2020 Massachusetts Senate Primary Debate

and Congressman Joe Kennedy broadcasting across the Commonwealth in partnership with W CAI and New England Public Media live from our Brighton studios. Here are our moderators Jim Brodie and Margery Eagan. Good evening and welcome to our audience here at WGBH and to those watching at home as well the first one.

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in a Senate race that is being closely watched not only here but across the country. We have been incumbents, we have served in both the House and the Senate. The Challenger had seven years under his belt in the House tonight is the first night he has had the opportunity to weigh his differences and his worldviews as to the rules, there are no rules, there are no opening statements, there are no closures, no There are time limits, although we'll keep track of speaking time to keep things relatively consistent, and we want to cover a lot of ground. so brevity is appreciated, feel free to talk among ourselves and in fact we encourage it, gentlemen, and since we ask our studio audience not to applaud during the

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, we would like to take a minute right now to give the Senator Ed Markey and Congressman Joe Kennedy, hugs, gentlemen, thank you very much for joining us, Marjorie and it's all yours.

Carson Kennedy, some of Senator Markey's supporters have criticized you for being an opportunist in this race, so why are you running to defeat a man who stands for so many of the same things? policies that you support, so Jim Marjorie, thank you for having a senator from Sinai, it's always a pleasure to be with you, thank you to Utah, the audience, to everyone who is here and to those who tune in across the country, please hold on this election this time, much of what matters to us. everything we care about is at stake and what is at stake for us for our party, our Commonwealth in our country, this counts and right now we have to make sure that you have a United States senator who is giving everything he may have. to make sure that we guide our party in our Commonwealth through this and look, that means right now Massachusetts this is not a swing state and this is not a swing seat, there's a special opportunity and obligation that comes with it because voting in the right way and present the bill correctly.

Mitch McConnell doesn't care. It's about making sure you are a constant presence in Massachusetts. Making sure people across our state know that you are fighting for them and that they also know that they care. the people most victimized by this president those who are vulnerable those who are suffering those who are immigrants those who are different know that you have an advocate there for you every day and three who, given the challenges we face, must ensure that you are doing everything everything possible to restore the power of a democratic party so that we can truly advance the causes we care about and protect the people we absolutely care about.

He's been a good senator, but Jim, this isn't about yes or no. Senator Marquis made an important contribution, of course he did, but the problem is right now, given what is at stake with the headlines we saw today with President Trump's pardons, what he has done to turn ice in a gun, this is not about voting. and introduce the right bill and vote the right way, we have to do everything we can to restore the power of a democratic party throughout the country, change the foot of the house, the Senate, change the presidency and restore the courts , and that I think is a type of leadership that I can bring to the bench and I think that's what Massachusetts has.

Let's get back to most of those things. Some of your countess's critics, a senator, point out that you have been in Congress more than 40 years. in fact, hers first served before she was born, as I'm sure she knows that bipartisanship in the Senate is dead. The Democratic agenda is going nowhere. Some believe that a new face with a different approach is exactly what is needed to change the dynamic. Because? bad very good again thanks Jim Thanks Marjorie thanks to WGBH I think so, they are a great audience, especially the young people who are behind your shoulder, this whole debate should be about the future, your future and that's what I'm all fighting for the days. future for these young people when I introduced the green new deal with Alexandria Ocasio Cortez just a year ago, it transformed the way climate change is debated in the United States and around the planet, it made a huge difference and is based on laws that Already I passed the fuel economy standards we live under, that's my 2007 Lauren, the appliance efficiency standards, that's my law that reduces the amount of oil the Koch brothers can sell, that's the desperate coal industry for weapons.

I passed legislation just in December to have the Centers for Disease Control spend $25 million to begin research into the causes of gun violence in our society based on a law I passed earlier that bans 10 million firearms. Chinese assault reaches the streets of the United States. United States, and I might add again in December, just seven weeks ago, my bill approved $315 million more to find a cure for Alzheimer's by 2025. Listen to this number, it's incredible. 15 million baby boomers will have Alzheimer's if we don't find a cure. today's big problems today's challenges have not only been leaders but I have been complying with legislation that is passed and that protects the people of Massachusetts and the entire country remember the barber that I mentioned briefly gentlemen let's remember that because we respond to what that the senator had to say it, congressman.

Look, I think, as I said before, Jim, the senator has made an important contribution to our Commonwealth, our country, although the fact is that in a number of the challenges that we face today, many of us celebrated last week on Valentine's Day. Valentine. Valentine's Day, with this Valentine's Day, was the second anniversary of the park shooting, right, the fact is we haven't passed Congress, the federal government hasn't passed meaningful legislation on gun violence in decades. , when it comes to the environment, we have not Center Marquise has been a leader in this and it has been just the latest transformative law to be signed into the bill that was signed into law to transform the way the federal government acts.

