Latest / Meet the Candidate - Pittsburgh & Western Pennsylvania / Mike Kelly for Congress (R)

Transcript

Mike Kelly for Congress (R) · Meet the Candidate - Pittsburgh & Western Pennsylvania

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: And welcome in. This is Meet the Candidate, designed to
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  Speaker 1: give you an opportunity to hear directly from the people
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  Speaker 1: who are asking for your vote. No endorsements, no debate,
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  Speaker 1: just a conversation about the candidate, the issues, and where
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  Speaker 1: they stand, so you can make up your own mind.
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  Speaker 1: Today we're talking with Congressman Mike Kelly, the Republican candidate
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  Speaker 1: for Pennsylvania's 16th Congressional District. Kelly currently represents a district
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  Speaker 1: in the U.S. House of Representatives and is seeking another
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: term in Washington. Congressman Mike Kelly, thank you, and welcome
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  Speaker 1: to Meet the Candidate.
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  Speaker 2: And Johnny, top of the morning to you.
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  Speaker 1: All right, so if there's one thing you want voters
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  Speaker 1: to understand about your campaign, what would that be?
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  Speaker 2: I think that no matter what we do in life,
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  Speaker 2: whether you're looking for medical help or you're looking for
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  Speaker 2: any type of help or anything, it's really important to
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  Speaker 2: read people's resumes. because nobody just takes a chance. Say
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  Speaker 2: they have the shingawat, I'd have no idea who they
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  Speaker 2: are or which way they lean or what they're concerned about.
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  Speaker 2: I think the main concern I have now is too
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  Speaker 2: often voters look at things and it's like, oh, it's
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  Speaker 2: not a big election. I say, what do you mean
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  Speaker 2: by a big election? Because in the eyes of somebody
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  Speaker 2: who's lived here all their life, every election is a
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  Speaker 2: big election. But in this one, it's like, well, if
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  Speaker 2: the presidential issue isn't on the ticket, I really don't
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  Speaker 2: get involved. And I said, well, that That's okay, but
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  Speaker 2: it's not okay because in the midterms, which is what
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  Speaker 2: we're going to be talking about now, the entire swing
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  Speaker 2: of legislation and the direction you're going in can change completely.
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  Speaker 2: And when I try to explain to people, so look,
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  Speaker 2: when we're in the majority, we have an incredible responsibility
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  Speaker 2: to govern. But also, under the model that we use,
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  Speaker 2: we have different opportunities. So I'm on something called the
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  Speaker 2: Ways and Means Committee. So when you're on the majority...
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  Speaker 2: you actually chair the committee. You also chair the subcommittees
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  Speaker 2: under each one of those committees. And the question then becomes, well,
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  Speaker 2: is that important? I said, only if you're interested in
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  Speaker 2: legislation and only if you're interested in the direction of
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  Speaker 2: the nation. So policy has everything to do with it.
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  Speaker 2: Too many people get wrapped up around personalities and not
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  Speaker 2: policies anymore. And I say, interesting. I understand what you're
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  Speaker 2: saying now. What policy do we need to talk about?
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  Speaker 2: And We're on the phone constantly. We have three offices,
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  Speaker 2: one in Erie, one in Sharon, Pennsylvania, one in Butler, Pennsylvania,
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  Speaker 2: so that none of our constituents have to travel more
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  Speaker 2: than a half hour or 40 minutes to actually get
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  Speaker 2: to one of our offices and get help. And most
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  Speaker 2: of the help we do is with Social Security, it's
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  Speaker 2: with health care, it's with immigration. So it's things like
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  Speaker 2: that where those, when we're at home, and I'm talking
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  Speaker 2: about in Pennsylvania's 16th Congressional District, we work on customer service.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that's where my background, being in the
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  Speaker 2: automobile industry, the first car you sell is usually because
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  Speaker 2: of the price. The next time they come back is
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  Speaker 2: because of the service. So back home, we are handling
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  Speaker 2: any type of problem with any federal issue that any
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  Speaker 2: of our people have. In D.C., we work on legislation.
