- [Announcer] From the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, the Utah Debate Commission welcomes you to the 2nd Congressional District's special election candidates debate.

(rousing music) - Good evening and welcome to tonight's debate featuring two candidates running for Utah's 2nd Congressional District seat in the US House of Representatives.

I'm Mary Weaver Bennett, director of the Michael O Leavitt Center for Politics and Public Service at Southern Utah University.

It is my pleasure to moderate tonight's exchange presented by the Utah Debate Commission, an organization dedicated to educating voters and to encouraging the civil exchange of ideas.

The candidates invited to speak here tonight are the Republican candidate, Celeste Maloy, and the Democratic candidate, Kathleen Riebe.

The winner in the upcoming election will fill the remaining term of representative Chris Stewart, who recently resigned.

During this debate, candidates will be answering my questions, as well as questions from university students and members of the media, and you're welcome to participate as well.

If you are watching or listening live, send your reactions and questions on social media to the hashtag utdebates.

I'll include as many of them as time allows.

The format for this debate is as follows.

Each candidate will have a predetermined time to respond to the questions, and on occasion there will be rebuttal time.

A random drawing held prior to the debate determined that Miss Riebe will get the initial response to the first question.

We will then alternate turns on the remaining questions throughout the debate.

Okay, let's debate.

First question is, what is it about you specifically that makes you the best person for this job?

60 seconds for Miss Riebe.

- Thank you so much.

My name is Kathleen Riebe and I'm running for a Congressional District Seat 2.

I am a great candidate for this position because I have just dedicated the last seven years of my life to public service and elected positions.

I spent two years on the state school board and I've spent five years in the Utah Senate.

When I'm not in the Senate, I'm a school teacher, so I am very in touch with my families across the state.

I have been working to understand how our policies impact the people in their home lives.

When I see kids coming to school from Magna to Salt Lake City, I can see that there's a lot of struggles that are happening in our neighborhoods across the board.

So I have brought those experiences with me so that I can make the best policies possible from Magna all the way up to Salt Lake City to meet the needs of our kids and our families.

So that's why I'm running, Kathleen Riebe, Congressional District Seat 2.

- Thank you, Miss Riebe.

Miss Maloy, what makes you the best candidate?

- I'm uniquely qualified to be running for this seat right now because I've spent most of my life, almost all of my adult life in the 2nd District.

I've lived in Washington County, Iron County, Beaver County, and I've spent a lot of time working all up and down the district.

For the last four years, I've been Congressman Stewart's legal counsel, and I've been working for this district.

I've been solving issues that people in this district have called their congressman about and asked for help.

This is a special election as they said at the beginning, and whoever wins will be coming in in the middle of a term, and trying to pick up the ball and keep running.

Congress is struggling right now, things aren't going smoothly, and we really need somebody to get into this seat who knows how Congress works, who knows how to work with people, and who already knows this district.

There's not time for somebody to learn all of the processes, and learn what the people in the district need.

I already have that experience.

I'm ready and willing to serve, and that's why I'm uniquely qualified.

- Okay, this next question, you'll have 90 seconds for your answer.

President Biden has requested that Congress pass a $105 billion aid package to address several hotspots in the world.

The package includes $61 billion for Ukraine military and economic assistance, $14 billion for Israel air and missile defenses, $7 billion for Taiwan security support, $9 billion for humanitarian aid to Israel, Gaza, and Ukraine, and $14 billion to fortify the United States' southern border security.

Would you support this package, Miss Maloy?

- Well, the nice thing about our system of government is that spending bills don't originate with the president, they originate in the House, and I'm running for a seat in the House, so I don't have to decide whether to support the President's package, the House can come up with its own.

We have to get our spending under control.

Spending more money isn't going to solve the world's problems.

That being said, the United States still has a role to play in the world.

We're still the world's superpower.

We're still the shining city on a hill.

It's important that we support Israel right now.

It's important that we make sure that hostile nations know they can't invade their neighbors, and that hostile groups can't invade nations.

So I support those nations' ability to defend themselves.

But as far as dollar amounts go, I don't feel any tie to the amounts that the president is proposing.

Those should originate in the House, go through the Senate, and that's a robust debate that needs to be had on the floor, in front of the American people, and not something that should come outta the White House.

- Miss Riebe.

- Thank you so much.

You know, I think about that package and I think about all the humanitarian crises around the nation and the world that have to be addressed.

We definitely need a stronger border.

We need security at our border, but we also need to have the ability for people to come in, and take the jobs that are necessarily for making our systems work.

When I think about what's happening in Washington right now, I'm thinking about a vacuum of power that's allowed these things to happen.

So I think that we need to make sure that when we elect somebody, we are electing somebody that will work across aisles to make sure that these things happen.

There's a lot of leeway, there's a lot of compromise.

In the state of Utah, I've worked for five years on the Appropriations Committee, I'm sorry, the last year on Appropriations Committee, but I've actually worked on many of other committees to balance budgets.

