CSPAN - Public Affairs Events
Aired: 2024-12-25
Duration: 31:49

[00:00:22]  Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I yield back.
[00:00:27]  Retiring Congressman Earl Blumenauer, we're talking right off of the House Ways and Means Committee hearing.
[00:00:33]  We're in a place where you've spent a lot of time over the years.
[00:00:35]  We want to talk a bit of Congress and policy, but I want to start on a personal note.
[00:00:39]  C -SPAN watchers may not remember Blumenauer, but they certainly will remember the bike pin and the bow tie.
[00:00:45]  Tell me the story of how that got started.
[00:00:48]  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.
[00:00:57]  And when I came back, Senator Hatfield, who was a mentor to me, said, you sometimes wear a bow tie.
[00:01:03]  I said, yeah.
[00:01:04]  He said, always wear a bow tie.
[00:01:08]  And I thought about it.
[00:01:09]  And it's true.
[00:01:10]  You have all these people with long red ties and blue suits, sort of pasty -faced old white guys, indistinguishable.
[00:01:19]  But if you're wearing a bow tie and a bike pin, you stand out a little bit.
[00:01:23]  And one of my heroes was Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and you noticed the statement that was made.
[00:01:31]  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.
[00:01:44]  In an institution that runs the continuum from workhorses to show horses, where would you put yourself?
[00:01:53]  I'd like to be thought of as somebody who left the place a little better than I found it.
[00:02:02]  I deal with pretty simple stuff.
[00:02:09]  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.
[00:02:22]  But I think these are the things that ultimately make it worth, at least for me, to serve here.
[00:02:30]  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
[00:03:01]  Maybe give him a bad time about Oregon beating Ohio State.
[00:03:05]  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.
[00:03:23]  Helping Afghans who escaped the tender mercies of Al -Qaeda and the Taliban that I did with Senator McCain and Senator Kennedy.
[00:03:34]  What we've done in terms of a livable communities agenda for bicycles and streetcars, making those communities more livable.
[00:03:57]  Why then did you decide to leave?
[00:04:00]  It was your choice.
[00:04:01]  You could have run for election again.
[00:04:13]  My family and I are sort of assessing as we do every other year.
[00:04:18]  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.
[00:04:32]  I truly felt that I could do as much or more as a civilian.
[00:04:38]  And it was time for me to leave to help get new people involved.
[00:04:44]  Part of the problem in this business, nobody ever knows.
[00:04:46]  They wait till they get indicted or they die.
[00:04:50]  I wanted to leave at the top of my game.
[00:04:54]  The last three years have been the most productive.
[00:05:04]  Well, I've worked for decades to try and help provide the resources to rebuild and renew America.
[00:05:11]  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.
[00:05:19]  And we got them.
[00:05:20]  There is a gusher of federal money being spent in ways that are more equitable, Low carbon and help strengthen communities across the country.
[00:05:31]  Ironically, did that happen because of COVID?
[00:05:34]  Well, COVID was a blessing and a curse.
[00:05:39]  It did unlock a lot of money, but it also exposed some of the fissures.
[00:05:46]  No, I think part of it is just staying at it.
[00:05:49]  And frankly, it was President Biden.
[00:05:53]  Now, I've worked with five presidents and have been able to accomplish something with each of them.
[00:06:01]  Joe Biden was the first president who was really committed to rebuilding and renewing America and spending money on it.
[00:06:11]  And what we've done in terms of energy, in terms of transportation, livability is transformational and it continues.
[00:06:22]  I started this Congress in Houston, Texas, and I had a big roundtable with people in the energy business.
[00:06:31]  I know that that matters to them in that red state.
[00:06:35]  It's making a difference.
[00:06:39]  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.
[00:06:54]  And be able to do it not being entangled with the politics.
[00:06:59]  I've done that for years.
[00:07:01]  I've campaigned in over a hundred different communities.
[00:07:05]  I'm embarrassed to say I've helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars.
[00:07:13]  But it reached a point where it was not nearly as satisfying.
