saturday, donald trump speaks at a campaign ral our coverage begins at 5:00 eastern on c-span, c-span now, and c-span.org. >> the house will be in order. >> this year, c-span celebrates 45 years of covering congress like no other.

since 1979 we have provided balanced unfiltered coverage of congress, taking you to our policy is debated and decided with the support of the american cable companies. c-span. 45 years and counting. powered by cable. >> democratic representative robert menendez faced his primary challenger in a recent debate. they offered their positions on the economy, feign aid and u.s. relations with cuba. voters will decide in june which candidate moves on to the november general election. this is covered by the new jersey globe and is about what our. laura: good evening i'm laura jones, host of new jersey politics with laura jones. this debate is presented by the new jersey globe, on new jersey

and rider university. our panelists are david wildstein and joey fox of the new jersey globe. we conducted a virtual coin toss. the winner was the mayor. over to you. mayor bhalla: i cannot hear a thing. laura: mayor, can you hear us? we will work on the audio issue and let the opening statement now go to congressman menendez. can you hear me? rep. menendez: i can. laura: the floor is yours. you have 90 seconds. rep. menendez: i have the

distinct honor of representing new jersey's eighth congressional district. two years ago i raised my hand to represent this place and go to washington and fight for you every day and that is what i have done. i'm standing up to mag extremists, fighting for a woman's right to choose, access to contraception no matter where you live, fighting to end the gun violence that has existed in our schools. i am standing up for our immigrant community. over 40% of the people who live here were born outside the country and i stand for them every day and when republicans came for our trans youth, i stood up against it and stood up for our brothers and sisters. here we've solved over 1500 cases for our residents, most of which are immigration related . we have kept families together and reunited families from as far away as afghanistan. we've brought back 11 billion

dollars in infrastructure funding for the gateway program for the northeast corridor we brought back money for environmental justice gr grant and making sure we have healthier greener communities for all. my opponent is only going to want to talk about one person, my father. but i am here to tell you who i am and what i am about. results over rhetoric, solutions over soundbites, putting people over politics, and making sure we deliver for our families every day. that is who i am and what i am about and i am fighting for you. laura: thank you very much. now we will go back over to the mayor. can you hear us now? we are ready for your opening statement. mayor bhalla: yes. good evening. i am the mayor of the city of hoboken and it is my honor to join you here tonight as a candidate for us congress for

the eighth congressional district of new jersey. i was born and raised right here in new jersey, the son of immigrants from humble roots. when my mom and dad first came to the united states they lived in a trailer park in the middle of pennsylvania. my brother and i grew up in a modest of compartment complex in west patterson new jersey and we didn't have much but we loved america and all it has to offer. my father, a scientist and inventor, started a small business right here in new jersey and i'm proud to say that he is the living embodiment of the american dream. i've worked hard as a civil rights attorney fighting against discrimination and giving a voice to people who have often been left voiceless. as a city councilmember and to turn mayor of hoboken i know , what it takes to get things done to make working lives of people better. from investing in public safety to making sure kids have have a

safe environment to innovating to tackle the flooding and climate change i am proud of what we've accomplished together . as a member of the united states congress i will continue my lifelong work to fight against hate and discrimination while delivering results for new jersey working families, whether that means standing up to donald trump and the maga republicans to protect abortion rights or building coalitions to fight climate change and lower costs you will know where i stand because it's the same place that i've always stood before doing this work, delivering results fighting for new jersey families , and i would be honored to have your vote. laura: thank you both for your opening statements. let's go to the panel. david: congressman, let's start with the ellison in the room, the indictment of your father,

senator bob menendez. i know it has been a difficult year for you. i am certain you love your father very much. but you heard the same allegations your constituents have. you've said you believe in the presumption of innocence but with democrats holding a precarious majority in the senate and your father about to miss two months of votes while he's on trial, is it in the best interest of your district and your constituents that he resign right now? rep. menendez: thank you for the question. it has been a challenging couple of months. it is challenging when you have someone going through a difficult set of circumstances. but there is the presumption of innocence. people have the right to mount a full defense for anything they have been charged of. we all agree upon that. he continues to do work in the

