Retiring Congressman Earl Blumenauer, we're talking right off of the House Ways and Means Committee hearing.
We're in a place where you've spent a lot of time over the years.
We want to talk a bit of Congress and policy, but I want to start on a personal note.
C -SPAN watchers may not remember Blumenauer, but they certainly will remember the bike pin and the bow tie.
Tell me the story of how that got started.
I had some advice from a local businessman in Portland who thought that I needed to wear a bow tie because he thought I was too serious.
And when I came back, Senator Hatfield, who was a mentor to me, said, you sometimes wear a bow tie.
I said, yeah.
He said, always wear a bow tie.
And I thought about it.
And it's true.
You have all these people with long red ties and blue suits, sort of pasty -faced old white guys, indistinguishable.
But if you're wearing a bow tie and a bike pin, you stand out a little bit.
And one of my heroes was Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and you noticed the statement that was made.
And it's hard sometimes for people to be able to track and I'd rather have them feel that by wearing a bow tie and a bike pin it was memorable rather than scorched earth politics.
In an institution that runs the continuum from workhorses to show horses, where would you put yourself?
I'd like to be thought of as somebody who left the place a little better than I found it.
I deal with pretty simple stuff.
I'm proud of the work I've done, but you're never going to see it on MSNBC or Fox News, not garnering huge headlines and raising tons of political money.
But I think these are the things that ultimately make it worth, at least for me, to serve here.
and being able as I'm in the process of publishing a 400 page exit memo with stuff we've worked on for 28 years and some years before that I was thinking coming into the gym this morning I passed Jim Jordan and I served with Jordan for I don't know 20 years and we just have nothing in common I don't think I've exchanged 20 words with him
Maybe give him a bad time about Oregon beating Ohio State.
But I was thinking, I'm leaving maybe not the most famous and effective member here, but I'm leaving a body of work that has made a difference for the people I represent and people around the world.
Helping Afghans who escaped the tender mercies of Al -Qaeda and the Taliban that I did with Senator McCain and Senator Kennedy.
What we've done in terms of a livable communities agenda for bicycles and streetcars, making those communities more livable.
Why then did you decide to leave?
It was your choice.
You could have run for election again.
My family and I are sort of assessing as we do every other year.
And I just couldn't justify taking two more years of my life to campaign to serve two additional years in a dysfunctional Congress and the acrimony.
I truly felt that I could do as much or more as a civilian.
And it was time for me to leave to help get new people involved.
Part of the problem in this business, nobody ever knows.
They wait till they get indicted or they die.
I wanted to leave at the top of my game.
The last three years have been the most productive.
Well, I've worked for decades to try and help provide the resources to rebuild and renew America.
And a number of those provisions that we had in the Inflation Reduction Act, the infrastructure, these are things I've been working on for decades, but couldn't get them enacted.
And we got them.
There is a gusher of federal money being spent in ways that are more equitable, Low carbon and help strengthen communities across the country.
Ironically, did that happen because of COVID?
Well, COVID was a blessing and a curse.
It did unlock a lot of money, but it also exposed some of the fissures.
No, I think part of it is just staying at it.
And frankly, it was President Biden.
Now, I've worked with five presidents and have been able to accomplish something with each of them.
Joe Biden was the first president who was really committed to rebuilding and renewing America and spending money on it.
And what we've done in terms of energy, in terms of transportation, livability is transformational and it continues.
I started this Congress in Houston, Texas, and I had a big roundtable with people in the energy business.
I know that that matters to them in that red state.
It's making a difference.
But some of this, it is time to transition for somebody who has more energy and vision and insight than I have to have a shot at it.
And be able to do it not being entangled with the politics.
I've done that for years.
I've campaigned in over a hundred different communities.
I'm embarrassed to say I've helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars.
But it reached a point where it was not nearly as satisfying.
And I truly think that the things that I care about in terms of strengthening communities In terms of reforming a food policy system where we no longer subsidize a diet that makes Americans sick.
These are things that animal welfare that are ripening.
And I think there's just as much, maybe more opportunity outside of Congress.
And I just find some of the people in the procedures wearing.
Is there a point along the trajectory where you saw things become much more dysfunctional in this institution?
The dysfunction is what prompted me to run for Congress in the first place in 1998.
I stood back and I watched what Newt Gingrich did weaponizing this process, taking Democrats and demonizing them.
Lyndon Johnson was railing once With Speaker Rayburn talking about the enemy who are the Republicans and Speaker Rayburn said, no, son, they're not our enemies.
They're our opponents.
The Senate is the enemy, but not taking it personally.
I think is really important.
Gingrich turned that on its head.
And then there was, you know, Tom DeLay was his whip where they tried to stop companies from hiring Democrats.
The tone and tenor of the debates around here and knowing anything you said could be used against you.
