Global Challenges and a Divided Congress

good evening everyone and welcome to the John F Kennedy Jr Forum of The Institute of politics we have a great event for you all tonight just a couple announcements before we start first note the exit doors on the Park Street side and the JFK Street side please use those in the unlikely event of an emergency please also take a moment now to silence your cell phones and join me in a warm Round of Applause for IOP student leader Mike [Applause] Yan good evening and welcome to JFK Junior Forum my na

me is Mike a first year of the college studying history and imply math and tonight we're Beyond thrilled to welcome Representatives Joseph Crowley Elizabeth Estee Bob do and Jeff denim at The Forum Congressman Joseph Crowley is a former representative from New York's 14th Congressional District from 199 9 to 2019 during his 20-year tenure Crowley served as a chair of the house Democratic caucus from 2017 to 2019 as well as the local chairman of the Queens County Democratic party from 2006 to 201

9 Congressman Elizabeth Esty is a lawyer and politician who served as a repes representative from Connecticut's fifth Congressional District from 2013 to 2019 she also earned an undergrad degree from right here at at Harvard in 1981 and pursued law at Yale 4 years later Congressman Bob Dole served as representative for Illinois's 10th Congressional District from 2011 to 2013 and again from 2015 to 2017 as the member of the Republican Party he served as a chair of the government reform and oversi

ght committee throughout his tenure in the house last but not least Congressman Jeff Denham is a former representative for California's 10th and formerly 19th districts he served four terms from 2011 to 201 19 and as a member of the transportation and infrastructure committee he served as a chairman of subcommittee on railroads pipelines and hazardous materials and the agriculture natural resources and Veterans Affair committees Congressman denim is also a fellow at the IOP this spring tonight's

Forum will be moderated by award-winning journalist and IOP resident fellow Allison King and with that please join me in welcoming the panel to the stage oops okay hello everybody oh I'm I'm G to have a problem with this here I'll put it under my leg here and we'll hope it stays there oh there we go all right well thanks to everyone for being here tonight um I always love when we get Democrats and Republicans sitting together on the same stage and I am super interested to talk to them tonight a

nd hear what they have to say about some of the uh biggest issues facing the country right now so um I thought we'd start with the presidential race um the economy is always one of the biggest issues in a presidential race it's the economy stupid uh but if you listen to Trump voters the economy is a disaster and if you listen to Biden voters the economy is strong and it's improving every day so my question is is there actually conflicting information out there about all of this or are voters sim

ply believing the narrative that fits their particular candidate Congressman Crowley can I start with you the lad it just a just watching first of all it's really um a joy to be here back at Harvard I was here 25 years ago for my orientation and at that time I I asked if I could have a piece of paper with the Harvard on it and someone signed the bottom so I can frame it on my wall some I went to Harvard that's as close as I got but um um I was recently just you know following someone on Twitter

and I saw um Jimmy Kimmel they you know he did one of his I don't know if any of saw this it's it's it's gone viral but they ask a republican man Republican woman uh a question about uh would you vote for you know U you know he actually said that President Biden cheated on his wife and that he paid off a porn star or hush money for a porn star and the gentleman said I'd never vote for him for that never you know oh he no I made a mistake I meant to say Donald Trump did that she oh well my father

had affairs I respected him you know it's just like and the same thing for the woman was like you know let me let me ask that question again sure so and I I'm sure some editing you know it's it's it goes on with it but to me it's just like it's it's is hysterical because it's real and I think that's um unfortunately the case you have people who are just really 30 and 30 dogmatically you know never never to see eye to eye and I think that's pretty much represented in terms of Donald Trump's supp

ort just about 33% of the overall so uh Congressman denim what do you think the economy is it is it booming or is it a disaster um I certainly don't think that uh it is booming but it's not a disaster either I think a lot of this is going to have to do with what the media is uh is discussing at the time and right now I think the media is still discussing it as being a larger inflation especially with gas prices so um I would expect that to continue on without something drastic drastically happen

ing in the in the economy I think the other thing is what is Congress going to get done between now and the election probably not much but there could be some messaging bills that help to um either coming out of the Senate helping the Democrats or coming out of the house helping Republicans to explain why they're a better party and do you think the economy will even be a huge issue in this race given other things that are going on and the personalities involved um I think it's certainly still go

ing to be a big issue but I would also say it's going to be overshadowed by immigration at this point um if Congress does not get anything done on immigration I would expect that to be one of the biggest if not the biggest issues congresswoman estd I think normally the normal pattern is that the off cycle elections actually a referendum on the president which is kind of what we've seen but now we have two incumbents basically so that does kind of throw things up in the air I I tend to agree with

with Joe that a lot of it's Locked In by party identification but it is the middle that's going to decide and their experience is right now that gas is still high and particularly food is expensive food and housing are expensive so compared with other countries around the world we are way better off it looks like they may actually stick the soft Landing but that isn't necessarily people's experience right their experience is that they're paying more 20% more for food I think food is something y

