- I'm sitting here with Ann Kirkpatrick
who's the Democratic nominee
for Arizona Congressional District Two.
Thank you so much for joining us.
- My pleasure.
It's a beautiful morning here in Tucson, Arizona.
- Gorgeous morning.
(upbeat music)
In layman's terms, could you explain the responsibilities
of a US Congress person, and how it differs
from a US senator?
- You know, you really have to be in touch
with your constituents, I mean, you're a representative
of the people who elected you.
And I feel like it's really important
to have a continuing dialogue with them after the election.
So one of the things I do is I set up working groups
on specific issues, and they give me ideas
about what kind of legislation to introduce.
So it's a very grassroots up kind of representation
when it comes to me, but not really telling people
what I wanna do, but listening to them,
hearing what they wanna do.
- So is that how you find your balance
as a congress person,
your work between representing Arizona constituents
and your more federal responsibilities?
- That's right?
As a member of Congress, I really make an effort
to get to know all my colleagues.
So I come from a bipartisan household.
My mother's family were Republican ranchers here in Arizona,
my dad's family were Democratic business people.
And I said, it always made
for really interesting family get-togethers
because we were interested in politics
and everybody had their own opinion.
But at the end of the day, we were family,
we were Arizonans, and we were Americans.
And I really treasure that upbringing now
because it gives me a temperament to go to Congress,
get to know my colleagues.
And the institution itself really isn't set up
to foster those kinds of relationships,
so you have to work at it.
And really legislating is about building relationships,
and I'm good at that.
- So why are you now currently running in District Two
as opposed to district one?
- Came down here after the 2016 election,
my second grandson was born early, a month early,
my daughter was in residency here, she's a neurosurgeon.
We came down here to help with,
help that family with the kids,
and help her finish residency.
And then when Martha McSally
who is the incumbent right now,
voted for the deadly Republican health care bill
that would have sent 20 million people
off of health care again.
I just said I fought too hard for this,
I'm not gonna stand by and watch it happen again.
So I jumped in the race to beat her.
- Could you talk a bit more about the Affordable Care Act?
I know that's something you voted for in 2010,
and are very passionate about.
- Yes, yeah, you know, I was told that if I voted for it,
I'd lose my next election.
But it was the right thing to do.
I did lose my next election, but have made a comeback.
And, you know, I hear from people every day, you see,
it's so important that we keep this healthcare.
Right after I lost my election,
I was actually down here in Southern Arizona
in a Mexican food restaurant, and a man came up to me,
an old cowboy, tears in his eyes,
he said, "Ann, I didn't vote for you,
"but thank you for voting for the Affordable Care Act,
"because otherwise my wife wouldn't be alive."
So very very emotional stories,
and, yeah, I'm gonna keep fighting for it.
- What do you believe are the most pressing issues
for constituents of District Two?
- Well certainly, keeping healthcare.
That's the number one thing I hear about.
- Yeah.
- But everywhere I go, whether it be the grocery store,
the gas station, walking in my neighborhood,
people come up to me and express their worries,
their concerns, their fears
about what's going on in the country.
So I hear from a lot of seniors
who are afraid they're gonna lose
their Medicare and Social Security
after the Republican enormous tax cut bill,
and after Speaker Ryan said, "How do we pay for this?
"Well, let's look at Medicare and Social Security."
So they're really concerned about that.
Hardly a person in Southern Arizona
doesn't know a DREAMer or a DACA recipient,
and they're really afraid they're gonna be deported.
So comprehensive immigration reform
is really at the top of the ticket for me,
we've got to get this done. - Could you tell us a bit
about the work you've done to support veterans?
- Yes, my father fought in World War two in the Pacific,
and so I've always had a place in my heart for veterans,
and I was the first person to call for an investigation
when we heard about the long wait times
at the Phoenix Veterans Hospital for veterans.
And so, was all the Veterans Services Committee,
and led that investigation and worked on legislation,
actually with Senator John McCain
to actually make a difference,
and continue to do that outreach with veterans.
Another bill that I was successful in getting passed
was for Native American veterans.
So, you know, they've served,
Native Americans have served in the military
at a higher rate than any other ethnicity.
And I found out that their VA benefits they were getting
were used against them in qualifying for housing.
And so, I passed legislation
to do away with that discrepancy.
That was a bill that helped Native Americans
all across the country.
It's little things like that,
just make a difference in people's lives.
- Yeah, absolutely.
What would you say to Millennials and young people
that feel totally disenfranchised and frustrated
by the partisanship in government
and don't see any hope for a changing?
- Climate change.
So I have a 27 year old son
who lives with us here in Tucson.
And the other night at dinner,
he basically said, "You know, your generation has left us
"with a mess, left us with a debt and deficit
"that we're gonna have to figure out how we pay it off.
"You've left us with climate change
"which is an existential threat to us,
"and we're gonna have to figure that out."
And he had a whole litany of things that he's right about,
that we need to address.
And I just said, "You know, the best thing
"I could think I can do, is run for Congress, win,
"and address that legislation."
They're facing, that generation is facing
really serious issues, and it's really important
that they vote in this election
for people who can start solving those problems.
It's not gonna be short-term, it's gonna be long-term.
And here in Tucson, we could take the lead
and being a solar capital of the world.
Here we have so much Sun, but I have a vision
of making Tucson a totally green city,
you know, gradually converting the city fleet, the buses,
everything to green alternative energy.
- Do you have a timeline you'd want to do that ideally?
- Yeah, ideally within the next 10 years.
But I wanna start working on that right away.
- Could you give us an example of a bill
that you've written, sponsored or co-sponsored,
that you are the most proud of?
- Yes, so I grew up on tribal land with the Apaches,
and we couldn't drink the water that came out of the tap.
It was contaminated.
So all my childhood, we boiled the water
before we could drink it.
So I had an opportunity
to work with Senator Kyle from Arizona,
who was a water expert to create legislation
on a water rights settlement for that tribe.
And it included damming up our old swimming hole,
and running a water pipe from there
to a water treatment plant, and running that water
all across the reservation
so people for the first time
could actually drink the water out of the tap.
And that was near and dear to me,
we got it past my first session,
and President Obama signed it into law.
So the work on that has already begun.
- We're gonna do some fun rapid-fire questions.
Who is your favorite female artist
of any genre, like musician singer?
- Linda Ronstadt.
So, I know her
actually when I was in college,
dated her brother,
way back in the (laughing) - Oh, no way! (laughing)
And she's been to Congress and testified
in front of my committees, and always gives me a big hug,
and people like, "How do you know Linda Ronstadt?"
it's a long story, but she's my favorite.
- That's awesome.
Well, thank you so much for joining us.
This was a real pleasure.
- Thank you.
- Thank you so much.
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