Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm very pleased to welcome to my show for the
very first time, Representative Brittany Petterson. Brittany represents Colorado's seventh
Congressional District. And so, first of all, Brittany, thanks for
making time. I've wanted to have you on the show
for a while. I really appreciate that you're here.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Yeah, thanks for having me Askar to be here. And
Sam's here as.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Well, Sam, I see Sam and Sam baby for how
old is Sam?
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Now?
Speaker 2 (00:31):
He is ten weeks old?
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Wow?
Speaker 1 (00:33):
All right, and yeah, already a half resident of DC.
And we're going to talk about Sam's in his own
way in the middle of politics right now.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
So we're going to talk about that in a moment.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
So just for listeners who might not know, can you
just describe the contours of CD seven and the areas
that you represent.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Yeah, So the population centers in Jefferson County, but it
also includes Broomfield, and then it goes all the way
southwest up against the sand dunes. It includes Tuller, Fremont, Custer, Chafey,
Lake and Park Counties. So it's very expansive. It actually
is a four and a half hour drive across the
(01:16):
district and it used to be a forty five minute
drive before redistricting.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Wow, and if I have it right, maybe western El
Paso County as well.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
We have a very little slice.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
But sorry.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
Former Senator peat Lee told me that I was the
first Democrat to win ol Passo County because I won
those precincts.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
There you go, all right, So obviously there's a lot
of stuff going on in the world.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
But you've been in the news a lot.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Talked speaking of Sam who's right there with you right now,
about how Congress can be a place that's easier for
new moms and maybe new dads.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
I don't know. We can talk about that in a minute.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
To be able to be new parents while still while
still doing the job. So before we get into the
ongoing state of all the little ins and outs, just
tell us a little bit about how it is doing
your job while having a newborn.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Well, I think, I mean it's it's difficult, for sure,
you know.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
I this is a very demanding job and I'm I
am up to doing this job. I love representing the
seventh Congressional District, but you know, going through this being
pregnant and being unable to actually fly back to DC
when I was close to my d date, they wouldn't
let me board a plane because it was too dangerous.
(02:43):
And then you know, giving birth and being in recovery
and taking care of my new born twenty four seven,
where you know, Sam was the most vulnerable he'll be
in his life, where you know he needed his mom
and his dad to make sure that he was okay.
And so, like so many families, I was trying to
figure out how to manage doing my job and taking
(03:06):
care of my baby. But I think the unique challenge
here is that I was denied my ability to do
my job because I'm a woman, and because I chose
to have a baby, and there are physical medical limitations here.
And I think that, you know, that's at the heart
of the conversation. It's not about whether I can do
(03:27):
my job. I'm perfectly capable of making sure that my
votes are where I would have voted in person, were communicated,
but I was unable to physically be here. And that's
the heart of the discussion is are we willing to
create a narrow exception for new parents when you're going
through that critical time and unable to be here in
(03:50):
person to vote.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
You know, this is the way that they've been doing.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
Things for centuries, and it's about time that we pull
Congress out of the stone age.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
You know, I see a lot of your tweets, I
see a lot of responses to and of course x
or Twitter is full of the worst people in the world,
just so we'll just make that clear. But a lot
of a lot of folks have a similar kind of
I don't know if it's a rhetorical question, but I'll
word it a little bit more gently than they do.
(04:21):
I think there's a lot of benefit and I'm sure
you think so too, for members of Congress to be
in DCC.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
You can meet with each other and talk with each.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Other and debate things, and and and and all of that.
