1 00:00:02,920 --> 00:00:05,880 Speaker 1: This is Alec Baldwin, and you were listening to Here's 2 00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:10,400 Speaker 1: the Thing from My Heart Radio. This fall will be 3 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:14,200 Speaker 1: airing a rebroadcast of some of my favorite episodes from 4 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:18,760 Speaker 1: our archives. This week, we're featuring two powerhouses of the 5 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:24,279 Speaker 1: political field, Congresswoman Katie Porter and former California State Assemblywoman 6 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: Lorraina Gonzalez. Gonzalez resigned from her position in the Assembly 7 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:34,599 Speaker 1: in January, but continues to fight for union causes as 8 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:39,960 Speaker 1: the executive secretary Treasurer of the California Labor Federation. Here's 9 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: my conversation with the progressive leader from my guest today 10 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:50,000 Speaker 1: falls into one of my favorite categories politicians to keep 11 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:54,960 Speaker 1: an eye on because they're doing amazing things. Lorrena Gonzalez 12 00:00:55,000 --> 00:01:00,280 Speaker 1: represents California's eightieth Assembly district in southern San Diego. She 13 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:03,760 Speaker 1: was first elected in two thousand thirteen and got into 14 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 1: politics after years of working as a labor leader. She's 15 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:12,759 Speaker 1: a progressive Democrat who supports working in middle class Californians 16 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:16,759 Speaker 1: with an impressive list of wins, including paid sick leave, 17 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 1: overtime for farm workers, protecting janitorial workers against sexual assault, 18 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:27,480 Speaker 1: automatic voter registration at the d M v diaper tax relief. 19 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:33,040 Speaker 1: The list goes on and on. Growing up, Assemblywoman Gonzalez 20 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:37,120 Speaker 1: saw first hand what government can do or not do 21 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:41,399 Speaker 1: to help working class families. She was raised by a 22 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:44,400 Speaker 1: single mom who put in long hours as a nurse 23 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:49,040 Speaker 1: to support Gonzalez and her two older brothers. Today, Lorraina 24 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 1: Gonzalez has five kids in a blended family with her husband, 25 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: Nathan Fletcher. He's also in San Diego politics as a 26 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 1: county supervisor. Gonzalez and Fletcher of both Democrats, but that 27 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:05,520 Speaker 1: wasn't always the case. He was a Republican. He was 28 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 1: actually a Republican assembly member and at the time I 29 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:11,320 Speaker 1: was the head of the a f l c I 30 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:15,440 Speaker 1: O in San Diego, and he was always a much 31 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 1: more moderate Republican. But through the process when he ran 32 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 1: unsuccessfully for mayor, we had a ton of discussions. This 33 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 1: is before we started dating or anything, and he saw 34 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 1: the light. He became a Democrat. Then we started dating, 35 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 1: then we got married. That makes sense to me. The 36 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 1: first thing I think about when I look at your 37 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 1: biography and so forth, beyond your family, the thing that 38 00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:41,160 Speaker 1: strikes me most is my goodness. You have the trifecta 39 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:47,760 Speaker 1: of academic credentials here Stanford undergrad, Georgetown Masters, u c 40 00:02:47,919 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 1: l A Law school. You have the credentials to have 41 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:54,799 Speaker 1: done a lot of things for yourself. You know, you're 42 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: certainly the whole Goldman Sachs material academically and everything. And 43 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:04,400 Speaker 1: yet labor organizer, State Assembly. What is it? What was 44 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:07,680 Speaker 1: the calling for you that you wanted to forego taking 45 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:10,080 Speaker 1: care of yourself in order to take care of other people? 46 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:12,640 Speaker 1: I put a lot of that on my mom. So 47 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:15,560 Speaker 1: my mom, for most of my life, was a single mom. 48 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 1: She just worked her ass off. I don't know else 49 00:03:18,200 --> 00:03:20,200 Speaker 1: to put it. I don't ever remember her having a 50 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:23,400 Speaker 1: forty hour work week. She worked fifty sixty seventy hours 51 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:27,560 Speaker 1: a week, multiple jobs at times, all to make life better, 52 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:30,240 Speaker 1: not just for me and my brothers, to give us 53 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:32,400 Speaker 1: an opportunity to go to college and do things, but 54 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:34,920 Speaker 1: also to make life better for her patience for people 55 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 1: she was serving. She taught me that in life, what 56 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 1: actually matters isn't how much money you have in your 57 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:44,400 Speaker 1: bank account or how many trips you get to go on, 58 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: but how much you do to save the world. And 59 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:50,040 Speaker 1: we laugh now, my husband and I, and it's it's 60 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:51,880 Speaker 1: a question, do you want to savor the world or 61 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: save the world. We're still on the save the world trajectory. 62 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: At some point, you know, it's everybody's right to take 63 00:03:57,520 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: a step back and savor the world a little bit. 64 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:01,720 Speaker 1: There's just so much work to do, and I think 65 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 1: that I saw that, and I saw hard working people 66 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 1: and saw what they go through, and just wanted to 67 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:09,200 Speaker 1: ensure that I could try to make other folks lives 68 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:12,480 Speaker 1: a little easier. Now, there's a variety of bills and 69 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: so forth that you've authored or co authored, and I 70 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:17,480 Speaker 1: wanted to just hop through a couple of those, because 71 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:20,679 Speaker 1: I find all this stuff very fascinating. Assembly build five 72 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:25,280 Speaker 1: requiring workers classified as employees rather than independent contractors for 73 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:29,240 Speaker 1: more labor protection. Take me through that. What's the difference. Well, 74 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 1: over the last maybe decade, a lot of employers have 75 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,599 Speaker 1: taken advantage of loopholes in the law and classified what 76 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:40,839 Speaker 1: would be traditional employees as independent contractors. And yes, it's 77 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: cheaper for the employer, but the cost that it puts 78 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 1: on both the employee and society is a large has 79 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: to be taken accounts. So when you're an independent contractor, 80 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:52,559 Speaker 1: the employer does not pay their person of your Social 81 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:55,720 Speaker 1: Security or Medicare. That's seven point five percent. You're responsible 82 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:58,599 Speaker 1: for the full fiftent of those two things. They're not 83 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:02,320 Speaker 1: required to provide hell care. They're not required to give 84 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:04,640 Speaker 1: you paid sick leave, paid family leave that we have 85 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:07,800 Speaker 1: in California. They don't have to provide you with workers compensation. 86 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:10,719 Speaker 1: You don't have the right to a lot of civil 87 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:14,360 Speaker 1: rights and sexual harassment laws. As an independent contractor, you're 88 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:17,080 Speaker 1: viewed as an individual small business, not a worker of 89 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:21,359 Speaker 1: the company. So obviously there's a number of benefits and 90 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:24,039 Speaker 1: most important during COVID, which we found is nobody's paying 91 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 1: into unemployment insurance for you. So if you lose your job, 92 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:29,800 Speaker 1: you're on your own. So it is this idea and 93 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:32,719 Speaker 1: I can imagine and for some people it's an important 94 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:35,039 Speaker 1: piece to be an independent contractor, to be a true 95 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:38,599 Speaker 1: small sole proprietor small business, and we have those. You know, 96 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 1: you may be a plumber, you might be a doctor 97 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:44,280 Speaker 1: that has your own business and you're on your own. 98 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:48,960 Speaker 1: So for example, a doctor as an independent contractor, he 99 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:52,000 Speaker 1: would then become whose employee to qualify for the benefits 100 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 1: you're enumerating here. Well, in doing a B five We 101 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:57,039 Speaker 1: took what was called in California a decision by the 102 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:00,640 Speaker 1: California State Supreme Court dynamics, and we applied that it 103 00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:03,440 Speaker 1: was going to be presidential basically, and so we applied 104 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:05,440 Speaker 1: it to our entire labor code, and we said, but 105 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:08,200 Speaker 1: there will be exceptions. And we took the reasoning and 106 00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:10,159 Speaker 1: the decision that said, if you have the ability to 107 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 1: bargain for yourself, if you truly require a certain certificate education, 108 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:18,920 Speaker 1: you have the ability to provide these things for yourself. 109 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:22,600 Speaker 1: Were less concerned, right, because what happens is a doctor 110 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:26,200 Speaker 1: doesn't need these benefits necessarily, they self ensure they self 111 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 1: provide them, and then if something goes wrong, society is 112 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:31,480 Speaker 1: not on the hook, right, It's not like some taxpayer 113 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: funded program. They can actually take care of themselves. If 114 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:37,880 Speaker 1: a janitor is classified as an independent contractor and doesn't 115 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:40,159 Speaker 1: have those benefits and they lose their job, they're going 116 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:43,400 Speaker 1: to end up on state sponsored support. We we don't 117 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:46,480 Speaker 1: want people to to be homeless or go hungary, so 118 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:49,200 Speaker 1: we do provide a safety net, but they don't have 119 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:51,880 Speaker 1: somebody paying into the system. There's no social contract that 120 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:55,640 Speaker 1: was established. And those companies who are misclassifying workers are 121 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:58,840 Speaker 1: at a competitive advantage over companies who are biding by 122 00:06:58,839 --> 00:07:02,040 Speaker 1: the law. So this is just strengthening the existing law. 123 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:04,320 Speaker 1: And a lot of this came about because of the 124 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:07,600 Speaker 1: upswing of all these tech companies that think if you're 125 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:09,880 Speaker 1: hired through an app, you're an independent contract or your 126 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 1: own business, right. And that's what I'm curious about, is 127 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:15,000 Speaker 1: that is that let's say I have a building, an 128 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:17,760 Speaker 1: office building. Are you're telling me that they will hire 129 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 1: janitorial staff and call them independent contractors and not call 130 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 1: them employees. So usually what would happen if you hired 131 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:28,120 Speaker 1: a buildings You hire janitorial company and you don't know 132 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:30,720 Speaker 1: you have the building. You hire a company. That's all fine, 133 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:34,280 Speaker 1: but the people working for the company, they would be 134 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:38,520 Speaker 1: independent contractors when they're actually just employees who have been misclassified. 