Latest / Hey BigHead: The Vegas Local Podcast / Las Vegas to D.C. with Congresswoman Susie Lee | 349

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Las Vegas to D.C. with Congresswoman Susie Lee | 349 · Hey BigHead: The Vegas Local Podcast

0:02
SPEAKER_00: Oh, Julie.
0:03
SPEAKER_05: Yes, Andrew.
0:04
SPEAKER_00: It's a big day for Big Head.
0:05
SPEAKER_05: It is a big day for Big Head.
0:07
SPEAKER_05: Honestly, selfishly, it feels like a big day for me.
0:12
SPEAKER_00: You're just gonna take all the uh all the all the credit right here.
0:15
SPEAKER_00: Is it better?
0:16
SPEAKER_05: A little bit.
0:16
SPEAKER_05: We have one of my favorite people on today.
0:19
SPEAKER_05: So yeah.
0:21
SPEAKER_00: I'm very excited for this because finally Big Head is getting into the politics game.
0:25
SPEAKER_00: We've never really touched on politics too much in our year and a half run so far.
0:32
SPEAKER_00: But today we have a very special guest that I am very excited for.
0:36
SPEAKER_00: I know you are too.
0:38
SPEAKER_00: Congresswoman Susie Lee is here with us, representing Nevada's third congressional district.
0:42
SPEAKER_00: Susie Lee, welcome to the show.
0:45
SPEAKER_02: This is great.
0:46
SPEAKER_02: So excited to have you.
0:46
SPEAKER_02: Thanks for having me.
0:47
SPEAKER_02: Happy to be here.
0:48
SPEAKER_00: Bear with us, uh Suzy, if you don't mind, because we're probably going to ask a few beginner-level questions early on.
0:54
SPEAKER_00: Um so you'll have to you know totally fine.
0:56
SPEAKER_02: Walk us through it.
0:57
SPEAKER_02: Walk us through it.
0:58
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I am listening before 2016, I was I knew very little about politics.
1:05
SPEAKER_00: I've cared more about who was starting for the New England Patriots or the Cowboys or who was playing on Saturday or Sunday.
1:12
SPEAKER_00: So when it comes, but now obviously everybody's talking about politics these days.
1:16
SPEAKER_00: Um it is a very important discussion to have, and I'm glad that we're able to sit down with you and you know kind of talk a little bit more about that.
1:23
SPEAKER_00: Um so first, out of the out of the gate question, can you explain what your role, what what c what your role in Congress involves?
1:32
SPEAKER_02: Well, I thank you.
1:33
SPEAKER_02: Thanks for having me.
1:34
SPEAKER_02: And uh listen, everyone's life, whether you know it or not, it somehow involves politics because everything that touches you, whether it's your roads, schools, etc., uh somehow plays a politics play.
1:49
SPEAKER_02: I always say you can't do the policy unless you do the politics first, unfortunately.
1:54
SPEAKER_02: But uh yeah, so I represent Nevada's third congressional district.
1:58
SPEAKER_02: This is pretty much all of Summerlin, everything west of the I-15, down to Mountain's Edge, uh, down to Silverado Ranch, down to the point of the state.
2:09
SPEAKER_02: I have uh um Laughlin and Searchlight in my district as well.
2:14
SPEAKER_02: So uh when you're looking at the strip, if you look at the I-15, that's sort of the dividing uh line, and that's what I represent, close to 750,000 Nevadans.
2:25
SPEAKER_02: That's incredible.
2:25
SPEAKER_02: And I'm a representative, so I fly back to DC primarily three weeks a month.
2:31
SPEAKER_02: I'll leave on Monday morning, fly into DC, land around four.
2:36
SPEAKER_02: I have some leadership meetings I attend, and we vote on Monday night.
2:41
SPEAKER_02: Uh, votes Tuesday, Wednesday, maybe, and then Thursday morning, and then I usually fly back Thursday afternoon and spend the weekend here.
2:49
SPEAKER_02: I do that three times a week, or three times a month, then one week a month I stay in the district.
2:56
SPEAKER_02: It's been a little different this uh session because there's been many, many weeks of votes that have been canceled, so including two at the end of the month, which we were supposed to be back in DC, but we're I'm gonna be here in Vegas.
3:10
SPEAKER_02: So um, but that's you know, I serve on the defense appropriations subcommittee as well as energy and water.
3:17
SPEAKER_02: I think we're gonna talk a little bit about water later.
3:20
SPEAKER_02: Um, those are two really important committees, um, especially here in Nevada.
3:26
SPEAKER_02: We have one of the largest national security footprints in the whole entire country, uh, with Creech and Nellis and the testing range and Fallon and our Air National Guard.
3:36
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
3:37
SPEAKER_02: Uh we all and Army, and we also um, you know, energy and water is an important issue, particularly also with respect to Yucca Mountain, because that bill is where the people who want to send their nuclear waste to Nevada always want to put some language into that bill.
3:54
SPEAKER_02: So I sit there on the defense.
3:57
SPEAKER_02: Um, so when I'm back in DC, I'm helping write bills, we're having hearings, etc., voting on legislation.
4:06
SPEAKER_02: And uh when I'm here, I'm doing a lot of constituent outreach, consist constituent services.
4:12
SPEAKER_02: Um my district office, um we are have been ranked one of the top constituent services offices in the entire country.
4:22
SPEAKER_02: I've been able to return about 50 or 42 million dollars to people who have called my office asking for help, whether it's with the IRS or Veterans Affairs, et cetera.
4:35
SPEAKER_02: So it's sort of just the helping people navigate the federal government.
4:39
SPEAKER_02: Um, if you need help with a passport, visa, things like that, we can assist as well.
4:46
SPEAKER_02: And so um do both of those.
4:48
SPEAKER_02: And I spend a lot of time when I'm here just out meeting with uh constituents, hearing about what's on their mind, what they're liking, not liking, what they need, you know.
4:58
SPEAKER_02: And there's people have a lot of opinions.
5:00
SPEAKER_00: That's you are very busy woman.
5:02
SPEAKER_00: You are and uh honest question if you were afraid to fly, do you think you'd be able to do this job?
5:08
SPEAKER_02: No my gosh, not uh not from the West Coast.
5:10
SPEAKER_02: I mean, there are members from the East Coast who can take a train or drive, but from the West Coast, it's a five-hour flight each way.
5:20
SPEAKER_02: So you gotta, I mean, I guess you could if you, I don't know, took some drugs.
5:26
SPEAKER_02: Tons of traveling though.
5:27
SPEAKER_02: That's crazy.
5:28
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, a lot of travel.
5:30
SPEAKER_00: You moved here to Las Vegas in '93.
5:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
5:33
SPEAKER_00: Is that right?
5:34
SPEAKER_00: You've seen Vegas go from you know all different phases in the past 20 years or so, 30 years.
5:40
SPEAKER_00: What do you feel like is the biggest change, or what do you feel like the the phase that Las Vegas is in right now?
