Production and distribution of City Club forums on Ideastream Public media are made possible by PNC and the United Black, Fond of Greater Cleveland, Inc.. Good afternoon and welcome to the City Club of Cleveland, where we are devoted to conversations of consequence that help democracy thrive.

I'm Dan Moulthrop I'm the chief executive here, and it's Friday, November 8th.

Three days after an election in which voters have put the Republican Party in control of the White House and the Senate.

As far as the House, though, there are a number of very close elections, mostly in California and Arizona, where votes are still being tallied.

The GOP currently, as of this morning when I was checking this, have 211 seats secured and need just seven more to reach a majority.

So we are here today to consider the work ahead for the 119th Congress, whether it is part of a GOP trifecta or split between the House and Senate, the Trump administration clearly has some bold policy plans in every area of the federal government's purview and will need legislation to make much of it possible.

So what are we likely to see and how much of it can happen with bipartisan support?

And also, what will this all mean for Ohioans?

I think we can safely say that the newly elected Congressional House members on our stage today can help us answer those questions.

Congresswoman Chantelle Brown has served the 11th District since 20th November 2021.

The Warrensville Heights Democrat, was previously a member of Cuyahoga County Council and the chair of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party.

The ninth District.

You may apply.

The Ninth District lies entirely inside Cuyahoga County, stretching from the Rocky River on the west to County Line Road on the east.

Congressman Max Miller represents the seventh Congressional District, which includes most of the rest of Cuyahoga County and stretches south to just beyond Worcester.

Congressman Miller's a Republican who served in the first Trump administration before successfully running for Congress in 2022.

And incidentally, his uncle, Aaron David Miller, has spoken here many times.

Most recently last January, making her City Club debut as moderators Claire Roth.

Miss Roth is the managing editor at the Ohio NEWSROOM.

That's a statewide reporting partnership among Ohio's largest public radio stations.

It's a fairly new project, if you're not familiar.

It's bringing some very exciting content to the airwaves and your podcast feeds content that is allowing Ohioans to get to know one another's communities a whole lot better.

And before we start, too, I want to note two things.

Number one, today's forum is our annual Bolton Forum on National politics.

This forum recognizes us as the extraordinary public service of the Bolton family dating back more than 100 years.

Two When Chester Bolton was first elected to the Ohio Senate in 1928, he began representing Greater Cleveland in Congress.

And after he died, his wife, Frances Pane Bolton, succeeded him remaining in office until 1968.

Their son, Oliver Bolton, overlapped with his mother in Congress, and they were the only mother son team to do so.

It's a beautiful thing to remember today.

I also want to note a second thing, too, that these two congressional reps have a really great friendship, and I will demonstrate it with this one very quick story.

It happened about 20 minutes ago when Congresswoman Brown was running just a little bit late.

And I said to Congressman Miller, should I text or do you want to?

And he said, oh, I will.

And then a minute later, he looks up from his phone.

He says, I don't think she's coming.

And he's got this panicked look on his face.

And and he said that she had texted him saying, I'm still in bed.

I just can't.

And and then she walked through the door a second later.

So if my face could get any rhetoric.

Yeah, they were panicking.

I was like, oh, socks.

So anyway, if you have a question for our congressional reps, you can text it to 3305415794.

That number again is 3305415794.

And our staff will work it into the Q&A in the second half of the program.

Members and Friends of the City Club of Cleveland please join me in welcoming Congresswoman Chantelle Brown, Congressman Max Miller, and moderator Clara.

Well, first, I have to say that my heart rate was collateral damage from that junk.

I thought, I don't know if I have enough for just Representative Miller.

But first of all, congratulations on reelection to both of you.

I'm sure Ohio's so excited to have you representing us once again in Congress.

And I just want to start for the first 100 days.

What are your priorities?

What are you hoping to accomplish right out the gate?

Well, I think I'll yield to Max.

Well, here's what I'll touch on about our office in the seventh District, because my priorities throughout the last term are going to continue to be my priorities in this term.

They're not going to deviate and change.

The president will no doubt set an agenda for Congress that we are going to follow and we are going to see what that is, and I can touch on that later.

But my priorities are this to continue to take care of the people of the seventh District.

That is what our main jobs are as legislators.

I think there's a big misconception that we're in D.C. 90% of the time we're home 14 to 16 days a month.

Our main jobs are to take care of veterans for disability and outsourcing appointments.

It's to make sure that if you have something that's stuck in the federal government, whether it's an IRS check or anything that you've been waiting on, that we cut the fat and we get that done for you.

I'm proud to say that our office returned $5.2 million just in our first term back to constituents.

That is the real work.

And for me, my focus will always be on technical education.

I'm proud to be a huge supporter and to continue to give out 25% of my salary to technical educational schools because we're 2% down in the trades.

And that is something that is unacceptable that we need to give back into our country.

And those are the two priorities that I will always be focused on.

And I know Chantelle's are the same, at least, you know, taking care of constituents always, number one.

Number two, for me, technical education.

And then let's see what President Trump decides to roll out for his agenda, which I can touch on, and I'm sure I'm going to get some big ones, so I'll look forward to that later.

I yield.

So I would agree maintaining the level of service to our constituents will remain our highest priority.

We are obviously still determining who will have the majority in the House.

They are still a couple of races, key races that are out.

So we don't know who will have control of the House.