135 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:41,080 Speaker 1: Give us the most vivid example of who the bill 136 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:44,120 Speaker 1: was aimed to help. The bill was aimed to help 137 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:48,000 Speaker 1: delivery drivers for Uber. For example, Right, yep, I carry 138 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:50,560 Speaker 1: my Uber Eats bag. I'm being told where to go, 139 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:53,480 Speaker 1: when to go. I can't negotiate with Uber over my 140 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:56,120 Speaker 1: pay I can't negotiate with Uber over whether or not 141 00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:58,960 Speaker 1: I want to take a certain job, and uh Uber says, 142 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:00,720 Speaker 1: I'm a small business and I have to pay for 143 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:03,840 Speaker 1: my own expenses, for my own insurance. Um, I have 144 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:06,640 Speaker 1: to pay my own taxes. There's no payroll taxes taken out. 145 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:10,880 Speaker 1: Uber investors and Uber owners get very very very wealthy 146 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 1: and billionaires and the workers making submimum wage. Another area 147 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:19,080 Speaker 1: is in two thousand seventeen. This one was very sensitive 148 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: to me because I was involved tangentially, but I was 149 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:25,120 Speaker 1: part of drafting and circulating petitions in terms of lead 150 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:27,680 Speaker 1: paint in the schools of New York, And in two 151 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:29,920 Speaker 1: thousand and seventeen, you would have been requiring all K 152 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:32,720 Speaker 1: through twelve schools to test their drinking water for lead. 153 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:37,320 Speaker 1: Did your concern for this issue in was the trigger 154 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:40,120 Speaker 1: that you're a mother? What was the genesis of that? 155 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:43,520 Speaker 1: Obviously a lot of what I do is the fact 156 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 1: that I am a mom, and I'm a mom first, right, 157 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:49,320 Speaker 1: So I approach a lot of issues that we're facing 158 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:52,079 Speaker 1: as any mother would. Yes, you send your kids, I 159 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:55,320 Speaker 1: send my kids public school. I hope and pray um 160 00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:57,480 Speaker 1: that they're safe, that nobody's going to gun them down, 161 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 1: that nobody is going to um poise in them that 162 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:03,959 Speaker 1: nobody's gonna sexually abuse them and that they'll get a 163 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:06,360 Speaker 1: good education at the same time. So there's a lot 164 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:09,360 Speaker 1: of trust we put into our schools. And we had 165 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:12,320 Speaker 1: a situation in my district where it was a really 166 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:16,040 Speaker 1: odd situation. A dog. They put water out and the 167 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 1: dog they reacted to it, and so they end up 168 00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:22,040 Speaker 1: testing the water and um, the water had lead in it. 169 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:24,760 Speaker 1: And this is like New York City. We've we fought 170 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:27,640 Speaker 1: for years in my community in particular, which is a 171 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:31,560 Speaker 1: Latino working class community, to replace lead paint in the houses. 172 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:35,240 Speaker 1: We took lead out of candy. We know that it 173 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:40,120 Speaker 1: poisons children and disproportionately poor children. And so when we 174 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:42,800 Speaker 1: found it in the water fountain at school, it was 175 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:46,160 Speaker 1: a shell shock for me because the one thing you 176 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:48,160 Speaker 1: sent your kid to school and you're like, don't drink 177 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:50,680 Speaker 1: the sugary drinks. Go have some water, Go drink some water, 178 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:53,160 Speaker 1: drink for the waterfown, drink more, you know, and like 179 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:57,079 Speaker 1: how many times diet code exactly, And I thought, oh 180 00:09:57,120 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: my gosh, for my own kids, you think of that thought, 181 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:01,880 Speaker 1: like how many times I say, okay, after pe, make 182 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:03,720 Speaker 1: sure you drink some water from the water fountain, you 183 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:06,600 Speaker 1: know hydrate well a little. Did I know we're sending 184 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:10,240 Speaker 1: kids to poison themselves. So what we did is in 185 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:13,240 Speaker 1: some of these schools are very, very old, and we 186 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:16,199 Speaker 1: said it's time to test it for lead, and we 187 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 1: got a lot of pushback. Everybody's like, well, is it 188 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:21,240 Speaker 1: makes sense to test? I'm like, how can we not 189 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:24,200 Speaker 1: test when we know that there's lead in the water? 190 00:10:24,559 --> 00:10:27,440 Speaker 1: Who on earth would be opposed to testing the drinking 191 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:30,040 Speaker 1: water of your children in the school? Who people who 192 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:32,480 Speaker 1: know that if it's positive, they're going to have to 193 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:35,280 Speaker 1: pay to replace the pipe? Right? What was the upshot 194 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:37,280 Speaker 1: of that in two thousand and seventeen, Did the testing 195 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:39,960 Speaker 1: lead to any remediation of the problem that they ripped 196 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:42,040 Speaker 1: the pipes at a certain schools? Or what happened they filter? 197 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:45,240 Speaker 1: It was filtration the answer filtration um they replaced they 198 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:49,640 Speaker 1: brought in water stations to some And what happened is 199 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:52,480 Speaker 1: there there had already been a number of school bonds 200 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:55,400 Speaker 1: that had passed, both statewide school bonds as well as 201 00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:58,200 Speaker 1: local school bonds. And what happened as soon as they 202 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:01,160 Speaker 1: started finding this, then, know, when you pass the school bond, 203 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:02,600 Speaker 1: there's a lot of things you can spend it on. 204 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:05,560 Speaker 1: In in San Diego Unified, for example, had well we 205 00:11:05,559 --> 00:11:08,200 Speaker 1: had some football fields and some lighting that needed done, 206 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:12,079 Speaker 1: and we wanted, you know, some HVAC done in the classrooms. 207 00:11:12,080 --> 00:11:15,200 Speaker 1: All important things. But if you find lead in the water, 208 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:17,960 Speaker 1: guess what, replacing those water fountains gets to the top 209 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:19,800 Speaker 1: of the list in money that was already going to 210 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:22,880 Speaker 1: be spent. It becomes prioritized. So the world didn't end. 211 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:26,680 Speaker 1: The waters has been tested, and now it's being fixed. 212 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:34,760 Speaker 1: California Assemblywoman Lorraina Gonzalez. If listening to interviews with up 213 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:37,680 Speaker 1: and coming politicians gives you a sense of hope, be 214 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:41,680 Speaker 1: sure to check out my conversation with Texan Christina since Soon, 215 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:45,760 Speaker 1: who co founded the Workers Defense Project. I think that 216 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:48,760 Speaker 1: there's an image of Texas that people have that is 217 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:52,079 Speaker 1: not the true Texas story. When people think about Texas, 218 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:54,280 Speaker 1: they usually think about us in a singular way of 219 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:57,280 Speaker 1: people like my white grandfather, which was a cowboy, And 220 00:11:57,320 --> 00:11:59,200 Speaker 1: the truth is that the state is you know, you 221 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:00,960 Speaker 1: have a city like Houston, it's one of the most 222 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:04,960 Speaker 1: diversities in the entire country. You have one in three 223 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 1: Texans that are immigrants, were children of immigrants. The state's 224 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:12,200 Speaker 1: population is Latino, it's majority people of color at this point. 225 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:16,920 Speaker 1: Here more of my conversation with Christina sin soon in 226 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:21,760 Speaker 1: our archives at Here's the Thing dot org. After the break, 227 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:26,400 Speaker 1: Lorena Gonzalez talks about cheerleaders and her fight to get 228 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:30,840 Speaker 1: California's biggest sports teams to pay them like the professionals 229 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:45,040 Speaker 1: they are. I'm Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's 230 00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:49,840 Speaker 1: the Thing. In two thousand eighteen, Lorrena Gonzalez co authored 231 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:52,880 Speaker 1: a bill which put California on a path to generate 232 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:58,280 Speaker 1: one of its electricity from clean, carbon neutral energy sources 233 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:01,360 Speaker 1: by two thousand forty five. She says the state is 234 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:05,520 Speaker 1: on track to meet its goal even sooner. We're already 235 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:08,520 Speaker 1: almost there. I gotta be honest. We're gonna get to 236 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 1: renewable quicker than we had imagined or hoped. But that's 237 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:15,640 Speaker 1: because we required it by way of what. By way 238 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:18,240 Speaker 1: of large scale solar farms that you're seeing go up, 239 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:22,680 Speaker 1: wind energy that you're seeing. We're exploring other forms biomass, 240 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:28,160 Speaker 1: pub stations, things to provide renewable energy sources throughout California. Obviously, 241 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:30,960 Speaker 1: rooftop solar plays a role in that, but we have 242 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:34,880 Speaker 1: really adopted in California an approach that is getting us. 243 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:39,360 Speaker 1: On any given Saturday, about eight of the energy coming 