the cook political report rates this as leans republican. house speaker paul ryan said he would retire at the end of his term.

. >> welcome to the city of oak creek we are pleased to have you here celebrating three years in our new civic center we are excited to host regional events like this i am the city clerk the clerk's office is busy preparing for the upcoming general election we will begin in person voting d concluding november 2nd to take advantage of this opportunity her historically we will have a 70 percent turnout for the gubernatorial election were 29 percent of voting early. please join me to welcome our host. [applause] . >> good evening. a few comments for the main

event. we are grateful for this opportunity to vote the voters of the first congressional district the two major party candidates in what has become a race of extremely high importance and interest. fyi wisconsin is the first and only independent non- government-funded, nongovernment controlled state capital network. we are very proud of the fact we do this differently than all of the states and that independence allows us to do events like this without having to worry about what our pot - - our bosses might say. this is to encourage participation throughout wisconsin. thank you to the oak creek

mayor and catherine has been wonderful helping us put the details together. so i want to talk about how we make this possible. we have five very generous sponsors standing with wisconsin i during this season writing checks to this nonprofit in the amount of $25000 each affords us to go all around the state to interview 300 candidates in every state wide race and i was our commitment to you as the voters those resources are freely available wonderful wealth of information aarp

wisconsin wisconsin counties association wisconsin hospital association and realtors association. in fact, i would like to introduce our two panelists senior producer at wisconsin i with the reputation of highly respected political journalist and has served previously at state capital bureau chief and the only individual journalist to be named journalist of the year by the lockheed press club a prestigious award that is a distinction for years has always been built on immediate organization. a veteran political journalist

covering politics and breaking news and for the wisconsin state journal was a remember of the reporting team that was a finalist for the pulitzer prize for investigative reporting. with that i will turn the program over to steve and mary. [applause] . >> i just want to talk about some rules we will get the bios of the candidates first of all, three minute opening statement that was determined by the coin toss that we will ask the questions each candidate has two minutes to respond with one minute rebuttal back and forth. when we get to the bottom each

will give a closing statement please silence your cell phones as i just did. think you and thunderously welcome the candidates or any protests if you are the first occasion you will be asked to sit down the second you'll be asked to leave that comes from the respected law officials. . >> bryan steil aauw regent and former staffer for house speaker paul ryan a republican from janesville. a union ironworker, t 13 and cancer survivor running as a democrat we will take our seats and welcome each candidate individually.

bryan steil. [cheers and applause] . >> please welcome t 13 randy bryce. [cheers and applause] [chanting]

. >> thank you very much. that thunderous applause for both candidates. the coin costs is determined. bryce: thank you for being here. also to everybody else for showing up and as you are aware for the past four weeks paul ryan super pac has spent millions and millions of dollars with nasty horrible ads attacking me. these ads are breaking my mom's heart my son sees these before he goes to sleep at night he asks about them after school tonight you cannot hide behind millions of dollars of attack ads people will have questions answered game on. [cheers and applause]

. >> i want to remind your audience that will cut into your candidates time. steil: first of all, to the sentinel and t16 and everybody at home and in the audience. there is a contrast of ideas between my opponent and i in which direction we want to take the country. my background in solving problems manufacturing and education working for a local rock county manufacturing companies with every situation you solve problems to bring a product in the door and shipping out you have to do it on time and under budget and every time. there is a real opportunity to take that private-sector background to get work done on behalf of the american people. as appointed by governor walker in the state senate democrats and republicans alike confirmed in the state senate republicans and democrats alike everything we

have done for my whole ten year tuition held flat dollar for dollar if you have a student that goes to the university of wisconsin milwaukee tuition is flat dollar for dollar over the last six years. to be affordable and accessible to take advantage of new jobs and opportunities. to have a robust conversation you will hear a contrast of ideas does it reside in washington dc purchasing 32 trillion-dollar government takeover of health care you would have to double just to pay for the one program alone. i believe we need to lower the cost of health care with that

decision-making process my opponent supports raising taxes. i believe you should have more money in your pocket book my opponent supports abolishing ice i stand with the men and women of law enforcement i am proud to have the endorsement of all six sheriff's from all six counties from the first congressional district the list goes on it will be a robust conversation of the direction we will take our country i look forward to that tonight. thank you for being here. [cheers and applause] . >> the national debate on health care is two strategies to repeal the affordable care act or focus on medicare for all. what is your position?