But I anticipate given the campaign platform, that taxes and health care will be on the agenda and probably a lot.

But certainly in the first 100 days, I would expect that.

And I also would remind folks that it usually takes a little bit of time to get the cabinet together.

And so I would I'm looking forward to see the the Cabinet nominees and the appointments that will be made under this new administration.

I can remind folks, when my predecessor was nominated to become the secretary of HUD, she was not appointed until March.

And so that's going to obviously take some time.

But I will be eagerly awaiting those nominations and seeing what type of leadership the president elect intends to put in place, because that will inevitably shape the policies and the direction that we'll be moving towards.

Congressman Miller, you touched on technical education.

I know that workforce development is really big for both of you.

And I'm just wondering if you can talk a little bit more broadly about plans that might be on your mind as you go into this next term?

Yes, And I got to be careful with this because I think some people may like it and some people will not.

But I introduced a piece of legislation last term that I'm looking to get over the finish line.

Senator Tom Cotton is the sponsor in the Senate.

And since we are 2% down on the trades and even right now in Ohio, when we look at the Sherwin-Williams project that we have right down the street and we look at the Intel project that we have in Columbus right now, we are pulling from 3 to 5 different states just to get that labor.

We're losing out on that Texas tax revenue to the state of Ohio.

Those should be Ohioans, and Ohio hasn't decreased in population.

And so one of the things that we did is we introduced a piece of legislation that is going to be a tax not on the American people, but on the highest education resources.

Anyone who has over two and a half billion dollars worth of endowment.

And I want to make that clear.

It's a 1% tax on universities and colleges that have over a two and a half billion dollars worth of endowment.

And here's why Those funds, whether we'd like to hear this or not, will be solvent to the end of human civilization.

They get to take that money.

They reinvest into the market.

They're never dry.

They're always going to be worth billions of dollars.

For the first time in our country, we're going to allow an opportunity for anyone in the trades for a $9,000 voucher to go into the public sector of private sector, to go ahead and contribute to a debt free life to this country.

Right now, you cannot take out a loan to go and do a technical educational program, but you can bury yourself in a vicious cycle of debt if you want to get a bachelor's degree there or further on.

And then the best part is once you get a technical educational degree within the state of Ohio, thanks to an accredited Asian system that I believe was established in 2012 by the state legislature, you get an associate's degree, so you're already cutting your cost of college in half.

If you want to go ahead and get a bachelor's degree or a master's, that's after.

And you're picking up a real tangible skill in trade and that is priceless.

You know how many times I had plumbing issue the other week?

And I don't mean to make light of this, but I'm jealous of these individuals who have gone to these schools to pick up a real skill and a trade that can actually make them millionaires.

By the time they're 35 years old at the age of 18, making anywhere between 60 to $80000 a year.

And then I'll wrap it up with this, because I can I'll shut up.

But you know, us w steelworkers right now, you get done with your apprenticeship, you're making 80 to $100000 a year, anywhere between 18 age to 22 years of age.

You will be a millionaire in Cleveland, Ohio, in this rough economy.

But we have to have more of an education broad through K through 12, educating our younger individuals that this is a respected profession, that you can go into and become a millionaire and actually live the American dream, which usually, in my opinion, that's what it was.

Make enough money, set up your family and be able to pass it on so they could be successful and to continue to do that.

And so one aspect that we're doing and to push through that I think will become push in now next Congress because of how everything is shaking out.

Representative Brown, what do you think about workforce development?

What are your plans?

Well, when I think about something that Max and I agree on is the opportunity to change how education is approached, especially post-high school.

And within high school, there was talk of Tri-C and I would talk about updating the Pell Grant so that technical college can receive Pell Grant funds and really address some of the workforce shortages that we're talking about that is something that we should have the capacity and power and will to do that would enable a lot of people to have better opportunities available to them.

I think given the president elect, we should also consider giving those opportunities to our reentry community.

Those who have had a past a felony in the past is certainly not be hindered or held back from those opportunities to be able to get an education.

And I would also speak to the fact that when we consider agriculture, one of the things that's a committee that Max and I serve, one together, and we have actually co-sponsored legislation around supporting the investments into urban AG as well as rural ag.

And so Riddle Farms, which is located right in the heart of Cleveland, it's the largest urban ag area in the state.

And we have been a model for the country and that is really an area that there is room for a lot of opportunity for people who don't have four year degrees but can really take an interest in in the agriculture space, be it urban and make a decent living as well.

Yeah.

Let's talk about your committee, your agriculture committee work, because the farm bill expired at the end of September with no renewal.

The benefits will run out at the end of the year if Congress doesn't act.

It's critically important to a large number of Ohioans, both those that use SNAP benefits and those that rely on ag subsidies from the bill.

You're both on that Agriculture committee.

Do you expect to tackle it during the lame duck session?

I can take that one on.

I you have a little bit more insight than my colleague right here.

And I should've told you this before him be married.

You know.

So unfortunately, you're absolutely right.

An extension was put on the farm bill and that does expire January 1st.

And then on January 1st.

The vast majority of the programs will lapse.

What we're going to do in Congress, unfortunately, and I'm not satisfied with this, is that we're going to put an extension on the farm bill in the most recent C.R., which will be hit December 20th, which I advocated against for that specific date, because I thought it was just reckless and timing right before Christmas so close to the end of the year.

