Congressman thank you for joining us here at New Mexico in Focus Russell it's great to join you today to start off with Congressman you are finishing your first term in Congress in this divided Congress where very little legislation was passed this session into law why should the constituents of District 2 send you back to Congress for another term well look what we've seen in the last Congress is one of the most dysfunctional uh bodies in the House of Representatives in the history of this country now that was for one reason it was Maga Republicans that controlled the agenda and as we saw Republicans struggle even to elect a house Speaker uh when we talk about the most pressing issues that are facing our country uh inflation uh immigration uh when we talk about uh you know the future of Global Security Republicans weren't able to deliver for the American people and so that was really frustrating but what did do is work in a bipartisan way to introduce bills and to support legislation that has a chance to pass if we have a democratically controlled Congress in the next uh in the next two-year cycle now Vice President K Harris whom you support for President says she will support that bipartisan border security immigration Bill if she goes to the White House that bill of course um calls for more miles of the border wall and restricts how some immigrants or migrants can seek Asylum is this a piece of legislation that you would support well look since being in Congress I have met with uh with immigrant families with immigrant rights organizations um I've been down to the Border uh to meet with Customs and Border Protection and border patrol uh and you know I've understood the issues that exist right here in the second district of New Mexico and the truth is that you know it's not a one- siiz fits-all solution I represent 100 0 miles of the US Mexico border I also uh represent ranchers and Farmers that right now are facing historic labor shortages um I represent uh communities in Albuquerque that can't get enough Hospitality or restaurant workers um so I think we have to match our nation's needs uh Workforce needs with the with the challenges that we face at the border um you know we didn't get a chance to vote on that bill on the house side because Donald Trump killed that bill on the Senate side which was a bipartisan compromise and so as you know both Chambers get a chance to work on that bill before it get sent back to Congress and so I am I am eager and I look forward to being able to work in a bipartisan way to come up with some uh Solutions uh that can help fix the uh the immigration challenges that we face and at the same time support and help uh our economy right now to lower cost for everyday Americans but you know some immigrant Advocates and some Democrats strongly oppose that measure are these measures and they say it's too Draconian if not racist how you know what do you do to change their mind to engage them on that bipartisan effort well look the fact is that we haven't had any meaningful immigration reform in this country since the Reagan Era and so many of our families here especially in my district uh that went through that uh process of naturalization and eventually American citizenship uh benefited tremendously from that and those are the folks that today are our small business owners those are the folks that today uh are nurses and doctors and teachers in our communities and so we need to figure out a way to make sure that those folks that have been working hard in this country for years uh including dreamers which we have seem to forgotten about at least the Republicans have seem to forgotten about uh first and foremost uh get a fair shot and that's why the American dream and promise act should be at the top of the agenda for Democrats uh just as a start and so uh when we talk about you know the humanitarian crisis that we are facing at the border um I think that there's legislative and policy solutions that can help us meet our Workforce needs that can help uh make sure that we have a humanitarian and orderly process for people whether they're seeking Asylum or seeking to come into this country under specialized visas have an opportunity to have some type of residency you know and I've introduced six different bills uh that that deal with this issue and those six bills have been directly informed by the people of the second district of New Mexico so first first and foremost I'm hoping my bills get heard in committee and eventually pass the house floor now former president Donald Trump has says he would begin the largest deportation in American history on day one even saying he would invoke the 1798 uh enemies aliens act and possibly create camps around the country to make sure that this happens what's your opinion of Donald Trump's plan to deport millions of people currently in the country and how would you respond as a US Congressman as someone who represents a district district with a lot of immigrants well look that's not a feasible solution and that is just putting it lightly uh the thought of even rounding up Hispanic Americans or Latino Americans or really any other immigrant class in this country uh into some type of deportation Camp uh is really unheard of and it's not who we are as Americans uh this is probably one of the most ill-conceived plans that I've ever heard from any presidential candidate as long as I've been paying attention to politics it's something that is simply not feasible that would cost this country uh billions of dollars and not only that but uh it does a diservice to all of the