bryce: health care is at the center of one of our most important issues to lower the cost of health care to put them in the center of the decision-making process we need to protect medicare for seniors those are promises we made to the generation in retirement and the promise that we made them what we need to keep there is a clear contrast supporting a government takeover of health care just to pay for that one i will repeat that you have to double all income and business class to pay for that one program. that makes most private insurance illegal if you like that you like your plan? this is the opposite. but it is a clear contrast the answer is in washington d.c.

between patients and doctors to lower the cost that's what we need to do. . >> great question. thank you. there was a study done by the coke brothers that said medicare for all we'll save us $10 trillion i'm sorry to trillion dollars over ten years. they put that study out health care is a very personal issue for me the main reason i got in this race even though i was working a full-time job i did not have insurance when i was diagnosed with cancer and i can tell you it's not a place anybody wants to be to be diagnosed with a debilitating disease and then go bankrupt when i was done every other industrialized country has some version of universal health care. why don't we? because it hasn't been a priority. do people deserve it? absolutely. not only that if we have

something in place like medicare they want to start a small business they don't have to worry about hiring an administrator we are self insured basically to turn down her own members claims. there is enough to go around but one.$5 trillion to the billionaires of this country we have hungry kids going to sleep that cannot see a doctor that's not right i'm in favor of medicare for all because it is so deserving and we can do anything else unless we are healthy. steil: i look at obama care making health care less affordable if the cost of health care goes up that it becomes less affordable and less accessible to hard-working families what we need to do is drive down the

cost of health care and you do that from doctor centered approach you could also address the disaster of obama care while still protecting pre-existing conditions. but we need to look at lowering the cost of health care my opponent's plan is a 32 trillion-dollar program with no options how to pay for it. you would have to double all income and business taxes to pay for that one program alone. bryce: i noticed all these republicans want to get rid of obama care also want to save the pre-existing conditions. so take that away in these conditions in the state of wisconsin. if you cannot stand up to governor walker how do you

stand up to donald trump in washington d.c.? [applause] . >> earlier this week president trump threatened to use the military to close the border what should be done to address the immigration problems? please provide specifics like families separation and path to citizenship and ice. . >> what about separating kids putting them in dog cages? that's not family that's how i put on a uniform and serve the country to have families separated. this was built on the backs of immigrants. those that don't know any other country up until the presidential election i was called frantically from a human rights group and asked me if i would attend their

emergency meetings and i did. i will never forget the faces specifically of two young women in high school talking in tears they didn't know if they could finish school or if ice would take them out or if they did they get home to find out their door was kicked in and of their door - - her dad removed and deported. eighty-three people were removed a couple weekends ago they did not coordinate with local law enforcement agencies. i cannot see tearing families apart for those that could be defeated by a 45-dollar ladder? we need to enact a clean dream act people that are here they don't even speak the language of their home country. this is their home.

we need to give them documentation and they are contributing to society now. let's let them continue and come out of hiding. they are not afraid to call the police when they see a crime being committed. steil: we have been led down by democrat and republicans alike. we need to put on our problem-solving hat. and to properly fund for multiple reasons like the state of the wall and - - law enforcement community. and to make our communities less safe men and women are on the front line but with terrorism and drug trafficking and then to be trafficked from chicago to milwaukee we are seeing kenosha and franklin and oak creek they make our

communities less safe that's why ever the endorsement of all six sheriff's because my policies make it more safe as it relates to illegal immigration that system is broken that's what our workforce needs. they need to have the option to be right with the law we have a nation of immigrants there are two men who own a restaurant just outside they escape from albania and risk their lives to cross the border out of albania and came to the united states they are living the american dream we need a legal immigration system that makes sense some people can come to the united states and live the american dream legally.

