Well, I mean, first and foremost, let me tell you, it's been a real honor and privilege to represent this part of New York in Congress. You mentioned, you know, I've spent every day of my adult life working and living in New York, absolute New York and trying, by the way, to get government to actually support and respect the people it serves. We live in and I am thrilled and honored to represent a part of the state that knows, you know, what it's like to see families leave because of high cost of living, businesses, leave employers, leave, sadly, the, you know, the burdens of property taxes, pay my proper taxes. I got to pay Sky High Central out to the bills, so I'm, you know, we're raising our four kids in Catskill and trying to make sure that, you know, we get them to soccer practice and you'll find me at the Hanifer to the Sam's Club, you know, like everyone else just trying to ensure that our community is a place that respects and appreciates the people that live here and quite frankly, it's what I've done in Congress trying to make this federal government respect upstate New York. You know, over the course of the last four years, we've shouldered the highest burden inflation. I mean, massive federal spending when the Democrats controlled both the House Senate and the White House, you know, they authorized $5 trillion of your money to be spent in lots of different ways. Some of it really critically important. I support, for instance, the Chips and Science Act, want to invest in infrastructure, but in other ways, those, those that spending drove up cost significantly drove up cost. And we're all shouldering the burden of that. Everything is more expensive and our dollar doesn't go as far as it used to. And families and farmers and small businesses are pinched because of it. I know it and I live it. Additionally, though, what we saw when President Biden took office is they adopted my opponent, DC Washington, DC lawyer, Josh Riley's border playbook. He sued in the Supreme Court 23 times on the side of dismantling border security. And because of it, we saw this administration allow with 5 million individuals into this country. And it does have an impact. It has an impact on services. It's not, it's not fair to communities to be overwhelmed in that way. We've seen obviously the crisis in New York City. Because of sanctuary city policies in New York, we've we've we've shoulder a large amount of costs for individuals who quite frankly, I should have to go through the appropriate asylum process before entering the country. But that is that that has put such a burden and really has created such a crisis. And here we are four years later, you know, having to contend with it. And so for me, you know, I spent the last year and a half listening to and learning from the people I represent, Republican and Democrat, I'm the second most bipartisan member of Congress, the fifth most productive member of the House and Senate because I don't work with anybody, Republican or Democrat when it comes to trying to solve problems of face America and face the communities I serve, what what is important now, you know, is there are communities and our families are respected that we work to drive down costs. We sure that we're securing the border and that ultimately we're providing for public safety. If you could continue a little bit more on that. And what would you say are the most pressing issues facing the 19th congressional district today? You know, I think cost of living, we start with cost of living. You know, as I say, I pay high prices to central hot center of customer. I know energy costs have gone up, both because of American energy policy, outsourcing and buying, you know, products from countries that don't like us very much, to the regulations that New York State has consistently allowed these rates to continue to rise, cost of groceries. You know, as I said, for kids, we're by and we're by the same big boxes of cereal and getting less inside the box, you know, the family size baggy chips doesn't feel like it's bad families baggy chips anymore, but you're paying twice as much. So it's cost of living. And when you add that on top of the rate of inflation and the inflationary, you know, that the highest rate of inflation for years forced on us by reckless spending. When you add all of that on top of the high property taxes that New York State forces down onto New York, New York 19 residents, we shoulder the highest burden of taxation and among the highest combined costs of any communities in the country. And what that demands is somebody who understands that you got to be responsible with people's dollars, if to drive down taxes for middle class families, which is why I supported the bipartisan attached relief package we adopted this year in the house, which would provide meaningful middle class tax relief and expand the child tax credit to provide real relief for, for families. So cost of living remains number one, you know, can you, can you pay your way? Can you, can you, at the dining room table, you worry about groceries, you worry about making it to me, drive it down costs as a priority. Public safety is as well. And that's linked to border security. And, and so we have a scenario where this administration, again, my opponent, 23 cases before up 23 times before the United States Supreme Court arguing to dismantle border security. 