The environment was signed by Richard Nixon with the Clean Air Act. that when it comes to today's moments, the challenges that we face with Mitch McConnell saying, look, what this is about is maintenance and access to power and he's going to hold on to it, all you have to know honestly, that's just not exact, the last significant weapon. The security legislation was passed in the last week of December 2019, when Donald Trump signed my bill to begin an investigation into the CDC that had been blocked for 25 years by the NRA. My bill makes NRS Stanford no longer relevant in American politics when it can. to have a victory like that and I could say that the last environmental law, the biggest one, well that was my law too, was the 2007 law that doubled the fuel economy standards of the vehicles we drive, seventy percent of all the oil goes into the gas tanks.

It's the largest greenhouse gas reduction of any law ever passed in any country in the world, so I've been leading and contributing to the fossil fuel industry. I beat the gun lobby. I beat them just in December I beat them, the law is in the books. all these things in a minute one thing about the green new deal, although, as you know, many of your Democratic colleagues, including Senator and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives, do not believe that there is a chance that the New Green deal may be approved, but there is none. carbon tax in the Green New Deal and that's something that a lot of businesses and some of the leaders of the Republican establishment have supported, so why not put it in there and maybe have a better chance that this can pass in a bipartisan way?

Look at the Green New Deal since we introduced Ocasio Cortez and I in Alexandria just a year ago, it's morphed into a debate on this issue, we're dealing with the fact that our own scientists say the planet Massachusetts can gain eight to ten degrees in the next 80 years and that our sea rice would rise ten feet for Massachusetts, so the magnitude of the problem is clear and what we are saying is that we have to solve this problem with millions of new jobs being created and do it fairly to that the frontline communities, the minority communities that we do with intersectionality, so we have to make sure that whatever we do, it doesn't lead to dramatic price increases for the poorest in our society, we have to have a debate about how to achieve it, but we have to be absolutely non-negotiable when it comes to the Tigers that we established in order to achieve this goal, there are many different paths that we can take to achieve this goal, we just have to say that we are going to transform our society into energy 100% clean. and we can do it with a number of different paths, including fuel economy standards, the official plant standard, you recently said that a congressman I would host my meeting, you would put your environmental record against anyone, please do it okay so look at the big picture too small this is a topic that is important to me I am 39 years old I have a four year old and a two year old my goal as a parent is to make sure they have a planet that will be there for them the same planet that I was able to inherit from my parents and the fact is that, while I think the senator is right that there are now many different political ideas to try to address climate warming, what we actually lack is the political will to get there I support the green deal I think the debate needs to be framed in the right way and carbon neutral emissions connect and net zero emissions a sector by sector decarbonisation the approach I have taken is to try to ensure that the communities that have borne the brunt of environmental degradation and climate change are at the forefront, as communities like Fall River, and specifically if you look at what I've done in communities like Fall River, is addressing, introduced a bill last week to make sure that communities that are being attacked by petrochemical plants and chemical pollution have a greater capacity to defend themselves.

We've worked with the community and gotten there to transform that economy to be the staging area for offshore wind, we've introduced legislation and worked on that with Senator Markey, we've been dedicated to issues like combined wastewater overflows and stormwater runoff, so the ways in which this affects local frontline communities and gateway towns, if I may, both have been Supporting those who oppose the siting of the natural gas compressor in Weymouth , but one of the things I don't completely understand is that you have received money from Blackrock, which is a major investor in that compressor, almost according to Nation magazine, about two million dollars in its portfolio of stocks and fossil fuels does not leave at least the appearance of some kind of conflict, even if you say it won't affect you, why don't you get rid of those thoughts and why don't you come back? that contribution starting with you, senator, quickly, if you could look, I went to Weymouth and stood with those citizens and said to them and the citizens of Braintree and Quincy, it's a little piece of wind, we are a natural gas company, wants like a straw. that compressor station shouldn't be there so they can eventually move it to Maine to export that oil, most likely that natural gas to China, so what I've done is lead on that issue and I'll tell you why I'm taking money from a investor, although in the project I vote my convictions and, from my perspective, what I have done is accept that company, that company that wants to go to Weymouth and I.

I have told them absolutely no and I have led the effort on that issue, and I have absolutely guaranteed that there will not be any dispute in which I will not be the leader and I will tell you why I lead on it. I lead it because When I was a kid and I was in Malden, my mom told me not to swim in the Malden River because of the chemical and coal companies that were polluting the Malden River and she told me it wouldn't be safe to swim like that. Wherever I see these environmental justice issues I stand up and fight for those communities.

I've done it since Weymouth. I have faced that company. I have absolutely not told them from the beginning that it shouldn't happen. Why not? They're not diverse, so that's the equity founders' gym? There is not a single vote that anyone can point to that shows that investment holdings that were then held for a long time have influenced my vote once you look at my history or facefossil fuel companies, is as strong as anyone in Congress and the idea that those holdings of influence on my vote cannot be found, but one last thing about campaign finance, then it will come back under the order that we intended If we can, the congressman has challenged.