5:46
SPEAKER_00: How would you describe what Vegas is in right now?
5:49
SPEAKER_02: Wow, so yeah, I mean, I've been here since 1993.
5:53
SPEAKER_02: So saw sort of the move when Vegas thought that it would become a family destination with the building of Treasure Island, and and then they then you know the operators decided that people don't really gamble when their kids are with them.
6:09
SPEAKER_02: Right.
6:09
SPEAKER_02: So, and then you know, we become an entertainment capital of the world.
6:13
SPEAKER_02: Now we become a national sports teams with the Golden Knights and the Raiders and soon to be the A's and the Aces, uh, maybe an MBA team in the future.
6:25
SPEAKER_02: You know, so what I've seen uh throughout um my 33 years here is really, you know, back in the day uh a lot of the casinos were owned by operators who had been here a long time.
6:39
SPEAKER_02: And then now you've seen I'm just gonna say it's become a lot more corporate.
6:44
SPEAKER_02: It's uh Wall Street has um, and that really began about 33 years ago, you know, with Steve Wynne when he took the Mirage Public, et cetera.
6:55
SPEAKER_02: So have definitely witnessed uh the shift along the strip.
6:59
SPEAKER_02: And I will say that it used to be that gaming was a hundred percent the focus of you know how we attracted visitors, et cetera.
7:08
SPEAKER_02: And now it's sort of we we go after the full experience and the full package from shopping to different entertainment outlets to concerts, the sphere, and now of course with national sports.
7:22
SPEAKER_02: So we're definitely always on the leading edge of what the innovation is around entertainment, and I think that's what makes Las Vegas so exciting is you know, when it comes to what it's gonna be that's attracting people, uh, I think that our city is always out at the front on testing those limits and and doing a great job at it.
7:42
SPEAKER_02: We're still the you know number one destination.
7:45
SPEAKER_00: Well said.
7:46
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
7:46
SPEAKER_00: When's the last time you've been able to have a a night out to yourself?
7:51
SPEAKER_02: Um a night out for me is generally trying to stay home and cook with friends.
7:57
SPEAKER_02: Right.
7:58
SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's you know, I don't get a lot of opportunities lately to cook, and I love to cook home cook meals, so that's sort of my night out.
8:06
SPEAKER_02: Gosh, I can't even remember the last time.
8:08
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I've been, you know, I go out, I'll meet girlfriends out of the strip and things like that.
8:13
SPEAKER_02: But yeah.
8:14
SPEAKER_02: What's your favorite thing to cook?
8:17
SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.
8:18
SPEAKER_02: Um, everything I like healthy, obviously.
8:21
SPEAKER_02: So especially in the summer, I'm about I'm gonna make a spicy coconut chicken recipe tonight.
8:29
SPEAKER_05: I'm coming over.
8:29
SPEAKER_00: I love you don't mind.
8:32
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna add a few more people to your to your dinner tonight.
8:34
SPEAKER_05: Pull in the extra table.
8:36
SPEAKER_05: That's great.
8:36
SPEAKER_05: That's great.
8:37
SPEAKER_05: Prior to um being a congresswoman, you have a fairly extensive history in education and the nonprofit sector.
8:46
SPEAKER_05: Like, what did I read that you helped with some of the after-school programs for the underserved youth, and you helped reduce the some of the dropout rates here in Las Vegas.
8:54
SPEAKER_05: How did that experience alter the way you approach uh representing the people here?
9:00
SPEAKER_05: That's a good question.
9:02
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so when I first moved here, um I worked with the former mayor of Las Vegas, Jan Jones, the first female mayor.
9:09
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, look at that.
9:10
SPEAKER_02: Shout out.
9:11
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
9:12
SPEAKER_02: And she was really uh, you know, quite uh innovative, and um she was like one of the first mayors to understand and recognize our homeless issue here in southern Nevada.
9:26
SPEAKER_02: So she actually, I worked with her on a campaign that unfortunately or fortunately she uh lost.
9:34
SPEAKER_02: And then I went to work with her in the city, and we started the city's first comprehensive homeless uh drop-in center.
9:41
SPEAKER_02: And one thing led to another.
9:43
SPEAKER_02: I soon was starting the afterschool All-Stars, which is an after-school program for middle school youth, and then um took some time off to be with my two kids who I raised here in Nevada and Cody, and then uh communities and schools, which is a dropout prevention program.
10:00
SPEAKER_02: And I'll tell you that throughout all of those um engagements, you know, the thing that I've always been struck by is we're in the shadow of world-class entertainment, these beautiful casinos and hotels, we attract some of the wealthiest people in the world.
10:22
SPEAKER_02: And but at the same time, you can go just a half a mile off the strip and see some severe poverty here in in Las Vegas.
10:32
SPEAKER_02: And I've always been struck by that, that um you know, that in the in the shadow of the glitz and glamour of the strip, we really have families who are really struggling.
10:44
SPEAKER_02: And um, and then when you talk about education and what's happening in our schools, um, you know, 70% of the students in the Clark County School District qualify for Title I.
10:56
SPEAKER_02: Title I is a federal program that is set it's an anti-poverty program, but it's basically a benchmark on poverty.
11:04
SPEAKER_02: So, you know, when you think about that, almost three in four of our students in the Clark County School District um, you know, uh are meet our federal poverty designation.
11:16
SPEAKER_02: And so I've always been struck by what it is, and and from my own background, you know, I'm one of eight kids and my father had one job, you know, one job, and my mom stayed at home uh to raise us.
11:29
SPEAKER_02: It's really hard to find families who can exist with one bread earner in their family these days, let alone one job.
11:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, sure.
11:37
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, what is it that we're doing to build that American dream and to make sure that families can build wealth and equity, and uh what are the types of jobs that we're gonna attract that are gonna build like a solid middle class.
11:54
SPEAKER_02: Right.
11:54
SPEAKER_02: And um, and you know, I think that that's been a big struggle for the Clark County School District.
12:00
SPEAKER_02: You know, when you survey educators, they say the number one barrier to educational achievement is poverty.
12:07
SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, you have schools that are dealing with students who are walking in the door with severe needs outside of the classroom, and then you know, you have teachers who are working hard, and but if you have a kid whose parents can't afford eyeglasses or they're have a rumbling tummy because they're hungry, you know, they're not going to be focusing on what you have on the chalkboard.
12:32
SPEAKER_02: And so that's always been a challenge.
12:35
SPEAKER_02: And you know, for me, that's sort of what uh drove me to run for Congress, the uh economic inequality in this country, which I think uh you know you can see it in front of our eyes.
12:47
SPEAKER_02: Um how do we level the playing field and make sure that all families have access to that opportunity, whether it you're talking about access to higher education, you know, our tax policy, um investment investing in workforce, what types of jobs are we gonna try to attract to our community?
13:08
SPEAKER_02: So all those things really uh and a big issue for me too from Nevada is you know, because we're a small state, we're a relatively young state, um we were we've always sent more money to Washington than Washington has invested back into Nevada.
