On this week’s episode, Representative Lisa McClain joins to discuss what it’s like to be part of the record-breaking number of GOP women in Congress, how she’s handling being in the minority party during a very polarizing time, and finally the work she’s doing on behalf of our veterans.
Congresswoman Lisa McClain is serving her first term representing Michigan’s 10th Congressional District. She is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and also serves on the House Education and Labor Committee, where she works to advocate for schools to reopen for in-person learning full-time. Prior to Congress, Representative McClain spent more than 30 years in the business world. She knows how to run a business and supports policies that allow businesses to grow and people to prosper.
Transcript
Beverly:
And welcome to She Thinks, a podcast where you’re allowed to think for yourself. I’m your host, Beverly Hallberg and on today’s episode, Representative Lisa McClain joins us to discuss what it’s like to be part of the record-breaking number of GOP women in Congress. We’ll delve into how she’s handled being in the minority party during a very polarizing time. And finally, she’ll explain the work she’s doing on behalf of our veterans.
But before we bring her on, a little bit more about the congresswoman. Representative Lisa McClain is serving her first term representing Michigan’s 10th congressional district. She is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and also serves on the House Education and Labor Committee, where she works to advocate for schools to reopen for in-person learning full time. Prior to Congress, Representative McClain spent more than 30 years in the business world. She knows how to run a business and supports policies that allow businesses to grow and people to prosper. Congresswoman, it is a pleasure to have you on She Thinks today.
Rep. McClain:
Well thank you, Beverly. The pleasure is mine. I appreciate being here.
Beverly:
I Want to start with the last thing that I just mentioned in your bio, and that is what you use to run a business. I’m just curious, what has it been like to go from the private sector to work on Capitol Hill?
Rep. McClain:
It’s been a little challenging, to be honest with you, but it is better than I would have expected. And I think part of what is the positive of that is I’ve never been in the political arena before, so I don’t know what I don’t know. And everyone asks me, “Oh my gosh, how are you doing? How are you doing?” And I tell everyone I’m doing great and I think the reason I am doing great is that I don’t have anything to compare it to, because this is my first term in Congress. And I’m just humbled and honored to be here, to be quite frank with you.
Beverly:
And since it’s your first term in Congress, I’m curious, what has been the most surprising thing about working on Capitol Hill? It doesn’t even have to be necessarily politics-related, but anything you didn’t expect that has really been surprising, whether a pleasant surprise or something that’s been challenging?
Rep. McClain:
I prefer to look at the positive. So what I think is the biggest pleasant surprise is I thought when we got here, there would be this hatred and anger and there’s really not. And then I say this respectfully if you remove the TV cameras and you remove the microphones and the media, everyone on both sides of the aisle has been pretty warm and welcoming. And I would say you have extremes on both ends, but I would say that I believe we’re more together than we are apart. We just have to figure out how to move the ball forward without the headlines. So I would say that’s the biggest positive that I’ve seen. That I didn’t-
Beverly:
Yeah, that’s really encouraging to hear. I’m glad that there has been some unity between your colleagues that may be on the other aisle. And so this leads to what I think is something important that I’m curious about, your being in the minority party. Have you been able to find places of agreement with people on the other side? Have you been able to figure out during this very polarizing time, at least on TV, what we see on TV it looks like things are polarizing? Have you even within the minority party been able to find common ground and to find places to really have good progress in this country?
Rep. McClain:
I think the best place that will happen for me, and I’m talking for me personally, is on the Armed Services Committee. So the two committees that I am on are Education and Labor, which is extremely partisan, it’s extremely polarizing. But the positive to that is if you take a look at the House Armed Services Committee, that is I think way and much more a bipartisan committee. And I’m very encouraged by the work that I think we’re going to be able to get done this year, especially with the NDAA. But in that committee, I think if you look at it, where both sides are very concerned about the safety and security of this nation. And we really work together to make sure that we keep our country safe.
Where we may disagree is how we spend the money, but we all agree that we should not deplete or defund any sort of armed services. There should not be any decreases there. We really need to focus on keeping up with inflation so we can protect and defend this great nation.
Beverly:
And I know a lot of your focus and heart is on our veterans and working on behalf of them. What specific things are you trying to push forward to support our veterans and where does this desire to help our veterans come from? Of course, you’re a great American, but do you have military service in your background?
Rep. McClain:
I don’t have any military service in my background, but there’s a lot of members of my districts and veterans that are in my district, as well as in general. And to me, I still think we live in the greatest country in the world and that’s the United States of America and the constitution and our freedoms and our traditional American values need to be upheld. And the veterans are the people who have and continue to lay their life on the line and give up the ultimate sacrifice for this country and we need to take care of those people. And quite frankly, from what I’ve seen and what I’ve observed out in the district, we can do a lot better. It’s sad and there’s a lot of issues with the veterans, which I think needs to get put to the forefront of our minds. I especially saw that I did a few town halls this week.