And to be fair, we also said we wouldn't do that and we did.

So I'm just balls and strikes here.

But that being said, look, we have a target of opportunity to work on the farm bill and everything that we did to get it out of committee in the policy framework that we worked hard on in the last two years isn't off or not.

The vast majority of that framework will be within the Farm bill.

And now, since the dynamic of Congress has shifted a bit, I believe after we fix the debt ceiling in February with a new administration that the farm bill will hopefully be passed right after that.

And there is a lot of initiatives that Shantel and I are both very supportive of.

And look, regardless of what you may hear and we may agree to disagree on this respectfully, but the farm bill is over 80% snap from what I have seen, and there are no cuts that come down until 3 to 4 years later.

And that gives us a target of opportunity to help people to get into these programs.

Every one in seven kids still are hungry throughout our country.

It is something that is needed.

But we need to make sure that, you know, work requirements, in my opinion, are there because we want people to be on this program to get the assistance, but we also want them to go ahead and to get off the program to be more independent.

And that's how it was set up.

So I don't want to lose any of these opportunities within the farm bill.

And there's a lot of great initiatives that will be in there, including sustainable aviation fuels, which is for our corn and wheat growers that are out there.

I don't know of any planes right now that are running on batteries or hybrid jets, but jet fuel is still very important to all of us.

And because of sustainable aviation fuels, it is going to lower the cost for every American, regardless of political, political affiliation while traveling.

And every major airline has backed it.

So there are a lot of great initiatives in the farm bill.

And the last two things I'll say we made historic investments in the farm safety net and in crop insurance.

And I know that most of you know what's going on in the state of Ohio with drought right now.

And so finally we were able to get some federal assistance the other day that was put out that we saw.

We issued a letter acknowledging that in hanging grazing has been freed up for our farmers and livestock producers, thanks to the governor and on the federal level.

So we are addressing it.

But the Farm bill, in my opinion, will be passed next year and sadly this has happened to the last three farm bills, which every five years none of them have been met on time, sadly.

So yeah, I'd say this is probably the longest delay that we've seen in the farm bill.

It was.

But what I would also say is that one in four people in my district are snap eligible.

So when we talk about it, $30 billion cut over the next ten years, that will have devastating impacts on people in Ohio's 11th Congressional District.

One in three of my constituents are on Medicaid.

80,000 of my constituents have an income of $25,000 a year or less.

And so programs like SNAP are essential to to me and to the people of Ohio's 11th Congressional District.

I did have an opportunity to visit a farm actually last month with my colleagues and information from Georgia, who also serves on the Agriculture Committee to actually connect with our farmers and learn about some of the challenges and struggles that they face.

They, too, are facing some challenges as it relates to pricing and the subsidies.

I'm proud to say that Max and I had a letter that actually addressed this that talked about the the subsidies.

It talked about the big picture things.

And so while we don't always agree on everything in the big picture, I am proud to say that we were able to collaborate on a letter in the farm bill relative to the farm bill and trying to get something passed and farm bill.

Such a classic example of bipartisanship, a little bit of something we all have to agree on because it really affects almost everyone, every one of them.

It's like Veterans Affairs.

It should be one of the most apolitical issues in all of Congress.

But for some reason, it turns out to be one of the most political issues in Congress for whatever reason.

So I want to talk a little bit about other plans for this coming term.

Very clear that the economy is on every voters mind.

In a poll from Ideastream Public Media Signal, Cleveland and WKYC, you know the number one answer as a term in terms of what Northeast Ohioans care about their what they're concerned about was affordable groceries.

How will you address that in this coming term?

Representative Brown, you want to start I mean, we just we just touched on the farm bill.

I think that when we affordability and inflation is clearly a big issue.

And I think we particularly Democrats, didn't necessarily do the best job communicating that.

What I will say is the economy and inflation seems to be moving in the right direction.

I think that what we may see is some of the benefits of the historic transformational legislation start to impact people.

When we think about the investments around the bipartisan infrastructure law, those are creating opportunities, historic opportunities for people to have access to good paying jobs that don't necessarily require require a four year degree.

Personally, I am proud of the work of the Biden-Harris administration around the budget, around the Inflation Reduction Act, which cap the prices of insulin at $35 a month.

Starting next year, seniors will not have to pay more than $2,000 a month out of pocket for prescription drug prices.

And so that was those are the things that I think we were mindful of.

Unfortunately, government has a tendency to move slow.

We passed this legislation in 2021, but we're now we're going to start feeling that impacts 2024, 2025 and beyond.

And so I hope that as we start talk about taxes and tariffs, we do know that the tax Trump tax cut of 2017 will expire at the end of next year.

My concern is that if we look at those credits around the child tax cut, child tax credits, that they will be in there will be outdated.

Let me say that.

And they will be they won't amount to as much money as people will need given inflation.

Miller As you think about the economy, as you think about affordability, what are your plans to help address that for Ohioans?

I mean, it's really going to come down, and it's not me putting the football, but I can tell you at least what the agenda is for President Trump, because that's the agenda that's going to be set in this Congress.

And so for the vast majority, I mean, look, he campaigned on everything that he did when he was president.

And I fully expect that to come back.

I think on day one, we're going to be working on the border to make sure that that secure and safe.

And it's, in my opinion, Humanitaire in disaster that doesn't get talked about enough about these individuals who make a very dangerous trek.