20 years a lawyer down in Washington, D.C., he worked for Senator Al Franken on mass amnesty bill work to surrender the southern border. And because of it, we seek crime in communities rising and burden on communities. And that is, that is affected New York 19 in two real meaningful ways. You see not only the New York City taking your taxpayer dollars to house individuals who should have gone through this island process before they were put up at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, but also New York City transporting them upstate. It's why I joined with Congressman Pat Ryan, Democrat and calling on President Biden to declare a state of emergency to reestablish the protections that were in place when he took office and to end the sanctuary policies that New York City was engaged in, which, which resulted in your tax money, transporting people to, to upstate New York. And so you have that, that sort of challenge on us, which has caused room burden real, real concern. But then we wake up three weeks ago to a Peruvian ganglier committed 23 murders in Peru, escaped prison in Peru, came to the southern border, was arrested, thanks to the, to the policy that Josh Riley argued for in court prosecutorial discretion. This administration chose not to keep that individual arrested and instead release him and then transported him, ultimately ending up in Endicott, New York in the southern tier of this district, 23 murders. He's living with his girlfriend, who was engaged in a lot, in a lot of those crimes, living freely in Endicott, New York. We shouldn't have to worry about that. Public safety as relates to border security and public safety as it relates to the policies that came out of New York, cashless bail has, has made us less safe and has tied the hands of law enforcement. I have a one history of working in local government on prevention and intervention and really trying to help people who we can intervene with early get back on their feet, cashless bail makes it impossible for law enforcement to provide for community safety and ultimately hurts both victims and the community as a whole. We need a voice who's going to stand up against that. We need somebody who's going to push back against those kind of policies. So I work with law enforcement, support law enforcement and work with our communities to invest in the tools necessary to prevent incidents of crime. The last thing I'll just tell you is I obviously live in and have for my entire life upstate New York, just creating opportunity, making sure that we have a focus on driving down the cost of housing. So we need, we need obviously to drive up housing stock, right? Build Morehouse, restore, restore and revitalize homes in communities, villages and cities across upstate New York and attract new employers. By working together, we're applicants, Democrats. That's why we launched Bruce next chapter in effort to get to business leaders and community leaders working together to establish a concerted economic development effort. It's why on the agriculture committee, I fought damn hard for upstate farmers so that we could create new drive down regulation and open up new markets for New York's farmers and make it more affordable to grow the agricultural industry. And it's why I'm very passionate about supporting those with substance use and mental health issues and those with disabilities because if we can provide help to people, meet them where they are and help them to get to where they need to be, we'll be bringing new folks into the workplace, we'll be able to be more individuals who are able to sustain themselves and create their own definition of success, and so for me, there's little question that driving down costs, securing a border and creating opportunity from the people I serve by listening to and learning from them remain the priorities. It was one of the questions I had was housing affordability. You mentioned concern across New York state and you mentioned some things you have done. In your time in office, what have you been doing so far to help the housing crisis that we are facing in the New York Congressional 19th District? So not only was I instrumental in ensuring a log of housing tax credits and housing development credits were built into appropriations bills that we adopted bipartisan and led a bipartisan effort to ensure that those programs remain funded and that we were able to expand them. We also included and fought for low income and disability housing credits in the tax package bipartisan tax bill that we adopted this year in the House. But beyond that, we've been working on the ad committee to ensure that USDA continues to fund through a key to develop black brands and home loans, the ability to build new housing stock. And so I've always felt like, as a member of Congress, you have two roles, right? You have to advocate in Washington for those kinds of things that just mentioned, right? We've got to drive down the cost of development. We've got to make it easier for those middle class and lower income and those with disabilities to access the credits necessary to make the purchase or to rent the homes. But then your other job is to be in the district working with the local leaders to create the environment in this case for new housing development. And so I worked hand in hand with cities, towns and villages to help them rewrite their zoning code if they have them, streamline their master planning process, engage in early environmental reviews to make it easier to attract development and to move the revitalization of existing homes with a beautiful village and city center. We know that there are buildings that need to be, can't be restored. Well, towns, villages