Transcripts For CSPAN Lawmakers 20240704

Continue to bless these United States of america. Delivered by alabama senator katy britts on cspan here in cspan2 we are getting reaction from lawmakers who are in the room with the president speech including what might be the first member of congress who greeted the president when he entered the room congressman and eight republican what did you say to him and entered the room . Alexa simply said lake and riley appointed to my pen he really did not have much to say to that. I was disappointed in his speech. A lot of blaming■e republicans. Lets face the fact he owes the family of lakin a an apology for his border crisis pick what you said the name lakin riley what did you think of that exchange . Again he could not get her name right. I am disappointed in the president , his Foreign Policy this is exactly what i expected a lackluster speech. For joe biden had little bit of energy but is not enough. In terms of energy will be expecting to coming in . ■m as we huddled before we expect a lot of blame game not a lot of accepting the reality the fact russia invaded ukraine because of his failed policies. China looking to advance towards taiwan because of his policies own it and corrected for. Thank you for the time this morning. Quick senate Richard Blumenthals next democrat from connecticut going to join us here on cspan2. What did you think of the president speech tonight question or. I thought it was dynamite, a lot of energy, humor but also toughness. Very strategic in his choice of issues that really matter to people in their everyday lives. What did he need to do tonight coming into this . Whats he needed to do exactly what he did which is to be authentic. That was joe biden angry at injustice, sad about the heartbreak in israel. Tough on ukraine and a fully devoted to working americans and the middle class. He is a part of the american middle class that built oursingf the units what you think about the backandforth with the crowd including r multiple times throughout the speech . President biden made the hecklers look very small. He made the opposition look timid and weak. I think he dared them to recognize the truth whi i stronn policy against the greatest threat to democracy, our own included in our lifetime. Senator Richard Blumenthal democrat of connecticut. Appreciate the time, thank you. Joining us andext on cspan2, democrat of nevada at the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. Stand right there what did you think of the speech tight sir . E American People. Our possibilities. But we can do to move our country forward and not backward. I was pleased the president focused on housing and ways we can help build wealth in this country, close the racial wealth gap help people buildquity through homeownership and lowering costs for rent the focus on healthcare as well as the focus on keeping our communities safe from gun violence, from crime, from anti asian hate as well as antisemitism. Mentioning john lewis and civil rights what did youhat mo . Todays the 59th commemoration ability sunday. This is the actual day. So for the president to center the moment of that march the late congressman john lewis and all of the foot soldiers including those who were in the gallery it was truly an emotional moment. He also called on this congr par lewis Voting Rights advancement act as well as the freedom to vote act torotect and defend our democracy at a time when it is under assaults because theres a lot of energy coming into this a questions about the president s agent he addressed those in that speech . Absolutely. He took it on he said when he came here he was criticized for being too young and i was now is criticized for being too old. But what is worse are those who are offering old ideas. I think that really resonates with the American People it is less about his age and more about what he has been able to do for the American People job creation, lowering costs, creating safer communities, addressing Border Security. All the issues that matter to the American People he touched on tonight to go Congressional Black Caucus chairman democrat of nevada thank you for your time sir. Congressman brad schneiders next joining us■g this supposed estae of the unit on cspan2 with your guess that you brought who did you bring . Abby is the niece ansari and introduce yourself question. Abby poland from illinoi suba terrorist group, taken into gaza on october 7. Where is he now do you know . What is lazy and heard . Divert absolutely nothing. Of what did you think of the present on that issue . He spoke about the need to bring the hostages home. 153 days these hostages have been held captive underground, note notice to the families no idea of how they are doing note medicines or people are sick or wounded. We note from a video of october 7 lost his arm below the elbow. We need to have these hostages home today the president made a itvery clear is doing everything he can working with the israelis, work with cutter, hostages. Mas has to release the stop attacks on israel the desire to limit the state of israel the president said peace could be available tomorrow if hamas wanted peace because you feel present by doing everything he can . We believe the nonsense government is doing what theycao congressman snyder in the administration. Thank you so much for the time thank you for joining us. Next on cspan2 senator Raphael Warnock democrat, good afternoon or evening i should say it has been a long day on capitol hill. What are your thoughts leaving