And it's not, you know, conspiracy theories.

It's very real that these individuals aren't coming over here in the best way.

And I want to make something clear.

No one in my party and myself is anti-immigrant.

We just want to make sure people are coming over here the right, in a legal way.

And then the other thing would be energy independence, that as soon as we get back rocking and rolling, we want to be a liquid natural gas exporter again like we were, which was lowering the national debt.

You know, it's my hope that those two things will come into fruition, but also with the tcja and the Trump tax cuts, if that were to expire, everyone's taxes were to go up on average anywhere between 1800 dollars to $2,000 a year.

To me, I really fundamentally believe that that was just good policy.

Along with the Smith Biden tax bill that had also been talked about in committee, worked in a bipartisan manner, which would have cut the interest deductible, would have gotten the R&D tax credit back in in the child tax credit, and now would all acknowledge about what John tell said about pushing that up.

It may be outdated, but that still gives us a target of opportunity, since it hasn't been passed possibly to plus it up.

But when you're talking about spending, when you're talking about getting everything back on line, both candidates didn't say this and look, I'm just going to address it and a lot of people don't like to, but I will.

We've never lowered our national debt ever by lowering discretionary spending.

Yet it is the number one thing that can crater our national security.

And both candidates didn't touch on it.

One individual's plan technically raised it by 7 trillion.

I believe the vice president's plan raised it by 3 trillion.

And that is what is causing the national debt.

And until the American people give members of Congress bipartisanly the opportunity to look at these programs on mandatory spending and to really understand no one is trying to take anyone's entitlement programs away.

I'm not no one is on my side of the aisle, and I can assure you of that.

Both leaders have said, including Speaker McCarthy and now Speaker Johnson.

But what we need to do is we need to make sure that there are at least breaking even.

We need to make sure that they're at least solvent for the American people.

And if we fail to do that, then this country will go into peril.

And there's nothing that any Republican or any Democrat can do because the insolvency on the Medicare timeline moved up just another two years, and it's set to end all insolvent by 6 to 8 years from now.

And if we don't do the right thing by looking at these programs, trying to get our national debt under control and our entire country could crater, and that's our national infrastructure.

That is our military.

That is everything that we have in governance to keep it up and running and going.

And that is one of the biggest things that I believe that we need to look at in a very pragmatic manner on both sides of the aisle and come to some type of an agreement.

Because what scares me worse than anything else is that if we don't, then it will be insolvent and members of Congress will cobble together some crappy piece of legislation the day before the deadline and do more damage to the American people than actually having a pragmatic gameplan on how to get there.

You both mentioned the president elect's agenda, which is obviously going to have a huge influence on what Congress does.

And I'm curious about tariffs specifically.

You know, Trump's plan for a 20% tariff across the board and a 60% tariff on China would cost a typical U.S. household more than 20 $600 a year, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics, which is a slightly right leaning think tank.

The Tax Policy Center, which leans slightly left, puts that number closer to $3,000 for 2025.

So should that come to pass, what can Congress do to help ease the economic burden on Ohio families?

I don't think it can pass.

I mean, I just I don't mean to interject and I appreciate I'm saying that.

But the thing about the next Congress that I can hang my hat on hope for is that the margins will be slim.

Right?

There will be slim margins.

And in each party, they're usually 5 to 6 people on the fringe.

And so in order to get things done, it will take bipartisanship.

And so that gives me a little bit of hope that we can perhaps prevent some of these some of these policy that have been proposed or campaigned on from really doing damage to our economy.

But in the end, the events that we don't have these slim margins or that where everyone is voting strictly party line, which is not not uncommon, but also not typical for major policies that the House is is supposed to be the purse strings and guards guards that have to manage the budget.

And so I hope that under the leadership of Hakeem Jeffries, whom I know will continue to be our leader on the Democratic side, will continue to do his best to negotiate, as he has done this Congress, by preventing numerous, I would say, for government shut downs.

And so it's a it's a kind of a wait and see moment.

But I can't I'm not an economist and I won't try to pretend to be here.

My approach has always been bipartisanship, respecting the leadership of those who have the expertise and doing everything that we can to help the people of Ohio's 11th Congressional District.

When you look at anything, I don't know if I can do better than that.

But I will tell you which until just said and you know, when we were in the back room before he came out and I said this in there and I'll say it out here because I am who I am in this last Congress, the majority of what Republicans voted on, on the House floor went by suspension.

And if you're not familiar with what suspension is, it takes two thirds of Congress to pass a bill.

That means that when you can't get your own party in line and get 218 votes, you need the other side.

And I'll sit here proudly and just say, thank you for all the times that you guys helped us pass great pieces of legislation that were worked in a bipartisan manner through suspension.

I mean, I understand people think that maybe this has been a very tumultuous Congress.

It has been it's been a disaster.

But but the small things that a lot of people haven't paid attention to are all those votes under suspension.

I mean, that is, in essence, the most bipartisan vote you're ever going to get in Congress is when Republicans and Democrats have to come together with two thirds to vote on something they agree on.

And we've had to do that 75% of this Congress.

And so when people say we don't work in a bipartisan manner, I'm just going to tell you, you know, look, the Democrats and Chantell did a wonderful job of working with us in order to make sure that we can continue to keep the country on track.

I would have liked to see the policy, obviously a little bit different.

I'm sure she would have as well.