244 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:42,560 Speaker 1: through a grid is now coming from renewable sources. How 245 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:45,120 Speaker 1: did you get involved with the cause of the cheerleaders 246 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:48,880 Speaker 1: in the NFL go as you lost? I guess you 247 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:51,920 Speaker 1: lost your box seats of the Charges game. I was 248 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:54,199 Speaker 1: not a popular person at the Charges. I'll tell you that. 249 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:58,079 Speaker 1: What happened, to be honest, is you gotta figure I 250 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:01,440 Speaker 1: was actually a Stanford cheer leader. So I was a 251 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:04,600 Speaker 1: cheerleader and a labor leader. Right, I know how to 252 00:14:04,679 --> 00:14:07,560 Speaker 1: use a bullhorn and a megaphone. Um, it's it's a 253 00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:11,080 Speaker 1: rare combination. So when I had read at the time 254 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:14,600 Speaker 1: the Raider ats, the cheerleaders for the Raiders had started 255 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:16,840 Speaker 1: a couple of them start a lawsuit against the Raiders 256 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:19,800 Speaker 1: for not paying the minimum wage because they were classified 257 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:23,200 Speaker 1: actually as independent contractors. And so I talked to the attorneys, 258 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:25,080 Speaker 1: and I'm an attorney, So I talked to their attorneys 259 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:29,080 Speaker 1: and I was like, this is outrageous. They're basically almost 260 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:33,240 Speaker 1: paying to do this fantastic job. Yes, it's a job 261 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:36,920 Speaker 1: women want. It's a job that that is respected to 262 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:39,760 Speaker 1: a certain extent, but it's still a job everybody else 263 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:41,520 Speaker 1: on the football field. It doesn't matter if you're the 264 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:44,160 Speaker 1: physical trainer. It doesn't matter if you're the person picking 265 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:46,400 Speaker 1: up the trash. It doesn't matter if you're selling the peanuts, 266 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:48,280 Speaker 1: if you're the coach, if you're the player. You're all 267 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:51,600 Speaker 1: being paid like an employee. And these cheerleaders were being 268 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:56,360 Speaker 1: given a stipend, being penalized. They signed an employment contract 269 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:58,600 Speaker 1: with the NFL. So I said, this is easy. We're 270 00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:01,320 Speaker 1: going to make them by co employees so that they 271 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:05,000 Speaker 1: have basical labor protections in California. And so I remember 272 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:07,440 Speaker 1: the first time I introduced it, and of course a 273 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:09,640 Speaker 1: lot of journalists were more fascinated with fact that I 274 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:11,720 Speaker 1: was a cheerleader Stanford in one of those pictures, and 275 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:13,680 Speaker 1: so we're like, all right, here's a picture, now can 276 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:17,320 Speaker 1: we talk about this really important issue. And and then 277 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:20,040 Speaker 1: my favorite part of the story is having to go 278 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:24,000 Speaker 1: to then Governor Jerry Brown. And he's anyone who knows 279 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:26,480 Speaker 1: he's a little I don't want to say crotchety. You 280 00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:29,440 Speaker 1: just never quite know what you would get with no 281 00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:33,240 Speaker 1: nonsense guy, No nonsense, and I mean, I'm like, God, 282 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:36,320 Speaker 1: I got to talk to him about cheerleaders, like this 283 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:38,280 Speaker 1: is gonna And so I said, um, we were at 284 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:40,360 Speaker 1: a dinner together, and I said, Governor, when you have 285 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:41,880 Speaker 1: a chancel and talk to you about this bill I'm 286 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:45,400 Speaker 1: working on. It has to do with professional cheerleaders. And 287 00:15:45,440 --> 00:15:48,040 Speaker 1: he said I was a cheerleader, and I was like, 288 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:52,200 Speaker 1: are you kidding me? He apparently he was a cheerleader 289 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:54,840 Speaker 1: in college or high school, and so I was like, Oh, 290 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:56,720 Speaker 1: I think I'm going to get this one. But we did. 291 00:15:56,800 --> 00:15:59,480 Speaker 1: I'm very proud of that. So what was that path? 292 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:03,680 Speaker 1: Was it directed an individual team? Was this league? Why 293 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:06,600 Speaker 1: you wanted the NFL to recognize? Was the situation in 294 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:10,560 Speaker 1: San Diego duplicated at all the NFL teams? Well, none 295 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:12,920 Speaker 1: of them were getting paid. None of the NFL cheerleaders 296 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:15,280 Speaker 1: to this day, only in California do they have rights 297 00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:18,360 Speaker 1: as an employee. There was a bill actually introduced in 298 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:20,320 Speaker 1: New York as well, but it never made it through. 299 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:24,680 Speaker 1: So it was any professional sports teams in California, the 300 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:27,800 Speaker 1: dancers or cheerleaders have to be treated and have the 301 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:30,800 Speaker 1: basic labor protections of an employee. So that includes of course, 302 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:36,120 Speaker 1: the Chargers, the Rams, the Lakers. It was basketball and football. 303 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:39,480 Speaker 1: So I was going to ask about that because I 304 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:41,760 Speaker 1: go to Knicks games, or I used to, and those 305 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:44,120 Speaker 1: women were out there not getting paid either now and 306 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:47,400 Speaker 1: a lot of them, but they are now. Only in California. 307 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:50,320 Speaker 1: There's a national fight still against the NFL. There have 308 00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:52,240 Speaker 1: been a lot of lawsuits, a lot of the teams 309 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:54,920 Speaker 1: have lost lawsuits, and there's been a lot more attention 310 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:57,600 Speaker 1: to it. There's a couple of documentaries and issues pertained 311 00:16:57,600 --> 00:16:58,880 Speaker 1: to we'd like to see it, of course on the 312 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:01,760 Speaker 1: national level. So how did the lawsuit work in California 313 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 1: and not in the other states. Well, it was settled, 314 00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:07,879 Speaker 1: and so in other states it's been settled as well. 315 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:11,600 Speaker 1: But so often when you settle these lawsuits on worker issues, 316 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:14,639 Speaker 1: the judge accepts a settlement, so it makes whole the 317 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:18,080 Speaker 1: workers who are suing, but it doesn't force companies to 318 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:21,320 Speaker 1: fix the problem. So it's kind of like an ongoing 319 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:24,760 Speaker 1: invitation to sue without fixing the problem. And that's why 320 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:27,280 Speaker 1: sometimes you need legislation to come in and say all right, 321 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:30,119 Speaker 1: nobody can do this, this is enough. Now. In two 322 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:33,960 Speaker 1: thousand nineteen, you passed legislation that extends the statute of 323 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:38,680 Speaker 1: limitations for survivors of sexual abuse who are seeking justice 324 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:41,280 Speaker 1: in court. Now, I think most of our listeners know 325 00:17:41,359 --> 00:17:44,320 Speaker 1: what a statute of limitations is, but I want you 326 00:17:44,359 --> 00:17:47,040 Speaker 1: to explain, as an attorney, the reason for a statute 327 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:50,040 Speaker 1: of limitations in most cases, and there are some crimes 328 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:53,000 Speaker 1: I believe, like murder, where there is no statute of limitations. 329 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:55,720 Speaker 1: But where there is a statute of limitations in place, 330 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:58,159 Speaker 1: why is there one. There's often a statute for a 331 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:01,919 Speaker 1: variety of reasons. One, you can't preserve evidence. So you know, 332 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:05,760 Speaker 1: I could say, hey, when twenty years ago you stole 333 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:09,120 Speaker 1: this TV from me, Well, that TV doesn't exist. Witnesses 334 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:13,600 Speaker 1: probably don't exist. It's hard to pin that down. People die, 335 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:16,320 Speaker 1: they move away exactly, or or they forget I mean 336 00:18:16,359 --> 00:18:18,800 Speaker 1: quite frankly, you know, I can't remember twenty years ago. 337 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:21,680 Speaker 1: Probably should have integrity in the trial of the witnesses. 338 00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:23,280 Speaker 1: You need to do it in a certain time frame. 339 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:27,000 Speaker 1: But childhood sexual assault is unique. So there's some things 340 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:29,200 Speaker 1: that made it unique and made the statute of limitations 341 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:32,800 Speaker 1: very damaging. Number one, so often the primary witness the 342 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:37,040 Speaker 1: child themselves, uh suppresses it basically doesn't think about it, 343 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:39,399 Speaker 1: doesn't come to terms with it, and until later in 344 00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:43,199 Speaker 1: life when they're dealing with a failed marriage or depression 345 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:45,800 Speaker 1: that it comes out. And so sometimes you know, that's 346 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:49,240 Speaker 1: the primary witnesses a person who was assaulted, if you will. 347 00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:51,800 Speaker 1: And what we had with childhood sexual assault is actually 348 00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:53,800 Speaker 1: a lot of people knew what was happening. We actually 349 00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:57,280 Speaker 1: have official documents like the church, the Boy Scouts, they 350 00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:00,160 Speaker 1: actually had complaints that were filed that were put away 351 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:02,439 Speaker 1: that there still exists and you still need all of 352 00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:05,480 Speaker 1: this proof, if you will, to establish a case, but 353 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:08,800 Speaker 1: it allows time to have passed and yet still victims 354 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:12,200 Speaker 1: to get some sort of justice. So I understand you 355 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:14,840 Speaker 1: want some choice words for Elon Musk when he was 356 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:19,200 Speaker 1: going to move his company from California. Is that true? Yes, 357 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:22,000 Speaker 1: But I want to put it in context. Look, my 358 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:24,640 Speaker 1: mouth gets me in trouble. I'd lie if I said otherwise. 359 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:26,640 Speaker 1: I say exactly what I think and what I mean. 360 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:29,840 Speaker 1: But you have to look in context. Elon Musk has 361 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:33,680 Speaker 1: made a crapload of money off of California taxpayers, and 362 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:36,840 Speaker 1: if people don't understand why, it's because everything he makes 363 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:40,640 Speaker 1: is subsidized by taxpayers. So the tesla's that flew off 364 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:43,399 Speaker 1: the market, those all had taxpayer rebates on a hundred 365 00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:45,320 Speaker 1: thousand dollar cards. I mean, people who didn't need the 366 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:48,120 Speaker 1: rebates were given them because we want to encourage electric vehicles. 