Voices of Swell
@voices · 1:37
A Conversation with U.S. Rep Ro Khanna
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Representative Khanna has graciously taken time from his very busy and hectic schedule to come on to Swell and discuss his passion and work in creating new, sustainable jobs for workers in the United States. Congressman Connor, welcome to Swell. I know you're extremely busy, so I'd really like to skip the formalities and get right to the questions here. The economy has hit some places in America harder than others
The idea that you're going to get significant new numbers of coal jobs or new numbers of traditional manufacturing just hasn't been borne out by the economic reality. So what we need to do is bring new industry, innovative industry and tech ecosystems to these places that have been left out so that they can create jobs. They have a multiplier effect. They create jobs and services. They create jobs in construction and manufacturing, and they help bring investment and income into a community
Voices of Swell
@voices · 0:13
Thank you, Congressman. And on a related note earlier this year, you introduced the Bipartisan Endless Frontiers Act. Can you talk a little bit more about this? What does this act entail? And what role does education play
The issue of the Endless Frontiers Act is all about making investment in innovation and technology across this country. We call for massive investments in research universities, but not just Stanford and MIT, but Wisconsin and Purdue and Indiana and Ohio State and Michigan. Imagine if we poured resources into these research universities to do cutting edge innovation in synthetic biology, in quantum computing, in five G in green technology and help lead in the industries for the future
Voices of Swell
@voices · 0:23
Thank you, Congressman. This sounds like a much needed act, especially given how much the Coronavirus caught us off guard. And I know that you have mentioned that we are at risk to lose our technological advantage to other countries, especially China. If we don't do something like this, this is a bipartisan partisan bill, and I imagine we'll have massive bipartisan support as well as popular support. What are some of the challenges in getting this act passed
Voices of Swell
@voices · 0:21
Thank you, Congressman. And I can only imagine how much you have your work cut out for you to get this act passed in 2021. I wish you the best of luck with this. The election is less than three weeks away and I'm sure will have a major impact on 2021 and beyond. What overall challenges do you see in this current political landscape as we head into this election season
One of the challenges of our politics is that we need to get rid of pack money. And that's why I've started the no Pack Caucus. It's about members committed to not taking special interest money, not taking lobbyist money, really representing an independent point of view so that we're not beholden to special interest groups. That's such a problem currently in the party. And I believe the type of reform that we've need is absolutely critical to go forward
Voices of Swell
@voices · 0:39
Congressman, thank you for bringing this up and thank you for starting the nopack caucus. I share your concern and special interest money infiltrating politics and am very glad to have someone fighting for we the people. I cannot say you enough for bringing awareness and leading by example with this caucus
It has been a tough year. Like every family. I've been concerned about, my parents, concerned about my extended family. And fortunately, no one has had COVID. We are very careful. We wear a mask. We socially distance. We've tried to not meet with other couples just as we're making sure to stay safe. But I've been impressed with the resilience of our community
Voices of Swell
@voices · 0:30
Well, thank you, Congressman. And I'm glad you're safe. And I really appreciate your optimism of the resilience of our communities and our future as we get through all this together. I know you are very busy, and I'd like to ask just one more question. And I do appreciate apologize in advance. But I have to ask about the recent Supreme Court nomination of Amy Coney Barrett. I know you are personally introducing a bill around term limits of Supreme Court justices
Let me end by talking about this Supreme Court nomination. I mean, we should not have Amy Coney Barrett on the court. We need to have the election before we start appointing people and changing the historic makeup of the Court. I tried us politics the process just by calling for term limits. I mean, people shouldn't be on these courts for 30, 40 years, be on the court for 18 years, and then go on to a lower court that will create two appointments for every President
Voices of Swell
@voices · 0:35
And we look forward to seeing the Endless Frontiers Act passed into law next year and more jobs created as a result in the hardest places in America. Congressman, thank you so much for your time and all of your hard work
Voices of Swell
@voices · 0:28
Thank you, Congressman Connor. This was truly a pleasure. And I'd like to mention to our swell community that we want to be respectful of the Congressman's time. So this swell will remain a panel swell and will not be open to additional questions or comments. We thank you for your understanding and hope you enjoyed our conversation with us. Congressman Rocana. For further information on Rocana and his ideas, you can go to Rocana dot com. Thank you
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