You, Senator, have repeatedly supported a People's Promise originated, as you know, by Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown years ago, virtually the same People's Promise that you embraced in 2013 and 2014, if it was good enough for your careers, then Why isn't she good enough for this career? In

2020

, well, I've introduced a progressive people's pledge for

2020

to deal with the era of Donald Trump. Yes, we should have a commitment that keeps out dark money that keeps out negative voices, but we should welcome positive voices. We should welcome revealed contributions. so that women's environmental groups, labor groups, LGBTQ groups can't talk where is Massachusetts, it's 2020, Donald Trump is president, we need to have a new place for modern people, not an old one, for Trump, what about What is the problem with that congressman who is an exception who swallows the rule?

Look, what we have asked is that he was good enough for Senator Markey back in 2013. He was good enough in 2014 when he advocated when Massachusetts set the standard for keeping out dark money it's the same commitment now you start making people add bills we like who decides which voices those are who can say our voices we like our voices we don't have dark money Jim it's dark money Massachusetts walks the walk when it comes to progressive values ​​we have to do it now and you opened this door to this, you open the door to an absolute avalanche of money coming in to distort the electoral framework that we have been so proud to power very quickly, how do you decide who decides what is positive and progressive and what is not?

I mean who does that, we need the voices to be positive and we need well, you will decide, you will decide, the media will decide, we must have a positive teacher and we should have, we should and no dark money if it is not disclosed it should not be allowed entrance to our state, so it should be disclosed how about why wouldn't we want to buy? So after an ad has already cut the media, the media will come. come in and say it's not, so Fox News can say yes, but WGBH can say no, there's no basis for this if you skip the broader point of this, campaign finance reform is one of the central issues for a democrat and for progressive values. to try to make sure we level the playing field so that we can actually empower people who are suffering today across our country.

If you don't do this, how are you going to pass a green new deal if you enable the fossil fuel industry? Turn on the tap and flood the airwaves with scare tactics, okay, that's what it's all about, look, we shouldn't silence these progressive groups, we should encourage them, we should celebrate their desire in the era of Donald Trump in the White House trying to destroy everything one of our values, if you want to participate in this debate, speak positively, reveal your funding sources, we should welcome and celebrate it, but keep dark money and negative voices away fifty seconds from reality before it is just invested in a race across this country with positive voices in a positive way the Koch brothers the number one opponent of environmental protection of iron already in the country there they can elaborate things in a positive way that is what the senators who defend there is no way to let this work let's move on yes, let's talk about a couple of current issues that start with immigration.

Both have condemned Customs and Border Patrol's decision to enter Boston, but what do you propose to do to stop them? We'll start with you, Congressman, so a couple of points on this one. The way this administration has attacked and vilified an immigrant community is one of the most abhorrent things I have seen over the course of my tenure and I think the senator would agree that we have to make sure we continue to speak out and push back. Massachusetts has a proud history of immigration our country has a proud history of immigration my own family both sides are a family of immigrants and I'm very proud of that, what we need to do is make sure that you are We are not just elected officials, but members of our community who stand up and speak out, we reject the efforts of the Trump administration, but more than that, we build a place where we can truly pass comprehensive immigration reform.

The first Father's Day I spent with my son. at the border outside Tornillo, Texas, protesting the family separation policy while they, like this administration, ripped children from their parents' arms, there is no way that will be the answer to immigration, that's what What this administration is going to do, that's what they're going to do. keep doing, scaring, vilifying, destroying this country and it means you have to do it with everything you have and that is a type of leadership. I hope to incorporate this Saturday, yes, thank you, yes, um, this is just part of Donald Trump's policy of trying to make America great again by making America hate again these SWAT teams that will come with the sole intention of terrorize immigrants.

He's tried to take Muslims and Mexicans, immigrants, women of color and demonize them, you know when? I announced for the Senate six years ago that I went up to Lawrence at 88 Phillip Street, where my father grew up, to knock on the door where the five Markey brothers, assistants, grew up, see who lives there now and not on the porch, a Dominican family came and the accents were different but the aspirations were clearly the same for that family. I'm still the main family. What Donald Trump is trying to do is terrorize those families in Boston so that they will be afraid to answer the door and be afraid that the parents may be separated from the children so that they will be much less likely to cooperate with the officials charged with doing so. obey the law.

I agree with Monty Walsh, the mayor of Boston. I agree with Rachel Rawls, the Suffolk County District Attorney. I agree with them, we have to make Boston a beacon on the Hill we have to make him defend the freedom he has always defended and we have to fight Donald Trump every step of the way, take them to court, not cooperate, this is fundamentally a challenge to who we are as Bostonians, but there is no way. to stop them right now we have to take them to court we have to stop them in court we have to introduce legislation for us to debate on the floor of the House and Senate try to take it as far as we can and as quickly as we can I can let you know that it's responsible.

