WEBVTT - Rep. Deborah Wasserman Schultz Talks Security 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:13.800 Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. 0:00:15.520 --> 0:00:19.079 You can't simply secure your way out of the challenges 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:22.080 that we face right now. It's not simply security. We 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:23.960 do need security, we need to make sure that we're 0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:27.640 providing that to members, to staff, into the general public. 0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:30.440 But there's something deeper going on in our society as 0:00:30.480 --> 0:00:32.599 well that we have to address. 0:00:34.720 --> 0:00:37.040 This is Balance of Power on Bloomberg TV and Radio. 0:00:37.080 --> 0:00:40.440 I'm Joe Matthew part of my conversation there with Republican 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:44.400 Congressman Brian Style of Wisconsin on yesterday's Balance of Power 0:00:44.440 --> 0:00:48.440 discussing what's being done to ensure lawmaker safety on Capitol Hill. 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:50.920 He's chair of the House Administration Committee, so this falls 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:53.640 in his portfolio of the panel that oversees funding for 0:00:53.720 --> 0:00:56.240 member security. And of course it comes after reports of 0:00:56.280 --> 0:01:00.760 political activists and lawmakers from both parties canceling public events 0:01:01.120 --> 0:01:04.520 after Charlie Kirk was shot and killed on a college 0:01:04.520 --> 0:01:07.280 campus in Utah on Wednesday. Joining us Now with more 0:01:07.319 --> 0:01:09.640 on this and some of the other stories we're following. 0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:13.440 Democratic Congresswoman Debut Osserman Chelsea Florida. It's always great to 0:01:13.480 --> 0:01:16.480 have you, a congresswoman. Welcome back to Bloomberg TV and Radio. 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:18.880 I'd like to start with that matter of security. I'd 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:21.840 love your greater thoughts on the political violence that this 0:01:21.920 --> 0:01:25.320 country is I fear growing used to. The fact of 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:27.560 the matter is, most lawmakers I have talked to this 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:30.920 week have been very modest about their own security. When 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:32.720 I've asked them if they feel safe, if they think 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:36.640 they should have a security detail. No one has demanded that, 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:39.880 but reports suggest that there is an outcry on Capitol 0:01:39.959 --> 0:01:43.119 Hill for more to be done. And I wonder what 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:45.080 you think when you walk out the door in the morning, 0:01:45.120 --> 0:01:47.520 if you think you should have a security detail. 0:01:49.280 --> 0:01:51.040 Well, Joe, and it's good to be back with you. 0:01:51.280 --> 0:01:53.120 And I'm glad to have the opportunity to talk about 0:01:53.120 --> 0:01:56.800 this because I even my own opinion has shifted over 0:01:56.840 --> 0:02:00.680 the last number of years. My answer, my first answer 0:02:00.760 --> 0:02:03.600 to this question is always that you know, I serve 0:02:03.640 --> 0:02:07.920 in the most representative body in the entire world, the 0:02:07.920 --> 0:02:11.880 one that is the closest to the people, and access 0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:15.560 to their representatives is something that we absolutely have to maintain. 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:19.280 And you know, when security is around you tightly, people 0:02:19.280 --> 0:02:23.639 get intimidated and they feel less comfortable approaching their own 0:02:23.720 --> 0:02:27.040 representative at the same time, though, I mean I had 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:30.239 a pipe bomb delivered to my office along with fifteen 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:35.480 other politicians around the country, where my return address was 0:02:35.680 --> 0:02:38.160 the UH and my name was on the return address 0:02:38.200 --> 0:02:43.560 of every package. The bomb had to be detonated in 0:02:43.600 --> 0:02:48.400 the stairwell of my district office building. There are Paul Pelosi, 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:53.720 Nancy Pelosi's husband attacked with a hammer. I've gotten countless 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:57.680 death threats. I have on and off police outside my house. 0:02:57.800 --> 0:03:02.120 And then it's it's to the point where making sure 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:05.760 that my constituents are protected when I am somewhere, especially 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:09.760 if there's been public notice and myself, protecting myself and 0:03:09.800 --> 0:03:14.560 my family is essential. So an increased security presence needs 0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:18.600 to occur. How we deal with that is something that 0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:23.519 we need to discuss to maintain that balance between accessibility 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:24.120 and security. 0:03:25.240 --> 0:03:28.440 Well, it's chilling hearing you describe all of that. That 0:03:28.520 --> 0:03:31.480 pipe bomb was not a fake, I think is part 0:03:31.520 --> 0:03:33.520 of your point. How does it make you feel when 0:03:33.560 --> 0:03:36.800 the president says that this is the fault of the 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:37.920 radical left. 0:03:39.920 --> 0:03:43.480 It is incomprehensible to me. We have a president who 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:46.720 is not able to meet this moment. I mean every 0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:49.920 major elected official that I know democratic elected official that 0:03:49.960 --> 0:03:54.800 I know, including myself, put out a statement of sorrow 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:59.200 for me, initially wishing mister Kirk hopefully a quick recovery 0:03:59.240 --> 0:04:05.000 and then expressing sorrow about his killing, and also that 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:08.280 we need to make sure that political violence is never, 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:13.640 never the answer, and whether we disagree vehemently or not, 0:04:14.160 --> 0:04:16.360 we all have to make sure we tamp things down 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:18.960 and the president is rapte doing things up. George W. 