Congresswoman Shontel Brown

 [00:00:00] Up everybody. You tune into another episode of Strategic Bulls. I’m your host, Ken, do. This is the place where I bring art, culture, politics, and business all together, and I do it every Sunday right here on this channel. But when I’m not shooting this podcast, I am the owner of strategic resources where we specialize in political campaigns, government and public relations.

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But today we’re gonna talk about somebody and I got somebody who, guess who’s back, guess who’s back? None other than our congresswoman. We’ve got Congresswoman Chantel Brown in the house today. Congresswoman is going to talk to us a little bit about all the things she’s been doing in DC and what’s going on.

And what we did was we went and got a little snippets of some [00:01:00] things she’s been doing. So check this out and we’ll be right back by the, in the studio. Is we want y’all to give a warm welcome to our Congresswoman, Congresswoman Chantel Brown, to the program.

All right, y’all. There’s a lot of people in here. Enjoy. Company today conversation. I feel the love. . I feel the love. Yeah. Congratulations on everything. We happy to have you back. Thank you.

so how’s everything in dc It’s insane. I, I think you saw the first one of the first agenda items was electing a speaker of the house.

Ah, yeah, yeah. 15 rounds of votes to Oh yes. To do that. Yes. Yes. So it started off pretty rocky, pretty chaotic and pretty confusing, but, We’re coasting along. Well, you know, people was [00:02:00] following, I know I was following, and you had a bunch of people in the district following. It was just amazing how long it took and how many votes it took to get through that.

Well, the Democrats were two 12 strong. We were unified and ready to get to work, so it, it wasn’t us. That’s true. That is true. We found out it wasn’t a Democrats. So let’s talk about that since we overed it. How is everything now? You have a new speaker in the house and you have new leadership. So how does that now, which you know, I think coming from your perspective is pretty much new to you because you’re new there, so you can’t get caught up in Well, I remember how it used to be cause everything now is how it’s going to be.

So how is that for you coming in there? Let’s follow that. Well, it is quite different, but one thing that I’m encouraged by is the fact that we have the same majority mm-hmm. The Republicans have the same majority as we had in the last, in the 117th Congress. Mm-hmm. . And we were able to achieve a lot in the bipartisan way.

Now they still have yet to put forth some [00:03:00] serious legislation, so we’re waiting for that. But I am if you know me, I am still that cautiously optimistic person, so I’m hoping for the best. I’m hoping for. And, and how old’s Mr. Jeffries, your new leader, Mr. Jeffries? That’s my guy. You know, he’s, he’s, he’s cool peeps.

He’s a good leader. I think it’s a good time to be able to transition leadership when we’re in the minority because there’s not as much pressure to be able to actually deliver, if you will. Mm-hmm. You know, so. Speaker Pelosi, speaker Emeritus. Mm-hmm. , she was the best speaker this nation has ever seen, and was able to deliver so many things for the people of the United States of America.

And so she is still a force and still mm-hmm. Continues to be , her presence still continues to lead the caucus. Mm-hmm. and, but kind of behind the scenes. Okay. And helping in kind of like a mentorship type of way. Mm-hmm. . So her, she’s, her presence is still still very heavy, influential, and impactful.

So much respect to Speaker Pelosi. Mm-hmm. , but leader Jeffries is, is carving his [00:04:00] own path and I’m excited. With he and Katherine Clark. And Pete Aguilar will do when they become, when we get back into the majority in 2024. Well, I, I see you got your guys still involved in there. Oh, yes. With Clyburn.

With Clyburn. . So he’s still there. I guess didn’t make him any weaker and kind of made him maybe even stronger, I guess you would say, somewhere regards. Right. He continues to you know, just be that leader and that force. I mean, we think about. The fact that we are coming up on the 13th anniversary of the of the Affordable Care Act.

Mm-hmm. , his hand was in that. When you think about him actually being the person who put Joe Biden on the pathway to actually become the president mm-hmm. , he was the force behind that. So his the level of respect and his engagement has not diminished at all. And I think to your point, he just continues to remain a powerful and influential leader.