bryce: it seems that he has an issue understanding what ice does he mentions human trafficking in drugs and terrorism that we have issues - - agents that take care that dea takes care of drugs fbi takes care of terrorism and right now ice is bigger than the fbi. also coming to human trafficking i don't know what the heck you are separating kids from their parents so they cannot ever be united only to adopt them to an american family is a form of human trafficking if you ask me. >> next question. we brought down in bipartisanship and dysfunction to be brought down into attacks is that fair game or contributes to the dysfunction of dc? . >> we have a lot that is broken right now in our

political system where people go and fight rather than have a conversation of ideas like tonight we are having a conversation about the direction from a policy perspective what direction to take her country. my background in manufacturing solving problems is the right background for the task board of regents and voted unanimously in the state senate great problem-solving approach the same approach i will bring to washington. back to the walker recall protested madison all that dysfunction and craziness t 13 was one of the leaders of that protest what got accomplished? absolutely nothing. we need to see people who go there with a problem-solving approach that people who want to take a wrench my background in manufacturing if it goes down in the factory we pull together a diverse group of

people you pull together and say how will we solve this? that's a person i will take to washington on behalf of the american people. [cheers and applause] . >> you are cutting into time. bryce: as i started off the discussion millions of dollars of personal attack ads. about what kind of father i was my former wife came out to speak out against did i have never seen a political campaign stupid this flow as a republicans in the first district going right now. i can solve problems let me solve this problem and get people together just to hear one solution or one answer. also quite a bit a lack of honesty going on up here because as a union ironworker

and what i hear to go out and fix a line i don't see brian as that guy who goes out to do that with the two about. [laughter] the man makes his living sending people's jobs out of the country. as part of the protest with what happened in madison those were american jobs american jobs for america not china or mexico people deserve a good job here. [applause] . >> your rebuttal. steil: i think it is a bit ironic an individual whose ads from "the washington post" says are dishonest claims frustration with dishonest data never heard one complaint about one ad i am running positive ads on the issue i am

proud of the campaign i have read my background in solving problems bringing people together that's what we need more of in washington we don't need the partisan bickering that so we need to stop in washington. [cheers and applause] . >> the next question. bryce: right now the republicans are in total control of the government if they can get anything done. it's on now. >> representative of the first district of 20 years what do you think mister ryan's legacy is and will be? . >> i'm glad he will get the opportunity to spend time with his family after he's done campaigning this cycle but what i remember of paul ryan is the fact he talked about how he wanted to protect social security and save it but his form was to privatize it that amounts to a coupon once they were out it was done they were on their own.

we have asked bryan steil not to cut social security can we count on you not to vote to cut social security? . >> he can answer go ahead and finish. steil: most importantly as a great father and a great husband someone proud to call our congressmen also a great listener great constituent services if you have a problem with red tape in washington d.c. to carry on a tradition i think it someone we are proud of to call him here in southeast wisconsin everybody bring something unique to the table i bring my own personal background the last ten years working for manufacturing companies had you get it out the door i spent the last two

and a half years working on education policy how do we make education affordable so it's accessible to individuals if jobs are plentiful first and foremost, we have a skills gap. have a skills gap. . . . .

scheduled to pay out more in benefits than it collects by 2022 and could be bankrupt by 2034. social security is a promise that we made to seniors both are promises that we need to keep individuals in retirement and approaching retirement age and other social security protected as we look at generations by age and younger we need a bipartisan approach to determine how to make it solvent for generations to come. my grandfather started working at wrigley's got in chicago in 1939 before world war ii. he retired under his 63rd birthday. my grandmother lives at wrigley's pension and has a social security payment both are promises we made to seniors and

it's a promising to keep to those in part of the reason i'm running we have a budget we need to get under control to make sure we can match that promise as it relates to seniors with social security and medicare. it's a 32 trillion-dollar program. that's doubling all incomes and business taxes that would put your social security and medicare at risk. we need to protect social security and medicare and we can do that by controlling our federal spending. >> how about let's not give $1.5 trillion to these people in the country and then one week later say we can't afford social security medicare and medicaid. when it comes to taking the swift off of our backs its okay to keep squeezing us.

