-Welcome to Nevada Week .

I'm Amber Renee Dixon.

Her close win over Republican challenger Adam Laxalt ensured Democrats would retain control of the U.S. Senate.

Nevada Week recently spoke with Senator Catherine Cortez Masto about her reelection and vision for her second term in Congress's upper chamber.

Well, Senator, we had wanted to have you on as part of a debate with your former challenger Adam Laxalt.

You agreed.

We never heard back from him.

But overall, there was a lack of debates across the country ahead of November, and I'm wondering, what do you think about whether congressional candidates should be required to debate?

(Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto) Well, I think it-- I support it in Nevada, absolutely.

I do support that we have debates and that they are broad enough that there is no partisanship on either side, that we are actually coming into it to debate policy that all Nevadans get to hear on so many venues--from TV, to print, to radio--that covers all of that, including a Spanish language.

I think it is important, and that's why I agreed to do it.

-In talking about your narrow victory over Adam Laxalt, you have attributed part of it to simply getting out and talking to voters, learning about them, finding out about their needs.

You reportedly went out to the state's rural areas and even solicited support from Republican officials.

I'm wondering what you told those rural Nevadans and those Republicans that they're now counting on you to fight for in the 118th U.S. Congress.

-Listen, I'm a candidate that was running.

I'm now an elected Senator for the last six years, honored to be reelected again.

It's incumbent upon me to get out and talk to people in Nevada.

How am I going to represent them if I don't hear the issues that, that matter to them.

And for the last six years, I've been able to do that for so many Nevadans, including in our rural areas.

That's why I've been able to fight for resources that were important for some of our rural communities, including bringing broadband into our communities that opened the door to telemedicine and telehealth and e-learning, including fighting for resources for affordable housing throughout the state, including in our rural communities, along with the important infrastructure we need in our rural community.

So that's something for me that was important that I learned just showing up and talking with them and then following up and fighting for them.

And I will continue to do so.

And listen, I said this when I won this reelection: Whether you voted for me or not, I'm going to fight for Nevadans because it's good for all of us.

When-- You know, it is true when people say that "rising tide lifts all boats."

That's what this is about.

When everybody succeeds, it's good for the state.

And that's going to be really my focus going into the next six years.

-What are those Republican officials looking for from you this session?

-Well, I think in general, Nevadans-- Listen, I was honored to have the support of not just Republicans and Democrats, but nonpartisans.

Remember, there's a lot of nonpartisans in our state.

And the focus for many Nevadans that I talked to was they just wanted people that were solving problems, that were working to address the issues they were dealing with and working across the aisle.

And to me that was just as important, and I will continue to operate in that way.

-I want to talk to you about the high cost of housing, particularly the Clark County Lands Bill which you sponsored, and was touted as a way of making more land available for development, and some of that land would be available for building affordable housing.

That bill did stall.

Do you plan on reintroducing it?

-Yes, we are going to continue.

We are still continuing to work on that bill.

It is important for so many reasons, including to address drought and other issues in our, in our community in Southern Nevada.

But housing was an important part of it.

But that's one piece of the housing puzzle.

Right now I'm getting ready to go talk to some housing advocates here in Washington that I've worked with in Nevada to really talk about what we need to continue to do to support the building of affordable housing in our state.

It's just-- It's not only the land, it's the financing, how you put it together.

It is making sure that here at a federal level, we're supporting not only the financing that incentivizes that affordable housing, but we're also supporting programs like the HOME program or other programs that will bring funding into our state to support affordable housing.

We've already seen it.

You know, the work that I have done in the past that, that right now our state legislation, the current governor, Governor Sisolak, took $500 million of the federal funds that I fought for to put it towards affordable housing in Nevada.

So that kind of cooperation and coordination won't.

No matter where you live in Nevada, I'm going to continue to address to ensure that we're bringing those resources for affordable housing.

-Clark County had reportedly pulled its support for that bill, but would not comment on why.

According to your office, it was because you had to enter into negotiations to get some bipartisan support for it, which resulted in 24,000 acres being made available for development instead of 30,000.

What kind of adjustments, if any, will you be making to get Clark County support back?

-Well, we're already talking with Clark County.

They're already on board with us.

There are, as you well know, in that bill, many stakeholders.

And the goal for me was to hear from everyone to make sure we're accommodating everybody's needs and, at the same time, getting it through a political process here in the Senate.

And I will say, I am pleased by all the stakeholders, including Clark County.

Everybody's still talking.

Everybody's still working towards that common goal.

And for me, as well as the rest of the delegation, the fight really is to make sure we finalize that and still move Clark County Lands Bill.

-Anything in particular that Clark County says you have to have in there?

-Well, there are a number of things.

It's a large bill.

But I will tell you, everybody-- And let me just say thank you to every stakeholder out there who had worked and has worked on the Clark County Lands Bill.

It's been important for so many people, and it really is about how we manage our growth.

At the same time, allow for economic development, for housing, for to address the drought, and so many other areas where we really can focus together and still allow for that outdoor recreation that we know is an economic driver in our state.

So it was a number of stakeholders coming together.

And I'm just pleased we all continue to work in the same direction.

-The volatility of gas prices, how do you ensure at a federal level that you can have affordable gas for your constituents?