And that was before we had the Internet, Wikipedia, social media, which is even more corrosive.
There are people here who have staff that is only promoting their political agenda.
They don't do policy.
I find that breathtaking, but I count it starting with what Gingrich did and then continuing with the weaponization of this.
And frankly, Democrats occasionally gave as good as they got.
It's not any one group or individual, but I put the turning point with what happened with Gingrich, turning this into open warfare.
What would surprise people about how this institution works that they couldn't see from the outside?
I think people are surprised that there still are people that work in a collegial basis.
Even today, there are still some members of the governing wing of the Republican Party.
In fact, when I gave my exit speech, one of my colleagues got up on the other side of the aisle and said something nice about my work.
I think people would be surprised about how much camaraderie there is, even in these toxic times and social media.
And I think the more they know about that, the better they'll feel.
Many members, when they retire, stay in Washington.
You will not?
No.
Why not?
Well, I went home every week anyway.
That's been real hard.
Either wear and tear?
Absolutely.
They pay the price.
I spent 14 hours a week in airports.
It just sucks the life out of you.
And there is no way that I'm not go home, be with family and friends and focus on these things in a way where I think I can do more as a civilian.
I don't denigrate people who decide to stay.
If I wanted to make money, I'd be a lobbyist.
I don't want to make money that bad.
No, I'm well in the back nine of life.
And I want to spend more time with my wife and family, friends, fitness and fun.
The four F's.
And being from Portland, we'll throw in a fourth F, food.
And be able to be a little more normal.
Have you not felt normal for a while?
No, this is not...
It's not how normal human beings operate.
That's why I give this seven -page letter now to every new member of Congress, giving the advice of things I wish people had told me and my family when I came back here.
This can be a killer, and particularly when I see people with young family.
When I came back here, my kids were
Are there reforms that could happen that could make the place more functional?
Well, part of it is I just think that there ought to be a notion of people ought to treat others the way they want to be treated.
I want, when a new Congress sets up the rules, I want the old Congress to set up the rules before they know who's actually going to be in charge.
I think that there are opportunities for us to have a more humane schedule.
I would Put my foot down in terms of people.
And I don't know how you do this by rules, but have people who are hired just to be political flacks and not do actual policy work.
But part of that can come from the top.
Having legislative leadership in both parties taking a firmer line about performance and individual members of Congress not supporting people for leadership positions who are not providing the leadership.
We're good to go.
I think?
To enforce norms that are more civilized.
With such razor -thin majorities and the quest for power by one side or the other so within reach, it seems that it's just set up for highly partisan politics.
Yes.
So the Congress reflects the country, which is really divided.
But what I've tried to do over the course of this last It's interesting.
You get these lifetime achievement awards, which is nice.
Although one of the things you find out in this business is that nobody takes these awards.
I have over 200 of them.
And what do you do with them?
You can't leave them on the street corner.
It's got your name on it.
Libraries don't take them.
But when they give you these awards, it's interesting.
They give you the microphone for five or six minutes.
And what I've tried to do for those You've spent a lot of your time in Congress.
You're involved in a lot of I'm significantly worried.
There's a time and a place for deficit spending.
We made the right decision in COVID when we were having near collapse of the economy and supply chains and families were desperate.
But we've lost some of the fiscal discipline and people are afraid to actually make significant reductions in budget and raise taxes.
I was very pleased today on the floor of the House, a senior member of one of those money committees said, you know, I've been thinking about what you've been saying about reforming the crop insurance subsidy.
You know, the Republicans were going to cut down on nutrition assistance to save money.
And I pointed out several times the Budget Committee that there are 20 ,000 rich farmers for 37 consecutive years that have received a million dollars a year or more in subsidy.
I mean, these are things that are within our power to do something about.
And an increasingly dysfunctional Congress can't do it.
We're keeping
What do you think of the future of the progressive agenda after the last election?
I think the fundamental things we progressive, I think I put myself in that what we were advocating is solid.
The American public wants to be able to support a cleaner environment.
They want to rebuild and renew America.
They're concerned about an energy future.
They care about a health care system that works.
And I mentioned House Budget Committee,
on which you sit, and the budget process, which has not been functioning well for Really, much of the tenure that you've been here, is that redeemable?
Well, yes, in a word.
But basically, there's no magic solution.
If we just simply are willing to reduce programs that are not efficient, if we're willing to raise...
This is not...
Rocket science.
It's common sense.
And there are people in both parties who will do that.
There's less enthusiasm for cutting spending that's unnecessary and making the adjustments to the tax system.
But I have hope that at some point we'll come around.
What did Churchill say?
He could count on the American people to do the right thing after they've exhausted every other possibility?
With the deficit, we may be getting to that point.
What are you thinking about the Congress you're leaving behind?