senate and the decisions he has to make, he will make. but we are here to focus on our race and on doing the work of the eighth congressional district. we've been so focused on this from the time we took office, we are obsessive about serving our residents, serving our constituents and i think when you look at our track record you've seen that you will see that we have delivered every day. we solved over 1500 cases for the families who live in the district and that is why i am proud of and what i want to focus on. mayor bhalla: the congressman is not to blame for what his father has alleged to have done but i have been concerned as a resident of the district that the congressman himself is not concerned about the fact that his father being accused of being a foreign agent for the

government of egypt, i think it concerns me that he does not seem to be bothered by the fact that his father and donald trump might have access to classified information. i think it is concerning that the congressman has not endorsed andy kim for u.s. senate because his father might run as an independent when the senate is at the balance the control the senate [indiscernible] and it is concerning that he voted not to expel george santos because it would set a bad precedent for his father. laura: you have 30 seconds to respond. rep. menendez: i did vote to expel george santos.

the first time the committee had not finished their investigation but once they had, i voted to expel. so you can dismiss that as you will be able to dismiss many things he says this evening. most individuals i encounter understand this is a unique and challenging dynamic and i am just thankful that people have shown me grace including my colleagues to support my reelection and those in the community and the labor unions who support our reelection. if you look at the universe of people who are part of the district, they support me and trust me and they know i will continue to deliver for them as i have since i took office. laura: mike and our panel has the next question that goes to the mayor. mike: as you know control over the house and of the white house this november is extremely close. a very close election, as most

of them are over the last couple cycles. how will your approach to change, whether trump or biden is in the white house, it whether you are a majority or minority? mayor bhalla: my first act as the city mayor of hoboken was to sign an executive order declaring hoboken a fair and welcoming community for all and that was directly back in 2018 a response to the attacks by donald trump, the assaults by donald trump on our country's freedoms and our on our citizens freedoms. no matter who you are, no matter where you come from, no matter what your immigration status, you have equal rights under the law and we'll have to make sure that we beat back against trump if he is elected. if we have president biden, we will be in a better place

especially if we can gain , control of the house we'll be able to move the country forward and in me you have a mayor who knows how to get things done uh -- things done. i think congress can use more mayors in office or people who have experience as a mayor because we have to actually look to local challenges, and defined problems to those challenges. laura: you have one minute. rep. menendez: thank you you for the question. democrats are the minority in the house and in our short time in office we have already proven that we know how to deliver in a the circumstances. we brought back 11 billion for our critical infrastructure . we've solved over 1500 cases . we've been productive even though we've been in the minority. if trump was elected, we would stand up to maga extremist every single day when we're in washington.

we stood up to the inhumane border bill that would have led to the deaths of individuals on american soil. when they tried to impeach secretary mayorkas, we stood up against the extremists. we have a track record of standing up to donald trump accolades in washington and we would bring that experience back. laura: the next question comes from joey fox and goes to mr. menendez. joey: thanks to the federal courts this year will be the first one in a long time in new jersey where the democratic primary ballots will be organized by office, not party endorsement. a huge point in discussion in new jersey politics this year. do you think the federal judge made the right call in striking down the county line? rep. menendez: yes. we've been consistent on this issue.

voters of the eighth congressional district decide who the representatives will be coming about of the construct. i'm excited about the new phase and that we have this opportunity to show the support we had in 2022 will be replicated in 2024 regardless of what the ballot construct is. i'm excited about something like that. what we put forth to the residence is our track record of delivering, every conversation we've had with the people, they are excited about the work we are doing and that they have someone who brings youthful energy to washington to fight for them and our values and ultimately that will lead to electoral success. i cannot be more excited about it. laura: you have one minute to respond. mayor bhalla: i am often asked what the differences between bn congressman menendez. this is one of them. he had a chance to answer that question and he avoided answering it.