367 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:52,320 Speaker 1: His solar panels and solar storage had been highly subsidized 368 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:55,160 Speaker 1: by the state California, so taxpayers have helped make him 369 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:58,520 Speaker 1: a billionaire in California. We have really supported Elon Musk 370 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:01,920 Speaker 1: and coming the labor movement. He hasn't really been too 371 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:04,199 Speaker 1: good on worker issues, so he's been slapped down by 372 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:06,880 Speaker 1: the n l r B. He's he's anti worker. He's 373 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:09,960 Speaker 1: had really some big safety problems in his facility. So 374 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:12,119 Speaker 1: I've always been a little irked, like, here we are 375 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:14,560 Speaker 1: giving you taxpayer dollars and you can't even abide by 376 00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:18,520 Speaker 1: the law when it comes to union organizing. That upsets me. Well, 377 00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:21,679 Speaker 1: during the pandemic, he decided forget it. I don't like 378 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:24,480 Speaker 1: these orders. I'm going to open up my factory in Fremont. 379 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:27,560 Speaker 1: It doesn't matter what the county public health officer is saying. 380 00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:30,200 Speaker 1: And you're talking about an area where we had tons 381 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:32,960 Speaker 1: of Latinos dying from COVID. We had the spread. It 382 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:35,720 Speaker 1: was at roaring at the time. So he brings back 383 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:37,720 Speaker 1: his workers and he says, if anyone stops him, he's 384 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:40,840 Speaker 1: going to take his jobs to Texas. I mean, at 385 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:44,200 Speaker 1: some point, look, every elected official in Calfoya should be 386 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:48,359 Speaker 1: saying I won't say it here, but go go away, 387 00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:53,439 Speaker 1: Elon Musk. There is a point where where as elected 388 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:56,199 Speaker 1: officials and this kills me. It doesn't matter who it 389 00:20:56,359 --> 00:20:59,879 Speaker 1: is who is getting things from us, right, leadership is 390 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:02,800 Speaker 1: also being able to make those tough decisions and say, hey, 391 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:05,040 Speaker 1: all right, we like your product, we like what you're 392 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:07,760 Speaker 1: doing for the environment. But by the way, we've got 393 00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:09,840 Speaker 1: rules and we're going it doesn't matter who you are, 394 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:12,400 Speaker 1: you're going to stick by the rules too. And it 395 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:16,000 Speaker 1: it irks me that so many of our rules in California, 396 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:19,719 Speaker 1: in this nation, we apply them disproportionately to communities like 397 00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:22,240 Speaker 1: mine and not to billionaires like Elon Musk, and I 398 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:24,199 Speaker 1: think we have to be stronger about that. He has 399 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:26,119 Speaker 1: a lot of fans on Twitter, and I got a 400 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:31,359 Speaker 1: lot of lush comes with the territory. It does. Well, 401 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:33,800 Speaker 1: let me just say this, you were such an amazing 402 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:37,120 Speaker 1: woman and all your credentials and your accomplishments and your passion. 403 00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:41,520 Speaker 1: You're somebody who it's still your task to save the world, 404 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:43,359 Speaker 1: I'm afraid, and not savor the world. You have to 405 00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:46,480 Speaker 1: have to postpone the savoring of the world a little 406 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:49,520 Speaker 1: bit longer. You and your husband. You have to keep going. 407 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:52,280 Speaker 1: There's no turning back. You've got to keep running and 408 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:54,400 Speaker 1: keep doing this great work you're doing. You've been doing 409 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:57,280 Speaker 1: amazing work, and you were such a role model, and 410 00:21:57,359 --> 00:22:00,239 Speaker 1: we wanted you on because people spoke so highly of view. 411 00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:04,480 Speaker 1: Andrew Day, the actress, was talking about the work you 412 00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:08,280 Speaker 1: did with that school down there. Robert E. Lee. Yeah, 413 00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:11,280 Speaker 1: in San Diego. You can imagine, yes, because we care 414 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:13,560 Speaker 1: about our history. You had the name of the school changed. 415 00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:16,080 Speaker 1: You and other people were working on that cast I did. 416 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:18,800 Speaker 1: And this was before we kind of started attacking the 417 00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:22,320 Speaker 1: Confederate name issue, so I got to see what people 418 00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:25,800 Speaker 1: said before they realized it was politically incorrect. But you 419 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:28,000 Speaker 1: don't have a school in San Diego named after Robert E. 420 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:30,199 Speaker 1: Lee in the nineteen fifties, the same year that we 421 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:34,080 Speaker 1: ended segregation in the schools, and it not be tied 422 00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:38,159 Speaker 1: to racism. So that school today is over kids of 423 00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:40,959 Speaker 1: color and they finally don't have to go to school 424 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:44,080 Speaker 1: that is named after not just the biggest traitor in 425 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:46,760 Speaker 1: our in our history, but somebody who was fighting to 426 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:50,720 Speaker 1: keep people segregated, in keep people enslaved. Well, what an 427 00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:53,119 Speaker 1: honor it is to get to meet you. I know 428 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:55,840 Speaker 1: your time is valuable. Thank you so much, Thank you, 429 00:22:58,119 --> 00:23:03,520 Speaker 1: Lorraina Gonzalez. My next guest is United States Congresswoman Katie Porter, 430 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:07,159 Speaker 1: a Democrat in her second term and wielder of the 431 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:11,880 Speaker 1: famous prop the white Board of Justice. Here's my conversation 432 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:19,960 Speaker 1: with the congresswoman from Katie Porter represents California's district in 433 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:24,960 Speaker 1: Orange County, which is traditionally conservative. She's a consumer protection 434 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:28,680 Speaker 1: attorney and a law professor. She quickly developed a name 435 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:32,280 Speaker 1: for herself in her first term with tough questioning of 436 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:36,240 Speaker 1: people testifying before Congress, often using her famous white board 437 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:42,160 Speaker 1: to hold CEOs and political appointees accountable. Katie Porter grew 438 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:45,159 Speaker 1: up on a farm in Iowa. During the farmer crisis 439 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:48,639 Speaker 1: of the nineteen eighties. She broke with family tradition of 440 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:51,919 Speaker 1: attending state school to go to Yale and went on 441 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:55,359 Speaker 1: to Harvard Law School. She decided to run for office 442 00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:58,600 Speaker 1: after Trump's win in two thousand sixteen and became the 443 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:02,760 Speaker 1: first Democrat elect it in her district. Katie Porter is 444 00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:06,800 Speaker 1: comfortable being a fish out of water. I like to 445 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:09,920 Speaker 1: be challenged. Um. I like to learn, and I think 446 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:12,760 Speaker 1: that was a huge part of, you know, why I 447 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:15,480 Speaker 1: chose to to go, you know, off to college far 448 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:18,760 Speaker 1: away from Iowa, to kind of stretch myself. UM. I 449 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:20,879 Speaker 1: loved being a professor. I was a professor here at 450 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:25,560 Speaker 1: the University of California, Irvine, teaching business law horses, and 451 00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:28,040 Speaker 1: then really stretched myself when I ran for Congress. And 452 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:30,119 Speaker 1: one of the great things about being in Congress that 453 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:32,880 Speaker 1: I never hear anyone talking about, which makes me kind 454 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:35,879 Speaker 1: of skeptical, frankly, is that the great thing about this 455 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:39,760 Speaker 1: job is every minute you should be learning something. Whether 456 00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:43,280 Speaker 1: that's listening to your constituents, whether that's a briefing from 457 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:46,200 Speaker 1: about national security, you know, whether that's you know, having 458 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:48,919 Speaker 1: a meeting with your staff. There's just so much to 459 00:24:49,119 --> 00:24:51,639 Speaker 1: learn to be able to do this job effectively. And 460 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:53,679 Speaker 1: I like that. So in some ways it's very much 461 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:56,320 Speaker 1: like being a professor. My job is to learn stuff 462 00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:58,600 Speaker 1: and then to help teach, and so in this case. 463 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:01,560 Speaker 1: Instead of teaching a classroom, I think about teaching the 464 00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:06,040 Speaker 1: American people. You graduated Harvard Law School one year two one, 465 00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:08,040 Speaker 1: So when you left there, where did you go from there? 466 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:09,840 Speaker 1: Where did you first go out of school? So? I 467 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:13,320 Speaker 1: went to clerk for a federal judge in Little Rock, Arkansas. 468 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:17,359 Speaker 1: He was a wonderful judge. And this won't surprise people. 469 00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:20,240 Speaker 1: There weren't a lot of other law clerks who wanted 470 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:24,400 Speaker 1: to work on the bankruptcy cases. Um and so literally 471 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:26,720 Speaker 1: I think I got to work on every single bankruptcy 472 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:29,760 Speaker 1: opinion the entire Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which stretches 473 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:33,280 Speaker 1: from North Dakota down to Arkansas, worked on that year. Um. 474 00:25:33,359 --> 00:25:34,960 Speaker 1: And then I went off and I practiced. I took 475 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:38,080 Speaker 1: the bar um exam, and I practiced law in Portland, 476 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:40,919 Speaker 1: Oregon for a couple of years. What led you to 477 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:44,800 Speaker 1: Portland from Little Rock? My now ex husband is from 478 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:48,320 Speaker 1: their family. Yeah, family, and you know it was a 479 00:25:48,359 --> 00:25:50,879 Speaker 1: good place to practice there. And then decided that I 480 00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:53,520 Speaker 1: wanted to become a law professor. And I hadn't really 481 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:56,320 Speaker 1: gone to law school thinking maybe I want to be 482 00:25:56,359 --> 00:25:59,639 Speaker 1: a professor. I had thought about getting a PhD. Um 483 00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:02,399 Speaker 1: and at the time, the idea of writing a book 484 00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:05,359 Speaker 1: seemed really long to me, which is funny because I've 485 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:07,679 Speaker 1: now written two law textbooks that are like a thousand 486 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:11,280 Speaker 1: pages each. Um. But when I got to law school, 487 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:14,639 Speaker 1: I was I really liked it. I wasn't sure what 488 00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:16,560 Speaker 1: I wanted to teach, what did I love? Where did 489 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:18,679 Speaker 1: I wanted to spend my whole career studying? And then 490 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:21,760 Speaker 1: I took Elizabeth Warren's bankruptcy class and that was it. 491 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:24,040 Speaker 1: That was what I wanted to spend my life working on. 492 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:26,000 Speaker 1: This is why you were in law school. This is 493 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:27,320 Speaker 1: when I went to law school. My third year in 494 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:29,560 Speaker 1: law school. Tell the story if you would have you 495 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:33,760 Speaker 1: approached Warren after she was less than cuddly towards you 496 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:38,320 Speaker 1: in class. Yeah. Yeah, So Elizabeth was a really great professor. 