Q&A with Rep. Robert Garcia

DOWNEY — Rep. Robert Garcia, elected to Congress in 2023 and representing Downey in the 42nd congressional district, recently sat with the Downey Patriot for a wide-ranging interview covering international, national and local topics.

The interview was conducted by Eric Pierce on Jan. 23. Transcription by Alex Dominguez.

Downey Patriot: There was a story in NPR last month that called the 118th Congress “the most unproductive in decades.” The most recent Gallup poll reported a 15% approval rating from the public. What do you think when you read stories like that?

Garcia: I mean, I’m not surprised. I think that you have so many members of Congress that just want to obstruct and not have any progress. So many bill ideas go nowhere because there’s really no interest from the people that are leading Congress to bring forward bills that would actually help people; you know, lowering prescription drug prices, investing in city infrastructure, even supporting passing community projects. They refuse to bring those bills forward, and so, you know they have such a hard time even electing a speaker, and so that leads to the ability for us to not get stuff done, and I think that’s really unfortunate..

DP: What do you say to critics that argue the United States should dedicate more of its attention and resources on its own people instead of the Ukraine and Middle East?

Garcia: I think that both are important. First of all, our domestic issues are always the most important, but we also have responsibilities in other parts of the world. I would say that first, they’re right; I think that when I talk to residents, they want to spend our resources on things like ‘How do we create a fair immigration system, that’s fair and that works,’ ‘How do we actually expand healthcare to cover more people,’ ‘Why do we spend so much money in other places and not fixing up schools, or fixing up roads?’ I think all of those things are really good critiques of the way the federal government operates.

“I do think, as to foreign aid, take Ukraine for example: I think it’s difficult to allow a democracy to fall, and the impact it will have long-term on the security of the United States, which is why I think Ukraine is so important. We have to get involved, for example, long-term in rebuilding Gaza, and ensuring that Palestinian people there have the ability to rebuild their lives, both free of Hamas, but also we have a responsibility to help. So those are things that are going to have to continue, but our domestic priorities still get funded, so that’s a huge challenge for us. I wish we would elect more people that are willing to spend money locally [rather] than giving huge enormous corporate tax breaks, or spending endless money on things, like for example the ballooning Pentagon budget; it should be strong, we need a strong military, but let’s focus on our schools and roads also.

DP: How do you think that message can be best relayed to the public, in terms of the importance of helping Ukraine, and international relations and how it would impact the United States?

Garcia: It directly impacts the United States. Let’s take the Ukraine issue. First, if Putin advances and takes over Ukraine, he won’t stop; he’ll continue to move into other parts of Eastern Europe, and try to take down other democracies, and it’s very dangerous for the security in that region. Russia has been a huge aggressor, so our national security interests are having a strong Europe and independent democracies. Russia is no longer a democracy that’s actually flourishing, and so there’s real security issues there. I think we’ve got to be adults and responsible about that responsibility.

It doesn’t mean that we should not be focused on our domestic priorities. I think if you look back, President Biden has passed some significant legislation on infrastructure, on climate investments. But there’s so much more need, like why don’t we pass sensible gun reform legislation, why haven’t we passed or expanded more healthcare options, why haven’t we made more education investments? I think that’s because we have a Congress that is broken, and that is more focused on demonizing people, particularly working people, than investing.

DP: Are you optimistic that we can ever fix Congress and get it working and pass any sort of meaningful legislation?

Garcia: I mean, yeah. I think if you look at the last Congress, they actually passed a lot of legislation. So I think we can. You have huge programs that come out of Congress, like when Congress authorized programs like Health Security, or creating Medicare, created the Affordable Care Act, or the infrastructure law that Biden passed. Congress can do really big, important things, it’s just that right now, unfortunately, the people that lead Congress are, in my opinion, very extreme.

DP: Why do you think that is? Do you think it’s because they’re in it more for selfish reasons? What’s the reason? Why is it so extreme?

Garcia: I think some folks in Congress don’t want to see the true diversity that the country is. The country is very diverse. I mean look at Downey; Downey is very diverse. A lot of folks resent that, and a lot of folks don’t want to support working-class people, or middle-class families. It’s just this focus on large corporations and the very wealthy; we’ve just got to shift some of that to help everyone.

Look, I think if you work hard, you should be able to take care of your family. You look at a community like Downey, you have very successful families; people that have worked very hard, people with great home ownership, folks that have businesses. It’s a strong community because there’s I think a sense of community. I think what happens is in a place like Congress, you have very extreme voices that drive very extreme agendas that have nothing to do with helping people back home.

DP: Do you think it’s genuine? When you speak to these extreme right wing or even left wing congress members, when you speak to them off the record, are they the same people that they are on camera?

Garcia: Yes, generally they are. When you have people saying and screaming things like, ‘We’re going to deport everybody who is undocumented,’ or ‘We’re going to roll back rights for anyone that’s LGBTQ,’ or ‘We’re not going to give women access to making choices about her own reproductive health,’ those are really extreme views that most people don’t agree with. One of the roles I’ve had to play, I’ve constantly had to kind of fight and push back on that, because those are not acceptable positions for, certainly not in California.

DP: You’re on record as supporting President Biden as the Democratic nominee this November. He’s 81 years old. Do you have any concerns about his age?

Garcia: None. I’ve obviously met him many times. I view President Biden’s age as he can offer from a place of wisdom and experience; he’s the most experienced person probably to ever be president. And I think we’re going to have two very clear options in front of us: President Biden and Donald Trump, and I think that, clearly, I think that Donald Trump is a very destructive force in our country. People don’t have to agree completely with all that President Biden has done; there’s diversity of things that we may all agree or not agree. But I think he’s a good man and I think he’s guided our country in the right direction.

DP: Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Why do you think he’s so popular?