ou buy every day right and if you're paying more for food every day you have to look at that every day and when you have a job you aren't necessarily grateful for having a job because it's your Baseline so the overall economy is actually very strong remarkably strong but that doesn't you don't experience the overall economy you experience your own economy and and your kids not being able to pay for an apartment and I think that's going to be still a challenge it's and you can't tell people that

they're better off than they feel they are that is a losing proposition you cannot that as a politician so but I do tend to agree with Jeff that I actually think sort of security safety stability in the world I actually think that on a visceral level I think that's what's going to move it I think it's a question of how people who makes you feel safer where is there less chaos which is a little astounding to think that that will be that could be where we are but I think that is going to be where

we are is around a sense of that because I think the economy can be read either way it's it's enough it's close enough it can be read either way and both sides are going to spin it either way but I I actually think it's that security issue more broadly and that's both crime immigration and the world situation Congressman do well I I will agree first of all great to be here I was told to say something outrageous early on to get you guys all fired up um so that you'd come to the microphones with s

ome questions yeah exactly Joe I can't believe you said such a thing um listen I think people will interpret the economy um what's going to suit them politically I I agree that I I think people's economy is very personal uh people vote with their their checkbooks uh or their wallets I think food has been one of those things that people are looking at as they look at their grocery budget is getting whittel down and that's across the board I think housing has been another issue as you see you know

interest rates that people look at today and like wow these are outrageous and yet if you go back back you know a couple decades these are still historically very very low interest rates but for the folks that are looking at trying to move or that have a a 3% mortgage and are looking at trying to move to go to a you know an 8 and a half% mortgage or a 7 and a half% mortgage that's enormous that's a lot out of your kind of your weekly your monthly budget so um I think people are going to look at

it and kind of spin it their own way in terms of what the economy is going to be like but the economy will always a factor in elections but I do think there's some other things that will be focused on I think you're going to be focused on dos I think you're going to be focused on security I think you're going to be focused on what's happening in the borders um those are the things that I think you're going to find candidates talking a lot more about so we've got obviously a lot of young people

in this audience in 2020 young voters really helped Propel Joe Biden to Victory um you know we tend to think young voters don't vote they came out in record numbers in 2020 but now we're seeing President Biden's handling of Israel and Gaza turning young voters off in large numbers does this issue cost Biden at the polls in November uh or does it not matter because at the end of the day these are all voters who are going to go with Joe Biden um Jeff why don't you start and we'll we'll switch it o

ff that way I think there there definitely could be some interesting Dynamics at play this time certainly uh some traditional voters that would normally automatically vote Democrat are not necessarily leaning there and I think um you know with Trump he was able to get some interesting constituencies that didn't necessarily align with Republicans all the time um you know Bob and I were talking earlier if we have a government shutdown uh next week or the following week uh what does that do to some

of the the Trump voters that uh are are new to the Republican side of things so I think that there definitely could be some different Dynamics at play this time that um cause different constituencies that would be in the middle uh to change their votes I mean we're still talking about the middle the Republicans that you know vote in every election are going to vote Republican the Democrats who vote in every election will be voting Democrat but that Center I think is going to uh Define some of t

heir positions based on their pocket book certainly but a government shutdown uh could have some drastic implications I think especially on the Republican side of things congresswoman well I I think we may know more actually from Michigan tonight I mean Michigan's going to be one of the Belle weathers about how this plays out and there is a very different generational Dynamic um I think those of us who grew up in a time I had a friend whose father still had a number on his arm having escaped at

the age of 14 Obin from a concentration camp so in my growing up and having visited is Israel in 1981 Israel was the upstart country that was trying to establish it that is not the way my kids your generation sees it you've only seen Israel as a very different force in the world than those of us who are older so I think that is generationally very different um and that's hard to manage that you can't easily manage those two things I I think we don't know yet and I think much will depend on what

happens over the next few months um on that topic it certainly could be a risk factor for sure for Biden but at the end of the day people have a choice you have a choice of only A or B in election a wise friend of mine who's been a lot of time at the IOP said if you want to know who's going to win the election tell me who's running and so at the end of the day honestly Biden won not because he was more popular but because Democrats were so and others so worried about having Trump reelected will

that Dynamic play out again the same way I mean I I think it at the end of the day it will be that Dynamic again it will it will be prot Trump anti-trump is I think going to be at the end of the day what it comes down to and who is more motivated that group Tamp down you know the the youth youth vote as well you know they're not going to vote for and Trump turned out voters I can tell you I'll bet all of us saw people came out to vote for Donal Trump who have never come out to vote before it's v

ery unusual to see a republican who who motivated people I saw with Obama and some of the same people who had then voted for Trump which is hard to believe but I saw that happen so do those voters come out again if the economy they feel is going well do they still do that if they think Trump is not sufficiently supportive of Israel do they still do I think there are a lot of things we don't know those are not long-term voters right we don't know where those new to the the Republican party becaus