I'll tell you what I did in August, when Trump announced that he was going to take children who were in hospitals in Massachusetts and deport them even though they had cancer. I got up and fought him. Together with them from Congresswoman Presley and in two weeks we got Trump to back down, you can't deport children with cancer, I won in August on that issue, we have to do the same, that's what we are, here's your chance, If you let me. you two, as you know, and Terr, 700,000 daca recipients in this country, young people brought to this country by their families or by others, the Supreme Court will decide in a relatively short order what their disposition will be, perhaps three years ago , Democratic leaders in the Senate went to the White House and said: we will give you $25 billion for your wall, President Trump, if in exchange we get protection for the dreamers.

Two quick questions, gentlemen. One, would you support the same deal, that is, giving them all your money? the wall and two, if you didn't do it, what would you be willing to change for the president and the Republicans to protect the dreamers quickly? Oh, great, that's what I would change. I would change presidents, let's get rid of Trump, he's out of here, he's fine, we got him. eight months to get rid of this guy, get rid of Mitch McConnell running the United States, that's what the next eight months are about, it's about a referendum on this issue about who we are as a country, it goes right to whose soul that's what what the president is doing it is our responsibility to make sure this man is truly a footnote in history where do we know Kimani furs waldo senator?

We have Democrats who are willing to do that in January 2017 I'm not willing We need a path For the 11 million immigrants in our country, we need to make sure the dreamers are about eight citizens. We have to protect citizens with temporary protected status residents who were here from Haiti and other countries. We have to do that and, by the way, I have also introduced legislation, the Grace Law, to increase the number of refugees that we accept into our country to 95,000 a year. The president only accepts 13,000 this year. This is an absolute disgrace, so on each and every one of these issues we have to solve getting rid of Donald Trump, changing our country's entire agenda and rolling out the welcome mat to immigrants, which is what has made America great.

USA. You can't make America great by putting people down. We had to make America great by uplifting people before we got rid of them. you get rid of Donald Trump, what he does for the dreamers, his congressman Jim. I went back and forth between the Republican leadership and our leadership a couple of years ago, when we in the House had the votes to pass additional legislation to protect Dreamers, TPS recipients. and deported veterans and I have pretty strong relationships with Republicans and some people came to me and said, hey, can you negotiate? Can't you transfer a message there to the House leadership, which I did and each time the response was the same as what we heard? this from the president all the time and then when we get from the Capitol to the White House he changes his mind, you can't negotiate with a ghost, you can't, you're anticipating the president saying this is the deal, take it or leave it every time. to participate in those conversations, he changed his mind every time and so we could hypothesize what it would take.

I went through those conversations conveying, not negotiating, but conveying those messages and every time he came back to the Republicans. say, get that and let it come from the president you bought because you know you'll never be able to pin it down. Can we skip to the current event? If we can, as you both know, there is a possible recent agreement between the US and the Taliban, that could mean the beginning of the end of the longest war in American history, the so-called seven-day de-escalation could inaugurate a 13-day drawdown of a thousand American troops, it should start with you, congressman, if the president stops at 8,000 or should all American troops leave Afghanistan or should we leave a counterterrorism force of several thousand people there in the future predictable, which is the preferred route we need to bring our troops home.

We have been all of them as many as possible. We can to ensure the security of our country and look, let's be clear about this, we have the ability to deploy quickly if necessary, the president still maintains broad constitutional authority to protect our nation and our interests, but let's be clear: we have been in war in Afghanistan during the longest armed conflict in American history - we are still aware of an extraordinary investigation by the Washington Post that appeared in Afghanistan newspapers we still do not have a clear idea after 20 years of what our mission is how it is You see success as how long it will take or the burden we are going to put on our men and women in uniform or their families and then how long are we going to ask soldiers and our armed forces to deploy overseas?

Well, that's why I ask you, shall we bring it home? as quickly as possible, even a small number are there to protect what we have gained. I mean, we've talked about that small number, not all of them, but a very small number. When I visit Afghanistan, I can see the incredible tension that still persists in the conflict. streets of that country and from my perspective I think it is absolutely imperative that we withdraw the troops, that we try to solve this problem, negotiate a resolution, the Taliban, the US government, the Afghan government, Pakistan, everyone will have to participate Yes This is going to work if we want to protect this country from falling into chaos, as happened the last time the Taliban had any kind of power in that country.

He still has power for the most part, but completely eliminate the United States immediately. could endanger 50% of its population, women in that country lived in terror when the Taliban had total control, we cannot allow that to happen again, so we shouldwithdraw as many troops as we can test any agreement to make sure that The protections that have been put in place are working, but until we are sure that that is the case, we cannot once again endanger the lives of the 50% of that population that will descend once again into medieval conditions, which is how the Taliban was treating that population in that country, so reduce the troops, do it as much as you can while ensuring that any agreement is actually working.

