for over 25 years and congress. every day, a giveaway thousands of them -- every year, i give away thousands. host: the longtime democrat from announcer: “washington journal" continues. host: joining us is representative nancy mace, you first termer from south carolina, a republican. you just went through a second covid diagnosis, didn't you? guest: yes, at the beginning of the year. i believe it was omicron based on my symptoms. i did christmas virtually. i did not go out for new year's. and i still got covid-19 for a second time and being vaccinated. i was sick for a couple weeks, actually, and it was a symptomatic long after i tested negative.

i hate this illness. host: how severe were your symptoms? caller: one of the days i was sick i had a blood oxygen level that got down to 85. the first time i got sick it was down to 87. that level fluctuates, as mine did, but for about 36 hours it was really uncomfortable when that was happening. we do not know why. i which we had more studies to understand why certain people react a certain way or have a harder or more difficult time with covid-19. it's very frustrating. it went through my entire family. and i read somewhere that 66% of omicron cases were people who had covid-19 previously. so i wish that we knew more about this illness and how to treat it prophylactically, treat it better when you have the honest. i was not able to get monoclonal

antibodies when i was struggling to breathe in my state. i wish we had more resources to deal with this illness for everybody. host: giving your personal experience, the fact that you have two school aged children, what do you think about mask mandates? caller: i am not a fan of mandates. as parent, i know that parents want to be able to make health decisions for their kids. when delta was surging in south carolina, i demanded my kids wear masks, and that was my decision, fortunately. and when there are no spikes, i do not want them to be masked up at school. one of my children has had it twice. everyone in my family has had it. but i do not want to them to be distracted from learning. it has been a struggle, i will

tell you, fo our familyr -- for our family. our school had to go virtual at one point because omicron was ripping through the community. we did not have enough administration to operate the schools. and that set my kids back a month when we went virtual for two weeks. it's frustrating as parents but i want to make sure that parents have the ability to make health care decisions for their kids, period. and you are seeing different leaders saying now that masks should not be required, we need to get a sense of normalcy back. and that is a great first step, turning back the mandates. we should be able to make health decisions for ourselves and for our kids. host: i want to play a little bit of mitch mcconnell from yesterday talking about january 6. [video clip]

senator mcconnell: let me give you my view of what happened. we were here and we saw what happened. it was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to create -- to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimate election from one administration to the next. that's what it was. host: we are asking -- we asked there is this morning if they thought it was an insurrection or protest. what is your take? caller: it will be up to the justice department who is investigating, that is where those charges will come into play. there have been 10 committees in the house and senate also investigating. and they have the select committee also investigating it on top of all of that. so at the end of the day, over 700 arrests have been made of individuals during that day.

i was a vocal how i went through that over a year ago. and i want to let the process work its way through the court system and be adjudicated really there. i want us as a country, also, not just democrats, but republicans altogether looking forward. we need to understand why we have so much division in this country. we have had a violence on the left and right over the last two years. we saw it in my hometown of charleston in may of 2020, we had violent riots and the destruction of businesses one night during the year. but as a nation, we need to look forward and come together. and remember why our nation is so great. remember why freedom and democracy is worth preserving. because we have one of the freest democracies in the world

it we can live, work, retire and raise our family in an amazing country and prosper. we have got to work together moving forward. all this looking back and a ttacking people on social media, the american experiment is about debating ideas, ideologies, policy into being able to walk away at the end of the day and agree to disagree. and agree that violence is not ok, whether it is the left or right. it's not ok for one side to do it, not the other. i have been the victim of threats. and i have 10 cameras at my home today because my house was spray-painted last summer. the year before that, when i was running for the first congressional district. we see how this trickles down

into our communities and into our neighborhoods. into our work and even our schools. my kids have been blocked on social media by people who disagree with them because their mom is a republican. i have seen it personally in my life and i have seen how it has affected us. as a nation, we have to stop the name-calling and this rhetoric, and we n got to understand both sides have made mistakes and there's violence and we have to move forward as a nation. >> what you think about your party, liz cheney? >> i didn't read the center, i've been focused on my district, south carolina's first congressional district, i thought things i've got to work on this year legislatively. i just passed a bill out of oversight committee last week. i had an amendment out of the committee and a bill last week a