Mm-hmm. Not only. Democratic caucus, but I think in the country as a whole. So we stay in DC a little bit and on that kind [00:05:00] of track speaker McCarthy, I think wrote something recently about the fact that he was denouncing what the President Donald Trump. Is saying, you know, he want people to come down and protest the fact that he may be getting arrested.

And the last time Donald Trump gave out that edict to the public, they stormed the capitol. Right. So I, I can imagine some of the people down there. So what’s the thoughts about that? And I, I know you probably hasn’t been back since all, but I imagine that isn’t a a threat, I guess nobody would take lightly anymore, right?

No. So I think that’s very serious. It is very serious. You know, I find former president Donald Trump’s rhetoric to be extremely dangerous. Mm-hmm. Not only to the safety and welfare of people, but just to this country as a whole. Mm-hmm. The fact that you have McCarthy and Pence that are kind of still towing the line.

They Yeah. Vince was the same way. Right? Yeah. They’re defending him. Mm-hmm. But trying to denounce, you know, some of his rhetoric, but they [00:06:00] have yet to. Display the full level of courage that I think is required to get this country back on track and to really just tell the truth. Mm-hmm. , that’s really what this comes down to, just telling the truth.

So I can say from my vantage point, not having lived through January 6th, but having lost some colleagues because they didn’t wanna return after the January 6th. They just decided they weren’t gonna run again. And then having a whole new crop of freshmen come into the tune of 70 folks.

There are a lot of people who weren’t there, so I don’t know if they are as in tune to the reality of the dangers of the rhetoric that is still being perpetrated by Donald Trump. So I’m on guard. I’m always very sensitive because I have co. that still talk about it and you can still feel the energy in the chambers when, when, you know, certain things occur.

Even, even during the time of the speaker vote when we first [00:07:00] returned and they removed the metal detectors. It was, it was kind of unnerving cuz you don’t know they removed them. Yeah. The metal detectors to our, to the chambers have been removed. They had been there since I had gotten there. That was always something.

So, you know, when. Folks who are in committee meetings mm-hmm. Talking about whether they can bring their weapon into a committee meeting. Yes. I I, I heard that too. I saw that, that I thought that was like, are you kidding me? Really? Yeah. So it’s, it, it’s real down there like this. It’s not for play, like it’s serious.

And so, you know, you. You are a little bit guarded when you go to work. Can you have people that are talking about bringing their weapons into a committee, hearing natural resources of all things? It is nothing natural. about a gun. Right. But you, I guess it depends on who you talk to. Right. So as it relates to let’s talk a little bit about this debt ceiling, because I know everybody is really talking about how.

The thing that happened with the banks and fear for the banks folding and the interest rates are going up, home buying and real [00:08:00] estate having issues there. What’s the future? How do you see, and what are they saying in DC as it relates? Should the folks who have money and the bank be running to the bank taking it out, or should they be throwing it in the credit unions?

What’s your thought on it? Well, I don’t, I don’t think we need to take, run and take our money out of the bank. Mm-hmm. . I think when you consider what President Biden. His budget actually reduces the deficit. I don’t wanna misquote the number, but he is putting forth a plan that will actually continue to protect Medicare and social security and reduce the deficit while we’re still waiting on the go.

P’S proposed budget. So we know if you watch the state of the Union, President Biden, I don’t care what nobody says. I think he handled those folks on the other side of the aisle quite well. Yeah. Very adept, very very and, and he was kind of cool with it. He was like, oh, okay, so we have no problems here.

No, we’re, we’re all gonna be protecting social security, but we know that’s not the case. They talked their way into that one. Yeah. Yeah. So, but, but, but again as leader, Jeffries, like to say, shamelessness is their super [00:09:00] superpower. Mm-hmm. , like they will lie to your face about anything. So you can. . It’s hard to take their word.

It’s hard to take them at their word, but at least it’s on record. And, and millions of people saw it. So let me ask you a question on that. Let’s stay on that point for a hot second. What was the , what was the mood like in that room that day? It, that had to be a little different, I think compared to most especially with the new speaker sitting behind things and, and that kind of thing.