e of trump where do they go if some things cut the other way at the end Congressman so um October 7th was like our September 11th and I don't think that we in the United States fully appreciate kind of what that felt like for them uh unless you were around September 11th um and so you know I a horrific act I don't think anybody wishes that that would have gone down um again we're talking about hostages when children uh you know sexual violence the whole thing murder the whole deal which you know

from my standpoint um Israel is not going to back down on this one and we have to give them every right to be able to defend themselves how that's impacting the United States and our politics um young people you know I think are going to have continue to have a stronger and stronger voice in our elections but what was interesting to me is uh conversation I had with a former Defense Minister in Israel that made the observation about the United States that said you know we are no longer here in t

he United States comparing good versus evil it's the oppressed versus the oppressor and if the Palestinians are oppressed who is the oppressor and so they were you know very much feeling kind of the United States looking at Israel through very much a different lens and that's I think largely due to some of uh you know young people and others that are looking at what's what's going on over in the Middle East and I hope we have an opportunity to talk about some of the other foreign conflicts over

there but one of the things that I can tell you that should and traditionally has been a very unifying thing in the United States Congress is supporting Israel and making sure that funding gets there and it's shocking to me that we're holding that up at this stage of the game over some politics which you know is just the reality of today in Congress Congressman I would only add to that though that the politics is on both sides um in terms of the border security uh which is part of the package in

itially that was thrown out was taken up because um the need for that to be an issue in the November election was opposed to actually finding a solution to the problem as someone who support supports Israel strongly the right to exist the right to defend themselves the right to protect themselves recognize that October 7th was a Monumental event and they had every right to resp respond um I don't think the United States though can look at that with a blind face in other words your blind eyes you

can't you know there's there are overreaches as well and I think in some respects we're seeing happen we've seen that happen play out right now with the with the administration I think rightfully showing that support um but over time here and growing more and more and more um you know the I'm I'm just not a Netanyahu fan I never have been I think he's probably the worst person in the position right now now um at this time because his whole survival politically is based on the conflict as oppose

d to a solution and um it has more maybe to do with the politics and the structural politics in Israel um and and again I I believe that they have the right to have their own politics and do it their way but I does I don't I just don't think there's always just a blind eye to to everything that's going on it will have an impact I think as as Elizabeth said the ad the the president will have an opportunity though to see what happens in Michigan tonight and adjust like we saw in Long Island with T

om swasi they saw how some things can be talked about in different ways securing the Border but at the same time having an opportunity to give people the chance uh for uh for for citizenship or moving moving that forward for them so I think there are ways in which we can talk about this after you have these kind of experiments that go on with these primaries so uh I I'm I'm particularly interested to hear how Republicans respond to this but Democrats but also Republicans including a good number

from the Trump Administration often say that they think a trump presidency would be dangerous uh for democracy and for the country um I don't think any of you have been huge outspoken fans of Donald Trump um on the stage in general but um I'm wondering if you agree that a trump presidency would be dangerous or do you think that is sort of unnecessary overblown Scare Tactics by his opponent opponents Jeff oh no we won't start let's be fair let's go Congress and nasty you you you take this one to

start I do think so I think it's against the rule of law and I I think the problem the overarching problem I see with Donald Trump is really the antithesis of what the country was created is no person is above the law and and half the reason he's running now as far as I can tell is so that he can try to get himself out from under a legal Jeopardy if he can by making lawsuits go away and criminal trials go away and I find that and the calling into question the institutions the unwillingness to tu

rn over power he has helped break trust with American institutions and that has consequences for the whole society and and that I hold him responsible for um Bernie Sanders knew a fire was burning in 2015 and so knew Donald Trump Democrats often have not acknowledged the extent to which Trump did not create the unrest in this country but he has used a blowtorch on it and that has consequences too and and I think he could have made some of the same points as somebody one of our colleagues used to

say he has you know all a lot of the right questions and all the wrong answers and I think he does raise some important issues I I almost always dis agree with how he goes after them but I do think this disrespect for the rule of law unwillingness to work with our allies spent the last two years living in Europe and they are petrified by what it would mean to have Donald Trump come back in office um the the breaking of NATO um the emboldening of Putin um that I find just appalling and to try to

compare himself to navali is just unbelievable with a man who is basically doing everything he can to help support Putin in part because of his own interests and that is not worthy of a US president I often disagreed with Ronald Reagan but I didn't think he was a danger to democracy never so you're a yes Congress and do am a yes so I'm giving him time to come let me let me first say that I have tremendous faith in the institutions of the United States I think that they are extraordinarily stron

g I think they're stronger than um we even give them credit for uh so I have tremendous faith that that one man can't be the one to tear down the government or to be as dangerous as I think some would like him to be having said that I was the first person running for office to come out against Donald Trump back in 2015 so I don't think you know listen Joe said this earlier and I've said it before I'd like to take Donald Trump at his word that he won the last election and therefore he's ineligibl

