After growing up in China, Lily Tang Williams wants the U.S. to win the artificial intelligence race — just not at the expense of taxpayers, and not without guardrails. She doesn't trust the Chinese Communist Party to handle AI.
"We don't want China to become No. 1 in AI," Williams said at a candidate forum in Keene on Thursday. "We want to be the No. 1 in this new technology. Everybody is talking about that now, but I always think that the government should not subsidize anything."
Williams, the Republican nominee for New Hampshire's 2nd Congressional District, questioned how Congress can legislate AI to protect individual privacy and how to address jobs replaced by it.
Williams' opponent, Democratic Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander, agreed that AI needs more regulation and said it's telling that recent warnings from technology experts and executives should be heeded.
WATCH/LISTEN: Williams and Goodlander face off in 2nd Congressional District forum
"I think back to 30 years ago, when in 1996 Congress started to write the rules for the age of the internet, and then put the pen down," Goodlander said, resulting in the consolidation and "abuse of power" by big tech companies.
She called for two overarching principles to guide that regulation: Making sure humans stay in charge of harnessing AI, and writing rules that ensure individuals benefit from the technology instead of just the companies crafting it.
Goodlander, who lives in Concord, is running for reelection to represent the second congressional district after beating Williams, of Weare, in 2024. The rematch brings familiar faces to voters ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
Cost of living
Both candidates said they're focused on addressing the cost of living — from high energy costs to the housing shortage to fuel prices.
For Goodlander, the first task is stopping the war in Iran and reversing the Trump administration's tariffs, which are pushing costs higher. Beyond that, she said Congress needs to build on the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act passed this summer. That legislation is "evidence of Congress getting back in the game" by cutting red tape for home construction.
The next step, Goodlander said, is a bill she's co-sponsoring on pattern zoning: a slate of pre-approved building plans that she said will save time and money in the construction process.
Read more: Catch up on all of NHPR's election coverage
Williams said to lower costs, Congress first needs to check its own spending, balance the budget and attack the national debt, which has climbed to $40 trillion. She didn't specify how she would do that, but her website encourages following Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul's "Six Penny Plan," which would reduce government spending by six percent over five years.
Williams also proposed gas pipelines and urged the federal government to help New Hampshire fast-track a second nuclear energy facility as ways to increase energy supply and decrease pricing.
Immigration
Goodlander said Congress needs to prohibit ICE agents from wearing masks, institute a clear enforcement of warrant requirements and roll back the "rushed, unaccountable" hiring of new agents.
She criticized Republicans for continuing to fund ICE without reforms.
"This is so out of whack, and what adds to the challenge here and the real crisis that we find ourselves in, is that this has been done without any of the most basic guardrails that anyone in law enforcement, anyone in this country, any freedom-loving person would want to see put in place," Goodlander said.
Goodlander didn't directly answer the question on whether she agrees with others in her party that ICE should be abolished entirely. In past interviews, she's said she believes there should be immigration consequences for people who commit a crime while in the U.S. illegally.
Williams, who came to the U.S. from China decades ago, has called for a more streamlined immigration process but blamed the Biden administration for letting illegal immigrants into the country.
She said she wants more transparency and training for ICE but argued that ICE agents wear masks to protect themselves after being threatened. She also said local and state police need to get on board with federal immigration enforcement.
"Just remember why ICE took over communities in the first place," Williams said of local law enforcement. "They do not cooperate with our federal law enforcement when it comes to our immigration policies. Those tragedies could be avoided if they just cooperate."
In New Hampshire, 28 county and municipal law enforcement agencies, as well as New Hampshire State Police, have signed agreements to work with ICE. Gov. Kelly Ayotte also signed a law last year prohibiting them from obstructing federal immigration enforcement.
Thursday's forum in Keene was co-hosted by the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript, the Keene Sentinel and New Hampshire Public Radio in collaboration with the Granite State News Collaborative.
The candidates also exchanged ideas about election laws, Supreme Court reforms and foreign policy. You can watch the full event here.
