as somebody that goes to city and county meetings to see what's happening under the hood.

A lot of the stuff just isn't shared.

And then it gets kind of just dropped out of nowhere.

The system that we grew up with is not the system that we have now.

So we just need more transparency.

I think we see a lot of things.

There's a lot of people on Twitter now that are, you know, posting, you know, the daily results from the, you know, zero voter zero, you know, people that have voted very minimally in the last four elections, the ones that have done now.

So as long as we get much more of a open and transparent system as it's going through, I think we'll I think people will be much more happy with the outcomes, whether they win or lose.

One minute, Mr. Womack.

Well, election integrity is and indeed a serious issue facing our country, at least in the minds of a lot of people.

Because I see the social media comments and and the rhetoric out there about, you know, how many people are voting and who's qualified to vote and and so on.

And we just tried to pass the SAVE Act a multiple number of times to codify that people who are not in this country legally cannot vote in federal elections.

And there is a bias toward wanting to more federalize some of these processes.

I think you've got to be really careful in asking the federal government to intervene in our election process, quite frankly.

I think everybody ought to do it the way Arkansas does it.

You don't have any problems in Arkansas, at least none that I'm aware of.

There's no talk about some stolen election in the great state of Arkansas.

So what Secretary of State Thurston and his team are doing and what our election officials all across the state are doing at each county, I think is a great model for the rest of the country.

30 seconds, Miss Draper.

Well, I think Secretary Thurston has silenced 100,000 women when he disqualified the abortion amendment on the ballot for a technicality.

That is still, in my opinion, up to, you know, legal debate.

So, no, I think that Arkansas participates in a lot of marginalizing practices to folks.

It's very hard to get registered to vote here.

And then when you do, the DMV loses your voter registration card.

That happened over 60,000 Arkansans this year.

Over to Mr. Wilson.

Like I said, I think the more transparency with will solve a lot of the problems.

I agree with Congressman Womack that we don't want to federalize the elections anymore.

I think that just causes all problems back there in the founding.

What they were worried about were the states would actually the requirement in there is that we had two states had to hold elections and they had to drag people to vote so they could have quorums.

So but in general, like I said, we just need to make sure that we have open and we're tracking things as it goes on.

So that way nobody gets surprised.

And again, to Mr. Womack, well, just because you don't get the outcome that you're looking for doesn't necessarily mean that there was some election irregularity there.

Look, when you're dealing with millions of people who are going to vote, there are going to be some things that fall through the cracks.

But in terms of will the sum total of them sway in election way in one way or the other, I'm at least in Arkansas.

I'm not concerned about that.

We don't have that kind of a problem.

The deadline to register was the day before this recording took place.

So now it's up to you.

Two weeks before election to go vote early or vote on Election Day.

Mr. Jarrett has the next question.

Who goes first to Mr. Woman?

Hurricane Helene destroyed many parts of Georgia, the Carolinas and even hit Virginia.

Hurricane Milton is barreling its way toward Florida even as we speak.

Right now, it looks as if FEMA is going to run out of money to handle these disasters.

So two parts.

Should Congress go back into session?

Because right now you guys are not scheduled to go back into session until November 12th.

And secondly, do do you guys need to consider more FEMA funding in the future since we having so many of these monstrous disasters?

And I love the question.

And you're right.

And as this particular debate airs at its regular time on the Arkansas PBS, that hurricane is probably bearing down on Tampa.

So my thoughts and prayers and my heart goes out to the people on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

Look, the the way we fund disasters in our country is flawed.

Now, it's a little too early to ask Congress to come back and try to fix the what we call the dearth, the disaster relief fund.

We've already pumped about $20 billion into it, but we got other disaster aid that we need to be taking care of, and we'll have to eventually highway E.R., the CDBG disaster relief effort, those are among other pots of money that we have to be able to plow back into these areas to help people who are hurting.

But it's a little early for Congress to go back.

We haven't seen the full effects of Halloween and we certainly haven't seen the full effects of Milton, but we will soon.