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  Speaker 2: So service first, that's at home. Legislation, that's in Washington, D.C.,
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  Speaker 2: which is an altogether different animal. I think the biggest
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  Speaker 2: problem that most of us have with anything is I
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  Speaker 2: don't understand when I call Social Security, when I call
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  Speaker 2: whomever it is, it's just so hard to get a
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  Speaker 2: hold of somebody. I need to get answers, and the
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  Speaker 2: answer is call our office in Sharon, call our office
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  Speaker 2: in Erie, call our office in Butler. We have people
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  Speaker 2: who do nothing. And by the way, Johnny, during COVID,
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  Speaker 2: we never took a day off. We did not miss
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  Speaker 2: one day. We were there every single day because the
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  Speaker 2: same issues were there, but not always the same people
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  Speaker 2: answering phones. The federal office never closed, so we were
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  Speaker 2: always hell-bent on, let's make sure our constituents get service.
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  Speaker 1: You talked about policy. What is one policy that is
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  Speaker 1: near and dear to your heart?
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  Speaker 2: You know what? I can't say there's any one that's
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  Speaker 2: near and dear to our heart. I think that I'm
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  Speaker 2: blessed with the background that I have from a really
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  Speaker 2: strong family who was always engaged in what was going
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  Speaker 2: on in our community. But as far as the policies
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  Speaker 2: are concerned right now, I'm talking about national security as
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  Speaker 2: the biggest challenge I think that we have. And I
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: think there's been kind of a misunderstanding that in the
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  Speaker 2: world today, globally, There's great strife taking place everywhere. The
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  Speaker 2: only person, the only country to show up every time
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  Speaker 2: there's a problem is America. It's always the Yanks. The
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  Speaker 2: Yanks show up. Oh, we have a problem over here.
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  Speaker 2: We'll be there. Oh, we're having a problem down. Oh,
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  Speaker 2: we'll be there. And we have an incredible, incredible opposition
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  Speaker 2: around the world. Secretary Rumsfeld was very famous when he said,
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  Speaker 2: you know, old Europe is gone. And when people say, well,
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  Speaker 2: what did he mean by that? And so you'd have
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  Speaker 2: to take a look at Europe and say, okay, what
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  Speaker 2: happened in Germany? What happened in Russia? What happened in Ireland?
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  Speaker 2: What happened in England? What happened? What happened? And I
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  Speaker 2: don't mean this to be controversial. We have always been people.
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  Speaker 2: If somebody's in trouble, we want to be the first responder.
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  Speaker 2: If somebody's lost their way in where it is that
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  Speaker 2: they were born, come in. Come in. We have room
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  Speaker 2: for you. Come in. We're always going to have that
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  Speaker 2: open door. But the difference, I think, when you look today,
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  Speaker 2: the idea is that we wanted people to come in
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  Speaker 2: because they wanted to assimilate. They wanted to become part
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  Speaker 2: of the greatest dream the world's ever had, and that's
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  Speaker 2: the United States of America. Now we have this idea, well,
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  Speaker 2: we're not comfortable with just assimilating. We want to eliminate.
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  Speaker 2: We want to change the culture completely and go in
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  Speaker 2: a different way. I've often said this to my friends.
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  Speaker 2: I said, you know what? One of the things I'm
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  Speaker 2: so grateful for, my grandparents, my mom and dad, my
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  Speaker 2: aunts and uncles, if they would have known then what's
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  Speaker 2: going on now, they'd say, what in the world happened?
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  Speaker 2: What happened? And the answer is, it's been so good
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  Speaker 2: for so long. We just think the sun's going to
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  Speaker 2: come up. It's going to be the same America. And
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  Speaker 2: then we have other folks around the world that looks at,
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  Speaker 2: they invited us in. now i think it's our turn
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  Speaker 2: to run it because they're they're not who we like
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  Speaker 2: and i i think it's a great if the great
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  Speaker 2: misunderstanding we want people to come in we want people
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  Speaker 2: become part of the american dream we want them to
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  Speaker 2: have that opportunity what we want them to do more
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  Speaker 2: than anything else is learn about who we are as
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  Speaker 2: americans I consider myself an Irish American, but above everything else,
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  Speaker 2: I'm an American. And you and I can talk about
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  Speaker 2: who came there before us and what did they bring. Well,
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  Speaker 2: they brought a whole lot, but more than anything else,
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  Speaker 2: why did they come to America? For opportunity. For opportunity
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  Speaker 2: that they were denied and wherever it was that they
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  Speaker 2: were born, they said, let's go to America. We'll have
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  Speaker 2: a chance in America. And that's been true. We are,
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  Speaker 2: and I know people will argue with me. I said,
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  Speaker 2: don't use the term we're the greatest country in the world.