13:27
SPEAKER_02: And that's been a key issue that I've been trying to address, making sure we're bringing federal investments into our research university, making sure we're attracting, you know, the types of investments uh in our infrastructure, et cetera.
13:42
SPEAKER_02: So those are all important issues for me.
13:45
SPEAKER_02: And hopefully those investments help build jobs.
13:48
SPEAKER_02: Our residents take those jobs, they're good paying jobs, they can build a future for themselves.
13:54
SPEAKER_05: And to that point, is something me and my mom talk about a lot.
13:58
SPEAKER_05: We talk tons about politics.
14:00
SPEAKER_05: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like in general, unless someone has taken it upon themselves to learn, or unless they were taught, there is or can be misunderstandings about what is under Congress's wheel of things that they can do versus other individuals in the government.
14:19
SPEAKER_05: So what are the things that Congress can solve directly, and what do people incorrectly expect from your committees and your job?
14:29
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, um, you know, first of all, the federal government um really is about obviously federal policies like um Medicare, Social Security.
14:41
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, a big issue that is being litigated right now is the Affordable Care Act, uh, which was a bill that was passed to make health care more affordable for millions of Americans.
14:54
SPEAKER_02: Um investment in our defense, our national defense, obviously.
14:59
SPEAKER_02: Um so in investment, big investments like infrastructure, our building our highways, and you know, regulating our our airways, um, clean water, clean air, like those are the big things that we engage in.
15:15
SPEAKER_02: What how are we gonna regulate uh AI?
15:18
SPEAKER_02: Um, a lot of those issues, um, higher education, um, setting up Pell, you know, the Pell Grant program and student loans, investment in federal univers, land grant universities, that is federal government.
15:35
SPEAKER_02: The state generally is more how are you funding that, right?
15:40
SPEAKER_02: And uh especially in Nevada, that is K to 12.
15:43
SPEAKER_02: It's how you're funding our higher, you know, our we deal more with aid to students and investment in research, et cetera, at higher ed, but in the in the state, it's how do you what's your the tuition and how are you investing in those?
15:58
SPEAKER_02: Sure.
15:59
SPEAKER_02: Um, and then you get it to the local is your roads and you know, your street lights and things like that.
16:06
SPEAKER_02: So it's sort of, you know, I I would say we're bigger picture, um, federal programs, uh, federal investment, the state is uh the bridge between the federal government and local, and then the local is sort of the things you see and feel right every day.
16:24
SPEAKER_02: Gotcha.
16:24
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and state is more your school's K to 12, etc.
16:29
SPEAKER_04: Right.
16:30
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
16:30
unknown: Yeah.
16:31
SPEAKER_00: Do you feel that uh jumping back to the the the Vegas and the the tourism side, do you feel like Vegas is still too dependent on tourism?
16:40
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, it's a it's you know how we got to where we are today um in a good way, but also I feel like it could be a double-edged sword.
16:46
SPEAKER_00: Do you feel like we're we're too dependent on tourism that we are right now?
16:51
SPEAKER_02: Listen, you know, it tourism has obviously always been the fuel for our economy, and I don't think there's gonna be a period where uh it's not gonna be a significant driver to our economic um vitality.
17:06
SPEAKER_02: And but I would say it makes us more vulnerable.
17:08
SPEAKER_02: I always say the heel the hills are higher and the uh the valleys are deeper in terms of economic upturn and downturn.
17:16
SPEAKER_02: Because if you are a tour, and we are, I do believe we are still primarily dependent on tourism.
17:23
SPEAKER_02: I think it's changing a little bit.
17:25
SPEAKER_02: Um, I still think we have more way, a long way to go uh to truly diversify our economy.
17:32
SPEAKER_02: But um, and so you know, when you think about it, um if we run off of people's disposable income, and when things are tight, the first thing you're gonna drop off of your list of priorities is your trip to Vegas.
17:48
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, when things are going well, you're coming here.
17:52
SPEAKER_02: And but then we also have coupled um that we're seeing now is in response to this administration's tariff policies where they've gone after some of our allies like Canada, uh, where Canadians basically turned off the spigot and said, we're not coming to America anymore.
18:11
SPEAKER_02: Well, our international t traveler Canadians represent 30 percent international traveler.
18:19
SPEAKER_02: And so you've seen figures where uh tourism is off.
18:23
SPEAKER_02: I've seen anywhere from seven to twenty percent.
18:27
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
18:28
SPEAKER_05: Can I ask a clarifying question?
18:29
SPEAKER_05: Are you saying 30 percent to Vegas or 30 percent to the U.S.?
18:33
SPEAKER_02: There of all of the tra international travelers that come to Las Vegas, 30 percent, roughly 30 percent come from Canada.
18:40
SPEAKER_04: Whoa.
18:41
SPEAKER_02: And uh but you've also seen people from all over the globe not coming to the United States as well.
18:47
SPEAKER_02: We've seen an impact here in Nevada.
18:50
SPEAKER_02: And then on top of it, where people are feeling the cost of gas and you know, the rising cost of groceries and health care and housing.
19:01
SPEAKER_02: And so the first thing that's coming off their list is that weekend trip to Vegas, which and especially to you know, our largest uh visitor comes from California, no, you know, no surprise to any of us.
19:14
SPEAKER_02: And you have gasoline go up, you know, from four dollars to five dollars a gallon or even more.
19:22
SPEAKER_02: Um, people tend to think, and then on top of it, you've seen increased prices on everything, and they're like, you know what, we're just not gonna do it.
19:31
SPEAKER_02: And so uh, you know, we've seen that impact here in Nevada, unfortunately.
19:37
SPEAKER_00: You mentioned diversifying the economy.
19:38
SPEAKER_00: So if if tourism is number one, what do you feel like number two hopefully will be for us?
19:44
SPEAKER_02: Well, listen, I you know, I'm hoping that um we can really make some strategic investments into our university and use that as a fuel um to uh increase our advanced manufacturing.
20:00
SPEAKER_02: I mean, we've seen Haas Automata build a manufacturing plant in Henderson.
20:05
SPEAKER_02: Uh we have a uh rare earth mineral uh company, MP Materials, which uh has a mine at the border.
20:14
SPEAKER_02: They're they're headquartered in downtown Summerlin.
20:17
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
20:17
SPEAKER_02: They just received a$2 billion investment from the federal government to uh reduce our dependence on China for rare earth minerals and to make sure that we're actually building the magnets that are such a key component to uh a lot of our, you know, whether it's phones or you know, appliances, you name it, we need it.
20:40
SPEAKER_02: Um and so building on that.
20:43
SPEAKER_02: And then, you know, I think we have an opportunity to expand uh industry into defense.
20:49
SPEAKER_02: I mean, we have uh incredible veterans who come off of the bases of Creech and Nellis, and uh we have the testing range, which is the largest contiguous air testing range in the world.
21:02
SPEAKER_02: Uh, we have the Nevada test site, which I think is uh a strong, I'm just gonna say, asset that is underused, that we could have many opportunities to do that.
