Representatives Kristi Noem and Tim Scott Reflect on First 16 Months in Office in Appearance Before Ripon Society
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representatives Kristi Noem (SD-AL) and Tim Scott (SC-1) appeared before a breakfast meeting of The Ripon Society yesterday to discuss their first 16 months in office – a time, they said, that has not only seen the debate change in Washington, but has seen the GOP Class of 2010 act as a “firewall” preventing any new spending from getting through.
“The conversation has definitely shifted in Washington,” Noem stated. “Instead of talking about how much more we can constantly spend or how much more of the hardworking taxpayer money we attribute to different programs, we are talking about where we can tighten our belts. Where can we be more responsible with people’s money and stop spending money that we don’t have – that our children are going to be responsible for?
“When I go home, I tell everybody to recognize that Democrats still run Washington, D.C., and that’s why it’s not fixed yet. We recognize that we’re one half of one third of government. And while we are changing the conversation and having those tough conversations, we haven’t been able to make as much progress as we feel is necessary. That’s why we have to keep talking about our conservative values. We have to keep talking about the situation our country is facing and the need to tighten our belt and change our ways. And that really resonates with people.”
“The freshman class and the Republican majority in the House has brought a check and balance that we didn’t have before. We didn’t have a new major overhaul or government takeover of a system like the health care bill was. We didn’t have a cap and trade bill. We’ve been able to stop a lot of that – bring some accountability into the system and oversight that was definitely needed. That’s a victory we can talk about, but we certainly can’t pause to celebrate. We need to keep working towards all of the goals we have, because we have a long ways to go.”
Scott, who along with Noem serves as a Freshman Class Representative to the House Republican leadership, echoed his colleague’s remarks about which party holds the keys to power in Washington, and offered his own observations about how the 2010 Class is making its mark.
“As Kristi talked about, we’ve got one of the three levers of government,” Scott observed. “Not much is going to change. But you can stop more bad things from happening. And that’s really, if you want to put it in a frame, is in a sense our freshman class – stopping more bad things from happening. But it’s certainly not going to result in reversing the bad things that have already occurred. So treating that reality back home is a part of the challenge that we have as a freshman class. The fact of the matter is that the President’s microphone is huge. Our microphone is invisible. But if we go back home to 242 districts as Members of Congress – as Members of the Republican Conference – and have the same thing to say week in and week out, we start affecting change.
A former small business owner who is hosting an all-day conference on entrepreneurship in the Capitol Visitors Center on May 31st, Scott also discussed the fact that Republicans must have a similar entrepreneurial spirit as they pursue – and communicate – their legislative and political goals. “I still have an entrepreneur’s perspective and passion and drive to make things better,” the South Carolina Congressman stated. “Continuous improvement is something I think about all the time. So for me, marketing is very important. I won’t say that we as Republicans do it well, because we don’t. We’re getting better at it. Jeb [Hensarling] is doing a fantastic job, comparatively speaking. But we have a very long way to go.”
In response to a question about the voters who elected them and whether they were frustrated with the pace of change, Scott was blunt in his remarks – both in terms of what needed to be accomplished, and what he and his colleagues were sent to Congress to do.
“The freshman class was sent to Washington to be a firewall so that more bad things would not happen,” he declared. “That means taking back the White House or the Senate – at least one of the two. And I’m telling my folks to stay engaged in the race and talk about what we said on the campaign trail – what we sponsored. And then talk about the fact the Senate is the reason why, the last 1,000-plus days, we haven’t had a budget, or the 30-plus economic development bills sitting over there that haven’t had a hearing. It’s because the Senate is a part of the problem.”
Noem concurred, adding that it was also important for Republicans to be straight with voters about why change has been so difficult and the obstacles that still stand in the way.
“We don’t have a job to just go home and make everyone happy,” she stated. “We have a job to go home and educate people. We have to go home and educate them and tell them the truth on what’s broken here and what the problem is so that people recognize why we haven’t gotten where we still need to go. That has been a very frustrating thing for a lot of our new members because they are getting grouped into this lump of people who have broken this place. This place has been broken for a long time, and it’s going take more than overnight to fix it. It is still our goal. But we have to go home and be willing to get in front of a whole bunch of people and tell them why and not be placating about it. We need to make sure we are willing to have those tough conversations – which, isn’t always the most fun thing to do, but it’s our job.”
In response to a question about gender politics and what Republicans need to do to appeal to women voters, Noem was equally direct.
“Honestly, I feel as though every single issue just needs a woman’s perspective,” she said. “Republicans haven’t always approached every single issue that way. We’ve got a lot of different women’s issues that are specific to women and issues that are specific to me. But every single issue we deal with, we need to be diligent about getting the women’s perspective on that so they know that we are focused on them and their success. Women in this country recognize that. They appreciate people who give them straight-up answers – who will let them make decisions for themselves. So many times in the past, women haven’t had opportunities to make decisions that are best for their family, for their careers, for their lives. That is what the Republican Party brings to the table. We wholeheartedly trust you to make decisions for your lives, and that’s the message that we can carry forward. I believe as we focus more on it, we will get that message out, and it will do us good in this next election.”
The Ripon Society is a public policy organization that was founded in 1962 and takes its name from the town where the Republican Party was born in 1854 – Ripon, Wisconsin. One of the main goals of The Ripon Society is to promote the ideas and principles that have made America great and contributed to the GOP’s success. These ideas include keeping our nation secure, keeping taxes low and having a federal government that is smaller, smarter and more accountable to the people.