497 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:41,800 Speaker 1: She called on students um and you had to have 498 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:44,000 Speaker 1: your homework done, you had to be prepared if you 499 00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:46,840 Speaker 1: showed up. And so I was a rule follower. I 500 00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:48,920 Speaker 1: did my homework. I sat in the front row, which 501 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:51,840 Speaker 1: I thought would help her overlook me, but it didn't 502 00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:54,359 Speaker 1: really work out that way. And so, you know, one 503 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:56,280 Speaker 1: of the solutions to not being called on is to 504 00:26:56,359 --> 00:26:59,119 Speaker 1: raise your hand, um. And so she was asking a 505 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:02,399 Speaker 1: question and I raised my hand and I gave what 506 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:05,960 Speaker 1: I thought was a pretty good answer, and I remember 507 00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:07,960 Speaker 1: her turning to me, I'll never forget I mean the 508 00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:10,520 Speaker 1: hand yester, I can do it today. She said, thank, 509 00:27:10,600 --> 00:27:15,159 Speaker 1: miss Porter, thank, And I remember just wilting inside because 510 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:18,639 Speaker 1: I was thinking. I was thinking so hard and I 511 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:21,040 Speaker 1: was coming up short. Um. And I went to see 512 00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:24,520 Speaker 1: her after that, and I said, don't give up on me. 513 00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:27,639 Speaker 1: I've never taken a course like this before. I didn't 514 00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:30,160 Speaker 1: take some of the there's a couple kind of courses 515 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:32,720 Speaker 1: you often take, their introductory to bankruptcy, and I just 516 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:35,239 Speaker 1: jumped into the deep end. I was like, don't give 517 00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:37,280 Speaker 1: up on me. I really care about this stuff. And 518 00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:39,879 Speaker 1: the reason I cared so much about bankruptcy was growing 519 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:42,600 Speaker 1: up in Iowa in the nineteen eighties during farm made 520 00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:46,520 Speaker 1: and the tractor motorcades, and watching the farming community where 521 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:50,359 Speaker 1: I grew up really struggle economically. When I got to bankruptcy, 522 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:54,800 Speaker 1: I realized there are tools in law and policy to help. Now, 523 00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:57,000 Speaker 1: when you made that request of war, did she granted 524 00:27:57,080 --> 00:27:59,000 Speaker 1: what she were given? Take with you in the classroom, 525 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:00,959 Speaker 1: did she be going, I mean know, it actually was 526 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:04,080 Speaker 1: the opposite. She came back to me even more because 527 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:07,119 Speaker 1: she knew I really cared, like she knew that it 528 00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:09,800 Speaker 1: mattered to me. My message to her wasn't taken easy 529 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:12,119 Speaker 1: on me. It was don't give up on me. And 530 00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:13,879 Speaker 1: a lot of professors. I mean, I see this in 531 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:17,840 Speaker 1: witness rooms, actually in hearings, and people will ask a 532 00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:21,560 Speaker 1: witness a question and the witness will stonewall give a 533 00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:25,600 Speaker 1: nonsense and answer another question, answer another question. And what 534 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:27,920 Speaker 1: my colleagues will do is they'll just give up. They'll 535 00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:31,600 Speaker 1: move on, they'll start giving a speech. But just like 536 00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:34,520 Speaker 1: in the classroom, when I gave a wrong answer, Warren 537 00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:37,320 Speaker 1: didn't say, oh well, let me go find someone more cooperative. 538 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,920 Speaker 1: She told me. Think she stuck with me as I 539 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:43,320 Speaker 1: was learning. So whenever I hear someone, you know, they 540 00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:46,960 Speaker 1: give a nonsense answer, I'm not going anywhere. You said 541 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:50,280 Speaker 1: something interesting. When people don't give a good answer, you know, 542 00:28:50,600 --> 00:28:55,200 Speaker 1: I myself become exhausted by the unwillingness of people to 543 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:58,520 Speaker 1: answer the questions of the duly elected members of Congress. 544 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:02,600 Speaker 1: You are here, congresswoman, Porter or anybody, You're not doing 545 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:04,400 Speaker 1: this for your health you're doing this on behalf of 546 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:07,240 Speaker 1: your constituency of the American people. You're representing the American people, 547 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:09,840 Speaker 1: and many of them are so smug and so arrogant 548 00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:13,360 Speaker 1: and won't answer your question. And I was wondering, do 549 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:15,760 Speaker 1: you find that the authority of the Congress is weakened 550 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:18,200 Speaker 1: in recent years because people feel like, what does it matter? 551 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:21,960 Speaker 1: There's no teeth behind this. So I think that some 552 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:24,160 Speaker 1: of the things that we've been able to do with 553 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:29,600 Speaker 1: our hearings is actually restore a sense of accountability to this, 554 00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:31,840 Speaker 1: which is if you if I ask you a question 555 00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:35,560 Speaker 1: and you give me a nonsense answer, I'm not going 556 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:37,760 Speaker 1: to pretend that what you said makes sense. I'm not 557 00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:40,680 Speaker 1: going to accept a wrong answer. If you're dodging, if 558 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:43,120 Speaker 1: you're stonewalling, I'm going to try to get you to answer, 559 00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:45,160 Speaker 1: so you would think. I mean, it's sort of an 560 00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:47,000 Speaker 1: interesting to me. I remember, like maybe the second or 561 00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:49,920 Speaker 1: third hearing I was at, I said, well, surely you 562 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:53,360 Speaker 1: know now everyone will come really prepared, like I won't 563 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:56,440 Speaker 1: stomp anybody anymore because they'll know that you have to 564 00:29:56,440 --> 00:29:59,320 Speaker 1: show up and take me seriously. But you know, I've 565 00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:01,880 Speaker 1: been underesked made in my whole life. At this point, 566 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:04,760 Speaker 1: I kind of exploit that and when does this still 567 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:08,520 Speaker 1: show up and they're contemptuous or they're unprepared. I mean, 568 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:11,760 Speaker 1: the other day Steve Minuchin had said, well, are you 569 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:17,440 Speaker 1: a lawyer? Like, yes, I am, like since you mentioned it, 570 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:20,080 Speaker 1: but I think that you know, the goal is that 571 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:24,120 Speaker 1: these shouldn't be performance art moments. They should be substantive. 572 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:26,320 Speaker 1: And so you know, the one thing I will say 573 00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:30,160 Speaker 1: about the white board is it's not about trying to 574 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:34,360 Speaker 1: go viral um. It's not about an antic. It's not 575 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:37,120 Speaker 1: an antic. It is a tool. And so sometimes I 576 00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:39,720 Speaker 1: use it, sometimes they don't. Sometimes I use other things. 577 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:42,920 Speaker 1: I don't you know. I think it was maybe one 578 00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:45,600 Speaker 1: of my staffers m when we started the first time 579 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:48,040 Speaker 1: we ever used it was with Jamie Diamond. We were 580 00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:51,200 Speaker 1: trying to go through the budget of a worker, what 581 00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:54,320 Speaker 1: a typical family would spend, and compare it to the 582 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:58,320 Speaker 1: salary and show that even though he's paying more than 583 00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:01,680 Speaker 1: minimum wage, people can't be against meat on that she 584 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:04,080 Speaker 1: had two thousand, four hundred twenty five dollars a month. 585 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:06,640 Speaker 1: She rents a one bedroom apartment. She and her daughters 586 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:09,240 Speaker 1: sleep together in the same room. In Irvine, California. That 587 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:12,280 Speaker 1: average one better apartment is going to be sixteen hundred dollars. 588 00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:15,160 Speaker 1: She spends one hundred dollars on utilities, take away the 589 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:17,760 Speaker 1: seventeen hundred, and she has net seven d twenty five 590 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:21,680 Speaker 1: dollars four hundred dollars per car expenses and gas net 591 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:25,400 Speaker 1: three A low food budget is four hundred dollars. That 592 00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:28,160 Speaker 1: leaves her seventy seven dollars in the red. She has 593 00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:30,240 Speaker 1: a cricket cell phone, the cheapest cell phone she can 594 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:32,760 Speaker 1: get for forty dollars. She's in the red. A hundred 595 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:35,840 Speaker 1: seventeen dollars a month. She has after school childcare because 596 00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:38,280 Speaker 1: the bank is open during normal business hours. That's for 597 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:40,760 Speaker 1: fifty a month. That takes her down to negative five 598 00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:44,640 Speaker 1: hundred and sixty seven dollars per month. My question for you, 599 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:48,240 Speaker 1: Mr Diamond is how should she manage this budget shortfall 600 00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:51,600 Speaker 1: while she's working full time at your bank? And so 601 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:54,320 Speaker 1: the idea of the white board was just instead of 602 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:56,520 Speaker 1: having all these numbers what she spends on rent and 603 00:31:56,560 --> 00:31:58,880 Speaker 1: food and rattling it all off a million miles an hour. 604 00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:02,240 Speaker 1: And he says, I'm sorry, could you repeat that? I mean, 605 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:05,520 Speaker 1: that is what every The first refuge of every unprepared 606 00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:09,720 Speaker 1: student in every classroom in America is to ask the teacher, 607 00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:13,080 Speaker 1: I'm sorry, could you repeat the question. That's a courtroom 608 00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:17,160 Speaker 1: tactic exactly, So, especially in Congress, we only have five minutes. 