Two weeks from the midterm elections, the eyes of the nation turn to the Lehigh Valley.

Tonight, Lehigh Valley News.com presents a live debate in Pennsylvania's seventh Congressional District, a race that will help determine the balance of power in Washington between U.S. Representative Susan Wild and challenger Lisa Scheller.

Now, please welcome news director Jen Rehill.

Good evening and thank you for joining us tonight.

Lehigh Valley News.com is proud to present this debate with PBS 39 and 91.3.

Well, we are all part of Lehigh Valley Public Media.

We launched our new website earlier this month as a local nonprofit news source covering stories that matter here in our region.

And how fitting that our first public forum under our new banner would be one of such significance.

The race to represent Pennsylvania's seventh Congressional District is one of high interest and high stakes.

The district covers the Lehigh Valley, Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon Counties and a section of Monroe County as well.

It's a swing area in a battleground state and one of the most closely watched races in the nation.

The winner could determine control of the U.S. House.

I'm general news director here at Lehigh Valley News.com.

I'll be moderating tonight's debate with my colleague, politics reporter Tom Shortall.

We are coming to you live from the Universal Public Media Center in Bethlehem.

We'd like to welcome our studio audience in addition to our PBS 39 viewers and our audience watching across the nation on C-SPAN.

Now let's welcome the candidates.

U.S. Representative Susan Wild is a Democrat serving her second term in Congress.

Lisa Scheller is a Republican businesswoman and former Lehigh County commissioner.

Let's get to it.

Ms.. Wild, before the debate, we flipped a coin.

You have 90 seconds.

You'll lead us off with your opening statement.

So much good evening.

I'm Susan Wild and I have had the honor of representing this district for the past four years.

I'm a proud moderate.

I was.

I grew up in a military family with a conservative Republican father and a liberal Democratic mom.

I guess you could say that I was born to be bipartisan here in seven.

We are blessed with a very diverse district, and the most important job for anyone who is elected is to listen and learn from lots of people who don't necessarily agree on a lot of issues.

It's a challenging job, but it's one that I have committed to with everything I have so many of my conversations with constituents here have led to my most impactful work fighting to reduce drug prices, advocating for better mental health, lifting up our terrific manufacturing sector, and making sure that our seniors have the ability to retire with dignity.

You the voters, have had to endure a lot of nasty rhetoric for the past several months.

You can't even watch a baseball game without multiple repetitive, repetitive attack ad interruptions.

What you need, what you care about is to know what your elected officials are going to do for you.

I'm here tonight to tell you exactly who I am, what I've done, and what I will continue to do for Pennsylvania.

Seven.

I hope you will learn, get as much out of it as I have gotten from learning and listening to all of you.

Thank you for watching and listening.

Thank you, Ms. Wild.

Ms. Scheller, you have 90 seconds for your opening statement.

Good evening, everyone.

I'm Lisa Scheller.

I'm a mom, a county commissioner, and president of my family's business, Silver Line.

I remember the day that changed my life in 1997, coming home from my brother's funeral.

I was distraught and I didn't know what to do or where to go.

So I went to my office at my business, and one by one my employees came into my office and they said, Lisa, this is your time to lead our business.

We need you here and we want you here.

And so I did it.

So I never planned on running our family's business, but I did it for the good of the employees.

And I did it for our community.

Despite record inflation, fierce competition, fierce foreign competition, and politicians who are out of touch with our communities, we have survived and we have now our finishing building a brand new $20 million manufacturing facility right here in Pennsylvania.

And I did it because I'm a fighter.

I've always been a fighter from the time being a young woman, overcoming addiction to the only woman CEO in my industry, to helping our young people get a good education to as a commissioner, bringing government accountability to the people.

Susan Wilde votes with Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden 100% of the time.

And you know what?

The people of the Lehigh Valley deserve someone who will fight for them.

So tonight, I'm going to ask you to let me fight for you.

Thank you, Ms. Scheller.

In the first round, each candidate will answer questions specific to them.

There are no rebuttals in this part of the debate.

We have plenty of time for that later.

Please keep your answer to one minute, Congresswoman.

While the first question is for you, you present yourself as a moderate on the campaign trail.

However, as your as your opponent just noted and as ProPublica will tell us, you voted with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi 100% of the time this term and 98% of last term.

How do you explain your voting record to such a politically diverse district?

Thank you for that question.

I think it's really important for people to understand that I have been rated one of the top 13% in terms of being a bipartisan member of Congress.

And that is based on the legislation that I have introduced and co-sponsored with many Republicans.

I work across the aisle all the time.

I work across the aisle on a lot of issues that are not necessarily the things that you will hear about in cable news, but they are very pragmatic issues.

One of the ones that comes to mind is making sure that we had enough certified nurses, AEDs in nursing homes during the pandemic and so went to just look at members votes does not in any way reflect the actual work that is being done in Congress to get bills to the floor.

Many have not yet gotten to the floor.

But we I have consistently worked across the aisle because the greatest chance of getting a vote on a bill is to make sure that it's a bipartisan bill.

Thank you, Michel.

The next question is for you.

You've identified in your mailers as a political outsider who can shake up Washington, but you've also held local office, as you mentioned in your opening statement, or endorsed by a sitting president and have donated more than a quarter of $1,000,000 to political causes over the past 20 years.

How are you an outsider?