Mr. Draper, One minute.

You know, first of all, again, I echo Mr. Womack's sentiments.

It's absolutely devastating.

These folks are already devastated from pulling and now Milton is bearing upon them.

It's not.

It's a horrible, horrible disaster.

But when we when we talk about climate change, what we're really talking about is a change in weather patterns, more extreme weather patterns.

And that affects farmers.

It affects your pocketbook.

Right.

Increasing insurance premiums.

And I'd like to point out that Womack voted against funding FEMA, and that's FEMA money that we needed whenever the tornado came in devastated Rogers, killing at least three people.

This is something that, once again, funding the government can be important, right?

We don't want to see these people who are suffering from Halloween and now Milton go without the necessary aid.

They need that aid, Right.

You know, I just I think it's terrible that when our legislators vote against the funding that we need and then they show up to disaster zones with their sleeves rolled up.

The work is in Congress.

Mr. Wilson, One minute.

All right.

So the question was about whether or not FEMA is going to run out of money.

And this is kind of as may be feeling kind of cynical on this is that this is kind of a joke.

We know they're going to do the wrestling kayfabe and like, oh, we're not going to run out of money.

And then suddenly we'll get a bill for like $700 billion.

And we don't know how we're going to pay for it because we're 35 trillion in debt and then somehow it magically gets released.

Maybe, you know, some people will do some sad stories and they'll get a pass through.

But it just this is just this is just a show on any of this.

People in Arkansas, we shouldn't have to be funding for people that build in hurricane alleys.

All right.

We we're all we've nationalized.

Disasters on this aspect to where we have to pay for it.

All right.

We had been county had had plenty of money in their reserves.

Bienville ran out of their reserves through their aspect of it.

But the localities should be playing, paying for the any of the disasters that come through.

Back to Mr. Womack for 30 seconds.

Well, pray that you're not in the path of a tornado or a hurricane if Bobby Wilson's in charge because you got no help coming.

Look, there is a responsibility on the part of the federal government to help people in times like this.

It doesn't happen often, but when it does happen, we have to have a process by which we can go into that's adequately funded, not necessarily, you know, paid for through other cuts, although that would be ideal.

But the federal government does have a responsible bility for some.

But I do agree in some of the other areas where we can better fortify, I think we probably should do that.

Mr. Draper.

I have nothing more to say.

Okay.

Our next question.

Yeah, our next question I think, goes to Mr. Wilson for rebuttal.

I'm sorry.

This is again, one of those things, too, where they they just like to use crises to crises to spend even more money.

So, sure, a hurricane, it's awful if you're the one in it.

But, you know, we're creating moral hazards and causing more people to live in these places that really shouldn't be.

And it's dangerous.

And then to fix the whole system there basically inflating all of your money away and destroying your entire purchasing power.

And before our next question will take just a moment to remind you that the candidates will have the opportunity to participate in a press conference directly following the debate.

And at home, you can scan the QR that's up on your screen right now, scan that with your mobile device to watch those press conferences.

So get your mobile phones ready.

You will see, by the way, you'll see that QR code periodically through the balance of our debate.

Miss Lee has the next question, and it goes first.

Uh, to Mr. Wilson.

All right, Mr. Wilson, Arkansas is one of the worst states for material health care, and it's also ranked third worst when it comes to infant mortality.

How do we change that?

So first off, this really isn't a federal issue on any ways except for the fact that the FDA gets in the way of a lot of life saving drugs we have.

There's constant places, whether it be Europe, whether it be Japan, rugby, South Korea, that have far much better medical technology, medical testing.

And it's far cheaper in the United States because all the regulatory system in here makes it really, really expensive.

We have the technology, We it's there's people that want to provide it to the people in need.

And it's something we just have to let it happen in the federal government.

We just need to get out of the way.

And then these there's these new technologies that are here can come and save us.

Mr. Womack.

Well, there are grant programs available to help people in these types of crises, if you want to refer to this as a crisis.