21:13
SPEAKER_02: So we have an opportunity with that.
21:16
SPEAKER_02: Um I also believe we should be a and we have been a world leader in renewable energy.
21:22
SPEAKER_02: Uh the development of not just solar but geothermal up uh north.
21:28
SPEAKER_02: We have uh uh some um assets for geothermal development.
21:33
SPEAKER_02: So I think there's many opportunities for us along the energy corridor and uh manufacturing corridor here.
21:41
SPEAKER_02: And listen, um I mean this is getting a little wonky, but uh with respect to what we've seen in Ukraine uh in wars, there's sort of an asymmetric um match between, you know, in the United States, we're used to building, you know, multimillion.
22:00
SPEAKER_02: Multi-million dollar missiles.
22:02
SPEAKER_02: And Ukraine has shown how to be adept at, you know, using drone drones and building much cheaper, more mobile, more innovative type of weapons.
22:15
SPEAKER_02: And so that I think that that, I'm just going to say that issue is a incubator for innovation and development.
22:27
SPEAKER_02: And I know there's some startups that are here in southern Nevada and like to see more of that happen, more of that type of innovation.
22:36
SPEAKER_02: And listen, a lot of stuff's going to go towards aerospace, GPS and you know, satellites, et cetera.
22:45
SPEAKER_02: And I just think we're primed to take advantage of those industries.
22:50
SPEAKER_02: But a lot of it's first requires investment into our workforce and our universities.
22:54
SPEAKER_02: We need we need engine we need aerospace engineers.
22:58
SPEAKER_02: We need uh people who, and by the way, it doesn't all require four-year degrees.
23:04
SPEAKER_02: Uh you can set up certificate programs to get people, and by the way, we have incredible unions here who have amazing apprentice programs, you know, uh, from IBEW for electric workers to the carpenters to the teamsters, uh, pipe fitters, you name it.
23:23
SPEAKER_02: I mean, we have many opportunities to build off it.
23:26
SPEAKER_02: And by the way, those jobs aren't, you know, a lot of those jobs, your hardcore labor, they're not going to AI.
23:34
SPEAKER_02: You still got to build and you still have to.
23:36
SPEAKER_02: Uh, I mean, there will be some job displacement, but I'm just saying uh looking at that as a an opportunity, I think, is important too.
23:44
SPEAKER_00: It blows my mind that you juggle all of this in your mind and you were able to talk about any topic at any time.
23:50
SPEAKER_02: Uh you know, it's interesting because uh obviously I have great staff who uh keeps me educated about many things.
23:58
SPEAKER_02: But uh sometimes in Congress we say your knowledge has to be a mile wide.
24:03
SPEAKER_02: You have to be knowledgeable on anything.
24:05
SPEAKER_02: I I probably would say the most frustrating thing about being a member of Congress is especially being on the West Coast, and I I'm what they call a frontliner, just meaning I'm in one of the toughest electoral districts in the country, so I'm always, you know, raising money and out campaigning and uh doing that end of the job as well.
24:28
SPEAKER_04: Right.
24:29
SPEAKER_02: And probably the most frustrating thing is not really getting to become like be super deep on one particular uh issue area.
24:39
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I you know, obviously there's issue areas I'm more uh knowledgeable and adept at, but um, it would be nice to like just get all in on one issue and become an expert.
24:51
SPEAKER_02: But the good news is is we have a lot of experts that uh are advisors that are, you know, that when I need to know about an issue, uh and and I think that's one of the most exciting things about being a member of Congress is having a lot of that expertise available so that I can become make a knowledgeable decision uh when I'm called upon to.
25:15
SPEAKER_00: Well said.
25:16
SPEAKER_00: That's actually what I do here too.
25:17
SPEAKER_00: I'm not at a much lower level than yours, but I surround myself with people that are much more experienced and much better at certain areas than I am.
25:25
SPEAKER_00: I'm good at a lot of things, I'm great at just a few things.
25:28
SPEAKER_00: Fortunately, the team that I have, the the staff that I have is is just like yours.
25:33
SPEAKER_00: I'm sure you can't.
25:34
SPEAKER_05: No, you're fine.
25:34
SPEAKER_05: That's my bad.
25:35
SPEAKER_05: I was gonna ask before we get into the next topic if you could choose to be an expert on one policy or one area of focus, do you know which one you would want it to be?
25:44
SPEAKER_02: Oh gosh, there's so many.
25:47
SPEAKER_05: It's okay if you don't have an answer.
25:48
SPEAKER_05: I was just curious.
25:50
SPEAKER_02: I mean, there's so many, like there's so many things that I'm passionate about.
25:54
SPEAKER_02: Right.
25:55
SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, obviously education policy.
25:59
SPEAKER_02: I'm you know, I'm now not on that um committee of jurisdiction.
26:04
SPEAKER_04: Right.
26:04
SPEAKER_02: Uh I also serve on the natural resources uh committee, and that's an issue.
26:09
SPEAKER_02: Public lands, right?
26:10
SPEAKER_02: Uh our air, water quality is hugely important to me.
26:14
SPEAKER_02: Um water policy, I you know, I feel like I've become much more of an expert on that issue just be because of the nature of what's happening on the Colorado River.
26:26
SPEAKER_02: Uh gosh, there's so many things.
26:28
SPEAKER_02: Do you actually mind if we touch on that?
26:32
SPEAKER_02: I would love to become a leading expert on health care policy.
26:35
SPEAKER_02: It's so complicated and it touches like everyone's life uh intimately.
26:41
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
26:42
SPEAKER_00: Do you mind if we touch on the uh the with the Southern Nevada Water Authority saying the Colorado River basin is experiencing the worst drought in in history?
26:50
SPEAKER_00: Is that is that what that is so true?
26:53
SPEAKER_00: You are so you're your what's your role with the Colorado River Caucus?
26:58
SPEAKER_02: I'm a vice chair of the Colorado uh River Caucus, and this is a bipartisan group of members.
27:04
SPEAKER_02: So there's seven states um in the Colorado River basin.
27:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
27:09
SPEAKER_02: Uh it we are the lower basin in Nevada, us in Arizona.
27:14
SPEAKER_02: Um, and then you have the upper basin, which is Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico.
27:21
SPEAKER_02: The law of the Colorado River is based off of the 1922 Colorado River Compact.
27:27
SPEAKER_02: And at that time, it basically allocated how much water went to the upper basin states and how much went to the lower plus Mexico.
27:36
SPEAKER_02: Roughly about 16 million acres.
27:38
SPEAKER_02: Even at that time, the river was only flowing at like 14 to 14.5 million, 14.5 million acre feet.
27:46
SPEAKER_02: So it was already oversubscribed in the very beginning.
27:50
SPEAKER_02: Um, and by the way, the the amount of economic output that comes off of the Colorado River is incredible when you think about the how it compares to what the water flow is off of the Mississippi, et cetera.
