Episode 1,000! Checking In with Congressman Gabe Amo

Navigating Politics and Public Service in Turbulent Times with Congressman Gabe Amo

Discover how Congressman Gabe Amo navigates legislative challenges, advocates for Rhode Islanders, and discusses the impact of national policies on local communities. This episode offers insights into bipartisan efforts, the importance of organizing outside government, and the complexities of managing public priorities amidst chaos.

Key topics:

• The legislative landscape during a highly polarized political climate
• Strategies used by Congress members to oppose harmful policies
• Bipartisan success stories, including healthcare tax credits and war powers resolutions
• The fight for affordable housing, energy, and food security in Rhode Island
• The influence of global events on local economic conditions
• The importance of grassroots organizing and electoral mobilization
• The role of cultural festivals in fostering community and economic growth
• Personal reflections on service, public engagement, and the significance of reaching milestone episodes

Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction and episode overview

00:20 - Congressman's efforts to counteract executive actions and legislate during chaos

00:47 - Bipartisan successes and legislative challenges

01:15 - Advocating amid partisan gridlock and foreign policy issues

01:43 - Responding to misinformation and leadership accountability

02:12 - Organizing outside government for electoral change

02:54 - Addressing Rhode Island's unique affordability challenges

03:33 - Energy and food insecurity at the state level

04:30 - Housing crises and legislative initiatives in Rhode Island

05:24 - Global conflicts and their economic ripple effects

06:02 - National political climate and public outrage

06:34 - Reflections on governance, accountability, and healthcare impacts

07:29 - The importance of full legislative majority for change

08:26 - Personal dedication and upcoming elections’ significance

08:55 - Milestones, including the episode number and reflections on service

09:23 - Celebrating Rhode Island’s cultural festivals and community engagement

09:47 - The role of arts and culture in local identity and economy

10:15 - Closing thoughts and the importance of informed citizenship

Transcript

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Bill Bartholomew 0:00

Congressman Gabe Almo, welcome back to Bartholomew Town. Always great to see you. Good to be on with you. Let's let's get right into it. I mean, obviously right now, chaotic moment in American history. I don't know how else you can frame it. Uh what are you doing in real time as a bulwark against the Trump administration?

SPEAKER_01 0:17

Well, look, I think as a member of Congress, you have to use all the tools at your disposal. You know, one, uh, that's legislating. Like, you know, the difficulty, as you know uh very well, of passing laws in this particular moment is tough because of the partisanship and the lack of backbone from my Republican colleagues, uh, and uh the fact that you have a House and a Senate to deal with. But we have had uh a measure of success. I would speak to uh the war powers resolutions that we've had. Uh of course, the president has not complied with them, and that's why I've supported uh legislation to compel uh the Speaker of the House to put forward litigation. But we have had bipartisan moments. That's an example of them. We had a bipartisan moment as related to the uh ACA uh tax credits on the marketplace to help people pay for their health insurance. Again, we have uh a challenge of not having a Senate, but legislating is important. The second thing is is uh using every bit of floor time, every bit of committee uh moment to speak against what we've seen come out of this administration. Here's the thing in a vacuum, uh no one's gonna know what's going on. And so I've tried to be vocal uh and vociferous in my opposition to what we've seen from this administration, whether it's been uh my role on the Foreign Affairs Committee blasting uh the cuts to foreign aid that have not only hurt uh American farmers, uh, have hurt people who do development aid, it's also caused deaths of hundreds of thousands of people uh uh overseas. In the Science, Base and Technology Committee, I called out the Secretary of Energy who lied, and why I've actually referred this to the DOJ, uh, lied about uh the cancellation of grants uh in the clean energy space that have hurt Rhode Island. Uh, because essentially 95% of grants that were going to red states still got their funding. 95% of grants going to blue states did not get their funding. And you might have seen coverage about this uh recently because we have an administration official coming before Congress and lying, which is their norm. And then, of course, it's organizing, it's agitating on the outside. We have to win elections. Like I'm in my office right now, uh congressional office, so I'll be mindful about that separation. But I'm gonna do everything I can to have a Democratic majority in the House uh this fall. Hopefully that's met with the Senate. Organizing, mobilizing, making sure that a mission uh essential and mission critical is is being successful in November.

Bill Bartholomew 2:53

On the ground in real time right now, you're uh I got a press release from your office that I'll read it. Fighting for an Affordable America AMO pushes to lower food and health care costs for working families. You're on the ground. This is not what it says. I'm summarizing here. You're on the ground meeting with Rhode Islanders on a number of issues uh that are related to affordability. I mean, look, the reality is here in Rhode Island, we fear it feel it acutely in a number of different sectors, housing in particular, healthcare in particular, we can parse that out into primary care, whatever it may be. And then there, of course, are the national trends, groceries, gas, so on and so forth. So, what are you hearing from Rhode Islanders with specificity that isn't that is maybe unique to Rhode Island and how do you plan to address those needs?