The senator has a long career in foreign policy areas. Anything he would have done differently than what he has done. vote wisely so yes was the answer to this question first, although the recent attack that killed service members in Afghanistan was a green on blue attack killed by our allies. Happens. I visited the troops and Walter Reed who were wounded for the rest of his life. lives of our allies, yes we must make sure we protect innocent civilians in Afghanistan, but we have been doing it for 20 years at great cost and look, we are in the longest conflict in the history of our nation, which was a war in Afghanistan after 2001, in 2002 we went to war with Iraq and today we are in Iraq, still that authorization for the use of military force and Iraq was used to justify the removal of General Soleimani and the Iranian general from a nation completely separate from a separate nation. of us that had nothing to do with our pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and completely separate reasons for going to war, but that authorization was used to do it and it keeps us in the Middle East even today that authorization, by the way, was used by President Obama will conduct drone strikes in Yemen that killed 21 children that you didn't ask for, oh yes, an outright elimination, Jim, look at the record.

I have been outspoken about eliminating and repealing the authorization of the use of military force from 2001 to 2002 for years. and what about the background, although he has much more experience in foreign policy and believed that they were a hot war and voted for it without a sunset provision to say that at a certain point you had to go back and justify it without a definition of success without a question about what burden we are going to place on our men and women in uniform and that authorization is being used 20 years later. I recently met with a group of returned veterans and heard from them talking about their mission abroad or in the Middle East and one of them said it's interesting to hear their mission, it was my mission five years before, we still don't have clarity on what what we are doing and that as a result of that vote, when you voted for a disaster, you were a minority of Democrats in the House of Representatives who authorized action in Iraq.

Do you regret that vote? Josh Bush lied Don Rumsfeld lied Dick Cheney lied to the American people about the presence of nuclear weapons in Iraq was a false pretense fresh out of the water. I'm still angry about that lie to the American people. I regret that vote, it was a mistake. That's why I work every day to make sure Donald Trump can't start a war against a country. false pretense with Iran, which is why I lead my legislation to ensure that Donald Trump cannot start a nuclear war with North Korea without prior authorization from the House and Senate, which is why I lead the new miniaturized nuclear weapons that Donald Trump wants to deploy massively . which makes it more likely that we will actually have a winnable nuclear fight while it is on Donald Trump's mind and that is why the major peace groups peace now Mass Peace Action Council for a Livable World all me They have endorsed the peace groups They have been with us For me, they have had the opportunity to see our records and they have induced me to participate in this race because I am fighting Donald Trump and his reckless military policy every day, we are just a tweet away away at 5:30 in the morning from entering a military conflict that will be catastrophic for our country and for the planet before we return to Carson Kelly, the senator, as long as he passes the fourth round, vote present for the use of force in Syria over the chemical weapons issue, why did he do it? that there was simply a rush to judgment, there was an attempt to have a vote that was forced without full information being given to the committee, so I protested that we were not being given the information and said I'm waiting until I get all I need to know if we should bomb Syria or not, we should bomb Assad for 60 days and when I got all the information I understood the consequences, I announced that I was going to vote no, that I would not give the authorization before.

That vote reached the Senate floor. I made sure that I wouldn't be put in a position where I would be quick to pass judgment because of the way our producers just tell us that they have about two more minutes of time, so I'll give it a little more, you know, congressman, but he wants to respond to what the senator said: the lesson of Iraq is one of many that you can't go to another Middle Eastern country without knowing how to get out and when faced with that question about ten years ago. After that vote, the senator voted present, I don't know, no, yes, on an issue of a warned piece, but present, I think that record speaks for itself, look for 30 seconds, look when when your government doesn't give you all the information you need and a senator says, um, I'm going. to demand that all other senators get the information they need that was right in committee before we can bring it to the Senate floor.

Let's understand what the consequences are if we bomb Syria. young men and women at risk, so I gave up the effort to get the information because of the way they then withdrew, then they went through that resolution, so it was the sanitizer of all that information that then made it impossible for them to get the ship that we got. him in the Senate, wow, he's not a disinfectant, the whole reason it's a present vote, it's hard for me to understand when a present vote is going to be a 15 second senator profile when you hide Bax, when you lie without give all the information to the American people, then someone has to stand up, which is what I did to ensure that on that issue we don't get dragged into another conflict in the Middle East, why not vote no?

It's Congress I'm only suggesting. Yes, I wanted to give them the opportunity to present all the intelligence information that they had not done, so there would not be a vote on the Senate floor for another week, so I demanded that the information be made public so that it could be understood by other senators and by Americans a 2017 exploration of racism in Boston found that Black Americans rated Boston the least welcoming of eight major American cities; Wealth disparity figures put the wealth of white Bostonians at $250,000 and just eight dollars for black Bostonians nationally, the number is much smaller and for Latinos the wealth disparity is more than a hundred to one here and it's eight to one nationally, so what have you done specifically? with you, Congressman, to change the situation for people of color here in Boston, so several things, among other things, the statistics you cite indicate a terrible legacy of our Commonwealth and the federal government: the racial discrimination that persists to this day and the fact is that the disparity in those figures $247,000 for my median net worth for a white household in Greater Boston eight dollars for an African American household at zero for a Dominican household that is the result of intentional decisions made by federal, state, and local governments and should not be resolved without intentional decisions by federal, state, and local governments.