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:22.839 Bush after nine to eleven when the World Trade Center 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:27.400 was attacked, the Pentagon, I mean the plane crash in Pennsylvania, 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:30.200 he met the moment. He brought us together. He tamped 0:04:30.240 --> 0:04:35.839 down Islamophobia and anti Semitism. And President Obama after the 0:04:35.880 --> 0:04:39.200 Mother Emmanuel killings, did the same and brought this to 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:42.840 the country together. Blaming one side or the other is 0:04:42.880 --> 0:04:46.839 not going to enable us to be able to cool 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:49.400 things down and make sure that we work together. I 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:53.200 do thank Governor Cox, who is really taking the right 0:04:53.320 --> 0:04:56.440 tone here from Utah, and that's really the example we 0:04:56.440 --> 0:04:57.040 need to follow. 0:04:57.920 --> 0:05:00.840 Of course, noteworthy that Governor Cox, as a Republican who 0:05:00.880 --> 0:05:05.800 you're complimenting here, who said our adversaries want violence, our 0:05:05.839 --> 0:05:09.240 adversaries want violence. We have bots from Russia, China all 0:05:09.279 --> 0:05:11.919 over the world trying to instill disinformation. I would encourage 0:05:11.920 --> 0:05:14.720 you to ignore those. This is a big part of 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:17.680 this And by the way, a noteworthy I remember very 0:05:17.720 --> 0:05:20.680 well when President George W. Bush visited a mosque. It 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:24.159 was on the seventeenth of September two thousand and one. 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:27.160 Is there an equivalent move that this president could make 0:05:27.440 --> 0:05:28.320 at this time now? 0:05:30.200 --> 0:05:35.240 You know, I hope he uses the moment to address 0:05:35.279 --> 0:05:41.480 the country and set emanate healing words and ask us 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:44.520 all to you know, find our better angels and come 0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:48.480 together and try to be less vitriolic. People feel very 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:51.480 strongly about you know, a lot of issues right now 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:54.800 on both sides, and I think you know, to quote 0:05:55.160 --> 0:05:58.640 or to paraphrase mister Kirk, you know we should put 0:05:58.640 --> 0:06:00.960 our phones down, tell our kids to put our phones down, 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:05.440 stop drowning and social media and outrage, and really try 0:06:05.440 --> 0:06:09.760 to come together as human beings, human contact, human communication, 0:06:10.400 --> 0:06:12.200 making sure that we get to know each other better 0:06:12.200 --> 0:06:16.080 as people. When I have an opportunity, Joe to talk 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:17.920 to another colleague on the other side of the aisle 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:20.000 and I'm trying to win them over on an issue 0:06:20.000 --> 0:06:22.160 they disagree with, me on. It is always so much 0:06:22.200 --> 0:06:24.520 easier when we're looking at each other in the eye 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:27.640 and we're sitting down next to each other. I have 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:30.479 always found that people like to do, like to help 0:06:30.520 --> 0:06:33.320 people that they like and that they think are nice. 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:35.880 And you don't get to know somebody and know whether 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:38.560 they're nice or if they have any good qualities unless 0:06:38.560 --> 0:06:40.720 we really try to speak to them directly. We all 0:06:40.760 --> 0:06:41.480 need to work on that. 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:45.360 I've only got about a minute left, congress Woman. What's 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:47.480 going to happen when everybody comes back? There was already 0:06:47.480 --> 0:06:50.280 no trust between Democrats and Republicans, which is why we 0:06:50.360 --> 0:06:53.680 keep talking about a government shutdown. I'm guessing we're not 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:55.400 going to have a post nine to eleven kind of 0:06:55.480 --> 0:06:59.680 unity here. Will Democrats and Republicans work together to fund 0:06:59.720 --> 0:06:59.960 the guy? 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:03.640 Well, speaking as a senior appropriator, there is certainly the 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:06.440 opportunity to do that, and the ball is in Republicans court. 0:07:06.520 --> 0:07:09.440 I mean, we can work together on a bipartisan funding bill, 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:15.320 make sure that we don't terminate the Obamacare tax credits, 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:18.440 and bring the cost of healthcare down, make life more affordable. 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:22.600 I'm going to go shopping tomorrow for my family's tailgate 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:28.400 tailgate supplies, and there's a Trump tailgate tax that we 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:31.440 all pay, whether it's ground b for produce or cheese, 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:35.480 and the Trump tailgate tax has to be addressed. We 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:38.360 have to make sure that we come together, and we 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:41.120 have an opportunity to do that. But if Republicans take 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:45.240 this go along strategy and ignore the affordability crisis that 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:48.200 Americans are facing, then they will be the ones that 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:49.120 shot the government down. 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:52.240 I think we just got a little preview of the 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:56.680 Democratic messaging the tailgate tax. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman, Chelsea, Florida, 0:07:56.720 --> 0:07:58.560 thank you, as always for talking with au Some on 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:00.400 Bloomberg and we'll see you when you get back in town.