Do you think there's an argument to be made that, Well,
if you're gonna, you know, make a voluntary choice that
makes it so that it's very hard for you to
do your job, maybe you should do a different job
until that's not going to be in the way that's
more gently than they put it on Twitter.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:51):
I usually don't look at those, but I did scroll
through some of these just because it's just interested to
see the responses. I can't believe how many people say,
you know, women shouldn't be in Congress.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
I should resign because I can't do my.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
Job, and that's just fundamentally missing the point. I'm perfectly
capable of doing my job, and in voices of families
are needed here in Congress. I don't think that anyone
in the country believes that Congress is working well and
that you know, we're addressing the issues that so many
(05:25):
families are facing, and a lot of that is the
representation that.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
We have here.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
We need to make this place accessible for young parents,
for moms, for women, to make sure that we're changing
the face and priorities here in Washington. So I'm perfectly
capable of doing my job. I took, you know, two
weeks after giving birth to Sam where I was unable,
you know, really checked out of not communicating with my team,
(05:53):
but they were still working on behalf of my constituents,
and then I was fully engaged after two weeks. The
question here is when you're there's a medical reason that
you're unable to be in Congress in person, because we
are also human beings and we have life events that happen,
should we make exceptions so that our constituents still have
(06:15):
a voice, and so I think that people that say
that are out of touch with America and the needs
of our country.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
All right, one more question on this aspect, and then
I want to jump into the politics, which is actually
been shockingly interesting.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
So I know your husband pretty well.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
You have another You have another young child, Sam has
an older brother. They spend most of their time at
your home in Colorado. You have to spend a lot
of time in DC. You travel with Sam a lot.
He's with you right now as I'm talking with you.
We see him on the house floor from time to time,
(06:56):
and this is something of a yeah, there he is.
This is something of a person question, So like why
and for how long do you have you decided that
the best thing is to is to have Sam with
you because it's not easy. As we were talking off here,
it's not easy and it's also kind of expensive to
travel to travel with your young child. So just on
(07:17):
the personal side, put aside the politics for a second.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
How are you thinking about that part?
Speaker 4 (07:25):
Yeah, well, the politics have definitely been interesting. Didn't expect
you know, the President's way in here. And hey, even
President Trump and I agree on this that, yeah, that
we'll get to that shouldn't be so controversial. But you know,
so kids are able to fly for free until they're
two years old, so I'm able to bring Sam with me.
(07:46):
But like so many families, you know, finding accessible and
safe child's care is difficult. So Sam, it has a
spot that he'll be able to go into full time
daycare this summer, but until then, you know, we're trying
to figure it out like every other family who's struggling
to meet the needs of their kids and make sure
(08:07):
that they're taken care of.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
So Sam is my travel buddy.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
He's gonna he comes with me in the district, everywhere
I go, he comes with me to Washington, and we're
going to be in that position until ultimately he has
full time daycare in Colorado.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
All right, and then challenging it's it's.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
A there's unique challenges that not you know that most
families aren't facing, but also so many similarities as we
all struggle to find childcare, to afford it, to deal
with the pressures of work and balancing that with a family.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Look at him fastest sleep, That's fabulous. So a few
listeners have simped in the same message, saying, you know,
I I think the congresswoman is going a little too
far when she says she's being discriminated against because she's
a woman. Do you do you think that's a little
bit of a hYP hyperbole or do you really believe that.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
Well, I don't think that this was The system was
not created for people like me. This was you know,
our system was created before women were able to vote,
let alone bull the office. And we haven't evolved with
the times to accommodate the needs of our workforce and
the the challenges that we face, and so so it
(09:32):
was never designed for us. And because I because I
am a woman, because I had a baby, because I
have you know, am not able to physically get here
due to these things, and that they are unwilling to
let me have my vote represented here.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
It ultimately, it is it is limiting my ability because
of my gender and because of of welcoming a child. So,
you know, it's an incredibly Most people are shocked across America.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
So while we have a lot of negative comments, I'm
glad I'm challenging their world's view and perspective here, but
we also have an overwhelming amount of people who are
moved by this moment because they see themselves in the
struggle that I'm facing as a navigated being a mom,
(10:30):
in trying to grapple with having a kid and having
quite frankly, a.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Hostile work environment that is unwilling to work with them.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Okay, let's do a couple of minutes on the politics
of this, and then I want to talk to you
about some other things, because there are other issues going
on in the world that you are dealing with as
a member of Congress. So Annapoline a Luna, quite a
conservative member of Congress Florida, I think, who actually left
the Conservative Freedom Caucus because of them posing any of this.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
She was putting.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Together something that's called a discharge petition to force a
vote on your bill and give me short answers on this,
so we have time to do other things.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
But what does your bill? What would your bill do?