e to run now won twice let's just get him off the ballot all together thanks for give me the credit though that was so I want to make sure I'm giving you credit on that too I mean to to be fair uh I think that I I couldn't have been alone on being on pins and needles every morning kind of waking up to see what the news of the day was going to be and what you know outrageousness thing would have happened or comment that would have been made about something that's happening overseas um but I know

if it was good somebody was taking credit for it and if it was not it was somebody else's fault and ultimately what we need desperately in the United States is leadership and um I I am of that belief that I don't want either of these two gentlemen to be um having another four years I'd like to see someone else and um that's my own thing still holding out hope for that well I mean I don't not very it's not a very bright candle at this stage of the game of Hope but um that's personally where I'm a

t I mean I I but I do have faith in the system of that we have set up in our government that it won't be as dangerous as those things Congressman I'm jet legged so I apologize but uh we could talk about this for hours uh I grew up in Queens New York uh for the last 50 55 years of my life I've known of Donald Trump you know just as many of you have as well I kind of grew up around him he's a very damaged human being he should not be president United States he should never have been president Unit

ed States and yes I agree I'm I'm willing to to admit that he won the last election so he's ineligible to run again but uh here's a man who had been adjudicated that he raped a woman he's running for president of the United States committed a capital defense um it's unfathomable to me that he was elected in the first place so um yeah I mean unfortunately guess that answ I fall on my Camp yeah that I don't I don't think he's worthy of the of of of that office and I I think he's done tremendous da

mage to the office already I I don't disagree with Bob I do think that Joe Biden is a leader yes he's old with age comes Sage um and I I would also say they're both running they they're both going to be the nominees it's not going not getting around that um we can all wish for anything uh the you know you know saying I wish I could vote for the for the best person but they're not running you know like but but I think some people feel you know um we have enough checks and balances in our country

that you know no one's going to it's not going to be dangerous that's corre I don't necessarily agree with that because I think I think that I think no it's not because of the presidency it's because of the Supreme Court okay and it's it's been so overly weighted that we already kind of can tell what we we can know what the decision is going to be before it even comes out there's no surprises almost you know and um you know during during during the Reagan years you'd have surprises during the an

d I want to go back to one point I am not opposed to Republican presidents I know there have been Republican presidents I know there will be Republican presidents I've told Jeff this I had my best years 8 years in office during George W Bush's term he needed my help in much the same way that probably I don't know if you how you did with Obama but I'm just saying you know I I recognize it I don't fear that I don't fear Republican controlled Congress I don't feel Republican controlled Senate I fea

r that person being president well and just the retribution right I mean that's he's stated retribution that that's part of the thing which is scary right that's a scary thought you have the last word on this Congressman which I'm sure you're dying to have I got I got a few points I need to make here so first of all um I think that I've got a Counterpoint to what Elizabeth has said I think as Republicans um believe that some of these challenges in the institution were vindictive on uh by by Demo

crat U administrations so I IR s Republicans feel like IRS has targeted Republicans um the president president Trump feels like the FBI had targeted him so you got you know for us to get trust back in government you have to be able to trust what traditionally were nonpartisan or non-political offices I think that's where some of the challenges start um specifically with President Trump on on a second term I think it's hard to Define what any president's second term is I mean you pretty much gate

s are wide open your first term you've got a specific agenda you've got to stick to you try to stick to that second term you have the opportunity to get much bigger broader things done um as far as his track record I worked very closely with uh with the Trump Administration and got a lot of things done in those first two years and enjoyed um a lot of the big accomplishments water in California one of our biggest issues um we passed a number of different veterans uh uh um laws to support veterans

um the biggest issue I thought was uh immigration which I led the charge on uh very bipartisan fashion under President Obama we couldn't get president neither party could get President Obama to work with them on the issue um not that we had a lot more success under President Trump on this issue but at least he was focused on on border security so I think that that um opened the door to start getting some of the issues done I would like to see immigration be a focus of either one of the two cand

idates I think we're going to go back to it's a difficult time right now when you've got you know I think we all believe up here You' basically got two incumbents running against each other that really changed the Dynamics of this race so the congresswoman mentioned um Alexi naly and um Congressman do uh obviously we've had the death of Alexi naly widely assumed that Putin is responsible what can be done um to someone like Putin uh you know do sanctions accomplish anything well I I will say that

yes sanctions do accomplish things and the question is are they the right sanctions and are they actually hitting pressure points we've seen um that Putin uh and his regime is going through China and um North Korea and others to in order to sell some of their natural resources to prop up their economy so again we've got to figure out what those sanctions are but I also think in the United States you know we've got to focus on you know we've got to speak out leadership is important uh when we se

e this type of a thing uh going on um you know this is one of those kind of horrific type moments like wait a second we're killing our political opponents uh and that's something obviously very foreign to us and we need to Leverage The the strength of the United States to make sure that we're shining a light upon what's going on over there uh obviously you know that kind of leads right into the funding mechanism you know for Ukraine um which again I think we desperately need to make sure that we