But we're able to do that together.

And when it comes to President Trump's, you know what he's saying out there, that I'm going to tariff your way out of income taxes.

Sounds great.

It's never going to happen.

And I think we all know that.

Look, he's an idol of mine.

I respect him.

He helped me get to where I am, but I am not an extension of him.

I'm an extension of the people of the seventh District.

And tariffs only hurt the American consumer at the end of the day.

I think a lot of American people think this sounds strong like we're sticking it to the enemy, but unfortunately, we stick it to ourselves.

And the other thing I'll just get out there and say is that no one's getting rid of 73% auto insurance.

All right.

I heard him say that as well.

It's just not going to happen.

It's not pragmatic.

But this is where hopefully you can look at people like Chantell and I and say, wow, okay, these are two members of Congress.

This is how they think.

Well, this is how most of us think they're.

And so even when we hear these things, we understand where we can be pragmatic and make progress and we're tariffs may actually have a suitable place, but they should not be abused.

Sanctions, on the other hand.

Big fan, you want to go ahead and sanction the Chinese Communist Party as well as Iran and get them to buy liquid natural gas and heavy oil off of us.

That is something that I think that actually can be done in the right way with leadership at the top, putting them into a corner.

Because the CCP's economy is a house of cards.

The middle class is just waiting to just wait.

And it's only a matter of time before we put the right sanctions in place and actually getting one of our biggest enemies to actually rely on us for their power and national security, which I don't think is out of the realm of a possibility in this new administration.

So while we're on the topic of things that former and future President Trump has said.

He's used a lot of autocratic language during the campaign, referring to certain American citizens as a threat from within to his political opponents as vermin that need to be rooted out, calling America an occupied country that will be liberated by his election.

Do you believe that the House has a responsibility to check the executive branch?

Absolutely.

I mean, look, I grew up in the Trump world, right?

I mean, I understand most people look at me as like this maggot kid because of my age.

But if you look at the voting record of myself and you look at the different things that members of Congress have done, I mean, we don't always necessarily agree with President Trump on everything.

I mean, I'm a staunch supporter of Ukraine, right?

He's not.

We're going to have to work through and we're going to we're going to have to work through those issues.

But that's why you have individuals like us that are there.

And what I would like to share is that 80% of members say this all the time.

Probably they're sick of it, but 80% of members of Congress are like her and I.

We get along.

We have a lot of fun together.

We don't always agree on every issue.

But guess what?

I know for a fact that her and I agree on more than we disagree on, and that is the mentality of just bringing them into reality.

And here's the thing.

I know the guy says a lot and I know he makes a lot of know promises that are put out there to the American people.

But the one thing that I can tell you about, you know, President Trump is this and this is why I have confidence that he can, policy wise, get our country to the right places, because he's done it before.

And I want to say something really clear about the rhetoric.

I despise the rhetoric on both sides.

I don't think it's acceptable for President Trump to say, you know, call people vermin.

I also don't think it's acceptable for President Biden to call us trash.

And I think that at the end of the day, you know, we get picked on a lot more for our rhetoric than the other side does, because I could go through a litany of examples, like from the I mean, and I'll stop, but I just want to be fair.

I think that equivocating the to a lot of people would object to that.

The intensity of the language that President Trump has used is unprecedented.

Now, whether Joe, whether he means it or not, we can argue about but I want to just put a little bit of pushback on that, which I'm not disagreeing with the larger point that there needs to be more civility in the way we talk about each other.

It means a lot.

But I do want to put that out there.

And if you I'd like to hear what Representative Brown has to say, but I don't want to cut you off.

No, look, look, absolutely rhetoric matters.

I mean I mean, I'm not going to sit here and say that it doesn't.

But to say one individual is worse than the other party, when I can give you a litany of examples from publicly elected officials who made vile threats against a demographic of people on both sides of the aisle is absolutely refutable and should never be stood for.

And so that's where I'll give a slight pushback, because I do think Republicans do not get a fair shake on a lot of these issues, including myself.

And I've had to address them personally.

And I just continue to get relentlessly beaten down.

And I rarely ever get a platform like this to where people can actually see who I am and what my policies are.

I think people assume a lot about President Trump for myself, for.

Shontell But here's the deal.

The vast majority of people really don't know us as humans, what our what our drives are and what is behind it.

And what I can tell you is rhetoric on both sides means to stop both of it equally.

It's not just Republicans.

And I want to make that clear and I'll push back on that.

And if you want me to get examples, I just don't think it's healthy.

But, you know, I just I'm focusing now on President Trump because, of course, he's our future president.

And this is where the House will have the responsibility in the coming term and the term after it is to, you know, possibly, if you believe, to check this.

And so, Representative Brown, I'd like to just say one last thing.

I'll shut up.

I mean, I will tell you this, whether people, you know, like it or not, and I know that if I was on the other side, I probably wouldn't be the biggest fan of this outcome if I was a Democrat.

But, you know, I will tell you this.

He won the popular vote by a lot.

He won the Electoral College by a lot.

And the American people made a decision and it was unequivocal.

And I don't think anyone in this room thought it was going to be called by the time that it did.

And so we talk about the rhetoric.

The rhetoric matters.

But what the American people saw on Tuesday was I'm going to pick policy over emotion and I'm going to pick what's better for my family, my pocketbook, the safety of the country, dialing down on foreign wars and any other social or moral issue or rhetoric that could have been brought into play.

