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CLTV: Rep. Quigley on SCOTUS Appointment, Capitol Hill and the Blackhawks at the White House

February 16, 2016
In the News

The following interview was aired on CLTV on February 16, 2016. A link to the interview can be found here.

Paul Lisnek: And we're back on Politics Tonight, always good to check in with the Congressmen who are trying to do their job in Washington, D.C. Returning to our show as he frequently does, Illinois Congressman Mike Quigley of Illinois' 5th district. Thanks for coming back, I appreciate it.

Mike Quigley: Glad to be here!

PL: Now, so much to talk about, but I actually want to talk about the President's recent trip to Springfield because you were on Air Force One with him on the way here. If you don't mind me asking, what did you talk about on the way on the plane?

MQ: First you gotta put it in context. From a historical point of view, travelling on Air Force One with the first African American President in the history of the United States, returning to the place where his political career began on the 9th anniversary of his launching his bid to be President of the United States –

PL: To the day.

MQ: -- to the day! – that's pretty special. We talked a little bit about gerrymandering, what he was going to say. You know there's a bit of a wistful sense with the President talking about this anniversary and what it meant for him. I reminded him that we had spoken after he had lost his race with, for congress…

PL: Bobby Rush?

MQ: Congressman Bobby Rush, and what he was going to do next, and that I had now infamously said "Well, there'll be something for you someday." So a bit of reminiscence about what was still left to do in his term and what he was going to say in Springfield.

PL: But when you talk about gerrymandering, as you know, that is one of Governor Rauner's big issues, right, so some people thought that would propel Governor Rauner's turnaround agenda as the President kind of took his side on that issue. I'm guessing the President wasn't looking to take sides.

MQ: Well it's something we talked about because I reminded the President that. There have been three elections since I got to Congress where far more Americans voted for a Democrat for Congress, yet we were down 20 or 30 seats. So somewhere in the rest of the United States, gerrymandering is taking place to benefit the Republicans. And in reality, if it was done evenly across the board nationally, Democrats would be in control of the House of Representatives. Either way it should be fair, the President was right to raise the issue.

PL: Last question on that. You know some would say, look, the President's message was strong, was important, but, look at his own backyard; he can't do what he was telling Springfield to do.

MQ: Well, it's difficult. He's had some progress. I would say Governor Rauner doesn't have an extreme group like the Tea Party, which in the history of the United States has not been replicated. We have never had a party within a party that kicks out their own Speaker when they had such a majority. Speaker Boehner had more Republicans in the house than at any time since the Hoover Administration. Governor Rauner hasn't had to deal with something like that.

PL: But the President does have to deal with, certainly, a majority of Republicans, he's dealing with them in the Senate. I want to get your take on the whole Justice Scalia situation. Scalia passed recently, and the President who basically Republicans said "don't even bother making a nomination." Somehow they found a rule that says you don't get to do anything your last year in office. What does he do?

MQ: It's a man-made rule, it's not a law. They're responding to this Thurman Rule, and I just, very quickly… What Senator McConnell said during the Bush Administration, "it's just an excuse for our colleagues to run out the clock on qualified nominees waiting to fill badly needed vacancies," he called the rule "a rule that doesn't exist." So it doesn't exist. If we don't nominate and put someone on the court to replace Justice Scalia, there'll be a year-long vacancy. And, the fact of the matter is, this term goes ‘til the end of this year and into January. The President has a constitutional responsibility to appoint a qualified individual, and the Senate has a responsibility to advise and consent.

PL: My guess is the best thing the President can do is find somebody qualified who may not be so completely liberal, but basically put it on the Senate to go "deal with this, guys."

MQ: Absolutely, and I think that's what he was talking about today. He's going to put the most qualified candidate forward and let the Senate address it.

PL: Let's talk about some of the things you've got to deal with. The gun control issues has been so difficult…you can't get anything through Congress, but it looks like you may have found a bit of an answer, a bit of a rainbow.

MQ: We're actually beginning to get bipartisan support. And the police have supported this nationally.

PL: This is the NICS Denial Notification.

MQ: NICS Denial. Basically what happens is people who can't get guns legally still try. These are people who are abusers, these are felons, but they still try because there's no problem with trying. All this does is it requires the federal government to notify local authorities because this is a felony. People can prosecuted for this. So we're getting bipartisan support. The Fraternal Order of the Police are for this, and bizarre of all factoids, The National Rifle Association has not come out against this measure. We got a shot at this, so to speak.

PL: Bipartisan!

MQ: Yes, yes. We're going to give it our best shot.

PL: Let me look at 2016 with you for a moment. You're a Hillary supporter, right?

MQ: Yes.

PL: Are you shocked at all at how much attraction Bernie Sanders is getting? Did you expect it? I don't think she did.

MQ: I don't think anybody did. But I do think you look at past Democratic-Republican primaries, early on, the nominees on the Republican side, Romney and McCain, did not win Iowa. They did not win New Hampshire. They tend to be a little bit of outliers. If they were held later in the process, they would have very little media at all. I think… I do believe things will settle down once South Carolina takes place. And the Republican process I think will wane even further after South Carolina.

PL: And you know, I think South Carolina has picked the winner pretty much every time except Newt Gingrich four years ago. But that being said, if it is Donald Trump, is that a good thing, are you happy to take on Donald Trump? Don't underestimate him!

MQ: I don't underestimate anyone, and there are those who say I should be very happy with a Trump nomination, but I'll say this, I respect the process so much, to elect the leader of the free world, that it disturbs me that someone so out-there, so hate-filled, has a chance to be the nomination of the Republican Party.

PL: Less than a minute left, but looking at the balance of the Obama term, another year, you're serving in it, will anything get done?

MQ: Well… Speaker Ryan, on a bipartisan basis, helped pass what is really a two-year budget deal. It's hard for me to imagine that a measure which provided some relief from sequestration, he would now say "alright let's have a fight about this," and "that we'll have a problem with the appropriation process." To me if they want to show the Republicans can govern, continue that minimal bipartisan effort and get this budget, this appropriation process done the right way.

PL: I can't let you go, just a few seconds left, you're skating with some Blackhawks coming up, right?

MQ: This weekend we'll be practicing with the USA Warriors, some of our greatest heroes playing hockey in Minnesota, outside with the Blackhawks. Coach Q is extraordinary; we play 20 on 20 scrum hockey with two pucks. People need to watch that. It'll be a lot of fun.

PL: You're playing! You're not eating popcorn, watching.

MQ: This is the fourth year we'll be doing this. Love to play, serving with our heroes, and the heroes… I love the Blackhawks, but our real heroes are the USA Warriors.

PL: Alright, Congressman, the Jonathan Toews version of the Congressman from Illinois' 5th district, thanks so much for meeting with me I sure appreciate it.

MQ: Thank you.

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