When we had budget falls here in the state, we've gone back to our drawing board, we've cut the budget by 5%, 10% and 25%, and we made those hard decisions to keep Utah a balanced budget.

There's a lot to be said about working at the state, and understanding what the state needs, and then taking those kind of compromises, and comradery back to Washington.

I know what it's like to pass a budget, I know what it's like to balance a budget, and that's what I'm gonna bring back to Washington when I start working there.

So I think there's a lot of to do with how we are making sure that we are a positive influence in the world to make sure that we are not needing all this aid.

- And keeping with this theme, we will now go to our first student question of the evening from Utah Tech.

- Hi, my name is Nathan Thomas, and I'm a history major at Utah Tech University.

My question is, given the rising tensions across the globe, is this still a good idea to be depleting our weapons reserves and giving billions of dollars to a war in Ukraine that seems to have no realistic end in sight at this moment?

Thank you.

- [Moderator] Miss Riebe.

- Thank you Nate, and I'll see you this weekend.

I'm excited to answer that question.

I think that we have to stand by our allies.

We need to make sure that when we are dealing with this hostility across the globe, that we stand with our allies and we create a situation that provides security and humane decisions.

Some of the things that are happening right now are just atrocious.

And when we think about civilians and families that are being negatively impacted by all these instability in our nation, we have to look at the United States and the vacuum of power we had in the House.

So I do believe we need to keep supporting those people and those issues, and I think that's something that we can keep working on and hopefully we'll get some resolutions that puts civilians first.

- Miss Maloy.

- I've talked about the, sorry, I've talked about the Ukraine question a lot in this campaign, and as a Republican, I believe in peace through strength.

The way we're going to be a world superpower and continue to keep the world a safe place is to have a strong military.

So I like that you started off the question asking about depleting our weapons reserves.

We need to have that conversation.

We need to have that debate openly in front of the public about how much aid we can give Ukraine or other countries because we have to be prepared at any time to keep the world safe by keeping ourselves safe, and the way to do that is to have a strong military.

One of the ways I intend to do that is to be on the Armed Services Committee.

I've said from the minute I got in this race that I wanna be on the Natural Resources Committee and the Armed Services Committee.

It's important that we have a safe world, and the best way to ensure that is for the United States to remain a world superpower, and to do that through having a strong military.

- Our next question concerns Taiwan.

Taiwan produces over 60% of the world's semiconductors, and over 90% of the most advanced ones.

Some members of Congress are against further military aid to Ukraine and favor more funds to arm Taiwan, claiming that Chinese aggression towards Taiwan is a greater threat to the US than Russia's aggression to Ukraine.

Would you support cutting military aid to Ukraine and redirecting those funds to Taiwan?

Miss Maloy.

- I don't know that there's a direct correlation between the two, they're two separate conversations.

A lot of times when we're talking about spending, someone will throw out a dollar amount we're spending on something, and a dollar amount we need to spend on something else, and generally they're not related.

These are actually fairly closely related, but they're separate conversations.

We need to decide what we should be doing in the Ukraine, and whatever we're doing in Ukraine needs to be, we need to have a plan, we need to know when we've accomplished our mission, we need to know what resources we're willing to commit.

We also need to have a plan with Taiwan.

It's not an either or, they're both important decisions, they're both places in the world that are current hotspots, they're not even the only hotspots in the world.

That's why we need to get our spending under control, and have a strong military because that's the way we can help keep the world safe.

- Miss Riebe?

- Thank you.

When I think about Taiwan, Ukraine, and even Israel right now, I think about how horrific it is.

And I think about when, how we can start to move ourselves out of some of these necessary partnerships with CHIPS and how we're gonna build semiconductors.

And so we had a CHIPS Act that our, my opponent's predecessor didn't support.

And so I think that we need to start supporting what's happening here in the United States with creating the CHIPS Act and supporting that.

We also have people who voted against supporting veterans when they come back from service.

So it's not just about sending money someplace, and sending money someplace else.

It's about finding solutions here, finding solutions that reach across the aisle, finding solutions that bring jobs back to America, but also supporting our allies.

So I think when we talk about CHIPS, we should start looking at solutions here and support the CHIPS Act that's actually been very successful.

- Thank you.

In your opinion, what is the most workable path to achieving a lasting peace in Israel-Gaza conflict while addressing the role of Hamas in the region?

You'll have 90 seconds for this answer, Miss Riebe.

- Thank you.

When I think about what's happening in Israel, it takes me back to 9/11.

That was my very first day on the job in Granite School District.

Drove to school thinking about my family, my uncles who are firefighters, and I thought about how horrific this event was, and now we have this happening in Israel, it's horrific.

Citizens, children, mothers, all being treated inhumanely and I think that we have to condemn terrorism everywhere.

We have to have a place where families feel safe, and there has to be a lot of work with everyone.

We can't just solve this as United States.

We need to start working with all of our allies to provide them with the resources they need so that they can help the citizens that are actually in harm's way.

Aggression should never, ever impact families and citizens and civilians, I mean civilians.

