Latest / Real Patriotism / Trump’s Driving Up the Price of Everything - this & more with Rep. Maggie Goodlander

Transcript

Trump’s Driving Up the Price of Everything - this & more with Rep. Maggie Goodlander · Real Patriotism

0:00
Should members of Congress be
0:01
termlimited? Should they have to go home
0:03
after 12 years? That would be six terms
0:06
in the House of Representatives, two
0:07
terms in the Senate, and that is an idea
0:09
that would truly shake up Washington DC.
0:12
It's also an idea that surprisingly is
0:14
being proposed by my guest today.
0:16
Surprisingly, because she herself is a
0:18
member of Congress, Representative
0:20
Maggie Goodlander of the state of New
0:21
Hampshire. She's a Democrat representing
0:23
the second congressional district there.
0:25
and she says it is time for there to be
0:28
a horizon on the political careers of
0:30
people like herself. We talked to her
0:32
about that and so much more. Maggie
0:34
Goodlander served our country in the
0:36
Naval Reserve. She's a former naval
0:38
intelligence officer and so she gets the
0:41
strategic stakes in this war that
0:43
President Trump launched against Iran.
0:45
She also gets the stakes back home as
0:47
she runs for reelection and hears from
0:49
her constituents about the
0:51
affordability, the price of gas, hears
0:52
from farmers about the diesel and
0:55
fertilizer prices that they're seeing
0:56
and the problems that that's causing
0:58
across our state and across the country.
1:00
We talk about a lot more as well. It's a
1:02
great conversation. I hope you enjoy it.
1:04
If you do, hit that like and subscribe
1:07
button. That will help us for sure. And
1:09
without further ado, here is my
1:11
conversation with Representative Maggie
1:13
Goodlander.
1:20
Representative Maggie Goodlander, thanks
1:22
for being with us. Great to see you.
1:23
>> It's great to be with you, Terry. Thanks
1:25
for having me.
1:27
>> So, let's start. You know, so much news.
1:29
You're right in the thick of it and I
1:31
want to tap into your background serving
1:33
the country uh as you have in previous
1:37
time of war. So, here we are. We have
1:40
had several times where the president
1:41
has told us this war with Iran is over.
1:44
It feels like it might be moving in that
1:46
direction, but just how do you assess
1:49
where we are in the war the president
1:51
launched without asking you or anybody
1:53
else in Congress or anyone in the in the
1:56
United States, any of the American
1:57
people?
1:58
>> Well, Terry, it's a really it's a
2:00
challenging environment because we have
2:03
a commander-in-chief who
2:05
never made the case for going to war in
2:08
the first place. you know, he came to
2:10
the Congress just a matter of hours
2:12
before he launched this war of choice.
2:14
He gave delivered the longest state of
2:16
the union in American history and didn't
2:19
make the case to the American people.
2:20
And it's been a the only constant has
2:24
been the shifting objectives and
2:27
shifting ration um and shifting accounts
2:31
of the state of play. So, it's a really
2:33
challenging environment. But one thing
2:35
is for sure, this this war of choice is
2:38
costing the American people big time.
2:41
And so far as I look at it, we have very
2:44
little to show for the United States of
2:46
America. This has been a war, I think
2:49
really the first time in my lifetime,
2:51
possibly in American history, that a
2:52
president has launched a war and so
2:55
decisively failed on all relevant
2:58
fronts. You know, the thing that I'm
3:00
very concerned about, we've got
3:02
thousands of troops who are deployed and
3:05
in harm's way. Reports are that
3:08
thousands more uh will be deployed in in
3:12
the days ahead. Uh we've lost 13
3:15
patriots in this war.
3:17
>> I mean, you said something that was that
3:18
was that struck me. You talked about
3:21
failure that this is a this is a
3:23
president who launched this war and
3:25
hasn't accomplished the goals, but we're
3:26
he's telling us like three or four times
3:28
that we've already won.