the speech . Listen i am a preacher i know a servant when i hear one and i heard one i think the president showed up really strong. He told the story about the work we have been doing over the last three and half years. More importantly hnto the futur. That is we are as americans we are eight forward facing people. I think he gave us all som he tt story or resignation with americans tonight . I think so. Sweet talk to people back in georgia they are not interested in the politicians problems. Theyre wedding is thinking about them. To cut the cost of Prescription Drugs my own bill i am forward n bill as we cap the cost of in some for everybody. Quick cheap talk about a bipartisan bill theres a lot of partisanship in the Chamber Tonight we do what did you think of the exchanges between the president and republicans in the chamber, more than usual . Is a little bit spirited. But here is the thing. We need a return to dignity. And sometimes the debate in our country can be a bit caustic. But what is most concerning to me as those are waving war against our democracy. Dark money, squeezing the peoples voices out of their own democracy. But to have the rambunctious debates that we had but at the end of the day the fort most powerful words in the democracy are the people have spoken. As someone who has run several times over the last few years weve seen the ways in which these Voter Suppression bills, cut early voting. I think it is important the most important work we can do is to make sure we secure the democracy itself. Pass the Voting Rights advancement act by. Editor democrat from georgia thank you sir. Joining us next on cspan2f new. You are wearing the ceasefire pencil and start there. I wish you wouldve called for a permanent thats exaly what we needed. We want what we need to free the hostages for sure we need humanitarian aid to come in right away. It is the situation is dire. Children starving to death. It is unbearable. I was happy he critical of the israeli government. I think rightly so he should have been. But we need to stop what is happening now that is great speed thats going to bring in a lot of aid as wel this seems to happen as quickly as possible because we have children dropping dead. Having said that the president was very his domestic victories from the chips act to his visit for education, his vision for health care, affordable the contrast with the former President Trump is very strong on the domestic of his references to the former president . He thought it was good. Go right after them. The former president is a lot of talk not much action as it relates to serving workingclass people in the working poor and really uplifting the values of our country by investing it and marginalized people and marginalized communities. President biden reminded me of howhe first two years we passed the American Rescue act the same First Community act. The inflation democrats control the house, the senate and the white house weve got big legislation done. Like how they can continue to draw the contrast through remind the American People the success we had for. Appreciate your time. Let you introduce your gas for. He is a present of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau faureauchairman of the house agricultural committee. Seems like a good guess that you have agriculture is our number one industry not just in pennsylvania but across the country. Pennsylvania farm bureau think about tonights speech . Speech . It was amazing to see my first state of the Union Address. ■ taking i all ins pretty awesome what you think of tonight speech . It was Outstanding Campaign speech. That was very clear. A lot of division, sort of subtle wheat need eight uniter in a divider in chief. Someone is got to be doing the math on all of the platitudes in campaignses i would not be shocked if that would push the debt north of 50 trillion. I do think the president passed the test in terms of the question we all had is he able to demonstrate energy . For that hour in five minutes he spoke i thought he did a good job of that. That means this november will come down to not so much a discussion of age or energy but rightfully so polies and outcomes. What did you think about the man in the chair behind the president speaker johnson and the role he had to play in the chair tonight . Lexi thought he played it well. Quite frankly if i got to be the dictator i would ask everyone to stand up out of respect when the state of the union started. Sit and listen attentively and stand up at the end to show youe and deliver the state of the unit that speaker johnson how he conducted himself he did it with grace. Very happy with how he conducted himself there. Republican of pennsylvania always appreciate your time with cspan for. Appreciate csk you sir. Congresswoman lot of pins tonight i will let you start put out a start of the topic that you want to talk about. F the union. Tonight she came with me both she and i have been through my 24yearold twins born through the miracle of an in vitro fertilization. Stacy also went through many cycles. Th us are lack of mutation carries a much higher likelihood of cancer i am a Breast Cancer survivor stacy did not have Breast Cancer. And our children when they want to have children may nee ivf if they are carriers of the mutation. Be able to end the generational cycle of cancer. Republicans want to eliminate ivf and that possibility for families like ours. What did you speak of speaker johnson statements about ivf other day . Which one . [laughter] do you think theres