Mary-Charlotte Domandi:
So let’s just, first of all, talk about the swearing in for a moment. I mean, you were sworn in today, what was that experience like? How did it feel for you?
Teresa Leger Fernandez:
Well actually, it turned out that the swearing in didn’t go as planned because there was, as people may know, by the time they hear this, but there was distraction, the Republicans were bringing motions to not seat those Congress, people from the States that will be objecting to Joe Biden’s election as president. So it created this chaotic moment, which failed, their motion failed. They only received two votes. So it created this chaos. So instead of having this moment that had been planned and they had planned to do it so that it would be very COVID-safe and that the incoming class would go first. Instead, there was this chaos that was happening on the floor and the Republicans were trying to not see the best speaker, even though the speaker won, right. It’s like you lost. The speaker won more votes than the Republican nominee. So then it became just this crazy chaotic moment where instead of doing it like it had been planned, it was like, okay, everybody, who’s the hallway now, always your hands.
TLF:
You know, and I rushed back in from being outside and raised a hand and it was actually less ceremonial than I thought it would be because it was done not according to plan, but with this distraction. What was actually more, I think, impressive was the fact that we had voted, right. We had voted for the speaker and that meant that we had Nancy Pelosi who was holding the gavel. We had voted to defeat this motion by the Republicans. And so before I got sworn in, I had already voted twice. So it was sort of like, Oh yeah, I know what I’m doing. So there was this funny inversion of, I was already taking votes before I was ever sworn in. And so it was almost like the, uh, taking, you know, I knew I was gonna vote for Nancy Pelosi. So that was an emotional thing to be able to stand up and say yes, because my party is in the majority and this woman is actually a brilliant legislator and tactician.
She knows how to do stuff. So, you know, I felt great being able to vote for her. And then in the chaos of this motion, that motion, grading [?] this, like to know like, yes, this is the right way to vote. And we all stuck together. We all voted the right way, you know, then it was like, Oh yeah, now you’re getting in. There was this, so it was almost weirdly anti-climatic because we had already been exercising the responsibility that had been given to us before we ever raised our hands to get sworn in that moment. But I will say there was something actually kind of more wonderful about it being, not just the 14 new Democrat freshmen or the 24 new Republican freshmen or whatever the number is, but there was so many of us that we were doing it in unison. There were more people on there getting sworn in than was supposed to be at the moment, but it was okay. It was okay because we were all doing it together.
MCD:
I mean, that’s something I want to ask you about, which is how the president’s refusal to concede is casting a shadow over the proceedings so far. And you’ve already given an example of that. But you mentioned some of the cracks in the unity of the Republican party, especially around democracy itself around this election. What does that look like so far?
TLF:
Well, you know, what was wonderful is he was this attempt to undermine, you know, the very process of what has been going on, which is where you would like to speak or, and then the vote takes place. And whoever wins that vote gets to be the speaker, right? And so that’s how democracy works. And the person who lost, his concession speech was instead of a concession speech that was supposed to talk about how we need to work together and let’s work together on issues, really challenged, like, described it as though they had not lost right–attacked the mask mandate said, Oh, you know, but we are the party that stands up for first responders and firefighters when they are the party that refused to fund the local and state government needs, which is how you support, if you want to stand up for firefighters and first responders, the way you stand up with them is make sure that they have the funding.
And so you saw this very combative instead of a concession speech about let’s work together, very combative, challenging the fact that the speaker had won. But you had–the Dean of the Congress is the one who does the oath of office to the speaker, right? Because the speaker has just been elected. And so somebody has to give the oath. So who is it? Tradition has it, that’s the Dean of the Congress, which is the longest-serving member of Congress from Alaska, Don Young. And he got up and he did this beautiful statement about how we need to learn to work in unity. And he was very sad about what he had seen that evening, because it wasn’t about us working in unity about doing the things we needed to do. And, you know, the Democrats were on, we were on our feet, like at least three times, I think during his speech because he was saying what needed to be said. And this was the Dean of the Congress who happens to be a Republican, but who was calling upon us to focus on what needs to be done.
And then that vote, that procedural vote where they didn’t want to seat the states that were going to object to the election of president Biden–it lost miserably. Like nobody voted for it, right? So you could see the Republicans are all like, no, I want to vote to seat myself. I won an election. So, so I am hopeful that there will be people like representative young who are Republicans, and that there were a lot of people like that who say we have work to do that needs to be done because people are dying, because people are being tossed from their homes, because businesses are shuttered and they’ve lost–I mean, I think about the businesses that have been shuttered and how you have families who’ve lost everything because I know small businesses, you know, I had a small business, I started small businesses.
I started big businesses. That was part of the work I did. That was part of the economic development. And I know that people put everything into their business. And I walk by and I see those shuttered businesses and my heart breaks, right? Those are the things that we need to think about is those are dying, those who are losing their jobs, those who are losing their homes, those are losing their business. The fact that our climate is in crisis. Like we have important things to be doing. And instead of focusing on that, that we have a Republican party that is focused on distraction, on attacking our very democracy, attacking our very institutions. That part is heartbreaking, but then there’s that hope that there might be a lot more Don Youngs out there that will be willing to focus on like the work that needs to get done.
MCD:
Did everyone wear masks?
TLF:
Uh, I was told that on C-SPAN, people–and this, this was so sad, you know, I had a zoom event with people who, you know, are very supportive and close. And one person who was watching on C-SPAN pointed out that one of the Congresswomen was not wearing a mask. And that was such a sad moment because the comment was, doesn’t she know she’s putting everybody at risk. And the thing that I happened to know about that is that they lost their son to COVID. A young man with a young family.
MCD:
How are you going to be working? Are you going to be at the Capitol? Are you going to be working from home until there’s full vaccination in the Congress? How does that work?
TLF:
So right now, there is no rule that allows Congress to, work remotely. We have to vote in person, until we pass a rules package. And that rules package will allow proxy voting. So there will still be the need to go and vote or to have somebody carry your vote. Your proxy.
MCD:
OK.
TLF:
The rules have to get voted upon at the beginning of each Congress. Those rules will also clean up a lot of things. They’ll say that if somebody’s been convicted of a felony, they’re not welcome in the, on the floor, the house they’re doing other things about how you conduct yourself, they’re passing the rules about how you, we keep each other safe in this COVID area. And so, as they are doing that, that requires us to vote on that rules package. And that’s what we’ll do tomorrow. And so we anticipate that once again, that’s going to be a rules package that will be partisan.
TLF:
I mean, there may be Republicans that vote for it, but it will be passed by the Democrats.
MCD:
I do have to ask what did you wear?
TLF:
Yes! Cause we were women. There was so much fun. All the women were all commenting on what we were all wearing. I, you know, in honor of the fact that New Mexico, because of our, the different heritage that I had velvet nice blue velvet, cause we wanted the blue because that is the color of the Democrats. But I had my red shoes. So I had a little red, white, and blue going on, a little bit of the patriotism, and you, you click my shiny red shoes and it’s like, there’s no place like the house. And I was wearing my mother’s turquoise necklace that was given to her by her father. So I carried a little bit of my mother onto the floor of the house with me. And so it was fun. Like all of us women were like, Oh, I love that dress. Ooh. I love the (laughs), whereas the guys, it’s like, they have an interesting tie. Some of them had interesting ties. Some of them did not.
MCD:
Right.Well thank you so much.