I did actually six of them and in every single town hall, veterans’ issues came up. So there are issues out there and that’s one of the things on a bipartisan basis that I really think we can fix. I’ve implemented a couple of bills. The first one, to name a few, is the PAWS, which P-A-W-S, ‘s the Veterans Therapy Act. The second is improving the confidence in the Veterans CARE Act, which is making sure that the doctors that are at the VA, their credentials are basically up to speed. Which I think is the most important one is the veterans’ access to direct primary care.
And I’m sure we’ve all heard that at times the quality of care, the timeliness of care at the VA hospital hasn’t been up to par. So what I’ve introduced is an act that says, “Listen, instead of going to just the VA hospitals, let’s open up care for our veterans at all hospitals.” I think that would solve a big problem for these veterans to get the care in a timely fashion that they so desperately not only need but also deserve.
Beverly:
And in a divided Congress, is this something where you are seeing bipartisan support to give veterans the ability to receive healthcare at their nearest hospital?
Rep. McClain:
Again, behind the scenes, I don’t think there’s anyone that would argue that our veterans need to come first. At least I haven’t encountered that. We’ll see how bipartisan and if people actually put their money where their mouth is to take care of our veterans on how far these bills get. I’m very hopeful that we can come together as a country and support the men and women who supported us. We’ll see.
Beverly:
We’ll see and I hope that that is something that people can agree on, because like you said, there’s no reason for people not to agree on it. But when we’re in this time where things are very divided and polarized, it is tricky. And I know one area where there seems to be a lot of division that you have been outspoken on is the issue of education and whether or not we should reopen schools for in-person learning and whether or not that that should be full time. People really come down on quite opposite ends of this issue. First of all, why are you in support of reopening schools? And why has there been so much pushback against it?
Rep. McClain:
I am so adamant about reopening schools. If you follow the science, in fact, Dr. Fauci just came out this week and said, a three-foot distance is the same, and is it as equivalent as the six feet apart distance in terms of social distancing. If we don’t reopen schools, we’re going to lose an entire generation of our youth. And it’s not just the education piece and we’re looking at that in isolation. It’s the socialization and the emotional piece. So take a look at teenage mental health issues. That has skyrocketed. Take a look at the opioid crisis, that has skyrocketed. Let’s not forget that the school is at times the only place where underprivileged students get a healthy meal, and we’re not taking a look at this thing in its entirety. I’m also going to add that we’ve figured out how to open schools and do it safely because there have been schools that have opened and opened safely.
And if you look at the number of deaths that happen in the school system, for COVID, which one death, again, for any child for any reason is one death too many, but if you take a look at the number of children that have perished unfortunately and tragically from COVID, we have more deaths from swimming pool accidents every year. So what are we going to do? Fill in our swimming pools? I understand that deaths are horrible, especially for a child, and I can’t imagine losing a child. But at the end of the day, there are so many other unintended consequences that we need to take into consideration.
And I believe as Americans, as teachers, as parents, we can figure out how to open schools safely. We’ve done it. Or we’re going to lose a whole generation. Let’s not also forget that we’re also running behind other educational systems in the world. So for example, China’s children have been in school for the past year. We’re falling further and further behind and we cannot do that. So open up the schools. The science shows that we can open up the schools. The parents want the schools open. And I think as individuals and as teachers, as parents and as students, we can do that and do it safely.
Beverly:
I agree with you. I know IWF has talked about this issue a lot. In the role that you’re in as a representative, you get phone calls from your constituents. You hear from them. Are you hearing from people who are independent and Democrat, as well as Republican? It seems to have really united people across a wide variety of political spectrums, because this comes down to, at the end of the day, parents who are concerned about their children. Have you received a lot of phone calls about this issue?
Rep. McClain:
Well, actually we’ve received a lot of phone calls and I’ve actually reached out to people in my district. And over 1,000 people have responded. Of that 1,000 people, I said, “Tell me what you’re thinking about reopening schools. Do you want your children to go back to school? Do you want the hybrid? Are you concerned? What are you as the parents thinking?” And less than 100 of those people that I talked to wanted their children to stay home or in a hybrid. 90% of the people that I’ve surveyed want their children back in school. So I think this is an issue across party lines where we got to get back into our education system. And we really got to advocate for the kids. And it’s not just education. It’s education, it’s emotional, it’s socialization. It’s so much more.
Beverly:
And for parents in those areas, those states where schools have been shut down, I think what they’re saying is how much longer? It’s been over a year now. We just hit the year mark a few days ago, and they’re saying how much longer? So you see day in and day out what is going on on the state level in your state. Do you, at least for your own state of Michigan, do you have any hope for parents that the schools can be opened up soon in their full capacity?