i was out there on the front lines in the court litigation to abolish the line because it was unconstitutional according to a federal judge and we all know it is inherently undramatic. rob menendez was silent and he is still silent. and, chris brief -- amicus briefs division to fight to abolish the line that prevailed because the appell court said they have a high likelihood of success on the merits. menendez was silent because he is part of the party machine that we will try to reform and make more democratic. i answered to the people of the eighth district. he answers to the party bosses. that is a fundamental difference that voters need to take into account as they consider voting june 4. laura: you have 30 seconds to

respond. rep. menendez: you said in a business insider article once the idea of abolishing the line wasn't just a pie in the sky idea i stood up and spoke out . that is not leadership. that's not saying you've been on the right side of this issue your entire career because you know you haven't. you called every single party leader when you decide you want to run for this office and you sought the line that is a fact that you've admitted to in that same business insider article . there are true individuals who have been fighting for the abolishment of the line. you are not credible on the issue given your hypocrisy. laura: you have 15 seconds to respond before you move on. mayor bhalla: you still have not taken a position. i do not care if tiffany or anyone else called for the abolishment of the line. i did. i filed paperwork in the appeals

court. you did not. you stayed silent. because the antidemocratic system benefits you. laura: -- rep. menendez: you pivoted once -- john allen is in the assembly because you booted annette because -- you are a hypocrite on this issue and instead of trying to take credit for it you should acknowledge that you sought the line, all of the party leaders that now you cast in a negative light. i do not think the district can expect honesty from you on this issue. laura: mayor, 10 seconds. mayor bhalla: you still have not answered the question. when the court litigation was live and it was time to take a

stand, you were silent, i spoke out. laura: david wildenstein has the next question for the mayor. david: mr. menendez has made your own issue -- your own ethics and issue in this campaign, criticized you for being censored by the new jersey supreme court for unethical behavior as an attorney in the loss of your law license in new york. what happened to that got you in trouble and how can voters be certain you will not miss an ethical line in the future if you are congressman? mayor bhalla: yes. the congressman is trying to make what amounts to a payroll dispute 16 years ago that was resolved amicably into something that has nothing to do with my track record as mayor. it was resolved. i take obviously ownership of mistakes that were related to administrative errors 16 years ago. what that doesn't show is my

life long record as a professional in civil rights law where i have gained national recognition, that i served as an advocate attorney for the city of union city fighting wrongful convictions of people and slumlord conditions of tenants, it does not take into account the accomplishments i earned as an attorney and what concerns me is that the congressman is talking about paperwork errors 16 years ago and he is concerned about that but he's not concerned about the fact that his father is being accused of being a foreign agent for the egyptian government or that he is risking the balance of the senate by failing to endorse andy kim when reproductive rights are at issue. these are concerning things that the congressman is fundamentally conflicted on and when we talk about his father it shows he is

conflicted because he won't take a stance on these fundamental issues. laura: you have one minute to respond. rep. menendez: there are three candidates running for u.s. senate. and he is the front runner but there are three people running. i have not endorsed any candidate. it is off the point. i encourage every resident of the district, you don't have to listen to me or anyone spin on it, just read the decisions yourself. google it. it's important what disciplinary courts in new york and new jersey said about his behavior. that is not me. i am just reading from legal documents that describe his unethical behavior. that's all i'm doing. i'm highlighting it for the residents of the district. you might not be sure about me or him but just read for yourself and ask if that is someone you want in a position where they have to advocate for you and fight you every day or

would you choose someone who has actually already done the work. just look at the opinions. there was no spin on my end about this. laura: mayor, you have 30 seconds to respond. mayor bhalla: the record speaks for itself. i have over uh 16 years of public service where hoboken was at junk bond status rating when i first came into office we're just office. now we are aa plus. not a single traffic fatality and 70. -- fatality in seven years. people are coming to hoboken to see what we are doing to fight climate change. we are ranked as one of the best cities to live in in the country. these are earned accomplishments that matter, not payroll errors made 16 years ago. talk about talking and

distracting the voters about that. we should be talking about issues that matter in this race and our accomplishments on the record. rep. menendez: look at my accomplishments as a sitting member of the house of representatives. >> the super rich control more of the country's wealth than they did during the robert parro era. what does economic policy need to look like and specifically would you support a billionaire's tax with a higher effective rate than the working class? rep. menendez: we need our economy to work for working families. they drive our economy and we rely on them in every segment of the economy and we see it in child care, housing, every sector. we need an economy that works more for working families and middle-class families. that is why the first bill we introduced was the working families task force act to figure out the challenges families face now.