are funding that effort as best we can and for those that are against the funding mechanism um or the funding itself those resources are going to be spent in the United States by United States defense contractors to be able to help the Ukrainian people fight on off the Russians um and last time I checked that's usually a good thing right to put Russia on its heels to to beat back Putin and kind of his aggression and you know we want to stand up for you know a democracy I mean that traditionally

is what we didn't and we don't have to put our men and women on the front lines to do that so um I I think we need to do more to help out Ukraine and we need to make sure that this happens as soon as humanly possible Congressman Crowley I think unfortunately it was it was a an expected tragedy um it's not new for Putin to engage in this type of behavior and uh We've we've seen it over and over and over again where it's poisonings his attempting to to kill with poison um um whether or not sancti

ons themselves have the effect because I think there are work around sanctions and he's already within his country the wealthiest person in his country um you know the oligarchs pay homage to him um I I think any I think we we have to have response uh my concern what would the response have been if Biden weren president um you know Trump has has for lack of ter I think has had more of a love affair with Putin at least the things he said about him he likes a strong leader um you know with the way

in which he he he responds to uh um internal strife as well as external internal strife is he he he shows the the machismo and the the strength uh I think what we have under Biden is cooperation with NATO cooperation with Europe uh and cooperation with the Free World uh to to to to push back against the aggression uh and you know it goes back to the whole notion I don't think Trump actually knows why NATO existed he doesn't have a grasp of History he doesn't understand that we have troops in It

aly and and Germany and the Philippines and uh Japan uh not to protect those countries or even to protect Europe they're there to protect us and I hate to say it selfishly that that that those conflicts remain over there and not here and you know the fair share and all these other things as if we're just doing we're doing this out the goodness of our hearts to protect people in Europe uh it's just a complete lack of understanding that should be a qualification to be president the United States y

ou understand why these these treaties exist in the first place so yes they have some effect I don't know if it'll have an effect on this particular dictator Congressman um I mean I think again different perspective NATO everybody should pay their fair share and I think that's what uh president Trump was pushing at the time um not necessarily disband it but making sure every country is is doing what they're supposed to be doing too so they we're all in a a much safer place um but I think that uh

any world leader should condemn um any type of political hit or um in this case what is what has happened to take out a political opponent is unimaginable and Trump is the Noony of the United States was kind of well I'll let the congresswoman EST take off on well I I think we've seen sanctions to be not as effective as we would want to be there's actually a lot of research that sanctions has become the US um foreign policy tool of choice and it isn't as effective as we would like it to be I thi

nk given that the single most important thing for us to do is to help arm and support the Ukrainian people right now as quickly as possible that is the single most important thing we can do to push back on Putin he feels embolden the dysfunction in Congress the dysfunction in Washington is allowing him to think he can get away with this and you know and unfortunately recent remarks by by Trump encouraging saying go ahead attack those NATO countries that aren't paying 2% or more is is really not

helpful to say the least so I I do think we should be circumspect we need to try to do something on sanctions but realistically the strong position is to strongly stand with I will note the growing number of NATO allies those of us who went on a codell actually on UK Ukraine in 2014 in some ways this is Putin's Nightmare and like he's got a much bigger NATO to De to deal with than he did then he has many more members who are joining and they are unified so so in some ways yes it's looking good f

or him but in other way is he's gotten exactly what he didn't want which is all these other countries that were in the orbit around him all want to be part of NATO now this is exactly the wrong time for the US to be stepping back this is how we show leadership for democracies this is how we push back against Putin and everyone up here knows this is to not have wars on our territory and to stand up and support democracies around the world and it is the most important thing we can do and I know we

are all very frustrated that this is not happening because it is so clearly you know we have needs here but we need to stand up for democracy around the world and that is where the rubber is hitting the road right now so um I I want to get to questions with people and so I'm going to do the little bit sort of light in round here and you can chime in if you want to but you don't have to obviously we touched on This Bitter disagreement in Congress over whether or not to provide more Aid to Ukrain

e experts say Ukraine will not be able to continue to stand up to Russia without the aid yet Republicans are dead set against it or I should say the leadership in in Congress in the 11th hour do you think that uh house Speaker Mike Johnson will pull um you know we'll pull put the aid package out there and uh or you know is his tenure over if he does that so he doesn't want to do that and where do you anybody have strong feelings about that you want to chime in me first sure I'd rather go to the