Looking at addressing housing, the greatest reflection of this is the fact that after ten years of economic growth a segment of our population was unable to access a housing project so it must be deliberate and intentional to ensure that the government federal make a considerable investment and access affordable housing, especially in communities that have been redlined regularly and just add, excuse me, directly affected by housing policy, look at the legacy of the FHA, the GI Bill, the ways in which that the federal government has systematically and systematically harmed African-American minorities for years with zoning laws, we have to make sure that those zoning laws that end up being a prohibition on the ways that people can actually build housing and in Reality accumulating wealth three problems related to transportation that if you are trying to find ways to get to work to get home and care for a child, the 111 bus in Chelsea takes you an hour to travel three miles, African Americans spend 60 In addition , more hours a year on a bus than white Americans, so excuse me, so white people do in Boston to go to work 60 more hours a year just to go to work, these are the result of deliberate discriminations that must be addressed and the government federal. do a lot about it and we have to tell ourselves a couple of things that the federal government should be doing, senator.

Well, I have introduced legislation with Elizabeth Warren to build three million affordable homes in our country that will reduce overall home prices by about ten percent if we do that to introduce a seventy-five billion dollar bill to increase the number of public housing units in our country so that it is affordable and modern that we have free college tuition that we have free community college tuition for people of color for low-income citizens in our country and that, ultimately, Let's change our transportation system. My father, when he drove a truck full of Hood Mill Company, used to go to Boys Street, take the bus, go to Sullivan Station and then go through. on the hood there is no company to drive the truck well that's how people live today when the transportation systems don't work when the tea doesn't work when we don't have the lights on the buses that go out to the communities that need it then We have a great problem, I experienced it in my own house and my father got on that bus every day, so we have to make sure that we provide those types of programs and also, a lot of this just goes back to the original sin in our society, the slavery, you know, that's why it's so important that we have a debate about reparations, we have a debate about how we've treated minorities in our country, especially those who are descended from slaves and who have a legacy of mistreatment. that then manifests itself in incarceration, the lack of programs that help them achieve their goals and the discriminations that are still deeply embedded in our society and if we do not address the issue of reparations, if we do not address the mass incarceration of African Americans and other minorities in our society and then the consequences of what then results in these kinds of income and wealth disparities, so we're not going to understand the whole core of this issue, you know, obviously I just wanted federal legislators, but there's been a local meeting . push here to return to some form of rent control that would limit the amount of increases landlords could throw at tennis, what do you think of that?

I think Marjory literally everywhere you go, the cost of housing in the state and the access to housing. It's the number one problem, whether it's from Pittsfield to Springfield to Worcester to Boston or anywhere in between, so we have to do a hell of a lot more to make sure housing is truly affordable. After a couple of years as a legal aid volunteer in housing courts in Boston trying to keep people in their homes in Dorchester and Roxbury Mattapan in the midst of a foreclosure crisis, you see the impact every day of a system that actually has pretty solid tenants. protections, but the challenge that if people don't know about them have access to them, then we should re-register them, so I think rent stabilization certainly needs to be on the table and there are a wide variety of measures that we can address control rentals can be part of that debate.

I think that if we are looking at systemic and state-level reforms that are necessary, investments in housing, affordable housing and reforms to our infrastructure and public transportation to ensure that more housing is available. affordable as well and then the last part briefly, you have to address the other economic challenges that we have here in Boston, the health care costs, the cost of child care, it costs more to raise a child from birth to five than it does to send them to the university in Boston. University we want to talk about here, rent control, yes or no, senator.

I would support any community that wants to impose rent control if they believe in the local option, yes, the local option, if they believe thatIn your community, housing costs have skyrocketed to such an extent. of control that is leading to an exodus of the poorest and most vulnerable out of that community, that community should have the right to impose rent control to stabilize that community, we are seeing gentrification occurring throughout our state, but it is The whole country also has to deal with this as an epidemic, because housing, education, transportation and removing the discriminatory barriers that exist are actually at the heart of this problem.

We have to make sure that we are giving these opportunities to all families, but especially those who are black and brown. I grew up white. I know that there are stories much higher than the black ones and I am very aware of that and very aware of the various discriminatory cocks that I did not have. what to do, let's move on to health care, health care, you know we have one of the lowest uninsured rates in the country here in Massachusetts, but you both I think you both support Medicare for all, so does that mean you support getting rid from the private sector? sure that 160 million Americans have through their bosses, their employers, including unionized people, have negotiated these great health benefits and their contracts.

Let's start with you. Look, we still have a health care crisis in America, where you're running a sick care system, not a health care system. system, 30 million Americans do not have health insurance as we sit here tonight on channel 2, health care bills are still the number one cause of bankruptcies in the United States, we spend twice as much money in the United States as others industrialized nations and we have the worst health outcome, so we are paying twice as much and we don't get the answer, that's why we don't need deductibles or bill prescription. That's why we have to make sure that we transform the system so that everyone gets the health care that they need adequate alumni insurance and we have to move towards a path in our society, we have to debate it, we have to do it correctly, we have to do it in a way that cause the least disruption, but we have to move towards that system which is a system that will keep costs down but eliminate private insurance over time, we have to move in that direction and the reason why we have to do it and I stopped it just because The weather is out of control, if you allow me, my apologies, you can accept. a little more time Congressman, get rid of private insurance, so let's start big and we'll get there first.