that was the first bill. every day we think about the challenges families face, affordability challenges. that is why we cosponsored the most significant piece of housing legislation that maxine waters introduced. we are thinking about solutions for every working family. part of congress's obligations is to think about how we raise revenue and appropriately spend money. to raise revenue we think about the wealthiest 1% and the obligations they have to pay more into our reserve so we can benefit and uplift working families. absolutely something i would consider. laura: mayor, you have one minute to respond. mayor bhalla: that's the exact problem about congress. they think about what they are doing and thinking and thinking and thinking. i will actually get stuff done. we have gotten stuff done. you talk about affordability, we

have gone after landlord to raise rents in unconscionable ways, 30% in one year. we put the landlords under rent control. i have taken landlords to federal court to stop and protect tenants. affordability, yes is an issue. health care, housing, a living wage. as mayor i have had to deal with these challenges head-on and find real solutions while congress keeps on talking about the bills and talking about what they want to do. they need more mayors in washington because we know how to get things done. laura: next question is from joey for the mayor. >> i'll be blunt. if you win the majority hispanic district it will probably be new jersey will be without a hispanic member of congress for the first time since the 1990's.

how would you go about making sure that often unrepresentative community will still feel engaged in the democratic process? mayor bhalla: i have already started that process. representation matters. as a mayor i have elevated latino hispanic employees to executive and departmental level positions. our dpw director is a latino woman, the director of climate action innovation is a latino woman, our city engineer is a latino woman and our director of recreation is latina. i have done real things to elevate the latino community within my administration and within the district i agree they are a marginalized majority -- minority that deserves to be uplifted. i do not make distinctions between people on the sidelines.

latino, asian, african-american, or myself, i would be the first seihk american in the u.s. congress in history. that also counts. at the end of the day, we live in one community. laura: congressman? rep. menendez: there is no longer a latino in the assembly representing this area because of the mayor's decision and bosses him. everyone that lives in the district is the core of who we are and what we have to represent in washington and i am proud to be part of the largest class of the congressional hispanic caucus and to serve in a leadership role of the immigration task force. my pick -- my grandparents immigrated from cuba.

so many start their american story here. that is why i love representing the district and taking these stories with me to washington and having them sent to me in everything we do. this is when america looks like. it's who we can be if we foster inclusive communities which is what we have done here in the district. i bring those stories on that success with me to washington and that is why i love the fight and love getting to represent this district. laura: micah, do you have a follow-up? >> it would be great if we could hear whether or not the candidates will raise the tax on billionaires. mayor bhalla: to the extent that we need to fund certain things like medicare for all, which i support and my opponent does not, we need to make sure that we stop the trend of the rich

getting richer and the middle class and working families being left behind. any tax on the wealthiest of the wealthy to support social programs for the underserved and underrepresented, a billionaire tax is fair game and certainly something i would support. rep. menendez: i think i did answer the first time. something we would consider in the work we have done has been about uplifting working middle-class families. the mayor said people in washington think, think, think but there is the reality that we are in the minority. we focus on what we can get done and that is what we have done in office, bringing resources back to the district, bringing environmental justice grant to elizabeth. we've done incredible work in the minority but you have to be

realistic about the situation. when we take back the house we can have the conversation about billionaire tax. laura: we have a question from a student at rider university. it will go first to robert menendez. >> who should determine where the line is between the first amendment right to freedom of speech and protest, judges or college and university administration? thank you. laura: congressman, you first. rep. menendez: i appreciate that question. we see what is going on on college campuses. we have to protect the first amendment obviously we have to -- we are having so many difficult conversations now. we also need to make sure we are creating safe environments for all of our students. it's been a challenge for a lot of campuses. there are universities that have had success on this issue.