So let me say I'm a political outsider because my record shows that I am one, even as a sitting county commissioner.

I create I made votes that were bipartisan votes that were for the benefit of the people who lived in the county and not necessarily for the benefit of the people who are actually working for the county.

My purpose, my focus has always been on the community as someone who has grown up in our community.

You know, not only have I supported candidates who have who I believe have the right thing in mind for our citizens.

But I have been a job creator in the community.

Every week I sign the front of hundreds of paychecks keeping people employed.

I know what it takes, in other words, to pay health insurance for our employees.

I know what it takes to run a business that's global in its nature.

I know what it takes, and I know the problems that are being faced by the people who live here in the district.

Inflation, crime.

Fentanyl.

These are things that I have personal experience with and will be able to help when I am your congresswoman.

Thank you, Michel.

Representative Wild, you've been a lawmaker for four years.

In that time, only one bill that you were the primary sponsor of has become law.

Are you in effective represent a representative for the seventh district?

I am especially proud of the one bill that you reference.

It is the Dr. Lorna Breen Act, which brings mental health resources to our health care providers who all too often think only about caring for others and not for themselves.

However, I think it's also really important to know that I have authored many amendments to bills that have passed, including one that 80 Republicans signed on to, to make sure that no administration would be able to arbitrarily raise health insurance prices.

So you've got to look at the entire bills.

Many bills are grouped together.

That's something that I'm fond of by the way, but that does happen in Washington.

And so I have had a big part in many of the bills.

But I let me tell you, for a second term, Congresswoman, to have been in the Oval Office when her bill was signed into law after going through the House, going through the Senate, that's a pretty big deal.

Thank you, Congresswoman.

You've referenced your family owned business a few times already tonight.

It's a successful business with international presence.

Factories here in the U.S. and abroad, including two in China and a third on the way.

As a member of Congress, you be voting on measures and policies that could directly impact your business.

How will you assure people of our district that you'll vote for your for their interests and not your own?

So as someone who has created jobs since 1963 in Pennsylvania and been running my business since 1997, I do know what it takes to sign the front of a paycheck.

I run an international business and I'm very proud of that.

The American dream is something that we all should be able to aspire to.

You know, the facts you have are wrong, but we won't get into that.

But what I will tell you is I know China and I will be able to stand up to China because you know what?

I also know my grandparents came here from Europe seeking that American dream.

And I will put American people jobs and interests first.

My opponent, Susan, while, doesn't necessarily do that, giving billions of dollars in aid to China and technology.

While she wants to be soft on China.

But you know what?

Because I want to put Americans first.

I have no issue with that.

In fact, I'm donating my entire congressional salary to charities that benefit benefit veterans that live in the district.

Because the reason I want to be in Congress is because I love this country.

Thank you, Ms. Scheller.

Representative Wild, in your last debate together, you called President Joe Biden a flawed man.

What did you mean by that?

And where do you think the president has come up short?

We are all flawed.

Let's face it, nobody is perfect.

And I put him in the same category.

Nobody is superhuman.

Nobody is perfect.

I think that he has shown tremendous resilience in the face of a very difficult time in our country coming out of a pandemic, trying to rebuild our economy.

But no, I don't think that everything that he does is perfect.

And I've been I felt as though it was incumbent upon me to speak up as a member of the same party when I thought that he wasn't doing something right.

For instance, I did speak up quite loudly and to the chagrin of some Democrats at what I considered to be a botched withdrawal from Afghanistan.

I'm glad that we ended the war there, but I did not like the process of withdrawing.

That's just one example.

But again, I don't hold any president to a standard of perfection.

I don't think that that is realistic.

Thank you, Congresswoman Michele.

Two years ago, you proudly announced your endorsement from President Donald Trump, but not this year.

Do you still align yourself with the former president and have you sought his endorsement in this race?

So let me be clear.

If you ask anybody, were we better off as Americans two years ago?

I think everybody would agree.

As Americans, we were better off with the policies that we had then.

So two years ago, I did have the endorsement.

But right now, this race is a completely different race.

And I'm going to tell you, I have one focus and one focus only, and that is to make sure that Susan Wild has given her retirement on November 8th and that we get Nancy Pelosi out of the speaker's seat because the policies that Wild Biden and Pelosi are creating are ones that are crushing the American dream for all Americans.

Right now, I'm worried about seniors and their heating bills.

I'm worried about people who are trying to put food on their table.

I'm worried about the cost of gas.

And it is these policies that are making conflict, that are making these problems even worse.

Every day I go around the district and I hear people talking about these things.

I'm an engineer.

I'm a problem solver.

These are things that I can be a part of the solution.

Thank you, Ms. Scheller.

That concludes our individual questions.

So thank you both.

And thank you as well.

To our viewers and our listeners, we're glad you're with us for this live debate in Pennsylvania's seventh Congressional District presented by Lehigh Valley News.com.

Let's move on for the next questions.

You'll both have a minute to answer for rebuttals.

You'll also have up to a minute.

Tom, you start us off.

Thanks, Jen.

Congresswoman, let's talk about inflation.

Prices are rising at the fastest rate in 40 years, more than 9% annually.

Most economists put the blame squarely on global pandemics.

What's the best long term policy to reverse this disturbing trend and to avoid a deepening recession?

Well, thank you for that question.