[00:07:19]  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.
[00:07:36]  These are things that animal welfare that are ripening.
[00:07:40]  And I think there's just as much, maybe more opportunity outside of Congress.
[00:07:47]  And I just find some of the people in the procedures wearing.
[00:07:54]  Is there a point along the trajectory where you saw things become much more dysfunctional in this institution?
[00:08:01]  The dysfunction is what prompted me to run for Congress in the first place in 1998.
[00:08:07]  I stood back and I watched what Newt Gingrich did weaponizing this process, taking Democrats and demonizing them.
[00:08:18]  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.
[00:08:34]  They're our opponents.
[00:08:36]  The Senate is the enemy, but not taking it personally.
[00:08:43]  I think is really important.
[00:08:46]  Gingrich turned that on its head.
[00:08:48]  And then there was, you know, Tom DeLay was his whip where they tried to stop companies from hiring Democrats.
[00:08:58]  The tone and tenor of the debates around here and knowing anything you said could be used against you.
[00:09:06]  And that was before we had the Internet, Wikipedia, social media, which is even more corrosive.
[00:09:16]  There are people here who have staff that is only promoting their political agenda.
[00:09:24]  They don't do policy.
[00:09:27]  I find that breathtaking, but I count it starting with what Gingrich did and then continuing with the weaponization of this.
[00:09:37]  And frankly, Democrats occasionally gave as good as they got.
[00:09:41]  It's not any one group or individual, but I put the turning point with what happened with Gingrich, turning this into open warfare.
[00:09:53]  What would surprise people about how this institution works that they couldn't see from the outside?
[00:09:59]  I think people are surprised that there still are people that work in a collegial basis.
[00:10:07]  Even today, there are still some members of the governing wing of the Republican Party.
[00:10:16]  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.
[00:10:26]  I think people would be surprised about how much camaraderie there is, even in these toxic times and social media.
[00:10:41]  And I think the more they know about that, the better they'll feel.
[00:10:46]  Many members, when they retire, stay in Washington.
[00:10:49]  You will not?
[00:10:50]  No.
[00:10:52]  Why not?
[00:10:54]  Well, I went home every week anyway.
[00:11:00]  That's been real hard.
[00:11:15]  Either wear and tear?
[00:11:17]  Absolutely.
[00:11:19]  They pay the price.
[00:11:21]  I spent 14 hours a week in airports.
[00:11:26]  It just sucks the life out of you.
[00:11:32]  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.
[00:11:46]  I don't denigrate people who decide to stay.
[00:11:53]  If I wanted to make money, I'd be a lobbyist.
[00:11:57]  I don't want to make money that bad.
[00:12:02]  No, I'm well in the back nine of life.
[00:12:08]  And I want to spend more time with my wife and family, friends, fitness and fun.
[00:12:17]  The four F's.
[00:12:18]  And being from Portland, we'll throw in a fourth F, food.
[00:12:26]  And be able to be a little more normal.
[00:12:34]  Have you not felt normal for a while?
[00:12:38]  No, this is not...
[00:12:40]  It's not how normal human beings operate.
[00:12:44]  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.
[00:12:55]  This can be a killer, and particularly when I see people with young family.
[00:13:02]  When I came back here, my kids were
[00:13:27]  Are there reforms that could happen that could make the place more functional?
[00:13:39]  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.
[00:13:47]  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.
[00:14:02]  I think that there are opportunities for us to have a more humane schedule.
[00:14:11]  I would Put my foot down in terms of people.
[00:14:14]  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.
[00:14:23]  But part of that can come from the top.
[00:14:26]  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.
[00:14:43]  We're good to go.
[00:14:44]  I think?
[00:15:12]  To enforce norms that are more civilized.
[00:15:17]  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.
[00:15:32]  Yes.
[00:15:34]  So the Congress reflects the country, which is really divided.
[00:15:39]  But what I've tried to do over the course of this last It's interesting.
[00:15:46]  You get these lifetime achievement awards, which is nice.