3:30
>> Yeah. I just it's hard for me to to to
3:33
see how that is. So he the first
3:36
explanation and set of objectives was
3:38
regime change. And what we have now uh
3:40
is an Ayatollah Kamani who's 30 years
3:44
younger than his father and
3:47
more hardlined and radicalized than ever
3:50
before. You know, the straight of
3:52
Hormuz, which we've known uh has always
3:55
been an asymmetric advantage for the
3:58
Iranian regime, um has now become
4:01
something at the center of of how
4:03
they're going to conduct business. And
4:04
this has come at a great cost to the
4:07
American people and you know in my
4:09
district and where you are now in
4:11
Georgia. Uh whether you're a farmer or
4:14
you're a pharmacist or you're a
4:17
hardworking teacher who's trying to now
4:20
live a life of dignity but having to
4:22
make the most painful choices
4:23
imaginable. And that's so much of what I
4:25
hear in this job. people having to make
4:28
painful choices um that are a direct
4:31
result of the costs that the president
4:33
has inflicted on this country in in
4:37
waging this war. And it's it's hard for
4:39
me to see how we've succeeded on any of
4:41
the relevant uh fronts that that he's
4:44
set out on the nuclear program. you
4:46
know, the the the
4:49
10point principles, uh, the 10 points
4:52
that the Iranians put forward that the
4:53
president of the United States called a
4:55
reasonable basis for negotiations,
4:59
uh, should shock the conscience of any
5:01
freedom loving American. These are
5:02
complete non-starters from from where I
5:05
sit. Um, and I think you'd find that is
5:08
a a bipartisan biccameal view in the
5:10
Congress at a time when we don't agree
5:12
on a whole lot
5:14
>> that the terms that the Iranians are
5:16
offering which really allow them to get
5:18
out from under the sanctions that the
5:20
whole world has imposed on them for
5:22
their lying about their nuclear program
5:24
for so long and then it was discovered
5:26
and so now it looks like they almost
5:29
have the leverage right with their with
5:32
their hand on the on the straight. And I
5:34
want to get to something that you said
5:35
about how, you know, people are upset at
5:38
this. They don't get it. And every war
5:41
requires sacrifice as you know.
5:44
>> And one of the reasons that presidents
5:45
go to the country uh at some point and
5:49
make a a full case as to why this step
5:52
must be taken is to is because
5:55
presidents understand that this isn't
5:57
easy and that it will always require
5:59
sacrifice, not just in the field, but at
6:01
home as well. And what are you hearing
6:03
from from people in New Hampshire? It
6:05
feels to me like this is a real moment
6:08
for people to take stock of this
6:10
presidency in a way they have it. They
6:12
didn't he didn't ask us. He didn't uh
6:16
warn us at all really. And here we are
6:18
in the middle of it and he's trying to
6:19
get out of it in a way that it basically
6:22
looks like failure.
6:23
>> Yeah. It looks like selling out the
6:25
American people and our basic security.
6:28
You know, the when you look at who's
6:30
really profited from this war, the
6:33
regime's been the beneficiary of
6:35
sanctions relief. Vlad Putin's been a
6:38
major beneficiary of sanctions relief.
6:41
Um,
6:42
look, the
6:44
at bottom, the president has really
6:47
betrayed some of the most basic promises
6:49
that he made um when he was running for
6:52
president. He
6:54
has said in recent days that we can't
6:56
afford to fund child care. We're in the
7:00
middle of a childare crisis in this
7:02
country. We can't afford to fund at the
7:04
federal level child care. He's he said
7:06
we can't afford to fund Medicare or
7:07
Medicaid because we're fighting wars. Uh
7:11
these are any war as you say comes at
7:14
great sacrifice in lives that are
7:18
forever changed. Lives that are given up
7:20
in service of of people who have put
7:23
their lives on the line and who have
7:25
literally said that they would give
7:26
their lives for our country. And we've
7:28
seen that in the case of 13 patriots who
7:31
gave their lives in this war. You know,
7:33
hundreds who have been wounded,
7:35
thousands who are still in harm's way.
7:37
It comes at the cost of lives and it
7:39
comes at the cost of of taxpayer
7:41
dollars. You know, people the invoice
7:44
from this president is through the roof
7:46
when we're in the middle of an
7:48
affordability crisis that President
7:50
Trump has called a hoax and a conj job.