Speaker 2 (11:17):
So it makes simple adjustments here.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
So the resolution that we had would change the rules
of Congress so that if you're a new parent, you
would have up to twelve weeks. It's in alignment with
the parental leave piece of paid family leave that other
federal employees benefit from.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
So you would have up to twelve weeks.
Speaker 4 (11:38):
Where your vote could be represented here while you're home
recovering and while you're taking care of your newborn. It
also accounts for if you're unable to be there for
medical reasons right before birth. So some people have complications
and they're you know, in the hospital and their bedridden,
or like me, where you're unable to fly because it's
(11:59):
too dangerous, and so it also accounts for that. And
it's for it's for both parents. So it's not just
about the people, it's not just about women.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
But what would it let the member of Congress do? Then?
Is it a proxy vote? Is it a remote vote?
What is it?
Speaker 4 (12:14):
All?
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Right?
Speaker 4 (12:14):
So your vote would be counted through a proxy vote,
so you would communicate where your votes are, and you
would have a member who is designated to be the
person on the floor that would announce your vote and
it would be counted ultimately on the House floor.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
I have not looked into the claim by some that
what you're trying to do would be unconstitutional.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
I don't know whether they have a good argument or not.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
And I probably shouldn't ask you that question because you're
trying to do what you're trying to do. I note
that some people say it might be illegal. I have
no idea if they're right. I thought that the Speaker
of the House came up with a really interesting solution
with this vote pairing thing, and a couple of days
ago before I read your thoughts about vote pairing, which
(13:04):
I read yesterday, I went on the air and I said,
this seems to me like a fairly elegant solution that
could allow a member of Congress to effectively it's not
really the same as voting, but having the same impact
on the final vote margin as proxy or remote voting would.
But then and I thought it was pretty clever, and
(13:24):
it seemed like Luna and Johnson were both on board.
But then you came out and said, no, this just
for practical reasons. More isn't going to get it done.
So can you talk about that a little.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
Yeah, So to your point, what the solution would do is,
you know, say we're in Congress together and I'm a
no and you're a Yes on a bill coming up
on the floor.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
I can't be there.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
I ask you, will you be willing? We'll cancel each
other out so you'll vote presence. Your vote doesn't count
as a yes because you're basically voting president to account
for my absence so that my absence isn't contributing to
the outcome. So while that sounds good in theory, and
I brought this up on the House floor yesterday, I asked,
(14:12):
what Republican you know, is this would be the last
week that I would have been able to vote remotely
from home, And what Republican is willing to vote present
this week for me? On the budget, vote on you know,
all of these pieces of legislation that they see as
key priorities. Are they willing to be on record as present?
I don't think so. So I've asked my Republican colleagues
(14:35):
who would like to vote present for me, and have
failed to hear back from anyone.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Right, And that makes sense, especially you know, fifty years ago,
there's quite a bit of a bipartisanship and you'd have
a fair number of Democrats on Republican bills and a
fair number of Republicans on Democrat bills.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
And these days, especially.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
On the things that are in the news, most there
tend to be a lot of party line vot votes,
and it would, I can imagine, be very difficult to
find for a Democrat like you, Let's say you're a
no on something, to find a Republican who's a yes
to vote present, in part because that.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
Republican won't want.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
To be primary challenged later from the right if it's
a conservative bill, saying, you know, Congressman so and so
voted president, he's not really.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
With us, So I can I can imagine that. So
now what.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
So we're continuing to you know, I have a long
list having gone through this with I came into office
with my toddler and then you know, being in this
position now, I have a long list of things barriers
that we face, what we need to do to modernize Congress.
You know, think of workplaces across the country and how
(15:49):
different it is even from just before the pandemic, and
you know, we need to evolve with the times. And
I absolutely agree with with Speaker Johnson that being here present,
building relationships is a key piece of what we do
in Congress. We should never take that away. That's not
what we're talking about here. We're talking about, you know,
(16:09):
when somebody has a medical reason that they can't be
here in person for a limited amount of time, are
we going to make sure that their constituents still have
a voice here in Congress.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Okay, we only have a few minutes left. Probably spend
a little longer on that than I had intended. But
when you're around your district, when you're around your district
these days, other than that stuff that we just talked
about and put aside for a minute, you know, just
I hate Trump or whatever you might get at democratic
town halls on the issues, what do people seem most
(16:40):
concerned about in your district right now? Oh?