You know, the fact that we are so low in the in the state totem pole, if you will, on maternal health.

Look, I've I've supported programs throughout my tenure in Congress in the appropriations bills that support child health and maternal health.

I mean, these are all programs.

And there's a, like I say, a block grant program for maternal health that people can take advantage of.

And I have supported those.

But I think a lot of the issues that we deal with in terms of whether it's infant mortality or maternal health goes all the way back to our ability to provide a better education and better job opportunities for people so that as they progress in life and as they are successful in life, that when they are confronted with a pregnancy, that they have the prenatal care, that they have all of the assets available with, which in the health care to be able to manage successfully.

One minute, Miss Draper.

I will say I love answering this question as the only woman on the stage and also the only person trying to become a mother, the state of Arkansas.

You know, the first answer is investing in women.

When the government interferes with medical treatment.

Women are going to die.

And that is one reason that we're seeing the maternal health or death rates so high.

But also, I think we're number four last like I guess number 56, the nation on infant death.

It's a huge issue in a state that calls itself the most pro-life state in the union.

Now, in 2014, we agreed to expand Medicaid here in Arkansas, and it covered over 200,000 children.

Now we have the most pro-life piece of legislation on the table, and Arkansas will not take it.

We're one of only four states that have not taken this, and it would increase coverage for mothers and infants for a year after birth.

This is necessary.

The governor calls it redundant.

It's not.

There are pockets of people that are not protected by the original Medicaid expansion.

30 seconds for Mr. Wilson.

This is just another example of government making everything more expensive.

By they'll way.

They just kept on adding funds and it just raises the cost of everything.

They add more bureaucracy things cause we were five, ten, 20, 30% more than it actually should because they're involved.

Let's get out of the way.

There's a lot of great technical, technological solutions out there and we need to let them happen.

Mr. Womack and I do agree that there are technologic lly sufficient capabilities out there that can increase one's access to health care.

One of those, of course, is telemedicine, and I've supported in many respects the ability for people to get health care through the current telemedicine services.

And by the way, on the veterans front, that that capability is expiring under the COVID protocols.

And we've introduced legislation that continues to allow veterans to exercise the use of telemedicine for those purposes.

I think that's one of the keys to it.

Another 30 seconds from this.

DRAPER You know, this is my life.

I'm trying to have a child.

This is my life.

And if you're a woman and you're trying to have a baby, you know how scary it is to try to have a child in the state of Arkansas.

And that is sad.

Arkansas has wonderful people and it's beautiful.

We have so much to offer, equating it to the cost or the cost.

And trying to conflate that with my life is really absurd and frankly, insulting.

But I would say that we need more OB-GYNs and OB-GYNs aren't wanting to move here because our abortion laws are so awful.

Next question.

Mr.

Goes from Mr. Bronner.

Anyway, first to Mr. Womack.

The third District is home to the University of Arkansas, which means it's home to the University of Arkansas athletic department.

Should Congress pass legislation creating a national standard for college athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness?

I've had this conversation with a number of coaches, including guys like Nick Saban there in Washington when they come up during SEC days when he was still a coach.

And as much as I think the NCAA needs Congress to get involved and help them solve for nil, I don't think the federal government has demonstrated any real capability, any real successful capability to manage something like nil.

I would think that the NCAA would be the proper authority to to write the rules and the regulations to make sure that nil is not something that is just benefiting the universities that come from major metropolitan areas that have access to lots of money.

As much as I would like to be able to weigh in on the issue, because I'm a big college football fan, particularly after the goalpost came down at Razorback Stadium this past weekend, I just don't think that's the proper place for Congress.

One minute for Mr. Piper.

I do think that Congress should step in and help.

I think we represent our constituents.

And the University of Arkansas is part of our constituency.

Those students that are being taken advantage of, in my opinion.

So, yeah, it's what's there.

It's their face, it's their likeness.

Let's get them some money so that they can pay for school.

It's it's only what's fair.

And I think it's our duty as your government, as your elected officials, to help you out with that.