28:06
SPEAKER_02: And uh it supports 40 million people and GDP of all the farmland in California, uh, you know, farmland Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and so there's like economic in Phoenix, Salt Lake, LA, Las Vegas.
28:27
SPEAKER_02: I mean, when you think about major cities that are relying uh on this one river, and so um it was already oversubscribed.
28:36
SPEAKER_02: Then you add into it a mega drought, which is what we're in now.
28:39
SPEAKER_04: Right.
28:40
SPEAKER_02: And uh the river is incredibly stressed at this point, and so there has been negotiations going on between the um the upper basin and the lower basin.
28:53
SPEAKER_02: All the states on the river have been coming, and we've made significant cuts.
28:58
SPEAKER_02: Uh, and where we are right now is there was sort of a stalemate among the negotiations, and the federal government just came in and issued um, I'll just say a decree that basically called for the lower basin to make more cuts.
29:14
SPEAKER_02: So, on top of what Nevada has already done, and think about this, we already are the smallest user on the river.
29:21
SPEAKER_02: We're less than 2% of the allocation of the river.
29:26
SPEAKER_02: And we've been incredible stewards of the river here, um, primarily through the leadership of the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
29:35
SPEAKER_02: A lot of people love them and hate them at the same time, you know, when you get those warnings, etc.
29:41
SPEAKER_02: But it's all been about we've cut our water consumption by 40% uh while this city has grown by 800,000 people.
29:50
SPEAKER_02: Wow.
29:50
SPEAKER_02: Primarily, pretty much every ounce of water that we consume in our homes indoors is uh recycled, not like re you know, it's re-reused.
30:02
SPEAKER_02: And um that's incredible.
30:05
SPEAKER_04: Right.
30:05
SPEAKER_02: And not to mention all of the programs that we've had to provide incentives for you to change your landscaping to desert or artificial turf and et cetera.
30:17
SPEAKER_02: So we've really been not just a leader in this country, but a leader around the world in terms of water conservation.
30:25
SPEAKER_02: So we're sort of at this stalemate right now where the federal government came in and said, Hey, you southern, you know, they, you know, you lower basin states, you got to cut even more.
30:36
SPEAKER_02: And the upper basin states, you don't have to cut anything at all.
30:40
SPEAKER_02: And so uh the state of Nevada filed a lawsuit.
30:44
SPEAKER_02: Sure.
30:45
SPEAKER_02: Um, and we'll, you know, so that we the lawsuits like the the route of last option that we want to go, but this uh cut that just came down is so egregious and so sloppy and so one-sided.
31:01
SPEAKER_02: And listen, I think we need to provide a and by the way, we passed the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the inflation reduction act, uh, which together invested about$12 billion into water conservation in the West.
31:18
SPEAKER_02: A lot of that funding was like wiped out under the doge cuts under this administration.
31:23
SPEAKER_02: They're starting to come back and realize that, darn, we lost a lot of critical time in these last few years, especially at a time when the water in Lake Mead and Lake Powell is at historic lows, threatening, literally threatening uh the health of the dams and threatening hydro a lot of hydroelectricity is produced from both uh uh the Glen Canyon Dam and the Hoover Dam, powering Phoenix area, Tucson, and powering uh southern Nevada.
31:57
SPEAKER_02: And so we're at a critical, critical point.
32:00
SPEAKER_02: I wish that this administration would have, instead of cutting those investments, used them to provide types of incentives for the type of water reuse that we're seeing here in southern Nevada, all across the system.
32:15
SPEAKER_02: You know, there are there are I don't want to I don't want to pit farmers against urban.
32:23
SPEAKER_02: We need our farmers, we need to produce agriculture and our products, et cetera, we need ranchers, but there's so many tools that we could use that could assist uh people and and people in conservation.
32:36
SPEAKER_02: And I would like to see some type of incentives put in to see the type of conservation that you're seeing here across the whole system.
32:45
SPEAKER_02: And I don't think it's you know, I'm just gonna say I I think there's this belief that if you're in the upper basin, the water comes from the mountains, so it's our water.
32:57
SPEAKER_02: Uh so why are we cutting it?
32:59
SPEAKER_02: Because we're already seeing cuts because of lower precipitation and lower snowpack.
33:05
SPEAKER_02: Um, but the health of our system and the health of not just the economy, but our national economy really depends on us working as as a uh collection and a coalition to come up with some answers to this.
33:20
SPEAKER_00: Do you feel you touched on AI briefly?
33:23
SPEAKER_00: Do you feel with these data centers becoming more and more uh I guess increasing electricity demand?
33:30
SPEAKER_00: Do you feel like Southern Nevada has it enough power generation, or do you is that a another concern yours as well?
33:37
SPEAKER_02: Well, listen, uh, you know, with respect to data centers, I think it's pretty clear that um even any high electricity demand uh entity, and data centers being it, um, should be required to make sure they fund and take care of the increasing cost to uh energy generation, whether it's investing in the grid, in the infrastructure that needs to support that.
34:04
SPEAKER_02: Um so I, you know, I have a bill in Congress, the Energy Bills Relief Act, uh, which will come in and make a uh you know designation that this must be a condition for data centers.
34:18
SPEAKER_02: Uh that being said, I don't believe we should have like a you know a countrywide moratorium.
34:24
SPEAKER_02: I think we need to have guardrails that just say, you know, you need to be a responsible steward of our land and water, and uh and if there's increased cost to electricity generation and use, you need to pay the brunt, you know, you need to pay it, not the local ratepayers.
34:43
SPEAKER_02: And I'll say, you know, we have one of the older uh data centers in the country, Switch, uh in my district.
34:51
SPEAKER_02: We see it.
34:52
SPEAKER_02: And you know, I I don't know if you remember I don't know how long you've been here, but they've been around since 2000, I believe.
34:59
SPEAKER_02: They're over and I think it's two, it's somewhere in the early over 20 years.
35:04
SPEAKER_02: And um I remember them having a battle with NV Energy because they got off the grid and they produce all of their own energy.
35:14
SPEAKER_00: Really?
35:14
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and they're on a closed loop water use system as well.
35:19
SPEAKER_02: They're actually transitioning to a glycol-based system which will require no water use.
35:25
SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, there are data centers that do have these closed-loop systems, and I think that one, they need the data centers, and when they're getting developed and getting permitted at a local level, that needs to be part of the requirement in the conversation.
35:43
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, and also what's the displacement use of that land, right?
35:48
SPEAKER_02: So if you're using it for a data center, you're not gonna be using it for other things.
35:52
SPEAKER_02: Can can your community afford that?
35:54
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, those are considerations I think primarily need to happen at the local level.
36:00
SPEAKER_02: I think at the federal level, we need to have some guardrails around federal land use, but also just if if you're gonna cause energy, you know, uh to prices to go up and and the need for building out infrastructure, you should bear the cost of that, not your average residential ratepayer.
36:22
SPEAKER_05: And then in terms of just talking a little bit further about what the local community can handle with the changes in energy and water and land usages, what conservation measures, further than what we already have now, do you think that Nevadans or Las Vegas specifically can expect or should be prepared for, if any?
