- Democratic Senate candidate Kou Lee.
Thank you for joining us.
- Thank you for having me, Steven.
- Let's get right into it.
You're an entrepreneur and a business owner.
Specifically, you own a restaurant in Appleton.
- Yes.
- Why do you wanna be a US Senator?
- You know, Steven, that's a really good question.
For one, I think that our country, we have ah-
We all could agree that we, we came a long way
when it comes to Liberty
when it comes to freedom.
Democracy.
But I still think that we got long ways to go.
As you can see what is happening around us right now
from the Supreme Court and
also, you know, what we see around us,
but ultimately,
you know, I wanna fight
for the little people.
I wanna fight for the American people.
I wanna make sure that the
boys and girls who grew up
in a place where, you know
it's being disadvantaged or they don't have much
I wanna provide hope to those
young people.
I wanna provide hope to, you know,
the Asian
the minority groups
that we could achieve an American dream
and that we could, you know
raise to the highest level to help our country,
to protect democracy.
Those are the things that I think it's important to us.
And that's why I'm running.
- If you were elected what would your
legislative priorities be?
- Steven, you know,
there's so much that we could do
as a United States Senator or as a country.
But to me, there are some priorities.
There are some things that we must
do as a country.
For one education,
by almost any measure the United States has
failed to prepare our children
for the challenges of the 21st century world.
We are lagging behind the rest of the world
in math, science, and engineering.
And we're being outperformed by countries like
China, Canada, and Europe.
And that is a fundamental that I think
it's a problem.
It's an American problem that begs for attention
and it should be as important to us as winning
the cold war of the last century.
And also,
you know, I, myself as a minority
who's the first generation college graduate,
you know, we have to help the middle class,
the lower class families
to make sure that we could help them
get to college, stay in college and
graduate from college without being saddled
with the lifelong of college debts.
Those are important issues.
- On the economy, inflation has reached a
40 year high.
What action should federal lawmakers take on inflation?
- When it comes to inflation,
I think the uh, national reserves, uh
and the Biden administration
I think they doing a pretty good job of
of what a government should do to kind of slow
down the process.
The wealth has been shifted from the middle class
up to
a few individuals
that actually is holding a lot of wealth right now.
Corporations have now concentrated and consolidated,
become big companies, big corporations
where they can control the channels.
Yeah. And, and so what you're saying is
that they could increase prices anytime they want.
They could decrease any time they want
but the decreasing part
and the part that they share the profit
with the American public has not happened yet.
- Shifting on to gun violence
there have been hundreds of mass shootings this year.
There's been an uptick in gun deaths.
President Joe Biden recently signed new gun control measures
into law.
How would you address gun violence as a Senator?
- You only have to be 18 to own a gun,
but you have to be 21 to drink.
And I think that's kind a little bit ironic here.
And I think we have to evaluate that as a country.
And the only way to change that is
that the American public will raise these questions
and reach out to their elected officials,
and demand change.
Otherwise the big money,
the lobbyists
these are the people that will control our lives.
And we have to take that back to the American public.
We have to put the power back to America.
- The Supreme Court has overruled Row versus Wade,
which now returns the decision on abortions
to the individual states.
How should US Senator
what should US Senators do on the matter of abortion?
- When it comes down to matters affecting your freedom,
I will always come down your liberty,
your privacy,
your right to choose.
And it's unfortunate what we saw and what's happening right
now in our country.
It's a right.
It's a fundamental right that has been in place
for 50 years.
And now we are appealing that, repealing that.
And what's next?
I mean, civil rights, voting rights, marital rights?
It's a religious theocracy that we are imposing
on America, which is not healthy for democracy.
And this will lead to many, many things down the line.
Ultimately, you know, more government control.
- Senator Ron Johnson has won election twice.
Why are you the Democrat who can beat him
in the general election in November?
- Mr. Johnson, when it comes to Johnson,
I am, I too
believe that we should remove him from the office
with the things that he has done for us.
It's not taking us forward.
It's actually capping us,
capping our growth as an America,
as a state.
And we must retire him.
As long as he's making his money,
that's all he cares about.
And that's unfortunate.
And I think that what we need
is a person with the clear conscience
with the good moral compass that will stand
up to this type of behavior.
And I will bring to the United States Senate
honesty, integrity, and respect.
I think I could restore that instantly
for Wisconsin, for America.
And I think I would represent that well
on the world stage as well.
- Democratic US Senate candidate Kou Lee.
Thank you again for joining us.
- Thank you Steven for having me.