Let me just say, as somebody who pumps her own gas and buys her own groceries, I know exactly what people are worried about.

I think about it every single time I'm out shopping or pumping gas into my eight year old car.

I've been working on lowering people's costs since the day I came to Congress, and a lot of that came about because of conversations that I had with people on the campaign trail back in 2018.

I have been the leader in fighting to bring down prescription drug prices, and we finally got that done in part by making sure that Medicare can negotiate some drug prices and by capping insulin at $35 per month for seniors.

Health insurance premiums have come down thanks to Democrats passing the American rescue plan.

I personally led an amendment which I referred to before to make sure that no administration could arbitrarily raise insurance health insurance costs.

And 80 Republicans voted for that amendment.

I led the effort to fix the family glitch, which prevented some families from being able to get ACA subsidies.

And the president just signed that into law a week ago.

And finally, I have worked.

Congressman, I'm sorry I had to cut you off there, but maybe we'll be able to get to that.

Thank you.

Another topic, Ms. Scheller.

What's your take?

What do you believe is the solution to addressing inflation?

Inflation is crushing the dream for all Americans.

And that, and particularly for seniors on a fixed income, for working families, for single parents.

It is absolutely crushing the the the dream.

And it has been caused by the policies of Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Susan Wilde.

You know, among these policies is a 70 $500 tax credit for people who are buying $80,000 electric vehicles, a tax on natural gas, which is only going to increase our energy costs and a tax on small business.

I'm very proud to have the I'm a job creator.

I'm someone who wants to create businesses and wants to control inflation.

We need to stop the spending.

The first thing I want to do is to stop the hiring of 87,000 new IRS agents.

We don't need those.

I'm proud of my endorsement from the National Federation of Independent Businesses and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, because they know who can grow our economy, create businesses and grow jobs.

Let me respond.

My opponent talks about the spending in Congress.

And let me just point out to you that the spending due to the pandemic started as a very bipartisan process under Donald Trump.

And by the way, my opponent was one of the prime beneficiaries of that government spending.

You can't have it both ways.

You can't take $5 million in pipe money, which you've capped, and then complain about the spending that the United States government is doing.

I submit that there is no person out there who would suggest that we didn't have severe economic problems during the worst of the pandemic.

There are people out there who benefited from these bipartisan programs that we rolled out to make sure that people didn't lose their homes and didn't lose their jobs, and to make sure that our small businesses and restaurants had very tailored and specialized relief.

That was what needed to be done.

And, you know, even people who aren't big believers in big government have to say that they're not it couldn't have been done any other way except by government intervening.

Ms. Scheller, do you have a response?

I absolutely do.

So first, let me say the PGP loans were given for every four people who applied to them, and they were there so that we could protect American jobs during the pandemic.

And that's what they were used for, protecting those American jobs.

But the spending that is going on right now doesn't protect jobs, doesn't create a better America.

The spending that is going on right now is spending that is government picking winners and losers.

When we look at the implementation of the Green New Deal and how some companies are getting benefits, while those that we can really use for our resources are being locked out, we should be opening up Pennsylvania's energy.

That is a big topic of mine because we need energy to fuel our homes, to fuel our businesses, to fuel our factories, to fuel our cars.

Right now, heating oil has gone from about a dollar 50 to over $5 a gallon.

And you know what seniors are calling me saying, I don't know how I'm going to heat my home.

Opening up our energy is going to go a long way in fighting inflation.

And Susan, while doesn't even want to talk about that.

Thank you, Ms. Scheller.

We're going to move on.

So there's no question that abortion is a major issue in this midterm election.

With Roe v Wade out, the window, state legislators across the country are scrambling to pen legislation.

Ms. Scheller, this question will go first to you.

Do you believe Congress should set a federal standard?

And if so, what would that look like?

So I'm going to be quite open with you.

And I've said all the time that I'm I'm pro-life, but I believe in exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.

We need to create a culture that celebrates life and has the resources available so that women and families will choose to have their babies.

And yes, the bulk of those decisions are now down going to the states.

You know, my opponent has lied about my positions on abortion, and you've all seen that on television.

But she has already voted for legislation that legalizes abortion for any reason, at any time on demand, up till including a minute before a full term birth at taxpayer expense.

Representative Wilde.

Thank you.

Partial birth abortion does not exist except as a figment of the GOP's mind.

There is no licensed physician in this country or anywhere that would perform that procedure.

I firmly believe that the government and elected officials have absolutely no place in anybody's doctor's office.

Women should have complete control over their own bodies.

And it's shameful that we are even considering otherwise.

I want you to think back to 1996 when we passed the HIPA laws to make sure that everybody's medical records and history was kept completely private and confidential to them.

And now we are moving so far away from that that people in the GOP are wanting to enact a national abortion ban.

My opponent mentions returning this to the states.

Well, that puts a decision about abortion in the hands of somebody like a Doug Mastriano who would be completely enabled to to just ban abortion.

No exceptions.

I just want to come back to the original question, which was, if elected, what would you want to legislate?

So, Ms. Scheller, I'm wondering if you could address that specifically.

As as I have said, that I am opposed to a constitutional ban on abortion.

But I get a little bit confused about what Susan Wilde says when she wants to say that she's protecting women's rights because she defended a doctor who performed genital exams on nearly 60 young girls who were screaming.

And she performed and the doctor performed this and she defended the doctor.