Speaker 4 (16:45):
It changes, I mean every day, right there's there's so
much chaos and dysfunction and fear out there and people.
You know, when I held my town hall and in Lakewood recently,
we had almost two thousand people show up and that
was our after turning away hundreds of people over emails.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
We don't have capacity.
Speaker 4 (17:04):
You know, you don't see this kind of turnout without
the fear that people have.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
And it's with the firing of our federal workers.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
It's around economy and rising costs right now with tariffs.
I'm hearing from small businesses in my community. A rafting
company in Littleton comes to mind that. You know, they
talked about how their costs have already gone up two
hundred thousand dollars. This year because of tariffs already, and
they're looking at laying off employees. So I think that
(17:32):
you know, right before we started talking, you were announcing
that Trump's tweeting again on what he's going to do
around tariffs, and then we saw an increase in the
stock market. This is not how we do things. Businesses
need predictability, they need to you know, they're all hunkering down,
they're not investing, they are not hiring new workers. This
(17:53):
has you know, cascading effect. And now we're seeing, you know,
the beginning of a war with tariffs of countries across
the world, and that's you know, that led us into
the Great Depression before. This is it's a scary time
for a lot of people. We need we need stability.
We don't need to tweet our way through the economic
(18:16):
decisions that are happening, and we need you know, when
I talk to families who are worried about losing their
healthcare right now with the budget about that's coming in,
these are billions of dollars that are being cut, stripping
away healthcare for over a million people in Colorado who
depend on Medicaid. Almost half of those are kids, and
(18:40):
forty percent of all pregnancies in Colorado are covered with Medicaid.
And so when you think about the health and well
being of our most vulnerable kids and families, kids that
who need who are food insecure and rely on meals
at school or snap benefits, that these things are being
(19:01):
stripped away. And it's also going to add trillions of
dollars to our deficit. And so when they talk about
balancing the budget, let's be clear, this is stripping away
services for the people that need.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
It the most.
Speaker 4 (19:15):
It's going to impact all of us to give more
tax breaks to billionaires who absolutely are the ones who
needed the least.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Oh gosh, I wish I had more time right now.
I have so much to say to that. I do
absolutely agree that there are a lot of people worried.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
But maybe next time on the show we can sort of.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Talk a little bit about, well, what's the proper role
of government and is it possible that Medicaid expanded too
far and is including too many people who of course
won't be happy to lose their free stuff now, But
maybe we just need to to save our to save
our federal budget. Give me just seventeen seconds in your
reaction to my little comment.
Speaker 4 (19:59):
Well, so I think that you know this is there
the politics of saying either or so it's it's always
walking a line between what we're going to tax that
so that people can continue to be successful, to invest
to thrive here in the United States, and what we're
doing to invest back in the American people. And we
(20:22):
have failed to tax We have a tax system that
is drastically unfair. It benefits the wealthy. This has happened
over decades. So we've stopped investing in the American people.
And so I wouldn't say that, you know, we need
to address the deficit. We need to get a handle
on our spending. That includes making sure that we're evaluating
(20:44):
where our tax cuts are going and not be fooled
when when you know rising costs or because like when
I think about what it was like to live in
Colorado growing up here, and what our economy used to
be like, and what you could afford as a middle
class family, and how to touch those things and become
is because we stopped investing in in the things that
(21:05):
all of us rely on that really ensure that we're
thriving together.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
All Right, We'll have this conversation the next time. I
will note that the top one percent of earners pay
forty percent of all income taxes, which is the highest
in modern history or maybe all American history. And I
do think the tax code is unfair, but I think
it's unfair and exactly the opposite way from how you
think it's unfair. I think it's tilted too much towards
taxing the rich.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
That'll be a.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Fun conversation the next time, if you're willing.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
To do it. Brittany, thanks for doing this. I really
appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
It was great to be with you. Thanks Ross. I
look forward to that conversation, all right.