And so what I'm proud to say is that you have two people, in my opinion, with abominable rhetoric.

Sure, one is worse than the other ones, but if we want to equate it, fine.

But the American people spoke.

And not only did they speak, they spoke volumes when it came to the popular vote in the Electoral College.

So we can talk about rhetoric.

I would rather talk about issues that really matter, that we can focus on like the border, energy independence, supply chain issues, fixing our labor shortage and trying to scale back and get more global security than focus on one man's rhetoric, which we already know isn't palatable to pretty much anybody.

But he did get reelected with the popular vote in the Electoral College.

So on that point, I think the American people made a decision to look beyond the rhetoric and to look towards the policies.

And that's why he won in the way that he did.

Representative Brown, I want to just bring it back to the question, which is about checks, balances and what sort of responsibility the House has or doesn't have to provide that sort of check on an executive branch.

It is our job for checks and balances.

As a black woman, this is very personal.

It is hard to accept that the racist right wing extreme rhetoric was palatable or acceptable to the majority of Americans.

That's I think the difference, Max, is that the president elect is on unapologetic about any of the divisive rhetoric that he has spewed across multiple platforms that has degraded and debased so many people, minorities, specifically in this country.

To say that it's the same and on both sides, I think that Democrats, particularly President Biden, Vice President Harris, when the comments were made, they apologize.

They clarified.

They acknowledge the wrong Vice president.

Harris refuted what President Biden said.

We don't see that with president elect.

And so I am not fluent in privilege.

So I don't understand that type of language.

So it is hard for me as a black woman to see one of the most qualified the most qualified person to ever run for office be rejected in the way that she was because she has served at every level of government dutifully, honorably, respectfully and that is hard for me to process.

I don't disagree with you at all, But yeah, look, I don't disagree with with what Chantelle said.

President Trump doesn't apologize.

And so I'm not going to sit here and say that he does or, you know, acknowledges maybe when he makes a mistake.

But I'm going to give you my perspective in my experience as one of two Republican Jewish members of Congress living under the last three and a half years in this administration.

Now, call me a minority.

Call me not whatever I understand, you know, and can hide by the color of my skin and I blond hair and blue eyes.

But I had never felt as unsafe as I ever have as an American Jew who served this country in the United States Marine Corps, in the infantry, only to have staffers on Capitol Hill spit in my face, yell at me from the river to the sea, have all of these disgusting anti-Semitic protests on our college campuses, making Jews hide in their home, not wanting to come out because we had people in this country under this administration who weren't staunch supporters of Israel.

And that hate is real.

And I believe that people saw that.

And regardless of what side you're on, over 80% of the people within the United States of America support Israel.

That's the vast majority of this country.

This administration held weapons to Israel when it is our greatest ally in the Middle East.

And we had never done that before in our country's history.

And so I'm just going to tell when the cop car was parked outside my house for six months because I started getting text messages of dead Israelis that were mutilated and I had to get a new cell phone number.

I also felt that pain.

I don't look at it as somebody who got voted out because of, you know, maybe gender or color of his skin.

I fundamentally believe that the vice president was unsuccessful because the Democrat Party put in an aristocracy when they should have opened it up to a brokered convention to pick the right nominee who could carry the policies.

You're never going to get someone across the finish line.

And I say this as respectfully as possible who has the most progressive voting record in the Senate.

And if she was there, she still word would worse than Bernie Sanders.

And she was the first person out of the primary process who never got a delegate.

And she called Joe Biden racist.

And then three weeks later, she was appointed as the vice president.

And then three years later, she was anointed as the nominee.

I'm just going to say in this country, I think we all feel a certain way, but plenty is there on both.

So I'm sorry.

We're I'm sorry that we have to cut off the conversation here.

I know that we could talk for another hour.

And I appreciate the candor that you're both bringing to this conversation.

I know there's a lot of raw feeling right now, and we are about to begin the audience Q&A.

So for our livestream in our radio audience or those just joining us, I'm Claire Roth.

I'm the managing editor of the Ohio NEWSROOM.

That's a consortium of public radio stations across the strait, the state.

And I'm the moderator of today's conversation.

I'm joined on stage by Congresswoman Chantelle Brown, the Democrat representing Ohio's 11th Congressional District, and Congressman Max Miller, the Republican representing Ohio's seventh Congressional District.

We're discussing the work ahead for the 119th Congress.

We welcome questions from everyone city club members, guests, students, as well as those joining via our live stream at City Club dot org or live radio broadcaster 89 seven Ideastream Public Media.

If you'd like to text a question for our speakers, please text at 23305415794.

That's 3305415794.

And City Club staff will try to work it into the program monthly.

And I do remind everyone questions should have a question mark at the end of them.

And sadly, because we have such two such open and articulate speakers here, we've already run over the time.

So please keep your question brief so that we can hear from as many people as possible.

We really appreciate that.

And with that, may we please have the first question?

heard of Robert F Kennedy coming in as a health care czar.

He's platformed a lot of anti-vaccine rhetoric and we've heard a lot of threats to abortion.

So what can you do as current elected officials during this post-election session to put in some safeguards?

I'm happy to go.

And then, yeah, I mean, I think candidly, you know, I think it's only fair for you to go because this is this is your guy and this is the guy I mean I mean, so I'm eager to look at, you know, I, I haven't backed down from one question yet.