7:52
That's just a an insult to the
7:56
intelligence and the the lived
7:58
experience of people in this country
8:00
right now who are struggling on the most
8:02
basic level of trying to live a life of
8:05
dignity. Yeah, it's it's hard to tell
8:08
people that everything is hunky dory
8:10
when the facts of their lives tell them
8:13
otherwise. I mean, it's he's a very
8:14
powerful communicator, but facts are
8:17
stubborn things. And in this instance,
8:19
it does seem I want to ask about Donald
8:21
Trump in particular. He's had this
8:22
astonishing run, a dominant political
8:25
figure of our time, but it does feel
8:28
like this is a blunder for our country,
8:33
but also for for him. It seems to have
8:36
obviously Republicans still
8:38
overwhelmingly support him, but with
8:41
questions now and with doubts and
8:44
independents and Democrats, uh, you
8:46
know, who aren't as beholden to their
8:48
loyalty to him, uh, obviously reject
8:51
this. And I'm thinking about the defeat
8:53
of Victor Orban, the downfall of Orban
8:55
in Hungary, one of Trump's models. Mhm.
8:59
>> Do you get a sense that this is a
9:00
turning point in in our politics and in
9:02
this presidency because of the way it's
9:05
gone and the way, you know, he talks
9:07
about it, which is almost callous about
9:10
the interests of the American people.
9:13
>> It's certainly not America first and
9:15
that's that's what he ran on. And you're
9:17
right, you know, the president is
9:20
his extraordinary once in a generation
9:23
talent um has been, you know, in my view
9:26
really used uh in dangerous ways. But
9:29
but the talent at bottom is his ability
9:32
to bend a version of reality uh in the
9:36
direction that he wants to bend it. But
9:38
war has its own realities and its own
9:42
costs. And I think in this case, people
9:44
are feeling it big time. you can't bend
9:47
or rewrite the reality that we've we've
9:50
lost lives. Uh that people are paying
9:53
the price every single day in ways big
9:56
and small. Um at the gas pump, at the
9:58
grocery store, at the pharmacy, and it's
10:02
not a mystery where these sky-high costs
10:05
are coming from. It's been a direct
10:07
result of the choices that this
10:09
president has made. Um, and
10:13
it's why I'm so determined for here in
10:17
Congress for us to do our basic duty
10:19
because this is not an academic
10:23
matter of of the responsibilities that
10:25
we've been given here in Congress under
10:27
the Constitution. It's for very good
10:29
reasons that
10:31
Congress has got to exercise the power
10:33
of the purse. The president's asking for
10:35
$1.5 trillion dollars for the Department
10:38
of Defense. And this is this is a
10:40
department that has chronically failed
10:42
to pass a clean audit. And where I come
10:45
from, that's just not right. And that
10:46
does not fly. Um, and he's he's given
10:49
very little reason for for for really
10:52
any person of good faith who comes to
10:55
this um and who who sees the the the
10:59
challenges that we we are facing, life
11:01
or death challenges, because of choices
11:03
this president has made to make the
11:05
biggest cuts to healthcare in American
11:06
history. um to roll back promises. Uh
11:10
we've got a a crisis of parenthood in
11:12
America. You know, people are priced out
11:14
of becoming parents in this country
11:16
because child care is just so
11:18
unaffordable. And for the president to
11:19
say this isn't a problem we can solve
11:22
because we're fighting wars um really
11:24
defies common sense and it defies uh
11:27
what any good freedom loving American
11:31
wants to see, which is a country that
11:32
actually works. We're the richest
11:33
country in the history of of the world.
11:36
we can do so much better.
11:38
>> Yeah. Does that does that resonate the
11:41
the arguments that you're making about
11:43
healthcare, child care, and and
11:45
essentially
11:47
getting at the affordability issue, but
11:50
even beyond that, the sense that I don't
11:52
know, maybe maybe the the super rich
11:54
shouldn't have so much or however you
11:56
want to describe it, a rebalancing of of
11:59
old-fashioned American uh
12:02
egalitarianism. And I just wonder, you
12:04
know, you represent this swing state,
12:07
right? And I I I live in a kind of a
12:09
purple area of of Maryland, and I like
12:11
to tell my kids, a lot of whose friends
12:13
parents voted for Trump, a lot of good
12:15
people had good reason to vote for
12:17
Donald Trump, and that's that's why they
12:19
did so. But do you feel there that what
12:22
you're talking about is getting through?