This isn't an issue just for Democrats or Republicans, this is everybody coming together to lower these costs, including, by the way, big oil.

You know, if big oil we're really focused on helping us lower these costs and actually doing the drilling on the 9,000 permits they're sitting on that would put more of that supply in instead of taking those profits, these record profits that they have and giving it to their stakeholders, we would be in a better position.

This-- And that's why I have a price gouging bill that I have introduced to address this.

We have to continue to work together to lower costs for families, just like we did when we negotiated and actually passed legislation to allow for prescription drug negotiation that's going to lower healthcare costs for families.

The Inflation Reduction Act that's going to lower energy costs for our families in Nevada, that was work that was important for us to continue to focus on these high prices.

And it's something I'm committed to doing.

Another priority you've mentioned is immigration reform.

Because Republicans will be controlling the House and the 118th U.S. Congress, U.S.

Senator Alex Padilla of California recently said that, quote, It's going to be extremely difficult to get through common sense humane immigration reform, including protections for DACA participants, end quote.

What realistically do you think you can accomplish in terms of immigration reform?

-Well, let me just say this: I think, unfortunately for many of us, including some of my Republican colleagues, there is still this focus on passing DREAM, a dream act, and helping Dreamers and DACA recipients.

To me, not only is that a priority, TPS recipients, farm workers, essential workers, we should be focused on that.

And we can do that and still really make sure we're providing resources to secure and support border security in this country.

We can do both.

They're not mutually exclusive.

Unfortunately, some of my colleagues want to play politics with it on the very backs of Dreamers.

I will say this: This is a fight for me that I'm going to continue.

We are right now looking at trying to negotiate something that really focuses on Dreamers and border security at the same time.

And we're having those conversations between Republicans and Democrats.

To me, this is an important first step, and we need to continue to talk to try to move them and not give up.

And then in the next Congress, figure out what we can continue to do working together or utilizing the vehicles we have to pass this.

But it is important we get it done.

Why do I say that?

Because you and I both know.

You know Dreamers in our community.

We know them.

They're there.

They're on the front lines of this pandemic.

They have grown up in our communities and want to be a central part of it.

And they-- They really are entitled to live there and be there and be a part of it.

They want to pay taxes.

They want to be a part of our economy.

They're entrepreneurs in our communities.

That is separate from border security issues that we can also address.

So to me, this is really an issue that we need to prioritize and continue to focus on.

-If you can do both, protect the immigrants that are already living here and secure the U.S. border, what do you do about immigrants who are currently trying to get into the country illegally or plan on it?

-Well, that's the border security.

That's the conversation we're having is you can do both.

You can still have a-- fix a broken immigration system and reform it and treat people with, with respect or dignity and secure our borders at the same time, to give resources to the border patrol, to so many along the border that need to secure those borders.

Listen, it's something I know well, because as Attorney General, these are issues I worked on, on the border.

There's a lot of drug trafficking, human trafficking, weapons trafficking that comes across that southern border.

I know it because I worked with the AGs from Mexico to address those issues.

I was the only Attorney General in the state of Nevada that entered into agreements with those AGs from Mexico to address those issues.

So that's when I went, when I got to the Senate.

This is an issue I was going to continue to fight for.

First thing I did when I got here was call the head of Border Patrol, say what do you need?

What do you need in your budget to help us ensure that you have the resources and tools you need to continue to secure our border?

And I will continue to fight for that.

We can do that and, at the same time, absolutely address an issue for our Dreamers, our DACA recipients, TPS recipients, and farm workers in this country.

We can do both.

-With that Republican majority in the House, the slight Democratic majority in the Senate, what are you looking to pursue in terms of federal protections for abortion or even access to contraception like the morning-after pill?

-Well, I'll tell you, just the fact that I won is ensuring that the Republicans in the Senate can try to pass a federal abortion ban.

And to me, now we need to continue to open that door to ensure that women in this country have every right to choose their reproductive freedoms and make those decisions about their health care, without some elected representative in the room with them or dictating to them what should be done.

And that includes, to me, continuing to pass legislation like I've introduced to allow women to freely travel to states like Nevada to seek health care in the state of Nevada, from doctors who are going to be protected and not criminalized for providing that care.

And I also do believe that is important, we pass federal legislation that really gives women the right and the freedom to make these decisions without being criminalized.

-And finally, Senator, Democratic National Committee members voted to make Nevada the second presidential primary in the country, after South Carolina.

You advocated for Nevada to go first.

Why is this a big deal that Nevada does not get to go first?

-Well, I think Nevada should be first because at the end of the day-- and this is, this is really what we put in our application.

And we satisfied all the criteria that were set by the Rules and Bylaws Committee of the DNC, which is that we are a very diverse state.

The state of Nevada is a microcosm of the rest of the country.

We are prolabor.

We have hardworking families there, blue collar families that are working there, along with a beautiful diversity we have in not only the people that live there, but the geography and the type of work that is there.

So to me, if you're a presidential candidate and you come to Nevada and you can have a message that resonates with Nevadans and win Nevada support, you're going to be much better off going and competing in some of these other states because of the diversity that we have.

-U.S.

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, thank you for your time.

-Thank you.

It was great to talk with you.