These were performed without the consent of either the girls or their parents.

So when she says she's protecting women's rights, I'm not quite sure which women's rights she's trying to protect.

Represented Wilde.

You know, there's a reason that my opponent has earned the name Lion Lisa.

She doesn't know anything about the lawsuits that I've been involved in.

She doesn't know anything about the lawsuit that she mentioned.

And it's a complete falsehood.

There were some claims made.

They were never proven to be true.

And that's it.

But it's good.

You know, her strategy is to rehash old hits from past election years.

I you asked the question about what would I legislate?

I would legislate to specifically embody the principle that women have control over their own bodies, period, and that the government should not intervene in women and their health care providers.

Thank you, Congresswoman.

Let's shift gears a bit and touch on immigration.

Ms..

While DOCA recipients are in limbo and the program is closed in new applicants.

How would you address the issue of the 600,000 young immigrants living in the U.S. under its protections, including thousands here in pay?

Do you support making DOCA protections law?

I do support that.

I think that it is shameful the way we have treated people who came here as young children through no certainly no movement of their own.

And to treat them as illegal citizens or not rightfully in this country, means that they cannot get jobs, they can't pay taxes.

They can't contribute to the overall welfare.

I have met some of these recipients or some of these folks, and I will tell you that they are living in the shadows.

And it's sad at a time when we desperately need to increase our workforce and every employer in the Lehigh Valley will tell you that we should absolutely take every step necessary to give them legal a path to legal citizenship.

Thank you.

Ms..

While, Michele, for your take on the situation.

I have empathy, empathy for those who came here as children and are living here in the United States.

And I think we all should have empathy for them.

And we absolutely need immigration reform.

But before we can do that, we need to secure our border and stop the illegal immigration that's coming on.

I'm the granddaughter of immigrants who came here seeking the American dream.

And people who come here legally should have full purchase to that American dream.

There are hundreds of thousands of people right now still waiting to get processed to get their green cards, to get their citizenships.

But they can't because we are being overwhelmed with our southern border.

Susan, while does not want to close our southern border and wants to let immigrants to continue to stream through our border.

You know what?

We need to make sure that the border is closed.

And I would venture I would say that, you know, maybe some of the 87,000 IRS agents that are going to be coming after working class families could be used to help process those coming through and take care of some of the immigration issues that we are having.

I just note that my opponent did not answer the question about DACA.

That was the question.

And I think it's really important to note, since I meant she's attacked me regarding the southern border, to note that I have voted to increase funding for Customs and Border Patrol and to make sure that our our border control measures are modernized under both presidents, President Trump and President Biden.

So I absolutely believe we need a safe and secure southern border.

I absolutely believe that we need to do everything that we can to make sure that there are not illegal drugs crossing through the border.

But a lot of that has to do with modernizing our technology and that hasn't happened.

Michaela, we'd like to move on unless you have something else.

I really do.

Because she said she wants to make sure there aren't drugs flowing through our southern border, but she voted not to even discuss increased penalties for drug smugglers and she voted not even to discuss identifying the manufacturers of fentanyl so that we could stop this scourge.

I'd love a citation on that alleged vote.

The tweet will be coming out in about 5 minutes.

All right.

Let's move on.

Lehigh County has the largest population of Hispanic and Latino residents in Pennsylvania, and they are majority in the city of Allentown.

Despite that, community members have told us that they feel like oftentimes it's only around elections that they hear from campaigning politicians.

Michel, we're going to go to you first.

If elected, what will you do to show that you're not just paying lip service to this growing population?

The job of a congressperson is to listen to the people who live in the district.

And yes, I am very proud to know that Pennsylvania's seventh Congressional District has the largest expand Hispanic population of any district in the Commonwealth.

You know, I have met with the leaders and I've met with people in the district and yes, they feel they have not been listened to by their current congressperson.

So in my discussions with them, what we have talked about and what I'm going to do is I'm going to make sure that one of my district offices is right in downtown Allentown because they want someone who is accessible to them.

They want someone where they feel that they could walk into that office and someone is going to listen to their issues and get back to them.

You know, Hispanic the Hispanic population of Allentown, it's a beautiful population.

And they want family values.

And family values are Republican values.

That's why I'm very excited to be able to have the opportunity to potentially represent the Hispanic community right here in the Lehigh Valley.

Thank you, Ms. Scheller.

Representative Wild, same question to you.

But since you're already in office, how would you grade yourself on responding to Latino constituents needs and concerns?

Well, first, let me just say, as I said before, nobody's perfect.

And I have tried very hard, but I'd probably give myself a B to a B plus.

I think that there's always room for improvement.

But let me say this.

In my office, which happens to be in downtown Allentown, we have two full time caseworkers who speak fluent Spanish.

They've been with me since day one.

That was a promise that I made on the campaign trail in full recognition of the large Hispanic population we have right here in Pennsylvania.

Seven those two caseworkers can walk people through all kinds of federal issues.

They can assist them with IRS issues, visa issues, immigration issues, Social Security and anything else that the rest of our team can also work with people with non Spanish speakers on.

And one of the things I'm particularly proud about is people don't have to come into the office, they can call or email the office and they can actually leave a message in Spanish.

And the return call that they will get is from one of our Spanish speaking caseworkers.

Thank you, Congresswoman.

Tonight, we really ought to address gun violence here in the U.S. so far, too.

