You're listening to Comedy Central. Hello, how are you. I'm just I'm so delighted to be sitting down with you. You are just a star of the Democratic Party. And I am just so delighted to be sitting here with you because who wasn't rooting for you that I knew, no one. That was a very very tight race that you were in. Well, thank you, it's great to be here, and I'm proud of what Georgia did. Yeah. Um, and
now you don't have an election. You don't have a runoff or a special election or any election for the next six years. That's right. My name was on the ballot five times in two years, so clearly I wanted this dog on job and finally have a six year term. Yeah, that's very that's very refreshing news for all of us, so we never have to deal with that sort of chicanery again. I'm excited that you wrote a book. It's called Put your Shoes On and Get Ready, which is
about you growing up in a household. You were one of twelve children, and you were number eleven, one of twelve children in my family, I'm number eleven out of twelve. My parents were both preachers. Clearly they read the scripture be fruit, be fruitful, and multiply. Yeah, well it was also nice nice of you. I mean, did you write a children's book so that herschel Walker would be able to read it? So so I have I have two small children. My my daughter is six and my son
is four. And the title of the book put your shoes on and get ready to something. My dad told me every morning. He had a fierce work ethic. You didn't sleep late in his house, and every day he said, get up, put shoes on, and get ready. And it's something I passed on to my children. For me, it represents preparation, but also a sense of purpose and the recognition that all of us have a place. I believe
in the world. We've got gifts and things were supposed to do, and I'm fighting every day to make sure that every kid has a place in America. And also we're also fighting pretty hard to be able to work across party lines and work with a lot of Republicans that would we would a normal person would think it was too hard to work with people like Ted Cruz. Um you're working with him on something I know. I want to ask you, like how how do how do
you operate that? Like, how does that work for you? Well, I'm a pastor, so you know, I'm used to inviting whosoever will. I'm used to working with all kinds of folks, and um, I have found that in the Congress. Yeah, we have our differences, They're real, but you're right. I did an amendment with Ted Cruz. He he and I are on the Commerce Committee together. Uh. I disagree with him most of the time. Um. Honestly, some days I'm
sitting there listening like really, uh. But but as it turns out, one day there was something he wanted to get done that I also wanted to get done. We couldn't get it done in committee. We had to take it to the floor of the Senate, and the night we passed it by partisan infrastructure bill, he stood on his side of the out arguing about why he thought we should do it. I stood up on my side arguing why I thought we should also do it. And then I closed with words I never imagine hearing myself say.
In closing, I'd like to associate myself, uh with with with the words of the senator from Texas. My colleagues, I think half of them didn't know what was in the amendment, but they said, if he's for it, and he's for it, let's pass it. It passed overwhelmingly, and it's really it was just an amendment to get us closer to building a highway out that goes through Texas, but it also goes through Georgia. And even in this divided time, I think that there's a highway that runs
through our humanity that's bigger than partisan politics. It's certainly bigger than race. And if we build out the highway, everybody can get to where they need to go. I think that's my job as a legislator, and I think that's the job of every citizen to try to find common ground to get the work done. And Yeah, and considering the state of politics and the divisiveness of you know where we are right now in this country, I mean,
are you hopeful about voting rights? I know that's something that you're working hard for and that you're also uh with police brutality that you guys had a caucus with the President. How do you see these things playing out in this time? Look, change is slow, it's difficult, It comes and fits and starts, but we have to keep working at it. So I'm not about to lose hope. I mean, if the preacher losers hope, then we were. You know, we're in a dangerous place. So I'm not
about to lose hope. UM. I was John Lewis's pastor. He didn't have any reason to believe that he could win. I think we looked back at the civil rights movement and we act as if these victories were inevitable, when in fact they were quite improbable. They kept fighting the good fight. He fought until the very end. Who am I to give up? And Uh, I was disappointed that we didn't get voting ranks done last Congress. Um, but
I'm not about to stop fighting. The last time we passed voting rights in this country, uh, it passed on the Republican president, it passed the Senate, I think nineties to zero. Some of those folks are still in the Congress. And democracy for me is not just one issue alongside other issues. It's the framework in which we get to fight for everything we care about. Climate change, UH, the issues around police brutality, UH, giving people access to affordable,
affordable health care. All of these things are fought for within the framework of our democracy. And so I'm gonna keep fighting until we get voting rights done. And with speaking on the subject of books, we have a you know, uh governor in Florida who is trying to ban books and trying to ban critical race theory. And uh, let's just talk for a second about how damaging that is for little children growing up in this country. Oh, I
think I think it's it's quite unfortunate. And we have to reject the idea that our children will be so traumatized by the truth of our complicated American story that they can't bear it. Um. Uh, you know the script. Forgive the preacher for quoting scripture, but Jesus said, you shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
And um all all stories that complicated. All families have complicated stories, and so does the American family, and all of us have to push back against this idea that education as the enemy all of us red, yellow, brown, black, and white. This black history is the American story. And uh, that's why I wrote this book. I deal with the issue of race in this in this book. So I don't know if my book would be banned or not. Uh,
but but I'll tell you as a dad. I was trying to figure out how to talk to my kids about what I know they will encounter, and um, I think I deal with it in a way that honors the legacy of my dad, who, as I talked about in the book, was a He served in the army during the World War Two era, all state side, and one day he was asked to give up his seat
on a public bus while wearing his soldiers uniform. For some the skin he was wearing was more important than the uniform he was wearing, and so he had to give up his seat. That's a part of the American story. But here's the other part of the American story. My dad had to give up his bus seat. Now I have a seat in the United States Senate, a kid who grew up in that's right. Only in America. Only in America is my story possible. And we can't give
in to the demagogus. We can't give in to those who pedal in division, because people who have no vision traffic and division. We have to fight for that grand American covenant e pluribus run them out of many one. That's what makes our country great, and I'm deeply on it. To represent the people of Georgia. Yeah. Yeah, And the people of Georgia are honored to have you because you
instilled so much faith in them. When the race was tight and you had another election and against you know who, you said, I believe the people of Georgia will make the right decision, and they did make the right decision. So it all ended up in the way that it should. And so yeah, you're a pleasure to have serving in the United States Senate. It's great to watch you. Thank you so much. Yeah right, I'll put your shoes on
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