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continues. host: we are pleased to have a first time guest come representative -- first time guest, representative nancy mace . we look forward to you talking with the viewers in just a minute. you probably saw this article about you in "politico." trying to figure out where you stand politically. what did you think of the article itself? did you find it accurate and where do you stand politically? guest: like many things, part of it is accurate. part of it is off the mark. i stand with america. i stand with the constitution. on january 3, i swore an oath to that constitution. every decision i make as a lawmaker, every vote that i take is with the constitution in mind. for me, these are not difficult votes. this is not hard.

it is about what is doing right -- it is about doing what is right long-term regardless of who was in the white house, who is in the majority. i hope that people will see my record for what it is, that it is constitutionally consistent and that is the only thing that i care about is protecting the foundation of our nation. host: for your party, has donald trump been an asset? guest: certainly his policies. under president trump, we saw so many great things while he was president. for starters, he signed into law the first step act which was the first bipartisan prison reform bill signed into law in a very long time. it is an issue that republicans should champion more of. he lowered taxes under the tax cuts and jobs act. we saw folks that were making low wages get higher wages.

in my hometown, if you were an entry-level employee at a fast food restaurant, you are making $15 an hour or about to get a raise to $20. you did not need the government to mandate higher wages when they were happening as the market was so good and you had record unemployment across the entire country for every group of humans, whether you were black, brown, african-american, female, asian, hispanic, latino, lgbtq. we had great employment and salaries and benefits for every single american regardless of your political affiliation. one of the great things under the trump administration was operation warp speed where we saw a vaccine go from idea to market in about 10 months. vaccinations are helping us fight covid-19 in places where we have high vaccination rates, the delta variant was not as steady. there were not as many hospitalizations. there were many good things that

came out of the administration policy wise that most of america would support. host: you say policy wise, yes. is there a but? guest: looking at the administration and the policies, those things are very important. it is also important to recognize that every republican district, we are different. for me, i am really focused on lowering the temperature in american politics. it is important that we look forward. that we are consistent. because there are a lot of people right now that are disenfranchised with the biden administration. they thought they were voting for someone who was moderate. instead, we've got someone who has taken a very sharp left turn and that is why you are seeing virginia totally up in the air today in the build back better agenda. i believe that lowering the temperature and american politics is important -- in american politics is important

and those of the things i am focused on. we have an exciting midterm election in 2022 and that will certainly set 24 for the future. host: three spending bills are being debated on capitol hill. i don't need to tell you that. there is reconciliation, infrastructure, social spending. where do you stand on all three of these? guest: on the infrastructure bill, it is called the bipartisan infrastructure bill. the only place where there is a transportation infrastructure committee is in the house of representatives. this bill is crafted in the senate where they do not have a transportation committee. no republicans were allowed to amend the legislation and very few democrats as well. i would not consider it bipartisan from that regard. i cannot support the infrastructure bill because in addition to the lack of bipartisanship in the house, there are 42 taxes within that bill. i don't care if you are a taxing

corporations or if your business is mineral, whatever taxes you are laying on as a company come of those get passed on the consumer. we were told it was paid for and it actually wasn't. you have the federal government subsidizing and competing with enterprise. where i live, we have a ton of electric vehicles and we have businesses that are setting up charging stations in their parking lots at retail locations . at condominium apartment complexes. you name it. the innovation is happening. we don't need the government to compete with private businesses. we could have done more with a lot less. part of that bill, less than 10% actually goes to true infrastructure. you have $1.2 trillion.

