Inside Texas Politics

[0:00] Congresswoman, welcome back to the program here. [0:02] Let's start with this ever-evolving DHS funding fight going on right now. [0:05] The president now backing that deal that the Senate had to reopen the Department of Homeland Security. [0:11] This is the same plan that House Republicans rejected last week, calling it a surrender to Democrats. [0:17] Will you support it? [0:18] It depends what's in it. [0:20] From what I've seen right now, it's the same plan that we already rejected. [0:23] And I think the president right now is so desperate to do the right thing. [0:29] He is so desperate to get these people paid that are working every day that we are seeing hundreds quit [0:36] because they have to get other jobs to be able to pay their rent. [0:40] These are going to be hard people to replace, especially when you've seen what's happened in the last several months. [0:45] Would you want to take that job? [0:46] So I think the president right now is desperate to do the right thing [0:49] and is trying everything to get as many people paid as possible. [0:53] But I'll tell you, the Democrats, what did they get out of this? [0:56] Absolutely nothing. [0:57] They wanted all of these nasty reforms. [1:00] To hold, you know, to tie the hands of our Immigrations and Customs Enforcement arms behind their backs. [1:06] They've gotten none of the things that they have asked for. [1:09] The only thing they've proven is that they would rather have people quit their jobs because they can't pay. [1:13] They're starving our TSA agents. [1:15] They're starving our Coast Guard. [1:16] They're putting our national security at risk. [1:18] They're not paying people who are doing their jobs. [1:20] And why? [1:21] Because they're protecting illegal immigrants. [1:23] That's the point that has been made clearly by Democrats. [1:26] I'm going to have a hard time voting for something [1:28] that does not, [1:30] that does not fund Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and our Customs and Border Patrol. [1:34] The Senate wants to handle that separately in a reconciliation package. [1:37] What's the chances of that being broken out and handled separately? [1:40] It's more complex. [1:41] Trust but verify. [1:42] The plan that we have seen come down from Lindsey Graham is that he wants this to be taken off the table. [1:48] Because Democrats have proven that they are willing to put national security at risk. [1:52] The immigration portion. [1:53] The immigration portion off the table. [1:54] So, yes. [1:55] Well, to put the funding for DHS off the table. [1:57] So I think what Lindsey Graham has said is, [2:00] as the chairman of the budget committee in the Senate, [2:04] that he's going to put forward a reconciliation package that would fund DHS fully for the next three years [2:09] until the end of the Trump presidency. [2:11] So they can't keep using that as a negotiating tool and holding us hostage. [2:17] A national security hostage. [2:19] So that is what Lindsey Graham is putting forward. [2:21] Trust but verify. [2:23] I think that's a fine idea. [2:24] Let's take it off the table. [2:25] But why don't we have that vote first? [2:27] Bring your reconciliation package. [2:29] Send it. [2:30] Get off wherever you are right now. [2:32] Get back to D.C. [2:34] Put that on the floor. [2:36] Vote it out. [2:37] Send it over to the House. [2:38] Let's vote for that before we vote for your second bill. [2:41] Why wasn't it done first? [2:42] Any idea? [2:43] It's a great question. [2:44] I don't know. [2:45] It's a question that you're probably going to have to ask Lindsey Graham and John Thune. [2:48] But I will tell you. [2:49] I think part of this is we all thought that the Democrats would do the right thing. [2:53] And because Democrats continue to just be able to support illegal immigrants in their community. [2:58] And you know. [2:59] And not American citizens and not national security. [3:02] You have seen these extraordinary actions have to take place. [3:05] I don't think we want to make a precedent of having to fund one specific agency for three years. [3:12] I don't like that precedent. [3:14] But what we found is the Democrats right now want to maintain the hold in Congress. [3:22] They want to hold us hostage. [3:24] And they are willing to do it because they don't want to have immigration reform. [3:28] They don't want to have deportations of criminal illegal aliens. [3:31] And they're willing to do everything they can to keep that population here because they think it represents future votes. [3:36] We've seen reports that there are a number of perhaps farther right Republicans who just don't like this idea that Lindsey Graham and Republican senators have sent over to the