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  Speaker 2: I said, okay, fine. Let me just shift it to
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  Speaker 2: this because the country refers to that great big green
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  Speaker 2: patch you see on the map. Let's just talk about
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  Speaker 2: we're the greatest nation. We're the most welcoming people in
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  Speaker 2: the world. We don't discriminate. I'm not saying we're perfect.
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  Speaker 2: We want people to come in and want them to
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  Speaker 2: enjoy the freedom that America has always provided.
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  Speaker 1: I love the analogy that you had with the car
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  Speaker 1: dealership when you said price and then the service. So
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  Speaker 1: let's bring it locally. When it comes to Pennsylvania, how can...
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  Speaker 1: how can you, you know, what can Washington do to
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  Speaker 1: help Pennsylvania grow and create jobs and keep people working?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's really a good question. I think each
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  Speaker 2: of the states have different attributes and different things. You say, hey,
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  Speaker 2: this is, they really are rich in this. And we
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  Speaker 2: used to be called the Saudi Arabian natural gas not
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  Speaker 2: too long ago because of what we had found, right,
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  Speaker 2: with Marcellus. And we have other layers below that. And
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  Speaker 2: we were saying, my goodness, we have a source of
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  Speaker 2: energy that's going to be going to be usable, and
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  Speaker 2: it's going to make it possible for people to come
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  Speaker 2: here to have their business, to do whatever they need
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  Speaker 2: to do, because at the end of everything, if you
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  Speaker 2: don't have the energy, you're not going to be able
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  Speaker 2: to have the success that needs to go with it.
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  Speaker 2: So when you look at Pennsylvania, and we're called the
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  Speaker 2: Keystone State, too, for a good reason. I tell people
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  Speaker 2: all the time, go back and see why we're called
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  Speaker 2: the Keystone State, because we were the ones that held
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  Speaker 2: the union together. When you look at Pennsylvania, when you
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  Speaker 2: look at Pennsylvania's natural resources, We have the ability to
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  Speaker 2: do things that some other places in the country don't have.
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  Speaker 2: We have the ability, though, to drive innovation. We have
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  Speaker 2: the ability to drive people saying, you know what? There's
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  Speaker 2: a job for you. There's a good-paying job for you.
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  Speaker 2: There's a future for you, for your family, and for
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  Speaker 2: those that come after us. And I think Pennsylvania is
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  Speaker 2: so rich in that. So from policy, you want to
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  Speaker 2: be careful what you do. Nobody should just say, we're
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  Speaker 2: just going to go ahead and do it because we
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  Speaker 2: think it's a good opportunity. Yes, but with opportunity, you
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  Speaker 2: also have the responsibility to make sure that the opportunity,
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  Speaker 2: in fact, is an opportunity and that we're handling it
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  Speaker 2: the right way. Regulation is very important no matter what
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  Speaker 2: we do. I know we're having this debate now about AI.
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  Speaker 2: And of course, we live in a world of acronyms
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  Speaker 2: right now. People say, I don't like ANI. I said,
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  Speaker 2: tell me what ANI is. They'll say, what's ANI? I said, no,
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  Speaker 2: but do you know what it is? Because if you
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  Speaker 2: know what it is, then you understand it's a little
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  Speaker 2: bit different. I tell people, and this is probably too
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: young for most of our audience, go back to Space
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  Speaker 2: Odyssey 2001. And the discussion that took place at that
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  Speaker 2: movie in 1966 was that a robot took over a
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  Speaker 2: space station and was starting to drive the whole purpose
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  Speaker 2: of the space station. And finally, the humans had to
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  Speaker 2: disconnect it to get it back to normalcy. So, yes,
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  Speaker 2: we had to have... Daisy, Daisy. I'm sorry, Al. So, anyways,
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  Speaker 2: we go through this, but I always ask people, please
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  Speaker 2: step out of the political arena and step into policy.