going to be ivf legislation on the house floor at some point . Whats all i know there is an opportunity for republicans in the senate to pass it Tammy Duckworth legislation actions speak louders, put a bill on the floor that absolutely unequivocably make sure ivf is protected as an option for all families. That is what they need to do that is not what theyre talking about doing, one■ or 25 republicans are cosponsors of the bill that declares life begins at conception that ends the possibility of ivf are families like mine and stacys. S pushed high enough in the president s agenda tonight at of the topics he covered . Whats was really impressed with he address this topic at the very beginning of his speech and he made it very clear he supports ivf being available for couples who needed to have children. Especially in the cases late congressman and me we carry mutation that causes breast and Ovarian Cancer in our children carry that mutation when they get married the only option for them to remove generational risk of passing on a mutation that causes cancerous or ivf. All we want to have his healthy children. If people look at it that we think the president looks at that way its very easy for us to pass a bill that would keep it available for families. Israel relations. Your thoughts on that part of the president s speech how he is handling his relationship with israel the war in gaza . I thought the president s speech was incredible tonight. He was robust clear it resolute whether it was building the economy for that middle out and not the top down. Making sure people understood when hes up opportunities for everyone we need to preserve and protect our democracy preserve and protect reproductive freed. But, when it came to israel i have been and continue to be so proud he stoodel he has made itr hamas threat needs to be eradicated and no country should have to live with the threat like hamas on its b hostages need to be brought home and he made it clear it is hamas that started this and continues it. He mentioned the need for humanitarian aid that is important as well we need to make sure we keep the focus on bringing the hostages home. Congresswoman always appreciate thats our time nice to meet you. Of california joins us. Your thoughts walking out of the state of the Union Address . My thoughts this guys been k like 50 years. How long have you been in washington . Works of one year hes got a few years onu me. The partisan rhetoric, the vitriol and there are some folks cheering him on he seemed to revel in it. It so far■ remov from what the American People are looking for whats on their minds right now with the folks at my district. The folks i represent are really concerned about the cost of living. I continues to be such a burden for so many families. Theyre exteremely concerned about the situation of the border which is totally untenable as a threat to our national security. They are concerned communities. We really did not hear much of anything from the president on those topics and how is going to address the real concern that folk seeing. I frankly did not care for the extreme partisanship and the a more action oriented set of solutions. Any time he is willing to take a different approach to advance good economic policies to support our work force. I am ready to join him but unfortunately he did not turn the page on that tonight. Congressman republican of california thank you for the time. You bet. Congressman bob got his next House Freedom caucus at jet republican of virginia walking out of that speech. Congressman, your takeaways from tonights address . The president was angry kind of screaming at half the country pretty offer very little in the way of hope or vision. He certainly did not take responsibility for the harm he years. Ause of the america is a much worse off by any standard of the measurement then when they were he was sworn in office. House Freedom Caucus has a lot of influence on the republican conference. Its speaker johnsons job safe at this point . The speaker serves 218 members. I cant speakhe 234 members of the Congress Chambers i should say. The best hope for the republican conference and for speaker johnson is to do what the American People elected us to do and they gave us the majority a year and a half ago. I will submit we are not doing that. We certainly didnt do that with the spendin b yesterday that democrats voted for, 207 to 2. Can you imagine that nancy pelosi would have ever passed a major spending bill that publicans voted for 207 to 2 and the democrats were split on that, but thats what we did■ to get your exchange of riley and saying her name and the president holding that pen, what was that part illustrated thay elderly gena poor memory because he called her Lincoln Riley. I think he thinks the were talk about the football coach. He said Lincoln Riley. A lot of time it was confusing, hard to understand what he was saying, mumbling. He certainly got through it, a lot of anger, not much vision to the congress. Always appreciate your time with cspan. Congressman emanuel cler csm missouri. Congressman, what did you think1 of the speech . Somebody is slipping into the president s food. He came out smoking. I think he did exactly what man. That this man who is repeatedly called too old was on fire, there was nothing in his language that would suggest that hes anything but able. What did you think about him what happened here at the capitol and in that chamber and and that coming so early if the president s address tonight . I think he wanted to make