By. Rate funding is provided support for this episode wasew provided by s like you. Thank you. T thas Elise Stefanik from upstate new york on her victory night in 2014, the youngest woman ever elected to congress at the time. Full disclosure stefanik has been endorsed is election cycle by a Political Group in which i am an officer that supportrepublicans who advance lgbt equality, american unity pac. I believe deeply in the constitution. I believe deeply in liberty d freedom. Through strength drive the way i focus on Foreign Policy and National Security issues. L sheearned about the importance of Small Businesses from her familys company. We are a plywood wholesale the trucks have to be on the road five days out of the week, and e Economic Impact of upstate new york is felt by Small Businesses. So inderstood from a childgh up to chool how integral Small Businesses are to our local economy. Stefanik was the first in her at harvardgraduate from college and worked in the white house for president george w. Bush. Oday, i am proud to introduce the wage equity act. Stefanideveloped a reputation in congress as a moderate. She broke with the trump adnistration on the travel ban. I dont think we should have a religious litmus test. On climate change. There are polics that ive disagreed with, as well as rhetoric that ive disagreed with. And was one of only republicans to vote against the 2017 tax cuts. My big oblem with the tax bill is it penalized high tax states, and unfortunately, we are in a very high tax state. Last november, she became known for something else. I have a parliamentary inquiry. The gentle wot n is cognized. I do want to comment. Mr. Chairman, i have a point of order underres 660. The gentle woman will state her point of order. The point of order is, will the chairman continue to prohibit witnesses from answering republican questions, as youve done in closed hearings a as you did this week. The gentle woman will suspend. When you interrupted our questions. That is not a proper point oe stefanik went all in for President Trump during the impeachment hearing. And are you aware that during the obama administration, the u. S. Partnered witthe u. K. And ukraine on an investigation to the owner of burisma as part of ukraines anticorruption efforts . I became aware of it today during the hearing. Other witnesses have testified, but yes. Were suddenly paying attention. You are killing thise. Mouth, you were killing them. Im very proud of those questions. Im very proud of standing up for the constitution. Theres no evince for impeachable offenses. And my constituents are very pro that i stood up for their voice. Alright. U yowant this video before. You know, my mother, she u to take us up to the state capital every year to see our government in action. I was pleased to help get this bill throughouse. Jaime Herrera Beutler, who represents washington stes 3rd congressional district, is the only hispanic republican woman in congress. One of the field trips to the state capital where i remember thinking, i think i want to do this. I think this is i think Public Service is part of me. Thank you, madam chair. And thank you, dtor, for being here. Herrera beutler is a working mom with three young children, all born since shes been in office. Her first pregnancy was a struggle. She had bilateral renal agenesis, which commonly known as potters syndrome. Her condition was 100 percent fatal. So there was no child that had ever survived it. And when the doctors delivered us that news, yocan imagine thdevastation that we felt. She and her husband took a chanceri on an exntal therapy involving salient injections during pregnancy. After spending the first five months of her life in the hospital, l igail came home. She is abigairose butler, who, of course, is the daughter of our friend. [ applause ] shes fabulous. Shes sharp as a tack. She has told me more than once shes going to have my job somed. Little kiddos often cant get the care they need. And today were taking atep to fix it. She has a strong record of supportingeg bipartisanlation, pushing through dozens of bills on everything from protecting coluia river salmon. I cant express how important this hydro system is for the entire northwest. Improving stem education. I support this bill because it going to help teachers and students. To helping mothers take breast milk on airplanes. You can travel withbr your frozest milk, which i have a lot of. Tsa allows up to 5. 5 pounds ofwe dry ice,ll see if i can talk them into letting im a hispanic republicanends. Young mom. Ive had thr children in congress. I commute from the west coast. I love my district im exacy the type of voice that needs to be present in the United States congressn because woe over half of the population in the nation, and our voice here is so critical. Senator joni ernst is the first femaleombat veteran in theenate. I think conservative views havehanged significantly. And the first woman elected to the United States senatea. From i look around our nation, whether its covid or civil unrest. I thinwomen have a really wonderful way of sharing compassion with others. And when you feel that someone truly cares about you and careabout your issues, youre more likely to be drawn into a convers into solutions. In the senate, there are now nine republican women, more than ever. But in the house of representatives, there are just 13, the lowest number in a generation. If youre talking now, its no accident. Nancy pelosi was very effective and very targeted and it was a very concerted effort to defeat republican wen. And so its not sort of by accident that we are where we are. K i th have to do better. Weve got to elect more women. We also need to make sure that our message as republicans is getting out to women across the country. First of all, wow. Elise stefanik has created a new