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  Speaker 2: I don't care if you're red or blue, if the
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  Speaker 2: end result is that it's strong for the red, white,
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  Speaker 2: and blue. We represent three quarters of a million people.
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  Speaker 2: I defy anybody serving this office right now. And there's
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  Speaker 2: 435 congressmen, right? So there's 435 districts around the state,
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  Speaker 2: around the country. If somebody can tell me they're an
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  Speaker 2: all red or an all blue, I would say, please,
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  Speaker 2: you're in the wrong place. You're being to get someplace
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  Speaker 2: where there's a mix, everything in life. And I mean,
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: what are we known for? We're known for steel. What's
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  Speaker 2: steel made from? From a lot of different things coming together.
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  Speaker 2: We melt it and we make it. And people talk
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  Speaker 2: to me, well, steel, steel. I said, steel is not steel.
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  Speaker 2: There are many varieties of steel and it depends what
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  Speaker 2: you put into it. It's the product that comes out.
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  Speaker 2: I love the fact that we're from Pittsburgh. We had
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  Speaker 2: three rivers that made it possible for people to bring
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  Speaker 2: whatever we needed to make steel. They came here. We
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  Speaker 2: are the driver. We are the whole factory of any
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  Speaker 2: type of success in early America. So, again, getting back
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  Speaker 2: to the real issue right now, we're too politically divided
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  Speaker 2: and not enough understanding of what is the policy that
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  Speaker 2: is in the best interest of the people we represent
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  Speaker 2: right now, the people who made it possible for us,
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  Speaker 2: who came before us and gave us that opportunity, and
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  Speaker 2: all those coming after us, that we can compete with
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  Speaker 2: anybody in the world on any stage and say at
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  Speaker 2: the end, at the end, it's always got to be
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  Speaker 2: America first.
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  Speaker 1: Affordability is the new buzzword. What is Congress doing to
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  Speaker 1: help lower costs for Pennsylvania families?
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  Speaker 2: You know what? That is the number one issue, right?
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  Speaker 2: It's affordability. At one point, it was inflation. Inflation went
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: from that into affordability. Well, inflation caused the problem with affordability.
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  Speaker 2: While we've been able to tamp down the percentage of
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  Speaker 2: inflation that's happening, we have not been able to lower prices.
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  Speaker 2: The biggest driver of everything, cost of everything, is energy.
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  Speaker 1: Right?
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  Speaker 2: No matter what it is that we make, no matter
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  Speaker 2: what it is that we do, energy is behind all
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  Speaker 2: of it. So what is our source of energy? What
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  Speaker 2: is the cost of producing that energy? And that ultimately
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  Speaker 2: is figured into the end price of whatever it is,
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  Speaker 2: whether it's a good or a service. So when energy
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  Speaker 2: is up, the prices of everything are up. And we
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  Speaker 2: talk now, yes, inflation caused the affordability problem. How do
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  Speaker 2: you tamp it down? It's a very difficult thing to
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  Speaker 2: do because once it's at a certain level, in my lifetime,
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  Speaker 2: I very rarely have seen prices come down. Sometimes they
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: go up very small, but there's never been any quarter
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  Speaker 2: that I've looked at where somebody says, geez, we've actually
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: had a reduction. People would say, well, I can accept 3%,
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  Speaker 2: 4% inflation. I can't accept double-digit inflation. Double-digit inflation, once
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: it's up there, in order to get it down, the
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  Speaker 2: only thing that stops it is for people to stop
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  Speaker 2: buying it. And I don't care. Any store you go into,
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  Speaker 2: the stuff that's on sale, this is stuff that isn't
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: saleable at the price it is. And you see markdowns.
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  Speaker 2: And people usually look, I want to find out what's there.
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  Speaker 2: I'll go to a place where stuff's on sale. What
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  Speaker 2: does that mean? It's less than it was the day before.
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  Speaker 2: It's more affordable for my family.
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  Speaker 1: You've been in Congress since 2011. What is the one
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  Speaker 1: issue where Republicans and Democrats... need to find common ground
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  Speaker 1: to deliver results for Pennsylvania?
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  Speaker 2: I think more than anything else right now is probably housing.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know that in my lifetime I've ever seen
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  Speaker 2: a situation where finding some place to live is difficult.
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  Speaker 2: And the reason it's difficult is because it's no longer affordable.