I'm very pleased to welcome to my show for the
very first time, Representative Brittany Petterson. Brittany represents Colorado's seventh
Congressional District. And so, first of all, Brittany, thanks for
making time. I've wanted to have you on the show
for a while. I really appreciate that you're here.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Yeah, thanks for having me Askar to be here. And
Sam's here as.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Well, Sam, I see Sam and Sam baby for how
old is Sam?
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Now?
Speaker 2 (00:31):
He is ten weeks old?
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Wow?
Speaker 1 (00:33):
All right, and yeah, already a half resident of DC.
And we're going to talk about Sam's in his own
way in the middle of politics right now.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
So we're going to talk about that in a moment.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
So just for listeners who might not know, can you
just describe the contours of CD seven and the areas
that you represent.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Yeah, So the population centers in Jefferson County, but it
also includes Broomfield, and then it goes all the way
southwest up against the sand dunes. It includes Tuller, Fremont, Custer, Chafey,
Lake and Park Counties. So it's very expansive. It actually
is a four and a half hour drive across the
(01:16):
district and it used to be a forty five minute
drive before redistricting.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Wow, and if I have it right, maybe western El
Paso County as well.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
We have a very little slice.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
But sorry.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
Former Senator peat Lee told me that I was the
first Democrat to win ol Passo County because I won
those precincts.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
There you go, all right, So obviously there's a lot
of stuff going on in the world.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
But you've been in the news a lot.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Talked speaking of Sam who's right there with you right now,
about how Congress can be a place that's easier for
new moms and maybe new dads.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
I don't know. We can talk about that in a minute.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
To be able to be new parents while still while
still doing the job. So before we get into the
ongoing state of all the little ins and outs, just
tell us a little bit about how it is doing
your job while having a newborn.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Well, I think, I mean it's it's difficult, for sure,
you know.
Speaker 4 (02:20):
I this is a very demanding job and I'm I
am up to doing this job. I love representing the
seventh Congressional District, but you know, going through this being
pregnant and being unable to actually fly back to DC
when I was close to my d date, they wouldn't
let me board a plane because it was too dangerous.
(02:43):
And then you know, giving birth and being in recovery
and taking care of my new born twenty four seven,
where you know, Sam was the most vulnerable he'll be
in his life, where you know he needed his mom
and his dad to make sure that he was okay.
And so, like so many families, I was trying to
figure out how to manage doing my job and taking
(03:06):
care of my baby. But I think the unique challenge
here is that I was denied my ability to do
my job because I'm a woman, and because I chose
to have a baby, and there are physical medical limitations here.
And I think that, you know, that's at the heart
of the conversation. It's not about whether I can do
(03:27):
my job. I'm perfectly capable of making sure that my
votes are where I would have voted in person, were communicated,
but I was unable to physically be here. And that's
the heart of the discussion is are we willing to
create a narrow exception for new parents when you're going
through that critical time and unable to be here in
(03:50):
person to vote.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
You know, this is the way that they've been doing.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
Things for centuries, and it's about time that we pull
Congress out of the stone age.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
You know, I see a lot of your tweets, I
see a lot of responses to and of course x
or Twitter is full of the worst people in the world,
just so we'll just make that clear. But a lot
of a lot of folks have a similar kind of
I don't know if it's a rhetorical question, but I'll
word it a little bit more gently than they do.
(04:21):
I think there's a lot of benefit and I'm sure
you think so too, for members of Congress to be
in DCC.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
You can meet with each other and talk with each.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Other and debate things, and and and and all of that.