36:44
SPEAKER_02: Um you know, I think just what um we talked about with respect to uh, you know, what switch is doing.
36:52
SPEAKER_02: I mean making sure that you're on a closed loop water system or using um minimal water and reusing it, um, that you're relying primarily on renewable energy as an energy source.
37:05
SPEAKER_02: Now, listen, there I'm an all of the above energy uh person.
37:11
SPEAKER_02: I think that we need to look at all of it.
37:14
SPEAKER_02: I don't think uh in and right now, by the way, um what's happening under this administration is a case in point.
37:22
SPEAKER_02: So uh when Biden was in office, and um you know he banned drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, offshore drilling, et cetera.
37:36
SPEAKER_02: And so when Trump got elected, he reversed a lot of those policies.
37:42
SPEAKER_02: But they went a step further.
37:44
SPEAKER_02: And uh and of course Biden was uh in the Biden administration was focused on uh addressing climate change, which is real, and impacting all of us.
37:55
SPEAKER_02: I mean, the national, the natural disasters we're seeing across the world, what happened in Nepal with glaciers melting out in Alaska, you know, I mean, we're seeing it everywhere, and trying to address the drivers of climate change, so supporting a switch to renewable energy.
38:14
SPEAKER_02: Well, when when Trump administration got into power, they basically said um, if it's a first of all, they cut off all wind power.
38:25
SPEAKER_02: So there were offshore wind developments that literally have been stopped in their track.
38:30
SPEAKER_02: I mean, like they were built and there's this investment stopped in the track.
38:35
SPEAKER_02: What's impacted Nevada, close to$92 billion of investment, you know, tens of thousands of jobs, basically said if you are solar or wind and you need a permit, it must get personally approved by Secretary of Interior Doug Bergum.
38:54
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
38:54
SPEAKER_02: You know, he claims someone in his office, blah, blah, blah.
38:57
SPEAKER_02: I don't know, whoever it is.
38:59
SPEAKER_02: What we have seen is solar development literally stopped in its track.
39:04
SPEAKER_02: I mean, there have been select few.
39:07
SPEAKER_02: They might have donated to a ballroom or something like that that have gotten approved.
39:14
SPEAKER_02: But um my point is this, and this is what the point I make with the secretary, with the secretary of the energy, is we should have parity.
39:24
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
39:24
SPEAKER_02: It shouldn't matter, you know, and by the way, a large, you know, a small-scale nuclear plants are gonna become in the mix because they're a form of, you know, what people believe to be clean energy.
39:37
SPEAKER_02: We can talk about the waste, but you know, but we need to look at an all of the above energy policy.
39:44
SPEAKER_02: Right now, I think it's shifted back towards oil and gas.
39:49
SPEAKER_02: Uh I think we need to be a little more, you know, uh why I'm just gonna say wide-eyed about all the energy that we need and not tip the scale on what type of energy is or is not.
40:03
SPEAKER_02: Now, I'll I that being said, I do believe that you know, carbon-free energy is better for our planet and long-term better for us.
40:13
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, some of the uh my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will basically say that solar energy is intermittent, it's not reliable, etc.
40:26
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, I'll make the claim that we have a thing called batteries now that uh allow you to have assurance that you're gonna have, you know, I mean you're not gonna generate it 24-7, but you can certainly uh have a reliable source with battery storage as well.
40:44
SPEAKER_00: The country and everybody has an opinion on everything you said.
40:48
SPEAKER_00: I I've heard so many people on one side and the other.
40:51
SPEAKER_00: I feel like the country and the population is more polarized now than ever.
40:56
SPEAKER_00: Do you feel that that it's the same way in Congress or is it the same way in Congress?
41:00
SPEAKER_02: Listen, I think that um many people, what you see on TV, you see a lot of the polarization.
41:07
SPEAKER_02: And but I will say that you gotta pass these bills somehow.
41:12
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
41:13
SPEAKER_02: And in general, I think this country is better served when we do it in a bipartisan manner.
41:18
SPEAKER_02: So you gotta sit down and roll up your sleeves and figure out your differences.
41:23
SPEAKER_02: And that's what a lot of people don't see on you know the news shows because it's not sexy, quite honestly.
41:31
SPEAKER_02: Like, hey, we're working together, right?
41:33
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, but I would say that uh there's obviously a shift, like these bills.
41:40
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, this is sort of getting wonky, but you'll hear this term of reconciliation bill or a budget bill.
41:48
SPEAKER_02: The one, the one big beautiful bill that was passed last uh a year ago, uh, that was a single-sided Republican bill.
41:57
SPEAKER_02: Okay, it did not have Democratic support.
42:00
SPEAKER_02: Right.
42:01
SPEAKER_02: And um, and listen, we we passed the Inflation Reduction Act, uh, which was a single-sided bill as well.
42:09
SPEAKER_02: And so, um, but what ends up happening is you see the other party get into power and literally try to erase everything the previous party did.
42:20
SPEAKER_02: Yes, and that doesn't serve the American public, it doesn't serve our country's national security, you know, it doesn't like we're competing against China primarily.
42:31
SPEAKER_02: I mean, these uh this country is authoritarian, you know, but they have a 50-year plan, a hundred-year plan.
42:39
SPEAKER_02: If we're operating on two-year cycles, uh, we are really setting us ourselves up for failure.
42:46
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
42:47
SPEAKER_02: And uh, and so, you know, when you pass these one-sided bills, um, you know, and it really sets things up for uh that type of shenanigans where you're going back and forth.
43:00
SPEAKER_02: And I think we're better off, you know, I sit on the appropriations committee.
43:04
SPEAKER_02: You gotta pass a budget every year, and you gotta pass a spending bill.
43:10
SPEAKER_02: And that really takes having negotiations.
43:13
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, like sometimes, you know, Republicans want to put these riders in that say, you know, that that are really geared towards social issues.
43:23
SPEAKER_02: And if we can sit down and just say, we're not gonna address that, let's pass this bill as is.
43:29
SPEAKER_02: And so it's having those types of negotiations that I think are important.
43:34
SPEAKER_02: And we need more of that and not less.
43:38
SPEAKER_02: Well said.
43:39
SPEAKER_05: In terms of the the non sexy things that aren't going to be shown, because like he said, everyone is so polarized right now that it's almost like we're addicted to seeing content like that.
43:49
SPEAKER_05: Um, is there anything that still produces genuine agreement across both parties that y'all don't have to go back and forth so much on?
43:57
SPEAKER_02: Uh yeah, I mean, I think that.
44:00
SPEAKER_02: You know, support for our veterans.
44:01
SPEAKER_02: Right.
44:02
SPEAKER_02: I think that's a a bipartisan issue.
44:04
SPEAKER_02: Right.
44:05
SPEAKER_02: Um, I do think um support for, you know, our armed services um has a bipartisan po now there are some people on both sides uh who um you know want to see less and um and so I do think you have a little um you know and listen I mean I think uh anything again uh a lot of it um let's talk like social security, right?