So I wish I had an answer for that terrible ordeal, but I think it's gonna take a lot of work, and a lot of people working together.

So when I think about the House, and what's happening in Washington, it needs to start here, and we need to start finding allies across the aisle.

Here in the state of Utah, every bill I've ever passed has been bipartisan, and I've worked across the aisle to pass bills to solve problems here, and I can bring that to Washington.

- Miss Maloy.

- I don't know that the problems in the Middle East can be solved in a 90 second answer, I'll do my best.

I was at an event recently where a former Navy Seal talked about what's happening in the Middle East right now with Israel being attacked, and a lot of the people in the world are struggling to watch Israel defend itself.

And he made an excellent point, which I'm going to repeat, that whatever the solution is, we need to let Israel take the lead on it.

We need to support Israel while they decide what the best solution is in their home.

We would never accept a foreign power telling us what the best solution is in our home.

Israel's an important ally.

Not only are they the only democracy in that part of the world, they're also an important ally for our military with sharing intelligence and the Iron Dome is absolutely essential.

I talked about peace through strength earlier.

I think the Iron Dome provides peace through strength in that region.

So we need to keep supporting Israel, who's our ally.

We need to try to create peace in that region by making sure Israel's strong enough to defend itself, and stop questioning their ability, and their right to defend themselves.

- As a follow up to this question, I'm gonna ask for just a few more specifics as to what should the US role be in the region?

Are we speaking about financial aid?

Are we speaking about military resources?

The level of our involvement there, what do you think it should be, Miss Maloy?

- Israel's a very different question than some of the other conflicts that are going on the in the world because of the relationship we have with Israel.

We're already committed to helping them defend themselves.

We already have resources there, and so we should be supporting Israel in whatever way works best for them.

Right now, that's resources and also I think just morally it's the right thing to do to be giving them moral support right now.

It hurts my heart to see people in this country demonstrating in the streets against Israel's right to defend itself.

So I think as a people, we should be honest about their ability to defend their borders and their people, and we need to be working with Israel to make sure they have the resources they need.

I don't know exactly what that needs to look like.

Again, Israel should be leading on this, and working with us to let us know what they need, so that they're always in the driver's seat when they're defending their own nation.

- Miss Riebe.

- Thank you.

I think what we need to make sure is that it's contained, that it doesn't start to spread to other countries around this conflict.

It's an unstable situation, and we don't need to further any more instability in that region.

We need to make sure that we are keeping the lines of communication open, and supporting Israel with what Israel needs.

It's a very complex issue, and so to make sure that it doesn't expand into other countries is our highest priority, thank you.

- We will now turn to one of our student questioners from SUU.

- Hi, thank you for having me, here's my question.

The 2nd Congressional District reaches from the south side of Urban Salt Lake City through rural Richfield and booming St. George, Utah, with each area having its own issues and needs.

How are you going to get the expertise you need to fully represent these different constituencies?

Thank you.

- [Moderator] Miss Riebe.

- Thank you, I've spent seven years learning about all of these districts.

I have worked with school districts across the state, and into this Congressional District.

I have understand what every family needs through my work with education.

I've worked with police officers, firefighters, mental health experts and search and rescue.

I understand that each of these communities has very unique needs, but then also they have the same needs as well.

So figuring out how to create a policy that meets everyone's needs, but also provides elasticity so that they can put that policy into place perfectly for them.

I've learned that we have necessarily existing small schools.

We need ambulances and towns that can't bond for them, so we've created grants.

So I'm uniquely aware of all the needs across this district, and even parts of the state that have actually reached out and explained their specific needs.

So my work in the Senate has carried me through this.

- And Miss Maloy.

- First of all, go T-Bird, I'm really excited to see an SUU student here asking questions, and it's a great question, it's a big district.

I've spent a lot of time traveling up and down this district, not just in the last four months while I've been campaigning, but for the last several years in my professional capacity, and the issues are fairly uniform up and down and back and forth across the district.

The details vary from place to place.

But I've been talking to people all over the district and people consistently want to talk about inflation, spending and government overreach.

That might look a little bit different in Magna than it does in Monroe, but people have the same concerns, they're the kitchen table concerns.

People wanna know that their paycheck is gonna get them to their next paycheck, they wanna know their kids are gonna get a good education, they wanna know their kids are gonna get jobs and be able to buy houses.

And that doesn't really change in any part of the district.

It is important that whoever represent this district, represent the district as a whole, and get to every part of the district, and I've been doing that for a long time.

- Thank you.

We will now turn to Max Roth of Fox 13.

- Great, thank you so much, Mary, and thank both of you for this opportunity to ask a question.

Our viewers have watched Congress go through weeks being paralyzed, unable to find a leader.

Now, they ousted a leader because he compromised to keep the government running.

They finally, after three failed attempts, found Mike Johnson to be the speaker, he faces a tough situation.

What I wanna hear from both of you is that hypothetically, Mike Johnson for you, Miss Maloy, and Miss Riebe, be Hakeem Jeffries for you, they appoint you as the committee to get together, and find practical solutions, compromise, to keep the government running.