What, what was the mood like in there? You know what, I have some amazing colleagues and so we still sit, you, we still pre still pretty much sit on our side of the aisle. Mm-hmm. . There were some democrats that kind of were on the Republican side, but. I was around my, my colleagues and friends mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. . So we were, we were in good spirits. Mm-hmm. . And the, the energy for us was great because I think it was one of the best speeches Okay. That the president delivered mm-hmm. A little intense. It’s always a little intense. I shouldn’t say always, but the, even the last time, the last time there were COVID 19 protocols, so mm-hmm.

everyone wasn’t even able to attend the last year’s state of the Union, correct? That’s correct. That’s correct. Yep. And [00:10:00] so this one was a little bit more. Jovial, if you will, because everybody was able to come who wanted to come. Mm-hmm. We were on the floor, you know, Kind of like just ha great camaraderie, you know?

Mm-hmm. ready to hear what the president had to say. Having some idea of what he was going to talk about, but the way he delivered it, I think was spot on and a lot of us felt like it was one of the best speeches he we’ve ever heard in the chambers and given in, in, in recent history. So I, I want to take a little stab, cuz I gotta take a little stab.

Okay. I’m gonna take a little stab in DC and that is Well, vice President Kamala Harris, Uhhuh , it’s sort of like people are saying she’s Mia. right now? Well, no, I don’t think she, well, first of all, in one, in the 117th Congress mm-hmm. , what people failed to remember while we had 50 50 or 50 50 split.

She was the top break. So she couldn’t be out, you know, doing stuff. Right. Cause if we have a, a vote, In the tie. [00:11:00] She gotta come in and break that tie, so, so y’all keep ka hold They was keeping on hold during the one 17. She can’t go nowhere. She always sit that in case we need you, you can’t go too far.

Yeah. Wow. So, you know, and, and I think I, I’ve said this before and I think we may have oversold that majority thing, you know? Mm-hmm. , right? When we, when we had the 50, 50 plus her vote. Mm-hmm. . , we see how much we were able to accomplish, but we also saw some of the things that we weren’t able to get done, like voting rights mm-hmm.

and things like that. Even with the, with the majority. So now we’ve lost the majority in the house. We do have an actual majority in the Senate, but it’s not to the level that we need to get all the things that we want. Because people can use the, the, the Senate can use the filibuster. Mm-hmm. seems like anytime they get ready.

Correct, correct, correct. Right. And so so that’s why I think in the 117th, you, you know, she may not have been. Outside, and she wasn’t outside as much as people wanted to see her outside. But but she’s, I think she’s I think she’s doing more, I think [00:12:00] you’ll see more of her, especially as we get into a position of getting ready for the 2024 election.

Well see. And that’s the issue now. And that, that’s, that’s my point. My point is that, during the Obama era, and I know people hate, always don’t compare me to Obama, but during that era he made Joe Biden seem to be a cool kind of guy. . Alright, you was just cool hanging with you and you vice president and, and, and.

He, he gave him that. He empowered him. He, and, and that’s what made him easier to come over to African Americans, and I think we’re Democrats. And this, this is not a, a slack of Joe Biden. This is a slack of Democrats. I think Democrats make that mistake because we still got that old white man mentality a little bit.

And what I mean by that is that he should be pushing her out there, because we should know this now, when, when she come out now it’s gonna be like, oh, it’s election time and now you’re pushing Kamala. . And I think that, I hope that’s not, it’s something that they work on. I hope it’s something that they fix, but that’s, that’s the feel.

[00:13:00] And if you’re listening out there, , I’m trying, that was my strategic tip to y’all. Y’all should have really got going with Kamala a lot earlier and you gotta empower her because now we kind of stuck with is it going to be Biden or who’s our next nominee? If it’s not him and if it’s not him. Did we do enough to empower Kamala to be the natural.

Person who will be looking at. So that’s the little politics piece of that. We gonna keep it moving, if you don’t mind, or you wanna rebuttal? You got something to say about Yeah, I, I, I think, I think she’s going to be well prepared. I think again, people have to consider the, the context and, and the term that she, the time that she has served in the 117th mm-hmm.

and think about The numbers cuz it really boils down to the numbers. We only had a 50 50, it was 50 50 split. Right. And during the one 17, so we needed her own deck. You know, when those passe point she’s doing the work you said? Yeah. She was doing the work. Doing the work and helping deliver mm-hmm. Real results.