Garcia: Well, first, this has always been a divided country; you have Democrats and you have Republicans. And so most Republicans are going to support whoever the Republican nominee is no matter who it is, and it happens to be Donald Trump.

I have mixed friends; I have friends who are supporting Donald Trump as well. Supporting Donald Trump doesn’t make you a bad person. I think there’s a lot of people who support him because they agree with his policies, and they kind of blow off some of the more outlandish things that he says or does. They might agree with his tax policy or his immigration policy. For me, it’s hard to support someone who says we should be shooting immigrants in the legs as they cross [the border], or that I think launched an insurrection at the Capitol. Those are serious things that concern me, which is why I could not support him.

DP: Would you ever support term limits in Congress?

Garcia: It’s interesting, I don’t know that I have a position. I mean, I supported term limits as mayor. I don’t mind term limits; it’s funny because I’m not one of those that actually has an issue with term limits. I think that term limits can actually serve a good purpose, to continue to move folks in and out.

I’m not opposed to term limits in Congress. What that number is I think is important. I happen to think that 12 years of service, we do that in California, that’s not something I would be opposed to in Congress.

DP: You’ve gotten really good at creating viral content, including clips that have been shared on Jimmy Kimmel and on Bravo. How much of that is strategic on the part of you and your team to reach a wider audience? Does it come natural?

Garcia: I think it’s both. I like pop culture so I naturally lean in that space, but it’s also strategic. I think that in politics, it’s a mistake to limit our reach to people who just read their newspaper and watch cable TV; if that’s the only people we’re talking to, then we’re missing a huge amount of the population. So I think it’s important for us to sort of insert ourselves into popular culture and entertainment, in sports and other pieces that people consume so they can learn about politics that way. So I try to include pop culture a lot into what we do, because I get people all the time that reach out to me after, whether it’s something about Real Housewives or whatever it is, and they’ll say, ‘You know, I don’t really follow Congress, but this was interesting. I learned something.’ So I do think that part is strategic.

DP: You’ve gotten to know Downey better over the past year. Is there anything about Downey that surprised you?

Garcia: I don’t know if it’s a surprise, but I’m just always impressed by how Downey always kind of has everything that they need. It’s so well organized, and there’s such a sense of community pride. So it’s a really complete city. People that are from Downey are from Downey; they don’t say ‘I’m from Los Angeles,’ you know what I mean? Whereas a lot of cities consider themselves LA, I think Downey considers itself Downey, and I’m continually surprised and impressed by the sense of community that people have over Downey, and really, really strong families; there’s just a really strong sense of family, of commitment. It’s a nice balance.

I think people think this idea that Downey is conservative. Look, I don’t think Downey is very conservative; I think Downey is quite diverse politically. But I think that there is a commitment to community, and of a strong culture if that makes sense; I think that’s something that exists.

DP: When you interact with Downey residents is there any particular issue that comes up the most?

Garcia: It’s funny, because I think when I was first campaigning talking to folks, there was a sense that there was a little instability going on in Downey, and that seems to have gone away. Folks in Downey are still concerned with issues surrounding people who are unhoused, public safety is still a priority, and people still want to see the positive development continue. I often times hear about businesses that folks want, or businesses that they don’t want, but it seems to be safety and the homeless challenge is an issue everywhere.

DP: How in tune do you stay on local issues?

Garcia: Well, I read the Downey Patriot. I try to stay up to date with what’s going on in Downey through the Patriot, through Downey social media, obviously working with the elected officials. I think I stay pretty on track. I try to also talk to folks directly; I’ve visited the high schools, just constantly going to more Downey civic events just to learn, because I don’t know everything. I think I’ve learned a lot in a year, businesses, schools, nonprofits, and more and more, I think, meeting with the public security officers, fire department; it’s been great. And we have a great relationship with the city manager team.

DP: On the topic of news in Downey, can you talk about local journalism? The LA Times laid off 115 people from the newsroom. Can you talk about what that means to local coverage?

Garcia: Obviously, I believe in local news coverage; I started at a local news site in Long Beach. The LA Times layoffs are really hard. That’s a huge amount of LA Times staff; that’s going to be a huge detriment – not just to the LA Times in LA – but all the cities, which the LA Times covers sometimes, right? So I think it’s a shame. I think that organizations like the Patriot, like the [Long Beach] Post, like hyper-local news organizations, like the Signal Hill Tribune, for example, it’s really important that they survive.

Imagine Downey not having the Patriot for news; then you’re resorting to Facebook memes. I always tell people, don’t believe everything you read on the internet because it can become a really toxic place. But it’s really important to have strong, independent reporting, and news reporting, community papers, in communities.

DP: The following question comes from George Manzanilla: What economic opportunities could the federal government bring back to Downey? For a long time the federal government was invested in the land here and it enabled the establishment of an aerospace industry (through the NASA and DOD contracts). Could there be an opportunity to create the same environment for the hydrogen energy industry here through the Department of Energy?

Garcia: Yes. First, the federal government just gave a huge amount of grant money to California to expand hydrogen, and to create a hydrogen economy in California, and so that just got sent to the state. So the state’s going to be engaged with cities that want to have and build their hydrogen economies, so enormous opportunity for Downey and other communities. So the federal government has a huge role to play in that piece.

The federal government has a huge role to play in business development through small business grants. The amount of money the federal government gave directly to Downey, for example during the pandemic, for small businesses was enormous, right? And so, there’s always a role to play there. Hydrogen, especially, a huge role to play there in the future, and so I’m very hopeful that that is something that the federal government continue to engage in.

DP: The final question comes from Kathy Perez: What is your favorite Carpenters song?

Garcia: I think the song..is the song called ‘Close to You,’? I’m just trying to remember the title. Close to You? That’s my favorite."