What are you willing to do to keep the government running that may go against what you think is best, - [Moderator] Miss Maloy.

- Well, first of all, the great news is I watched Mike Johnson's speech from the floor of the House when he accepted the job, and he said he intends to appoint bipartisan, a bipartisan committee to figure this out.

So I guess the first thing I would be willing to do is serve on that committee if he asks.

Speaker Johnson, if you're watching.

And the second thing I would do is use the experience that I've had up to this point.

I've worked on bipartisan issues before, and I've done it in Congress, which is different than the way it works in Utah.

I know how to talk to people who don't have the same angle as I do, but we all want the same thing.

We all want a strong America.

I think we all want Congress to do its job.

I don't think most people want Congress to be on the news every night.

So I would be willing to work with Democrats, find common ground, and work towards the common goals that we all share as Americans, instead of focusing on the things that divide us, which I think is what has been happening.

- Miss Riebe.

- Thank you so much.

That's interesting because we were in a debate, a forum the other day with Salt Lake County business leaders, oh no, it was in Richfield.

And when my other candidates were asked, who would you pick on the other side to represent you, they demanded that we are of Republican control, and I would never pick somebody else.

I, on the other hand said, I will work with whoever is willing to work with me.

I will never let the government shut down.

I think it's important that the American people have a function in government.

So to come up with a hypothetical of who I would work with, I would work with anyone.

I was at school today watching kids run across the field, and thinking about their lunch programs.

I was watching the postal person deliver my mail.

These are people that are depending on our government working for us and working with us.

And so to think about who would I'd work with, I'd work with anyone that would keep the government open.

- Following up on this question, Republicans who voted to remove Kevin McCarthy as speaker have said it was because he was seen as cutting a deal with Democrats to avoid a government shutdown.

Is there a price to pay for reaching across the aisle?

That'd be Miss Riebe.

- I don't think there should be a price to pay for reaching across the aisle.

I think when we start thinking about the work we're sent to Washington to do, it's to work for you and what you need.

And if you need us to stay in Congress and work things out, we should stay there.

And I would actually prefer if we didn't get paid if we weren't having a government running.

If we're not getting paid and you're not getting paid, then there's some real dire like desire to make that happen quicker.

So I don't think there is a downside to working across the aisle.

I think here in the state of Utah, we're a great example of working across the aisle.

Like I said before, I've reached across the aisle to change bills, to modify bills, and to make things work for people that don't agree with me, and I do that work every year.

And so I would definitely work across the aisle with anybody that would be willing to work with me.

It's important for us to do what the public wants us to do.

- Miss Maloy.

- It's a good question whether there's a price to be paid for working across the aisle, and I think the answer is generally no.

I think the American people and members of Congress respond well to anyone who can work across the aisle to accomplish things that have a broad base of support.

Working across the aisle just for the sake of saying that you work across the aisle isn't always popular.

And there's something that I've said a lot on the campaign trail, which is, I'm willing to be strong and unbending all day long on principle, but it doesn't mean that you have to be a jerk and unwilling to work with people.

And I think that's the key to working across the aisle and working across the aisle well.

There are a lot of things that Republicans and Democrats agree on.

We want a budget, we want the government to function, we want America to be strong, we want to defend our system of government.

And if we focus on those things when we're working across the aisle, I don't think there's a price to be paid.

- Well, we're going in a little bit more detail at this point.

If the House, the Senate, and the President do not agree on the funding level for the government by November 6th, the US government will again face a shutdown.

Would you vote for a bipartisan agreement with the House and the Senate for government funding, or would you vote for a government shutdown?

Miss Maloy.

- This is not the first time I've been asked this question, and I'll be consistent with the answers I've given before.

I'm willing to vote for a spending bill that reduces spending.

I don't think it's a choice between compromising our principles or shutting down the government.

We can take steps in the right direction.

We can take small ones or large ones.

I'm willing to work with my colleagues and make sure we're going in the right direction.

And as long as we're cutting spending and moving in the right direction, there's no need to shut down the government.

The only time I would support shutting down the government is if the only other option were big spending increases.

So would I vote on a bipartisan bill?

Yes, as long as it's moving us in the right direction.

And I think that's something the American people really want to see.

Out on the campaign trail, I've had people talk to me about spending in every city I've been in, every county I've been in.

It's important, and it's something we can't compromise on.

- [Moderator] Miss Riebe.

- Thank you so much.

I would never vote for shutting down the government.

I think it's irresponsible.

In my family right now, we've had a lot of medical needs, and we take care of those medical needs.

We go into debt because we have family issues that are important.

Right now across the world, we have very important issues to deal with.

I do believe that we need to cut spending, but not to the detriment of safety and security across the globe.

So when we think about cutting the budget, we're gonna have to start thinking about that at a time when it's not so dire.

I think that we can do a lot of work while we are passing a budget and then come back and do the work while we are safe and secure, and people are doing the jobs that they're paid to do.