historic animal farming bill, was never band any type of animal farming on the floor of the house and it was a historic moment last week. the question was asked of me yesterday and i am about unifying my party and bringing people together and we need to accept we have members with different ideas and different approaches to different issues, i am one of those. i marched to the beat of my own drum because that's my district. i'm independent voice and anyone willing to work with me and i promise even as a conservative i would reach across the aisle and work with others and that's where my focus is one that's where all of our focus should be. we want elected to trend on twitter, we were elected to work for the people and i think that where we should all focus efforts regardless of your political affiliation today.

>> earl was here earlier and he said he was working on canvas legalization. >> the state reform act in november, it's gotten a lot of accolades and endorsed like five veterans groups and law enforcement groups and also by normal. if these schedules canvas off schedule one which would allow us to research it. we shouldn't categorize ornn schedule cannabis as a schedule one drug like opioid or heroin. it'sch not near the same thing d we ought to be able to study if it is as good as people say for medical purposes, we should be able to research it thoroughly and make recommendations. also states reform act recognizes the rights of every state in the country and all but three states have our cannabis

reform in their state. my home state of south carolina we made cbd and hemp legal. florida has medical canvas, california and colorado for adult use in this recognizes states rights that we recognize the laws of every state to make their decisions one what they want to do whether cbd or full adult use. bring the publicans and democrats together, something for everyone. there's funding for small businesses in policing and funding to ensure kids are educated on drugs and how bad they are. incentive for states not to sell cannabis for anyone under the age of 21. there is a prohibition against marketing and advertising to children. there are protections for veterans for ptsd, veteran suicide is through the roof. they should be disseminated mayor back from deployment

because they are using cannabis. their doctors at the va should be able to prescribe it to them if the doctor qualified medical physician determines theyy needd so there's something for everyone and expungement and release i would say nonviolent case offenders would get released and records expunged, it doesn't include cartel gang members orr duis. i tried to be bipartisan in the approach and recognize that there are certain rights of states and this is one of them. >> nancy, first female graduate from a military college. you are being primary, aren't you? >> a primary in the general election this year. >> your primary opponent is more supportive of president trumpon?

>> well, i don't know that it actually is, i work for president trump in 2016, i traveled across seven different states to help him get elected in 2016. one of my opponents was not there early on and i was and i agreed with him on his policies and under his administration and his presidency. we had operation warp speed, one of the reasons we had the vaccine so soon was because of those policies. we had low taxes and because of low taxes, we passed the jobs act of 2017, the lowest unemployment rate for black and brown americans, women, asian americans, hispanic, with latino american and let's not forget the bipartisan first step act signed into law december 2018. the one bill signed into law before coming to congress was a prison reform bill.

i looked att the first step act president trump signed into law and saw provisions in their. one is prohibiting pregnant women from being restrained gduring labor and delivery. how barbaric that is still going on in our prison system? come to find out in south carolina it was a policy and along with brian sterling, head of our corrections department, he and i worked together to prohibit that and i had that signed into law in 2020. i would say ideologically conservative some the policy and worked on, a lot of civil rights work in president trump was very involved in pardoning nonviolent crimes. i've met some of those people so i don't know that it would go that far but i would certainly say my policies online. you see that in my work and i am a child and a product of the

reagan era, it's incumbent upon us to reach across the aisle and work with others and tried to do my best to do that and you see that in my work as a state lawmaker andat now as a member f congress. it's important to have bold and pragmatic voices. if you throw a punch my way i'm going to hit back and clarify that and speak the truth and i think that's what the american people want, i know that's what my constituents want what everybody in south carolina want. >> democrat line. >> good morning. >> good morning, how are you rex. >> i am impressed, i've been doing a little research on you to find something but i agree with everything you're saying. you are a very impressive woman. a high school dropout and you