Do you think there's an argument to be made that, Well,
if you're gonna, you know, make a voluntary choice that
makes it so that it's very hard for you to
do your job, maybe you should do a different job
until that's not going to be in the way that's
more gently than they put it on Twitter.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:51):
I usually don't look at those, but I did scroll
through some of these just because it's just interested to
see the responses. I can't believe how many people say,
you know, women shouldn't be in Congress.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
I should resign because I can't do my.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
Job, and that's just fundamentally missing the point. I'm perfectly
capable of doing my job, and in voices of families
are needed here in Congress. I don't think that anyone
in the country believes that Congress is working well and
that you know, we're addressing the issues that so many
(05:25):
families are facing, and a lot of that is the
representation that.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
We have here.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
We need to make this place accessible for young parents,
for moms, for women, to make sure that we're changing
the face and priorities here in Washington. So I'm perfectly
capable of doing my job. I took, you know, two
weeks after giving birth to Sam where I was unable,
you know, really checked out of not communicating with my team,
(05:53):
but they were still working on behalf of my constituents,
and then I was fully engaged after two weeks. The
question here is when you're there's a medical reason that
you're unable to be in Congress in person, because we
are also human beings and we have life events that happen,
should we make exceptions so that our constituents still have
(06:15):
a voice, and so I think that people that say
that are out of touch with America and the needs
of our country.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
All right, one more question on this aspect, and then
I want to jump into the politics, which is actually
been shockingly interesting.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
So I know your husband pretty well.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
You have another You have another young child, Sam has
an older brother. They spend most of their time at
your home in Colorado. You have to spend a lot
of time in DC. You travel with Sam a lot.
He's with you right now as I'm talking with you.
We see him on the house floor from time to time,
(06:56):
and this is something of a yeah, there he is.
This is something of a person question, So like why
and for how long do you have you decided that
the best thing is to is to have Sam with
you because it's not easy. As we were talking off here,
it's not easy and it's also kind of expensive to
travel to travel with your young child. So just on
(07:17):
the personal side, put aside the politics for a second.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
How are you thinking about that part?
Speaker 4 (07:25):
Yeah, well, the politics have definitely been interesting. Didn't expect
you know, the President's way in here. And hey, even
President Trump and I agree on this that, yeah, that
we'll get to that shouldn't be so controversial. But you know,
so kids are able to fly for free until they're
two years old, so I'm able to bring Sam with me.
(07:46):
But like so many families, you know, finding accessible and
safe child's care is difficult. So Sam, it has a
spot that he'll be able to go into full time
daycare this summer, but until then, you know, we're trying
to figure it out like every other family who's struggling
to meet the needs of their kids and make sure
(08:07):
that they're taken care of.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
So Sam is my travel buddy.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
He's gonna he comes with me in the district, everywhere
I go, he comes with me to Washington, and we're
going to be in that position until ultimately he has
full time daycare in Colorado.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
All right, and then challenging it's it's.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
A there's unique challenges that not you know that most
families aren't facing, but also so many similarities as we
all struggle to find childcare, to afford it, to deal
with the pressures of work and balancing that with a family.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Look at him fastest sleep, That's fabulous. So a few
listeners have simped in the same message, saying, you know,
I I think the congresswoman is going a little too
far when she says she's being discriminated against because she's
a woman. Do you do you think that's a little
bit of a hYP hyperbole or do you really believe that.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
Well, I don't think that this was The system was
not created for people like me. This was you know,
our system was created before women were able to vote,
let alone bull the office. And we haven't evolved with
the times to accommodate the needs of our workforce and
the the challenges that we face, and so so it
(09:32):
was never designed for us. And because I because I
am a woman, because I had a baby, because I
have you know, am not able to physically get here
due to these things, and that they are unwilling to
let me have my vote represented here.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
It ultimately, it is it is limiting my ability because
of my gender and because of of welcoming a child. So,
you know, it's an incredibly Most people are shocked across America.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
So while we have a lot of negative comments, I'm
glad I'm challenging their world's view and perspective here, but
we also have an overwhelming amount of people who are
moved by this moment because they see themselves in the
struggle that I'm facing as a navigated being a mom,
(10:30):
in trying to grapple with having a kid and having
quite frankly, a.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Hostile work environment that is unwilling to work with them.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Okay, let's do a couple of minutes on the politics
of this, and then I want to talk to you
about some other things, because there are other issues going
on in the world that you are dealing with as
a member of Congress. So Annapoline a Luna, quite a
conservative member of Congress Florida, I think, who actually left
the Conservative Freedom Caucus because of them posing any of this.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
She was putting.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Together something that's called a discharge petition to force a
vote on your bill and give me short answers on this,
so we have time to do other things.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
But what does your bill? What would your bill do?