12:25
because the polls continue to show that
12:27
we that we have this monolithic movement
12:29
that is maybe chipping away at the edges
12:32
but not really budging when you approach
12:36
the voters as you will uh obviously this
12:39
year. Do you get a sense that that you
12:43
have more open minds on the other side
12:46
of the aisle or more people who might
12:48
have been independents and voted with
12:49
Trump maybe giving you a different kind
12:51
of a listen?
12:53
Look, I think we I come from a purple
12:56
state of deeply deeply independent
12:58
people and it's part of what I love
13:00
about this job that I've I've got to
13:03
earn every vote and that's that's the
13:05
spirit that I bring to the work. Um
13:08
people are feeling no matter where you
13:10
are on the ideological spectrum, you
13:12
know, before I came to Congress, I led
13:14
what was called the unity agenda at the
13:15
White House and it was uh the idea
13:18
behind this agenda, it sounds
13:20
oldfashioned. I think it's an idea for
13:21
the future. It's an agenda that was
13:23
built around issues that touch Americans
13:26
no matter where you fall, no matter who
13:28
you voted for, no matter what party you
13:30
affiliate yourself with. Um, challenges
13:32
that we confront as Americans. And to
13:35
me, the affordability crisis, whether
13:37
you're talking about the sky-high cost
13:39
of housing, which is at the root of the
13:42
root of so many of the the cost crises
13:46
that we we face as a country. People
13:48
just can't afford uh to to to have a a
13:52
place to call home. And that's a
13:53
cornerstone of the American dream. It
13:55
always has been. It's why we see massive
13:57
workforce shortages in New Hampshire um
13:59
on all relevant fronts. uh this this
14:02
piece which to me is at the center of of
14:04
a cost crisis is a challenge that has
14:07
and must continue to bring us together
14:09
as Americans. Um the choices the
14:12
president has made in office so far have
14:15
made building homes and buying homes
14:18
more expensive on every front. I just
14:20
came from uh talking to a group of
14:22
builders in my state and these on again
14:25
off-again trade wars which you and I
14:27
talked about Terry before the Supreme
14:29
Court's decision um which was the right
14:33
one in my view uh declaring that a piece
14:36
of these tariffs that the president
14:39
slapped on were completely
14:40
unconstitutional. They've been so costly
14:42
and when you look at their
14:43
implementation they've been deeply
14:45
deeply corrupt. Um, and I think it it
14:48
just this this is an issue that that has
14:50
brought, you know, no matter where you
14:52
come from or where you are, small
14:54
businesses are being put out of business
14:56
because of choices that this president
14:58
has made. And
15:00
again, we're the richest country in the
15:02
history of the world. We can do so much
15:03
better. We've got real challenges that I
15:06
think are bringing us together. And it
15:08
would be a lot easier if we had a
15:10
president at the helm who was actually
15:12
focused on trying to solve them and not
15:15
fighting monsters and and generating
15:18
conflicts overseas that are not good for
15:21
America's bottom line.
15:22
>> Yeah. A unity agenda that that sounds
15:24
like something we could sure use. Uh
15:27
hard to achieve these days. But I do
15:29
want to ask about your constituents
15:32
you've talked about. How about your
15:33
colleagues? Right. So, I've heard from,
15:36
you know, Republicans o over the years
15:38
of Trump privately
15:41
the same feelings that a lot of
15:43
Americans have who did not vote for him.
15:45
You know, that he's his character issues
15:48
that that his policies don't but they
15:51
won't stand up to him. We have a speaker
15:54
of the house who looks like he's running
15:55
away from questions and he looks like
15:57
he's frustrated like he's about to cry
15:59
sometimes about these questions to and
16:02
how he has to defend Trump. Now, he may
16:04
actually be more of a true believer than
16:05
than Senator Thoon, who's a who's a
16:08
Republican leader in the Senate. But do
16:10
you get a sense first of frustration
16:14
that Republicans who do have to stand up
16:16
and defend policies that are now
16:18
provably unpopular with the American
16:20
people are looking for an out and that
16:24
they they're they're they're looking for
16:26
a way to reassert their own
16:28
individuality and their role as you put
16:30
it under the Constitution to be some
16:33
kind of check on this president. Is
16:35
there any change in the weather there?
16:38
Well, the pervasive feeling that I've
16:40
seen since I arrived here is really
16:42
fear. It's um a couple of variations on
16:46
on that force which is unfortunately a
16:50
very contagious one. I think people in
16:52
this in who work in Congress, one of the
16:54
the core problems that we have is uh
16:58
we're a Congress where we don't have
16:59
term limits and people who have been
17:01
here for too long, who have built their
17:03
lives uh around a job and who are
17:07
singularly focused on keeping their job.
