Corporate funding is provided by. Support for this episode was provided by viewers like you. Thank you. Thats Elise Stefanik from upstate new york on her victory night in 2014, to congress at the time. Elected full disclosure stefanik has been endorsed this election cycl by a Political Group in which i am an officer that supports republicans who advance lgbt equality, american unity pac. I believe deeply inhe constitution. I believe deeply in liberty and freedom. The principles of peace i focus on foreign policye way and National Security issues. She learned about the importance of Small Businesses from her familys company. Al we are a plywood whol distributor. The trucks have to be on the roadive days out of the week and the Economic Impact of upstate new york is felt Small Businesses. So inderstood from a child up to high school how integral Small Businesses are to our local economy. Stefanik was the first in her family to graduate from college at harvard and worked in the white house for president george w. Bush. Today, i am proud to introduce the wagequity act. Stefanik developed a reputation in congress as a moderate she broke with the Trump Administration on the travel ban. I dont thi a religious litmus test. On climate change. There are policiesgr that ive did with, as well as rhetoric that ive disagreed with. And was one of only 12 republicans to te against the 2017 tax cuts. My big problem with the tax bill is it penalized hxat stes, and unfortunately, we are in a very higx state. Last november, she became known for something else. Mr. Chairman,li i have a pentary inquiry. Not recognized. Oman is i do want to comment. Mr. Chairman, i have a point of order under hres 660. The gentle woman will stater int of order. The point of order is, sell the chairman continue to prohibit witnfrom answering republican questions, as youve done in closed hearings and as you did thisek. The gentle woman will suspend. When you interrupted our questions. Order. T is not a proper point of fanik went all in for President Trump during the impeachment hearing. Du and are you aware that ng the obama administration, the u. S. Partnered with the u. K. And ukraine on an investigation into the owner of burisma as part of ukraines anticorruption efforts . I became aware of it today during the hring. Other witnesses have testified, but yes. A lot of peoplede were sy paying attention. When she opens that mouth, you are kiing them, elise. You were killing them. Im very proud of those questions. P im veud of standing up for the constitution. Theres no evidence for impeachable offenses. And my constituentsry are roud that i stood up for their voice. Alright. You want this video bere. You know, my mother,he used to take us up to the state capital every year to see our government in action. I was pleased to help get this bill through the house. Jaime Herrera Beutler, who represents washington states 3rd congressional district, is the only hispanic republican woman in congres i think it was during one of the field trips to the state capital where i rememberhinking, i think i want to do this. I think this is i thinkpu ic service is part of me. Thank you, madam chair. And thank you, doctor, r 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. Sohere was no child that had ever survived it. And when the doctors delivered us that news, you can imagine the devastation that we felt. She and her husband took a chance an experimental therapy involving salient injections during pregnancy. After spending the first in the hospital,er life abigail came home. Shes abigail rose butler,ur who, of , is the daughter of our friend. [ applause ] shesabulous. Shes sharp as a tack. She has told me more than once shes going have my job someday. Little kiddos often cant get the care they need. And today were taking a step to fix it. A she htrong record of supporting bipartisan legislation, pushing through dozens of bill on everything from protecting coluia river salmon. I cant express howmportant this hydro system is for the entire northwest. Improving stem education. I support this bill because its going to help tchers and students. To helping mothers take breast milk on airplanes. You can travel with your frozen breast milk, which i have lot of. Tsa allows up to 5. 5 pounds of y ice, so well see if i can talk them into letting me i me just depends. Im a hispanic republican young mom. Ive had three children in congress. I commute from the west coast. I love my district. Im exactly the type of ice that needs to be present in the unitestates congress because women are over half of the population in the natio and our voice here is so critical. Senator joni ernst is the first female combat veteran in the senate. I think conservviews have changed significantly. And the first womanlected to the United States senate from iowa. Look around our nation, ether its covid or civil unrest. I think women have a really wonderful way of sharing compassion with others. And when you feel that someone truly cares about yout and cares abur issues, youre more likely to be drawn into a conversation, s inutions. In the senate, there are now nine republican women, more than ever. But in the house there are just 13,owest number in a generation. If yourealking about now, its no accident. Nancy pelosi was very effective and very targeted and it was a