What are you seeing about new Trump administration, really close majorities?
What do you think the next year is going to be like?
Well, that depends on how people embrace it.
There are elements of the Trump agenda that actually make sense.
There are opportunities because the Far right and the extreme right can't agree with each other.
That's why we don't have a farm bill.
So we might actually find people who are willing to compromise a little bit to get the work done.
And what I said about concentrating on things that bring people together, simple, common sense items that burning
You mentioned Newt Gingrich as a speaker.
How do you think history will view Nancy Pelosi?
People I've ever seen.
And she has reached out and forged relationships.
I mean, George Bush invited her to speak the dedication of his library.
She always has time to talk to children on the floor.
But Nancy, with a razor thin majority, got everything done.
It's been an honor to serve with her.
I've watched her travel the globe tirelessly, wearing out people half her age.
And she did it without having the edge.
I mean, no question, she's a tough partisan warrior and was equal to the challenge, but not a mean -spirited one.
And I think history is going to regard her very positively.
How about particularly her role Speaker Pelosi is a very subtle and kind person and she has a way of convincing people to understand what their choices are and to do the right thing.
She's artful and I think what she helped orchestrate Nancy was an exit for President Biden that he should have understood earlier.
But I look at what she did in the House of Representatives.
Nancy stepped aside at the peak of her power and decided that she was Going to empower the next generation of leadership.
She's still here.
She's arguably the most influential member of the House of Representatives, but it is a more behind the scenes, gentle effort.
It's a terrific role model for people to be able to understand the arc of their career when it's time to step aside and what she did empowering the Democratic leadership.
Democrats were united behind Our leadership when Republicans were fighting like ferrets in a phone booth.
And part of that is how Nancy helped set the stage.
There's a role for Jim Clyburn and Steny Hoyer productively with dignity while moving on to the next generation.
I think there's a lesson to be learned.
We have maybe about six, seven minutes left.
I want to talk about two issues in particular that you've been so involved in.
One is the infrastructure bill and bicycling.
In this city now, there are major streets, major thoroughfares with bike lanes down the middle of them.
When you drive to work or bike to work, when you see all that, what do you think?
I'm proud.
I mean, the bike lanes down the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue is my project.
I think every time I come up to a stoplight on a bike, I'm somebody who's not in a car in front of a frustrated driver.
Burning calories instead of fossil fuels.
Civilizing the impact in communities.
I come from a very bike friendly community.
I'm proud of what we did there.
But we've taken bike partisanship around the country.
It's high impact, low cost.
Do you bicycle to work every day here?
I walk.
But I didn't bring a car to Washington D .C.
I brought a bike and a guest bike and I've been able to get along just fine without a vehicle and it has enriched my life and simplified it.
And that's part of the advice I give to new members of Congress is bring a bike or use bike share.
It's easier than having a car and it's lighter on the planet.
The word is bucolic, and that's not the right word I'm looking for, but almost of a kinder and gentler age to be riding a bike as a member of Congress, honestly, because there are threats to members' security these days for the positions they take.
Do you worry about that?
Was it Huxley that said every time he sees a person on a bike, he feels better about the human race?
If more people biked, there would be less road rage.
People would be healthier.
There would be softer edges for the community.
I'm deeply concerned about the attitude where there are threats, not just to members, but to staff and to family.
That's deeply troubling.
But that's why we need to take the edge off this and humanize it and bike partisanship. is a way to do that.
Everybody has a bike story.
Mine's not really a good one, so we'll talk about that later, about falling off.
The other issue that you've championed is cannabis and that laws have changed in so many states regarding consumption of cannabis, but not at the federal level.
What is your reaction when you see laws being changed and the impact on society, and what do you think about the federal?
Well, my work on cannabis legalization and working to end the failed war on drugs is one of my greatest areas of satisfaction and one of my greatest disappointments.
I've been working on this since I was a freshman legislator in 1973.
I've been involved with every state level initiative to legalize cannabis at the state level.
We've had remarkable success.
We have like We're good to go.
I think?
African -American people paid the price for differential enforcement.
And it's been so hard for the federal government to get out of that mindset after having spent hundreds of billions of dollars on this failed war on drugs.
It's been terrible for the minority community, for young people and lost opportunities.
If we get to the point where we use medical cannabis for Medicare, Medicaid, the VA will have better health care.
We will save hundreds of billions of dollars.
But we're sort of trapped in time.
And that's one of my biggest disappointment.
I'm proud of what I've done with the legalization.
When I started
What concerns do you have about recreational use and driving under the influence?
Having people understand the dynamic.
Instead, if we had given people good information and training, cannabis is actually a safer drug than alcohol.
Part of the problem we've had is that people didn't understand We're good to go.
I think?
Do you expect that in the new Congress someone might put forward federal legislation?