The health care system of the richest and most powerful nation in the world should be able to ensure that all people have access to the care they need. we need and the fact is that today, even in our country and even in our state, we don't have a couple of statistics for you, seventeen million insured patients in this country still ration access to medications, twenty-six percent of patients who depend on rationing their insulin eighty-eight billion dollars (the amount of medical debt last year alone) eight hundred twelve billion (the amount of healthcare dollars that go to administrative costs and not a penny of which actually make you healthier) at one fifty-two billion investment that becomes with our dollars in insurance companies that don't actually come back to your attention, so here's the kicker: $12,000, that's the average amount each American family spends on healthcare and already today, deductible premiums and out-of-pocket copays already cost $12,000, so look, I think we can do better.

My uncle introduced a single payer bill in the United States Senate in 1971 and when you look at that speech, some of the factors that you looked at maternal mortality in life expectancy almost 50 years ago and yes, between 1971 and today Those statistics have improved when you look at them compared to other OECD countries, we have actually gotten worse when you adjust them for race and income. falling through the floor Do I think 50 more years of iterative process will ensure that, look, I'll have access to great healthcare? That's a single mom in Mattapan, probably not, and I think 50 years is long enough to say that the Eider of The Process We've Taken is leaving too many profile problems, but Medicare, for all the fears, some people like it your insurance despite these problems and many union members love your interest because, to a large extent, would they be in favor of taking it? away, so two things: one, this debate has ended in this strange lipez test about whether private insurance would be allowed or not.

The goal of the bill is that people will have access to better health care at a lower cost. I think we can do it. and let's try to do it for real: there is no single payer system in the world that is completely abolished, private insurance, but you know what a source of inequity it is, it reflects some of the statistics that I tried, I have decided and it will be better let us do it. Try to make sure that people actually have access to care, but we have to do it. I have to speak out because they both support Medicare for all and, aside from the Buddha judges of the world, they say Medicare for all who want it.

You're not saying that you support or don't support essentially eliminating private insurance over time, you said yes, over time what's your response to that congressman. I think we need to make sure that we provide access to the care that we need and I think we can try to do that without access to private insurance without access yeah quickly okay we have a healthcare system that needs to be fixed my mother got Alzheimer's she was going to become senior class president my grandmother died my mother had to be the caretaker of the family growing up in Malden my father was Milton and he married my mother when she got Alzheimer's my father said you know Eddie it was an honor that you mother married me she was a brilliant woman you have to help me keep her in the living room here in the mall on 7000 street and you know Milkmen's right arm is the strongest arm in the world lifting six month old bottles all the time day, so at age 80 82 84 86 88 90 we kept her in the living room.

Room and Mauldin, well, 15 million baby boomers will have Alzheimer's. Medicare and Medicaid bills will be equal to the defense budget, they will ruin the entire healthcare system in our country, which is why I have led the effort to fully fund research to find the cure. for Alzheimer's by the year 2025, that is my legislation, that is the law in our country, we must find a cure by the year 2025 and if we don't, that issue alone will ruin the system, so we have to look ahead Go ahead, lead the way, that's my legislation that's on the books right now and it's up to 2.8 billion this year alone in funding to find the cure.

I was able to add $350 million more in December to achieve that goal. We have to give hope to every family that they have the solution for Alzheimer's that is underway. Otherwise, almost every baby boomer family will know someone with that illness, let's talk about the president, yes, let's talk about the president for a minute, your favorite person here, the 25th amendment determines what to do if the president is deemed physically or mentally unfit. suitable for serving. This became an issue early in the president's term when then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein talked about bringing together some Cabinet members to remove the president and then there were the 27 psychiatrists and psychologists who wrote this book talking about the malignant narcissism of the president they thought. these medical professionals made him unfit to serve Senator Markey.

Do you believe the president is mentally unfit to serve? First of all, there is no chance in the world that the president's cabinet will remove him. It is sad to say that there are tens of millions. of Americans who agree with the president and everything he does. I just saw that on the Senate floor I sat there for two weeks. I heard overwhelming evidence that he had committed a high crime against the country. I looked at the Republican side, it was irrefutable evidence. that he had done it and then we voted, I showed up twice and voted guilty on each of the charges and the Republicans acquitted him, so to the extent that we think that Donald Trump is wrong in the eyes of the country in the United States, the Senate in its Cabinet has willing and supine allies, but is it ultimately unfit?

I think he has crazy ideas. I think his view of the world is absolutely a view of the world in the rearview mirror of a country that never existed, but I don't think anyone does. and my wife is a psychiatrist. She can size up anyone from a distance without examining. Well, let's just say I can't believe it, except to say that his ideas are crazy and, by the way, you know that a colleague of yours, Jamie Raskin, from Maryland, actually built together. to compose a body, authorize the composition of a body that could make these types of determinations under the 25th amendment.