609 00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:20,160 Speaker 1: So if someone says could you repeat that, and you've 610 00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:23,200 Speaker 1: spent a minute setting up the question, your loss. So 611 00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:25,560 Speaker 1: the idea of the white board was to prevent him 612 00:32:25,600 --> 00:32:28,440 Speaker 1: from being able to, you know, sort of dodge and stall. 613 00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:31,280 Speaker 1: And you know, the interesting thing that he said is 614 00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:34,360 Speaker 1: I'd have to think about it. And I asked him, 615 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:36,160 Speaker 1: you know again, and he said, I have to think 616 00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:37,920 Speaker 1: about it. And I asked him, well, what about this? 617 00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:40,640 Speaker 1: And he said, you have to think about it. And really, 618 00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:44,240 Speaker 1: I hope he is. I hope that moment did prompt 619 00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:46,920 Speaker 1: him to think. When I was doing Saturday Night Live 620 00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:49,880 Speaker 1: for this long run during Trump's thing, and we would 621 00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:52,320 Speaker 1: be there and I would pitch ideas, and I wanted 622 00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:55,080 Speaker 1: your character to have the white board everywhere, like you 623 00:32:55,080 --> 00:32:57,400 Speaker 1: were with your kids at the breakfast table. All right, 624 00:32:57,480 --> 00:32:59,200 Speaker 1: let me show you, and like you have the white 625 00:32:59,200 --> 00:33:01,720 Speaker 1: board out of your swing everything for your children and 626 00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:04,600 Speaker 1: your boyfriend, and you're at the gas station and whatever. 627 00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:07,600 Speaker 1: Everywhere you go someone is handing your whiteboard. But I 628 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:10,920 Speaker 1: wonder is there a distinction between when you're questioning people, 629 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:13,400 Speaker 1: not only the questions you ask, the way you ask 630 00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:16,080 Speaker 1: them again, you only have five minutes, but the way 631 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:20,160 Speaker 1: you anticipate they're gonna respond when their government administrators who 632 00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:23,000 Speaker 1: are there to protect an administration. Do you see there's 633 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:25,080 Speaker 1: a difference between the two. When someone who is a 634 00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:27,800 Speaker 1: political appointee is before you, are they even worse in 635 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:31,360 Speaker 1: terms of their caginus? No, not always. I mean I 636 00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:33,400 Speaker 1: think that, you know, it just depends on the witness. 637 00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:37,560 Speaker 1: We try to anticipate what the witness will say. In 638 00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:39,760 Speaker 1: other words, what's the obvious thing they're going to try 639 00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:41,440 Speaker 1: to dodge with Where are they going to try to 640 00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:45,080 Speaker 1: misdirect us? If we we research the witnesses, sometimes we'll 641 00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:48,400 Speaker 1: watch video clips of them to try to understand kind 642 00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:51,720 Speaker 1: of what they're like, um, whether they get easily frustrated, 643 00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:55,040 Speaker 1: whether they launch into long, boring explanations. So I'm prepared 644 00:33:55,080 --> 00:33:56,880 Speaker 1: to cut that off. But I think one of the 645 00:33:56,920 --> 00:34:00,080 Speaker 1: great myths is that you know, the oversight can me 646 00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:02,080 Speaker 1: where I'm so excited to be serving again in this 647 00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:07,640 Speaker 1: Congress somehow is less important or less exciting in a 648 00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:11,239 Speaker 1: democratic administration, given that I'm a Democrat than it was 649 00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:14,680 Speaker 1: when you know, we were a Trump administration, and you know, 650 00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:17,879 Speaker 1: so opposite. I would just tell you that these are 651 00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:23,160 Speaker 1: both oversight stays important. I mean, once we're enacting programs 652 00:34:23,160 --> 00:34:25,839 Speaker 1: that I have supported and I have voted for as 653 00:34:25,880 --> 00:34:29,440 Speaker 1: a Democrat, I'm even more concerned that these programs are 654 00:34:29,480 --> 00:34:33,760 Speaker 1: working as intended. So the responsibility to do good oversight, 655 00:34:33,800 --> 00:34:37,919 Speaker 1: it's not a partisan thing. It's part of effective government. Now, 656 00:34:38,200 --> 00:34:40,400 Speaker 1: do you go back to your office sometimes and watch yourself, 657 00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:42,759 Speaker 1: watch clips of yourself, and review what you've done to 658 00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:45,239 Speaker 1: see how effective or ineffective you think it might have been. 659 00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:49,480 Speaker 1: Not usually. I mean it's interesting after I question, and 660 00:34:49,560 --> 00:34:54,560 Speaker 1: when I'm questioning, I typically have no idea what anybody 661 00:34:54,600 --> 00:34:57,640 Speaker 1: else around me is doing or saying or reacting. It's 662 00:34:57,719 --> 00:35:00,960 Speaker 1: it's just me and that witness, right and just looking 663 00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:03,800 Speaker 1: at them, you know. I like, after I questioned Postmaster 664 00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:06,400 Speaker 1: to Joy, oh my god, oh my god, I wasn't 665 00:35:06,440 --> 00:35:09,319 Speaker 1: sure that I made the point that I wanted to make. 666 00:35:09,400 --> 00:35:11,839 Speaker 1: Now it turns out I think I did. But when 667 00:35:11,880 --> 00:35:13,680 Speaker 1: I got off, I was just like I don't think 668 00:35:13,719 --> 00:35:15,560 Speaker 1: I did it. I think I messed it up. So 669 00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:18,520 Speaker 1: it's often, you know, it's it's not about how I'm feeling, 670 00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:21,640 Speaker 1: it's about whether it's resonating with the American people. So 671 00:35:21,680 --> 00:35:24,600 Speaker 1: it often, you know, that's about how people react to it. 672 00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:26,640 Speaker 1: So you can make something that you think is great, 673 00:35:27,200 --> 00:35:29,799 Speaker 1: you know, but if other people don't find it moves them, 674 00:35:30,239 --> 00:35:32,960 Speaker 1: then it doesn't really work. So when you're down in 675 00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:35,759 Speaker 1: southern California and you go to Orange County, it was 676 00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:38,960 Speaker 1: primarily to take the teaching gicket you see Irvine. If 677 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:42,880 Speaker 1: you see Irvine as a campus inside the red red 678 00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:45,960 Speaker 1: red part of California there in Orange County, what was 679 00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:48,360 Speaker 1: it like for you down there working there? Was Was 680 00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:52,799 Speaker 1: it a very conservative staff and an administration and faculty? No? 681 00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:55,600 Speaker 1: I mean, look, Irvine has changed a lot, and a 682 00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:58,440 Speaker 1: big part of the reason that Irvine and Orange County 683 00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:02,040 Speaker 1: has changed is in part at the presence of the University. UM. 684 00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:05,400 Speaker 1: It's a large employer here. It attracts bright and interesting 685 00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:08,160 Speaker 1: and thoughtful people from all around the country and even 686 00:36:08,160 --> 00:36:11,359 Speaker 1: the world. UM. And so you know, my kids go 687 00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:13,920 Speaker 1: to school, UM in public school here and there are 688 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:16,640 Speaker 1: they have some very conservative classmates. I mean one of 689 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:19,759 Speaker 1: my former cub Scouts. I was his cub Scout dead 690 00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:23,920 Speaker 1: leader for five years. That kid actually made phone calls 691 00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:27,960 Speaker 1: from my pum Republican opponent in eighteen So I don't 692 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:30,160 Speaker 1: know what that says about my cub Scout skills. But 693 00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:33,680 Speaker 1: you know, uh, you know, actually there are a real 694 00:36:33,719 --> 00:36:36,960 Speaker 1: diversity of opinion here. But there are very progressive people 695 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:39,839 Speaker 1: here too. There are people in the middle, there are Republicans. 696 00:36:40,280 --> 00:36:46,160 Speaker 1: I like that diversity. I represent roughly equal numbers of Republicans, Democrats, 697 00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:49,520 Speaker 1: and no party preference or independent voters. And what that 698 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:53,080 Speaker 1: means is, on any given topic, I need to know 699 00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:55,200 Speaker 1: how to talk to people who will come at it 700 00:36:55,280 --> 00:36:58,480 Speaker 1: from a lot of different perspectives. And that is an 701 00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:01,120 Speaker 1: incredible skill to have, and I wish all of my 702 00:37:01,239 --> 00:37:05,080 Speaker 1: colleagues had it. Frankly, when you went to Washington, and 703 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:07,400 Speaker 1: you talk about the importance of the work that you 704 00:37:07,480 --> 00:37:10,200 Speaker 1: do within the district, but when you went to Washington, 705 00:37:10,239 --> 00:37:11,879 Speaker 1: what did you think that was going to be like 706 00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:14,160 Speaker 1: with your colleagues and stuff, where than what did it 707 00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:17,800 Speaker 1: turn out to be. I thought there'd be more substantive 708 00:37:17,960 --> 00:37:23,880 Speaker 1: policy discussion among regular members House Representatives is four hundred 709 00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:27,560 Speaker 1: and thirty plus people, so it's big. And so it 710 00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:29,759 Speaker 1: turns out that a lot of things are kind of 711 00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:33,640 Speaker 1: decided before they get to you, that they're decided by leadership. 712 00:37:34,160 --> 00:37:36,160 Speaker 1: Um that you know, the relevant committee has kind of 713 00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:38,520 Speaker 1: figured everything out before it comes to you, and you're 714 00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:41,400 Speaker 1: just in a situation of yes or no on the vote. 715 00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:44,719 Speaker 1: And I think that's where I saw hearings as this 716 00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:48,400 Speaker 1: great opportunity because if you're not if you're a newcomer 717 00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:50,600 Speaker 1: to Congress, you don't have a lot of power, especially 718 00:37:50,600 --> 00:37:54,440 Speaker 1: on the Democratic side, but we have a strong seniority system. 