Political Action committee, epac, to help electore republican women to the house of representatives. That mes that republican women make up less than 3 of the house of representatives. One way we can attempt to change this trend women candidates preprimary. I have found that we tend to be the targets from the other side because were the harder ones to beat, right . Were the ones that can make e a bigger difference beca break the narrative that republicans dont like women. Representative Herrera Beutler and representative stefanik, thank you for being part of this firing line roundtable special on trailblazing women in the house of representatives and the senate. Ha you so much. Excited to be here. Absolutely. So you are both up for reelection this year, a as y every two years. But this year in 2020 ist differr republican women because more than 220 republican women have filed to run for a seatn the house of representatives. Why is that . Well, tnk you, margaret, for the question. It is so exciting this year that we have a historic number of republican women running for office. I think there are a few reasonsv why seen this tremendous outpouring of candidatesis who are g their hand to step into the arena. Number one, they have role models to look to. Number two, re helping them develop Strong Campaign infrastructures just to win the primariesan general eltions. And i think the fact that we made a very public call as republicans that we need more women running for office,in i that really paid off. And remember, there was some pushback to that initially at the start of this cycle, but it has been embraced and were really reaping the benefits with these amazing candidates. What was that pushback, representative stefanik . Initial pushback from some people was we dont play that type of identity politics. Itt my belief is this is not about identity ps. This is making sure that our candidates reflect america and the diversy that we have across america with voters who support the Republican Party and conservative principles. Representative herrer beutler, you are the first hispanic republican woman to bee elected intate of washington. So can you square that circle for how does the Republican Party and how do you as a conservative, think about reaching out to new constituencies without relying on the identity politics that conservatism rejects . You know, honestly, the one thing that i have learnedro hout this entire process is be yourself. Sometimes you have o the party,urself which i did. When i got involved in my early 20s, y know, volunteering and going to events, i didnt know anybodyd just kind of pushed. And i think what youre seeing now, in addition to what elise has set up with supporting women, getting themth ugh their primaries, women are stepping up to run because they see and sense the intensity of the times. I really believe that. You know, now more than ever, i think they realize they have to be at the table helping make the decisions. Ge how did where . Because if we look back 15 years ago, there were twice as mayou in congress than there are now. So how did the gop find itself in a position where there are only 11 republican incumbent women running for reelection . So im going to take a stabhi atone because i get asked this all the time. So as you mention, im the first state to be elected federally. And you know what ive discovered . Ona lot of what the opposi ive faced hasnt actually been within my own party. It its been in pal players on the other side who seek to take our seats out becae were the ones that destroy the narrative that republicans dont support women. And so what i felt, you know, Michael Bloomberg spent a million and a half dollarso tryingseat me in the last election. Representative stefanik, back wn you launched epac, elevate pac, which is a Political Action committee devoted to identifying and supporting republican women as they run through their primaries, you said. Wh is it that makes it a crisis, having only 13 republican womense in the hf representatives . Well, margaret, it really struck me when we were meeti with our newly elected members and it was the new congressional class. And i looked aund and it was just not reflective of the american people. And some of my colleagues were taken aback. W thent expecting that comment. But it really spurred in meac a call ton that we have to do better. Thats why i started epac. Im supporting 26 candidates. And the goal at the end ofhis cycle is to increase our number of republican women in the house. Epresentative Herrera Beutler, why will the republican conference be better if thereen are more wmongst its ranks . I think both the conference and congress as a whole will benefit if it more accurately reflects the american people, peri. You know, i startedte the ity care caucus with lucille roybalallard. Shes a democrat from down in t l. A. Area. And i was shocked that after all this time, nhing like it had been started. You know, we had wins with helpingki sure that tsa was going to allow the traveling mom to carry her breast milk through thout getting it dumped out. And thank you for that. Oh, dont even i have stories. Dont en get me started on that one. And we also were able to get, you know, in this la i think it was the last year when President Trump signed into law a landma Maternal Mortality legislation. That needed to happen. I think were gonna see more ofhose types of legislatio move forward if we more accurately reflect that in the conference and then in the congress a whole. I want to take you guys back to the state of the union right after that historic ar, 2018. Let me just show you an image and geyour reaction on that on that backside of it. After congress passedy the constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote, also have more women serving in congress than at any time before. [ cheers and applause ] were either of you asked to wear white in solidarityer with oomen . I wasnt, but i think that possibly underscores some of my challenge. What you saw in that video was if youre like us and you think like us a and you like us, you can be part of the, but if you dont, youre onlub. The outside, which to me, i dont know about you, elise. Makes me feel even more diverse. Were gonna chart our path irrespective of whether or not we have a group. , yeah, my comments on th margaret, is i think i was a gracious moment and i think it wortant that the president talk about the fact that we are making history with over 100 women. That was not just democratic women. It wasnt the image you showed. S but that countincludes really important voices n the Republican Party, many of whom areadership and have outsized roles in the repubcan conference. And i also think its important, as were celebrating the centennial of womens suffrage, that the Suffrage Movement is also deeply, deeply a part of the Republican Party. And that is something that we need to talk about moreffectively to our voters and its something that we can be very proud of,fr that the se movement was very much a part of the Republican Party and still is today a part of the Republican Party in terms of expanding equal opportunity for women. Id like to take you bo t sets of current events. The first is the tragic death of george floyd. And id likeo get both of your reactions to the events that have happened in the pascouple of weeks. Sure. So i believehat americas heart broke across the country when people watch the horrifyi footage of George Floyds death. I support prosecuting the officers involved to the fullest extent as swiftly as possib. I think thats an Important Message for otherla enforcement officers. What has been very upsetting to me a new yorker is the rioting and looting and attacks and violence agains law enforcemficers. We want safety and security for every american across this country. And that, unfortunately, has been lost as weve seen the vience and loss of life stemming from some of these riots. Representative Herrera Beutler, in your view, what will justice be for george floyd . Oh, well, if i had the full and complete answer to this, i would give it. But im searching. Im searching right now wist the f america. You know, when i saw what happened, primary response was anger. I was furious. And unfortunately, this isnt aingular event. I think Racial Injustice is real and america is better than thisw you obviously, there are people who wear a badge who shouldnt. D as policymakers and elected leaders, how to support gethose folks out of Law Enforcement. Believe that our Law Enforcement do jobs that protect us and are critical to our way of life. And im grateful that a vast majority of them are doing it for the right reasons and theyre good pple. Well, you are both, representative Herrera Beutler and representative stefanik, from places that have had a really Important Role in the other story that has taken over the country in the last several months, and thats the covid19 pandemic. Representative Herrera Beutler, you are from a state that had the first cases of covid19. And, representative stefanik, that became the epicenter of the pandemic in this countryh wae a moment where either of you hoped or thought that this crisis might bring the country together . I think this crisisco did brinunities in this country together. If you look at our legislative results that we delive these were historic economic rescue packages that passed almost unanimouslyof ouhe house and senate. That is a Tremendous Positive example of coming tother. And yet you are youre both fiscal conservatives. You have both, throughout the course of your time in congresst d for a real fiscal responsibility, caespecially holding repub up to that standard. And there has been now trillio of dollars passed in the context of federal relief, Economic Relief for covid19. As fiscal conservatives, ill go to you, representativeerrera beutler, how are you thinking about moving fward . Well, i think we need to look at this in context. No and, you im a member of the joint economic committee. Im an appropriator in the house. And we have been spending a lot of time talking about this in the context of, of course,on we want to print money and waste it. But we also ne to underpin what has been a global crisis, not of our own making. Tu it wasnt that the economy was having a strl problem as much as theovernment came in and said, you cant you cant operate. You have to shut everything down. And it was for public health. My belief was the government was responsible then for trying to at least make whole or prop up or do what they could to offset the damage being done. And thats what these rescue packages have been. And now its how do g our economy moving again . How do we allow people to open ck up . And thats how were gonna get, i think, deficits under control. We have to have an economic engine to produce goods and seices in order to get those things righted. But it was either spend some now or let it continue to develop and spend a whole lot more later. And i think that what you saw was a bipartisan response to trn stem the tide. The latest cnn pollingha s data that says that 62 of women have said that they will vote for joe den over donald trump. How do you think that President Trump is doing with women, representativanik . If you look historically, the Republican Party has trouble winning women vors. I think the president of the economic meerms in terms of the law and order message. There are many people that may disagree with his tweets. But i do think tyople are looking for economic opportu theyre looking for a strong education system, and they dont like this attack on Law Enforcement that theyre seeing. And, y know, think its going to be a long