To watch the full interview, click here.
Washington, D.C. – In case you missed it, Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) joined Senator Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) for their first joint TV interview since being sworn in to the U.S. Senate. Together, they spoke with PBS NewsHour’s Geoff Bennett on Republican efforts to slash Medicaid, lay off thousands of federal workers, how they view making history, and more. Senators Blunt Rochester and Alsobrooks are two of the five Black women to ever serve in the Senate and are the first two women to ever serve in the chamber at the same time.
Below are excerpts of the interview.
On Republican Budget Legislation
“…People say, if you want to see their priorities, look at their checkbook. They’re showing us exactly what their priorities are. When you have got 72 million people in this country who are on Medicaid in some way, it might be a parent who has a child with a disability. It might be a family whose grandparent is in a nursing home…Democrats, we feel it’s really important that, number one, we make sure people know what the stakes are, and, number two, make sure that they recognize that we’re all in this fighting to make sure that the cost of eggs are not skyrocketing, even though this president said, on day one, he was going to address the economy.”
On Making History and America’s Diversity
“What we talk about is, what kind of impact can we make on the lives of the people who sent us here, on our country, and, who knows, maybe the world with the work that we’re doing? It is really, for us, about the impact.”
“[America’s] strength is the fact that we bring these different professional and lived experiences…Of all times in our history to be pulling people out of the work force, telling people they don’t have a seat at the table, this is not the time…We’re stronger when we recognize all of the talent, the brilliance, the excellence that all of us bring to the table.”
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Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester represents Delaware in the United States Senate where she serves on the Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Environment and Public Works; and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.