Bilbray aggressive at CD3 debate in Vegas

Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Heck and his Democratic opponent, Erin Bilbray, clashed Thursday in a debate on immigration, health care, the minimum wage and the U.S. strategy to quash Islamic militants in the Middle East, with Bilbray attacking Heck from her opening statement to her closing comments.

The underdog in the race, Bilbray accused Heck of saying one thing in Southern Nevada and doing another thing in Washington, D.C., where she said Congress is broken and ineffective.

Heck, in turn, charged that Bilbray was making up “facts” about his actions and voting record, particularly on immigration. He voted to allow young immigrants to stay in the United States, if they were brought here illegally as children by their parents, for example, he said, although Bilbray said just the opposite.

“You might be entitled to your own opinions, but you’re not entitled to your own facts,” Heck told Bilbray.

Bilbray said Heck should have persuaded the House GOP leadership, including Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to keep working to solve the immigration problem instead of taking a break to campaign ahead of the Nov. 4 general election.

“I think it’s irresponsible ... Congress is on recess and not even addressing this issue,” Bilbray said.

The two debated on Vegas PBS, which plans to air the face-off at 7:30 p.m. today. Review-Journal columnist Steve Sebelius and journalist Elizabeth Thompson moderated the debate.

Heck is seeking a third two-year term to represent the 3rd Congressional District, which covers much of Clark County, including Boulder City and Henderson.

Early voting begins Saturday and continues through Oct. 31, just days before Election Day.

Heck has publicly urged Boehner to hold immigration votes, although the congressman said he doesn’t support a Senate bill that passed last year because it’s too large — more than 1,000 pages — and deals with nonimmigration issues as well. Instead, Heck and Republicans favor approving a series of bills to deal with separate immigration issues, he said.

Bilbray criticized Heck for not signing a discharge petition, which would force a vote on the Senate bill.

“I think you ought to call on your leadership ... and do your job,” Bilbray said to Heck.

“I have called on leadership ... to bring up immigration,” Heck responded. “I believe we need immigration reform.”

Despite Bilbray’s constant attacks, Heck largely kept his cool — although the debate was held in a studio where the air conditioning had broken down and the hot TV lights made the room stifling.

In her opening statement, Bilbray accused Heck of wanting to privatize Social Security, cut Planned Parenthood funding, criminalize abortion and do nothing to address the wage disparity between men and women. “Joe feels his son should get paid more than my daughters,” she said.

Heck didn’t directly respond, instead noting that his experience and record show he’s best qualified to protect seniors, improve the economy and health care and ensure national security.

“It’s important a member (of Congress) has real world experience,” said Heck, an emergency room doctor who has been in the military for 23 years, including serving in Iraq. “I know what it takes to keep our country safe.”

Heck recently voted against President Barack Obama’s plan to arm moderate Syrian rebels as part of a U.S. strategy to defeat Islamic militants who have gained ground in Syria and Iraq. Asked about his vote, Heck said the rebels are not a unified fighting force and it would be a mistake to arm them with no U.S. military on the ground to guide them.

“We would be making a grave mistake in turning over weapons to an unvetted group,” he said.

Bilbray agreed she wanted more information about the rebels before arming them.

The candidates differed, however, on whether the United States might need to deploy combat troops to Iraq to defeat ISIS.

Heck didn’t advocate putting U.S. combat troops in Iraq now but said it might become necessary.

“We very well may have to put boots on the ground to make sure they remain a sovereign nation,” Heck said.

Bilbray disagreed, saying, “I don’t believe we have the resources to do so.”

On an issue closer to home, Bilbray defended Obama’s Affordable Care Act, saying it has its flaws but provides more protection for Americans, who cannot be denied coverage under the law.

“We needed that sweeping legislation to make sure people had access to affordable care,” she said.

Heck said the consumer protections in Obamacare should be preserved, but he backs legislation to provide incentives for people to get health insurance instead of “penalizing them for not getting insurance” as Obamacare does with fines.

On another hot-button issue, Bilbray said she backed a $15 per hour minimum wage because one-third of Americans are living “on the brink of poverty” because of low salaries.

Asked if she feared doubling the minimum wage could cause layoffs, Bilbray said it hasn’t happened in Washington state, where the minimum wage is $9.32 per hour and might go higher soon.

“We cannot expect people to be making $15,000 ... working 40 hours a week and just getting by in supporting their families,” Bilbray said.

Heck said the unemployment and under­employment rates are too high to raise the minimum wage.

“What they need is a job,” Heck said.

Contact Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Find her on Twitter: @lmyerslvrj.