And so we cannot neglect that. Mm-hmm. . And I think I appreciate you bringing up that point. And I think that we have to remind. How, how [00:14:00] important it was for her to be present in DC mm-hmm. because so much was on the line. Okay. All right. So we gonna bring you closer on, out of DC a little bit. go.

Let’s talk about what’s happening with these railroads. Man, you see these railroads are just like, I falling apart all over the place and I feel, I, I, I don’t wanna say I feel sorry cause I don’t want a thousand people writing me about that, but man, that company has taken a beating out here, man. They can’t win for losing.

There was a even a accident over in Collinwood. Did you hear about that one? I, I didn’t. And, and it didn’t have nothing to really do with the tracks, but the truck, the truck driver ran into the tra It’s like, y’all just can’t catch a break, man, that was crazy. It’s just like craziness and, and with the complaints and everything that’s going out of east Palestine over there.

Palestine, I feel, how they pronounce it. What’s going on and what’s the buzz in DC about that. And, and you know, people are really a little upset with the president cuz they felt he should have came there by now and that kind of thing. And I know you don’t speak for the White House and I don’t expect you to, but what’s, what’s the [00:15:00] thoughts of your thoughts on that?

And that’s, Really close to home. I, well, pretty close, isn’t it? Yeah. Right. So I I had a chance to speak to Senator, she Brown, as well as the ceo. Mm-hmm. , and I can tell you our Ohio delegation is fully holding Norfolk Southern accountable, right? Mm-hmm. , that is, we we’re gonna make sure that they do everything to get east Palestine mm-hmm.

back clean and mm-hmm. Holding them accountable for all of the damage that they have done, testing all of those things. What I’m encouraged by, shout out to one of our newest members representative Sykes. Mm-hmm. She’s on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. So she and bill Johnson have been working hard.

They’ve got some legislation that they’re already proposing. I signed on to the legislation. There is a companion bill on the Senate Senate side, Senator Sharon Brown is leading the way there. Mm-hmm. . And so I think what, what we are experiencing was in just in kind. influx of awareness, like once the thing, because these, it’s unfortunate, but the reality is that these [00:16:00] derailments are not uncommon.

Really? Yeah. They’re more, they prob probably occur more frequently than we would be aware of. Wow. Yeah. And so that, that has been part of the problem. The regulations were rolled back during the Trump administration. Mm-hmm. . And so now we’re doing what we can to really enforce and, and implement some laws to create.

Safer environment. So one of the things people have talked about as it relates to this particular incident, they said it was preventable. I think the, there, there were the Signals that notify the conductors when things are overheating. The number of rail cars, the number of people operating the rail cars.

Those are some of the simple things that we can really put legislation behind and hold these companies accountable and make sure that they’re safer as it relates to the White House. I appreciate you giving me that grace. I do not speak for the White House. Mm-hmm. , but what I have learned since being in DC is.

Because these things happened and there were no fatalities. You know, we sent in the people who were most equipped in [00:17:00] expertise to be able to deal with it. So you had mm-hmm. Administrator Regan come in, you had the transportation director, sec secretary, rather. Mm-hmm. , Buttigieg come in. Those are the people who can actually get stuff done.

We, we, you know, so we need to again, kind of take a step back and. Think about who can actually get something done. It would’ve been nice optics if the president would’ve come, but. Candidly speaking would not have changed the outcome of what these administrators and directors and secretaries are already implementing and putting in place.

And, and, and that’s pretty much what I was thinking. I was like, I don’t know what y’all expect. Well, I, and no disrespect to Mr. President, I don’t want him to go out there and fall over something. You better shut up. Leave my president alone. Trip him over, walking over and trip home. So, no, I’d rather him do his thing.

Yeah. You know, do your thing. And, and so I, I, I was pretty good with that and, and I, you said it was a lot of secretaries and folks down there trying to get it done. I mean, the top level folks. Yeah. I mean, secretary Buttigieg, Michael Regan, he’s the EPA director. This is an environmental problem. Mm-hmm. , you want the top guy in the environmental mm-hmm.