So far this year, we have seen more than 500 mass shootings.

In June, Congress passed legislation to address that.

Enhanced background checks for buyers under 21 and funding for states to establish red flag laws that would help allow police to seize guns from people deemed deemed unsafe.

What further steps, if any, do you support on gun control?

Well, first of all, I think that bipartisan gun violence act should be passed through the Senate, which it hasn't yet.

I think I want to state this very clearly.

I don't think that the vast majority of gun owners are our problem.

Our problem is when guns, often illegal, get into the hands of bad actors.

That's what we have to prevent.

And I think everybody, gun owners and non-gun owners alike, agree that they don't want somebody to have a gun or multiple guns and go shoot up a concert, shoot up a school or one of the other many tragedies that we've seen.

So I definitely believe that we need to expand the violent background check.

I definitely believe that we've got to make sure that a gun sale is not permitted if the FBI background check has not come back.

And, you know, the idea of not having red flag flag laws is ridiculous.

We should know if somebody has a propensity to violence that's been identified by a friend or family member.

Ms. Scheller, what's your take?

Would you support a bipartisan act, bipartisan act like this?

Gun violence is a very serious issue in our country right now.

And all you have to do is to look down to Philadelphia to see what's going on.

In fact, John, if you look down to Philadelphia, you can look at the parks in Allentown, where recently we have had ten on teen gun violence.

You know, it's the issue is that, you know, you look at Philly and they have some of the toughest gun laws in our entire country, and yet it has not stopped the violence.

What we need to do is make sure that we have safe communities.

I'm going to tell you, I'm a mom.

I have two children.

I love my children.

We all want safe communities.

We want safe homes.

We want safe houses of worship.

And we want safe schools.

For sure.

We want safe schools.

But, you know what?

Taking guns away from law abiding citizens is not going to change that situation because criminals are always going to do that.

That's why I am proud to have the endorsement of FHP 40, the state troopers and FOP 35 the Lee Hampton Lodge.

Because I know we need to treat our criminals like criminals and our police officers and law enforcement shoulders like heroes.

Ms. Scheller, thank you.

Just to clarify, would you or would you not have voted on that legislation this summer?

I'm not going to take a hypothetical on a vote that hasn't been taken yet in the House.

It's been taken in the House.

I I'm going to talk about the issue is we need to make sure that we have due process before anyone has a firearm taken away from them.

There needs to be due process.

And so that is our it is our Fourth Amendment, and we need to make sure that that is followed.

There's nothing in that law that takes away a gun from a law abiding citizen.

All it does is provide for enhanced background checks of minors and make sure that FBI background checks are back before a gun sale is made.

The one thing we agree on is that law abiding citizens should not have their guns taken away.

All right.

Well, Tom, did you have one more question on that?

Oh, yes.

Thank you.

Background checks are currently.

Would you favor banning the sales of AR15 rifles to people under 21 like the kind used in so many mass shootings?

Ms. Scheller?

The banning of any kind of gun to law abiding citizens is something that I do oppose.

But I would, because certainly we have men who go off to fight in our wars and, you know, they're 18 years old and why would we want to penalize them?

But at the end of the day, you know, we need to take a closer look.

I am not for banning firearms to law abiding citizens.

Thank you, Ms. Scheller.

Ms..

While your take on Banning Air 15 style rifles for people under age 21.

There is no reason that a person under age 21 should own a weapon of war, which is what that kind of gun is.

That's exactly the kind of gun that is used in most of the mass shootings in this country.

So, yes, I would favor that.

All right.

We're going to wrap that up here and say once again, this live debate in Pennsylvania seventh Congressional District is being brought to you by Lehigh Valley News.com with PBS 39 and 91.3 VR.

Just a reminder for our candidates as we proceed, you will again each get up to a minute to respond to questions.

And if you want to rebut something, give us a signal.

You'll also have up to a minute.

So I want to begin this next part by talking here and asking you both to think about the tenor of your campaign.

During this race, for months, the Lehigh Valley has been hit with attack ads hearing you eat you each calling each other a liar on television and online.

Civility seems to be a lost art, especially in politics these days.

Do you feel your campaign has contributed to the divisiveness that's tearing at this country?

Your response?

First.

I have wanted to campaign as a job creator, as a problem solver, as an engineer, as an outsider, as someone who loves this country and wants to make sure that the people who live in Pennsylvania's seventh Congressional District have a voice.

That's for them.

That's down in Washington.

And you saw that during my primary election, that I did campaign as a job creator and a person who who loves this country.

Now, I know that straight out of the box, my opponent, Susan Wild, she came out against me and came out negative right out of the box.

And you know what?

All I can do is fight back and stand up for what is right.

So, you know, I don't want to contribute to divisiveness.

We need to find places where we can agree on things.

But I need to point out the fact that I'm looking to find solutions for the people here in the seventh District while the problems that people are facing here crime, inflation, immigration issues, fennel are being addressed when my opponent is not addressing those issues.

Representative Well, we're going to go back to you with that same question.

Do you feel that your campaign has contributed to divisiveness in the Lehigh Valley?

Let me be the first to say that I hate negative political advertising.

What my campaign has done is tried to inform voters about facts, about my opponent.

And I think it is critical that people understand those facts.

People need to understand that my opponent has closed.