Republicans first I don't I don't I barely know Mike he um speaker Johnson he was elected I think the turn before yeah we left right Jeff I think yeah yeah I mean I think he's got a a big enough challenge with the uh the keeping the government funded um I think this this is one of those rare occasions where where a discharge petition by the middle um could for for something to come onto the floor explain what that is just uh so basically if the majority party is not bringing up an issue that has

enough votes uh to to pass on the floor uh then the minority plus a group of the majority goes down to the floor each day and signs a petition and when you get enough signatures on that petition then it forces the floor to take action but it's a big number it's got to be like 360 or something like that it's not a majority no number it's a big number but I think that there is enough frustration there that um you've got a minority of the majority that is dictating policy now and there's enough fr

ustration by uh the middle or by targeted members or more purple seats that uh some people are saying enough is enough either get it done or we're bringing this discharge petition and that'll force force the job to get done by the way did you see how I did that I you asked me and I went right to him yeah right um but it's called the pivot but it's 218 you need 218 St for it's only 218 to get the discharge to get a discharge 218 to bring it up it's a majority majority so the I I look I hope that

we get the package is through I mean I just especially when it comes to Ukraine that's my all I can do is I think that push come to shove the American people are going to it's it's a handful of people right it's it's the far right that are kind of holding boxing this up in the Tea Party folks I think there are an awful lot of folks in the middle and Republican side who want to get the aid to Ukraine they really desperately do there so yeah Mike Mike or speaker Johnson uh was against bringing the

Ukraine dollars without addressing the Border first that was his big thing that was the reason why it wasn't happening he wanted to see you know we need to take care of our own border first before we can worry about other borders um and obviously since former president Trump is said he doesn't want that going on we've got to shift to something else because there is I think a majority of Republicans that want to see funding for Ukraine happen as well as a a significant group of Democrats that wa

nt to get this done so I agree I'm hopeful that something's going to happen either through the Middle with a discharge or something else that Johnson will allow it to go all right one more before we go to questions um I want to talk about the border and I do want to stop with you Congressman denim um because you are going to be sitting right here here uh on this stage one week from tonight talking about this issue with New York mayor um former New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio uh for a whole hou

r so put that in your calendar uh and I know on immigration you spent a lot of time and effort on trying to find solutions for this what is really happening at the border right now uh we have never should and should the Biden Administration be doing something they're not doing yes uh let me answer that piece first yes absolutely I think the Biden Administration um has done an awful job on the border I think that there are some immediate policies that could be done administratively similar to wha

t Trump did even if you don't agree with um keeping Asylum seekers in Mexico until they've been adjudicated it it was a policy that stopped the immediate flow um and now you have immigrants coming from across the globe uh that will land in other countries and then come across our Southern border um and we our our system can't handle it whether those are Asylum Seekers or um you know it was it's been wrong under four different presidents now and it is time to to fix the Border I think border secu

rity uh supporting the uh um supporting ice and having enough individuals to be able to man our border uh having enough judges for Asylum but specifically I do think that border security um needs to be part of the solution making sure that you know we've still got areas of the border that still have Vietnam runways that were brought back as something as as a barrier versus having a state-of-the-art barrier that uh most other countries will would have anyone else jump in well I wish they just bro

ught up the Senate Bill we were talking about this before I mean the Senate bill would have passed overwhelmingly in the house with Democrats holding their nose on some parts and Republicans holding their nose on other parts and it's it's really we came very close when most of us were in Congress came within a few signatures on a discharge petition to do a bill at that time it is probably the singest single greatest policy failure of the last 10 20 years is the failure to get rationality on on t

he border and on migration and it's a much bigger problem now it's a problem all over the world so we really we have to do this and not addressing it doesn't fix it and I'm very unhappy that uh candidate Trump has making put a barrier in the way of what was actually a very reasonable truly a compromise That You Don't See very often in Washington anymore truly was a compromise both sides were getting something both sides were giving things up and I would like to see that kind of behavior rewarded

we'd be better off as a country and it was Prett particularly frustrating to have one you know one candidate decide for his own political purposes in running for president he would allow what he has described and many people would agree an intolerable situation of the border to continue any longer than it has to so if there were any way to force that bill on the floor that would be great too so your question was is is there a problem is the is the administration not doing enough and the the ans

wer is they're not um we have you know I think you can pick your major city across the country and yeah they are dealing with migration and immigrant issues and it largely stems from a crisis that's down at the border and you know what other country do you know doesn't have a handle on who's coming in into their country and we've got I mean thousands and thousands are coming daily in and what do we do with them that's a humanitarian crisis that has to be solved and so yes I think that's one of t

he reasons why the administration finally was like okay they're they're back up into a corner they're hearing from their constituencies from places like New York and Chicago and others which are Democrat strong holds and they're saying we have to do something which is why President Biden finally said okay I'll I'll sign the bill I'm in favor of it by the way probably the most conservative bill that we would have seen and by the way next election it's not going to be this conservative it's not go

ing to be anywhere close to and how do you describe why it didn't pass how why why is that why it did not pass why it did not well it didn't pass because or why it didn't even get a chance to vote on it didn't get a chance to vote on it because uh forign president Trump wants to use this as an issue and says that's not a good enough bill I don't want you to vot what it's all so what he basically did was Mike Johnson said I won't pass a bill unless it has border security in it had border security

in it until president Trump said to Mike Johnson Over My Dead body are you going to bring that bill to the floor so uh and even when he brought it back he said he still wants SP of security so there's no there's not but I will I agree with Bob in this uh I I I really abhor when the governor of Texas and Florida started sending human beings a a shadow to California and Illinois and New York but in some respects they did bring it home to everyone else and I think Democrats are willing to accept y