719 00:37:54,440 --> 00:37:57,520 Speaker 1: But one of the few equal things about Congress is 720 00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:02,400 Speaker 1: everybody gets five minute for their questioning. So I decided 721 00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:04,600 Speaker 1: I was going to use my five minutes better than 722 00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:06,600 Speaker 1: anybody else, or as well as I could to the 723 00:38:06,680 --> 00:38:09,879 Speaker 1: maximum of kind of my ability. Um. And that's where 724 00:38:09,920 --> 00:38:12,799 Speaker 1: I found the greatest reward, really, And and the thing 725 00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:15,320 Speaker 1: that's rewarding for me is it's not the answers that 726 00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:18,919 Speaker 1: these witnesses give, because they're often really bad answers. It's 727 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:24,280 Speaker 1: the American people watch and they see that that lady 728 00:38:24,400 --> 00:38:27,840 Speaker 1: is asking what I've always wondered, why do the drugs 729 00:38:27,920 --> 00:38:31,120 Speaker 1: cost so much? Right? Why does the drug keep getting 730 00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:33,920 Speaker 1: more expensive? Do you know what the price of Revelement was? 731 00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:37,920 Speaker 1: I can look it up, but I don't recall. I 732 00:38:37,920 --> 00:38:39,880 Speaker 1: don't have it in front of me. Four hundred and 733 00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:46,400 Speaker 1: twelve per pile. I would say approximately seven pill, but 734 00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:48,000 Speaker 1: I again, I don't have it in front of me. 735 00:38:48,120 --> 00:38:53,239 Speaker 1: Seven nineteen propel and today Revelement cost seven hundred and 736 00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:58,760 Speaker 1: sixty three dollars per pill. I'm curious did the drug 737 00:38:59,040 --> 00:39:02,880 Speaker 1: get some stantially more effective in that time? Did cancer 738 00:39:02,920 --> 00:39:06,799 Speaker 1: patients need fewer pills? She's asking about me, and that's 739 00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:09,399 Speaker 1: really for me than the most rewarding part. You were 740 00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:11,719 Speaker 1: a single mom where you got divorced when your your 741 00:39:11,760 --> 00:39:14,879 Speaker 1: kids are how old now? They're now fifteen, twelve and nine. 742 00:39:15,040 --> 00:39:17,640 Speaker 1: So you were a single mom now for almost a decade. 743 00:39:18,160 --> 00:39:21,239 Speaker 1: And do you maintain because I know that we One 744 00:39:21,280 --> 00:39:23,360 Speaker 1: of the things you focus on is about all the 745 00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:26,360 Speaker 1: women that are losing jobs. We're losing a lot of 746 00:39:26,360 --> 00:39:29,520 Speaker 1: women in the workplace because of the COVID correct, absolutely 747 00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:32,359 Speaker 1: huge issue. What are some of the legislation you might 748 00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:35,239 Speaker 1: or might not propose to address that? So when I 749 00:39:35,320 --> 00:39:37,960 Speaker 1: was elected in the last Congress. At that time, I 750 00:39:38,040 --> 00:39:41,240 Speaker 1: was the only single mother of young children to serve. 751 00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:44,600 Speaker 1: Since then, the Republicans have elected one. But you know, 752 00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:48,360 Speaker 1: this idea of the single household, the single parent household, 753 00:39:48,719 --> 00:39:51,840 Speaker 1: isn't well represented in Washington, to put it mildly, So 754 00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:55,040 Speaker 1: when we talk about issues like child poverty, one of 755 00:39:55,040 --> 00:39:58,640 Speaker 1: the reasons for that is women, single women, single mom, 756 00:39:58,719 --> 00:40:02,480 Speaker 1: single dad's try ring to raise a family on one income. Um. 757 00:40:02,480 --> 00:40:06,239 Speaker 1: What happens financially to families when they get divorced, um, 758 00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:08,759 Speaker 1: it's you know, it's very difficult. And so when we 759 00:40:08,840 --> 00:40:12,080 Speaker 1: see right now, what we know is about of women 760 00:40:12,120 --> 00:40:15,000 Speaker 1: have left the workforce since the pandemic. A lot of 761 00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:17,160 Speaker 1: those are lost jobs. Some of them are women who 762 00:40:17,200 --> 00:40:19,960 Speaker 1: are leaving because they're putting a position to choose between 763 00:40:20,320 --> 00:40:23,040 Speaker 1: taking care of their kids who are out of school, 764 00:40:23,200 --> 00:40:26,400 Speaker 1: remote learning um, or you know, having to go to 765 00:40:26,400 --> 00:40:28,919 Speaker 1: work and leave their kids home alone. This has long 766 00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:34,520 Speaker 1: term implications not just for women's economic opportunities and child poverty, 767 00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:38,279 Speaker 1: but also for our economy as a whole. If we're 768 00:40:38,320 --> 00:40:42,160 Speaker 1: a capitalist economy, we need our best and brightest doing 769 00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:45,280 Speaker 1: the work, competing for the jobs, and that means men 770 00:40:45,400 --> 00:40:48,600 Speaker 1: and women people of different backgrounds, all having an opportunity 771 00:40:48,840 --> 00:40:51,120 Speaker 1: to be in the workplace. And in our country, we're 772 00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:53,759 Speaker 1: losing a lot of women out of the workforce and 773 00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:56,600 Speaker 1: that's going to have big implications for our global competitiveness. 774 00:40:56,760 --> 00:41:00,160 Speaker 1: It's not just a women's issue. We all benefit from 775 00:41:00,160 --> 00:41:03,279 Speaker 1: a strong, healthy economy. One of my favorite phrases, and 776 00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:05,360 Speaker 1: I use it all the time with my staff, is 777 00:41:06,080 --> 00:41:09,480 Speaker 1: by the ticket, take the ride right. And this actually 778 00:41:09,480 --> 00:41:12,839 Speaker 1: applies to capitalism too. If we want to say, and 779 00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:15,120 Speaker 1: you know, you hear these people who are uber capitalists, 780 00:41:15,120 --> 00:41:18,879 Speaker 1: they're they're anti government, they're worried about this, they're they're 781 00:41:18,880 --> 00:41:22,680 Speaker 1: throwing up this, you know, ridiculous specter of socialism. Well, 782 00:41:22,800 --> 00:41:28,880 Speaker 1: guess what inherent in capitalism is equal opportunity to compete. 783 00:41:29,640 --> 00:41:32,879 Speaker 1: And that's true about antitrust enforcement, but it also has 784 00:41:32,880 --> 00:41:34,960 Speaker 1: to be true about social mobility. It has to be 785 00:41:35,040 --> 00:41:38,920 Speaker 1: that that you're not allowing things like race discrimination to 786 00:41:39,040 --> 00:41:42,080 Speaker 1: taint who you promote in the marketplace. You're paying people 787 00:41:42,400 --> 00:41:44,439 Speaker 1: not because of the color of their skin, but because 788 00:41:44,480 --> 00:41:46,719 Speaker 1: of how good they are at their jobs. All these 789 00:41:46,719 --> 00:41:48,960 Speaker 1: things are perversions of capitalism, and we ought to be 790 00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:51,400 Speaker 1: standing up for them on that basis, as well as 791 00:41:51,480 --> 00:41:54,840 Speaker 1: the fact that they're morally apprehensible. Now, obviously we have 792 00:41:54,880 --> 00:41:57,160 Speaker 1: a graduated income tax in this country. The more money 793 00:41:57,239 --> 00:41:59,399 Speaker 1: you make, the more you pay in taxes. Why isn't 794 00:41:59,440 --> 00:42:03,240 Speaker 1: the same prince applied to these trillion dollar COVID relief bills? 795 00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:06,160 Speaker 1: Meaning why are we giving a single penny to a 796 00:42:06,239 --> 00:42:10,839 Speaker 1: family that's making over two d Okay, great question. So 797 00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:12,480 Speaker 1: I want to push back on a couple of things. 798 00:42:12,600 --> 00:42:15,120 Speaker 1: One is you said we have a graduated income tax. 799 00:42:15,520 --> 00:42:17,480 Speaker 1: I want to push back on that and say, we 800 00:42:17,640 --> 00:42:21,000 Speaker 1: theoretically have a graduated income tax. Okay, that's what it 801 00:42:21,040 --> 00:42:23,040 Speaker 1: says on paper when you look it up in the 802 00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:24,880 Speaker 1: little back of the I r S booklet. If you 803 00:42:24,880 --> 00:42:29,000 Speaker 1: still do your taxes on paper, but in actuality, people 804 00:42:29,080 --> 00:42:32,200 Speaker 1: who earn a lot often pay a lower effective tax 805 00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:34,440 Speaker 1: rate because we have loopholes. We have problems in our 806 00:42:34,480 --> 00:42:37,120 Speaker 1: tax system, and so we need to close that gap 807 00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:39,520 Speaker 1: because a lot of people who are running around talking 808 00:42:39,520 --> 00:42:42,560 Speaker 1: about how they're in the highest tax bracket aren't paying 809 00:42:42,640 --> 00:42:46,200 Speaker 1: taxes in that higher bracket because of capital gains, because 810 00:42:46,200 --> 00:42:48,360 Speaker 1: of all kinds of other things. The other issue with 811 00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:52,239 Speaker 1: regard to COVID relief is Look, we definitely want to 812 00:42:52,239 --> 00:42:55,440 Speaker 1: focus the help where it is needed, but we also 813 00:42:56,000 --> 00:42:59,720 Speaker 1: cannot be so focused on making sure that nobody gets 814 00:43:00,040 --> 00:43:03,680 Speaker 1: any help that they don't need, that we slowed the 815 00:43:03,719 --> 00:43:06,200 Speaker 1: whole thing down, and we ultimately allow people to die 816 00:43:06,239 --> 00:43:08,680 Speaker 1: and to suffer while we're waiting around. And there are 817 00:43:08,719 --> 00:43:12,400 Speaker 1: people in a very expensive areas where they were spending 818 00:43:12,440 --> 00:43:16,239 Speaker 1: all of their money to make ends meet. Now boom childcare. 819 00:43:16,280 --> 00:43:20,080 Speaker 1: You have kids childcare. For my daughter Betsy, when she 820 00:43:20,120 --> 00:43:23,399 Speaker 1: went to the University of California Irvine, childcare cost more 821 00:43:23,440 --> 00:43:24,839 Speaker 1: than it would have for her to have been an 822 00:43:24,960 --> 00:43:30,560 Speaker 1: undergraduate at u c I childcare one year preschool was 823 00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:32,080 Speaker 1: more than it would have been for her to be 824 00:43:32,120 --> 00:43:34,640 Speaker 1: an undergraduate. So all of a sudden, when you'd have 825 00:43:34,680 --> 00:43:38,239 Speaker 1: all these kids out of school, people's expenses are going up, 826 00:43:38,360 --> 00:43:41,239 Speaker 1: even if their income may be stable. So we have 827 00:43:41,280 --> 00:43:44,239 Speaker 1: to think about the entire the entire effect here, And 828 00:43:44,280 --> 00:43:46,160 Speaker 1: here's the main thing I have to say to people. 829 00:43:46,800 --> 00:43:52,120 Speaker 1: COVID relief is the financially and fiscally responsible thing to do. 830 00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:56,200 Speaker 1: If we get this wrong, it will set our economy 831 00:43:56,480 --> 00:43:59,200 Speaker 1: back for a decade or more. It will be a 832 00:43:59,239 --> 00:44:01,400 Speaker 1: depressure Howard Dean was on the show the other day 833 00:44:01,400 --> 00:44:02,960 Speaker 1: and said the same thing. I said, do you think 834 00:44:03,000 --> 00:44:05,759 Speaker 1: we're running a risk by printing trillions of dollars? He said, 835 00:44:06,120 --> 00:44:09,279 Speaker 1: the problem will be if we don't spend that money. Absolutely, 836 00:44:09,360 --> 00:44:11,560 Speaker 1: we have to invest it wisely. We have to make 837 00:44:11,600 --> 00:44:14,120 Speaker 1: sure we're putting it into programs that are working. We 838 00:44:14,200 --> 00:44:17,160 Speaker 1: have to root out fraud, waste, and abuse. Um. You know, so, 839 00:44:17,239 --> 00:44:19,400 Speaker 1: I think it's ridiculous, for example, that we passed a 840 00:44:19,480 --> 00:44:22,040 Speaker 1: paycheck protection program, a p p P program for small 841 00:44:22,040 --> 00:44:26,040 Speaker 1: businesses that allowed Congress members to get loans. That's nuts. 842 00:44:26,120 --> 00:44:29,080 Speaker 1: That's a mistake in the program. But our biggest risk 843 00:44:29,160 --> 00:44:34,200 Speaker 1: here is not doing enough and leaving people mired a 844 00:44:34,320 --> 00:44:37,719 Speaker 1: long term poverty and hardship, out of the workplace with 845 00:44:37,800 --> 00:44:42,120 Speaker 1: atrophying skills, when other countries are not making that same mistake. 846 00:44:42,880 --> 00:44:48,160 Speaker 1: So obviously, the current senator there Padilla is an appointee 847 00:44:48,200 --> 00:44:50,680 Speaker 1: interim because Harris is now the vice president. Do you 848 00:44:50,680 --> 00:44:53,359 Speaker 1: think that that's his seat to hold onto or does 849 00:44:53,360 --> 00:44:58,720 Speaker 1: the congresswoman have other ideas about her future in California politics. 850 00:44:59,160 --> 00:45:02,120 Speaker 1: I'm really excited it about Alex Padilla representing me and 851 00:45:02,200 --> 00:45:05,960 Speaker 1: my family. Um, in the Senate, and I've contributed to 852 00:45:06,040 --> 00:45:09,160 Speaker 1: his re election campaign already. UM. You know, I think 853 00:45:09,200 --> 00:45:11,840 Speaker 1: he's gonna be a wonderful partner and a really important 854 00:45:11,920 --> 00:45:15,720 Speaker 1: voice for California. UM. He has an amazing life story. 855 00:45:15,800 --> 00:45:18,319 Speaker 1: He went to m I T he's incredibly smart. So 856 00:45:18,719 --> 00:45:21,160 Speaker 1: I think you can safely paint me as a fan 857 00:45:21,320 --> 00:45:24,200 Speaker 1: of alex Pidia and somebody who's really excited about working 858 00:45:24,200 --> 00:45:28,360 Speaker 1: with him. He just got added to the Senate Banking Committee, UM, yesterday, 859 00:45:28,400 --> 00:45:30,799 Speaker 1: So I told my staff, like, call him up, let's 860 00:45:30,800 --> 00:45:33,319 Speaker 1: start working on bills together. Do you think that you 861 00:45:33,360 --> 00:45:35,759 Speaker 1: have what it takes to serve in the Senate? What 862 00:45:35,880 --> 00:45:37,360 Speaker 1: do you think you're better off where you are in 863 00:45:37,440 --> 00:45:41,520 Speaker 1: the Congress? Oh? Look, wherever you put me, I'm gonna 864 00:45:41,880 --> 00:45:44,000 Speaker 1: fight for the American people. I'm gonna I mean, this 865 00:45:44,040 --> 00:45:46,560 Speaker 1: is when I was a professor. I became a professor 866 00:45:46,600 --> 00:45:49,120 Speaker 1: to understand what was wrong with our laws and how 867 00:45:49,160 --> 00:45:51,200 Speaker 1: we could make it better. When I'm in the House, 868 00:45:51,239 --> 00:45:53,520 Speaker 1: that's what I'm thinking about, what's wrong, how can we 869 00:45:53,560 --> 00:45:55,399 Speaker 1: make it better. It's gonna be the same thing whether 870 00:45:55,440 --> 00:45:57,920 Speaker 1: I would be in the administration. UM. Whatever I go 871 00:45:57,960 --> 00:46:00,640 Speaker 1: on to do after this, UM, you know, these are 872 00:46:00,640 --> 00:46:03,520 Speaker 1: the fundamental questions. The fundamental question that has motivated my 873 00:46:03,600 --> 00:46:09,040 Speaker 1: life is how do we achieve economic prosperity for all Americans? 