Factories in the U.S., in Pennsylvania, has shipped half of her business to China, is in partnership, the Chinese Communist Party, and that we have lost American jobs.

My opponent has consistently changed her version of where she is on the abortion issue.

She had a website addressed to her pro-life position prior to the Republican primary.

Guess what?

It was scrubbed as soon as the Republican primary was over.

You know, it's people need to understand these facts and her position on abortion that has been continually evolving or changing has to be brought out because inconsistencies.

You represent.

On bills are important.

We're going to go to Miss Scheller.

My position has never changed and Congresswoman Wild has never created a job.

My family's business started in 1945, and we've been creating great American jobs from 1945 until today.

In fact, we bought a defunct factory train engineer factory in 1963.

And we've been creating great American jobs right here in Pennsylvania since 1963 at a time when our economy was struggling.

Factories are closing down.

You know, the steel mills were closing down.

The coal mines are closing down.

And we've been providing jobs.

In fact, just a couple of weeks ago, we signed a brand new three year contract with our United Steelworkers so that they feel comfortable.

And it was signed before the last contract was even over so that they could feel comfortable with the jobs that they have.

It was a it was a good decision for both of us.

Susan Wall doesn't understand what it takes to create a job because she run a business because she has never done it.

My opponent has created great jobs in China, and I don't deny for a second that her grandfather and other members of her family brought good American jobs here to this area.

Unfortunately, those jobs, many of them, most of them have been lost to China.

And as far as the United Steelworkers, I'm proud to say that they have endorsed me, not to show her in this race.

When they call, they're going to shift gears a little bit to some breaking news that came in today.

Earlier the January six committee examining what happened during the siege of the U.S. Capitol issued a subpoena to former President Donald Trump.

Ms. Scheller, how do you describe the events of January six, 2021?

January six, 2021 was a terrible day.

It was a terrible day.

And America suffered.

And you know what?

Everyone who committed a crime on January 6th should be prosecuted and held accountable for the crimes that they committed, just as those who committed crimes during the summer of 2020 should be prosecuted and and convicted of those crimes.

But you know what else is a terrible day every day for Pennsylvanians here in our country, because they are struggling.

Seniors are struggling, working families are struggling.

You know, they're there looking forward and saying how am I going to keep my kids in safe neighborhoods?

How am I going to afford gasoline?

How am I going to make sure that they don't take something that looks like candy and it winds up being fentanyl?

How are they going to make sure that they can survive in an environment of inflation and crime and that we have today?

Ms. Scheller, you said that people who committed a crime on January six should be prosecuted.

Does that include President Donald Trump, in your opinion?

In my opinion, people are not above the law.

Does that include Trump?

Did you believe that he committed a crime.

That his there's due process for all of that.

But what I said is nobody should be above the law and we need to have our due process and it will be determined.

So whoever committed a crime should be convicted of that.

And whoever committed a crime ultimately would be charged with that crime and potentially committed.

But what I want to tell you is Sally was you know, Susan Wild worked for and was the solicitor for a mayor who is now serving 15 years in prison because he was convicted of 47 counts of bribery and graft.

She worked for him and she claims she didn't know what was going on.

But let me tell you.

How can you not know what is going on when you think that you understand what corruption is?

The question is, was she complicit or was she just incompetent?

And these are both reasons why, you know, I should be serving as your congressperson.

Thank you, Ms. Scheller.

Congresswoman, while I'm going to remind you, the question is on the January six, 2021.

January six was a tragic day for our country and for our democracy and we can't ever let it happen again.

We have to make sure that people are not permitted to deny the results of elections just because they don't like the outcome.

That includes Doug Mastriano, who shares campaign office space with my opponent.

It includes people like Steve Lynch, who was present at the Capitol and was my opponent's campaign director in the last election cycle, and with whom she still appears regularly.

My opponent doesn't mind appearing with insurrectionists.

I do, and I think it's very important that we hold people accountable.

That means all people who had anything to do with or were responsible for what happened on January six.

And I'd like to take the rest of my time just to comment on this ridiculous accusation regarding the former mayor, the U.S. attorney's office that prosecuted that lauded me in public for helping them with the investigation and prosecution of that case.

Thank you.

Ms. Wild Ms. Scheller.

Did you want to respond to the allegations about insurrection?

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Because you she claims that she didn't know what was going on.

And I question I really question that.

But I will tell you, the people that I have campaigned with and who worked on my campaign, they're not in jail.

They haven't been charged with anything.

They haven't been convicted of a crime.

But the people who Susan Wild is campaigning with, like John Fetterman.

He wants to let criminals out of jail.

Hard core criminals like one third of the criminals out of jail.

And right now, we have such a big bad we have such a bad crime issue going on in our country.

This is just untenable and we cannot be going there.

So if you want to talk about, you know, who's taking the moral high ground here, you know who who's hanging out with who.

You can't hang out with someone who wants to let criminals out of jail and not have a part of that.

All right.

We're going to move on to a related question, actually.

And like, let's just take a step back and bring our focus out a little bit.

Pennsylvania Voters Ranked Preserving Democracy as second after inflation, according to a marist poll.

Right.

This is one of their top issues.

Representative, well, we'll start with you.

Do you believe democracy is at risk?

And if so, what needs to be done?

I think that democracy is fragile.

I think that democracy is a choice that we must work on every single day.