very concerted effort defeat republican women. And so its not sort of byde ac that we are where we are. I think we have to do better. Weve got to elect more women. We also need to make sure that our message as republicans is getting outs to women acre country. First of all, wow. Elise stefanik has created a new Political Action committee, epac, to help elect more republican women to the house of representatives. That means that republican women make up less than 3 of the house of representatives. One way we can attempt to change this trend is by supportingtrong women candidates preprimary. Fo i havd 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 a bigger differee because we break the narrative that republicans dont like women. Representative Herrera Beutler and representative stefanik, thank you for being part of this firing line roundtable speci on trailblazing women in the house of representatives and the senate. Thank you so much excited to be here. Absolutely. So you are both up for reelection this year, as you are every two y but this year in 2020 is omdifferent for republican because more than 220 republican women have filed to run for a seat in the house of representatives. Why is that . Well, thank 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 reasons why weve seen this tremendousf outpouringndidates who are raising their hand to step into the arena. Number one, they have role models to look to. Number two,em were helping evelop Strong Campaign infrastructures onst to win the primaries and general elec and i think the fact that we made a very public call as republicans that we need more women running for office, i think that really paid off. And remember, the was some pushback to that initially but it has been emis cycle, 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. But my belief is this is not about identity politics. This is making sure that our candites reflect america and the diversity that we have across americasu with voters whort the Republican Party and conservative principles. RepresentativHerrera Beutler, you are the first hispanic republican woman to be elted in the state of washington. So can you square that circle for me . He how doesepublican 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 throughout this enrocessarned is be yourself. Sometimes you have to invite yourself to the party whicd. When i got involved in my early 20s, you know, volunteerg and going to events, i didnt know anybody and i just kind of pushed. And i think what youre seeing i noaddition to what elise has seup with supporting women, getting them through 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 realizeth have to be at the table helping make the decisions. H did we get here . Because if we look back 15 years ago, there were twice as many of you in congress than there are now. So how did the gop find itself in a positione where there ly 11 republican incumbent women running for reelection . So im going to take a stab at this one because asked this all the time. So as you mention, im the first hispanic woman from washington iate to be elected federally. And you know wha discovered . A lot of what the opposition ive faced hnt actually been within my own party. Its been in political players on the other side who seek to take our seats out because were the ones d thtroy the narrative that republicans dont support women. D so what i felt, you know, Michael Bloomberg spent a million and a half dollars trying to unseat me in the last election. Representative stefanik, back when you launched epac, elevate pac, which is a Political Action committee devoted to identifying and supporting republin women as they run through their primaries, you said. Ke what is it that it a crisis, having only 13 republican women ve the house of representa well, margaret, it really struck me when we were meeting with our newly elected members and it was the new congressional clas and i looked around and it was just not reflective of the american people. And some of my colleagues were taken aback. They werent expectit comment. But it really spurred in me call to action that we have to do better. Thats why i started epac. Im supporting 26 candidates. And the goal at the end of this cycle is to increase our number of republican womenin he house. Representative Herrera Beutler, why will the republican conference be better if there are more women amongst its ranks . I think both the conference and congress as a whole will benefit if it more accurately reflects the american people, period. You ow, i started the Maternity Care cau with lucille roybalallard. Shes a democrat from down in the l. A. Area. And i was shocked that after all this time, nothing like it had been started. You know, we had wins with helping making sure that tsa was going to allow the traveling mom to carry her breast milk through thout getting it dumped out. Nd hank you for that. Oh, dont even i have stories. Dont even get me starteon that one. And we also were able to get, you know, in ts last i think it was the last year wheni president trumed into law a landmark Maternal Mortality legislation. That needed to hapn. I think were gonna see more of those types of legislation if we more accurately reflect that in the conference and then inhe congress as a whole. I want to take you guys back to the state of the union