44:39
SPEAKER_02: Um we know that this is a system that was set up to make sure that elderly pay people after they retire, they've paid into it their whole lives, have the ability to retire and know they have a safety net.
44:53
SPEAKER_02: Right.
44:54
SPEAKER_02: Right.
44:55
SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, there's some talk in Washington of privatizing that, throwing it all into private securities, et cetera.
45:05
SPEAKER_02: And you know, some people even want to eliminate it.
45:09
SPEAKER_02: And um, but I think in general, most people in the middle understand the importance of it.
45:14
SPEAKER_02: Right.
45:14
SPEAKER_02: So it's just how do we make sure it's secure moving forward.
45:18
SPEAKER_00: Well, let's talk about something that we all can agree on, and that's the Red Rock Legacy Trail.
45:22
SPEAKER_02: Oh, yes.
45:22
SPEAKER_00: Can you tell me your involvement with that?
45:23
SPEAKER_00: Because you've you've been you're you're you're big on the outdoors, which I love.
45:27
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, can you tell me about your involvement with the Red Rock Legacy Trails?
45:30
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, first of all, I want to um recognize the organization Save Red Rock.
45:35
SPEAKER_02: They're a nonprofit organization that really has spent two decades a long time um uh advocating and planning and working with the county and um the federal delegation, et cetera, to build this.
45:50
SPEAKER_02: It's gonna be a 19-mile loop that will uh parallel Charleston 159 going out to Red Rock, out to Blue Diamond.
45:59
SPEAKER_02: The the plan is to eventually create a full loop down Blue Diamond and around, I don't know exactly what street it will be on, but connect it all so you have a contiguous loop out uh to Red Rock.
46:14
SPEAKER_02: It to me it's a safety issue.
46:16
SPEAKER_02: Right.
46:16
SPEAKER_02: I mean, we when you go out there uh on a weekend, especially, sure, um there's cars backed up, people are on their cell phones, you got bikers on the side of the highway.
46:27
SPEAKER_02: Um, but it's also access.
46:29
SPEAKER_02: This isn't just for bikers, it's hikers.
46:31
SPEAKER_02: I today I was um driving home from mountain biking and I saw two women out on their rollerblades.
46:40
SPEAKER_02: Right.
46:40
SPEAKER_02: You know, I mean, right now it's only like a mile, mile and a half stretch, but uh I helped secure federal funding for it, and I'm gonna continue to, it's a big project for me.
46:51
SPEAKER_02: I think it's uh we have one of the gems of the world in Red Rock uh National Conservation Area.
46:59
SPEAKER_02: Um, but we also have a big population center, and I want more people to get out there and enjoy it and enjoy it safely.
47:06
SPEAKER_02: So um I'll continue to advocate to get more federal funding for it.
47:10
SPEAKER_00: What's your favorite outdoorsy place?
47:12
SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.
47:13
SPEAKER_00: I know I'm I'm asking you the hard questions today.
47:15
SPEAKER_00: I know, I know.
47:17
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's right.
47:19
SPEAKER_02: Well, you know what?
47:20
SPEAKER_02: I love Red Rock.
47:21
SPEAKER_02: It's um it's right, I mean, literally today I was on my mountain bike ten minutes after I biked uh out to the um campground that's out there and sure and biked from there.
47:34
SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, it's pretty special to have that type of access right at your fingertips.
47:41
SPEAKER_02: And it's world-class rock climbing, um, you know, right here and great hiking.
47:48
SPEAKER_02: Um I also love Mount Charleston, you know, I love to get up to Mount Charleston.
47:52
SPEAKER_02: Of course, we have Lake Mead, of course, uh one of the busiest national recreation areas, and the deadliest, which all the rangers out of Lake Mead would, you know, be deadliest.
48:03
SPEAKER_02: I'd be remiss if I didn't uh stress safety when you go out to Lake Mead is one of the dead, yeah.
48:08
SPEAKER_02: Why accidents, water, drownings, car, drinking, you know, dehydration, you name it.
48:17
SPEAKER_02: So if you're going out to Lake Mead, make sure you have proper, you know, PFDs and water, and understand that if you're out there for fun, it's still a dangerous place to be.
48:28
SPEAKER_05: Well, I've got one more nail biter for you.
48:31
SPEAKER_05: If you could take one person from Congress on a Nevada hike or mountain bike to show them like what it is that you love about our outdoor spaces here and why they're so valuable, who would you take and why?
48:43
SPEAKER_00: Let me think.
48:44
SPEAKER_00: I feel like that that's all you need to do.
48:46
SPEAKER_00: You just have to get them to experience what it's like and they'll do anything you say.
48:51
SPEAKER_01: Let me think.
48:52
SPEAKER_01: Well, I'd be strategic about it.
48:55
SPEAKER_01: You can't just take your bestie.
48:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, my bestie, uh yeah.
49:01
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
49:02
SPEAKER_00: You'd have to be strategic about it.
49:03
SPEAKER_02: Which I've already Lori, I I hang out with a member from Massachusetts, Lori Trahan.
49:09
SPEAKER_02: Um she's I've taken her already.
49:13
SPEAKER_02: Um gosh.
49:15
SPEAKER_02: See, I'd want to take a Republican.
49:18
SPEAKER_02: I'd want to take someone who is sort of against conservation and has mucked up public lands.
49:27
SPEAKER_02: I, you know, Mike Lee might come to the list, but you know, he's from Utah.
49:33
SPEAKER_02: Like he should understand public lands.
49:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
49:36
SPEAKER_02: Um I think I'd probably take Barrasso, the senator.
49:41
SPEAKER_02: Why?
49:42
SPEAKER_02: Just because of decisions.
49:45
SPEAKER_02: Right.
49:46
SPEAKER_02: Natural resources.
49:47
SPEAKER_02: Uh they've been sort of key opponents to things like my lands bill, right?
49:54
SPEAKER_02: I uh co-sponsor with uh Catherine Cortez-Masto.
49:58
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, this is the bill that has been a game changer for lands management in Nevada.
50:05
SPEAKER_02: You know, 80% of our land is federally controlled by the BLM.
50:10
SPEAKER_02: But and so whenever we want to develop land, we have to dispose of it and um you know, meaning sell it off.
50:19
SPEAKER_02: But that the proceeds from that, because of our lands bill, go into an account that's used for things like supporting the legacy trail, recreation and conservation, other recreation and conservation activities.
50:33
SPEAKER_02: It's a model piece of legislation for lands management in the West.
50:37
SPEAKER_02: Um, without it, it was sort of like the Wild West, like you know, I mean, some former members of Congress got in trouble for sweet sweetheart deals.
50:48
SPEAKER_02: Sure.
50:48
SPEAKER_02: So it sort of just evens the playing field.
50:51
SPEAKER_02: So I would probably go after him because I'd want him to understand like just how important conservation is in southern Nevada.
51:00
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, Bruce Westerman is the chairman of um the Natural Resources Committee in the House, and I like him per you know, like him personally.