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  Speaker 2: The house that my wife and I live in, I
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  Speaker 2: bought in an auction in 1974 for $ 50, 000. And somebody says, no, seriously.
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  Speaker 2: I said, well, wait a minute. That house was built
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  Speaker 2: in 1917. It was at an auction. There was only
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: two people that showed up, myself and another person. And
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: for whatever reason, I know when I came back to
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  Speaker 2: the dealership and my dad said to me, were you
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: able to get that house? I said, I did. He goes, okay,
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: what were you able to buy it for? I said, $ 50, 000.
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  Speaker 2: He says, good Lord, you didn't pay $ 50, 000 for a house,
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  Speaker 2: did you? Dad, I mean, you've seen the house. He goes,
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  Speaker 2: I don't care about seeing the house. Can you afford it?
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  Speaker 2: Because your mother and I aren't going to make the
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: payment for you. And I think that I was raised
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: by people who really were ratcheted down on it. They always,
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  Speaker 2: the term live within your means meant exactly that, live
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: within your means. He came and saw the house. He said,
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: good Lord, this is the most beautiful house I've ever seen.
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  Speaker 2: You paid too much for it. And I said, okay, thanks. So,
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  Speaker 2: I mean, you paid too much, but that really means
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: is don't come and ask me when you get the bind.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that I was raised by, I mean,
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: between the McTighs and the Kellys and the Sarsfields and
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: the Simmelsburgers, I was raised by a group of people
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: who were just the best. My grandma Kelly, this is funny, Bobby,
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: we go to mass and then after mass, everybody would
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: go to my grandma Kelly's house. Now, in her living room,
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: there was a picture of the Lord, and there was
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: a picture of FDR. And my family constantly got mixed
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: up with which one was God. But they were so blue-collar.
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: I mean, they were so Democrat. And my grandfather, Kelly,
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: I'd sit in his lap, and he would talk to
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  Speaker 2: me about the leprechauns and the banshees and all that.
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  Speaker 2: And my grandma, she was German, and she said, oh, Pap,
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  Speaker 2: stop putting that in his ear. Mike, come out here
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  Speaker 2: and help me. I need to get something done. And
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: in their house, by the way, and people say, I
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: have no idea what you're talking about. I used to
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: watch the guy bring ice up with a clamp and
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: put it in. We call it a refrigerator today. Back then,
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: they called it an icebox. And my kids asked me, so, Dad,
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: why did your grandmother call it an icebox? I said,
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: because it was a block of ice in there. And
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: that's what they have. I said, that's like you guys
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: when you go to some kind of a game or
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: a concert. You take a little cooler and you fill
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: it with ice and you fill it with whatever it
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: is your choices of that day to keep it cold.
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: That's the way they did it back then. And they said,
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  Speaker 2: are you serious? I said, absolutely. He said, well, where
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: did they get the ice? I said, well, I used
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: to get it. They used to get it from the river.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: They used to get it from Lake Erie. The Chautauqua Lake,
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: or the ice factory is now the Heinz History Center.
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: And Johnny, for me, they went down and they would
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: cut blocks of ice out, right? Horse-drawn sled. They would
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: take it to their ice house, which was triple-boarded or something, insulated.
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: They would pack it in sawdust, and it would last
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: for quite some time. Now, people say, what bad dream
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: did you have? I said, no, it wasn't a bad dream.
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: It was the most wonderful dream. And I love to
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: go back there all the time. When I take a nap,
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: I say, God, I wish I could go back to
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: those days. Not that I want to experience them again.
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: I want my kids and my grandkids to know the
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: price that was paid, the sacrifices that were made for
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: those that came before us. Because there's no place else
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: in the world like this. And I just, people talk
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: to me all the time. They're upset about this and
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: they're upset about that. I said, really? So, I get
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: that you're upset. So, when are you leaving and where
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: are you going?
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: Well, you're obviously very proud of your Irish heritage.
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: I'm proud of my country. There's no place else in
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: the world like it. Well, let's talk about Pittsburgh pride. Sure.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: And you spent your career in business and public service here.
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: And what do you believe makes Western PA special? And
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: what is the biggest opportunity for its next generation?