When we are in a situation that needs emergency reactions, we spend more money, and that's where we are right now, and I would be willing to come back to the drawing board after we've maintained security.

- Thank you both very much.

We have now reached the halfway point of the 2nd District House of Representatives debate featuring Republican candidate, Celeste Maloy, and Democratic candidate, Kathleen Riebe.

I'm Mary Weaver Bennett from the Michael O Levitt Center for Politics and Public Service at Southern Utah University.

We are still taking your questions during this live broadcast using the hashtag utdebates on social media.

Now let's get back to the questions.

We have a recorded question from a student at Utah Tech.

- Hi, my name's Adeline Broderson.

I attend Utah Tech University and I'm studying psychology.

As a senior, debating whether I should go straight to the workforce or go to grad school, the inflation, the high interest rates, high rent prices, and low paying salaries are pretty disheartening.

I would just like to know what your thoughts and opinions are for us younger generation that are entering our big adult life and what, if anything, Congress can do to help us out in this phase of our lives?

- [Moderator] Okay, Miss Riebe.

- My suggestion is turn around, go back, go back to school.

Do not enter adulthood, it's really hard.

Stay in that timeframe for as long as you can because it's the best time of your life.

I have a son who's also in this part of his life, and I have a daughter approaching this time of her life.

And it's hard, this generation that's ahead of us has Herculean problems being handed to them by my generation.

We have climate change, we have a deficit, and I applaud you for thinking about how hard it's going to be.

We need to make sure that when you enter the workforce that you are prepared and you're ready.

But we also, my generation needs to start thinking about what's gonna be passed onto you.

So when I think about suggestions, my first suggestion is stay in school.

- [Moderator] Miss Maloy, your response.

- It's a great question, I'm gonna answer it by telling you a little bit about myself.

I finished my undergraduate degree at SUU, moved to Beaver and worked for almost 10 years before I went to law school.

I'm a big proponent of working before grad school.

I think it makes it easier to get through grad school.

It makes it easier to save up money so you don't have as much of a debt load coming out of grad school.

So you can live your life however you want, I have no authority over you whatsoever, but I do sympathize with your question.

Right now, the cost of education's really high.

We require advanced degrees for a lot of jobs that probably don't need them, and the interest rates on student loans are high.

I can help address that from the House of Representatives by doing the things that I just talked about, inflation, spending, and government overreach.

We need to get those under control for people your age.

You shouldn't have to be worried about the high cost of housing, and the high cost of groceries when you're trying to decide what to do with your education.

Obviously you do, but it shouldn't have to be that way.

- Continuing on this topic, despite national numbers signaling a strong economy and a job market, many people do not feel that the economy is helping them.

In Utah, milk costs $2.55 a gallon, eggs are $5.67 a dozen, and gas is $3.81 a gallon.

Do you feel this economy is on the right track or the wrong track?

Miss Maloy.

- All right, those prices speak for themselves.

We're not going in the right direction when those are the prices for the basic inputs of life.

I've been campaigning all summer and all fall, I've driven up and down this district, which we've already talked about is very large.

I've bought a lot of gasoline and I'm feeling that price.

We need to get inflation under control.

So the way to get the economy going in the right direction is to stop spending as much, that helps with inflation, and get our financial house in order.

That'll solve some of the other problems with housing costs and the cost of milk and the cost of eggs.

Families are not seeing their paychecks go as far as they used to, and that's a problem.

And when people are feeling the pinch financially, then they get angry about politics.

And I think the way to restore American's faith in our institutions is to get our financial house in order, and take some of the anger out of the system, and restore the faith in our system.

- [Moderator] Miss Riebe.

- Thank you.

So I've been a school teacher for 22 years now, and when I first started teaching, we used to have to go to Walmart and buy all our books as fast as we could 'cause they were having a sale.

Now, you go to Walmart to buy those books, and your money doesn't go as far as it used to.

So it's real, it's really problematic.

And when we look at our families trying to make ends meet, we can see that they're struggling as well.

I think we need to start reexamining everything that we are paying for.

We owe it to the American people to be transparent, and accountable for every dollar.

We have a lot of omni buses coming out with special interests and special contracts, and I think this is some of the ways that we can start reducing the deficit to start decreasing inflation.

I do believe we're on the right track.

I think the infrastructure bill that was passed has helped bring jobs into Utah and has brought dignity wages.

So creating a living wage and a dignity wage is going to make everybody's life way better.

- We have had a question come in on social media from Tanner, and Tanner asks, "What role does a potential tax increase play in balancing the federal deficit?"

Miss Riebe.

- Thanks, I appreciate that question.

I think that we have a large gap in who's paying the tax and who's carrying the burden.

We have some tax breaks that are gonna be expiring soon, and I think it's a great time for that.

When we think about the middle class, and the percentage of their money that's going to taxes, it's a lot larger than our wealthier peers.

The percentage of their taxes is not taking up their paycheck.