17:09
This is just completely at odds with
17:11
what this country needs and what our
17:14
responsibilities should be here in
17:15
Congress, which are above all the real
17:17
kind of patriotism uh that our founders
17:20
envisioned, which were people who did
17:22
their duty under the Constitution, did
17:24
their basic jobs under the Constitution.
17:26
And I I carry mine with me everywhere I
17:28
go because it comes up and it's it's I
17:30
don't know how anyone does the job uh
17:32
without it. You know, from thinking
17:34
about the 27th amendment yesterday when
17:37
I introduced a bipartisan bill to
17:41
make sure that members of Congress do
17:43
not get paid during government shutdowns
17:44
is something I believe deeply in because
17:46
we all the incentives are out of whack.
17:49
But it's it's the fear of the fear that
17:51
leads people to be singularly focused on
17:53
keeping their jobs. And then I think
17:55
which has always been a problem here.
17:57
But I think what what President Trump
17:59
has brought out in people um is a fear
18:02
of being the target of his eye. And you
18:05
know what that feels like. I know what
18:06
that feels like. It's not a good
18:08
feeling.
18:09
>> But it's it's a feeling
18:11
>> that comes it's the cost of of serving
18:15
uh whether you're serving as a
18:17
journalist or as a member of Congress.
18:20
This is the environment that um this
18:23
president has created. And you know, I I
18:26
am I worked for John McCain very proudly
18:28
and I'm always looking to find ways to
18:32
summon his spirit here in Congress
18:35
today. Uh and we've seen it. We've seen
18:37
it emerge. You know, we've had to do the
18:40
most elaborate kinds of workarounds that
18:42
you could ever imagine. U discharge
18:44
petitions, which I'm sure is I think we
18:46
talked about it the last time I was with
18:48
you, but this is the only way we've been
18:49
able to get stuff done of consequence on
18:52
a bipartisan basis. It's how we extended
18:54
in the House the the Affordable Care Act
18:56
premium tax credits. We got 17
18:58
Republicans to join us, you know, and
19:00
it's it the way it works is it's
19:02
literally a petition that sits on the
19:04
floor of the House and you got to go
19:06
signature by signature and get to 218
19:08
signatures. So, it really puts a target
19:11
on the backs of Republicans who have the
19:13
courage to stand up and be a part of it.
19:16
Um, but we just haven't seen enough of
19:17
it. I think courage can be contagious
19:20
and that is a contagion that I'm trying
19:22
to spread everywhere I possibly can
19:24
because at the end of the day this is
19:27
it's an existential crisis for Congress.
19:30
we have had our most basic
19:32
responsibilities
19:34
usurped uh or degraded to the point of
19:38
we no longer have an article one
19:41
authority in this country and that
19:44
leaves us in a really dangerous position
19:46
as a country and so we've got to have
19:49
people of good faith uh with backbone
19:52
and and and I'm looking for them every
19:55
day on this job.
19:56
>> Well, good luck with that. I mean, you
19:59
there are costs and consequences to the
20:02
an awall Congress, right? A Congress
20:04
that that just won't do the job, defers
20:06
to the president, is afraid of the
20:08
president. But there's also, it seems to
20:10
me, a cost to the broader body politic.
20:13
People get cynical and disgusted with
20:15
with the Congress, right? I mean, that's
20:18
always the Congress has always been fair
20:19
game because the branch's closest to the
20:21
people, especially the House of
20:22
Representatives. So, I suppose there's
20:24
always been a little bit of rough and
20:25
tumble with the voters over that, but
20:27
this feels different. A deep bone deep
20:30
cynicism that that you sense and the
20:34
lack of uh the ability to get anything
20:37
done deepens that. But I also would
20:39
would suggest that something like what
20:41
happened to your former colleague,
20:43
Representative Swallwell of of
20:45
California, resigned yesterday over
20:48
these shocking allegations
20:51
uh that that apparently weren't weren't
20:53
that
20:55
secret uh or couldn't have been and are
20:57
still coming out. And I just wonder how
21:00
you feel about the reputation of
21:01
Congress and and what you think about
21:03
about Swallowwell, about what happened
21:05
there.