folks who have been here who have been working hard and so I don't see that as a realistic plan uh I'm sure that plays with some of Trump's SP uh you know we just saw uh his surrogates recently at vadison Square Garden you know refer to uh the Puerto Rican Community as a heap of trash uh we you know we we heard the comments about Latino families and that uh that are incredibly offensive uh this is what he truly represents and his party represents whether he can actually get any of those things accomplished through policy or administrative action is one of the things I'm in Congress to stop Congressman you've advocated for better uh access to healthc care and rural areas especially tribal parts of the state and applauded a recent groundbreaking um of a Reproductive Center in Donan County this September tell the viewers what have you accomplished in Congress in regards to rural healthc care and what do you plan to push if reelected well look uh we face so many different uh healthc care challenges across the state especially in our rural communities and what we've seen the greatest need for at this point is mental health care services uh that's incredibly important for you know places like Lordsburg and Deming and Carl's bat and Hobbs and Magdalena Reserve uh you name it uh and and our tribal communities as well um so you know I've introduced legislation to help bring rural doctors to New Mexico uh to make sure that we have the opportunity to bring residencies uh here to New Mexico uh and increase the visas for folks that are willing to work in rural Health Care uh and have an opportunity at American citizen uh citizenship I think that's really important and when it comes to Reproductive Rights look we know that we are a safe haven for women uh across the country but really our neighboring states of Arizona and and Texas uh and even Oklahoma uh who we are helping today to achieve the reproductive health care services that they truly need uh and that's in large part due to our state legislature but it also comes with the support of our federal legislature and that's uh myself and my colleagues in the house and in the Senate uh and we will be opening here soon and we just broke ground uh on what will be the largest reproductive Health Care Center in New Mexico uh right here in Los cruus and Congressman if there is you have the chance to vote on a law that protects Reproductive Rights across the country as what the vice president is uh proposing if that bill though contains a compromise getting late torm abortion off the table meaning that it would be not included in that package is that a deal that you could support well well look I'm going to stick with this and this is I think something that everybody who uh experiences pregnancy women across the country can agree with and that is that the health care decisions uh you know that should be left up to their doctors and to their family and to their faith should remain that way now this was the law of the land before Row versus Wade was overturned my opponent IET Herold uh has voted consistently over her time in the state legislature and in Congress to ban abortion uh with no exceptions for rape or for incest or for the life of the mother that is her record uh that is what she has voted on and that is what the voters of New Mexico should know and understand about how she plans to vote in the future uh for you know for me look every every pregnancy is different and I cannot speak to those women who have to make very hard decisions with their families uh about uh when it is right to terminate a pregnancy uh every situation is different and I think putting limits on that and allowing the government to control uh when those decisions should be made takes away from those rights uh that I think uh you know Hispanic men like myself that were raised by strong women we shouldn't be making those decisions for uh for for women here in New Mexico or across the country uh and that's something I'm going to stick with and that's something I strongly believe in Congressman your opponent vet Herald and the rncc have hit you pretty hard on this campaign one add loose with the facts uh used a an El Paso police report from 20 years ago detailing allegations that you were calling and harassing employees at a former job the human resource director from your former employee told police that you called one of the employees the nword what is your response to that well look F first and foremost that is a that is a uh a categorical lie uh that never happened and I would never use that word and in fact the manager of that same facility uh said so as such uh commented on a story and said uh Gabe Vasquez would never say this and look this is just another example of Republicans trying to detract away from the real issues uh what is more damaging I think to our constituents and to America is that my opponent wants toan abortion with no exceptions if you think about what actually really matters to the people of the second district of New Mexico uh and where we're at today is the very uh differing positions that me and my opponent have in this race and that's what really matters uh but that is a categorical lie so that police report from your Vantage Point is wrong absolutely it is untrue and it is wrong okay Congressman vice president Kam Harris has changed her position on fracking before she uh advocated a ban on fracking now she says that she's opposed to a ban on fracking New Mexico is relying on oil and gas revenues for its budget where do you stand on fracking do you oppose a ban or are you for it well look New