Abortion, border security and the national debt emerge as top issues in Longview event

Mitchell Roland
The Chronicle

If there was any question of the interest in the Third Congressional District, the collection of state and national media who traveled to Longview Wednesday for a debate between freshman Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez and Republican challenger Joe Kent seemed to show just how much focus there will be on Southwest Washington in the coming weeks.

Organized by the Cowlitz Civil Dialogue Project, the debate drew media attention from outlets in Seattle and Portland and CNN to the Rose Center for the Arts at Lower Columbia College. There, Kent and Gluesenkamp Perez discussed the economy, the fentanyl crisis, heightened conflict in the Middle East and immigration reform, among other issues.

The crowd largely refrained from reacting during the debate, except for one audience member who was removed from the auditorium after interrupting an answer from Gluesenkamp Perez.

Restrictions on abortion

Asked to clarify his stance on abortion, Kent, who is making his second bid for Congress after losing to Gluesenkamp Perez two years ago, said he “100%” supports the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

“I would not support a federal abortion ban. I support full access to (in vitro fertilization) and contraception,” Kent said. “What I really want to focus on is, I want to focus on bringing down the cost of raising children. I want to make it much easier and much less costly to give birth. I want to make things like baby formula and diapers, make those tax-free.”

Asked if there were any limits to abortion access she would consider, Gluesenkamp Perez said federal regulations are often written by “staffer bros with ties” who “don’t know what it’s like to be pregnant.”

“The idea that we’re going to have a federal regulation that accounts for all of that difficulty and nuance is just not reality,” Gluesenkamp Perez said. “And that’s why I support a woman’s right to access health care. Full stop.”

National debt

With the national debt surpassing $35.6 trillion and growing at roughly $2 million a minute, Gluesenkamp Perez highlighted her proposed constitutional amendment to require Congress and the president to adopt balanced budgets.

“I think the national debt is something that does not get the attention it merits. We are on an unsustainable path with the federal deficit,” Gluesenkamp Perez said. “That’s why I’m proud to have introduced a bipartisan constitutional amendment to balance the budget. I take this very, very seriously.”

If passed, the amendment would require appropriations that add to the national debt to pass with a three-fifths majority vote from both chambers of Congress and require the president to propose a balanced budget.

In response to the same question about reducing the national debt, Kent called for a return to passing individual appropriations bills, a proposal he has repeatedly proposed on the campaign trail.

“No more omnibus spending. No more continuing resolutions,” Kent said. “Putting an actual cap on spending. This is what American families have to do every single month, right? You see how much money you take in, you see how many bills you have, and then you go from there. Congress must do that.”

If elected, Kent said his “No. 1 promise” would be to balance the federal budget.

Immigration

As noted by a debate moderator Wednesday, both candidates have pledged in campaign advertisements to “secure the border” if elected.

When asked to specify what they’d do to uphold the pledge, Gluesenkamp Perez said “from day one” she’s taken on the President Joe Biden administration for “their failed policies” to secure the Southern border.

In April, Gluesenkamp Perez was one of five Democratic representatives who supported the End the Border Catastrophe Act, which would have also reimplemented a “Remain in Mexico” policy and restarted construction of a wall along the Southern border, among other immigration restrictions.

“I hear our community when they hurt from fentanyl deaths. That’s real. That’s hurting us right now,” Gluesenkamp Perez said. “It’s critical that we secure the Southern border.”

In mid-February, Gluesenkamp Perez joined a bipartisan group of seven representatives in introducing the Defending Borders, Defending Democracies Act, which would have tied foreign aid to immigration legislation.

Kent, meanwhile, criticized Gluesenkamp Perez for not supporting House Resolution 2, the Secure the Border Act of 2023, immigration legislation that advanced out the House of Representatives but died in the Democrat-controlled Senate.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the legislation would require the Department of Homeland Security to construct at least 900 miles of wall and physical barriers along the Southern border and direct Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to hire enough agents to maintain staffing at 22,000, among other requirements.

“HR-2 would have actually finished construction of the Southern border wall. It would have increased resources down there,” Kent said. “Most importantly, HR-2 would have stopped this foolish asylum process that we have right now where we let people come directly into the country to claim asylum and then they’re paroled into the interior of the country and given legal status.”

During the discussion, Kent noted that he had visited the Southern border twice.

The candidates, who will face off for the second election in a row, will meet four more times before the Nov. 5 election, including on Oct. 7 in a debate hosted by KATU News and on Oct. 14 hosted by KOIN 6 News.

This report was first published by The Chronicle.

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