21:06
Well, I'm deeply disturbed and I'm
21:09
heartbroken for the victims uh who
21:14
didn't come forward in real time and I
21:17
think to me it puts a light on just how
21:19
broken the system is here in in
21:22
Congress. You know, I when I worked for
21:25
Senator McCain uh in 2009 and the in the
21:29
in the early 2010s, we we really didn't
21:32
have a system for how to protect um
21:37
congressional staff. And we it took
21:40
about a decade until 2018 before we
21:44
really made any meaningful changes um to
21:48
creating the conditions for people to
21:50
work safely and for justice to be
21:52
delivered when abuses of power occur.
21:55
And the power asymmetries are massive in
21:58
a place like this. Um and they they lend
22:02
themselves to abuse. uh we've got a lot
22:05
of work to do and this is something I'm
22:06
really committed to to focusing on
22:08
because at the end of the day this this
22:10
institution
22:12
uh loses the trust of the people when
22:14
you see this kind of really disturbing
22:18
and rank and unfortunately widespread
22:20
abuse because this is not the only case
22:22
that we've seen even just in the last 48
22:24
hours. Um, so it we've got to clean up
22:28
house to make the people's house work in
22:30
the way that it it needs to work under
22:33
our system. Um, and this is a huge
22:36
priority for me. I I think this this the
22:39
rules of the road, you know, one of the
22:41
authorities Congress has under the
22:43
constitution is to write the rules for
22:45
its own membership. Um, and we haven't
22:48
done we've failed in that. U and I think
22:50
these cases and the revelations which to
22:53
me were genuine revelations in the last
22:55
48 hours should shock the conscience of
22:58
anyone who who wants to see their
23:01
government doing good and creating the
23:03
conditions for good people to work here
23:06
safely. Um and that that's what we all
23:09
want to see in this country and that's
23:10
certainly what I'm focused on.
23:12
>> Yeah. And I am Am I hearing you right?
23:15
Are you saying that there's still this
23:16
atmosphere of entitlement of and
23:19
underneath that of abuse that that do
23:22
you get a bad vibe from from certain
23:24
people, you know, in in I don't want you
23:26
to name any names, but look, I I I've
23:29
covered Congress like back in the day
23:31
back in the day when Ted Kennedy and Bob
23:33
Pacwood were, you know, you can look it
23:36
up. Let's just put it that way. Uh and
23:39
there was nothing done at that point.
23:41
There was no choice. I knew a young
23:42
woman at the time when you know when I
23:44
was in this one when I was in my 20s who
23:46
had to leave her job
23:48
>> had to leave her job. Has have things
23:51
changed? I mean Swall would suggest
23:53
maybe not.
23:55
Well, look, you know, we've got the
23:57
ethics committee here in the House has
23:59
been extremely busy, and it's on a
24:02
bipartisan basis, very busy allegations
24:06
uh and
24:08
really disturbing claims raised from
24:11
sexual misconduct uh to campaign finance
24:14
abuses uh to abuses of federal programs
24:18
and federal funding streams. And and to
24:20
me, you know, that goes to the core of
24:23
trust. Um, you know, I I think I've
24:26
worked in all three branches of
24:27
government and I I think there's a lot
24:30
of work that needs to be done in all
24:31
three parts of our federal government,
24:33
including in the judiciary, which is
24:35
another area where the power asymmetries
24:38
with, you know, federal judges who enjoy
24:41
lifetime tenure right now. Um the power
24:45
asymmetries are real and the systems
24:47
have failed so many people and and and
24:50
the American people at large when people
24:53
in positions of public trust are not
24:55
held to account. You know, one example
24:57
that shocked me as someone I was a law
24:59
clerk on on the Supreme Court. There is
25:01
no binding code of conduct or ethics for
25:05
Supreme Court justices which to me
25:07
completely defies the basic requirements
25:09
of the United States Constitution which
25:11
says clearly that federal judges get to
25:14
serve on a very clear and important
25:17
condition and that is the condition of
25:18
good behavior. Uh we've seen a whole lot
25:21
of bad behavior from Supreme Court
25:23
justices, from federal judges um at
25:26
every level and that is correctable and
25:30
it's something that Congress can do
25:31
something about and it's something I'm
25:33
very focused on addressing because this
25:35
this is why we've lost tr the trust of
25:37
the people when you see bad behavior uh
25:40
and when you see a a culture of
25:45
um a culture in which accountability is
25:48
is an afterthought.