So I do believe that we need to start to bring equality to how much burden is given to the citizens of Utah and the United States.

When we think about how we can benefit families with those kind of things, we think about just everything that you have to pay for after you pay your taxes.

So if you're paying up large percent of your wages to taxes, you have not much money left from milk, eggs, gas, clothing, and any other incidentals that come up.

- What role does a potential tax increase play in balancing the federal deficit?

Miss Maloy.

- We're not gonna tax our way outta this problem.

The federal government doesn't have a revenue problem.

We're collecting a lot of taxes, we have a spending problem.

Before we talk about increasing taxes, we need to talk about cutting spending.

And I'm starting to feel like a broken record up here, I feel like that's my answer to every question, but it should be my answer to every question because that's the question everybody's asking me.

When I'm out talking to people in this district, everybody wants to talk about spending.

Why is the federal government spending so much money?

And particularly, why are we spending so much money to have the federal government so involved in people's day-to-day lives when if the federal government was less involved, we wouldn't need to spend as much money.

So I don't think increasing taxes is the answer to our inflation problem or our spending problem.

We have to get our appetites under control, that's not the word I'm trying to come up with, but we have to spend less and do less from the federal level.

- Let's talk about social security.

Social security benefits are expected to be payable in full until 2037 when the trust fund reserves are projected to be empty.

At that point, the continuing taxes are expected to be enough to pay only 76% of the scheduled benefits.

Thus, Congress will need to make changes to the benefits and revenue sources of social security.

Would you support or propose changes to ensure citizens continue to receive full social security benefits?

Miss Maloy.

- I have said on TV before that I'm willing to look at the entitlement programs.

The way the question's asked is, what changes would you make to make sure people continue to receive their full benefits?

And I think we need to start even farther back than that, just what changes do we need to make?

Obviously the system that we have isn't solvent, it's not going to work.

You said it'll run out in 2037?

That's only 14 years from now.

So we have to figure out what people actually need and how we can fund it.

I don't know that just trying to find a way to continue offering the exact same program is the right answer.

But what I am willing to say is that I'll work with my colleagues to figure out what we need to do.

I know this is a, it's the third rail of politics.

Nobody wants to talk about social security, Medicaid, Medicare, but we have to, we have to have the conversations.

We owe it to these college students who are asking questions.

- [Moderator] Miss Riebe.

- Thank you.

I don't consider this a third rail at all.

I think it's an important thing, and it's not an entitlement.

It's something that all of us have invested in.

My grandfather passed away and my grandmother received a death benefit.

This was the thing that saved their, saved them from being homeless.

So I don't think social security benefits for deaths or disability is something that we should ever get rid of.

I think it's something that as a responsible citizenship, we should take care of the people who are most vulnerable.

So I would work to do anything I could do to keep this.

We can look at maybe changing the mechanism for the people that are the highest earners, that they would receive less of a benefit, but there is no way that I would ever look to take away social security, death benefits or disability benefits.

It's something that provides humanitarian benefits to the people of America, and it's also the right thing to do, to take care of the people that are vulnerable.

And that's why I think I'm a great candidate to go to Washington.

- Thank you.

Article IV Section 3 of the US Constitution states that, "Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States."

Our courts have interpreted this to mean that the federal government controls public land.

Are you satisfied with the federal stewardship of public lands in Utah?

Miss Riebe.

- Thank you, I've lived in the state of Utah for 30 plus years.

I came to Utah because it's beautiful.

I came to Utah for its public lands and for its amazing quality of life.

I think that when we start working with public lands, there is some room to grow, but I think that the local people that surround the areas that are public lands should provide a stewardship, should be a part of a stewardship that works with the federal government.

I was in Richfield the other day, and a gentleman got up and said, you know what?

I'm sick of hearing people saying I'm gonna fight.

He wanted to hear people work, and I'm gonna work with people.

I'm gonna try to find solutions that let local people have stewardship over their public lands.

This is a great state with beautiful resources.

We need to make sure that people can create a living wage, and a business on that public land, but then also we need to make sure that public land is ready to pass on to the future generations without corroding it or erupting it.

- [Moderator] Thank you, Miss Maloy.

- You asked whether I'm satisfied with federal government management of public lands, and the answer is no.

If you've seen my resume at all, it's pretty obvious that that's how I've spent a lot of my life, trying to improve that, and I find that I agree with my opponent on something that she said, which is that the local people should have more input in how these lands are managed, but she mentioned the people who surround the public land.

And the thing is, in Utah, the public land surrounds the people.

There are counties in this district that are more than 90% federally managed.

So no, I'm not satisfied with that.

I would like to see the federal government be less involved in Utahans day-to-day lives.

And the thing is, when the federal government manages most of the land in the state, our local governments have to go through federal processes just to do the basics that they're required to do as local governments.

So I think there's a lot of room for improvement in how the federal land management agencies work with local governments, and I am prepared to work on that.

- Thank you, let's turn now to a student question from SUU.