sure that people who are tuned in who in some cases are have never watched a nonrepublican style tv station, he wanted them to hea turned off, people what thats are going the start listening and as the speech goes on theyll move further and further away and i think he wanted to capture as Many Americans as possible with the truth of what is happening. I was here so right. Some of you here seek to bury the truth about january 6th and you cant love your country only whenou well, i think losing is not a happy moment but in a democracy, when the the election day rolls around we are going to have a winner and a loser and historically for 243 years weve had president s, members of congress, members of the senate to lose and they lose gracefully. They call their opponent and congratulations. And so he was think, a lesson in civics and civility and im not sure that, you know, the people in the chamber were listening but clearly americans had a chance to hear the truth perhaps or some of them the congressman emanuel cleaver, thank you very much for cspan. House Foreign Affairsoi new yor. A lot of Foreign Policy in that speech from ukraine to israel, what did you think of how the president handled those issues . I thought he was fantastic. I think it was significant and important that he started with ukraine because the urgency of s bipartisan bill because every day that goes by it hurts moving forward for ukraine fighting for their own existence and it is important to understand that putin will not stop there if we allow him so i think that that message hopefully gives the urgency to the American People, to urge speaker johnson to put the bill on the floor so that we can keep ukraine the aid that it needs. What did you think president quoting Ronald Reagan to republicans in the chamber, mr. Gorbachev tear down that wall and encouraging them to continue in that spirit . It shows its not the Republican Party anymore. Its the trump party. What he was pointing out, what republicans did particularly against the soviet union and against when you say a russia, we see this moving forward that president reagans view was to end it and to fight for democracy. And thats what was taking place at that this brand of maga republicans is supporting basically mr. Putin coming to defense and aid of ukraine. I thought he was sending the message. The same message that ive seens are now retiring or leaving congress or those that are left, this is not the Republican Party, it is basically the Donald Trump Party because we saw how donald trump has crateled and said thing in positive nature about putin and, in fact, when he was the president he called him, in fact, he accepted the intelligence of russia than he did of the intelligence of the United States of america. I wanted to get the Foreign Affairs members opinion of israel, war in gaza. I thought it was importanto1. First, we are here right now because of what took place in october the seventh. Where hamascreated horrific crit death of israelis in one day since the holocaust, rape of women, the horrendous torture and taking of hostages, thats the reason why we are here today and israel does have the right to defend itself and to go after those criminals and that is hamas, but also that there is a responsibility on behalf of israel to make sure that we dont continue the starvation and the death of innocent women and children and men who have nothing to do what took place and we have to get humanitarian aid in there and weve got to make sure that ■ ■rthat israel is helping to me forward. So what i thought was very important for him to say and i think this is what hes fighting for to a lot of folks. He doesnt want to go back to october 6th. He wants a better middle east where palestinians and israelis can live side by side and the only way that you a twostate sd weve got to fight and work collectively to make that happen and i thought that was a very important point. Not the status quo, not what only is but what could be and should be in the future. Congressman gregory meeks, congressman of new york, thanks for your time. Thanks very having me. Congressman glen■ . Ivy, democrat of maryland. Sir, there was a lot of questions coming in tonight about the president s Energy Levels, questions about the president s age. Yeah. Did he address those questions tonight . Yeah, i think so. I thought he was very energetic. The energy in the room was great. You know, i think he responded well to the republican silliness, you know, the shouts and the yells and all of the name calling. The shouts and the yells and the name calling, is that going to be a staple of state ofm hern out . Are you seeing more on that than weve seen in the past . That seems to be the republican playbook at this point. It started when they yelled out in the middle of one of obamas state of the Union Speeches and continues to grow and tenure of all republicans, theres a lot of folks in the chamber that i can talk with but there are some that are just out of arn certain lessons iny didnt kindergarten apparently and cant control themselves even in a situation like this where literally the world is watching and seeing how we are goimanage. Tweeted out during the speech, this sounds like youd hear more at a Democratic National convention than a state of the union. Was it the right speech for the state of the union . I think he did a lot things as far as layings things that and some people would remember the way things happened and i thought he did a good job of laying where he wants to go and help people in the