51:11
SPEAKER_02: I've I've uh I went out to Grand Teton National Park with him when we uh celebrated the passage of the Explore Act, which was a piece of land management for national parks and public lands.
51:25
SPEAKER_02: So um, and he's you know, he's mucked up the waters on conservation a little bit, so I've been out there too.
51:32
SPEAKER_02: As a reminder.
51:33
SPEAKER_02: But he's a big outdoorsman, so yeah, he might be able to keep up.
51:36
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you what I liked about that.
51:37
SPEAKER_00: I I I got to see inside your mind of the the strategy of how you approach uh a question that you you weren't prepared for.
51:43
SPEAKER_02: So Strategy with Susie.
51:44
SPEAKER_00: Strategy with Susie.
51:46
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, you know, you sort of want to hang out with people that you agree with, but it's really important to show people, you know, it nothing nothing um you know educates someone more than being there, right?
52:01
SPEAKER_02: And you know, and so um I think it would be important to do that.
52:05
SPEAKER_00: Well, listen, I know our time is getting a little a little limited here.
52:09
SPEAKER_00: So we're just gonna jump straight to the rapid fire questions if that's okay.
52:12
SPEAKER_00: All right.
52:12
SPEAKER_00: You ready?
52:13
SPEAKER_00: Since you're an outdoorsy person, hike or bike?
52:16
SPEAKER_02: Oh god.
52:17
SPEAKER_00: I know.
52:18
SPEAKER_02: Uh well, I uh God, I love them both.
52:21
SPEAKER_02: If I have my dogs, it's hiking.
52:23
SPEAKER_02: If not, I'm biking.
52:24
SPEAKER_00: What kind of dogs do you have?
52:26
SPEAKER_02: I have a sheep a doodle and a labradoodle.
52:28
SPEAKER_00: Love that.
52:29
SPEAKER_00: Love that.
52:29
SPEAKER_00: Uh sunrise or sunset hikes?
52:31
SPEAKER_00: Sunrise.
52:32
SPEAKER_00: Sunrise.
52:32
SPEAKER_02: I'm a morning, I'm a morning girl.
52:34
SPEAKER_00: What time do you wake up?
52:35
SPEAKER_02: Oh too early.
52:38
SPEAKER_02: Too early.
52:39
SPEAKER_02: 5 a.m.
52:40
SPEAKER_02: Today I slept until six.
52:41
SPEAKER_00: Love that.
52:42
SPEAKER_00: Uh, do you like do you do you climb at all too, or no?
52:46
SPEAKER_02: I've dabbled in it.
52:48
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I climbed uh Grand Teton a few times and Mount Rainier, but it's not my favorite.
52:54
SPEAKER_02: My kids are.
52:55
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
52:56
SPEAKER_02: My son just climbed uh half dome.
52:58
SPEAKER_00: That's fair.
52:59
SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
53:00
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he's he's a big climber.
53:02
SPEAKER_02: And he takes me out, and the whole time I'm like, what the hell am I doing here?
53:07
SPEAKER_02: Why am I doing this?
53:09
SPEAKER_02: Question for you.
53:09
SPEAKER_02: Whatever I'm thinking.
53:10
SPEAKER_00: What is, and I guess the last question, what's the best trail view that you have in Nevada?
53:15
SPEAKER_02: The best trail?
53:18
SPEAKER_02: Oh gosh.
53:19
SPEAKER_02: My well, one of my favorite trails is the Kraft Mountain Canyon, just because it's such a beautiful canyon.
53:26
SPEAKER_02: The trail I like to take people on when they visit Las Vegas is uh Muffin Top, which is out of the horse trails because you can climb up and then have a full view of the Las Vegas Valley.
53:39
SPEAKER_02: And so that's super cool for people to see that.
53:42
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's awesome.
53:43
SPEAKER_02: I like Fletcher Canyon up at Mount Charleston too.
53:47
SPEAKER_02: That's like it's it becomes a slot canyon, which is really cool.
53:53
SPEAKER_02: And it's cooler.
53:54
SPEAKER_02: Love that when it's so hot out.
53:56
SPEAKER_00: Love that.
53:56
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
53:57
SPEAKER_00: Well, Susie, this was awesome.
53:58
SPEAKER_00: I am so thankful and and so fortunate that you were able to come on our show and share your insight.
54:05
SPEAKER_05: Um and shout out to Susie's team for coordinating.
54:08
SPEAKER_05: Shout out to Susie's team.
54:09
SPEAKER_00: Yes, incredible team.
54:10
SPEAKER_00: We're so, so thankful.
54:12
SPEAKER_00: Um, do you have any any last words, Susie?
54:15
SPEAKER_02: No, listen, I mean, I thought this was uh great conversation.
54:18
SPEAKER_02: We really didn't talk politics that much.
54:20
SPEAKER_02: I know it or not.
54:21
SPEAKER_02: Well, we kind of did, because you said all of that involves politics.
54:24
SPEAKER_02: It does.
54:25
SPEAKER_02: It does.
54:25
SPEAKER_02: So it does involve politics.
54:27
SPEAKER_00: We kind of sneak it in there every now and then.
54:28
SPEAKER_02: We sort of snuck it in there.
54:30
SPEAKER_02: But um, you know, the great thing about this community is everyone, you know, people have come here from all over the world.
54:37
SPEAKER_02: Uh, not just to come here to enjoy our entertainment, but to move here.
54:42
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, sure.
54:43
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, we can have world-class entertainment and world-class outdoor activities.
54:49
SPEAKER_02: And I think I mentioned that outdoor recreation has become the second uh GDP driver here in Nevada behind gaming and tourism.
54:59
SPEAKER_02: Um, but my thing is, is if you want to be involved, show up and make your voice heard.
55:04
SPEAKER_02: And it can go from anywhere from your local HOA to your school board to your PTA to city council to the Clark County Commission.
55:16
SPEAKER_02: You know, um, we all have uh we have an obligation um to make sure we're building the community we want.
55:24
SPEAKER_02: And I think that uh the thing I love about this community is uh people show up and want to get involved, and uh that's important to me.
55:32
SPEAKER_02: Well said.
55:33
SPEAKER_00: All right.
55:33
SPEAKER_00: Susie Lee, everybody.
55:35
SPEAKER_00: That was great.
55:35
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for coming on.
55:37
SPEAKER_05: Yes, thank you.
55:37
SPEAKER_00: That was awesome.
55:38
SPEAKER_00: Julie, did was it everything you imagined and more?
55:40
SPEAKER_05: It really was, and I want to go to Suzy's for dinner tonight.
55:43
SPEAKER_00: Oh my god.
55:44
SPEAKER_00: Okay, coconut chicken or something like that.
55:46
SPEAKER_00: I know, on the menu.
55:48
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
55:48
SPEAKER_00: We'll catch new episodes each week on Heybhead.com.
55:51
SPEAKER_00: We will see you next week.
55:53
SPEAKER_01: See ya.