right after that historic year, 2018. Let me just show you an image on that backside of it. N exactly one century the constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote, se also have more women serving in congr than at any time before. Cheers and applause ] were either of you asked to wear white in solidarity with other women . I wasnt, but i think that possibly underscores some of my challenge. Was if youre like usvideo and you think like us and youll act like us, you can be part of the,w you know, the mans club. But if you dont, youre on the outside, which to me,t i doow about you, elise. Makes me feel even more diverse were goart our path irrespective of whether or not we have a group. Yeah, my commen on that, margaret, is i think it was a gracious moment and i thk it was important 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 ime you showed. But that count also includes really imptant voices in the Republican Party, many of whom are in leadership and have outsized roles in the republican conference. And i also think its important, as were celebrating the centennial of womens suffrage,e thatuffrage movement is also deeply, deeply a part of the Republican Party. And that is something that we need to talk about more effectively to ouvoters. And its something that we can be very proud of, that the Suffrage Movement was very much a partf the Republican Party and still is today a part of the Republican Party in terms oexpanding equal opportunity for women. To two sets of curvents. Both the first is the tragic death of george floyd. And id like to get both of your reactio to the events that have happened in the past couple of weeks. Sure. So i believe that ams heart broke across the country when people watch the horrifying footage of george flds death. I support prosecuting the officers involved to the fullest extent as swiftly as possible. I think thats an important fissage for other Law Enforcement rs. What has been very upsetting to me as a new yorker ol the rioting and looting and attacks and ce against Law Enforcement officers. We want safetynd security for every american across this country. Fo and that, unately, has been lost as weve seen the violence and loss ofife stemming from some of these riots. Representative herreraur beutler, in iew, what will justice be for george floyd . Oh, well, if i had the full and complete answer to this, i would givet t. M searching. Im searching right now with the rest of america. You know, when i s what happened, my primary response was anger. I was furious. And unfortunately, this isnt a singular event. I think racial injtice is real d america is better than this. You know, obviously, there are peoplewh wear a badge who shouldnt. And as policymakers we need to figure out how to support gettinghose folks out of Law Enforcement. I will also say i 100 percentth believ our Law Enforcement do jobs that protect us and arer so critical toay of life. And im grateful that a vast majority of them are doing it r the right reasons and theyre good people. Well, you are both, representative Herrera Beutler and representativetefanik, from places that have had a really important roleto in the other that has taken over the country in the last several months, and icthats the covid19 pand representative Herrera Beutler, you are from a state that hadfi tht cases of covid19. And, representative stefanik, you are from the stateam that bthe epicenter of the pandemic in this country. Was there a moment wither of you hoped or thought that this crisis might bring the country together . I think this crisis did bring communities in this country together. O if you look legislative results that we delivered, these were historic economic rescue packages that passed almost unanimously out of the house ande. That is a Tremendous Positive example of coming together. And yet you are youre both fiscal conservatives. Course of your time in congress, stood for a al fiscal responsibility, especially Holding Republicans up to that standard. S and there en now trillions of dollars passed in the context of federal relief, Economic Relief for covid19. As fiscal conservatives, ill go to you, representative Herrera Beutler, how are you thinking about moving forward . Well, i think we need to lo at this in context. And, you know, im a member im an appropriatoric committee. In the house. And we have been spendinga t of time talking about this in the context of, of course, we dont want to priey and waste it. But we also need to underpin what has been a global crisis, not of our own making. So it wasnt that the economy s having a structural problem as much as the government came in and said, you cant work. You cant operate. You have to shut everything wn. And it was for public health. My belief s 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. D w its how do we get our economy moving again . W do we allow people to open back up . I think, deficits under controlh e to have an economic engine to produce goods and services 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 sawwa a bipartisan response to try and stem the tide. The latest cnn polling has data that says that 62 of women have said that they will vote for joe biden over donald ump. How do you think that President Trump is doing with women, reprentative stefanik . Sure, so, i thinkhi if you