- Hello, my name is Katie Warner, I'm a senior at Southern Utah University, and I have three majors, political science, philosophy and environmental science.

And my question for you is the federal hourly minimum wage is $7.25 cents, and it has not increased since 2009.

Do you think that this federal hourly minimum wage is a livable wage?

And if anything, to address this.

- [Moderator] Miss Maloy.

- Well, the first thing I would do to address that is get inflation under control.

So I've talked about this over and over, but it doesn't really matter what the minimum wage is if the cost of living keeps going up and up.

So the first thing we need to address is inflation.

If the cost of milk and eggs and gas and rent keeps going up, then we are never going to be able to raise the minimum wage fast enough to keep pace with that.

So my focus is on making people's lives easier by controlling that inflation part of the equation.

We need to make it so families can live on their paychecks, and so the kids can grow up, become adults, and buy houses, get an education, live the kind of lifestyle that their parents have.

And right now that isn't, we're not heading in that direction.

Young people aren't being able to get into houses.

Milk, eggs and gas are getting more expensive.

So I think the better question is what are we going to do to control inflation?

And we've gotta stop spending.

- [Moderator] Miss Riebe.

- Thank you.

I think that 7.25 is not a living wage.

I am a public servant, I work for Granite School District, and I received a living wage from that school district for many years.

My opponent has worked for the government and she's received a living wage.

And so when we think about the living wages that we are receiving as public servants, and then complain about spending, it doesn't really seem genuine.

It costs money to invest in the people in the state of Utah, and it costs money to invest in the people of the United States.

So when I think about a living wage, I think that the best investment we can make is to the people that work in our industry.

So I would be supportive of raising the minimum wage and creating a wage that provides dignity, security, and happiness for our families.

I think that when I go to Washington that I can make, that I can work on making this happen.

- Thank you, home ownership is becoming increasingly out of reach for many Utahans.

In Washington County, the average home price is $634,000.

The average income is $65,000.

So in order to afford the average home, income needs to be over two times higher at $143,000 a year.

In Iron County, income needs to be two and half times higher to afford the average home.

Does the federal government have a role to play in increasing affordable housing in Utah?

Miss Riebe.

- Thank you.

You know, when I think about how this is impacting our community, I think about my friends who are trying to take care of their kids, take care of their mothers, and also take care of themselves.

They're in a sandwich generation where they can't make enough money to fill this gap.

So do I believe the federal government has a role in this?

Yes, I do, I think there's a way to provide grants for people who are trying to get into a home.

One of my colleagues in the House, when her husband passed away, she used her house as an anchor to provide stability for us.

If we're not providing a situation where young families can get into a home to have that rock, then we are creating a generation of instability, so whatever I could do.

When you send me to Washington, which I hope you do, I will work to make sure that that generation has the stability so that they can have home ownership, and they can protect their families.

- [Moderator] Miss Maloy.

- There is a role for the federal government to play in making housing more affordable, but it isn't new government programs, it isn't more government spending, it isn't more government regulation of local governments.

What we should be doing is removing the impediments that come from the federal level.

So I've already talked about inflation, that's one of the things.

We've gotta address inflation, that will help.

But also, America was energy independent a few years ago, and now we're not.

The only thing that changed was our policy on producing our own energy.

And when energy prices are high, fuel prices are high.

And fuel prices don't just hurt people like me at the pump when we're filling up, they also make the cost of shipping things higher.

So the cost of houses keeps going up and up 'cause the cost of getting all of the materials keeps going up and up.

So the best way for the federal government to address housing affordability is to remove the government regulations and the policies that are making the inputs to houses more expensive and making paychecks not go as far.

- Terrific, now we're going to move into some short answer questions.

These will be 30 seconds each for an answer.

First one is, hypothetically, if both of you were elected to Congress, what issues would you work on with the other person on stage right now?

We start with Miss Maloy.

- Well, we just established that we're both willing to talk about entitlement programs, so I guess that might be a good place to start.

If we both got elected, we'd be sitting in the same office and we'd be sharing staff, so we'd probably find a lot of issues that we'd be willing to work on together, because the one thing that I brag to people all the time about the Utah delegation is we always come together for what's best for Utah.

And I'm confident that if somehow we were both elected to Congress, we'd come together on anything that's good for this state.

- [Moderator] Miss Riebe.

- Thank you, what I would start to work on is public lands.

I think that this is something that many people have spoken to me about.

While I'm teaching full-time right now, I take the weekends off and I travel all across my district.

And this has been something that each family has been concerned about, how we can use our public lands to support future growth, and how we can use our public lands to have future benefits for our kids and just enjoy this state, so I'd be working on public lands.

- Thank you.

If elected, would you join the Congressional Problem Solvers Caucus, a group of members seeking bipartisan solutions to national problems?

Why or why not?

Miss Riebe.

- I would definitely join the Problem Solvers Caucus.

I think that anybody that's willing to solve a problem and have a conversation about a problem is somebody I wanna to be friends with, I wanna work with, and I wanna learn from.

