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time at c-span.org/history : jois 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 need to look for it together and understand that both sides have made mistakes. and that there has been violence. and we need to move forward as a nation. host: what do you think about your party's center of liz cheney? caller: i have been focused on my district, the first congressional district in south carolina. i have things to work on this year legislatively. i just passed a bill last week out of the oversight committee. an amendment passed out of committee and attached to a bill, it was a historic animal farming bill. we have never banned animal farming in the past. that was a historic moment last

week. so, again, this question was asked of me yesterday and i am about unifying my party and bringing people together. we need to accept that we have members that have different ideas or approaches to issues. i marched to the beat of my own drum because i promised my district to be an independent voice and i would work with anyone willing to work with me. as a fiscal conservative, i promised to work with others. that's where my focus is, that is where all of our focus should be. we were elected to do any job, not trend on twitter. we were elected by the people. that is where we should all be focusing our efforts, regardless of your political affiliation. host: earl blumenauer was here earlier, he said he was working with you on a cannabis bill? caller: yes, i -- guest: i am failed to state

reform act in november and it has gotten accolades, endorsed by americans for prosperity, a veterans group and a law enforcement group. it also got an endorsement by normal. it deschudules cannabis. we should not be scheduling it like a schedule one drug like heroin or opioids. and we should be able to study it, if it is as good as people say it is for medical services. we should be able to research it and make recommendations. but the act also recognizes the rights of every state in the country. all but three have some form of cannabis reform in their states. south carolina, we made a cbd and hemp legal. florida has medical cannabis. california and colorado have full adult use.

this bill recognizes the state'' rights, that we will recognize the laws of every state to make decisions on what they want to do, whether it is cbd or full adult use. i try to also bring republicans and democrats together, there is something for everyone in here. funding for small businesses and community policing, to make sure that kids are educated on drugs and how bad they are. there is incentives for states t o not sell cannabis to those under 21. there is prohibition to marketing and advertising towards children. there are -- there is protections for veterans who are seeking employment and today should be able to get prescriptions if the doctor determines and that they need it. so there is something for

everyone in there. there is expungement and release. so nonviolent cannabis offenders would get released and records expunged, but it does not include gang members or duis. so i tried to be bipartisan in the approach and recognize that there are certain rights for states and this is one of them. host: representative nancy mace, first female graduate from the citadel. magna cum laude is what you graduated. guest: i have a primary and general election this year. host: your primary opponent is more supportive of president trump, is that a fair description? guest: i actually worked for president trump in 2016 and i traveled across seven different state to helps him get elected

in 2016. one of my opponents was not there early on and i was. i have agreed with him on his policies. i have been under his presidency. and 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 that the tax cut and a jobs act we had the lowest unemployment rates for black and brown americans, women, hispanic, latino americans. do not forget the bipartisan law in 2018, the one bill i had signed into law as a state lawmaker before coming to congress was a prison reform bill. i looked at the first step act that president trump signed into law, and one provision was prohibiting pregnant women from being restrained.

and i thought, how barbaric that that is still going on in our prisons. come to find out in south carolina it was a policy. and along with the head of our infraction department, we worked together to ban it and we had the bill signed into law in 2020. ideologically, i am a fiscal conservative. i have done a lot of civil rights work. president was also involved in pardoning those for nonviolent crimes. i have met some of those people. so i would not go that far, but i would certainly say my policies very much line. -- align. i'm a product of the reagan era. he was also conservative and he said it was incumbent upon us to work with others and i have done my best to do that. you have seen that as a state lawmaker and is a member of congress now. it is important that we have

pragmatic voices. if you threw a punch my way or lie about my record, i will hit back. i will clarify that nd speak the truth -- and speak the truth. i know that is what my constituents want. and what everybody wants from their representative. host: here is stephen in indiana on the democrats line, you are first up with congresswoman nancy mace. caller: good morning. guest: how are you? caller: fine. i'm impressed. i did research on you to try to find something, but i agree with everything you are saying and i am a democrat and you are a very impressive woman. a high school dropout. you got over that and what happened to you as a youngster, we do not need to talk about that, but i am very impressed. and i'm at a loss of words.

i hope you succeed because you are a true american. guest: i appreciate that. i believe in second chances. i have been given a lot of second chances. and as you mentioned, i was raped. when i was 16. my dad was a general, my mom a schoolteacher, and they said you have to start going to work if you are not going to school. i learned tough lessons. i learned about the value of hard work. i became a waitress at waffle house on the side of the interstate. and i learned tough lessons. and i believe that is why i am so passionate about the things i am fighting for, things for the american worker. things i think that most of us can agree on. our goals are the same, our approaches might be different,

but we want a better life for our families, better wages, better opportunities and be able to work and retire in the greatest country in the world. so, those tough lessons and i eventually did get my high school diploma and i would go on to the citadel to become their first female to graduate from there. i did that in 1999. i learned the courage to speak up for myself and also give voice to the voiceless, no matter the consequences. and having confidence. if we do not believe in ourselves, no one will believe in us. it's true in business, when you are managing colleagues, when you are putting forth legislation entry when you are trying to put the kids to bed at night. so, i tried to bring those life lessons because i have had as much failure as i have had success. and acknowledging that, that i f