House. [3:46] Yeah. [3:47] I will tell you right now. [3:48] Is that exaggerated at all? [3:49] Is there a division on this? [3:51] I was recently on a call with my GOP conference. [3:55] And I will tell you. [3:56] There are a lot of people. [3:57] I would say almost all of the people that we heard from on that call, and it was a number, dozens, from representing every facet of our GOP conference. [4:11] From those who are more centrist to those who are far right who are all on the same page. [4:15] We need to fund ICE. [4:17] We need to fund CBP. [4:18] And what the Senate sent over is unacceptable. [4:21] But the president is also backing what the Senate sent over. [4:24] I think the president is backing it. [4:25] Because, again, he is desperate. [4:26] Because, again, he is desperate to do the right thing. [4:28] He wants as many folks who are doing their job and not getting paid to get paid. [4:32] I agree with him wholly. [4:34] But the precedent that sets right now, if they are so convinced that they can pass a second reconciliation, let's get that done. [4:40] Get back into D.C. [4:42] Get that bill on the floor. [4:44] Vote it out. [4:45] We would vote for that. [4:47] And then let's handle the rest of the funding for DHS. [4:50] But I think asking the Senate, which has really, in my opinion, not represented as strong as it is. [4:55] Not represented in the strongest interest of our homeland security right now. [4:59] Let's get that bill out. [5:01] The House doesn't return to full session until April the 14th. [5:04] Any chance this gets passed before then? [5:07] Any chance a speaker might call you back and say, there's something here, we can vote on it? [5:11] If the Senate can get that reconciliation package out, we'll go out back in a heartbeat. [5:15] But that's a complex thing to do, reconciliation. [5:17] It depends. [5:19] I mean, the first reconciliation package that we passed, the working families tax cut, that was a massive deal. [5:23] That was a massive deal. [5:24] That was a massive undertaking. [5:26] I worked on that personally in ways and means, worked on that for over two and a half years. [5:30] I mean, that was a massive undertaking. [5:32] But you can also do reconciliation that is very surgical, that is very pointed and very edited. [5:38] We could pass that bill. [5:40] It doesn't have to be overly complicated. [5:42] So you can pass that reconciliation bill and then you can work on a third reconciliation package, which I think a lot of us are anxious to do. [5:49] And the whole idea would be you don't need Democrats to get that passed. [5:52] Correct. [5:53] We've lost several weeks debating this. [5:56] Let's get back and get what we can out of it. [5:58] Let's talk about Iran for a moment here. [6:00] President Trump addressed the nation the other day. [6:02] Again, he did not offer a clear exit strategy here. [6:05] Markets down, we've seen. [6:07] Oil back up as well. [6:09] How and when do you expect this to end? [6:11] Well, I think what he said is two to three weeks. [6:13] I think he was fairly clear last night. [6:15] And from day one, they've been very transparent about what these strikes mean and what the goal is that they're looking for. [6:21] They want to make sure that they have an Iranian regime that has already proven that all it wants to do is destroy the western world, starting with Israel and then moving on to the United States. [6:32] A regime that has killed tens of thousands of its own people, has maimed and killed thousands of our U.S. military and innocent civilians. [6:41] This is a regime that cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. [6:45] They have been very clear about their goal. [6:47] One is preventing a nuclear-armed Iran. [6:50] Two is to make sure that they don't have ballistic missiles. [6:54] They've already been able to show that they have the ability to be able to strike as far as London right now. [7:00] Preventing them from being able to have those weapons is going to be key. [7:04] And three, making sure that their navy is destroyed so that the Strait of Hormuz has actually been, can stay open. [7:11] So I think they are very strategic, again, in those goals. [7:15] The president came out and said with his address that they have, [7:19] they're meeting with Iran. [7:20] They're meeting those goals ahead of schedule, that he does not see this as being a year's war. [7:24] This is a month's war. [7:25] He's looking at maybe two to three weeks. [7:28] And that's how it will end. [7:30] But this will be a generational change in the Middle East and across the world that every president has talked about. [7:38] Every politician has said why it is important that those goals are met. [7:42] But you actually have an administration