[00:15:50]  Although one of the things you find out in this business is that nobody takes these awards.
[00:15:55]  I have over 200 of them.
[00:15:58]  And what do you do with them?
[00:15:59]  You can't leave them on the street corner.
[00:16:00]  It's got your name on it.
[00:16:02]  Libraries don't take them.
[00:16:05]  But when they give you these awards, it's interesting.
[00:16:07]  They give you the microphone for five or six minutes.
[00:16:11]  And what I've tried to do for those You've spent a lot of your time in Congress.
[00:16:37]  You're involved in a lot of I'm significantly worried.
[00:16:55]  There's a time and a place for deficit spending.
[00:16:59]  We made the right decision in COVID when we were having near collapse of the economy and supply chains and families were desperate.
[00:17:09]  But we've lost some of the fiscal discipline and people are afraid to actually make significant reductions in budget and raise taxes.
[00:17:21]  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.
[00:17:38]  You know, the Republicans were going to cut down on nutrition assistance to save money.
[00:17:44]  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.
[00:17:58]  I mean, these are things that are within our power to do something about.
[00:18:02]  And an increasingly dysfunctional Congress can't do it.
[00:18:06]  We're keeping
[00:18:12]  What do you think of the future of the progressive agenda after the last election?
[00:18:38]  I think the fundamental things we progressive, I think I put myself in that what we were advocating is solid.
[00:18:46]  The American public wants to be able to support a cleaner environment.
[00:18:52]  They want to rebuild and renew America.
[00:18:54]  They're concerned about an energy future.
[00:18:58]  They care about a health care system that works.
[00:19:01]  And I mentioned House Budget Committee,
[00:19:26]  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?
[00:19:38]  Well, yes, in a word.
[00:19:41]  But basically, there's no magic solution.
[00:19:45]  If we just simply are willing to reduce programs that are not efficient, if we're willing to raise...
[00:20:10]  This is not...
[00:20:26]  Rocket science.
[00:20:27]  It's common sense.
[00:20:29]  And there are people in both parties who will do that.
[00:20:33]  There's less enthusiasm for cutting spending that's unnecessary and making the adjustments to the tax system.
[00:20:44]  But I have hope that at some point we'll come around.
[00:20:47]  What did Churchill say?
[00:20:48]  He could count on the American people to do the right thing after they've exhausted every other possibility?
[00:20:54]  With the deficit, we may be getting to that point.
[00:20:56]  What are you thinking about the Congress you're leaving behind?
[00:20:59]  What are you seeing about new Trump administration, really close majorities?
[00:21:03]  What do you think the next year is going to be like?
[00:21:07]  Well, that depends on how people embrace it.
[00:21:10]  There are elements of the Trump agenda that actually make sense.
[00:21:17]  There are opportunities because the Far right and the extreme right can't agree with each other.
[00:21:25]  That's why we don't have a farm bill.
[00:21:27]  So we might actually find people who are willing to compromise a little bit to get the work done.
[00:21:36]  And what I said about concentrating on things that bring people together, simple, common sense items that burning
[00:22:07]  You mentioned Newt Gingrich as a speaker.
[00:22:14]  How do you think history will view Nancy Pelosi?
[00:22:40]  People I've ever seen.
[00:22:41]  And she has reached out and forged relationships.
[00:22:45]  I mean, George Bush invited her to speak the dedication of his library.
[00:22:51]  She always has time to talk to children on the floor.
[00:22:55]  But Nancy, with a razor thin majority, got everything done.
[00:23:02]  It's been an honor to serve with her.
[00:23:05]  I've watched her travel the globe tirelessly, wearing out people half her age.
[00:23:12]  And she did it without having the edge.
[00:23:17]  I mean, no question, she's a tough partisan warrior and was equal to the challenge, but not a mean -spirited one.
[00:23:25]  And I think history is going to regard her very positively.
[00:23:29]  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.
[00:23:57]  She's artful and I think what she helped orchestrate Nancy was an exit for President Biden that he should have understood earlier.