Do you believe that you are mentally fit for the position, Congressman Kennedy? I don't believe it. I'm not a doctor and no. I don't think he's qualified to make that determination and I'll leave that to the professionals, what I will say is that his actions alone disqualify him from office because the Muller report, if you read it, is a clear indication of the fact that he really obstructed justice on multiple occasions and look, as you know, I was a prosecutor. I've had cases where people didn't have any evidence or witnesses, they were called please, that's what it should have been and that's essentially what it was, so I'm the party here that I think it's critical to understand the picture.

Overall: This president violates his oath to protect every citizen of this country literally every day, but what's up to each of us now is to make sure everything possible is being done. We may end up in those impeachment proceedings with oversight through the House of Representatives because we were able to change the chamber. We need to make sure we are doing everything we can say if Republicans are not going to live up to his oaths. They are impartial jurors, so you go out, force them to comply, and turn the Senate around. Well, speaking of both, we have very little time, so we need really quick answers.

A lot of people, Democrats, think that and a lot of others think that Attorney General. Bar has violated his oath of office, a woman they both support for president says if he doesn't voluntarily resign as mm. Department of Justice members for members say it should is the only way we can deal with the man who responds to a tweet from the president of the United States and changes the phrase the answer is yes, yes, I think the Department is in crisis, we are going to stay in the judicial system, obviously, you know they have been in a Supreme Court appointed by very conservative judges, obviously with a lean to the right. the two or oldest justices are liberal, so the president could potentially affect the tilt for a generation or more.

There are some presidential candidates who proposed limits. You might need a constitutional amendment that expands the size of the court, as you know, it could be done by statute. but I think the limited time frame is that the best way forward is for you to support expanding the size of the courts because I think we need a debate about how changing the Supreme Court could limit terms, expand it, it's time we do it, although I will say This I'm glad Ruth Bader Ginsburg was not term limited in the last three years of this administration, you said she will not be re-elected and will have the next Democratic president after she is sworn in on behalf of all the justices in 20 21 22 23 24 and that should Our main goal in the short term will be to make sure that he gets out, that we control the Senate and that we can confirm that the judges of the next president of the United States will be Democrats.

We only have a few minutes left, gentlemen, so quick answers please. They both support some early for student debt and each of the commitments that our country has to each generation is that you get a path to an education that leads to a good quality job for free and, in fact, the reality of the circumstances at this time. we don't, so the appropriate path that I believe in is that we should eliminate student debt for 95 percent of all students in our families, that means I don't believe that taxpayer money is going to be used to drive a truck of ice cream to earn my tuition without federal student loans I couldn't have gone to college, so I can relate to all these kids who have a backpack of debt that they have to take out of the college they graduate from, so I think we should do let it be free.

I think we should have free community colleges, free public universities in Massachusetts, all just their exams, but I would limit it. I don't think the rich would make us believe that it becomes a way to change the entire direction of a person's life.An individual. and I know that because I lived it without those loans I couldn't admit that I was paying off my student loans in my third term in Congress that's how dependent I was on that program we ran out of time last question and this time it will be time to enforce, let's finish where we started after being briefed by an hour of debate here, could you summarize starting with you, senator for voters, how would you describe the differences between the two of you 45 seconds while he should be rehired?

I want you to say Once again I have the opportunity to serve our state. I will lead a new green deal and get it passed in the next Congress. I will lead the strongest possible gun legislation that cannot be passed and make it the law of our land. I will lead and win legislation that fully funded the search for a cure for Alzheimer's so that this plague is stopped before 15 million baby boomers suffer from it. I will lead those issues. I have already managed to pass laws in those areas and I will continue with this. effort to ensure that, senator, thank you, congressman, thank you for inviting us tonight and thank you for this opportunity to participate.

Look, we are in a time of crisis for our country, for our Democratic Party and for our Commonwealth, for so many of the issues we believe in and Yes, introducing the right legislation and voting the right way is a fundamental part of this job , but if there is one lesson from today's Washington DC it is that this is all about power and whether its sera with a Massachusetts Senate seat come out and rebuild the bank. to achieve the structural change that is necessary end the filibuster end the electoral college and the zorgons reform campaign finance keep dark money out so we can fulfill the ideals of a green odile of the college of the Voting Rights Act and get a put an end to the manipulation these are all the parts we need to address thank you gentlemen we want to thank you both that's all the time we have for tonight thank you for watching and listening thank you again counter date on Senator Ed Markey's

primary

election day It's September, everything is true, don't forget to make your voice heard that day Houston Browdy.

I'm Margery Eagan and thank you so much for joining us. This has been a support group on NewsHour tonight weeknights at 6:00 on WGAL Kimmel. I videotaped my relatives. save all family photos Marisa Tomei I love my family's heritage particular our traditions and John Turturro when my family nothing surprising find your roots below on WG