Speaker 2 (11:17):
So it makes simple adjustments here.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
So the resolution that we had would change the rules
of Congress so that if you're a new parent, you
would have up to twelve weeks. It's in alignment with
the parental leave piece of paid family leave that other
federal employees benefit from.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
So you would have up to twelve weeks.
Speaker 4 (11:38):
Where your vote could be represented here while you're home
recovering and while you're taking care of your newborn. It
also accounts for if you're unable to be there for
medical reasons right before birth. So some people have complications
and they're you know, in the hospital and their bedridden,
or like me, where you're unable to fly because it's
(11:59):
too dangerous, and so it also accounts for that. And
it's for it's for both parents. So it's not just
about the people, it's not just about women.
Speaker 3 (12:07):
But what would it let the member of Congress do? Then?
Is it a proxy vote? Is it a remote vote?
What is it?
Speaker 4 (12:14):
All?
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Right?
Speaker 4 (12:14):
So your vote would be counted through a proxy vote,
so you would communicate where your votes are, and you
would have a member who is designated to be the
person on the floor that would announce your vote and
it would be counted ultimately on the House floor.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
I have not looked into the claim by some that
what you're trying to do would be unconstitutional.
Speaker 3 (12:38):
I don't know whether they have a good argument or not.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
And I probably shouldn't ask you that question because you're
trying to do what you're trying to do. I note
that some people say it might be illegal. I have
no idea if they're right. I thought that the Speaker
of the House came up with a really interesting solution
with this vote pairing thing, and a couple of days
ago before I read your thoughts about vote pairing, which
(13:04):
I read yesterday, I went on the air and I said,
this seems to me like a fairly elegant solution that
could allow a member of Congress to effectively it's not
really the same as voting, but having the same impact
on the final vote margin as proxy or remote voting would.
But then and I thought it was pretty clever, and
(13:24):
it seemed like Luna and Johnson were both on board.
But then you came out and said, no, this just
for practical reasons. More isn't going to get it done.
So can you talk about that a little.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
Yeah, So to your point, what the solution would do is,
you know, say we're in Congress together and I'm a
no and you're a Yes on a bill coming up
on the floor.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
I can't be there.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
I ask you, will you be willing? We'll cancel each
other out so you'll vote presence. Your vote doesn't count
as a yes because you're basically voting president to account
for my absence so that my absence isn't contributing to
the outcome. So while that sounds good in theory, and
I brought this up on the House floor yesterday, I asked,
(14:12):
what Republican you know, is this would be the last
week that I would have been able to vote remotely
from home, And what Republican is willing to vote present
this week for me? On the budget, vote on you know,
all of these pieces of legislation that they see as
key priorities. Are they willing to be on record as present?
I don't think so. So I've asked my Republican colleagues
(14:35):
who would like to vote present for me, and have
failed to hear back from anyone.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Right, And that makes sense, especially you know, fifty years ago,
there's quite a bit of a bipartisanship and you'd have
a fair number of Democrats on Republican bills and a
fair number of Republicans on Democrat bills.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
And these days, especially.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
On the things that are in the news, most there
tend to be a lot of party line vot votes,
and it would, I can imagine, be very difficult to
find for a Democrat like you, Let's say you're a
no on something, to find a Republican who's a yes
to vote present, in part because that.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
Republican won't want.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
To be primary challenged later from the right if it's
a conservative bill, saying, you know, Congressman so and so
voted president, he's not really.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
With us, So I can I can imagine that. So
now what.
Speaker 4 (15:28):
So we're continuing to you know, I have a long
list having gone through this with I came into office
with my toddler and then you know, being in this
position now, I have a long list of things barriers
that we face, what we need to do to modernize Congress.
You know, think of workplaces across the country and how
(15:49):
different it is even from just before the pandemic, and
you know, we need to evolve with the times. And
I absolutely agree with with Speaker Johnson that being here present,
building relationships is a key piece of what we do
in Congress. We should never take that away. That's not
what we're talking about here. We're talking about, you know,
(16:09):
when somebody has a medical reason that they can't be
here in person for a limited amount of time, are
we going to make sure that their constituents still have
a voice here in Congress.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Okay, we only have a few minutes left. Probably spend
a little longer on that than I had intended. But
when you're around your district, when you're around your district
these days, other than that stuff that we just talked
about and put aside for a minute, you know, just
I hate Trump or whatever you might get at democratic
town halls on the issues, what do people seem most
(16:40):
concerned about in your district right now? Oh?
