WGN: Rep. Quigley on the Pope’s Speech to Congress

The following interview aired on WGN on September 25, 2015. A link to the video can be found here.

Steve Cochran: Congressman Mike Quigley standing by, known most for being a die heart Blackhawks fan, and a regular guest with Andrea early early in the morning, but occasionally will show up on this show when you know he can't get booked with Andrea, and it's umm, nice of him to do so. I wanted to talk to him about yesterday because I assume Congressman and good morning to you.

Mike Quigley: Good morning, thanks for having me on.

SC: I assume it was very special to be in session in Congress yesterday on a historic day where the Pope spoke for almost an hour.

MQ: You know it was in my mind the greatest lean forward moment on a collective basis, I've ever witnessed. You know the five hundred and thirty something members of Congress, the cabinet, military leaders, diplomatic core, everyone in the balcony, the press, you could hear a pin drop, and you just knew that across the world that the same thing was going on, with extraordinary attention being paid to what one man was saying to the world. That was worth it just itself.

SC: In talking to your colleagues afterwards, was there any push back at all because the Pope gently, and I think quite gently, made some suggestion about how we might live better together and get along together and pointedly in front of that crowd in Congress about you guys getting along and get something done, that was the underlining message.

MQ: I think that's right. Right away, people were suggesting, you know this was a push against Democrats on this issue; it's a push against Republicans on that issue. I think he would be upset if that's what we took away because the line that stuck with me is, we must move forward together as one in a renewed spirit of fraternity and solidarity, cooperating generously for the common good.

SC: Right

MQ: That speaks against polarization and extreme divisiveness, not the fact, no one expects us agree. The country doesn't agree. The country has degrees of polarization. Our job is to try to move past that and reach compromises to fulfill the commitment we made when we got elected.

SC: Do you think the leadership took the message to heart? Because the leadership determines what you guys are ultimately vote on and then really what you end up fighting over.

MQ: That's, that's absolutely the case. I believe so. I don't think you could leave that room and not be moved, and how it's playing out. You know we hear the method of funding a government continuing resolution will be on the floor in the Senate on Monday. I know that late yesterday the Republican leadership in the House was meeting to try and do the same thing. So I like to think so. I like to get to a point where we are not passing continuing resolutions, we are actually authorizing budgets and appropriating because this matters. I do just want to. It reminds me of a time when we had that, and people may forget that in the mid-80's in a great crisis, Social Security and Medicare were losing all their funds. President Ronald Regan met at night with Tip O'Neil, Speaker of the House, and one of my predecessors, Dan Rostenkowski, Chairman of Ways and Means, and they found a way to restore those programs for over thirty years by amending the tax code. Unlikely characters if you know them to come to some sort of a compromise, but I think that was the message yesterday.

SC: Yeah you know anyone under the age of forty; nothing is more tedious then hearing people over the age of forty talk about the good old days, but the fact of the matter is we live in a time now where the continuing resolutions could be a code word or a phrase slap to so many things that use to be standard operating procedure, like coming up with a budget. And of course there is no bigger argument about a budget then there is here in the state of Illinois, as you well know. And it's just the stuff we took as part of your working day that wouldn't even be discussed. As we're going to see if we can fund the government, you know that's a regular argument now. That never use to be the case.

MQ: That's true, and we, you know they weren't talking about shutting down the government say during the Gingrich time. We've got just the routine things to do. We got, raise the debt ceiling. We have to reauthorize the highway fund, the federal aviation administration. We got to deal with positive train control so that the Metra doesn't shut down January 1st, and then we can get to the bigger issues. That the pontiff was talking about yesterday immigration reform, economic equality, climate change, those are all well within our grasp, and I would honestly believe if those matter got to the floor we would come to some resolution. I think that the decisions that have to be made at the top, and I to your point hope that everyone walked out of that room yesterday with a renewed spirit of cooperation.

SC: The Pope spoke about immigrants in a broad sense about immigration, and talked about the fact that we are all immigrants. We all come from immigrant families, and that all should be treated equally and fairly, and of course that is a huge political problem in Congress because there is really an all or nothing. The Democrats say we want everybody in. We want all of it. We want it now, and too many Republicans are saying we want nothing until there is an absolute border wall built and a lock tight boarder and security. Look any argument is settled in the middle are we making any progress on immigration?

MQ: I thought that the Senate bill last year, which was a bipartisan bill, was a good compromise, and the fact is that it didn't get any press, but it if that bill had gotten to the House floor it would have passed and we would move forward. This is all incremental I get that and the art of compromise that you move toward the ultimate goal through slow change, but when the bill doesn't come to the floor you can get very very frustrated and believe we won't get there. You know I look at my own family. I just discovered that my family originally came over from Ireland and Canada, and illegally crossed the border because they were working in the mines there.

SC: Okay.

MQ: They became American citizens eventually, so the Pope was right. We need to come to the terms with the situation that you're not going to deport the eleven or twelve million people, and we need to move forward towards a resolution that accomplishes that sooner than later.

SC: I do know this, as the Pope moves on and is now in New York and Philadelphia on the weekend, and Andrea will cover that, and be with us Monday talking about it, but I do know this Congressman Quigley there might be a lot of hobby Catholics in Congress will be in church on Sunday.

MQ: [laughs] I think that's possible. I had that take away, and I also if you watch this. The other thing that strikes you is the Pope is seventy-eight years old.

SC: How about that.

MQ: And he has stamina that is better than a person half his age. You look at the schedule; the itinerary he is following it is just amazing, and the fact that there much be such extraordinary pressure on him, knowing that the world hangs on every word he says.

SC: Yeah, and English is tough for him, and he wrestled with that speech, and to speak for fifty minutes with a language that not only is not your primary language or your second language. A language he really has to work at I thought that was really impressive too.

MQ: I do too. I think in some respects if you were in the room it might have helped him, because you had to be very quiet as a group.

SC: That's a very good point, a very good point.

MQ: And you had to listen, there is an old saying that if you want someone to listen, whisper. He wasn't intentionally doing that, as you say. He was doing the best he can with the language, but in some respects I think it helped him. People wanted to hear every word, if you missed it you could hear member say, what was that? And most members got copies of the address immediately after and walked through it. So look it's a historical speech it was marvelous. Its test of time will be did we listen to the fact that he was saying politics is the expression for the need to live as one.

SC: Yeah when he goes back to the Vatican in the hours, and days, and weeks, and months ahead are we going to remember the message and do anything with it or is it just going to be moving on and frankly moving backwards to the same old thing. Well keep the pressure of Congressman. Will we see you at the hawks' opener?

MQ: It depends, if the…I have to be honest, if the cubs over take the pirates, and they play that game at Wrigley field you got to be there.

SC: Okay, it's good to be you. Hold the line, and thank you. Have a good weekend. I appreciate you coming on.