i think first we need to make sure that we are protecting all of our students while we simultaneously protect their first amendment right. i believe that's the obligation of administer ration of a college or university to create that environment. it's important to make sure they are doing that across the country. laura: mayor bhalla over to you. mayor bhalla: it's not the place of a judge to stick their nose into the business of university. it's on the university leadership to make sure that universities are safe spaces for all. people have the right to protest people have the right to exercise their first amendment right to free speech. and people have the right not to be harassed and subjected to antisemitism or islamophobia. universities should be a safe space.

it's on the administrators, the leadership of those universities, to make sure that rules are followed consistent with our rights as american citizens. laura: we are going to go back to our panel and bring up david while staying who has a question. >> mayor, does israel have the right to defend itself? does the united states have an obligation to defend israel as it would do for any of our allies that are under attack? whether by another nation or by a terrorist group. the third part of the question is, how should the fast humanitarian needs in gaza and for the hostages be met? >> america should support israel

and its right to defend itself. there needs to be unfettered access for humanitarian aid in the gaza strip. after october 7, nothing like that had happened to this true -- to the jewish people since the holocaust. that was something that should never be forgotten and should never happen again. at the same time, we need to encourage our friends in israel to exercise restraint in their response to those attacks. we have to be aware of the fact that those responses at times have been inconsistent with our values at americans. we also need to speak out about that. i support a negotiated cease-fire that includes the release of all hostages and the actions of humanitarian aid into the gaza strip. i think we need to move forward

into a space where we can realize a two state solution that recognizes israel's right to exist as well as the right of independent palestinian state with equal footing as israel, jordan, lebanon, and egypt. rep. menendez: israel is an ally of the united states. one of our most important strategic partners. that's why i was proud to vote for the aid package. also surging humanitarian aid to so many regions in need of that aid including gaza. so this is an issue that is critically important. we have to continue to navigate and continue to move forward because no one wants to see what's happening today occur for one day longer. that's the reality. we need to continue to work with all of our allies and partners to start rebuilding toward a future that looks much different

to what we are seeing today. when netanyahu said that it to say solution wasn't a viable option, we spoke out against that. we need to build the foundation from which we can develop an idea of what a long-term peaceful solution that is durable and resilient looks like. that's incumbent among all of us. laura: the next question goes to congressman menendez. >> closely related. what's your view on what the criteria should be for when the united states should give federal aid or withhold it? foreign aid. i apologize. rep. menendez: we live in an extremely complicated world right now. when i announced i was running for congress in 2022, only a few months thereafter, russia invaded ukraine. we have china posturing in the red sea. we have aggressive around using proxies across the globe to

attack our allies. i think first, we need to make sure that we are supporting our allies. make sure we are standing strong in sending a clear message that we will not abandon our allies and that we are in this with them to ensure that we have a safer future for all of our global citizens. to ensure that we are beating back authoritarian regimes. to make sure that we are uplifting democratic values across the globe. these are complicated times. these are difficult conversations. we do have an obligation to be clear to our allies that we are here, we will stand strong with them, we will not back down to somewhere like -- someone like vladimir putin. we will keep fighting to make sure that we get better tomorrow where we have a more democratic future from our citizens across the globe. laura: mayor, your turn. mayor bhalla: that's a great question. the short answer is we want to have a more surgical approach to determine whether or not to incorporate foreign-made to any

country including our most friendly countries. we should do so in a way that is consistent with our values as americans. we should do so in a way that does not undermine critical values such as the protection of human rights, the role of international law. we should not provide foreign-made to governments where we see a human rights record that's not consistent with our values as americans. so we need to look closely at every situation where we provide assistance to a foreign government and make sure that that assistance is being used to advance american values, not set them back. laura: the next question goes to the mayor first. >> in other big bills that congress has passed recently.