future especially people that dont feel they have benefited. Some people buy their first house cutting junk fees, capping Prescription Drug costs, things that regular people want to hear about and are going to hit them in the pocketbook. Democrat of maryland, thank you so much for your time, appreciate it. All■c right. Congressman elvy, republican of texas, your thoughts on tonights speech . The president of the United States had an opportunity toptid speech because its the state of the union. Instead what he gave was the state of television. It was divisiveness. Youll notice that most republicans didnt get up to clap and i as opposed to last year he gave a speech that was optimistic than this years was and i understand its an Election Year but sounded much more like a Campaign Speech appealing to to half of the country and spreading the other half of the country to the wins. Did you get up and applaud anything that he said tonight,ou agreed with him . I agreed with him on putins aggressiveness and the evil of that man, absolutely. That was about the only thing that i could think of and i am i am i feel very privilege to have been here tonight as elected representative its an hor to be in there. I didnt hear anything from our president that would make me want to clap other than that tonight. What do you think happens with ukraine funding here in congress . We will see. In terms of the president s Energy Levels tonight, did you have questions coming into it, didnt everybody . Did he address those . He joked about them a little bit. That was a long speech. I dont care how young you are and how old you, that would take it out of everybody. He started to slow down. It wasnt a unifying speech. Thats what i wanted to hear from our president because the rest of the world■ is watching and i wanted a United States of america and not a divided one and he aimed to divide us tonight and that wasnt right. 8a congressman jake elzey of texas, i did want to ask you about the border, the president s comments about the border, the bill that was negotiated in the senate, what did you think he should have done . I think all of his comments on the border wereuous. The laws havent changed. He hasnt enforced it and tried to gaslight the republicans, thats just wrong. What i want to see of our leader when you make a my take, this is what i learned in the military, fess up, ask for forgiveness. He gaslit us. He asked for it in the campaign, he got what he wanted and just say youre going to do better. We can do better. He gaslit us one of the moment that is will get reairs the moment where he held the Lincoln Riley button in exchange over saying her name. What did you think . Well, he mispronounced her name. It was it was that whole episode was unfortunate. I dont think that was decent. And i expect better from our esidt. Congressman jake elzey, republican of texas, appreciate your time. Thanks for having me. Joining us next on cspan2, republican of virginia. Walking out of that speech, what are you feeling . Well, it was a disarming to hear such a shrill disjointed address that didnt address the issues tt are concern to the American People but instead fell into the dc bubble dealing with gun control and abortion rights and, i mean, even talking about, you know, the Civil Rights Act that were 50 ygo. Really the issues that are important to the American People right now are the prices that are making housing unaffordable. Youre talking about student loan forgiveness . Continues to charge as much as they want because the federal government will help pay for as much as they need. And so students are squeezed, families are squeezed and the cycle never ends. Did the president speak to anything that has to deal with l district, the industry there or the outdoors there . Very little to d agriculture, farming, challenges facing rural america, very little for higher prices for famili at the grocery store. You know, dealing with issues concerning education, thats important but and we teachers to earn a higher wage but the state of virginia is dealing with that because thats where the issue lies. Its to raise taxes to spend more is just going to get us in that same inflationary cycle that weve been in for many for 3 years now thoughts on the immigration and border portion of the president s address tonight . Well, what joe biden wants to is to cement in place all of the broken policies that joe biden has created over the past 3 years. What we need something along the lines with what the house pass hr2, secure to border and for joe biden to say we need to come together, well, the senate hasnt taken the bipartisan bill because they we passed the bill in the house. Congressman benn cspan. Appreciate it, sir. Next on cspan2 a familiar face for cspan viewers congressman f texas. Youve seen a lot of these addresses over the years. Im going to have you stand on the x. Where doesf the state of the Union Addresses that you have seen . Well, i am an antigun advocate in terms of but he came out with both handles going. He came out smoking. Yt he came out strong, he came out, thanked the American People, im ready for a second term, theres more work to be done. I was excited about being excited, about being in the room and i think he created that excitement for the American People. If youre on your coach at home, you jumped up and that was very we want today have happen tell what we have done. We have created the 50 million jobs. We are the proponents and advocates for edu■ycation, we ae helping roads, change lead pipes, bridges, when