Speaker 4 (16:45):
It changes, I mean every day, right there's there's so
much chaos and dysfunction and fear out there and people.
You know, when I held my town hall and in Lakewood recently,
we had almost two thousand people show up and that
was our after turning away hundreds of people over emails.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
We don't have capacity.
Speaker 4 (17:04):
You know, you don't see this kind of turnout without
the fear that people have.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
And it's with the firing of our federal workers.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
It's around economy and rising costs right now with tariffs.
I'm hearing from small businesses in my community. A rafting
company in Littleton comes to mind that. You know, they
talked about how their costs have already gone up two
hundred thousand dollars. This year because of tariffs already, and
they're looking at laying off employees. So I think that
(17:32):
you know, right before we started talking, you were announcing
that Trump's tweeting again on what he's going to do
around tariffs, and then we saw an increase in the
stock market. This is not how we do things. Businesses
need predictability, they need to you know, they're all hunkering down,
they're not investing, they are not hiring new workers. This
(17:53):
has you know, cascading effect. And now we're seeing, you know,
the beginning of a war with tariffs of countries across
the world, and that's you know, that led us into
the Great Depression before. This is it's a scary time
for a lot of people. We need we need stability.
We don't need to tweet our way through the economic
(18:16):
decisions that are happening, and we need you know, when
I talk to families who are worried about losing their
healthcare right now with the budget about that's coming in,
these are billions of dollars that are being cut, stripping
away healthcare for over a million people in Colorado who
depend on Medicaid. Almost half of those are kids, and
(18:40):
forty percent of all pregnancies in Colorado are covered with Medicaid.
And so when you think about the health and well
being of our most vulnerable kids and families, kids that
who need who are food insecure and rely on meals
at school or snap benefits, that these things are being
(19:01):
stripped away. And it's also going to add trillions of
dollars to our deficit. And so when they talk about
balancing the budget, let's be clear, this is stripping away
services for the people that need.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
It the most.
Speaker 4 (19:15):
It's going to impact all of us to give more
tax breaks to billionaires who absolutely are the ones who
needed the least.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Oh gosh, I wish I had more time right now.
I have so much to say to that. I do
absolutely agree that there are a lot of people worried.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
But maybe next time on the show we can sort of.
Speaker 1 (19:38):
Talk a little bit about, well, what's the proper role
of government and is it possible that Medicaid expanded too
far and is including too many people who of course
won't be happy to lose their free stuff now, But
maybe we just need to to save our to save
our federal budget. Give me just seventeen seconds in your
reaction to my little comment.
Speaker 4 (19:59):
Well, so I think that you know this is there
the politics of saying either or so it's it's always
walking a line between what we're going to tax that
so that people can continue to be successful, to invest
to thrive here in the United States, and what we're
doing to invest back in the American people. And we
(20:22):
have failed to tax We have a tax system that
is drastically unfair. It benefits the wealthy. This has happened
over decades. So we've stopped investing in the American people.
And so I wouldn't say that, you know, we need
to address the deficit. We need to get a handle
on our spending. That includes making sure that we're evaluating
(20:44):
where our tax cuts are going and not be fooled
when when you know rising costs or because like when
I think about what it was like to live in
Colorado growing up here, and what our economy used to
be like, and what you could afford as a middle
class family, and how to touch those things and become
is because we stopped investing in in the things that
(21:05):
all of us rely on that really ensure that we're
thriving together.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
All Right, We'll have this conversation the next time. I
will note that the top one percent of earners pay
forty percent of all income taxes, which is the highest
in modern history or maybe all American history. And I
do think the tax code is unfair, but I think
it's unfair and exactly the opposite way from how you
think it's unfair. I think it's tilted too much towards
taxing the rich.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
That'll be a.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Fun conversation the next time, if you're willing.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
To do it. Brittany, thanks for doing this. I really
appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
It was great to be with you. Thanks Ross. I
look forward to that conversation, all right.
The Ross Kaminsky Show News
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