last month, the house and senate reauthorized a program that allows the government to warrantless lee surveilled noncitizens. it also shot down an amendment that would prohibit any surveillance of americans. my question is, how would you have voted on both of those votes? mayor bhalla: americans by definition violate the rights of people under the fourth amendment. we need to make for -- make sure that's any legislation speaks to the rights of individuals. not to be subjected to searches and seizures in any context. any reauthorization of a bill

that would advance the right to conduct a warrantless search should not be supported. any legislation that advanced the checks on warrantless searches to make sure that they don't occur should be supported. laura: congressman, you have one minute to respond. rep. menendez: this is one of the issues that we took a deep dive into when we were in washington. having this conversation between the intel and judiciary committees. a lot of really thoughtful conversations about the next pathway forward. our approach was to listen to both sides. to listen to intel's view of the pathway forward, the judicial review of the pathway forward. ultimately, relying on the intel community guides on this issue. because representing a district that was so deeply impacted by 9/11, we cannot have a security failure. we have an obligation to keep our residents safe every single day.

as we consider any piece of legislation, we will always consider what the experts say especially when it comes to how we protect all of our residents. laura: it's time now in our debate where we are going to let our candidates ask each other a question. first question will go to mayor bhalla. you have 30 seconds to ask your question. answer for 60 seconds and then a response for 30 seconds. mayor bhalla: that's my question. laura: correct. mayor bhalla: ok. congress been menendez. in one of the indictments that have been handed down against her father, the mountain of evidence against him, will you return the $20,000 in contributions your father's leadership pack has given to your campaign? yes or no. rep. menendez: as i mentioned at

the beginning and my opening, we knew that alternately you would want to keep interjecting my father into this. it's unfortunate. we are here to talk about our track record of delivering for the congressional district. the broad coalition of support that we have. i haven't given any consideration to what i'm going to do with any particular contribution from my father or anybody else. laura: you have 30 seconds to respond. mayor bhalla: yeah. i find it shocking that you haven't even considered, even right now when i'm asking is a question, whether you would return contributions from your father who is under indictment. or any contributions for that matter. the fact that my contributions come from individuals whereas your contributions come from corporate tax lobbyists and special interests is not surprising when you look at the votes you've taken in congress.

you see that you are controlled by other people, lobbyists. i answer to the people of the eighth congressional district. laura: go ahead. rep. menendez: i have to quickly say, if you are talking about contributions and who we are accountable to, half of your contributions come from the state of california. don't act like you would be a representative for the eighth congressional district. second, when we saw those 1500 cases, those are the people who live here. those are the people we answer to. you look at our work and our track record, we are doing it for the residents of the eighth congressional district. we will keep delivering for the residents of the eighth congressional district. laura: mr. menendez, now you have a question for the mayor. rep. menendez: yeah. thank you. i'm going to read this one. as you know, we've been

productive and delivering for our district. specifically for hoboken. here are a few examples. we introduced a bill that would allow hoboken to access funding to assist on housed individuals. we secured almost $1 million to upgrade hoboken's watering for structure. we secured nearly $1 million for technology to prepare for extreme weather events. my question is, in your opinion, which of those projects will benefit the residents of hoboken the most? mayor bhalla: in their totality, in terms of your contributions, respectfully drops in the bucket of much larger projects that we've undertaken as a city. talk about drydock. you helped us with the army corps of engineers but that's about 1% of the seven-year fight to protect and preserve our waterfronts. that fight was led by mayor

bhalla, me. we won that fight. to say that you helped a little bit, you are a small part of that, sure. you get that credit. but please don't outsize what you could do in congress to help the city of hoboken. the buck stops with me as the mayor. everything that we've done in hoboken, at the end of the day i have to run my sitting on my own merits. i have done so successfully. with your partnership but at the end of the day, the buck stops with me and i'm proud of our record. laura: you have 30 seconds to respond. rep. menendez: i appreciate partnering together. that's why i enjoyed hosting you in washington. one of the first people to visit and talk about the priorities we had aligned. i pretty eight -- appreciate the credit for the drydock.