i say we, the president and democrats and i think he made that clear tonight. Tell me what you tell me who you have brought to the state of the Union Address . Im delighted. I believe ter future of america and they teach and uphold Public School system which really maneave their country because of the excellent, they believe in the excellent Education System that is free. I have Jackie Anderson who is president of the houston thousands of teachers who fight every day to teach our children and make their lives better. Your thoughts on what the president had to say on education and teacher raises was the top that i can he talked about . Im very excited. Im very elated that the president recognized the Public Education and he plans to do something to correct the atrocities going on in Public Schools today. Congressman, it was super tuesday on tuesday, texas was one of the states with super tuesday race and you won your own primary. There was a tweet during the president s speech, speech of amy walter saying the speech sounded more like a speech for the democtif the union. Do you think the tone was more Campaign Speech than state of the union . We are in a campaign and the state of the union is a part of the campaigns message that i should be the next president of. But i do believe that this speech gave facts. It gave a status of the economy, it gave new p taxes to ensure that the top 1 pay their fair share of taxes, it talked about his proposals to ensure that theres money to preserve medicare, medicaid and social security, that theres money for education so i think the excitement, the level of tone was to excite the American People. It was to penetrate the congress that was sitting there and go straight to those who are at home to say this is our president , hes got the strength and the capacity to be the next president of the United States. Thoughts on his references to the former president , many references tonight for the former president. He did not call the names and he called it from the context of disrupting the governance of this nation. January 6th destroying democracy calling legislators, we are at equal branch of gc;overnment to get them to stop the work on Border Security and immigration reform. How unacceptable is that . He had the right to have it reference today someone who is disruptive and who is not creating a pathway of success and helping the American People but owning a pathway of disruption. It was right, it was appropriate. Again, he did not call his name but called the action that this person participated in. Lets get going for the American People. Lets do what is right and that is that we fix medicare, medicaid and social security, that we build on health care and expand, that we bring down Prescription Drugs and that we continue to bill withik the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan bill and we build up america and create more opportunity. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson lee, appreciate your time. My voice is raspy but my voice is strong. Of california. Congressman, we will have you stand right here, your thoughts leaving the■ chamber ton in statuary hall . Obviously we are going to have partisan differences with what the president says with us as republicans. What id hope he would h more outreach when we talk about border situation. House republica passed hr2 which was a very Strong Border bill which would continue the work on building the fence. We just made a visit down there to tucson a few weeks ago, the fence federal is still laying there, the date of october 2020 is when it was dropped so that and some reforms. When we talk about the system being broken, it isnt so much broken as enforcement of the border is being carried out so, you know, for us to continue to get blamed on, the democrats had the house, the white house and the senate for the first two years of his term. So its really border enforcement that we need. When youre talking about blaming republicans, theyre blaming us, are you talking about the president referring to that bill that was negotiatedn the senate the one that would let 5,000 people a day, 1. 8 Illegal Immigrants per year under that that is the 4,000 is the threshold. Put that into law, yes, we are going to allow 4,000 per day ac, you know, so peak is at 5,000 where they have to act. Its just absurd. Finally, what of the amount of interaction between the president and republicans in the audience speaking some call them response . You know, its not what the tradition had been years to have that much interaction. Generally there used to be moreg but he does want to mix it up a little bit, you didnt like that, i dont know. Somebody shouted lies and somebody was shouting say her name. I dont know how good orot are we going to see more of that in state of the unions do you think or unique for the president in this time . Going to change. The partisanship is going to change. If you need to be treated well you need to treat the other side as well. I spoke to the president in the aisle and talked about forestry and the forestry to get moving in allowing timber and manage the lands. I showed him a gavel made by my that symbolizing people that lost lives and lost lands, a million acres in one fire in my district. We talked about that and we had a good conversation, we are going to have a followup meeting. Im here to try and get something done and i hope that he will listen to of this year. Republican of california, thank you for your time. Joining us republican from virginia. Virginia beach