HOUSTON — Sen. John Cornyn and his Democratic challenger, state Rep. Rick Noriega, clashed over the financial industry bailout and health care in their first debate Thursday.

At the outset, Mr. Noriega assailed Mr. Cornyn’s support for the $700 billion Wall Street rescue package.

“We can’t believe anything that we hear out of Washington, D.C., any more,” Mr. Noriega said in a debate broadcast statewide on public television.

“This decision was made in haste,” he said, adding that the stock market’s negative reaction shows the bailout wasn’t well thought out.

“It didn’t have the accountability,” Mr. Noriega said. “Quite frankly, we need to see that people go to jail.”

Mr. Cornyn, who has called for criminal prosecution of financial industry executives, defended his vote as necessary to keep the economy from tanking.

“Strong leadership means you have to act in a time of crisis and not just stand there,” he said.

On health care, Mr. Noriega criticized the Republican incumbent for opposing expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program for youngsters in working-poor families.

“That’s wrong,” said Mr. Noriega, who said it’s unacceptable for Texas to lead the nation in the percentage of its children without coverage.

Mr. Cornyn responded that income limits for CHIP shouldn’t be raised until the state does a better job of signing up youngsters eligible for CHIP and Medicaid.

“He spent 10 years in the Texas Legislature and allowed this condition to get so bad that 800,000 kids are not even signed up,” Mr. Cornyn said.

Mr. Noriega also assailed Mr. Cornyn for a proposal to give small business employees the same tax breaks on health care that workers get at big companies. The plan is controversial because it would push more families away from group plans at their workplace and into the individual and small group marketplace.

“Senator Cornyn has endorsed a plan that would tax middle-class families with a scheme to move people away from employer-based insurance to the HMOs and insurance companies that have consistently supported his campaign,” Mr. Noriega said.

Mr. Cornyn replied, “Well, that string of misrepresentations coming from Representative Noriega, I was looking over to see whether his nose was growing as he was speaking. Of course that’s not true.”

The economy and talk of the bailout dominated the debate, though.

Mr. Cornyn said to have rejected the bailout package “would’ve left the American people and our economy in ashes,” jeopardizing Texans’ retirement savings. He said the measure was backed by 75 senators, increasing the actual tally by one.

“I share your anger,” Mr. Cornyn said. “But I don’t think we can just say, ‘I’m mad’ and not come up with an alternative, not to mention the $4.5 billion in tax relief that is also included in this bill that goes to victims of Hurricanes Ike, Dolly and Gustav that you would have voted against.”

Mr. Noriega scoffed, saying Galveston residents would’ve gotten federal help eventually even if the bailout bill wasn’t passed.

He said the bill does nothing to prevent more foreclosures against struggling workers.

“The first priority for that bailout had to be Texas homeowners … and it was not,” Mr. Noriega said. “Voting for it, Senator, was wrong.”

Libertarian Yvonne Schick of Spicewood, who also participated in the debate, also opposed the bailout.

“Texans feel betrayed,” she said. “They feel they can no longer trust either party to stand on the Constitution … or to even use common sense.”