If you don't, it ends up like it has in some other countries where you lose it.

We absolutely need make sure that we are following the rule of law, that no leaders are allowed to become dictators, and that that we are that we are respect acting.

Our military, our police, our Capitol police, the FBI, which I might note the GOP has very much distanced themselves from.

Democracy is incredibly important.

It is the best thing about living in this country.

And we.

But I do worry about it.

Yes, I think it is at risk.

And this election matters.

This election literally will make the difference in whether we preserve our democracy or we don't.

Representative Scheffler, same question to you.

Do you believe democracy is at risk right now?

And if so, what needs to be done to save it?

I absolutely believe that democracy is at risk right now, and we do need to save it.

Our elections are very important, and we need to have integrity in our elections.

We need to make it easy to vote and nearly impossible or impossible to cheat.

And there are commonsense things that we can do that my opponent fails to understand or Wolf refuse to vote on.

One of those things is voter I.D..

Most Americans believe that voter ID is a good idea.

So we have one person, one vote.

You know, in our last election, there were a lot of rules that got changed at the last minute, creating confusion for people.

But we need to make sure that we have that right now.

Susan Wilde is a sign on sponsor of H.R.

one.

And what that does, is it federalizing our election?

The inability for states to have voter ID, including the 22 that already have voter ID.

It allows for ballot harvesting where people can go and collect up ballots and stuff them in.

And you know what?

It takes campaign funds and uses it.

It takes taxpayer money to use for campaign funds.

My gosh, we're going to have to wrap it up there.

So.

Representative, while did you have a file?

I think it's important to note I have no objection to voter I.D.

We show our I.D.

everywhere.

We show our I.D.

when we go to the doctor's office, we show our I.D.

everywhere else.

I have no problem with requiring that we show voter ID.

As long as people who don't have a driver's license are able easily to get some sort of official ID.

Let's stay with elections.

Ms. Scheller.

A recent national poll found that 30% of voters and four in ten Republicans say they have little to no faith in the integrity of our elections.

How about you?

We need to have faith in our elections, because what I have seen is that some people have become disenfranchized because they don't have faith in the elections.

We need to make sure that we have credible elections.

You know, just this past week, the Supreme Court ruled that undated ballots in the Lehigh Valley were by people who did not follow the rules.

And those those ballots should not be counted.

It didn't go retroactively.

But those undated ballots made the difference in a judicial election right here in the Lehigh Valley.

I wanted to make it easy to vote and impossible to cheat, and that's what we need to do.

So people do have faith in our elections.

But when we implement something like H.R.

one, federalize elections and gives campaign money, taxpayer money to use for campaigns, that does exactly the opposite.

Representative Wilde, what's your level of confidence in the fairness and accuracy of elections here in the seventh District?

I'm glad you specified the seventh District.

I think we do a really good job of elections here in the seventh District.

I know that other states are not as fortunate, particularly states where voters have to wait in very long lines, often in the heat in order to vote.

Talk about disenfranchisement.

That's states where voters have to reregister on a periodic basis.

Those are those are designed to suppress voting, not to encourage voting.

And I do think we should be encouraging voting.

I want to address H.R.

one, which my opponent just talked about.

The main thing that H.R.

one does is it reforms our campaign finance laws.

It ends that horrible law known as Citizens United, where dark has permeated politics for years now.

And by the way, that's why we have so much negative advertising.

Elections are far too expensive.

It dissuades people, good people, from running for office.

And we absolutely have to get dark money out of politics.

Thank you, Congresswoman.

We're going to shift gears again.

We're going to talk about one of the major issues at the global scale, and that is the war in Ukraine.

Congresswoman, so far, President Biden and Congress sent more than $54 billion in in humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine as it fights off the invasion.

Do you believe that it's sustainable?

Is this a wise for the U.S.?

Should the U.S. stay the course as the armor for Ukraine?

Let me just say, Vladimir Putin is an evil dictator and this aggression can't be left unchecked.

I'm proud to have voted for bipartisan funding for Ukraine.

It is not a blank check.

I support serious oversight and accountability for this and for any other kind of government spending.

I went to the Ukraine border in the second week of the war with a bipartisan group from Congress, for Democrats, for Republicans.

And I can tell you that we were and still are 100% united in our belief that the United States and Nito must help Ukraine.

We came back from a three day trip and immediately as a group we advocated for that relief.

We have to turn on our munitions supply chain as quickly as possible.

I will say that we can't have a bare cupboard.

And we we need to make sure that we are in a position to help other places around the world or defend ourselves if necessary.

But the main thing that I think it's really important to say is we have to have oversight and accountability.

But I do think that this has been absolutely essential spending.

Thank you, Ms. Scheller.

Your take on Ukraine.

The war in Ukraine?

I absolutely I don't believe it needed to happen.

I believe Putin is a thug and a despot.

But he was emboldened.

He was emboldened by our failed surrender in Afghanistan, which made an army out of the Taliban.

And we need to make sure that that never happens again when the United States stands strong.

Other countries will respect us.

When we stand weak, other countries will be emboldened.

So we were buying oil from Russia.

We were funneling that.

We were funneling and paying for that war at the turn of $60 million a day when the war was costing $20 million a day.

We need to support the Ukraine.

But you know what?

We need other nations to get involved as well.

They must get involved and we need to be talking with those other nations.

It can't be a black a blank checkbook.