district, correct, Armed Services committee. I want to talk about the armed forces and specifically arming ukraine. The president making that a topic very high in his state of the Union Address tonight, your thoughts on that . Yeah, i think one of the things the president did not do tonight was thank our military men and women first and foremost. There was no no just appreciation, no shoutouts to them. There was no recognition of them in the audience. So that was noted. We ask our military men and women, so it was noted that there was no recognition of their service and their sacrifice tonight. Viewers may not knowght nextk virginia. They call the u. S. Navy and all of the military and so much of the navy is in virginias second district. Special appreciation to those guys. As a military mom i worry about those guys. Our president did not even recognize that tonight. It was a Campaign Speech, and more importantlyd we didnt whats going on with our military, the world is not safe, you mentioned ukraine. We need to be there for allies, we had weak leadership in the world stage for too long and we look at what is happening as a result of the weak leadership starting with afghanistan, no recognition of that tonight and invading ukraine, we see what is happening with hamas and israel and our military is asked every single day to do more and more. No recognition from the president. Youre wearing a lot of pins tonight, explain what your ps are tonight . My special guest this evening was a High School Student who was has epilepsy. The purple was for epilepsy. Im a navy spouse, former f18 pilot who is in flight school, navy district, so thats in recognition of these recognition of Lincoln Riley today who very little was spoke today and violent committed by Illegal Immigrants due to joe bidens open border. He didnt talk about it. About the moment where he said Lincoln Rileys name . We are looking for answers to that. He can do things without Border Security. He can take executive action. We passed hr2 a long time ago. That was one of the first things we did as member of Congress Last year and theres been no action taken on that bill. He can do things. Hes the one that stopped■ progress on that wall. He can get things started again and he refuses to acknowledge the crisis that it is. Republican, Virginia Beach area. Armed services committee, thank you so much for your time. Coming up next on cspan2, congresswoman kat, republican of florida. Thank you so much for joining us on cspan. Give us your thoughts as yaw leave the chamber. Tonight was not state of the union was a state of delusion in my opinion. There was yelling, whispering, a little bit disorienting in the chamber just the sheer logistics of it all. The way it was presented, seemed rushed, forced. Overall seemed like they were trying too hard. Jt this was more of a Campaign Speech than a state of the union that you would expect from a commander in chief. For me that was pretty disappointing because instead of getting unified speech that was focused on solutions it was about pointing the finger, placing blame and laying out a liberal Progressive Agenda at the expense of the workingclass american that is have worked so hard for the last few years and seem to get nowhere and yet they are looking to congress and they hear the speech tonight. Its very disheartening. How many state of the unions have you seen . As a member this will be my third. But over the years, of course, as an american tuning in and watching, i wanted to see support for veterans. I wanted to see recognition of sacrifice of men and women in uniform see and i wanted to see as wife of First Responder some some support for First Responders for our law enforcement, firefighters, there was no mention of that and, of course, there was one sentence dedicated to this fentanyl that is killing a hundred thousand americans but yet quickly deflected from the fact that it was democrats that have opted not to pass the halt fentanyl act. And so tonight we have people talking in the chambers that are walking, breathing of the failures of this seasonings and nothing was talked of solving it. Of course, im in my second term. So much to be done. Even today in congress we had incredible bright spots, bipartisanship where we are seeing where republicans and democrats can put our differences aside and come together to p i know that despite the liberal progressive speech that we heard tonight out of the president congress is willing and able tos done. Youve been a voice for Younger Generation in congress. Is that voice being heard in congress did this president speak to a Younger Generation tonight in that speech . No, you know, as a millennial, as someone who is one of the youngest members in congress today, we are living with all of the consequences of his failed leadership. He talked about cutting the deficit but the fact remains that the deficit today is 532 billion. How can you possibly do that when the interest of our debt is outspacing expense. Revenues are at alltime high and so is spending. Silly me, im just doing the basis math on the back of the envelope and its not adding. My generation is having to deal with the fallout and thats high purchase their first home because theyre looking at 8 interest rates. This is ridiculous. People on fixed incomes are feeling the squeeze. Millennials are feeling the squeeze. This country is hungry for a leader that would put the country first. Appreciate your time on cspan. Victoria spark is our next indiana, congresswoman, im going to have you stand over here. We