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: You know, when you talk about Pittsburgh, we don't usually
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: talk about Pittsburgh as Pittsburgh. We talk about Pittsburgh as neighborhoods,
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: different neighborhoods. Each neighborhood had its own church. And if
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: I was growing up, People didn't identify the neighborhood they
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: went in, they identified it as a church. Oh, well,
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: that's where Holy Sacrament is. Oh, that's over by St. Paul's. No, no, no,
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: that's down by St. Peter and Paul. And then I'd say, yeah, yeah,
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: I get, now I know where you're from. But more
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: than anything else, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh is truly the model that
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: we make steel from. People from all over the world
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: coming here, settling in different neighborhoods. But at the end
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: of the day, they made the strongest product you could
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: possibly imagine. And that's why we may identify as, oh,
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: I'm Polish-American. No, I'm German. I'm French-American. No. The second
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: part of it is always the most important ingredient. I'm
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: an American. And so, when I look at what's happening today,
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: I think it's great to recognize who came before you,
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: but it's even greater to understand why is it that
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: they came from where they were to come here, and
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: what were they actually part of? The greatest experiment in
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: self-government the world's ever known. Now, are we perfect? No,
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: we're not perfect. No, no. But we never stop trying
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: to be perfect. And the thing that I think that
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: we have to be careful of, we're getting too polarized
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: on personalities, and we're not looking at the policy. Tell
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: me about the policy. Are you in favor of the policy?
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: Or are you so offended by the personality that you
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: don't look past the personality and look at what the
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: policy is? And I think that's a That's a real
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: problem we have right now. I got to tell you,
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: my time in Congress has been, and sometimes people pat
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: you on the back, and other times they want to
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: kick you in the backside and say, listen, I heard
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: you did a piece of legislation with the Democrat. What's
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: wrong with you? I said, do you know what the
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: legislation was? They'll go, what are you talking about? I said, well,
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: you just said you're upset because I was working with
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: the Democrat. Well, I mean, so tell me what the
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: policy was, and I can tell you why we're together
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: on it. I'll say, no, that's not my issue. I said, well,
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: then you need somebody else to talk to. I represent
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: three-quarters of a million people. They're not all Republicans. They're
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: not all Democrats. And some of them are just in
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: the middle, and they say, look, can't you guys just
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: get along and do the right thing for the right
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: reasons for all of us? And I think we've gotten
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: so polarized right now. We've got to be careful. We've
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: got to be careful. The longer you go down that road,
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: There's an old saying, never say what you'll never do,
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: because you may reach that point in your life as,
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: I know I said this before, but I didn't know
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: what I know now. And legislation is legislation. And I
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: look at both sides of the party, right? We have
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: too many entertainers and not enough legislators. That is a
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: huge problem. When you think that you don't understand, I
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: watched Sean last night, and Sean was really upset with
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: you because you did this or that. I said, that's interesting.
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: What office has Sean ever served in? I mean, I
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: know they sell advertising, and I know price per point
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: is huge, but you go to the far right or
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: the far left, and you'll find people who are working
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: on dividing us as a country as opposed to uniting us.
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: Good legislation is good legislation. If you're a legislator, go
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: to work to be a legislator. Don't go to work
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: to be an entertainer, or for somebody, you the patch
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: on the back says i'm glad you gave those sobs
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: a kick in the say okay fine uh you're upset
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: with me tell me about the policy and tell me
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: why you're upset with it and they said that's not
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: my problem my problem is you're on that with a
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: democrat and i said this person this person is a
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: very good person we don't agree on everything that's why
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: we have a process we can actually amend pieces of legislation.
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: And if the legislation fits, say, okay, that's fine. You
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: made a stronger product out of it by having somebody
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: else add to it. Say, absolutely. But the lack of understanding,
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: I think, right now is one of the number one
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: things that drives us apart as political parties as opposed
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: to the understanding that policy should affect everybody in a
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: positive way, not a negative way.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: The last word is yours. What do you want voters
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: to know before we wrap up?
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: I want voters to think If I wasn't feeling good,
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: who would I seek out? Would I say, I'm going
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: to go to anybody that has a shingle hanging out there?
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: Am I going to look at their resume to begin with?
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: Am I going to look at their body of work
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: before I begin with? If I'm a Democrat, if you're
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: not a Democrat, then I'm not voting for you. Say, okay,
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: what about the Republican on the ticket? I could care less.