and cities needs the support to make that happen. I do that hand-in-hand with local community leaders, housing organizations and the municipalities. We also, over the course of the last year, have directed some $27 million in federal late. These are your dollars, taxpayer sent in to Washington. I have fought to bring them back. And we've directed $27 million last year. We'll direct another $35 million this year to invest in infrastructure, water, sewer, streets and sidewalks because those are costs that are prohibitive for housing development. And so for me, having been a county executive and a mayor, having actually lived here, you know, when IBM left and the employers started to turn away, you know, my stepdad was one of the first to lose his job, but we know what it's like to have them leave us. I mean, how am I opponent less than a York 20 years ago? God bless them. Made millions of dollars in Washington, D.C., but for us, what living in upstate New York, what we've seen is the costs go up and some of the opportunities go down. And so we are able to reverse that by working towns, villages, and cities, state, federal government, getting that all working together to grow more housing opportunities, right? We need more development. And every run to the housing ladder from transition to low cost, low income housing to middle class family and workforce housing, even to luxury housing, you need every run of that ladder effectively having enough supply so that as people want to move up or down in the community or into the community, there's housing available to them. And the only way that happens is to get the federal government working with the state government, working with local governments, and I'm the only person running this race who knows how to do it because I've been doing it. And that's, for me, a principal focus getting drive-down housing costs by making more housing available and ensuring that people who struggle the most have access to resources to make the purchase. And another issue that's facing the 19th conversion districts, especially I was to say here for Sullivan County, the environment is a key issue for many voters. What are your policies? Or have you done any policies to protect and improve environmental quality in the 19th district? Yeah, I'm a conservationist by heart. I grew up in the Hudson River Valley in upstate New York. I led the fight to clean the Hudson River, holding polluters accountable, by the way, bringing Republicans and Democrats together to hold the line and force the EPA to demand complete and total cleanup of the Hudson River. That is the same policy I hold for the other waterways and tributaries and aquifers that exist throughout the district. And so I have not only led on bipartisan efforts to ensure funding for the preservation, protection and access to the Delaware River, Shenango, and ensuring that we have the ability and the dollars necessary to protect those waterways and those watersheds. I also have worked with local environmental groups to ensure that municipalities have the tools to protect our natural environment. For me also, through my work on the Agriculture Committee, they're dedicated to conservation measures within the farm bill, expanding those conservation measures. And what that means is giving tools to farmers and others to preserve soil, to maximize irrigation to drive down wasted water resources. I lead a bipartisan effort to confront climate change and climate resiliency as it relates to flooding from Sullyan County to Delaware, to Buru County and all points in between with massive flooding concerns. And so I have bipartisan legislation that would provide the tools and dollars necessary to do the mapping and to invest in resiliency necessary to preserve, to ensure and prevent the flooding damage, and I serve in the bipartisan conservative climate caucus, where we have advocated for continued tax credits for alternate energy development. And I have supported, by the way, even in this case, this administration's efforts to ensure that alternate energy manufacturers like the solar and the wind turbine developers that exist in Buru and in Topkins County have the resources and the tax credits necessary to build out those manufacturing opportunities, those jobs, and of course, on the technology here in America. Right. Congressman, we're wrapping up here a little bit. You answered a lot of the questions I had already, guys. I had questions about those. I try to do that. I think when you ask the question, you should answer it, which is why it's so fascinating to me that I've agreed to do, I think, do six debates around the district, which I love doing. And my opponent, I think, is agreed to do one. I'm not sure why. I just think you go out before the people. You answer the questions. Be held accountable and then encourage people to vote. So in my last two questions here, since this is an election year for the president, are you supporting Donald Trump to be the next president and why? I am. I think at the end of the day, I want an administration that understands we have to secure the board and drive down cost. And let me just tell you, and this is what's troubling to me overall. I mean, I'm writing it to a person who, two years ago, celebrated dismantling board of security, celebrated massive increases in federal spending. I ran an entire race that was entirely linked to an 100% support of the policies that the Biden administration has engaged in. And again, I'll work with anybody. So like I said, I sport