for the first time that's actually doing what it says it's going to do. [7:46] What happens if it goes beyond two or three weeks? [7:49] Republican voters were clear they wanted America first. [7:52] They didn't want to have these ongoing wars like we've seen for the past two decades. [7:55] What happens if it goes another six months? [7:57] Again, we're going to have to see what we're getting out of it and to make sure. [8:01] But, you know, you had Jamie Dimon on the other day. [8:05] He said the cost of not handling this correctly and finishing the job and the hundreds of thousands of lives that could be lost, [8:14] the trillions of dollars that could be lost as a result of not handling it correctly, [8:18] it needs to be done. [8:20] The job needs to be finished. [8:22] We need to make sure that we have an Iran that does not pose a threat to the rest of the world as it has done. [8:27] They have been at war with us, with the United States, for nearly 50 years. [8:31] It's time to end that war. [8:33] Is there any scenario in which you would support boots on the ground? [8:37] If they can show that it is a quick in and out and that it's worth it. [8:43] I haven't seen any justification for that yet. [8:46] But, again, this is... [8:49] We've got people with Pete Hegseff, with Marco Rubio, John Ratcliffe, Chairman Kaine, [8:58] who are seeing these reports coming out directly and who are advising us. [9:03] I would wait and find out what the information is before I venture how I would vote for it. [9:09] Here's what strikes me about this. [9:11] The president took out Nicolas Maduro from Venezuela but left the communist dictatorship in charge there. [9:18] Should the U.S. leave Iran without planting seeds of democracy there? [9:24] Well, I think... [9:25] So, with Venezuela, it was... [9:26] I mean, right now, we're seeing Venezuelan oil. [9:28] I mean, when you talk about, like, the costs of energy, we're doing everything that we can, [9:32] starting with the working families tax cuts to decrease the regulatory burdens on our American energy producers, [9:38] which is why America right now is producing more energy than Russia and China combined. [9:42] But when you ask about what is happening with Venezuela... [9:45] Sure. [9:46] ...now, they are producing more and more oil. [9:48] That's coming to Texas refineries. [9:50] That, as we see that increase, we're going to see oil prices decrease and gas prices decrease. [9:56] But the communist dictatorship is still in place, though, at the end of the day. [9:58] But they were willing to work with us. [9:59] This is not a regime that is claiming death to America. [10:03] This is a regime that Venezuela is willing to work with us. [10:06] Iran is still not. [10:08] And so I think what they're trying to do is make sure that they do not have the capabilities of launching nuclear attacks, [10:16] you know, as far away, as close as possible. [10:17] Yeah. [10:19] And what we have seen is not a Venezuela that wanted to go 70 feet underground to produce weapons of mass destruction. [10:25] But we do see that in Iran. [10:27] Are you concerned at all about potential retaliation inside the U.S. from Iran... [10:31] Absolutely. [10:32] ...whether it's cyber attacks... [10:33] Yes. [10:34] ...lone wolf attacks? [10:35] How likely is something like that? [10:36] Because... [10:37] I keep saying it's not when we're going to have an attack. [10:39] I mean, it's not if we're going to have an attack. [10:40] It's when. [10:41] You think so? [10:42] I mean, we saw millions of people cross our border during the Biden administration. [10:45] We have no idea who they are. [10:46] We have no idea who they are, where they are, what their intent is, which is why funding homeland security right now is so important. [10:55] It's so vitally important to our national security and in our domestic security. [11:00] And, yes, of course you have these sleeper cells. [11:03] We've already seen four jihadist attacks in the U.S. in the last month alone in our own state, in Austin. [11:11] We can't allow those things to continue without making sure that we're doing our job. [11:14] We can't allow those things to continue without making sure that we're doing everything we can to stop them, [11:17] which starts with making sure that the folks who are policing that get paid. [11:21] Tax refunds up roughly 11 percent this year. [11:24] Yes. [11:25] Republicans say this is tax relief. [11:26] Critics say this means people have been overpaying. [11:29] Which one is it? [11:30] Well, I'd say probably potentially both, which is why we put the additional tax cuts in for the working families tax cuts. [11:36] I mean, you've seen an average increase of 11 percent right now, but you've seen 13 percent