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: The Republican, I won't vote for him. Do you know
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: what their legislative intent is? I don't care about that.
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: We're so polarized now. between parties. We're not looking together
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: at what policy is. The most important thing, you and
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: I are talking right now, you have a background, you
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: have a resume, you have gathered a group of people
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: who listen to you, who want to hear from you.
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: I mean, shouldn't it be at the end of the
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: day that if I'm ill, I want to find the
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: best doctor? And you know what? I'm going to check
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: before I go to any one place to find out
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: with the issue that I have. I want the best
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: person working on me to heal me. I want that
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: to happen. I don't care I don't care what faith
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: they practice. I don't care what party they belong to.
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: I don't care about any of that. I want a
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: positive result to whatever it is. So you better go
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: talk with somebody who finds the best of everything on
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: what's available and votes that way. If it's a red
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: issue or a blue issue and that's the only thing
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: you vote on, then please go take a look at
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: the flag. It's actually red, white, and blue. And if
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: we can start looking at policy and what is in
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: the best interest of the people we represent, We all
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: represent three-quarters of a million people. I defy anybody to
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: tell me. I talked to every one of them, and
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: they didn't like the way you voted. I said, well,
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: you know what? That's a pretty bold statement. I don't
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: think you talked to anybody. I think what you probably
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: did was listen last night, and you got onto a
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: five-minute clip. They never discussed what the legislation was, just
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: that it was this horrible, horrible move that the right
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: made or the horrible move that the left made. And
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: the information, there's nothing more important in the world than education.
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: Education is the key to everything. Get educated so you
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: know what's going on. And at the end of the day,
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: in the position that we're all in, we're legislators. And
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: there's entertainers out there. You can turn to whatever you
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: want to turn to. You can listen to country, Western music.
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: You can listen to classic. You can listen to what
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: you want. But at the end of the day, look
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: at the policy. Look at the policy and isn't it
• 22:56
  Speaker 2: the best interest of those people that you represent? And
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: if the answer is, you know what, they are, then
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: cast all the other stuff aside. and actually look at
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: the policy. I think right now the biggest challenge we
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: all have is that people have formed an opinion in
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: their head without getting educated first and say, well, I've
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: always been a Democrat. I can tell you what. If
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: you had been to my grandma Kelly's house after mass
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: on Sunday back in the late 50s, if you could
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: have found one Republican that made his way up onto
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: the porch and into that dining room, I would have
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: kissed him or her on the lips, not him on
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: the lips. And I mean this sincerely because that was
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: a different time. was a different time and when we're
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: looking at where we are today we have global challenges
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: that we've never had before we had them before we
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: didn't recognize them but the first responder anywhere in the
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: world when something goes wrong are the yanks we show
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: up first we stay the longest we make sure they're
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: safe before they we leave and i think we've got
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: to get back to that idea that we at first
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: we are americans first we represent different political parties yeah
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: that's fine i don't that's fine whatever it is it
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: is that you are um just make sure you understand
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: it's about policy And if we're legislators, let's concentrate on
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: the legislation and not what we think is an attractive
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: to a certain voter that is, well, they have feelings
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: about things, yeah, but have they actually read the legislation?
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: Most of the time, they haven't. They've just taken some
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: bits and pieces. After working all day, they come home,
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: they turned on the TV. Or for God's sake, please,
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: when you go out to eat with your kids, don't
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: let them have their cell phones out. We used to
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: eat together as a family and talk together as a family,
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: and the same thing happens at night. I tell my wife,
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: turn off the TV. We're eating dinner. We're eating dinner now.
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: I want to hear what Collins Day was. I want
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: to hear what the grandkids are going through. I don't
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: want to hear any of this stuff. These people sell advertising.
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: I don't need to hear from them. I already know
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: what I'm going to buy. When it comes to policy,
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: I'm going to work with anybody. I don't care. I
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: don't care what party they're from. If the policy is
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: in the best interest of the people I represent, that's
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: what I'm going to do. I get criticized for it
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: quite often. That's okay. I can handle that.
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: Congressman Mike Kelly, thank you so much.
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: Johnny, thank you. Thank you. It's great being with you.