no place is faster than right here in wisconsin put forth by the governor and appease extreme republicans that's not your moderate version we had its ears back. this is an extreme version to cut the middle class and reward those. mitch mcconnell even said we can't afford these things now. it's obvious because we are rewarding 83% of these tax cuts brought to the very wealthiest. i can't even deduct tolls now. i don't want to tax the middle class. we are not asking you to pay more but when it comes to the millionaire corporate attorneys, i will be asking more. [applause] what we hear is a pretty clear

contrast my opponent wants to raise taxes. i think the contrast is very clear. [applause] >> let's move to two questions on the foreign policy. >> should we withdraw from afghanistan at question number two, the government he was indeed murdered. what should be the penalty

imposed on saudi arabia for the death of a journalist. >> there are people now 18-years-old that don't know a time in their life that we have been at war with afghanistan. that is what we need to find out once we spend all this money sending our troops overseas and buying them equipment we need to take care of them when they come back. i know what it's like to wear the uniform and to get sent overseas and t be someplace thai don't recognize doing it on behalf of the country. i found it disgusting after hearing about that and the possibility that he was murdered to hear what came out of his mouth at a rally yesterday praising a member of congress

for bodyslamming a reporter. i don't know how you can say that that's okay but not having an opinion on a saudi reporter. >> seemed to questions. >> i look at the federal appropriations and think that we finally started to fund the military again in the previous administration and the policies of nancy pelosi under the policy of the previous administration the military had been previously hollowed out and in large part because we need to negotiate peace through strength that we have seen significant foreign-policy games and we have crisis on the run and there is a small amount of territory now negotiating from the position of

strength that relates to iran and north korea and afghanistan. we need to listen to the genitals and we neegenerals ando transition that force to the afghan peacekeepers and an alliance with our allies on the ground as it relates to saudi arabia in particular we need a thorough investigation that is a serious allegation of crime. that just makes no sense to me. again i am a veteran and i understand what the troops need and i know what it's like to actually feel to be sent someplace and to wonder do we have everything that we need. i don't need to be lectured on

the military. what do you think should be done to prevent gun violence such as the mass shootings we've seen in schools like parkland and other locations around the country? >> is a serious issue in this country you have a respect for the men and women. i look at the epidemic and first and foremost the walls are on the books. we need to make sure our men and women in law enforcement have the resources needed to be able to put an end to the violent

crimes and in particular related to gun crimes and i also talked to the men and women of the law enforcement community and i heard them talk about the tone with which we talk about men and women in the law-enforcement lat community on the front line. they compared law enforcement officers to terrorists and i would get the opportunity to apologize to the law enforceme enforcement. >> what happened several years ago was right after they revert

to the people protesting as terrorists. standing up for a disabled veteran who'd been wrapped up by the capitol police. i'm good to call anybody out whether you are my neighbor or police officer were president of the united states if you are going to do something wrong. [applause] i served as a military police officer in the army. army. if you are trying to claim like it's something i have a problem with law enforcement, i don't. when it comes to reform, i have a son. i'm not going to buy him a bulletproof backpack. the reason they showed up is because there had been a school shooting that they wanted us to

make us aware that it could. i heard donald trump say he was going to get rid of them a long time ago, no action on that and we need to make sure people have background checks. it's an amazing country that this happened than. we need to step up for our kids. [applause] i agree that the approach is different. we need to have a proper tone as it relates to the men and women of the law enforcement

communities. >> next question. well the president's trade agreement with canada and mexico be heard with other exporters and do you support the chinese imports? >> the new agreement was made with canada and mexico is yet to be seen how the enforcement will deal with it and there is a potential to have good flavor issues that will be beneficial for the workers on all sides of the borders. the potential is there about how what is going to be implemented i will wait for a final decision on that. they could be a useful method for achieving the desired effect but the way donald trump is doing it is a blanket on everything. they had our backs in a time of war and there is no long-term

well-thought-out strategy for copies are going to affect us. us. right now even republicans stating that it's going to cause permanent damage to the state. we have a cornerstone of the wisconsin economy, hardly davidson talking about how that is a problem. we are borrowing money from china but paying it back and interest in getting it t givinge farmers to subsidize them. let's get them involved and find out a good long-term intelligence solution.