25:51
So you see this culture and its
25:54
consequences and I kind of wonder you're
25:56
running for reelection.
25:58
Why why do you want to do this job? I
26:00
mean it you it is in some ways a
26:02
thankless job and it is a job where it's
26:05
hard to get anything done in this
26:06
Congress because the dominance of the
26:08
president and the subservience of
26:10
Republicans and just in general over the
26:11
years, money, you know, steering
26:14
legislation. Why do you want to do this
26:16
job?
26:17
Well, I got into this job I I got to see
26:21
on a bipartisan basis um members of the
26:24
United States Senate early in my career,
26:26
Senator John McCain, uh Senator Joe
26:28
Lieberman, who were able to to use the
26:33
Article One authorities to actually make
26:34
a real difference in people's lives here
26:37
in the United States and around the
26:38
world. What keeps me going in this work,
26:41
honestly, are the people who I've met.
26:44
And to me, the the the dream scenario
26:47
and the gold standard and what I would
26:48
like to be doing every day on this job
26:51
um is what I've been able to do in not
26:54
enough cases, but in in a few really
26:56
powerful cases that have stayed with me.
26:58
You know, I'll give you one example. You
26:59
know, I had a constituent who came to me
27:02
who lifelong firefighter. He's given his
27:05
life to, you know, you think of what a
27:08
firefighter does. They run into fire.
27:10
They put their lives on the line every
27:11
day to keep us all safe. Uh he and his
27:14
wife are like had been lifelong
27:15
firefighters in New Hampshire. Um and
27:18
his wife, Lieutenant Chris Wyman of
27:20
Nashville Fire Rescue. Uh she lost her
27:23
life to cancer, which she developed in
27:26
the line of duty. The number one cause
27:28
of death for firefighters in America is
27:30
cancer. And and that's because when you
27:33
run into fire, you're running into toxic
27:35
chemicals. And firefighters are losing
27:38
their lives every day. These fallen
27:40
heroes are giving their lives every day.
27:43
they have earned
27:45
and their families have earned benefits
27:47
that have have evaded them um for year
27:50
after year under federal law. A loophole
27:52
in federal law. And I as someone who
27:54
just is constantly looking for red tape
27:57
and loopholes, this to me was a gaping
27:59
one. uh where we were able to correct it
28:01
in the National Defense Authorization
28:03
Act, which correcting this gap in
28:06
federal law is going to make a world of
28:09
difference in the lives of the families
28:12
of fallen heroes who, you know,
28:14
unfortunately are facing just incredible
28:18
medical debt. Um costs that they should
28:21
not have to bear. They these are costs
28:23
that are direct result of their ser
28:27
their family me the loved ones service
28:29
to our country and to our communities.
28:31
Uh we were able to fix that in the in
28:33
the National Defense Authorization Act.
28:34
We got the the Honoring Our Fallen
28:36
Heroes Act done. And I give you this as
28:37
an example, Terry, because this is what
28:39
I want to be doing every day all day. um
28:43
being a real lawmaker, actually making
28:45
the law work for the American people,
28:47
which you know, it just for too long we
28:51
we haven't had a Congress that is
28:53
focused on changing the rules um to make
28:56
to make this country work for the
28:59
American people and and it's never been
29:00
a harder time to try to govern in the
29:02
minority in Congress. But that's I
29:05
played a lot of cards growing up and I
29:07
think it was good training for Congress
29:08
because you got to play the hand you're
29:11
dealt. We're gonna do I'm gonna do
29:12
everything in my power to get as much
29:14
done as I can uh between now and the end
29:18
of this term. Uh but it's th this is
29:22
this is why I got into this business
29:24
because I really believe in what
29:26
Congress can do to deliver for the
29:29
American people and it's what I'm trying
29:30
to do every day on this job.
29:32
>> Well, I think we'd all wish you good
29:34
luck in that endeavor. You'll need it.
29:36
>> Thank you. Uh and and uh Congresswoman
29:39
Goodlander, thank you very much for
29:40
being with us once again and we'll see
29:43
you down the road.
29:44
>> Thank you, Terry.