I do wish that, like, you know, we were talking about things that are maybe more important to more people in our district, like the park down the street where a couple froze to death last winter.

You know, they've all just now got an overnight housing situation for folks that need it.

It's, you know, yes, this is important to to a very few amount of people, but we have really more important things to to conquer.

Mr. Wilson, you have one minute.

I, I think this is one of those issues, too, where I would be perfectly comfortable with the government getting involved in it, since it's not life and death.

I think everything else that they get involved with, they just make worse.

And so with this one, I think the stakes are low enough that sure.

How about the players saying I'm back to Mr. Womack?

Congress can't even pass a budget on time.

And now you want the Congress to get involved in something like college athletics.

Look, I get it.

A lot of people, you know, just rally behind college athletics.

They love the tailgating.

They love the support of their local university.

And I do.

But on a scale, there are far more important things for Congress to engage in than trying to wade into the muddy waters of nil or transfer portal or other things that are really under the purview of the NCAA.

Mr. Draper.

Well, Congress can't pass a budget because of the Republican Party.

Even Steve Womack last year said it was a hysterical circus.

He said that it made middle schoolers embarrassed.

Right.

It was a it was an insult to middle schoolers because they were acting so childish.

And it's not all the Republicans.

I mean, Congress has to come together and figure the issues out.

But I will say, I think that's why we can't pass budget.

Mr. Wilson, I it's kind of funny how everybody agrees with me on this one, that when it's the federal government should be involved in something like this, and then they're all commenting about how they can't pass a budget.

I just remember it takes two to tango and there are two parties that are in power and all they do is just spend money.

And our next question comes from Mr. Jarrett, and it goes first.

Tim, is Draper.

Mrs. Draper.

Medical marijuana is legal in the state of Arkansas, but the dispensaries that dispense medical marijuana have a problem.

They can't bank because of federal regulations.

If you were elected to Congress, would you try to push put forth an effort to make it give banks the ability to deal with these dispensaries?

I would put forth an effort to listen.

I don't know enough about the issue.

I think medical marijuana is important.

I have so many clients that use medical marijuana that have things like PTSD, which is life threatening in some cases.

You know, my husband right now is going through cancer treatments.

It's you know, it can be a really effective way to get you to eat after chemo when you are not feeling like eating.

So I think there's absolutely a place for medical marijuana.

And most Americans agree with this.

And most people in our district agree with this.

So, you know, I don't know what the objection would be, but sure, absolutely.

I'll listen.

And if it's I don't see why they shouldn't have, you know, the right to bank.

Mr. Wilson, I'm going to need a constitutional scholar to explain to me how come we need an amendment to ban alcohol, but somehow we're able to just through legislation, ban marijuana?

This is silly and it's a plan.

And we use it for all sorts of things, whether it be clothing or even for medicinal purposes.

When it comes to the banking issue, this is something, too, where the federal government is controlling you through banking.

All right.

You are not allowed to opt out the system.

We have better technology out there.

You don't have to pay 3 to 6% if the government would let it happen.

There are there not there's not just one industry.

They do the same thing during the Obama administration was Operation Choke Point.

They did it with gun dealers, whether it be gun accessories.

They've done it with prostitution.

Anything that is gray.

You know, the gray market area, they make it and possible and they really trample on your right to trade with your fellow human.

To Mr. Womack one.

George, your question is about safe banking.

And there's there's a safe banking Safe Banking Act out there, legislation.

I've supported safe banking.

And the reason is simple.

I'm not a big fan of of the marijuana trade, but I realize that the voters in the state of Arkansas agreed that medical marijuana was something that they wanted and enacted it in into law in.

And it is possible now for people to get marijuana or the remnants thereof for purposes of what what my colleague to my left has has stated.

I find it incredible, though, that we would want them to run it on a cash basis that we would want at the end of a business day, large sums of cash being transported to a bank that is not a very safe activity.

And so I think as long as it's legally prescribed and as long as the entity is approved by the voters, then it should have entitlement to the banking system as everybody else and any other business would.