>> when i started this campaign i went to a breakfast and was speaking to local dairy farmers talking about the struggle that they faced export milk from wisconsin. we need to be able to lower the barriers to trade. we have the best workforce not just in the united states, the best workforce and the entire

world to shift the products around the globe and take the benefit of the hard work that we do right here. [applause]

to reverse those convictions the fact that having a peaceful sit in just outside of his office asking what he's going to do after he voted against the act so i will continue to stand up. john lewis, i don't hear him getting grief for standing up to people and the opportunity comes up you bet i'm going to be right there. [applause] it is a positive step that allows our veterans to take their health care dollars i talk to veterans in particular as we

look at mental health and the suicide numbers facing the veterans community and the ability for the veterans to have the options to take this health care dollars into the facility near them is a positive step in the right direction rather than an arbitrary 40-mile radius to get care. so this is a step in the right direction and given the opportunity to serve one of the first things i will do is make sure that they're able to they o receive the benefits that they've earned. they've earned our greatest respect and benefits that go along with that. allowing the choice program allows veterans to get that care closer to home is a positive step in the right direction.

there's no way we should be able to profit off of trading our veterans when they come back. i know what it's like to come back and try to find work. if it hadn't been for a government grant i would have been sleeping under a bridge with these veterans so i knew firsthand how clearly important it was to take care if they are here protecting our home and they don't have a place to sleep themselves, that is a problem. one of the things they did is to

find a program to open up their own small businesses. we helped get them the tools and knowledge to open the businesses and we also put veterans that are recently on the surface and in touch with other entrepreneurs who want to hire veterans because we do make such a strong workforce. privatizing health care is not the answer. we need to fully fund the va. it's not doing what it was designed to do. they are making sure they had the chops the need an jobs theyg in place economic policies to drive down unemployment and push the wages higher is critical so that when the men and women that serve the united states come home t have an opportunity to sp into a good place job.

in particular i hear about the need for the proper credentialing so when you leave if you drive a large truck you could have the credentials in our state without having to go through another step. i'm going to work to make sure that is the case to make sure they are receiving the benefits they've earned while serving in the united states of america. >> a few miles away from the proposed complex. how if it invests in the 2 million employees potentially 13,000 impacts on the first congressional district? >> we've seen the plans completely closed and it's heartbreaking every time i drive by it. we have a big loss where lowe's

needs to be. that's $4.5 billion of the wisconsin state taxpayer money. we don't know how we are going to benefit from it. the people at least deserve to know the bottom line. there's a report that came out that made claims about certain members but there is an * at the bottom that says we cannot even confirm these numbers are a. we need to keep protections in place and use millions of gallons of water from lake michigan. they also have air quality

conditions. if ththe ceo has also referred e work is as animals. they want to bring that here they will find good paying jobs they need to respect the workforce here if they want to be good neighbors but all we ask and the potential is there but we need to be able to hold them accountable. for those that are here for a long period of time and expanding or a company that is new it would be as close to the

best workers anywhere aroun on e globe we have here. what we are seeing in some of the lowest that we have seen in the generations we start to see the wages crop up. what we will see with the number of job openings occurring is how to address the skills gap and that is where the board of regents past two and a half years comes to the forefront how to make sure that individuals are prepared for the jobs of the future and we need to make sure we have affordable accessible education. the work i've done in the board of regents we made tuition more affordable and that's important because we need to make sure regardless of what zip code if

you have access to affordable education and that was all the way down to the promise of if you are from a family making less than the median income and your son or daughter gets accepted no small task with this bug tuition and fee? zero that's awesome and that is what we should be doing providing education to close the skills gap. that's what i've been working on in the skills gap we will continue to see tight labor markets. individuals can continue to see the low unemployment and increased wages. [applause] >> i want to ask about something. how do we train a workforce of f the future for the potential jobs and for the whole workforce training issue, your thoughts on that and then i will give you a

chance to follow up. >> on the apprenticeship that is something. it's under attack now by the republicans with their right to work and the prevailing wage. but it's the best way to take somebody in off the street that doesn't have the bill and retrain them and when it gets back out they have a career with the hotline you can call up anywhere in the country even up in canada. onconce you're done you don't he any college tuition to be paid and it uses a zero tax payer dollars.