eah we do have an issue here we have to deal with this issue maybe we haven't given it's due it's due but when they did do that doors were shut they make the deal and the doors are shut they're not going to pass the bill now purely based on politics and nothing else all right I I'd love to go to questions um and we have one right here if you could say your name first and try to keep it as brief as possible the question that is yes thank you all for being here first um my name is Alyssa gains I'm

a sophomore at the college studying social studies and art history um and I'm also a member of the JFK Junior form committee and I'm just wondering about the way in which a lot of foreign aid bills especially now are linking Aid to Ukraine with Aid to Israel um most recently the Senate bill with like $60 billion of a to Ukraine and then like 14 billion to Israel and I think like now with increasing pressure um on Joe Biden to call for a ceasefire and mounting I guess like public interest in our

ties to Israel I'm wondering if you think that framing is kind of a hindrance to what we're trying to accomplish with giving Aid to Ukraine and the separate issue of giving Aid to Israel or if you think those two things are necessarily um mutually implicative of each other yes that's the politics of putting together a package some people want to vote for one thing other people vote for another and how you you make it you knowable swallow something they don't want to swallow and at the same time

make it pal you know and palatable for them to to vote for it yeah there are certainly some Republicans that uh did were not supportive of the Ukraine package that absolutely wanted the Israel package and vice versa um and then I think that there are some Republicans that were going to feel forced to vote for it because of the border security piece that was in there I mean I don't think that we're doing it justice to to be able to say what this I mean this was Joe Biden's read my lips no new ta

xes moment he said absolutely there would be no border security he was not going to extend anything and and pulled the funding that Trump put to build the border wall and now he's because it's such a huge issue he's capitulated and Republicans have now said we're not going to let you raise taxes I mean there it was this is the biggest win that the Republicans could have got on the border that we couldn't have done under previous congresses and it's it's a major issue and part of the budget is so

tight they've had such trouble agreeing on any numbers and the figures on foreign aid are astounding you ask Americans how much foreign aid the United States gives and they will tell you they believe it's 25% of the budget and then you say how much do you think it should be and they'll usually say about 5 to 10% it's less less than 1% it's less than one1 of 1% and and such a tiny percentage and the public is so misled about what that is that it's really hard to make the case which is why you en

d up with these Bargains especially because they fought so hard to agree to Topline numbers that the only way to go above that is to as he say like everyone holding hands and jumping off the cliff and and people are getting something really important to them and even if there's something they really don't like they can't get what's really important to them and that was the only only way to get significant dollars to Cobble together enough votes to try to get it through and there was just no othe

r sometimes it's the math you know we're very divided and should they be no but legislation doesn't always work that way you know you don't always get to address issues cleanly on their own terms and because of the budget issues and the stalemate you know in the country frankly on some of these that is the only way you were going to get one or the other and I don't think we're going to get one without the other I think if it goes through I think we're still in a point those two will end up being

tied because I I think that's the Dynamics now because otherwise how would you get the other one done right I I think it's going to have to be together thank you for your question this gentleman right here well hello all thank you uh for taking the time to speak to us today my name is Adam Schneider I'm a joint law and public policy student here and a US Navy veteran uh I want to ask about uh Taiwan policy you talked a lot about uh I the getting a buil to support Ukraine and our allies in Israe

l uh but I think the third component of that uh right now of time importance is what what are we doing to support Taiwan uh against a rapidly increasing threat from China I want to hear more about you know what is a coherent uh political strategy we have uh around both funding and supporting taiwan's self-defense and also being clear with the American people uh what America's goal potentially could be uh Beyond just funding it inur uring uh taiwan's continued uh survival anyone want to take a st

ep okay Adam well let me let me let me start by saying thank you for your service uh we appreciate your being a 10th District resident as well um back home and um so when it comes to Taiwan I think Taiwan is is again when we look at all the stuff that's happening elsewhere um you know China's watching exactly what the United States is doing in these other conflicts which is why it's really scary to me because Taiwan is you know again its proximity the amount of trade that's flowing through those

areas the importance uh of so many different things with regard to what's happening in Taiwan um we need to Ure that Taiwan does not get swallowed up by China and the president um has said you know that we will absolutely be there that that's a you know a red line that China should not be going in and yet we've seen China time and again take more aggressive stances not just with Taiwan but in you know building islands and being more militaristic in that area and I really do believe that the Uni

ted States has to be unified in this to show a very strong deterrence that we will be standing with Taiwan and that you know this is where you know that game of chicken really comes to play but we have to back it up and one of the reasons why we have the outposts where we do around the globe is yes for our own security uh but the ability for us to be able to respond as well uh and so I don't know what else we can do um besides continue to speak out that we will be with Taiwan obviously I don't y

ou know I don't know about the funding mechanism but it's really about what are we doing with our Navy our Navy right now is again in some say kind of a really disrepair and the funding that's needed in order to provide more ships to get up to the level LEL where where our Navy used to be is going to a big number and I for one you know believe that we need to make sure that we've got the strongest military in the world we never want to get into I never want a fair fight I don't ever want to be i

