ICYMI: New Democrat Coalition Chair-elect Annie Kuster Discusses the Importance of New Dems in the 118th Congress on MSNBC
“We’re the 'can-do' caucus and we’re the ones that will get the job done.”
Yesterday, New Democrat Coalition (NDC) Chair-elect Annie Kuster (NH-02) joined Michael Steele on MSNBC to discuss the key role New Dems are poised to play in a closely divided 118th Congress as the “can-do” caucus:
You can watch the clip here and read a transcript of the interview below:
Michael Steele: We’re with Annie Kuster of New Hampshire, she’s Chair-elect of the New Democrat Coalition. Welcome Congresswoman, it’s good to see you.
NDC Chair-elect Annie Kuster: Great to be with you, Michael. Thanks so much for having me.
Steele: I want to get your reaction to the breaking news on the January 6 Committee. What do you make of the recommended charges that they're proposing against Donald Trump, and do you see any impact from all of this?
Kuster: Well, first I want to say I was a victim, witness, and a survivor of the January 6 insurrection. I was in the Gallery in the House of Representatives and one of the last to be evacuated. I'm so grateful to our colleagues for everything that they did. Hours and hours and hours of painstaking work. Thousands of depositions getting to the bottom of this case, and now they're ready to make their referrals. And I think the American people will respond.
Certainly the hearings that they had last July had a big impact on the results of the election in November. The voters rejected Republican extremism, and what they're looking for is more of a mainstream approach. And that's why I'm proud to be leading the New Democrat Coalition. We're the ones that will get the job done and work with reasonable Republicans to move our country forward…
Steele: …I want to get your take on this current strain of the GOP. You heard my take on it. In my view, the MAGA strain, for example, has become dominant. And it seems the only way that that's going to change is if Republicans keep losing for a while. What are your thoughts on that?
Kuster: Well, that's what we saw here in New Hampshire, we had a resoundingly successful election. Two House Seats - I won by 12 points, Chris Pappas by 8 points, Maggie Hassan for U.S. Senate by 10 points - The voters here rejected our extreme Republican opponents, who were all three Trump Republicans. And they are very, very clear that they want people to take a much more proactive approach to working across the aisle and to solving America's serious problems. And I look forward to doing that in the 118th Congress. I've already reached out to my counterpart, Dave Joyce.
And as I say, as the leader of the New Democrat Coalition, we're the ‘can-do caucus,’ and we're the ones that will get the job done. Right now we're working frantically, the last few days of the session here, to pass major bipartisan mental health and addiction legislation that passed the House 400-20. And so you know, we want to make sure that we do come together.
Another example, Michael, is the NDAA, the Defense Authorization. 350 members: 176 Republicans, 174 Democrats came together to pass that bill. And so that's what the American people want. They want us to work together and get the job done. And they're ready to reject this extremism from the MAGA Republicans.
Steele: You’ve referenced your newly-elected role as leader of the New Democrat Coalition – that ‘can-do caucus’ - How do you see that caucus working with Republicans in the House?
How do you brand that caucus’ work outside of the Congress, so that the American people can get behind that ‘can-do attitude,’ and actually push – which I think they should – to get Congress to actually accomplish something in the next session?
Kuster: Well thank you. It's conversations like this, telling people we are 96 Democrats. We are from those purple districts where we defeated MAGA Republicans. 22 Frontline Members, who were in tough districts that made it back, are New Democrats. And 17 brand new Members of Congress for the 118th, who are New Democrats as well. And seven of those [Member-elects] flip seats, these are New Democrat Members. So we are the ones that will bring back the majority for Democrats in 2024.
But in the meantime, we'll work with anyone or stand up to anyone, as is necessary. And there's any number of issues we're already working with Republicans on. Immigration reform, we've already got a bill about farmworkers. I work on immigration and also climate change with a colleague from Utah as Co-Chairs of the Bipartisan Ski Caucus, so we look for any opportunity to find common ground.
I mentioned mental health and addiction, climate, so all of these issues. And of course we have the Farm Bill coming up and that's a very bipartisan process. And I serve on the Agriculture Committee as well and look forward to that process.
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