So look, when did so I can tell you at least look for me on abortion.

I've been this way even before, since I ran for office.

And you can double check this, but I don't touch on the federal level.

That is not something that I focus on that should, in my opinion, be handled at the state level.

Ohio had an election.

It didn't go the way that I wanted it to, but I accept the election results and that's the law of the state.

And so that is my very much approach when it comes to Congress and on the federal level, I refuse to touch it.

It's it's nothing that I should have a say in.

I believe it's a states rights level.

Now, when it comes to somebody like RFK who says he's going to go into the FDA, the one thing I can give you a little bit, faith, trust and hope and confidence is RFK will never be confirmed by the Senate, so you don't have to worry about it.

The other thing, too, about a lot of this anti-vaccine rhetoric and a lot the fluoride that's in water and what he is going to do, let's make something clear.

I respect the man, but he is no professional and expert in that industry.

And to put him in a position like that would be malpractice.

So I think what you're going to end up seeing versus what you're hearing is that, yes, he will be in the administration in some capacity.

But how much actual power and decision making is that gentlemen going to have?

I'm just going to tell you, it's probably slim to none.

He brought more star power to the campaign and helping people elect President Trump to get a place within the White House.

I think it's been billed as something a lot more that what it isn't going to be when he is there.

And I have a pretty good assurance on that.

So I just have to I just have to ask because we're talking you know, part of the conversation is words and words matter.

And so I guess the duplicitous ness of the president elect makes it hard for people, especially people like me, to understand what's real and what's was not going to happen because he was very full throated about him, you know, having an important role in the administration.

So if you I hope that that gives you some idea of why people are a little bit terrified about, I guess, in the future.

Yes.

Of our country.

And I understand, look, he's not a unifying figure, but the one thing that that sense I mean, it's it's it's the truth.

He's a gentleman with great policies, in my opinion, who did a great job with the country on that front.

And I believe he's going to do it again.

Here's what someone said to me, and I thought it was really funny.

It was Prime Minister Netanyahu.

A colleague of mine asked him a question and he said, What can you do about all your cabinet ministers?

You know, you got some with improper rhetoric.

They're saying this, you know, it's increasing volatility within the West Bank and the Gaza region.

And he looked at us and I made a lot of sense to me, you know, I can control what we can in this district and so can Chantell within her district.

I cannot put my hand over their mouths every single day.

I it is nothing that anybody can do.

It is impossible.

I mean, if we could, we would.

But what I can tell you is, is that we firmly have both of our hands on the steering wheel.

And I can tell you, at least when it comes to policy, regardless of political affiliation, it's going to be helpful to this country.

And I really do fundamentally believe that.

And I understand that people are scared.

Look, people were probably more scared in 2016 than where they are today, without question.

Regardless of how anyone feels.

I mean, really, I don't think that's the consensus from what we can hear here in the room.

Wow.

Well, I would look, I guess I will respectfully push back against 95% of the room.

Hey, democracy didn't end yet.

It didn't.

And I want to make something clear.

The man was president for four years.

You may not have liked his rhetoric.

You may have liked his policies.

You may not have.

But guess what?

Nothing ended.

We still are the greatest country in the world.

We are still going to wake up.

And if Vice President Harris would have won, and if we were here in a different capacity, I would tell you the same thing, that our country is still here.

It is still the best country in the world.

And he already accomplished some great things.

Whether people want to accept it or not, he is not going to end democracy.

He is not going to put these flipping people in charge.

If he did, he would have been able to.

That's not going to hold you.

Tell us real quick first of all, you don't even have to hold me to it.

You just have to look at what he already did when he was there.

Well, actually, the question inside of a question, but a point one, how would this new decision affect trans rights in the area?

And part two is it true that some books and some pieces of education will be banned and what are we willing to do about it?

That would be more of a states rights issue.

In terms of banning books.

I can't recall one single vote on the federal level that we have had to take.

We're moving any type of literature from any of the any of the local schools.

That's more of a state and local thing that would have to be addressed on that front.

And then I apologize.

What was the second part of your question?

Oh, trans rights.

So when it comes to, say, the homosexual community, I'm endorsed by the Log Cabin Republicans.

So I mean, there's an ally in me when it comes to the homosexual community.

But I will say this and this is just my opinion, and it's just going to tell you how I feel and how the people of our district feel that if you want to be a transgender individual, I and everyone in my party is okay with that.

But after the age of 18 and that is where I'm at, if that is something that anyone would like to do, I believe they have the fundamental right when they are an adult to make serious decisions that are irreversible for their bodies.

And that is something that even when I was growing up as a kid, that they told me that my brain would never be fully developed by the age of 25 and 27.

And for the life of me, I can't understand why we would give testosterone and estrogen to kids who are hitting puberty, who are going through an immense amount of emotions and feelings and body changes to only give them more testosterone and estrogen.

I believe that if this is something that wants to be continue to be done, I think the age of 18 is a perfect age to let that individual be an adult and to go on their own adventure, to be who they fundamentally are.

And that is something I'm very supportive of.

But look, we have age restrictions in this country, okay?

And it's not it is for certain things.

You need to be 16 to drive a car.

You have to be 18 to go ahead to buy nicotine.

21 for alcohol and gambling, changing and altering your body that is irreversible at a very young age concerns me greatly for children.