Rep. McClain:
I’m hopeful. I know hope isn’t a real good strategy, but if you follow the science, follow the science, follow the science, even the people in the Biden administration say the schools should be open. So my question is, are we following the science, or are we following the teacher’s unions? I don’t know what we’re following, but if we’re following the science, open the schools up because the science shows that we can do that.
Beverly:
Exactly. And I want to round out our conversation today with you breaking history, along with several other Republican women. What has been fascinating about this election cycle is that there was a record-breaking number of GOP women in Congress. You make a part of that. First of all, what has it been like to make history in this fashion?
Rep. McClain:
It has been extremely humbling and I’m very, very privileged. And what I think is happening is not only did my district but other districts around the country, they didn’t just vote for women. The women that they voted for were women with traditional American values. And that is what is extremely inspiring with the class of women that’s been brought in to serve in this 117th Congress.
Beverly:
And I know the common narrative out there, I hear this quite often, is people are surprised to find out that I’m a female and I’m not liberal, that I actually have more conservative ideology and perspective on issues. Do you find that when people find out that you’re a Republican and that you have traditional values and conservative values, first of all, are they usually surprised? And second of all, do you think we’re maybe getting to that tipping point where people realize that women have a wide variety of perspectives, that we don’t all think the same, and that based on our experiences and you specified being a business owner, that we are able to look at policies and figure out what makes the most sense to us? Do you think we’re reaching that tipping point where people realize women can be whatever party they want?
Rep. McClain:
I think we’re really making progress towards that. I think as women get more engaged in business and community, you’re seeing more and more women getting involved in the political arena, which I think is wonderful because we bring a different perspective and at times we see things through a different lens. And that is the beauty of America is we all have different opinions and we’re free to express those opinions. So I think as women and especially as women the more I see with traditional American values, they are speaking up more conservatively, and I think that is a bit eye-opening to the political parties, but also in our districts.
Beverly:
And do you feel that being a Republican Congresswoman that you face tougher questions than some of your Democrat female counterparts? Do you feel that it’s harder to be a Republican Congresswoman because of the party you’re affiliated with?
Rep. McClain:
I think the media in general has biases. I don’t necessarily know if their bias is towards women or if it’s more towards conservativism. I can speak for myself. I’m very outspoken on the capitalistic economy that we should keep. And I will defend that until a degree. That doesn’t sell really well in the media. So I think it’s less about being a woman and more about my conservative values that are under attack.
Beverly:
And a final question for you. You talked about what Americans are concerned about. I think education is a big area that they are concerned about, but the other is just about America in general and feeling that whether it’s through cancel culture, including tearing down statues, whether that’s getting rid of books, works of history and literature, people are concerned about the direction of this country. What do you see from your vantage point in Washington, DC? And what encouragement could you give to people or even advice you could give to people on how they can push back against that and work to defend this country?
Rep. McClain:
Number one, people should be concerned, because if you speak your mind and it doesn’t align with how people feel, they attack you and they attack you personally and they bully you and they shame you. And you know what? That’s not right. Let’s stop the personalization in this country and let’s talk about the issues. And I’ve said this all along, let’s talk logically and let’s debate the issue, because if you have to attack me personally and you have to label me personally, then I must be winning on the issues because obviously, you don’t have enough ammunition to debate me on the issues. You have to attack me personally. And that’s always a surprise to me.
But the number one thing I can tell everyone is, let me share something with you. We have free speech. And that goes both ways. That is our right and responsibility, and anyone who tries to suppress your free speech, should be very, very concerned about it. And that should only make you talk louder and your voice is heard more. And the number one thing we can do is get involved. And I say get involved locally at any level, whether it’s being a precinct delegate, going to county meetings, getting involved in your school boards, running for local offices. We need to let our voice and our conservative, traditional American values that support the constitution, that embrace capitalism, we need to let those voices be heard and we need to let those voices be heard loud, and not apologize for how we think and not apologize for the constitution, which has made this country the greatest country in the world.
Beverly:
Well, we so thank you for you using your voice and making sure that your voice is heard and defending principles that do matter. Representative Lisa McClain, serving Michigan’s 10th congressional district. We so appreciate you joining She Thinks today.
Rep. McClain:
I really appreciate you having me. Have a wonderful day. Get involved and let your voice be heard. Don’t back down.
Beverly:
Thank you for joining us. Before you go, Independent Women’s Forum does want you to know that we rely on the generosity of supporters like you, and investment in IWF fuels our efforts to enhance freedom, opportunity, and well-being for all Americans. Please consider making a small donation to IWF by visiting iwf.org/donate. That is iwf.org/donate.
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