eel the pain of many americans when they are struggling. i have been there, i have gotten the t-shirt multiple times over. and the struggle is real and i get that. i will work hard, like i promised to do, and i will not tow anybody's line but those i serve. host: edward on the independent line. caller: one, i want to say quickly thank you for talking about the situation. it does affect people's lives. now that we have this personal freedom of choice, for legitimate political discourse, does not only apply to health emergencies or will it apply to the next war that i do not want my child to be dissipated? -- child to participate in? guest: i'm not sure i understand

the question per se, but i think that the temperature in this country needs to be dialed back. and that is true on both sides of the aisle. words have consequences. i learned that in my first year. violence is never the answer, no matter the issue. peaceful protests are. the first amendment is. i do not believe in censorship. you want to hear what the other side is saying, you want to know whether perspective is. so i hope that our discourse going forward is not violent. that goes for republicans and democrats alike. we need to focus on solutions. there's bashing on both sides of the aisle. inflation was at 7% last year, wages have gone up by 3% and did not keep up with inflation. gas has gone up.

steak costs 25% more. heating and cooling your house is up. these things affect the american people, so what are we going to do about it? greater spending and printing money by the federal reserve are some of the root causes of this in our country. we are distracted by shiny objects on twitter. and who threw the last punch. we are not focusing on the american people. we are not looking at balancing the budget. why aren't we looking at balancing the budget, for example? the government shut down large and small businesses in the pandemic and businesses had to make cuts. and they had a look at that. and the federal government just kept taking record revenues and spending more and putting us further into debt. we are not solution focused right now and that is a problem,

a problem across every sector of government, whether it is health care because of those costs are skyrocketing, taxes, covid-19. all of this is keeping us from surveying the american people and doing what is right. host: dana, a republican, you are on with representative nancy mace. caller: good morning. we were just talking about mandates. do you think that -- like everybody is saying it is a communist thing. if they get away with it now then what can we do to stop mandates? guest: i agree that it is a slippery slope. i said it earlier in the show that i do not agree with mask or vaccine mandates. and i am someone who has been fully vaccinated and i have had covid-19 twice already. the other thing we are talking about, vaccine passports for example. there are certain states with a

vaccine passports, like new york or hawaii. but they do not have voter id. that's hypocritical. you have to show a vaccine card and id to get a coffee, but you do not need it to vote in this country. it does not make sense. when becomes a vaccine mandates as well, historically states and county governments are the ones that will dictate vaccine requirements, not the federal government. it has never been done for businesses over a certain size. it has never been done before and is not constitutional. mask mandates, that should be a personal decision. i made a decision when my children were going to school, when we had spikes, kids would wear a mask. the same time, we just got omicron.

it went through the whole family. we stayed at home and we still got it. i share frustrations with every parent. and i also want to follow the science. i was criticized for mentioning natural immunity. now there are studies saying that we should take into consideration. it should not only be people who are vaccinated. i would like our policymakers to look at all of the science and make the best decision, not a political decision for political points, but follow the science and studies. and let's get real about it. host: three minutes left. nancy, a democrat, go ahead. caller: i would like to know if the young lady can state that president biden is the president. guest: yes. mhm. i stated that back after the election in 2020. again, i think that looking to

the pastor will not help the american people. we need to be looking forward. we have a crisis at her southern border right now. we had over 2 million illegal immigrants across the border and that is what we know about. we have historic levels of immigrants coming across the southern border and it is killing americans each and every day. china is on our heels, not to mention ukraine and russia and nato issues in eastern europe. we have inflation crisis on our hands, where wages cannot keep up with the cost or price of inflation. we have real issues and if we continue to relitigate issues of the past we are not doing right by the american people. i will challenge everyone watching to think about what is going to get us and our country through this crisis? will it be division, will it be fighting with each other into scoring political points on social media?

or will it be solution focused, finding answers and working together get to get us out of this mess? i hope you would say the latter. if you agree, let's start acting like it. host: does relitigating 2020 hurt your party's chance of taking the house? guest: i think it hurts both parties. i think republicans will have -- in the next cycle. will it be -- of the republican agenda. the house right now, nancy has a strong majority, but that is not a mandate on socialism. that's a mandate to build consensus and work together. so i think time will tell. but i believe it will be a republican sweep. but i think it will be with republicans who have ideas, solutions and policies for the

crises our nation is facing. host: have you been watching the beijing olympics? guest: i have watched a little bit, there are some south carolinians participating. i agree with the diplomatic boycott. it did not go far enough. i wish we were not having the olympics in beijing, it is china's way to soften its image around the world when we all know that they have major human rights atrocities that we are turning a blind eye to. host: representative nancy mace from south carolina, we appr washington journal continues. host: joining us on the washington journal is representative earl blumenauer, longtime member of congress from oregon, democrat. he works on trade and fiscal issues among other things. congressman, we want to start with where we left off this morning andi