And I believe that if you're 18, you should be able to make that decision for yourself.

And then if that's something that you would want to pursue, God bless you.

I hope it is the very best decision for you and your mental health.

Moving along, Representative Brown, I think you know where I stand.

I'd love for the room to hear it as well.

Yes.

So I listen, I don't think that these things should ultimately be left up to the states, including a woman's right to make her own health care decisions.

I think that these are policies, including the banning of books that the federal and my colleagues in the in the Congress have actually put forth policies to protect these rights of individuals.

And so I will continue to fight for that.

Clearly, being in the minority, this is going to be a very daunting task to get over the finish line.

But in order to change the you have to change the lawmakers.

And so we had a chance to do that just this past Tuesday.

And again, we respect the outcome of the results.

We respect the elections, they may not be what we wanted, but to Max's point, we still this is not the end of the world.

We do have an opportunity to fight, do have an opportunity to organize, mobilize, galvanize and reevaluate our messaging, our strategies and what it will take to be victorious in the next election.

So I don't want people to get stuck in despair.

I do not want people to wallow in self-pity.

I do not want people to think that this is the end because still have we still have we still have rights, we still have resolve.

We still can be resolute in our ability to move forward and so don't get stuck.

Yeah, this is just one chapter in a long history.

Democracy is young, it is fragile.

It is a gift, not a guarantee.

If it did not go the way that you want it, then don't throw in the towel.

Now is not the time to say screw it.

Right Now is the time to dig your heels more than ever and figure out how we move in the direction that we would like to see.

The thing that Max is right about.

The country moved a lot more to the right, but that's not true.

In Ohio's 11th Congressional District, our numbers did not move as far to the right as the rest of the country and the rest of the state.

So we are a blue island in a red, what feels like a Red Sea.

But that does not mean that we cannot do a better job convincing others that we have policies that are going to be better for their quality of life.

I think the other thing that we need to recognize is we have to meet people where they are.

One of the things that I will give the the man from Mar a Lago credit for is he he went to different platforms.

He he went to places.

Now he would say stuff on that will be replayed constantly on MSNBC.

Fox News and CNN.

But the masses of people are not getting their news there.

And so I think a lot of us are feeling like how could how could he say these things and get away them and, you know, that are damaging to the trans community That seemed like it would take women's rights back to The Handmaid's Tale.

I mean, it just feels like what?

But your witness, we we are resilient and resourceful.

And I think that when we come together that we can galvanize and move things forward and be guardrails to what could potentially be damaging to the country.

Max has.

Lot more confidence in him.

I'm going to hold Max to all the promises that he said today on this stage.

You're going to want me to do that.

Which is that pragmatic?

I told you the terror grew out of income taxes is going to have me pushed back.

Can I ask one last tiny question?

Oh, we can't.

Can you answer to one question?

One line, one line from each of you?

What would you like to work on with the rest of the Ohio congressional delegation?

You know, they're the priority right now just because we both serve on AG, I'm going to say the farm bill because it impacts so many people.

It is going to be so necessary to this district and the country and what the farmers are dealing with.

They need our help immediately.

Representative Miller, The biggest thing that I would like to do is work on the health of Congress and establishing more relationships like what you see on stage, Right.

Agree to respectfully disagree, but still be very good friends at the end of the day.

The one thing that shocked me about going into Congress and I'll try to make it very brief and maybe you've experienced the same is that you really don't spend a lot of time with your own.

I'm doing my best.

You really don't spend a lot of time with your own colleagues, right?

So not only do you not spend any time with your own colleagues, you spend almost zero time with them.

And my fundamental belief is if you actually got all of these individuals in a room and they wanted to be there and we broke more bread, we would get a lot more done because what you're end up finding is that when I even sit down.

Omar Kurdi Right.

Agree to disagree on a lot of issues, but him and I have come together and built a wonderful relationship.

We always find common ground and we're always able to work on something.

And the one thing you don't see in Congress is Republicans meeting with Republicans with they should I can't speak for your side.

I don't know if it's any better, but if we establish those relationships and really humanize the body, telling you the truth, you get a lot more work done because you wouldn't label people.

Back to the rhetoric aspect, and that way we could all get along and actually get good policy done for all of you.

So thank we have to wrap it there.

Unfortunately, this has been incredible.

Congresswoman Brown, Congressman Miller, I really want to thank you for your honesty and your candor and your vulnerability and your willingness to share with all of us what you're really thinking about right now.

So thank you so much.

Of course, I also want to thank Clara Roth from the Ohio newsroom for moderating today.

And I'd like to acknowledge again that our forum today is the annual Bolton Forum on national politics.

We're so grateful to the Bolton family who have made this annual forum possible and grateful that Katherine Bolton and her guest could be with us today.

Thank you so much for being with us.

We're also grateful for the presence of students from M.C.

Squared STEM High School.

Yes.

Also at tables hosted by Cuyahoga Community College, Greater Cleveland Food Bank.

I think I heard them applaud before McCallie and how they're big fans of the farm bill, big fans.

McCallie and company pressed Public Strategies, Taft Advisors and University Hospitals.

Thank you all for being here today.

That brings us to the end of our program.

There's a lot of great things coming up between now and the end of the calendar year.

Please check it all out at City Club dot org.

That's it.

Have a great weekend.

The Cavs are nine and oh, this form is adjourned.

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