you have $110 billion that is pegged for certain transportation. out of that $110 billion, you have $70 billion going to mass transit. that is not to say that mass transit is not an important function. that leaves only $40 billion in total to go to roads and bridges. at the end of the day, there is a lot of waste and if we were truly able to get real infrastructure done in that bill, we could have done a lot more with significantly less money on the table. of course, you have the reconciliation package. i think today's election in virginia will determine whether or not that package actually goes through, whether there is any more debate. if glenn youngkin wins virginia, virginia is a bellwether. that is going nowhere. it will be dead on arrival. one of the issues with that particular bill is this is what

senator joe manchin, what i praise him about yesterday, was that he really called it what it was. it is a gimmick. there are many programs set up with temporary spinning around that bill. they have the price tag of $1.75 trillion, but it could be 2, 3, or four times that with what they want to create within that package. when you look at the kinds spending we have had so far, we have had to extend resources last year when covid was happening during those relief package is. coming out of covid, we have not stopped spending. we are seeing record inflation across the country. inflation is a form of taxation. the cost of goods everywhere is going up. i know when i go to the grocery store, i tell the kids, we are only going to go on the outside aisles, fruits and veggies and meats. we are not going to get stuff that is packaged because the prices are exponentially higher.

when i go to the gas station, i drive a 2011 chevy. i would love to get a newer vehicle, but i do not want to pay those price tags. you are hearing about bidding wars on used cars and i went to fill up my car and it is almost twice as much today as it was a year and a half, two years ago. the trump administration, gas prices were lower. we had less imports from folks like russia on the oil side of things. our economy was in a much healthier place. what is going to happen if we continue this type of spending, it will be devastating to the economy. host: nancy mace is our guest. we will get to your calls right now. we will put the numbers on the screen divided by political affiliation. you can dial in and we will get to those right away. a little bit about representative mace, she is the first woman to graduate from the citadel military college in south carolina magna cum laude. she is a member of

transportation and infrastructure committee and represents the charleston and hilton head island areas of that state. let's take you calls -- your calls. one week in arlington -- malik in arlington, texas. caller: i would like to say that the republican is nothing more than a fascist movement. they are comprised of people after the end of the civil war. the only use democracy as an oppressive measure against ethnic minorities. i would like to correct the congresswoman when she said we received a tax cut under president trump. we never received a tax cut. in fact, my taxes were higher under president trump than under president obama. 28.862 on $8,000. she is incorrect when she says it is nothing more than right wing propaganda. host: there is a lot to work

with there. go ahead, congresswoman. guest: thank you. i talked earlier about lowering the temperature. when we attack either side or the middle, calling them fascist and giving them a label, that is part of the reason we have this division. i really blame social media for a lot of this. if you have watched the social dilemma on netflix talking about the algorithms for social media where if you are a far right or republican, you get that same on the far left even. it is not going to get us anywhere. the first black american that was elected to the u.s. house of representatives was actually a republican during reconstruction. his name was joseph p rainey and he was from south carolina and he represented south carolina's first congressional district, which is the same district i represent today. we have a very rich history of

black history in republican politics. we are not where we used to be with that regard. we used to fight for civil rights and work on those issues. as a party, we are not doing enough on those issues, which is why for me, those are issues that i have taken up on my mantle and i have worked on as a state lawmaker before coming to congress. the only bill i had signed into law in the short time i was in state politics was the prison reform bill, which was -- which restricted the shackling of women in prisons while they were giving birth. they had their children come visit them once a week and they were provided feminine hygiene products. today, i'm continuing that work. i very first bill that i passed out of the house of representatives was a piece of civil rights legislation regarding due process. if you are in a president -- federal penitentiary and you

have communications with your attorney, they are protected if they are by text or by phone call, but not by email. we wanted to bring parity. i worked with hakeem jeffries on that piece of legislation. so far on the first 11 months in office, i have helped passed three pieces of legislation. i worked with democrats on these bills. it is really important that when we have so much division, when labels are being thrown out like that, that we work even harder to have a more polite, lower temperature conversation where we can talk and communication and work together. we are not going to agree on everything. it might be 5% of things, it might be 25% of the things. where we can work together, we should work together for the american people and that is where my focus is today. because i represent an area that is -- civil rights is a big issue for my community and the

district i represent. i am now the ranking member on the oversight committee for the subcommittee on civil rights and civil liberties. congressman raskin is the chairman representing the majority and i represent the minority on that particular subcommittee. work is being done, but we cannot work together when we are fighting and when we are picking fights with each other. that includes picking fights with republican on republican or democrat on democrat. i will be honest with you, a couple of months ago i had to get my concealed carry permit because i get threats from the far right and the far left and i now carry a gun everywhere i go when i'm back home in my district and i am partially through getting a concealed carry permit and i'm here in the seed to protect myself and my family. we have to think about how we communicate and talk to one another even when we disagree. the beauty of our country and the foundation and the american experiment that our nation was built upon is that we should have the ability to have these