more rebates and refunds than you've ever seen. [11:44] You've seen more rebates and refunds this year than you did this time last year, [11:47] which means that people are getting thousands of dollars more in their accounts, more in their pocketbooks than they did last year. [11:53] Jason Smith, you know, we're talking about this working families tax cuts, was just talking to us this morning, [11:58] and he said that he had a waitress who came up to him and said that she now has $10,000 more in her account than she did last year [12:06] as a direct result of that bill, no tax on tips going through. [12:09] So whether or not we're looking at no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security, [12:13] the increased child deduction, the increased individual deduction, [12:18] all of those things are resulting in people having more money in their pockets, less money going to IRS. [12:25] Is that enough, though, to offset the affordability crisis going on right now? [12:28] Looking at the affordability crisis, we are seeing gas prices now that are a lot lower than $5 under the Biden administration, [12:34] and we're working to lower those. [12:36] But gas prices are going up because of your run right now. [12:38] Sure. But if you look at the gas prices that are going up, they're at $3.89 right now, [12:42] and they're still $1.11 cheaper than under the Biden administration. [12:45] Why? Because of policies. [12:47] This will be short-term, and every expert who has talked about this with the war, it will be short-term. [12:51] But as a direct result of what we're doing in Venezuela, as a direct result of our policies, [12:55] you're seeing those prices decrease. [12:57] Recognizing this will be a short-term war, which is what we've been promised, [13:00] recognizing we need to get the Strait of Hormuz open. [13:04] What we do need to do, though, is stop demonizing our energy producers over here in the U.S. [13:09] They are doing everything that they can to be able to provide for a need that we have, [13:13] making sure the supply equals demand. [13:15] And we actually are making more here and able to export if we need to. [13:19] You have your annual job fair coming up in August. [13:21] Yes. [13:22] This started small, but it has exploded. [13:24] Yeah. [13:25] And this is something that's not a partisan issue. [13:27] Yeah. [13:28] How big of a deal is this? Has it become? [13:30] I have figured out that I need to do things for this district without having to rely on an act of Congress. [13:36] Sometimes these things work very slowly. [13:38] And as a former mayor, if you can do it, get it done. [13:41] And when I'm home in the district, [13:42] everybody says that we're on vacation. [13:44] But when we're home in the district, our schedule is packed. [13:47] We're meeting with constituents. [13:48] We're going to schools. [13:49] We're meeting with businesses, having tours, having roundtables. [13:52] And one of the things I learned early on was that we are having businesses that are coming to Texas that want to hire. [13:57] But we also have people in Texas who want to find new jobs. [14:00] They want to get paid more. [14:01] They want to have more benefits. [14:02] They want to have more flexibility. [14:03] So what we did was right after the extended unemployment during COVID ended, we had a job fair. [14:09] And we had almost 7,000 people that came to that. [14:11] And we were only going to do it once because the massive logistical undertaking of that was hard. [14:18] But we heard from businesses and from individuals whose lives were changed by getting jobs that they wanted us to keep doing it. [14:25] So we did it the second year. [14:26] We did it the third year. [14:27] Last year when we did it, it became the nation's largest job fair. [14:32] We had 35,000 people who came out, over 33,000 job offerings. [14:38] And nearly 30% of those are $100,000. [14:41] And above jobs. [14:42] This is not your normal job fair. [14:44] So we're going to do it again this year. [14:46] It's at Globe Life Field. [14:47] It will be the first week in August. [14:49] So I would, if you are an employer and you're looking to hire, call our office, let us know. [14:54] It's no cost to anybody to attend. [14:56] It's no cost for any of the businesses to participate. [14:59] We handle all of that. [15:00] And it is absolutely nonpartisan. [15:02] You know, it's not even bipartisan. [15:03] It's nonpartisan. [15:04] We get our mayors, our city councils, our chambers, our state reps. [15:10] Our union members. [15:11] Our congress members. [15:12] We ask all of them to participate. [15:14] Help us get the message out. [15:16] Congresswoman, good to see you. [15:17] It's great to see you. [15:18] Thank you so much.