that's why we jumped into do whatever we could with the army corps of engineers. i didn't even reference that project and my question. my question was related to three other projects that we've assisted with. i was just wondering in your opinion which one would benefit the residents of hoboken the most. i thought it was a pretty benign question compared to the one that you asked. if you don't want to answer, that's fine. a lot of the work that we do benefits the residence of hoboken. we are proud of that work and proud to continue doing it. we love all of our residents and all of our municipalities in the eighth congressional district. laura: we are going to go back now to our panel. david has the next question. that one goes to mr. menendez. >> thank you congressman, new jersey's eighth district has out large human population. now not just first-generation. second, third, fourth generation human americans. what is the future of relations between the united states and cuba? do you believe the easing of

restrictions between the u.s. and cuba will foster democracy? or will they instead just fortify the current communist regime? rep. menendez: we've been here for a free democratic cuba. that's everyone's dream. there can be differences about how we achieve that. you talk anyone with human -- if you talk to anyone with cuban dissents, that's all we want. so many of us of cuban dissent want to go back to a free democratic cuba. we have to continue to push to do that. there are a lot of different points of view on this issue. we should listen to folks on this issue. ultimately, there is complete agreement that what we want more than anything is for the people of cuba to finally have a free, liberated island. we will continue to work on that

every single day that i have the honor of serving the house of representatives. laura: mayor bhalla, your response? mayor bhalla: the current cuban government is still engaged in human rights violations. it's not a democratic government. the people that suffer the most are the cuban people. u.s. policy in previous years has been misdirected. it has further that suffering. the shift of policies to allow more interactions between cuban-americans, other americans and the cuban people, it's good for the cuban people. we have to keep the cuban people first, second, third in the forefront of our minds in terms of the best foreign policy. reasonable restrictions, access to tourism, educational opportunities, trade is all good for the cuban people as well as

pressuring the government to open up to a more democratic system for that country. laura: a follow-up? >> yes. quickly. just a couple seconds. mayor bhalla said he supports loosening restrictions. do you agree with him? should restrictions be loosened? on u.s. cuban relations. rep. menendez: i don't think loosening restrictions without any sort of return on the loosening of restrictions is good foreign policy. having to entertain any option that people put forth, as long as we move forward towards a freer cuba. that's the give and take. in my opinion, when you saw the loosening of restrictions, you didn't get the return on the investment in terms of moving cuba towards a more democratic society. so that's the complexity. it's not just about psyching notice something. what do you get in return?

what are you doing to advance the democracy on the island? that's the question. that's how i would always approach it. laura: mayor? mayor bhalla: just briefly, the reasonable restrictions, sure. and has to come with some assurances that there's going to be some benefit to the cuban people. [inaudible] we need to move forward towards more interaction between the cuban people and the american people so that we can get to a stable place in the future. rep. menendez: i don't think the loosening of restrictions has gotten us where we want. to do it for the sake of doing it because it may create a better outcome is not a results-oriented approach to the island. so i would just say i differ there. laura: ok.

a question for mayor bhalla. >> the public access to public records, government records is absolutely an essential goal and an important tool for citizens. for legislators in the minority when the other party has control of the government. it's next really important tool. it's in a truly important tool to democrats in the house over the years. it also requires a strong commitment. new jersey is grappling with a question about what our records law should look like. hoboken is in court right now over a case of whether or not information was provided that should have been provided. so what should our public records -- what is your vision for what public records access should look like? in the federal government and any government frankly. >> -- mayor bhalla: the more reason to expand public access

to government records. we can have more transparent democracy. whether it's at the state level or the federal level. i see a disturbing trend in the state of new jersey with legislators trying to restrict access under the open public records act. that's disturbing. i understand the counterarguments about, it is burdensome. at the end of the day, these are the records of the public. the public has a right to know how their government officials are communicating, how government officials are acting. trying to create loopholes to obfuscate that obligation is something that i will fight against. laura: mr. menendez, your response? rep. menendez: appreciate this

question. transparency in government is critically important, no matter the level. i think first you have to make sure that you are compliant with the laws as they are. that is something that hoboken has been challenged with --

-- we need to not only support medicare for all but we need to expand the universe of people with access to medicare for all. we need to make sure that reproductive rights which are at stake are included in that access to health care through medicare for all. we need to make sure that it's funded through things like micah's billionaire tax to make sure that we realize our vision of health care as a human right for all. congers min menendez voted against the measure that would have cracked out on surprise medical billing. the types of medical bills that you get when you go to the emergency room and receive a large medical bill.