[00:18:00] Protection agency to be handling this situation like this. You want the top guy in transportation and infrastructure and they were on the ground. And actually, you know, taking care of business and seeing how they, the government was out there with. You see, governor got a boot on. I saw the devil. I saw the governor.

I saw, I saw them, you know, in the house drinking some water. You know what I, I, I’m, you bought it. I’m on say something. . It looked like Mike DeWine was scared, had the death, and they had it in that glass. He was like, my turn. Sorry. I said, this water good. He drunk it though. I give him credit. I was like, woo, boy.

That was a big one there, governor. We gave you peace for that one. I mean, they, they’re, they’re, I mean, I think, you know, when you consider all those things, I think, you know, they’re doing the best that we can with what we have right now to hold the company accountable and make sure that we restore East Palestine back to its rightful place.

So you do are doing something in the district. You guys are having a meeting. You got some folks coming, I believe Councilwoman, Jenny Spencer and a few others, putting together a meeting [00:19:00] to talk about, I guess safety with the railroads, you know

so yes, Jenny Spencer. I love Jenny Spencer. And she has been absolutely a phenomenal addition to the council. And so I’m looking forward to working with her and partnering with her to make sure all of our communities are safe. This is, this is a collaborative, this is a collaborative piece. I mean, we need the federal, the state, and the local leadership to deal with these types of issues. Now, on that also JD Vance, I believe signed on with that. So SHARE and jd and everybody’s trying to do what they can to kind of clean that old thing up because this is not, this, this should not be looked at through a partisan lens.

This is not a democratic issue. This is not a, a Republican issue. Mm-hmm. , this is a human. Safety safer communities issue. And so we have to stop putting politics above the people and start putting people over politics and I’m happy to see that that’s happening as it relates to this matter.

So let’s talk about the ladies that you do have, your two colleagues, African American colleagues, baby yourself, and. You have new miss sites three of you guys. How, how are you guys [00:20:00] getting along and working down there? We get along great. Mm-hmm. , we work together. We sit together. We, we convene a lot and we, while we are the three sisters, right?

Mm-hmm. , we cannot forget the dean of the entire delegation of Ohio, but also That’s right, but that’s correct. Also, the longest serving woman. That’s correct. That’s correct. Nation’s history of the Congress in both chambers. That’s my friend’s Marcy Captor. That’s correct. That’s correct. Auntie Marcy, we love her.

She has been keeping us together and making sure that we’re all, you know, keeping these priorities, like she’s big on the environment. Mm-hmm. , if you know Marcy mm-hmm. , she is like mm-hmm. . The Queen of the Great Lakes mm-hmm. . And so she this is, this is a fight that is of great interest to her. So we have four dynamic women, and I’ll tell you a little funny story if you ever watch, when we give those speeches mm-hmm.

The speaker of the House usually says, for what purpose does the gentle lady rise from Ohio with one day? It was Marcy, myself and Amelia. Mm-hmm. on the floor, getting ready to give floor speeches. So I said, when, when they say what purposes the general lady rise, let’s all stand up. Mm. because we’re all from [00:21:00] Ohio.

Right. And so he looked and he, like, the guy was really confused cause he didn’t realize that we were all from Ohio. So that was funny. So we were all on the floor and he was like, he looked over to the guy like, what’s going on? He’s like, they’re all from Ohio. Mm-hmm. . And so he ended up having to call us by name instead of going by safe.

Excellent. But that, Nothing that, that’s not normal, you know, for, for, you have three wow women Wow. From one. . Mm-hmm. all at the same time is a rare thing. And so if we would’ve had Joyce, it would’ve just been the the full wow. The full gamut. But, and we have to a include Greg Lanson, but they, we all get along well.

We get along great. I, I love my Ohio delegation. Well, let’s speaking on that, before we jump in, a little bit of politics before we end this you took over Marcy Captor’s old office on the west side of now. Yeah. So you have your office extended out west. So you have our office out there. And picking up some of the constituents over there.