always do for the past couple of years talked about ukraine when you come on cspan. The president making that a topic very high in his state of the Union Address tonight. Did he hit the right note on it . Well, listen, i wish the president would to as much action as he does talk about ukraine. The war can only be won with weapons and unfortunately the president has been slowwalking, he was very swf his package, sml percentage and a lot of we cannot win the war, president obama with blankets. We are not going to win it with blanke. Lot of loopholes. They didnt do serious sanction on oil the war, democracies have advantages to fight this war with agility and speed. And not as long as it takes. Who does have the right plan, is it republicans in congress, is it former president who do you think has a plan that can actually win the war for ukraine . Well, listen, if you look a t trump was the one who actually supplied lethal aid to ukraine. He put pressure on nato to increase, you know, their weapons to 2 . Be stupid, dependent on russia. He forced china out of resources in ukraine. He did a lot of things that they were right to do that. Unfortunately this war has been neglected by president obama and, you know, its been really in a difficult situation but now west get together and figure out what to do. I think the only country recently that is more decisive is uk and i hate to tell you, i i said they are not taking it serious. Its a bigger problem for them than for us and i think we have to do better and i think republicans will have to step up and help to put pressure on this president but i think at this point we just need to have ukraine to survive and will probably take somebody like President Trump to be able to win the war. Victoria spartz, repubciate. Congressman dina titus, democrat of nevada. Congresswoman, thanks so much. Your thoughts leaving the Chamber Tonight . I feel really good about the speech. A lot was riding on it. Everybody was parsing every word. He started strong and he ended stronger. You can tell it came from the heart. Your district in the nevada area in henderson as well . Las vegas area. What is your districts most important issue right now and did the president address that ■ztonight . Well, he did, you know, we had the hardesthit district in the country. We had 35 unemployment because ofpi covid. When he said we turned to setbacks into a comeback that really describes lags vegas because now we are the country and we want to make sure that the recovery touches all people and it lasts. Y tal ended the speech. What are your thoughts on his exchanges with the audience tonight, sort of becoming a new thing in state of the uon addresses, a lot more interaction with the crowds . Its true. At some point it sounded like a rally when we were going usa four more years but you can always expect some member of the Republican Party to shoutout or do inappropriate behavior thats been happening a good bit but he took it in stride and he kind o■ said Something Back to them and let them know he wasnt going to take any of their do you think thats something that is unique to this president in this time or do you think that is something that we are going see in state of the Union Addresses from here on out . I think you will continue to once you start doing things down the road, there will be others who will pick up the mantle. Anything else in thepeech that you want today touch on . I was glad that he bragged about accomplishments but then talked about he would build investment in renewable. Thank you very much for your time in cspan. Pablo menriquez. Capitol Hill Reporter and artist tonight painting the chamber, the statuary halls, these are paintings, he was up in the upper balcony painting the scene here. This is something that is a side project of paint on the side. I oil paint, i report by day. Oe union by statuary hall and they are like, yeah, that sounds really cool. If anybody had asked permission to oil paint live here in the building in the last century and, you know, its an interesting question, you get the sense when youre up there, im sure there were people before photography that did this very thing that i was doing tonight so i was happy to do it, connect with the agents, everybody found it really novel, they. Coming by checking out the old medium going down in the state of the art kind of like eventhat we do nowadays over here. Who do you do your reporting by day . Vanity fair and new republic. Daily news in daily republic. How did you get to oil painting in the side . I packaged the box, oil painting kit. It was acrylic painting kit and over time i was having a look at the capitol and thinking man theres a lot of wall space here and a lot of egos so i started painting here. My first the first paintings, mitch mcconnell, 2 and 3 in his office. But never before have i dont a live painting here. I dont think ive ever seen anybody do a live painting. A little bit of one do you like better . I started out with this one for practice because im not a live painter. Im somebody that paints from a photo. I evaluate what had i did right and did wrong. And then i added i did this one as my second one. Speaker johnsons team came by while i was up there but i dont know if you can see right there, the crucifix, it wasnt a perspective that i had from over there but i added the crucifix. They want today put it in the office once its ready and im going to go up there and color correct it but, you know, im pretty happy with the first try at this. Im going to come back and do■je