it's a fantastic way to enter into the middle class and.com -- that conjunction with the a great way. >> how can the regions and institutions and the systems work together for the workforce needs a? >> how do we prepare in the future we need local decision-makers who addressed the needs and what we have seen under the department of education the higher learning commission of the credentials for schools and out of the get the classes properly into the high schools so a lot of the work is the credentialing

process to. there is a real opportunity to address the credentialing process under the department of education to make education more flexible to make sure individuals are prepared for those jobs in the future. >> we have time for one last question. >> the nation's debt has ballooned to 21 trillion. the attempt to lower the deficit with a 5% cut in several programs like medicare, medicaid and social security. >> we need to get the debt and deficit under control. it's one of the reasons i'm running. what we need to do is we have a spending problem in washington so we need to analyze the spending side of the watcher. i think to me social security

and medicare promises we made to seniors those in retirement and approaching retirement age after social security and medicare protected and we can do that but still address the spendin addreg that is going on in washington. a look at my own background and that is what you do every everyday where we have seen historically the costco of pent up pleaded as we came in and we helped online exhibition it's the same approach we need to take to washington to get spending under control. >> do you separate the cuts being proposed are not? under the leadership of paul i in the representative for the first district its purpose rewarding people in the country for donating to the campaign.

we are getting charged more and more and we are being told now we have to cut. but find the people benefiting the most to pay a little bit more. [applause] individuals who are seniors or in the retirement approach should see no cuts. >> i have a follow-up on that because just this week president trump asked the secretaries to submit budgets that would spend

5% less. wouldn't that mean cuts to some of these entitlement programs? do you support the cuts are not, yes or no. he repeatedly said that as the term yois theterm you can produd $32 trillion was that based on and do you agree the cost

estimates. if we put the medicare fraud in place in action health care has become a unaffordable for so many people. i'm hearing stories that talk to pharmacists she needs to take ten prescriptions. her doctor prescribed ten medicationmedications and she cd them all. i may hear talk about why should we pay for people who don't have insurance anabaptist a if the ct is so high now it's getting passed on to people when they have a program they are getting charged more to cover the people that don't.

we had a bill you had to wait long enough and once you got there they had to see it. if you tend to see a doctor to get a checkup when they could have found something wrong with you in my case having had cancer if i could have had a regular checkup it could have been caused so much earlier but it didn't. it grew into a severe problem. if we can have people see a doctor and get regular checkups and don't have to pay premiums or deductibles we will be in a much better and healthier place. [applause] >> the source of your estimates. >> there's a number of sources out there i can provide out there on the website with the link to the.

it's a 32 trillion-dollar program. you have to double business taxes. to me that is the wrong approach. >> the first statement.

the last 20 years literally building southeast wisconsin with my bare hands i understood the struggle because i've gone through them myself. he knows what it's like to go without when i'm not working. he made his money by spending good paying jobs overseas or to mexico. that's not the right way.

we have over 50% of congress made up of millionaires right now. 95% of his art from the big dollar donors to the. i think what you heard is this the answetheanswer resides in wr locally to pay for that it doubles your income and business

taxes the money is best used in washington in southeast wisconsin my opponent wants to make policies like this and i stay with the men and women of the law-enforcement community and my background working for the manufacturing companies and serving on the board of regents working in problem solving everyday is the right background to have. i'm going to work to solve the problems facing us in southeast wisconsin and at the end of this in 18 days you will have a choice. [applause]

i don't think the partisans on both sides. thank you. we are adjourned. [applause] the wisconsin realtors association, the clinic health system, aarp wisconsin and campaign 2018 partners

good evening. my name is mike coleman. i'm retired from the wyoming supreme court 2012 after serving 24 years as a justice on the court. two of the years as chief justice. tonight i will serve as the moderator of this 2018 general election gubernatorial debate featuring all the candidates seeking to be the next governor. tonight's debate is sponsored by the wyoming public radio,