n a fair fight I don't want to have our our foreign uh our our men and women in uniform ever have to go up into a fair fight overwhelming Force overwhelming deterrence and that requires um vigilance by the United States Congress for funding and it also means that we're going to stand United when it comes to things like Taiwan where we let the world know no no we're very serious and we there's no waffling when it comes to additional dollars which is one of the reasons why um if you ever want some

thing funded in Congress you usually attach it to the defense Bill put a Christmas tree up attach it to defense you want some you know you want to go and check out something how it's going to you know impact something you want to put it through NIH put it through the defense budget that that usually gets passed with bipartisan support because nobody wants to go against our service men and women so long-winded answer Adam but thank you for being here yeah I I do agree with Bob that uh the preside

nt has sent a clear message but actions speak louder than words and I think the challenging situation right now is everything that's going on between uh Russia and Ukraine and now Israel and Palestine um you know there are big concerns on you know are we going to do fun for for each of those we've talked about what our position is but we've not funded it um you put on top of that that we don't have a budget for last year we've not passed the Appropriations bills um which means if we don't pass t

hem in the next two weeks uh then we have an automatic cut uh on April 1st so our military will be drastically handicapped under this this cut as well as showing the rest of the world that we are not funding new military operations which then leads us vulner if we' not addressed the two current conflicts I think that that sends a message that um regardless of what you're saying our actions are not there to support our allies our actions will not be there in in future conflicts and I still think

we have a North Korea South Korea issue we still have other volatilities in the Middle East um I mean this could get a lot worse before it gets better if the US doesn't show some real leadership just the middle of last week Jeff and I were just 10 miles with Sonia his lovely wife who's in the back 10 miles from the DMZ um military zone we were in South Korea um we were in the region and you're getting the local press and learning hearing more and more about the air incursions and the water incur

sions that the chines are making on the T the Taiwan straight and and all around and surrounding Taiwan um they certainly are looking at what we're doing elsewhere in the in the in in the world there's no question about that and um seeing whether this's resolve uh to stand up against things like that it's it's a real quantry for us I think uh given the distance um and I think in many respects especially um from I think the more Trump end of it you know what's in it for what's in it for us um you

know um I I applaud your service my son is a Naval Academy grad he's a Marine um you know I I hope my son's not a sucker I hope you're not a sucker I hope people that stand and defend the country do it for Noble reasons um but I a little worried about whether the commitment to that to to defending democracies to uh defending the rule of law um would be there in a trump Administration thank you for your question we have time for one more I think right up here hi thanks so much for this discussio

n my name is Jack I'm a student at the college I have a question for congresswoman uh in relation to something you said you talked about how people don't experience the economy they experience their own economy and I think the implication was that it's maybe ineffective and also maybe insensitive for Biden or other Democratic candidates to flaunt low unemployment or Champion Biden omics if that's not what people are actually experiencing I'm wondering what do you propose that Biden or Democratic

candidates in November do instead how can they present a positive economic Vision that is both respectful of people's struggles to pay for food and housing and gas but that also gets them excited to vote for Democrats well that's The $64,000 Question if I knew that I would be making a lot of money as a political consultant um now I think you have to be respectful and say listen we understand it's getting challenging here's why we're doing here the steps we're taking and I think they are trying

to do this about again not saying it's all great it's all wonderful saying look it inflation is coming way down we're we're leaving student debt which is a huge drag on on in fact if you look at it for housing probably one of the biggest drags on housing for young people is overhanging student debt that could help a lot bringing down interest rates that will help on that so I think what you have to look talk about is the directions that you're taking what your goals are and how you see us workin

g towards that and I'm I'm hearing the president saying that these days like I need to finish the job like here are the values here's the way we're going towards them um it is not easy like again I I would say food we've always talked about gas as being a barometer but I think food is for a variety of reasons um and I think they're going to need to talk too about climate and climate change and how some of these things are all related so some of those costs are in fact a consequence of what we're

seeing around climate making it all the more urgent where the parties really are quite Divergent on taking action there I think that may be one Avenue for Democrats to take to say listen we have to be addressing climate because some of these other things we're seeing are actually the costs we're seeing of inattention to climate that's part of why we need to address that too so I think that may help but it's not easy you can't it never works to tell people they that they shouldn't be feeling bad

and it's really all great that that is just a losing strategy but I do think the economy is moving in a direction that is going to help people feel better I do and I hope for the country and I and I think my colleagues do too want to see we always want to see the country doing better and it would be better to have interest rates come down and would' be better have food getting more affordable and those are moving in the right direction where they'll be in October that's that's the question than

k you very much would anyone else like to add in um I you know if only Republicans and Democrats in Congress could have such a thoughtful and civil com I hate these guys thank you all so much for being a part of this and thank you all for coming have a great [Applause] [Music] [Applause] night