Congressional 1st District candidates Eddie Edwards and Chris Pappas met last night at a debate in Manchester hosted by WMUR-TV.
Despite toeing their party lines, the two candidates both said they were ready to work across the aisle and bring New Hampshire ideals to a broken system in Washington.
Some highlights of the debate include:
- On immigration, both candidates support expanding VISA programs for seasonal workers. Republican Eddie Edwards said the best immigration reform is to secure the border and stop all illegal immigrants: "We have to get back to a place where we respect law in this country, and I think that's the best way to address our immigration system.
- On immigration, Democrat Chris Pappas called for investing in border security, but emphasized another reform: "Allowing the dreamers, who know no other country than the United States of America, who were brought here as children, to become citizens of this country."
- On combating the opioid epidemic, Pappas said: "It's also important that people have health care and the best tool we have for fighting this epidemic is Medicaid expansion."
- On combating the opioid epidemic, Edwards said Medicaid expansion would "bankrupt the country and that "this is a heavy burden for taxpayers, so I think we have to turn back to the pharmaceutical companies and ask them to pay more and to relieving tax payers of this burden."
- On PFAS contamination in N.H. drinking water, Pappas called for continued health studies and said: "There is no more important promise that our government can make than to make sure that we have clean air to breath and clean water to drink. Unfortunately in this administration, they've turned over the EPA to the big polluters."
On PFAS contamination in N.H. drinking water, Edwards said the federal government should provide information about environmental health concerns, but not regulate them: "There is people who have called on the EPA to set a national standard for everyone - that's troubling, because New Hampshire has to have the flexibility to address our local concerns."