Mexico has one of the greatest advantages in all of them the United States in that we are one of the greatest energy producers of all the 50 states in fact we have the advantage of both having fossil fuels and renewable energy production right here in my district you know we're building the two largest renewable energy transmission lines uh that will be able to unlock the power of wind and solar uh in places like Capitan and carlbad in Hobs and in Lordsburg uh and and at the same time we also have incredible fossil fuel production tion in fact we have produced more fossil fuels and have leased more federal land under the last Administration than any Administration ever before and what I want to make sure is that one we are protecting the health care of workers and of those communities that are producing fossil fuels and so we have to make sure that we have clean air and clean water otherwise we cannot have any other Industries any other businesses survive and so you know it's really important to me uh so much so that I introduced the energy Workers Health Improvement act uh which is a compensation fund essentially uh that would give the actual workers uh the opportunity to receive Health Care based on any type of respiratory diseases or illness that they have from companies that have failed to properly cap their Wells that have excess methane emissions uh and that are contributing to pollution in surrounding communities now that doesn't mean we can't have a strong fossil fuel economy we certainly can uh and that includes an all all of the above approach and and we can do that we can do it safely but we have to have somebody who's looking out for the people and not for the CEOs and that's the difference between me and my opponent Harold and the Republicans have repet used footage of you in an attack ad claiming that shows this is evidence Gabe Vasquez supports defunding the police now a lot was left out in that video in the ad please explain to our viewers once and for all do you support defunding the police or what kind of reforms are you looking toward well look if you look at my record and this is what voters should be looking at is I've actually provided more funding to police and to border security than IET herrell has uh during her time in Congress in fact that goes to the tune of over $4 million during my time here in Congress in projects that I've sponsored by myself in places like Albuquerque and in places like Deming and in places like Los Cruses in addition to that uh when I was on the Los cruus city council every year that I was there I voted to increase the police budget and that's to the tune of over $2 million uh so you know my opponent can say what she wants but my record is there uh when it comes to uh securing funding for for for police and for Public Safety and the reality is look that the conditions on the ground are changing you know now that we see the fal crisis and we see a mental health crisis where we allocate funds and how we treat the people that are uh facing addiction or you know that that really truly need those Services uh for them to get back on their feet is just as important as funding uh the police and I think we can do both of those things we can both fund law enforcement and fund Mental Health Services uh for these folks and that's what I'm going to continue to do that's my agenda while I'm in Congress but I have again supported and given more money to Public Safety and to local police and State Police than my opponent ever has and lastly Congressman the board Patrol this year turned 100 years old and let's be honest it's it's had a troubled and racist history with Mexican Americans uh especially on the border today its staff is more diverse it's larger but there are elements of the border patrol especially among the unions that are problematic from Facebook groups that post really offensive things to union leaders making really offensive remarks do you support a broad probe into the border patrol before you vote on any expansion to the ranks well well look the the border patrol is uh United States largest law enfor enforcement agency uh and with that of course comes the duty of folks like myself in Congress and others at the administrative levels of the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that we have the right people in positions of power whether they be supervisors uh you know patal agents that are in charge of places like Deming or the uh Lordsburg sectors uh those are things that I keep a close eye on and those are relationships that I have formed with people on the ground since I've been in Congress uh we absolutely need to make sure that every police force in this country whether it be border patrol local police State Police uh or other federal agencies are acting uh within the boundaries of the law uh that are acting in the best interest of the American people and that have uh the opportunity to do their job in an environment where they are not harassed or intimidated and so I take every complaint that our office gets seriously uh whether it be from a uh family here in Southern New Mexico or whether it be from a border patrol agent themselves uh we have more work to do to provide oversight over our nation's largest law enforcement agency uh and that's something I'm committed to doing with my colleagues in a bipartisan way as well especially as we Face uh more and more challenges uh at the border uh from you know from from Lordsburg all the way down to Santa Teressa Congressman Gabe Vasquez thank you for joining us today on New Mexico in Focus thank you so much Russell