debates and these discussions without fear of physical reprisal or physical threats or fighting. we should be able to have the debate of ideas and agreed to degree or agree to disagree at the end of the day, but work together where we can. you will see a lot of that and the message has always been that i am literally going to work with anyone who is willing to work with we -- work with me and i am doing that work. host: timbo from bakersfield, california. "how do you feel about your house leader, kevin mccarthy and how do you feel about liz cheney?" guest: i would hope that the republican party is a big tent party. kevin mccarthy has been supportive of efforts that i have done in the house of representatives whether that is legislation or getting elected and getting reelected. again, i want to be part of a party that is accepting of all of us who want to be part of the republican party because if we

-- and you see this on the democrat side with progressives versus moderates. there should not be 100% parity. we should have a diversity of ideas because those debates make us better as a party, as a conference, and as a country, quite frankly. host: the next call from ralph in augusta, georgia. democrats line. caller: good morning. i have a question in reference to you saying we should respect each other. when mitch mcconnell said we are not going to win with the democrats on anything, you have representative mccarthy and others talking to trump and then they come back and say, we will not try to help you. if you want anything done, you

will have to do it on your own. how can we do this if we all have the attitude that we are not going to work together? as far as former president trump, i heard him say so many disturbing things about everybody, all races, all creeds. and nobody in the republican party disagrees with him. how can i believe that you are going to work together when i see all of these investigations going on and i wonder who was going to get the academy award next time because nothing is getting done and we are in a stalemate. we do not respect each other. host: i think we got the point. let's hear from congresswoman mace. guest: no doubt, it is actually difficult to find ways to work together.

some of that frustration on the republican side comes from being blocked out of conversations, out of negotiations whether we are talking about the $1.9 trillion in covid relief earlier this year where we had different committee hearings on how that money would be utilized and republicans were shut out. republicans again were shut out of the infrastructure bill when it came to the u.s. house for debate and amending. we were shut out of that conversation as well. not to say that two wrongs make a right, i will not say that. but i will tell you the large part of frustration we have had as a party is being blocked out of these conversations and negotiations. when republicans were in the majority, we had a truly bipartisan infrastructure bill where we worked with democrats and we provided legislation that everybody got to have input on and the problem is that both sides, republicans and

democrats, the far right and the far left are contributing to the problem that we see today. this stalemate and this digging in of the heels, the crazier things that you say on twitter, the more money you raise and the more likes and followers you get on your social media. but i did not come to congress to be a social media influencer. i came to work and get things done, which is why it is incumbent upon me and others who are up here to work together. to pass three bills out of the house of representatives as a republican in the minority is no small feat. the first one i did earlier this year was a civil rights due process bill. the second bill i passed i had attached to a democrat bill out of the v.a. committee of veterans affairs involving scholarship funding for gold star families. the third bill that i most recently passed out of the house of representatives was a bill that a progressive out of

silicon valley in california, he and i worked on cybersecurity together and we will continue to work on those issues. i am willing to find a way if others are willing to join me. host: nancy mace, do you hear from constituents more about your vote to subpoena steve bannon or your efforts to end testing on puppies? guest: i would say the puppy letter regarding beagle experiments by dr. fauci and nih has garnered much more attention than my vote on contempt charges . as i promised folks when i ran for office when i got sworn in, i swore an oath to the constitution. the vote on subpoena powers, i would not want to water down those powers for congress because when republicans are in the majority, we will want to have hearings, we will want >> the u.s. house about to gavel in to begin legislative work. members are expected to consider a number of bills dealing with small business development as

well as native american lands and casino gaming bills. also, negotiations ongoing on president biden's social spending package. we could see lawmakers take up that bill and the senate-passed $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill later this week. and now live to the floor of the u.s. house here on c-span.