SPEAKER_01 3:33

Well, well, look, the affordability squeeze, and look, the president calls it uh a hoax, he calls it uh a myth. That's false. Uh I look, I I grew up uh like most middle class, lower middle class Rhode Islanders, where every single paycheck every week from my parents made a huge difference. Where uh right now, uh as they transition uh to retirement, I, you know, the the costs and expenses uh weigh heavily. And, you know, my younger siblings who are are trying to raise families. What I hear uh acute to Rhode Island on the energy side, we see that we have some of the highest energy costs in the nation. You've also seen uh us uh pay more for home heating oil. Uh that's been a result of Trump administration policies. Uh the grocery uh part of this is is not unique to us, but here's what how it manifests. We see demand uh higher on our food pantries uh flowing from the food bank, and that uh it hits us uh here because we, you know, often in some communities are limited on where we can get uh our food, where we can get our groceries. That's a real big problem that we're seeing here. And uh, of course, when when you talk about affordability, the housing crunch is a real one. It's why I was supportive of a the 21st century road uh to housing legislation that the president said nobody cared about housing. And like I hate to make everything about the president, but like the fact of the matter is that is a legislative opportunity that could blend with some of the action we've seen at the statehouse to increase production. This that's a very Rhode Island issue. You know, in every ranking we are in the bottom of one, two, or three as it relates to production. And if you don't deal with supply side uh uh amidst this high demand, you see the costs stay where they are. And so that's something that that is is is complicated again by more uncertainty in the markets. When the president launches us into wars uh that nobody asked for in the Middle East, and it and it uh erodes everybody's uh capacity uh to maintain uh what they they've earned. That hurts us. So, like, you know, I it is there's this think globally, act locally philosophy uh on things. But everything that the president does, everything outside of our bounds affects the bottom line and people's ability to afford life.

Bill Bartholomew 6:01

Yeah, I think that's one of the major issues right now that that people aren't connecting those dots necessarily with what's happening on a global basis and what they're feeling at the pump or what they're feeling at the grocery store. I mean, polling would tell you otherwise. But at the same time, you don't hear the general backlash directed exclusively at the White House right now. What do you think that is? Why do you think there's just sort of this anti-um, I don't want to say incumbent or anti-status quo sentiment, but there's just sort of a broad outrage. Do you think that's misdirected?

SPEAKER_01 6:33

Well, look, I I think people are are feeling things. And I will never tell anybody how to uh manifest uh uh, you know, their wishes for the world or how to channel uh their uh distress about the things that we're experiencing. But I would say uh to me, it's abundantly clear uh that the chaos in Washington, driven by uh a president uh who has uh a Republican House and Senate who do everything he wants is hurting us directly. And I understand why people also say that that applies to everybody in power, everybody in office. Look, I've been in Congress three years. I can't say that I have this long uh tenure, but I can tell you for every single part of it, uh I have seen uh the difference between people who are working hard to make uh folks' lives better and those who are not. Um, you know, it is often hard for me to look at my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and take them seriously because you take the big ugly law, for example, cutting trillions from healthcare, disrupting our systems. I was just at Providence Community Health Centers yesterday, and we were talking about the impacts of that law on things like having primary care physicians, funding communities health centers, people's coverage uh that they thought they could pay for, that they can no longer pay for. In what world does cutting health care make somebody's life better? Same thing with nutrition assistance. 4.5 million Americans are off of SNAP. 1.5 million of those are kids. In what world does making it harder for a kid to eat make anybody's life better? So look, I understand broad frustration, and people should. I should be working hard every single day, and I try. I hope people see that I'm I'm I'm I'm trying uh my hardest. But one of the things that I would say is your hardest is never hard enough. You gotta keep going. And I'm hoping that when we have a Democratic majority in the House and the Senate, we still have a White House to deal with. And so what we're gonna have to do is force the president's hand on signing legislation if we have uh both of those majorities. And if he doesn't, I hope people see it abundantly clearly that there's somebody working for them and there's somebody working against them. And that's what we're gonna have to do in a majority in January 2027. And people have to have to continue to push on every level lever we can.

Bill Bartholomew 11:16

Yeah, it's a different evaluation when you're talking about when when one party controls the nearly the entirety of government versus a bicameral institution that's controlled by one party and the executive branch controlled by the other. All right, a couple of uh just quick things here as we sign off. First of all, three years, you've been in Congress for three years. That's that's kind of a shocking stat. The time doesn't feel like it's the same thing it was before COVID. Maybe that's just me. Uh also note right here this is episode 1,000 of Bartholomew Town. So for what it's worth, that's like a wild statistic as well. Life moves fast, people. Look out.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

Yeah. Well, look, I I I and I uh, you know, I'm grateful for you to find alternative platforms to elevate the voices of Rhode Islanders and the things that we're working about. So look, I'm thrilled to be at thousand number 1,000. That's gonna be in my caption on this this particular uh appearance.

Bill Bartholomew 12:04

Awesome. All right, quickly, Jeff on a jazz festival. I saw a photo that you were there.

SPEAKER_01 12:08

Yes. Uh look, I I got to see, I went on Sunday uh and I got to see Thundercat uh and Herbie Hancock uh in Lake Street Drive. Amazing. And the fact that we get to have that in Rhode Island uh is a gem, is a treasure. The Festival's Foundation does a remarkable job. And I also got to go to one uh a short time of folk fest and got to see uh Miss Lauren Hill and and uh Haley Williams. So I'm a big music guy. Uh maybe we should do a music pod at some point. Uh, but I got to see a lot of genres, a lot of interaction uh uh with Rhode Islanders and people visiting uh who you know are are enjoying the experience of of the festivals. And and that may made me really happy to see.

Bill Bartholomew 12:51

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I was there as well. And it was, it's I mean, I've said it over and over again. I think it's one of the most incredible parts of Rhode Island, the fact that that exists in the way it does here in our state, the cultural and uh third space component of it, um, and also the economic driver that it is. And it's just, if anything, at minimum, it's one of those things that we can be proud of. That's ours. And it's it's on the world stage. There's nothing minimal about it. So, Congressman, thanks for your time today. Really appreciate it. We'll we'll catch up soon. Let's do a music podcast. That sounds great.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Yeah, yeah. We should we should do it soon. I appreciate you. And and uh uh let's let's make sure that everybody is is staying uh informed. That's the most important thing that you can do as a citizen. And and I'm hopeful that people take advantage of all the info that's out there.