Are you finding your time being there? Is it any much of a difference? What was the biggest difference you find in dealing with the new West side that you done picked up? I would say the [00:22:00] issues are relatively the same. You know, most of the issues that we’ve been experiencing vary from IRS to passports to, you know, sometimes people just don’t know where to go.

Specific resources. And so we find ourselves being a conduit to say, okay, that’s not necessarily us, but you need to call your state representative. You need to call your city council person. Mm-hmm. . So managing those calls, and it’s not, I don’t think it’s as intense as the east side. I, I feel like the needs are a little bit more demanding on the east side.

Mm-hmm. . But that could just be because I’m much more familiar with the east side mm-hmm. , but I, I think the heavier influx of calls still come in from the east side. Okay. And , but the, the, is it a different type of call? No, I would, I would say, I would say not. I’ve, I have the good fortune of having an amazing staff.

Mm-hmm. that handles that most of the time. So I don’t get to interact with the constituents as often as I used to. But even for me, when I get those requests I get far more requests from East side folks because traditionally the 11th [00:23:00] congressional district has always been known to serve the east side.

Mm-hmm. of Cleveland. That’s correct. And the east side suburbs. And so I think people are starting to get more acclimated to the fact that we’re there mm-hmm. . And as we, as we spend more time there, I think that influx of calls will increase. So, Congresswoman, let me ask you, as it relates to the people that you serve in, or.

Hold on, let me back that up cuz I, as one other. Two questions in that. The question I really want to ask is, as it relates to the post office, because you’re having lots of complaints on East Side as well as the west side, about what’s going on with the postal services and the theft that’s going on in the post office, is there anything or any changes in DC you guys are doing, do anything about that?

Well, we had an oversight hearing as it relates to the postal service, and so we are aware of some of these issues and have started. Implement oversight to try to mitigate some of those challenges. Mm-hmm. , but we passed legislation during the 117th Congress to try to help the postal Service get [00:24:00] more employees.

Mm-hmm. Help them with the level of resources they had to maintain to get their pensions mm-hmm. . And in addition to that, the training. And so we’re doing our part now. You know, we are in a, we’re in a. An amazing time cuz during this Biden administration, when you think about it, we’ve created 12 million jobs, over 12 million jobs.

Mm-hmm. in addition to, in addition to the 300,000 that we just added last month. Mm-hmm. so, . I say that to say there’s no shortage of opportunities, but people are working. We’ve got the lowest unemployment right now, right. In our nation’s history. Mm-hmm. , and that includes for black and brown people. Mm-hmm.

like record lows. Mm-hmm. . And so getting people into these positions to actually do the work is probably the hardest part right now because mm-hmm. . , there’s so many promising and opportunities available. Good paying jobs that don’t necessarily require a college degree. That’s, so we, that’s correct. Just gotta, we gotta increase the pipeline.

Mm-hmm. of workforce development. And we’re doing that too. So I do know that they had talked about trying to add more. People in the field as a way of [00:25:00] security to kind of put more eyes out there for the guys and people. Cuz that’s the issue why they’re not people. The job is dangerous man. Yeah. But any service-oriented job today is on the front lines on it, is just dangerous going in some of these communities.

Whether you just going to check the light bill or check the gas lights or any of that, you, it’s almost really dangerous. So I know you on tight schedule, so I’m gonna keep it moving because I do want to ask you this. What are some of the if there were, let’s pick out one or two. Mm-hmm. really good achievements.

You want to say, Hey, you know what, I was able to do this. And we can really say, affect the district right here that you want to mention real quick. Well, you know, my proudest moment. Bipartisan infrastructure, law. Mm-hmm. that’s gonna have decades of implications for our community. Mm-hmm. . And the immediate impact right now is broadband internet service.

Mm-hmm. , we talked about during the pandemic, it was no longer a luxury that became a necessity. Mm-hmm. This congress and administration have. Put forth an affordable connectivity program, 29 90 $9 vouchers, making the internet virtually free for [00:26:00] those who need or want it. Mm-hmm. . So I’m very proud of that.

The removal of lead pipes, you know, that’s a big issue here in the city of Cleveland. Mm-hmm. . They’re gonna be removing the lead pipes over the next five to 10 years. And so we’re replacing them so that we can. Safer, healthier communities. Mm-hmm. . Then you think about the Inflation reduction Act.