Mr. Piper, 30 seconds.

I agree with Congressman Womack.

Mr. Wilson.

I think this is, again, one of those things, too, where they call things Safe Act or whatever, and it's safe for the banks and not for the bank.

The people that have our money, our money isn't safe because they inflate it to nothing or to infinity.

We shouldn't be.

You shouldn't have to pay 3 to 6% for transactions because so that way they can give loans to real estate people at like really low percent.

We be in the same system, and the same system is what causes them to prevent marijuana dispensaries from having banking.

Know the 30 seconds for Mr. Womack?

Yeah, I think the key is we have to be able to separate our feelings about illicit drugs, whether it's marijuana, if it's illegal or any other illicit drug, and the concept of if it's approved by the voters, can they have access to banking services?

I think you've got to be able to separate those two.

And in in our case, Arkansas has approved medical marijuana.

I think the people that dispense medical marijuana ought to have access to those banking services.

Thank you, sir.

And with that, the time has expired.

Our question and answer session.

Time now for closing statements.

And as as a reminder, the order of closing statements was determined by a drawing prior to the broadcast.

Mr. Wilson, your statement.

Thanks for having me here.

As a third party, we don't get to actually platform our positions very much.

So I just want to thank you again for having me.

I'm today asking you to throw away your vote as a third party, as a member of Arkansas.

We've seen this dance play, you know, my entire life.

Every election is the most important election because we're worried about the other guy getting in charge and what happens?

The debt gets bigger and all the problems that we were talking about when I was a kid are still here today.

All right.

So the solution when it comes to changing large organization, it's voice, loyalty or exit.

And I'm a firm believer and exiting the two party system.

So please vote for me.

Bobby Wilson.

Like Mr. Draper, you have one minute.

I stand before you today in my Walmart suit.

I am a social worker.

I am a community member.

I am an average citizen.

And I'm doing this.

I'm running for office because I care.

I have spent thousands and thousands of hours meeting with clients one on one, and I hear their suffering.

I hear how hard it is for them to put food on the table.

I hear how hard it is when they're, you know, a member of the LGBTQ plus community and, you know, their state government doesn't want them.

I listen to all of this.

I am here because I care and I will listen to you.

I've made the case today, time and time again, that Steve Womack is a nice right.

Just the wrong guy for this job.

He puts his party before the needs of Arkansans time and time again.

Vote and vote again.

He has voted against the Violence Against Women Act multiple, multiple times.

I will ask for your vote today.

Please vote for the social worker that cares about you.

Mr. Womack, you're saying I am running for Congress again because I believe in the American dream and I want to pursue a preserve that American dream for future generations, including my grandkids, in the way we're going to do that.

Is through limited government, lower taxes, fewer regulations, strong national defense, a secure border.

Now, I think I'm qualified to do it based on my nearly 14 years of experience already in Washington and the fact that I serve 30 years in uniform, serving our country, including one deployment overseas.

And I have I've served as an appropriator since my first days in Congress, and I've climbed that ladder now to a position where I believe I can be effective on the most important things affecting my constituents, and that's infrastructure, transportation and housing.

We have a growth region.

We need that support.

So I'm asking for your support.

Your vote in this election so I can continue the great work on behalf of America's next greatest generation.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

And so concludes our broadcast.

We thank our candidates, our three candidates.

We thank our three panelists for their questions.

Now, you can watch this and all Arkansas PBS debates on demand, the Arkansas PBS.

You Tube channel on the PBS video app and, of course, on our websites.

And a reminder, the candidates have been invited to participate in press conferences, individual press conferences immediately following this broadcast.

So you can continue watching our live stream at my air PBS dot org slash elections or by again scanning the QR code that's on your screen right now.

Again, thanks to everyone and especially to you for watching.

And a reminder, Election Day, Tuesday, November the fifth.

Thanks.

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Arkansas PBS Debates is provided by Civic Arkansas a Winthrop Rockefeller Institute program.

Additional funding provided by the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce.