Heller, Berkley lock horns in second Senate debate
October 11, 2012 - 9:47 pm
In the second Senate debate between U.S. Sen. Dean Heller and Rep. Shelley Berkley, the congresswoman on Thursday defended her work on kidney issues, which is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee looking at whether her advocacy financially benefited her husband.
Asked by the debate moderator whether she had any regrets about not publicly disclosing her husband was a kidney doctor and not abstaining from legislation on such matters, Berkley said she had none.
"My only concern was for the well-being and the health of the people of the state of Nevada," Berkley said, adding she had worked on 114 pieces of health care legislation and only eight were related to kidney issues. "I think that demonstrates my concern was for all patients" and a variety of diseases.
"I could not have done more to make sure that people knew my husband was a kidney specialist," Berkley added, although she did not formally disclose that fact at the time.
The ethics cloud hanging over Berkley's head was the topic of the first question from moderator Mitch Fox during a one-hour debate, which was interrupted for several minutes at
8:41 p.m. by a storm-caused power outage during the live telecast from the VegasPBS studios.
The outage happened as Heller and Berkley were debating energy policy.
"We could use some now," Berkley quipped after the lights went out.
It was a light moment in an intense, issues-focused face-off between Heller, a Republican, and his Democratic challenger, who disagreed on everything from Medicare and immigration to taxes and health care.
The debate was sponsored by the Nevada Broadcasters Association and televised on three dozen TV stations statewide, giving many voters a chance to see the candidates side by side.
Heller and Berkley are locked in a tight race, which could help determine which party controls the Senate after the Nov. 6 election. Democrats now have the majority of the seats.
Berkley has been named two years in a row on a watchdog list as one of the most corrupt members of Congress because of the ethics investigation.
She and Heller both worked to save a kidney transplant center at University Medical Center in 2008, lobbying federal authorities to keep it open so Nevadans didn't have to go out of state. But she also worked separately to push legislation to keep Medicare reimbursement rates high for kidney treatment, although her husband owns dialysis centers.
"I think it was the appropriate thing for me to do as a member of Congress who cares passionately" about health care, she said, adding Nevadans expect her to "stand for them and fight for them."
Heller, given a chance to respond, didn't criticize Berkley. Instead, he told the audience that anyone who wanted to know more about the topic can "read the New York Times," which ran a story last year that detailed Berkley's work on behalf of the transplant center and on kidney legislation.
Heller turned the subject to President Barack Obama's health care law, which Berkley supported. He said the law should be repealed because it's too costly and government shouldn't mandate health care. He predicted within five years Americans would be "thrown into government pools" to get their care.
"We do need to reform the health care system in this country," Heller said without giving details about how he would go about that. "Obamacare is the wrong way to do it."
Heller and Berkley also butted heads on immigration after Heller was asked why he supported making English the official language, which is something that angers Latino activists. Hispanics are a key voting bloc in Nevada and largely lean Democratic, but Heller has been courting them.
"I want to make sure that everybody succeeds that's here in this country. That's the goal," Heller said. "That's why we continue to push English."
He went on to say he backed immigration reform, particularly because now it's too difficult and costly to go through the system to become a legal resident or U.S. citizen.
"If you want to come here, should you have to pay thousands of dollars to hire a lawyer?" he asked. "Should you have to wait years in order to immigrate? So the principles that I'm trying to support are trying to make these people succeed. I want them to succeed here in this country."
Berkley said Hispanics want the same things other people want, including good jobs. But she said they also want to see legislation passed to allow adult children of illegal immigrants to be allowed to stay in the United States and become citizens under the DREAM Act, a bill she voted for and Heller voted against.
The act would offer a path to citizenship to young immigrants who serve in the U.S. military or go to college. Berkley, growing animated, said Heller wanted to deny them their right to become Americans.
"What he's saying is you go serve in our military, you come back, we're going to deport you," she said.
Heller said he supports military veterans being allowed to become citizens, but he doesn't back the DREAM Act as written because it would be akin to amnesty, which he doesn't support.
In another heated exchange, the two clashed on banking regulation after Berkley was asked why she voted in 1999 to deregulate the industry. Most experts say the deregulation led to the industry's near financial collapse and the lingering housing crisis that has devastated Southern Nevada.
"It was a mistake," Berkley said, then added she wanted to look forward not back.
"What we need to do now is rein in the big banks," Berkley said.
She criticized Heller for not voting for the Dodd-Frank bill, which was passed to restore regulations and eliminate some of "the worst abuses of Wall Street."
Heller said he was glad she admitted her mistake. And he said the Dodd-Frank bill was passed "to give cover to people who voted for the bailouts" of big banks several years ago. Heller was the only member of Nevada's delegation who voted against the bailout, which was passed before Obama took office.
"When they wanted to be bailed out, she said OK," Heller said, adding that the result has been that five major banks have prospered while small banks and credit unions have closed.
In response, Berkley said it was "absolutely nonsense" that she voted to protect big banks. And she tried to turn the tables, calling Heller "Mr. Deregulation" for opposing too much industry regulation.
"He still supports the banks that got us into this mess," Berkley said. "This was one time when maybe we needed to regulate these banks."
The debate covered a wide range of topics, including the U.S. Supreme Court.
Berkley named Ruth Bader Ginsburg as her favorite high court justice, saying she was happy she voted against the Citizens United ruling that allows outside political groups to spend millions on campaigns. And she called Clarence Thomas the worst, saying he is "as far to the right as possible."
Heller said he admired most the late Thurgood Marshall, but he said he didn't think he's in a position to name a justice "who shouldn't be on the court." Instead, he said he hoped one day to see Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, a former federal judge, on the Supreme Court.
Contact reporter Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Follow her on Twitter @lmyerslvrj.