The Inflation reduction Act is something that I’m really proud about because we were able to cap insulin drug prices at $35 a month with led to mm-hmm. , two pharmaceutical companies. To reduce their prices so that everybody, mm-hmm. can benefit from the legislation that we passed via the ira. So those are two things that I’m super proud of.

But if I could throw in a third Yeah. I would say the Chips and Science Act. Mm-hmm. . Because in mid Ohio, you know, there’s a 20 billion Intel projects. It’s gonna have residual impacts right here in northeast Ohio, creating more job opportunities and boosting our economic growth. So, I mean, if we would’ve just accomplished one of those things mm-hmm.

that would’ve been. , but we did 1, 2, 3. And before I got there, the American Rescue Plan, which was [00:27:00] the shot in the arm that got the shots in the arm mm-hmm. to get us back. Mm-hmm. on the road to recovery from the pandemic. So these, this now in this 118th Congress and moving forward, it’s gonna be all about implementation of those historic investments and laws that we were able to pass during the one 17.

Yeah. I got a question from the ministers. Okay. Who asked the question that said that? How could. Or churches in general be more involved in trying to help getting out information or getting. Playing a role in what’s going on versus just when it’s time to come around for voting. You know, they do, we, we sort of go to the churches and ask ’em about voting, but they were saying how could they get more opportunities if so.

I love that. So the past couple Sundays I’ve been visiting a number of churches mm-hmm. and I noticed they have announcement. Yes. During their service, if they could bless us with the opportunity to promote some of the great work that we’ve been doing during their announcements or at the end of their service we can keep ’em brief two minutes or less and they, you know, we can update the people on some of the things that we’ve been able to achieve.

And [00:28:00] so we’re also going to be sending information to our churches where we have relationships via email and they can update their congregations on the work that we’re doing so that they. What we’ve been able to accomplish since they’ve sent me to Washington. So I got one last question. I know Kim’s standing over there like, you gotta go, you gotta go

So I’m gonna just keep going so I can ask my last question cause I wrote all my questions down. Begin to your last one. My last question is, this is, and everybody want to know, 2024 is coming back around. People feel like Ohio’s been let out or you know, rode off as a place that’s not with all the congressional folks we do have and all of that.

Any thoughts sir? Is it, we still a little early on how you think that’s going to play off and is you going to be our fearless leader to lead us through that coming 24? Cuz somebody has to take the ham in Ohio, so what do you think? Well, listen I am hyperfocused on 2024 getting our lines drawn.

Number one. Mm-hmm. bill. We don’t even know what our lines look [00:29:00] like. The 15 congressional. Members that we do currently have, we don’t know what our maps will be, so it puts us in a precarious position. But because of that I am, you know, my, my heart is always with getting out the vote. Mm-hmm.

so you can trust me and count on me to still lead the charge when, whenever needed or necessary. So I’ll be working with our folks across the, across the 11th congressional district to make sure that we continue to deliver votes for. Ohio. . Well congresswoman, I appreciate you coming out. Thank on my program.

Thank, thank it’s always a pleasure and like we had all our programs, we get you an opportunity to look right there in that camera, right there that show camera. You can say whatever you want. If there’s some information you want to get out, something special information, let me know. I’m gonna put links in the description on how you can contact the congresswoman at any of her offices, and. Congresswoman, go ahead. I just wanna thank you. This is a great opportunity. Listen, I wanna thank the people who sent me to Washington to represent Ohio’s 11 congressional district. I am [00:30:00] delivering on my campaign promises, doing everything that I can to help us continue to recover from this pandemic fighting for jobs and justice and healthcare.

And so if you wanna know what I’m doing, it’s really easy. I’m gonna. Ken to put all of my social media links on this program so you can follow me, keep in touch with me, let us know what’s going on, and you might see me in your neighborhood soon. Thanks so much. Excellent. Thank you for coming out.

This is our last episode, sh Congresswoman Brown is rounding out Women’s month. Hey, for March, and this is going to be our last episode for March. So stay tuned. Happy Women’s History Month. .