Congresswoman Debbie Dingell represents Michigan's twelfth district. She invited Cindy Garcia as her guest to President Trump's first State of the Union. Due to the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, Garcia's husband Jorge was deported to Mexico after living in America for 30 years.
Congresswoman Dingell brought Garcia in order to place a human face on families torn apart by Trump administration policies. She says now, more than ever, comprehensive immigration reform is a necessity.
"It's a living nightmare," Garcia said of her husband's deportation. "It's like dealing with death, except you never get to bury a body." She understands America's immigration system is broken, but is urging reform so no more families are torn apart like hers. Garcia's message to other immigrants struggling: stay strong, stay positive, there is a solution on the horizon.
U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-MI) shared her concerns over the Republican tax reform bill and her excitement for the SELF DRIVE Act.The bill meant to expedite the testing of autonomous vehicles was unanimously approved by the House.
After groundbreaking results in the 2017 off-year elections, newly elected Virginia delegate Elizabeth Guzman joins Cheddar from Capitol Hill. She discusses her pride in being a one of the few Latinas taking office, what it means to represent Latino children, and why the state of Virginia responded as it did at the ballot.
The one thing issue that could impact Hawaii more than it can any other state is North Korea, Colleen Hanabusa told Cheddar. "I'm just glad [Trump] didn't start tweeting while he was in South Korea."
New Jersey's first Sikh mayor spoke to Cheddar about 2017's groundbreaking elections. Bhalla says that American citizens wanted to have their voices heard at the ballot boxes.
This congressman believes that President Donald Trump understands what it takes to prevent North Korea from expanding its nuclear weapons project. As the president continues his multi-nation trip in Asia, this is the message he hopes Trump gets across to North Korea and other countries.
Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger joins Cheddar to remind us that Russia is not our ally. He says that the administration's possible involvement with Russian interference in the U.S. elections remains unclear, but the country needs to adopt a tougher stance on the issue.
"[Putin] is actually a bad dude," Kinzinger said. He points out that prior administrations that have been optimistic about smoothing over relations with him have never succeeded.
"He's really just an old KGB agent that wants to basically tear up the old way of Eastern Europe," Kinzinger said.
As Washington debates the future of Obamacare, the former Congresswoman representing the U.S. Virgin Islands says the statute is still "the law of the land," and it will be difficult to eliminate.
While the Republican Congressman from Ohio says passing new laws on gun control won't solve the problem, he points out that current laws need to be followed and that there's no right or wrong time to talk about the issue.
The congresswoman says that President Trump tries to undermine institutions that challenge him and encourage check and balances, something deeply troubling.
Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman shares her outlook on mass shootings in the U.S., a day after a gunman killed 26 in Texas and just a month removed from her own city seeing the worst rampage in U.S. history.