the chips and sides act, sport infrastructure investment, and work with the administration. I'm meant to all programming, but there have been some of the greatest examples of bad policy choices. My opponent has embraced, and all of a sudden, millions of dollars behind him for all over the country, paying for TV ads. He suddenly is trying to convince people that he's all for board of security. I just don't like this concept that you re-write your attempt to re-write who you are in order to buy yourself a congressional seat. And so for me, I encourage people, you vote for who you think is going to serve this country best. In the 19th congressional district, I will always call balls and strikes, whether it's Kamala Harris or Donald Trump. I will speak out on behalf of the people I serve. It's why I'm the second most bipartisan member of Congress. It's why I will work with Republicans and Democrats for Aileen Gotther in Sullivan County and Senator Schumer, where we work to get the high intensity drug trafficking designation for Sullivan to Michelle Hinchi and Chris Tag in Green County, trying to ensure that we're making smart investments in agriculture, Donald Laparto, and I'm Broom County. I'll work with anybody who's honest and earnest about solving the problems that face the people of upstate New York and the decision we have before us for Congress ultimately is, do you want someone who is going to be your voice? For the last 20 years, I've worked with Democrats, but also held Democrats accountable. I've worked with Republicans. We'll also hold Republicans accountable because I think it's so really, I think we are desperate in need of alternating alternative voices in upstate New York and in the state, fighting back against single party rule, pushing back against policies that don't make sense, and ultimately bringing people together to mold the consensus necessary to drive down costs, drive down housing costs, make our communities more affordable, make our communities safer, and ensure that there's opportunity for people who work and struggle the hardest, those living with mental health concerns, those living with disabilities. Why should voters vote for you over your opponent? Well, listen, I spend every day of my adult life working and living in upstate New York. For the last 20 years, my opponents worked more in Washington than I have, and frankly, has tried to rewrite his own personal history here. He supported dismantling border security. He supported mass amnesty, and the result has been 8.5 million people enter this country. He supported massive federal spending that resulted not only in waste, fraud, and abuse when we know it, but the highest rate of inflation and shoulder and highest cost. I've been milking these last two years to reset, voted for border security, received the endorsement of law enforcement in our communities, the endorsement of border patrol, because I know how important it is to provide public safety, the fundamental responsibility of government. We cannot overlook the safety of our neighbors, friends, and families. I've been working consistently, locally, and in commerce, to drive down costs, both provide meaningful tax relief and make smart investments so that we can drive down costs. Everything from daycare and infrastructure, I want to be sure that we're making our communities more affordable, and there's more opportunity for the people to live here. I'll speak for people who don't often get to have their voices heard. I truly have worked across every aisle to ensure that we're reaching out to those with mental health and substance use disorder, working in Sullivan County to bring a treatment center, working in Brum County to drive dollars to bring recovery and treatment center dollar programming to Brum County. And it's why I care and speak out so passionately for those with intellectual, physical, and developmental disabilities. Everybody, regardless of ability, deserves opportunity, and the bipartisan legislation that I sponsored and are think differently initiative nationwide, working with lawmakers and foundations, is breaking down barriers and creating opportunities for those with disabilities. Everything from making it easier to access special education to jobs and transportation for adults with disabilities. And so I'm just somebody who, like I said, I'll work with anybody to get the job done and solve the problems and face the people we represent. I care about this community, I live in it, I came to taxes in it, I buy my groceries in it, and I want us to be respected, and I want our community to be more affordable, and I want to ensure that we are safe, secure to board, provide for safety in our communities. My opponent doesn't get to rewrite in his past. He was an advocate for dismantling border security and advocate for driving at cost. And frankly, we've seen that playbook all before. We live in a beautiful part of the state. I mean, this is by far among the most beautiful parts of New York with resilient people who care deeply about making a difference. I've been one of them for the last 48 years, working hard as an adult to try to make this community better and to make government work for the people it serves. Congressman, thank you so much for joining me on the program who's spoken to Congressman Mark Marlonal, Congressman for the 19th District, running against Democrat Josh Fariley in the 2024 election. Thank you so much for joining me on the program, and good luck this November. Thanks, D-Woe. All right. Great. Thank you so much.
