I want to what we're trying to figure out. What we've now already talked about some of your early stuff. And I think people need to do some research because what often happens in our community is that people say, well, oh no, he's already you know, he's a congress but
he don't understand, he don't get it. But understanding where you come from, um, you know, knowing that you at one point lived in public house, and understanding your your journey through the Bronx becoming a principle, bring people like my son into your school, which I didn't know about. So this is new information for me as well. Um, and now going to Washington, it would seem that's the story we're trying to really replicate in our communities over
and over again. And UM, now what we're trying to figure out Since you're there, we celebrated you. Now we need to go to the effect that we're mad at all of y'all because ain't not happening. So tell us what why is there so much? Uh? Some people want to say stalling. I'm at the point where I just I'm I don't even know the appropriate word to describe what how frustrated I am about the lack of action in Washington on policing, you know, now, voting rights, um,
and just so many other things. So why don't you just kind of you talk. We'll listen. Yes, So, Um, the short answer is Republicans don't want to do anything at all. And then we have a few Democrats who behave like Republicans. And you've heard the names Mansion in Cinema and the way the Senate works, And because we have such a thin majority, if Mansion and Cinema aren't on board, even through a reconciliation process where all we need is fifty votes, then we can't move anything like that.
That's the short answer. The longer answer is the filibuster.
So the filibuster was put in the place several decades ago pretty much designed to stop civil rights legislation from moving forward and to UH acquiesce um to Southern Democrats who lived in racist KKK driven communities, and so any civil rights legislation we try to move forward to filibuster, which means we need a super majority sixty votes in the Senate to pass legislation is still in place because of that, you know, Voting rights UH S one and
S four uh, commonsense, gun reform, um, immigration policy, all of those policies that have already passed the House. And that that's the thing, like it's it's not all of Washington. It's like the House passed these bills arecy. Now it gets to the Senate, and each senator, especially with the the majority, is almost like a president. They could they could dumb up a thumbed down a bill and the bill will not will not go anywhere. So that that's
the short answer. The longer answer, and what you and I have talked about offline, Tamika, is we as a community, I don't think are doing enough to really build coalition and will and use the coalition to engage Congress and the White House and to build power in Congress and the White House. And I'm saying that because and we talked about this, there are other groups and other lobbies in Washington, the Fraternal Order, police, fossil fuel industry, pharmaceutical industry, etcetera, etcetera.
They don't make a couple of calls and literally will be voting on the bill on Tuesday that we didn't know about on a Monday, because people may some calls or they'll get a bill pulled. UH that we was like, yeah, I thought he's gonna vote on this, and they're like, now we decided not to not to not to put that forward, they'll get it pulled on the same day
as well. So the consistent engagement of members of Congress underneath around a black agenda, if you will, agenda to uplift poor people and everything we're fighting for is what's needed, both in the short term and the long term. So it's very frustrating. Now good news is this reconciliation package that we're working on right now. It seems like we're making forward progress in a way that's going to really benefit the entire country, but particularly communities of color and
black communities. Investments in affordable housing, public housing housing vouchers, UH, universal childcare, Medicare, Medicare and Medicaid expansion three K programs clients. So this bill has a lot in it, and the American Rescue Plan also had a lot in it as well,
with with investments in public education. But in terms of overall, you know, Congress isn't responsive to like our demands or agenda if you will, because I think we need to do a better job of organizing around their building coalitions underneath that agenda and then using it to wheel power in Congress through the CBC and other means as well.
Is it frustrated for you being a congressman who gotta let did and on the right things for to do the right things and watching, you know, being involved in the situation like we see right now, just seeing how it's just not everything you're trying to do and old things you want to do to seeing it be installed and and you know prolonged. So yes, um it is,
and it's it's like deflating as well. Like so a couple of weeks ago, while Black Asians were being harnessed at the border with horse reins, the George for Justice and Police and that was dying in the Senate without ceremony,
Like it didn't even get that much coverage. And for those two as a black man, for those two things to happen at the same time, and and you know, we we brought attention to what was going on with the Aitians at the border, which was good, but it still just felt like, damn, when it comes to our stuff, it dies without ceremony. But again, you know, other issues,
like I'll give you an example, um, the appropriate. We just went through our first appropriations process, which is how the federal government spends its money both here and abroad. And I had to fight and still fighting to move two million dollars, let's say, from the Borough of Prisons to historically black colleges, UH minority serving institutions and and and black small businesses, Like I'm still fighting to move to million of like a seventy six billion dollar budget
to these areas. Two million ain't nothing on the national level, is nothing, but because of the way that the structure of white supremacy and European seller colonialism is entrenched in Congress,
that's just how we do business. Same thing with trying to send more money to the Caribbean, Like, well, we fund countries very well, you know, in Europe, in the Middle East and other places, but like the Caribbean and the continent Africa, when you compare the money that goes there versus other areas, it's clear to see that, like you know, no one really has full full organized around in Congress for the stuff that matters most of our community.
So frustrating, but it's also like I see it as an opportunity to to do things differently, and like it gives me a reason to go to work everything, like to to put pressure on people on the inside and do enough work on the outside to make sure that begins to change and it and it is change it. I mean, we just we just brought the vice president
to the Bronx a few days ago. And one of the reasons why that happens because we engage them in consistent conversations around the issues that we're talking about and he's like, Yo, you gotta come to the Bronx and see it. Blah blah blah. And that happened, But there's there's obviously more work to do.