U of M students pepper 5th Congressional District DFL candidates with questions

Three leading DFL candidates for Minnesota's 5th Congressional District seat answered questions from students of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs of the University of Minnesota a day before the primary election.

State Rep. Ilhan Omar, state Sen. Patricia Torres Ray and former state House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher shared their opinions on issues students gathered for six weeks, which included health care, immigration, student loan debt and gun control.

About 250 people attended.

The discussion kicked off with a question about recent allegations against DFL Rep. Keith Ellison, who is running for Minnesota attorney general. Ellison's former girlfriend has accused the lawmaker of physical abuse.

"I think for us right now it is really important for us not to politicize the pain of what she's going through," Omar said.

The other two candidates agreed.

"The hardest part of this is we have an election tomorrow where Keith's name appears on the ballot," said Kelliher, "and we're not going to be able to resolve all the issues around this."

Kelliher served in the state House with Ellison for four years.

Torres Ray said she wanted to reserve judgment.

"For me right now I think because this is a serious issue," said Torres Ray, "I need to pause and just take some time to really see what's coming next."

Gun control

The three DFL candidates have historically agreed on background checks for gun purchases, banning assault weapons and closing the gun show loophole.

Torres Ray said it is important to see what candidates are getting support from the NRA.

"When we make this commitment to these reforms we also look at how we receive funding and how we respond to the people who are funding our campaigns," said Torres Ray.

Omar said agencies like the Bureau of Alcohol Tabacco and Firearms and Explosives that investigate gun issues need proper funding.

"If we're really serious about getting honest reforms we have to make sure that we are funding the departments that are in charge of making sure that this gets done," Omar said.

Kelliher said part of the solution is in research and data collection:

"We know that that is one of the biggest issues that we've seen in these mass shootings and in any shooting," said Kelliher. "[It] is the fact that the information is not properly recorded in the database."

Immigration

All three agreed the nation needs comprehensive federal immigration reform.

"I want you to know this is one of my top priorities. It's a priority for this nation," said Torres Ray. "We must address immigration and we need to stop the cruelties that are happening at the border."

Omar agreed:

"We have to one, first to recognize how broken our immigration system is," Omar said. "We have to then also talk about how it is not illegal to seek asylum that everybody should have a right to do."

Kelliher said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) holds too much authority.

"ICE is outsized and ICE needs to be abolished and we need a new humane immigration and naturalization service which we had largely for many years," said Kelliher.

Student loan debt

Torres Ray said she would cut 5 percent of defense spending and use that savings to help young people attend college.

"We don't need to have military funding that we don't use, the military funding that we have right now going into research for weapons that we may use in case of war," said Torres Ray. "We need to stop it. We need to invest in our kids."

Kelliher said she students should get more in federally-funded Pell grants and also favors two years of free college education at the associate's level.

Omar said the federal government should cancel student loan debt over offering corporate giveaways and tax cuts.

Torres Ray also said she favored reducing the interest on federal student loan interest rates.

Omar said money collected from the interest should be invested back into education to reduce the interest rates. Omar has been serving in the House Committee on Higher Education and Career Readiness Policy and Finance.

"The interest that is collected on our debt is not put back in funding higher ed," Omar said. "It's going to be really important for us to make sure that we have the money that's coming in going back into the pocket that we invested in education."

Health care

The three candidates support single-payer health care or Medicaid-for-all.

Torres Ray said people are paying higher rates for less coverage under the current health care system.

"In order to really put the system in place, we already have the funding that is necessary," said Torres Ray. "We just have to act responsibly and make sure that those investments and the dollars that we're putting in place go to where they need."

Kelliher suggested two ways to put her plan for Medicaid-for-all in action: Expand the current Medicare system and roll back tax cuts for corporations and wealthy individuals.

"I think our values are to cover all people in the U.S. with health care and make sure it's quality health care," Kelliher said.

Omar has said she would pursue universal health care by expanding Medicare to everyone:

"We want to make sure no one is dying because they can't afford it or that people are not going bankrupt because they got sick."