got over that and what happened to you, i am just very impressed i am at a loss of words. you are a true grit american. >> thank you, i appreciate the comments. i believe in second chances, i've been given a lot of second chances. as you mentioned earlier, i was raped in high school when i was 16 and didn't last long in high school and dropped out shortly after. my dad's a retired general and my mom was looking at the time and they said if you're going to stop school, you have to work. i was working during a dairy very tough time and i learned the value of hard work, i worked at a restaurant and there were some very tough lessons and

that's why i'm so passionate about the things iam am excited for, for the american worker. things i think most of us can agree on, approaches might be different at the end of the day we want better wages and better opportunity, work, live and retire and prosper in the greatest country in the world and preserve those things. those are tough lessons and i would eventually get my high school diploma and go on to become the first female to graduate from there, i graduated in 1999 and marthadi balliet of speaking up for myself but also giving a voice tosp the voiceles and speaking up for others no matter the consequences and having confidence, to because we as humans don't believe in ourselves, no one will believe in an restroom business and your managing work and proposed legislation and it's true when you're trying to put your kids to bed at night trying to convince them it's 9:00 p.m. and

they need their rest before they go to school next day. i tried to bring those life lessons because i've had as much failure as ever had success in life and recognizing that and acknowledging that, i feel the pain of many americans when they are struggling. i've been there, done that. ... my question now that we have the freedom of choice in the senate and legitimate political discourse like myself and my family with health emergency and were election lies or do we have

the next day that i don't want my child to participate or myself to support. thank you. >> thank you, i'm not sure i understand the question per se there was a lot in there. i will decide, the temperature in the rhetoric needs to be dialed back on both sides of the aisle, words have consequences i learned that my first year since swearing in violence and violent writing is never the answer no matter the issue, peaceful protest of the first amendment. i don't believe in censorship you want to hear what the other side is saying especially if they're saying out loud. you wouldn't know what their perspective is. i hope that our discourse going forward is nonviolent and that gord undergoes for republicans anand democrats alike we need to focus on solutions and bashing

on both sides of the aisle, when you look at inflation than the 7% last year, wages went up and it cannot keep up and did not keep up with inflation gas is up 50%. if you like steak it's going to costst you 25% more. heating and cooling your house is up significantly this year over last year these are affecting the american people, raising taxes and greater spending is the root cause ofnd the federal reserve. because were distracted on twitter in the last punch we are not focusing on the american people, we are not looking at how to we balance the budget why are we continuing the resolutions, why are we looking at balancing the budget for example. the government shut so many businesses down businesses had to make tough decisions and spending cuts. they had to look at that and the government just kept taking

record revenue and spending more and more and putting us further into debt. we are not solution focus right now that's a problem across every sector of governmentbl whether healthcare, those costs are skyrocketing, whether jobs in the economy, taxes, covid-19. all of this is keeping uss from serving the american people and tindoing what's right. >> dana and ohio, you are on with congresswomanh nancy mays. >> good morning nancy. we were just talking about mandates. you think mandates are like everybody saying it's a communist. we're gonna mandate you to doit this and mandate you to do that, they get away with it now what can we do to stop the mandates. >> i agree it's a slippery slope i stated earlier i do not agree with mask mandates or vaccine

mandates someone who is fully vaccinated and i've had covid-19 twice already we should make those decisions for ourselves. the other thing vaccine passport for example there are certain states of vaccine passport like new yorkrk or hawaii they don't have voter id. it's hypocritical you have to show an idea vaccine card to go have a couple coffee but you don't have to have an id to prove yourselves to devote the country. those things don't make any sense. when it comes to vaccineit mandates, those have historically at state and county governments are the ones that will dictate vaccine requirements not the federal government and certainly it's never been done for businesses over a certain size. it's never been done before and is not constitutional. when you come to mask mandates, that should be a decision, i made the decision as a mom when my kids were going to school and