I'm very concerned about the future and Iran being involved in China, Venezuela and other countries.

You know, we have drawn down our strategic reserves to the lowest point since 1984.

Those are for American defense.

How are we going to defend our own country when it comes under attack?

Thank you, Ms. Scheller.

Let's shift our attention stateside for this next one.

Congresswoman.

Lehigh Valley was already facing a housing shortage before the pandemic sent demand through the roof.

Many families are struggling to find housing they can afford and it's hurting businesses ability to recruit new employees.

How would you solve this problem?

Housing is one of the most complicated and troubling issues we face here in the Lehigh Valley.

I am deeply concerned for people, you know.

We've grown a lot in this area.

A lot of people have moved into Pennsylvania seven because it's such a great place to live.

The problem is that that has had the effect of making housing more expensive and unavailable for folks.

And so what I did last year, I think it was last year, I brought the housing secretary, Marcia Flood, to Pennsylvania seven.

She we went out and we toured public housing that has been created in Easton.

And she actually engaged with many of our partners in housing to make sure that she was taking back to Washington some of the great ideas that private groups and nonprofit groups have created here in the Lehigh Valley.

Having said that, we've got a long way to go on housing and it's going to take an, you know, a full out effort between the federal government, the state government and municipal municipalities to make sure that we are getting that done.

Thank you.

Ms..

While Ms. Scheller.

What should we do about housing here in the Lehigh Valley?

You know, when you think about the American dream, people think about owning a home or having a nice apartment where they can raise their family in a safe community and get a good education for their children.

So those children may have a better life than they did.

That's what the American dream is all about.

And that's what the that's what the inflationary policies of Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Susan Wilde are destroying.

One of the things we need to do is make housing more affordable for people now, because people are deciding, can I pay my rent or put food on my table?

Can I pay my rent or my house or my mortgage payment and actually put gasoline in my car?

You know, we we need to find a way of solutions to affordable housing.

Yes.

So that people can find ways to get a hand up and not a hand.

But we also need to make sure, because right now, more and more people are falling behind due to the inflation that we have right now.

We have immigrants living on taxpayer dollars that could be used to make sure that we are beginning to help reduce inflation so that people can afford their housing.

May respond.

What is not the American dream is losing your job because it was outsourced to China.

Talk about having trouble finding housing that will contribute to a big time.

You know what else means that you can't achieve the American dream?

People who have their health care ripped away by a Republican Congress, people who can't pay their insulin costs because the alternative wild.

I'm so sorry.

But believe it or not, we're just about out of time.

So we're just going to have to let let it land there.

And we've come to the time for closing statements.

Each candidate gets 90 seconds, will go in the order determined by the coin toss, which gives MMs.

Scheller her the last word tonight.

But first, Representative Wild.

Your closing statement.

Thank you so much.

I love this community.

All of it.

As someone who moved every two years as a kid because of my father's Air Force career, I can honestly say that it is the best place I've ever lived.

My two children were born here and raised here and went to public schools here.

It is my family's home, and I'm proud to say that this country is truly great.

But we have to recognize that life hasn't always been great for everyone all the time.

The COVID pandemic and the fallout from that is a prime example.

I worked hard during that pandemic to make sure that people and companies in Munising politics and nonprofits and art schools got what they needed during that awful time.

Elected officials must serve the people, and that means always looking and listening to see and hear people's problems and then working to solve them.

I'm really proud of the work that my team and I have done over the past four years.

Every single member of my team is committed to making Pennsylvania seven even better than it already is.

We've done a lot, but there's still a lot to be done and there always will be.

I look forward to continuing this work.

It's been my honor and my privilege to serve as your congresswoman, and I humbly ask for your vote on November eight or before.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Ms.. Wild.

Ms. Scheller, for your closing statement.

Thank you all for tuning in as we spoke tonight.

Communities are struggling.

Seniors are wondering if they could heat their homes.

Families are wondering about the safety of their communities.

Mothers are grieving the loss of their children to fentanyl.

These are big problems.

We can solve these problems.

We have to solve these problems.

I'm running for Congress because I have been a problem solver all my life.

The CEO of the only American company in my business helping addicts to recover in our community and helping local children and young adults get a quality education.

I'm asking you to help me because we need to make a change.

You know, there's only one candidate here tonight, one candidate who has created jobs.

Only one candidate has support for American manufacturers for the past 25 years.

Only one candidate candidate who has helped with our struggling communities.

I'm asking you humbly to vote for me on November 8th.

Because you know what I will do?

I will take our fight to Washington with me.

And I will fight to end inflation.

To get rid of crime out of our communities and make safe communities.

I will fight to make sure that our economy is fixed and that our American dream is protected for generations to come.

Thank you.

God bless you and God bless America.

Thank you, Ms. Scheller.

This concludes the debate for the Pennsylvania seventh Congressional District in the Lehigh Valley.

We want to thank the candidates for being here and participating in this forum.

Thank you very both very much.

And to our studio audience, you can applaud now if you'd like, right?

Also, thanks to my co-moderator, Tom Shortall, our politics reporter for Lehigh Valley News.com.

And, of course, we want to thank you for joining us tonight.

Remember to vote on Tuesday, November 8th.

I'm Jen Regal from all of us at Lehigh Valley News.com, PBS 39 and 91.3 WRVA.

Good night.