40 members of congress have voted against that bill. >> it was a plus plus down to make a point. he was talking about the committee work on that issue. there's no greater champion in congress and franklin loan. he voted against it. it being a messaging bill, now i really don't understand his answer about medicare for all. he says he supports medicare for all but he has to figure out these things as it relates to medicare for all. in the current form of how it's been introduced, are there changes that you want to make? you said we had to figure out

funding. those are all great questions. those are conversations i want to make so that we create a viable option for universal health care. those questions are critically important. that's a conversation i want to have. i would consider all options including medicare for all as we look for a pathway to create an reversal health care in our country. laura: we have one final question that we have time for. then we will go to our closing statements. >> thank you. this goes by so quickly. mayor, you are running against an incumbent. so what specific vote did congressman menendez with the house? mayor bhalla: i would not have voted with congressman vallone, congressman menendez.

and the 38, 40 f the republicans and democrats to crack down on surprise medical billing. i think that that's wrong. this was an opportunity were only 40 members of the entire congress voted against this amendment to a bill that would've cracked down on surprise medical billing. -- i making sure to take those values washington every single day. we've had to take a lot of votes. we try to uplift the voices here and make sure we take their stories and aspirations with us to washington. i'm proud of the work we've done

here in the district. helping families in washington, trying to come up with legislative solutions after the tragic fire. thinking about what we can do to make sure that never happens again. two firefighters lost their lives. we spoke about them on the house floor but we came up with legislative solutions to make sure it never happens again. i'm actually proud of this work with the district. laura: closing statements. mayor bhalla, you have 90 seconds. mayor bhalla: i think the mayor -- congressman for engaging in debate. this is what democracy looks like. i'm not sure we would have gotten this chance a few years ago when we had selections by party rosters. you finally have a choice. the choice that is based upon

merit. the choice that is based in -- on qualifications. i've been serving the residents of the city of hoboken for about 15 years. we've accomplished so much turning around the city for a model of success the entire country could be proud of. i want to take that experience to washington to benefit the residents of hoboken and the entire congressional district and set an example not just for the district but for the entire country. again, people in congress have experience at the local levels as mayors who have to tackle tough problems and get things done to move our countries forward. i have that experience. i have a proven track record. that's what distant wishes me for my opponent. that's why i respectfully ask for your confidence and your vote.

i look forward to the days ahead. rep. menendez: thank you to everyone who has been a part of this and giving us this opportunity. i hope the residents found it helpful. this is been the greatest privilege of my life. i get to represent the place where i grew up. when you look at our results, you know that's the case every single day. we are fanatical about

constituents. whether i am walking down the street or at an event telling me what i can do for them. we have an incredible team who does the work everything ok. the thing i am most proud of in my short amount of time in office is the result. what we've done with the district. the team we have put together to work with the congressional district. robbie and i are one person each but the team we developed have delivered these successes. the ones who will work every single day for our constituents. i'm so proud of it and so proud that my wife still loves me because i am in washington so often. and that when i am home, i get to spend time with my two beautiful kids. i'm so thankful i get to represent the place that i love so much. thank you all for participating and for this immense, incredible opportunity. laura: that concludes new jersey debate night. i'd like to thank the

candidates, robert menendez and robbie bala for their time and responses. thank you also to the new jersey globe for producing this debate. and thanks to c-span for airing this debate. we invite you to stay tuned because immediately following the debate we will have a conversation with our panelists. let's talk about this debate and get their reactions and insight. primary election day in new jersey is june 4. we thank you for watching. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> friday night, watch c-span's 2024 campaign trail, our weekly round up of c-span's campaign coverage providing a one stop shop to cover what candidates are saying to voters, along with firsthand accounts,

fundraising data and campaign and sprayed watch campaign trail friday nights at 7:30 p.m. eastern on c-span, online at c-span.org, or download the podcast at c-span now, our free mobile app, wherever you get your podcasts. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. >> c-span's "washington journal" our live forum involving you to discuss the latest issues in government, politics and public policy from washington, d.c. and across the country. thursday morning, a politics reporter talks about planned changes to the asylum system by the biden administration. and house republican leadership issues and congressional use of the day with a florida republican congas been and