very much high spikes in certain variants like delta and omicron kids wear a mask to school but i don't want them doing that when there's not. at the same time we got omicron, we stayed home and we still got it. i share those frustrations with every parent as well. i also want us to follow the science. a couple of months ago i was criticized for mentioning natural beauty. there are besides coming out more and more to say we should take natural immunity into consideration and should it just vaccinated.o areo i would like our policymakers tr look at all of the science and make the best decision, not political decision but political points and follow science and studies and let's get real about it. >> three minutes left nancy in virginia, please go ahead. >> good morning i would like to know if the young lady can state that president biden is the .resident

>> iat stated after the election in 2020. again i take looking past is not going to help the american people. we all need to bee looking forward we had a crisis other southern border right now, over 2 million illegal immigrants across our border and apprehended. those are the ones that we know about read we have cases of fentanyl from china coming across the southern border at historic levels. that is killing americans each and every day. china is on our heels, not to mention ukrainet and russia, no issues that are going on in eastern europe. we have inflation they cannot keep up with the price or cost of inflation liberal issues facing our country and we continue to relitigate of the issues of the past in 2020 we are not doing right by the american d people. i would challenge everyone who is watching this morning to

think about what is going to get her c country through the crisi. is it going to be this division or fighting with each other. i would gather and i would hope you would all say the latter. if that is the case and you agree let's start acting like it. >> remaining minutes of relitigating 2020 what is your party's chance of taking the house. >> i think it hurts both parties, make no mistake i believe republicans will have a sweep in the 2022 cycle. is it going to be a vast mandate of republican agenda, i think that is to be determined. or is it going to be mandated with a slim majority that is not amanda and socialism the build back better that is a mandate to

work together. i think time will tell the selection cycle but i do believe it'll be a republican sweep but i do believe republicans have ideas and solutions and policies to the crises our nation is facing. >> have you been watching the u beijing olympics? >> i watched a little bit of it there are south carolinian residents that are participating in the beijing olympics. i agree with biden and the diplomatic boycott but it did not go far enough i wish we were having anyone in beijing it's china's way of such sugarcoating and the diplomacy to soft in the image around the world when we know they had major human rights atrocities that were turned and blind eye. >> nancy mays first heard republican prince south carolina we appreciate you coming on talking to her colors. >> c-span "washington journal".

every day we take your calls live on the air on the news of the day and we discussed policy issues that impact you coming up thursday morning talking about the conflict between russia and ukraine. and implications with the u.s. and nato and taxpayer advocate aaron college will answer questions about the 2021 tax filing season and challenges facing the irs in return. watch "washington journal" life seven eastern thursday morning on c-span or c-span now our new mobile app, join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, text and tweets. >> in making history tv saturdays on c-span2 exploring the people and events that tell the american story. at 2:00 p.m. eastern on the presidency, abraham lincoln scholars michael burlingham and diana sholl talk about the

15th president speeches and what they revealed about the news on the constitution. at 3:00 p.m. eastern will feature the lincoln forum in gettysburg pennsylvania the discussions on abraham lincoln in the civil war with lucas mora, author of lincoln and the american founding. historians author of on juneteenth and carolyn janie author of in the war exploring the american story watch american history tv saturdays and cspan2 and find a full schedule or watch online anytime at c-span.org/history. >> british historian andrew roberts in the introduction to his most recent book called the last king of america, 750 page opus on king george the third says the following. a quote from mr. roberts, the

portrait of a heartless absolute sovereign is repeated almost every single day and america's. and online media. even two centuries after his death hardly a day passes in the united states without some reference to george the third where he is held up an equal opportunity figure, a bogeyman, attacked in the same measure by democrats and republicans alike. andrew roberts over the past 30 years has also written major histories about napoleon, churchill and world war ii. >> british historian andrew roberts on this week's book notes plus it is available on the c-span now out or wherever you get your podcast. >> the senate judiciary committee held it financial cost in human toll to u.s. drone st