race between now and election day. T think the president has a very strong record to run on en it comes to opportunities for women in this country. Representative Herrera Beutler, how do you think President Trump is doing with yomen . Do i think th the president presents his ideas or his opinions is appropriate . Not always. Oftentimes i feel like, youri know, its thee meter. Am i going to cringe when that happens or not . But i also cringe when i think about joe biden and his ility to handle china and how theyre, you know whether its the trade imbalance or other things, so ultimately, i think the candidate whos able to reay serve the public and mo the economy forward is the one thats going to win the vote irrespective of genderv you both haed with President Trump roughly 80 of the time. ,and i wonder, have you a either of you, received pushback or been criticizedvi for not voted with the president more often . tou know, i actually coul answer whether or not people have criticized me on that front or not, because dont tend to read a lot of the scorecards. Follow what i found is if im answering the needs and answering to the people in this district and im getting things de, elections do take care of themselves. I do think, you know, there are some on the right who really would rather me be more focused on supporting the president. And theres some on the left who are st furious that i havent taken him out of office somehow, right . The people of my distric voted for him in 2016. I actually did not. I wrote in another republican. And i definitely took someome flak for that. But i think what ive come to is i usually start with the things that im and we can work to on, andwith those things where he disagrees with, i push back on just like i did with barack obama. Im going to ask that question a little bit differently to you, thpresentative stefanik. There are many imedia who go to a republican woman in congress and they say, how are you a republican woman in the party of donald trump . How do you respond to that . Shows the bias in the media. T i voted for President Trump in the 2016 elecons. I am cochairing his campaign in new york state. I support his policies. Or but most intly, i vote my district. That the most impounderstands aspect of serving is keeping your promises to youu consts and always putting your district first. And that is what i do evy single day. So, since both of you have cleared the hurdle of being elected republican wen in the house of representatives, what would you advise firsttime republican women candidates who especially the ones in swing districts who have to thread htvery difficult needle, r they are women in the Republican Party. This is the question theyre getting. And frankly, they may not like some of th tweets from the president and frankly, they may not like me of the words or actions of the president. What do you advise them to do in terms of how to navigate that political minefield . Well, most of the republicana candidatesim working with who are women, strongly support the president. They say so. Y disagree, there are examples of tweets where they disagree. And what ie advised them is you have to focus on your district and you are running to serve your community and you have to demonstrate an ability t tongs done with the president of the United States, and be able to deliver results. I think thats really important. And i think thats a weakness tihe left and in the democparty for Many Democrats who are in trump districts is they have been unable to work with the president to deliver results for their community. Beutler . Sentative herrera i went through this when barack obama was the president. On a number of issh him but i had to find ways forward to work with him to get things donee for ople i serve. And i did. The advice i would give would do the ect same thing with this president. Yoknow, to the degree you agree with him on things. Go for it. If its going to serve yourts constituwork with him. If its not, if its going to create problems or harm, then you have to take him on like you would anybody else. But you dont have to make it personal and i think this is where leadership really is so critical and it it im going to tell you that im right and we have to do it my way. Go its ig to see the humanity in you. Even if i disagree with you and im going to treat you with respect, and that ultimately, i think all sidese could re of that. Republicans could. Democrats could. Nancy pelosi could. Nald trump could. We all could. And i think if youre going to run for office right now, you have to recognize people arent always going to treat you humanely. Theyre not gonna be respectful. Theyre not going to be kind. But if you respond to them with kindness, youre going to go a whole lot further in this role if you choose that path. Its the higher road, but iti think it yields more f representative Herrera Beutler, representativElise Stefanik, thank you very much for joining this firing line roundtable on trailazing women in the house of representatives. Thanks, margaret. Tnk you. Thank you. Firing line with Margaret Hoover is made possible by. Idadditional funding is pr by. Corporate funding is provided by. Support for this episode was provided by viewers like you. Thank you. r ywatching pbs. Hello everyone and welcome to amanpo co. Heres whats coming up. The youth mobilizing for change. Im joined by young activists from black lives matter and the Parkland School shooting movement for gun control. Then stolen from his mother, dehumanized by the system. Poet, author and play right lemn sissay about being a i cahi britains care system plus if the best p tple in public lives of the nation in the past could get stuff so horribly wrong what are we getting so horrib wrong right now . All men are created equa
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