looorically, the Republican Party has trouble winning women voters. I think the president is doing well in terms of the ecomic message, in terms of the law and order message. There are many people that maybe disagree with his tweets. But i do think people are looking for economicpportunity. Theyre looking for a strong education system, and they dont like that theyre seeing. Nforcement and, you know, i think ces going to be a long between now and election day. But i think the president has a very strong record to run on when it comes to opportunities for women in this country. Representative Herrera Beutler, how do you think President Trump is doing with women . Do i thinthe way the president presents his ideas or his opinions is appropriate . Not always. Oftentimes i feel like, you know, s the cringe meter. Am i going to cringe when that happens or not . But i also cringe when i think about joe biden and his ability to handle ina and how theyre, you know whether its the trade imbalance i think the candidate whos able to really serve the public and move the economy forward is the one thats going to win the vote irrespective of gender. You both have voted with President Trump roughly 80 ofhe time. And i wonder, have you all, either of you, recved pushbacked or been critic for not having voted with the president more often . You know, i actually couldnt answer whether or not people have criticized me on that front or not, because i dont tend to re a lot of the i dont follow s a lot of trecards. What i found is if im answering the needs and answering to the people in this district and im getting things done, elections do take care i do think, you know, there are some on the right who really wouldra er me be more focused on supporting the president. And theres some on the left who are sturious that i havent taken him out of office somehow, right . The people of my voted for him in 2016. I actually did not. E i wr another republican. And i definitely took some some flak for that. But i think wh ive come to is i usually start with those things that im t working t he agrees with and we can Work Together on, and 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, representative stefanik. There armany in the media who go to a republican woman in congress and they say, how are you a republican woman in the party of dold trump . How do you respond to that . Well, you know, i think that shows the bias in the media. Es i voted for ent trump in the 2016 elections. I am cochairing his campaign in new york state. I support his policies. Bumost importantly, i vote my district. And the president understands that the mt important aspect of serving is keeping your promises to your constituents and alwaying your district first. And that is what i do every single day. So, since both of youar have c the hurdle of being elected republican women in the house orepresentatives, what would you advise firsttime republican women candidates who especially the ones in swing districts who have to thread a very difficult ndle, right . They are women in the Republican Party. This is the questionth re getting. And frankly, they may not like some of the tweets from the president anfrankly, they may not li some 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 republican cathidates that im working who are women, strongly support the president. And when they disagree, they say so. There are examples of tweetse whey disagree. And what ive advised them is you have to focus on your a distri you are running to serve your community and you have to demonstrate an ability to get things 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 on the left and in t Democratic Party for Many Democrats who are in trump districts is they have been unable to work with the president to deliver results fotheir community. Representative Herrera Beutler . I went through this when ba. Ck obama was the pside i didnt agree with him on a number of issues,in but i had toways forward to work with him to get things done for the people i serve and i did. The advice i would give would be do the exact same thing with this president. You agree with him on things. Go for it. If its going to serve your nstituents, work with hi 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 leadershipeally is so critical and it isnt im going to tell you that im right and we have to do it my way. Its im going to seeni the hu in you. Even if i disagree with you and im going to treat you with respect, and that ultimately, i think all sides could use more of that. Republicans could. Democrats could. Nancy pelosi could. Donald 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 i think it yieldmore fruit. Representative Herrera Beutler, representative Elise Stefanik, thank you very much for joining this firing line roundtable on trailblazing women in the house of representativesa s, margaret. Thank you. Thank you. Firing line with Margaret Hoover is made possible by. Additional funding is provided by. Corporate funding is provided by. Support for this episode was provided by viewers like you. Ank you. Youre watching pbs the people who gave the moneyy to makgh Mister Rogers nrhood are the people of this and other. And. Its a Beautiful Day in this neighborhood Beautiful Day for a neighbor would you be mine . Could you be mine . Its a neighborly day in this beauty wood