874 00:46:09,440 --> 00:46:11,960 Speaker 1: And I'm going to keep asking that question whatever job 875 00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:14,480 Speaker 1: I'm in, UM. And you know, I kind of look. 876 00:46:14,560 --> 00:46:17,479 Speaker 1: The house is fun, it's scrappy. UM, it's a little 877 00:46:17,520 --> 00:46:21,040 Speaker 1: bit chaotic. You're right, UM. But you know, whenever I've gone, 878 00:46:21,080 --> 00:46:24,120 Speaker 1: I've always tried to make the most of what I've gotten. UM. 879 00:46:24,160 --> 00:46:26,760 Speaker 1: And so you know, whatever the future holds, I'm pretty 880 00:46:26,760 --> 00:46:30,799 Speaker 1: sure I'm going to still be asking tough questions. The 881 00:46:30,920 --> 00:46:35,439 Speaker 1: honorable Katie Porter. If you're enjoying this conversation, be sure 882 00:46:35,440 --> 00:46:38,320 Speaker 1: to subscribe to Here's the Thing on the I Heart 883 00:46:38,440 --> 00:46:42,640 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 884 00:46:42,920 --> 00:46:45,640 Speaker 1: While you're there, please leave us a review. I really 885 00:46:45,640 --> 00:46:49,160 Speaker 1: appreciate it. When we come back, Katie Porter talks about 886 00:46:49,200 --> 00:47:02,840 Speaker 1: why Trump must be convicted by the Senate. I'm Alec 887 00:47:02,880 --> 00:47:05,960 Speaker 1: Baldwin and this is Here's the Thing from my Heart Radio. 888 00:47:06,680 --> 00:47:10,760 Speaker 1: When protesters stormed the US Capitol building on January six, 889 00:47:11,160 --> 00:47:15,200 Speaker 1: Katie Porter wasn't far from the insurrection. I was on 890 00:47:15,239 --> 00:47:18,600 Speaker 1: the Capitol grounds, UM in my office, which is not 891 00:47:18,719 --> 00:47:21,520 Speaker 1: in the capital. Which house building are you in long Worth? 892 00:47:21,640 --> 00:47:25,320 Speaker 1: In long Worth and more as AOC has now memorialized 893 00:47:25,360 --> 00:47:29,040 Speaker 1: it the Duncan Donuts Building, which was actually a factor 894 00:47:29,040 --> 00:47:31,480 Speaker 1: and why I picked that, Um, it's very handy to 895 00:47:31,520 --> 00:47:33,919 Speaker 1: be able to go get coffee in the morning. But UM, 896 00:47:33,960 --> 00:47:36,719 Speaker 1: I was in my office and Alexander Kazier Cortes. I 897 00:47:36,800 --> 00:47:39,160 Speaker 1: passed her in the hallway as I went into my office, 898 00:47:39,680 --> 00:47:41,760 Speaker 1: and you know, she kind of you know, she waved, 899 00:47:41,800 --> 00:47:43,680 Speaker 1: and a few seconds later she came back and knocked 900 00:47:43,680 --> 00:47:45,680 Speaker 1: on the door and said can I come in? And 901 00:47:45,680 --> 00:47:48,760 Speaker 1: I said, of course, and you know, she came inside. 902 00:47:48,800 --> 00:47:50,879 Speaker 1: She was obviously very rattled. There had been a bomb 903 00:47:50,960 --> 00:47:54,720 Speaker 1: threat at her building. I didn't know that at the time, UM, 904 00:47:54,920 --> 00:47:57,680 Speaker 1: And so we sheltered together, along with a couple of 905 00:47:57,719 --> 00:48:00,680 Speaker 1: staffers for about four or five hours, six hours in 906 00:48:00,760 --> 00:48:03,279 Speaker 1: my office, barricaded the doors, turned the lights off, pulled 907 00:48:03,320 --> 00:48:07,040 Speaker 1: the windows, silence the phones, just in the cold, um 908 00:48:07,080 --> 00:48:09,520 Speaker 1: and the dark, you know, worried that what was going 909 00:48:09,520 --> 00:48:12,440 Speaker 1: on at the Capitol, where there were cameras watching. What 910 00:48:12,560 --> 00:48:15,600 Speaker 1: you can't see is that there are underground tunnels connecting 911 00:48:15,640 --> 00:48:18,680 Speaker 1: the Capital to our office buildings. If the attackers had 912 00:48:18,680 --> 00:48:20,799 Speaker 1: come down those tunnels, we would not have known they 913 00:48:20,840 --> 00:48:24,360 Speaker 1: were coming. Um. And so we just stayed barricaded in 914 00:48:24,360 --> 00:48:27,480 Speaker 1: there for hours and didn't know what was happening. And 915 00:48:27,480 --> 00:48:29,160 Speaker 1: when you look back on it, now, what do you 916 00:48:29,200 --> 00:48:32,280 Speaker 1: think should happen? Oh, to protect us? I mean, look, 917 00:48:32,320 --> 00:48:34,040 Speaker 1: we have to. We have a real problem in this 918 00:48:34,120 --> 00:48:38,759 Speaker 1: country with misinformation, with with violence. UM. You know, our 919 00:48:38,800 --> 00:48:43,200 Speaker 1: democracy is strong, but it is not unshakable um. And 920 00:48:43,239 --> 00:48:45,359 Speaker 1: this was this was a powerful kind of I think 921 00:48:45,400 --> 00:48:48,759 Speaker 1: earthquake a powerful shake um to our democratic principles. So 922 00:48:48,800 --> 00:48:52,320 Speaker 1: I think we have to reaffirm that it's okay to disagree, 923 00:48:52,719 --> 00:48:55,240 Speaker 1: so kay, to have different ideas. I represent Range County. 924 00:48:55,280 --> 00:48:58,200 Speaker 1: I represent a lot of constituents that I disagree with. Um, 925 00:48:58,320 --> 00:49:03,080 Speaker 1: that's okay, that's healthy. But violence in a democracy is 926 00:49:03,160 --> 00:49:07,160 Speaker 1: never okay. You voted to impeach Trump. I did twice, 927 00:49:07,600 --> 00:49:09,440 Speaker 1: and the Senate is not going to convict you know, 928 00:49:09,560 --> 00:49:11,719 Speaker 1: I think they should convict him. I think that this 929 00:49:11,800 --> 00:49:13,920 Speaker 1: is and I think too many people are thinking about 930 00:49:13,960 --> 00:49:17,960 Speaker 1: this just from the punitive angle about Trump. But we 931 00:49:18,080 --> 00:49:20,680 Speaker 1: have a rule of law in this country, and part 932 00:49:20,719 --> 00:49:24,360 Speaker 1: of that rule of law is precedent. So what we 933 00:49:24,440 --> 00:49:28,919 Speaker 1: are doing here is saying this conduct was not acceptable 934 00:49:29,080 --> 00:49:32,400 Speaker 1: and if anyone again, it's not who we are. So 935 00:49:32,480 --> 00:49:35,600 Speaker 1: if you're wondering future president whether you can act like 936 00:49:35,719 --> 00:49:39,080 Speaker 1: President Trump did, the answer is no, you will be impeached. 937 00:49:39,160 --> 00:49:41,560 Speaker 1: This is illegal. So we need to set that precedent 938 00:49:41,560 --> 00:49:45,320 Speaker 1: and establish that boundary. I would have bet you everything 939 00:49:45,440 --> 00:49:48,719 Speaker 1: I own at the onset of Trump's administration that it 940 00:49:48,880 --> 00:49:51,759 Speaker 1: never would have ended this way. Meant it ends. His 941 00:49:52,000 --> 00:49:55,880 Speaker 1: political legacy ends on this note, one of destruction and 942 00:49:56,040 --> 00:49:59,400 Speaker 1: hate and lawlessness and stuff with which which defines him. 943 00:49:59,640 --> 00:50:02,640 Speaker 1: You know, I've always said that the government's purposes to 944 00:50:02,680 --> 00:50:04,919 Speaker 1: do the greatest amount of good for the greatest number 945 00:50:04,960 --> 00:50:08,239 Speaker 1: of people. This is not some concierge service to help 946 00:50:08,280 --> 00:50:11,319 Speaker 1: wealthy Americans. And I'm wondering, what's the change you'd like 947 00:50:11,360 --> 00:50:13,399 Speaker 1: to see in the campaing finance laws that will help 948 00:50:13,760 --> 00:50:17,480 Speaker 1: clean that up. Yeah. No, corporate pack money is a 949 00:50:17,600 --> 00:50:22,120 Speaker 1: huge part of it. Citizens United saying companies are people, right, So, 950 00:50:22,239 --> 00:50:26,759 Speaker 1: you know, reversing Citizens United stopping corporate pack contributions or 951 00:50:26,800 --> 00:50:30,359 Speaker 1: at least forcing corporations to disclose them to shareholders and 952 00:50:30,520 --> 00:50:35,560 Speaker 1: justify how this actually provides any value to the corporation. UM. 953 00:50:35,600 --> 00:50:38,600 Speaker 1: I think that's really important. I think campaing finance generally, 954 00:50:39,000 --> 00:50:42,880 Speaker 1: you know, I think small dollar contributions are great because 955 00:50:42,920 --> 00:50:46,680 Speaker 1: you know, five dollars a dollar, you know, volunteering your time. 956 00:50:46,800 --> 00:50:51,400 Speaker 1: People can feel themselves part of democracy, part of the process. UM. 957 00:50:51,440 --> 00:50:53,960 Speaker 1: But you know, until we clean that up, until we 958 00:50:54,000 --> 00:50:55,719 Speaker 1: clean up some of the corruption, it's going to be 959 00:50:55,760 --> 00:50:57,640 Speaker 1: really hard. I think it's the source of all of 960 00:50:57,680 --> 00:50:59,880 Speaker 1: the problems to this country, source of all of the problems. 961 00:51:00,040 --> 00:51:02,640 Speaker 1: Which committee do you want to You're on one exclusive committee. 962 00:51:02,719 --> 00:51:05,480 Speaker 1: I was at an exclusive committee lust Congress, which is 963 00:51:05,520 --> 00:51:08,720 Speaker 1: financial Services. You're not there anymore. I'm not there anymore. 964 00:51:08,719 --> 00:51:10,440 Speaker 1: And now I'm on. I was on Financial Services, and 965 00:51:10,480 --> 00:51:12,560 Speaker 1: then later in the year I got added to oversight 966 00:51:12,640 --> 00:51:15,640 Speaker 1: when there were openings. So now I'm on I continuing 967 00:51:15,640 --> 00:51:18,239 Speaker 1: on the Oversight committee. I'm really excited about that. I 968 00:51:18,320 --> 00:51:20,960 Speaker 1: love that oversight UM and I like doing it for 969 00:51:21,000 --> 00:51:23,960 Speaker 1: all different kinds of areas, everything from you know, pentagon 970 00:51:24,120 --> 00:51:28,920 Speaker 1: spending to pharmaceuticals to car seats UM, to civil liberties UM. 971 00:51:29,080 --> 00:51:32,319 Speaker 1: And then I'm now joined the Natural Resources Committee, which 972 00:51:32,360 --> 00:51:36,360 Speaker 1: has jurisdiction over public lands, over tribal lands, all the 973 00:51:36,520 --> 00:51:40,600 Speaker 1: drilling on public lands, UM oceans and wildlife. So, you know, 974 00:51:40,640 --> 00:51:44,799 Speaker 1: I said the other day, polluters, I have questions. UM. 975 00:51:44,880 --> 00:51:47,360 Speaker 1: So I'm really excited about that, and it's incredibly important 976 00:51:47,360 --> 00:51:50,920 Speaker 1: issue in California. It's important to our global competitiveness in 977 00:51:50,960 --> 00:51:54,640 Speaker 1: the future. The company, the economy, the nation that has 978 00:51:54,800 --> 00:51:58,440 Speaker 1: manufacturing jobs in the next decade will be the country 979 00:51:58,440 --> 00:52:01,080 Speaker 1: that figures out how to manufacturer a green way. We 980 00:52:01,160 --> 00:52:04,520 Speaker 1: need that to be us. Bobby Kennedy Jr. Used to say, 981 00:52:04,719 --> 00:52:07,200 Speaker 1: let's force them to bring their products to market at 982 00:52:07,200 --> 00:52:10,800 Speaker 1: their actual cost. What are the American people really paying 983 00:52:10,800 --> 00:52:13,560 Speaker 1: for a gallon of gas? You throw the PCBs in 984 00:52:13,600 --> 00:52:15,160 Speaker 1: the Hudson River and we have to clean it up. 985 00:52:15,200 --> 00:52:16,719 Speaker 1: That should be a part of the cost of your thing. 986 00:52:17,120 --> 00:52:20,040 Speaker 1: The woman who studied bankruptcy law at Harvard with Elizabeth warrener, 987 00:52:20,120 --> 00:52:22,399 Speaker 1: you saw you dot on the finance comman anymore? Sure, 988 00:52:22,480 --> 00:52:24,760 Speaker 1: I'm definitely sorry. I mean I asked to serve because 989 00:52:24,760 --> 00:52:27,440 Speaker 1: I wanted to. Um. I want to continue working on 990 00:52:27,480 --> 00:52:29,759 Speaker 1: those issues, and I hope there'll be an opportunity for 991 00:52:29,840 --> 00:52:32,319 Speaker 1: me to fill up vacancy in the future. Um to 992 00:52:32,360 --> 00:52:35,160 Speaker 1: get back to that committee. Um, you know, I'm excited 993 00:52:35,200 --> 00:52:39,120 Speaker 1: to be on the Economic and Consumer Protection Subcommittee of Oversight. Um, 994 00:52:39,120 --> 00:52:41,040 Speaker 1: I'm gonna keep doing a lot of work on financial 995 00:52:41,040 --> 00:52:44,000 Speaker 1: services issues from that. So absolutely wish I were on. 996 00:52:44,440 --> 00:52:46,880 Speaker 1: What happened? You know, they just they they had so 997 00:52:46,920 --> 00:52:49,200 Speaker 1: many spots. They voted people on and off. I was 998 00:52:49,239 --> 00:52:51,520 Speaker 1: one of two people who didn't get it. Um, you know, 999 00:52:51,760 --> 00:52:54,200 Speaker 1: eight or ten people did get it. Other people were chosen, 1000 00:52:54,719 --> 00:52:57,800 Speaker 1: other people were chosen. But you know what, Like, remember 1001 00:52:57,800 --> 00:53:01,080 Speaker 1: what I said about I've been underestimated a lot. When 1002 00:53:01,080 --> 00:53:03,120 Speaker 1: I went on now, people are like, oh, well, she 1003 00:53:03,160 --> 00:53:05,960 Speaker 1: can't go all financial services, financial services, where all the 1004 00:53:06,360 --> 00:53:09,359 Speaker 1: hot committee action is. Trust me. When I went on 1005 00:53:09,440 --> 00:53:12,200 Speaker 1: financial services, everyone was like, oh my god, that's the 1006 00:53:12,200 --> 00:53:16,040 Speaker 1: most boring committee. No one's gonna pay attention to. Right. 1007 00:53:16,120 --> 00:53:18,800 Speaker 1: So wherever I go, I'm going to try to engage 1008 00:53:18,840 --> 00:53:20,960 Speaker 1: the American people. And I don't think there is a 1009 00:53:21,160 --> 00:53:25,319 Speaker 1: bad committee in Congress. These are all important. Well let 1010 00:53:25,320 --> 00:53:28,440 Speaker 1: me just say I really mean this. People who really 1011 00:53:28,560 --> 00:53:32,960 Speaker 1: are so disheartened. I mean they're crushed and demoralized by 1012 00:53:32,960 --> 00:53:36,799 Speaker 1: the inefficiency of the American government. They've lost faith, and 1013 00:53:36,840 --> 00:53:41,319 Speaker 1: then along you come, and all my friends who see you, 1014 00:53:41,320 --> 00:53:44,480 Speaker 1: you know what they are. They're proud of you. They're 1015 00:53:44,600 --> 00:53:47,520 Speaker 1: so proud of you because they get when you're there. 1016 00:53:47,800 --> 00:53:51,160 Speaker 1: You're not there for the self aggrandizing. You're doing this 1017 00:53:51,200 --> 00:53:54,120 Speaker 1: because you care, and you take the job seriously and 1018 00:53:54,160 --> 00:53:57,600 Speaker 1: you and you're finding and honing away to use the 1019 00:53:57,719 --> 00:54:01,200 Speaker 1: job the office as a tool. You're honing a tool 1020 00:54:01,719 --> 00:54:03,680 Speaker 1: to do the work you want to do on behalf 1021 00:54:03,680 --> 00:54:05,960 Speaker 1: of the American people. So thank you so much, thank you, 1022 00:54:06,120 --> 00:54:11,239 Speaker 1: oh absolutely, thank you so much for having me. My 1023 00:54:11,400 --> 00:54:16,319 Speaker 1: thanks to Lorreina Gonzalez and Katie Porter. This episode was 1024 00:54:16,400 --> 00:54:20,200 Speaker 1: recorded at c d M Studios in New York City. 1025 00:54:20,680 --> 00:54:24,680 Speaker 1: We're produced by Kathleen Russo, Zack McNeice, and Maureen Hoban. 1026 00:54:25,000 --> 00:54:28,920 Speaker 1: Our engineer is Frank Imperial. Our social media manager is 1027 00:54:29,000 --> 00:54:32,279 Speaker 1: Daniel Gingrich. I'm Alec Baldwin. Here's the thing. Is brought 1028 00:54:32,280 --> 00:54:34,520 Speaker 1: to you by My Heart Radio.