[00:24:14]  But I look at what she did in the House of Representatives.
[00:24:18]  Nancy stepped aside at the peak of her power and decided that she was Going to empower the next generation of leadership.
[00:24:29]  She's still here.
[00:24:30]  She's arguably the most influential member of the House of Representatives, but it is a more behind the scenes, gentle effort.
[00:24:39]  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.
[00:24:51]  Democrats were united behind Our leadership when Republicans were fighting like ferrets in a phone booth.
[00:25:00]  And part of that is how Nancy helped set the stage.
[00:25:03]  There's a role for Jim Clyburn and Steny Hoyer productively with dignity while moving on to the next generation.
[00:25:11]  I think there's a lesson to be learned.
[00:25:15]  We have maybe about six, seven minutes left.
[00:25:17]  I want to talk about two issues in particular that you've been so involved in.
[00:25:21]  One is the infrastructure bill and bicycling.
[00:25:25]  In this city now, there are major streets, major thoroughfares with bike lanes down the middle of them.
[00:25:31]  When you drive to work or bike to work, when you see all that, what do you think?
[00:25:35]  I'm proud.
[00:25:36]  I mean, the bike lanes down the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue is my project.
[00:25:41]  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.
[00:25:54]  Burning calories instead of fossil fuels.
[00:25:59]  Civilizing the impact in communities.
[00:26:00]  I come from a very bike friendly community.
[00:26:03]  I'm proud of what we did there.
[00:26:05]  But we've taken bike partisanship around the country.
[00:26:10]  It's high impact, low cost.
[00:26:38]  Do you bicycle to work every day here?
[00:26:41]  I walk.
[00:26:42]  But I didn't bring a car to Washington D .C.
[00:26:46]  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.
[00:26:59]  And that's part of the advice I give to new members of Congress is bring a bike or use bike share.
[00:27:07]  It's easier than having a car and it's lighter on the planet.
[00:27:16]  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.
[00:27:29]  Do you worry about that?
[00:27:30]  Was it Huxley that said every time he sees a person on a bike, he feels better about the human race?
[00:27:37]  If more people biked, there would be less road rage.
[00:27:42]  People would be healthier.
[00:27:43]  There would be softer edges for the community.
[00:27:47]  I'm deeply concerned about the attitude where there are threats, not just to members, but to staff and to family.
[00:27:56]  That's deeply troubling.
[00:27:57]  But that's why we need to take the edge off this and humanize it and bike partisanship. is a way to do that.
[00:28:05]  Everybody has a bike story.
[00:28:09]  Mine's not really a good one, so we'll talk about that later, about falling off.
[00:28:14]  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.
[00:28:25]  What is your reaction when you see laws being changed and the impact on society, and what do you think about the federal?
[00:28:33]  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.
[00:28:47]  I've been working on this since I was a freshman legislator in 1973.
[00:28:52]  I've been involved with every state level initiative to legalize cannabis at the state level.
[00:29:00]  We've had remarkable success.
[00:29:02]  We have like We're good to go.
[00:29:16]  I think?
[00:29:30]  African -American people paid the price for differential enforcement.
[00:29:36]  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.
[00:29:49]  It's been terrible for the minority community, for young people and lost opportunities.
[00:29:55]  If we get to the point where we use medical cannabis for Medicare, Medicaid, the VA will have better health care.
[00:30:09]  We will save hundreds of billions of dollars.
[00:30:13]  But we're sort of trapped in time.
[00:30:17]  And that's one of my biggest disappointment.
[00:30:19]  I'm proud of what I've done with the legalization.
[00:30:22]  When I started
[00:30:39]  What concerns do you have about recreational use and driving under the influence?
[00:30:49]  Having people understand the dynamic.
[00:30:51]  Instead, if we had given people good information and training, cannabis is actually a safer drug than alcohol.
[00:31:04]  Part of the problem we've had is that people didn't understand We're good to go.
[00:31:36]  I think?
[00:31:44]  Do you expect that in the new Congress someone might put forward federal legislation?