When I get to Washington, I'm gonna look for allies, and I'm gonna look for people to work with.

Right now, we don't see a lot of that.

And so if this is something that would further collegiality, and keeping the government open, I am definitely willing to work for the Problem Solvers Caucus.

- [Moderator] Miss Maloy.

- I get asked about caucuses a lot, and I've said all along, the one caucus that I'll commit to joining before I'm actually sworn in as a member of Congress is the Western Caucus.

It's one of the biggest in the House, it's one of the most effective in the House, and it's really focused on the issues that matter to Utahans and the people of the 2nd District.

So since I have said all along on the campaign trail that I'm not committing to joining any other caucuses until I'm actually sworn in as a member of Congress, I'm going to say that I won't commit to joining the Problem Solvers Caucus, but I am in favor of solving problems, and doing the work of the people.

- We have another question from social media.

Val asks, "What actionable plan would you propose to reverse the alarming decline of the Great Salt Lake?"

Miss Maloy.

- It's a little bit of a trick question because water law is state law and the Great Salt Lake is completely within Utah's borders.

I have a deep background in water and water policy, and I've worked with the state a lot on Great Salt Lake issues, and it's something I promise I will keep working on.

But I don't think your federal representatives should be writing an actionable plan, the state needs to write the plan.

And then your federal elected officials need to do whatever they can to support the state's plan, and make sure that the state's plan for the Great Salt Lake can be implemented.

- Miss Riebe.

- The Great Salt Lake is very problematic.

Last year in legislative session, we did barely anything.

We did get a lot of water and we did have that benefit, but legislatively we did very little.

I'm alarmed about this and I think that there should be a federal plan because we are going to start entering a phase where toxic dust might start coming off that.

So if we do not act accordingly, I think there should be a federal plan where we would ask for federal help.

- Alright, another 30 second question.

Do you support term limits for members of Congress, and if so, how long would you be elected?

We'll start with Miss Riebe.

- I do support term limits.

I think term limits are extremely important.

I think that a 10 years might be too less, but 40 years might be too many.

I think that when we are in our positions too long, we start to gain too much power and we start to hoard it, and it prevents conversations.

And I think that we need to have more younger people in Congress, and so that's why I support term limits.

- [Moderator] Miss Maloy.

- Well, luckily we already have the option of replacing our House members every two years, we have elections.

I used to be really big on term limits, now I'm not completely convinced that they would solve the problems that most people want to solve with term limits, but it's something I'm willing to work with my colleagues on.

I think there is some logic to having a limit to how long someone can serve in Congress, but it should be long enough that they can do the work of the people they represent, and that's a conversation I'm willing to have.

I don't have a hard number in mind right now of how long someone should serve.

- Well, I wanna thank our two candidates very much.

We have now reached the end of the debate.

A random drawing held earlier determined that the first closing statement would go to Miss Maloy.

- Thank you, I watched last night as the United States House of Representatives elected a new speaker of the House, and I listened to Speaker Johnson's speech and I was inspired by some of the things he said.

He talked about how we need to do the work in Congress of restoring America's faith in our system of government.

The trust is low, and the way to restore that trust is through transparency and doing the people's work in the open, and I agree with that.

And he talked about working together, and taking some of the anger out of politics, and I totally agree with that.

So I'm running to represent the 2nd District because I wanna see the people in this district have real representation.

I want to be here talking to people, and representing their values there.

And I wanna be part of the effort to restore American's faith in our system because I still believe in our system of government.

I still believe that representation is important, and that I owe it to my constituents to show up, answer questions, be part of debates like this, and make sure they feel like their voices are being represented on a national stage.

- [Moderator] And Miss Riebe, your closing statement.

- Thank you so much.

I would like to say that here in Utah, we have had a plea from the LDS church to find peace.

And I think that when I listened to the statement that Mark Johnson made last night, that's not what came to mind.

It came to divisiveness and wedge issues that I don't see us doing very well with coming to peaceful terms with.

So I'm asking you to send me to Congress so that I can start working across the aisle.

I'm asking you to send me to Congress so that I can start finding people who wanna get the work done.

We have not seen that happening right now.

We had 20 days of dysfunction and arguing, and I believe that the election was fair.

I believe the United States has a great election policy, and I would like to go to Congress to make sure that I'm preserving your freedom, and protecting the peace that we hold dear, and committed to working together, thank you.

- And thank you again, Celeste Maloy, and Kathleen Riebe for participating tonight and for your dedication to public service.

Election day is Tuesday, November 21st.

Registration and voting deadlines are fast approaching.

Contact your county clerk if you have any questions about making your vote count in this election.

We appreciate the students for their contributions and those who submitted questions on social media tonight.

We also greatly appreciate PBS Utah for donating the production facilities to broadcast this debate.

We are grateful for the Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Foundation, Zions Bank, and the George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation for their generous support of the Utah Debate Commission.

This debate and others from previous years are available online at utahdebatecommission.org.

I'm Mary Weaver Bennett, thank you, and goodnight.

(audience clapping)