Derrick Van Orden

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) - The 3rd Congressional District Candidates, Congressman Derrick Van Orden and Democratic challenger Rebecca Cooke, squared off for the first time, two weeks before the November 3 midterm election.

Below is the full transcript of the candidate forum.

“Good afternoon and thank you everyone for being here today. The Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce and WEAU are excited to be partnering on this candidate forum to discuss issues in the race for Wisconsin’s third congressional district. Our goal here is to provide a safe space where everyone in Western Wisconsin, all Western Wisconsin voters, can hear directly from each candidate so voters can make an informed decision when casting their ballots. We are happy to have Congressman Derrick Van Orden and Miss Rebecca Cooke with us today and thank them for their participation in the forum. This one-hour forum will have 10 or 11 questions depending on the time. Each candidate will have two minutes for an initial response to answer the question and then 30 seconds to respond to the initial answer of the other candidate. To preserve equity, time limits will be enforced and questions will be rotated between candidates, so no candidate will go first and last consistently. John will now share more on the decorum.”

“And for folks viewing the broadcast of this forum, a brief explanation of the discussion guidelines. To assure that speakers are treated with respect, the House of Representatives has strict rules of decorum for both its members and the visitors seated in its galleries during the consideration of legislation on the floor of the House. The guidelines for today’s forum and discussion mirror the spirit of those House rules and have been shared with the candidates and the forum audience in advance. Candidates are expected to treat each other with respect and to speak only during the time specifically allotted to them. Further, members of the forum audience have been asked to refrain from audible comments and applause throughout the forum.”

“We will now start with our questions. Congressman Van Orden, you will start first. Our first question surrounds producer costs, inflation and the economy. Businesses throughout Western Wisconsin continue to face higher costs for labor, materials, energy, insurance and borrowing, which in turn often increases the price of goods and services to consumers. What specific federal policies would you support to bring producer costs down while maintaining overall economic growth? Congressman Van Orden, your two-minute answer starts now.”

“Well, thank you for the Chamber. Thank you for everyone coming out today, I appreciate it greatly. I’ll be frank, this political environment is vile. And with that, I want to make sure that you actually know who I am, because I don’t think you really do. My name is Derrick Van Orden. I’ve been representing you in Washington, D.C. for three years. I was raised in abject rural poverty by a single mother and also my Auntie Peggy right there. We had to move in with my grandmother. We were on food stamps when it was a stamp that you actually stuck on a card. We had subsidized lunches and government cheese. I dropped out of high school when I was 16 years old. I joined the Navy at 18. I served for 26 years and retired as a United States Navy SEAL Senior Chief with multiple combat deployments. My wife, Sarah Jane, in the middle. We’ve been married for 34 years now. We just had our 12th grandchild. And 13 and 14 are on the way. And that’s what this election is about. It’s about the future. But let’s talk about the past for a minute. You asked about inflation. It was over 9% under Joe Biden. As of this morning, it’s 2.6%. Eggs were $6 a dozen. They were $1.70 this morning at Kwik Trip. Milk was $4.20 a gallon. It’s now $2.99. Ground beef was $5.60 a pound. It’s now $4.99. This is today. Gas was $5.12 a gallon. It’s now $4.02 a gallon. Here’s the problem. Diesel. It peaked out at $5.86 under Joe Biden. It’s now $6.13 as of this morning. That’s why President Trump signed the Harvest Fuel Relief Act last night. And that will provide $9 billion to our farmers to make sure that the diesel prices get down during this harvest season and we can get over this supply and demand hub that we’re in right now. So that’s who I am. If you want to talk a little bit later about housing, that’s fantastic. We just got the Road to Housing Act done. That’s going to increase liquidity for younger people, get rid of some regulations, so that we can have the American Dream for our young people. And that is home ownership.”

“Great. Well, thank you so much to the Chamber for hosting today’s conversation. I’m Rebecca Cooke, a sixth-generation Wisconsinite, born and raised here in Eau Claire, just two miles down the road. And I’ve been talking to people all around the 3rd Congressional District about their concerns about rising costs, right? And I’ve been also talking to our producers who are seeing their costs increase as well to produce our goods that are going to the grocery store. I’ve held roundtables across the 3rd Congressional District with farmers from soybean producers to cranberry producers, we’re the largest producers of cranberries in the nation. And from what I’m hearing from our producers, it’s their input costs are increasing. You know, you look at this war in Iran, which has increased diesel prices, increased fertilizer prices. It’s costing more for our farmers to get goods to the store. And you look at this increase in diesel prices. It’s costing more to truck our goods to the grocery store. So, if you’re going to Woodman’s here in town, you’re seeing prices that are through the roof. Just yesterday, I hosted a town hall at the tank talking to people filling up their gas pump at Kwik Trips around the region and asking them, you know, where they think the increased costs come from. And they point squarely to this war in Iran, which Derrick Van Orden voted for six times for. This was a war that our president started without any sort of congressional approval. And I think that we’ve got to have a war powers resolution and make sure that Congress is deciding when we go to war. And also making sure that, you know, we’re putting America first and that we’re investing in our communities, putting Wisconsin first, and that’s not spending billions of taxpayer dollars overseas.”

“Congressman Van Orden, your 30-second response.”

“Thank you. It’s outstanding to hear that Rebecca Cooke is an America first candidate. I will be getting her a MAGA hat later. Listen, let’s talk about Iran right now. Fifty years ago, radical Muslim mullahs took over our embassy in Tehran. And they took 52 Americans’ hostages. They held them for 444 days. And there’s a lot of people out here who had a yellow ribbon around their tree waiting for those hostages to get released. I remember it vividly, even though I was a child. Then, they’re responsible for killing thousands of American citizens, including some of my friends. They’re responsible for the Beirut bombing in 1983. They closed the Straits of Hormuz with conventional weapons only. They must never, ever have a nuclear weapon.”

“Again, I’m focused on an America first agenda and making sure that we’re putting more resources back into the pockets of American taxpayers. I want to make sure that you can afford your healthcare. I want to make sure that our public schools are not having to go to referendum every year. And I want to make sure that you can go to the grocery store, to the gas pump, pay your rental mortgage and have any sort of money left over at the end of the day.”

“Our next question addresses the workforce and immigration and goes to Ms. Cooke first. As immigration remains one of the most contentious issues in Washington, employers across Western Wisconsin struggle to find enough workers. How would you balance the need for border security with the need for illegal immigration pathways to help employers fill