WEBVTT
00:00:02.240 --> 00:00:03.439
Oh, Julie.
00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:04.320
Yes, Andrew.
00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:05.679
It's a big day for Big Head.
00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:07.120
It is a big day for Big Head.
00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:09.919
Honestly, selfishly, it feels like a big day for me.
00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:15.279
You're just gonna take all the uh all the all the credit right here.
00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:15.759
Is it better?
00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:16.800
A little bit.
00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:18.960
We have one of my favorite people on today.
00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:19.839
So yeah.
00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:25.039
I'm very excited for this because finally Big Head is getting into the politics game.
00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:32.560
We've never really touched on politics too much in our year and a half run so far.
00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:36.560
But today we have a very special guest that I am very excited for.
00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:37.759
I know you are too.
00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:42.799
Congresswoman Susie Lee is here with us, representing Nevada's third congressional district.
00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:44.640
Susie Lee, welcome to the show.
00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:45.600
This is great.
00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:46.719
So excited to have you.
00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:47.600
Thanks for having me.
00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:48.399
Happy to be here.
00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:53.840
Bear with us, uh Suzy, if you don't mind, because we're probably going to ask a few beginner-level questions early on.
00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:56.320
Um so you'll have to you know totally fine.
00:00:56.640 --> 00:00:57.200
Walk us through it.
00:00:57.439 --> 00:00:58.000
Walk us through it.
00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:05.280
Yeah, I am listening before 2016, I was I knew very little about politics.
00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:12.560
I've cared more about who was starting for the New England Patriots or the Cowboys or who was playing on Saturday or Sunday.
00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:16.480
So when it comes, but now obviously everybody's talking about politics these days.
00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:23.519
Um it is a very important discussion to have, and I'm glad that we're able to sit down with you and you know kind of talk a little bit more about that.
00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:31.760
Um so first, out of the out of the gate question, can you explain what your role, what what c what your role in Congress involves?
00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:33.040
Well, I thank you.
00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:34.159
Thanks for having me.
00:01:34.560 --> 00:01:48.799
And uh listen, everyone's life, whether you know it or not, it somehow involves politics because everything that touches you, whether it's your roads, schools, etc., uh somehow plays a politics play.
00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:54.159
I always say you can't do the policy unless you do the politics first, unfortunately.
00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:58.239
But uh yeah, so I represent Nevada's third congressional district.
00:01:58.319 --> 00:02:09.199
This is pretty much all of Summerlin, everything west of the I-15, down to Mountain's Edge, uh, down to Silverado Ranch, down to the point of the state.
00:02:09.439 --> 00:02:14.560
I have uh um Laughlin and Searchlight in my district as well.
00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:24.800
So uh when you're looking at the strip, if you look at the I-15, that's sort of the dividing uh line, and that's what I represent, close to 750,000 Nevadans.
00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:25.520
That's incredible.
00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:31.680
And I'm a representative, so I fly back to DC primarily three weeks a month.
00:02:31.759 --> 00:02:36.479
I'll leave on Monday morning, fly into DC, land around four.
00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:40.960
I have some leadership meetings I attend, and we vote on Monday night.
00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:49.759
Uh, votes Tuesday, Wednesday, maybe, and then Thursday morning, and then I usually fly back Thursday afternoon and spend the weekend here.
00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:55.919
I do that three times a week, or three times a month, then one week a month I stay in the district.
00:02:56.319 --> 00:03:10.639
It's been a little different this uh session because there's been many, many weeks of votes that have been canceled, so including two at the end of the month, which we were supposed to be back in DC, but we're I'm gonna be here in Vegas.
00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:17.360
So um, but that's you know, I serve on the defense appropriations subcommittee as well as energy and water.
00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:20.319
I think we're gonna talk a little bit about water later.
00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:26.000
Um, those are two really important committees, um, especially here in Nevada.
00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:36.879
We have one of the largest national security footprints in the whole entire country, uh, with Creech and Nellis and the testing range and Fallon and our Air National Guard.
00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:37.280
Yeah.
00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:54.800
Uh we all and Army, and we also um, you know, energy and water is an important issue, particularly also with respect to Yucca Mountain, because that bill is where the people who want to send their nuclear waste to Nevada always want to put some language into that bill.
00:03:54.879 --> 00:03:57.520
So I sit there on the defense.
00:03:57.599 --> 00:04:05.840
Um, so when I'm back in DC, I'm helping write bills, we're having hearings, etc., voting on legislation.
00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:12.560
And uh when I'm here, I'm doing a lot of constituent outreach, consist constituent services.
00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:22.079
Um my district office, um we are have been ranked one of the top constituent services offices in the entire country.
00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:34.959
I've been able to return about 50 or 42 million dollars to people who have called my office asking for help, whether it's with the IRS or Veterans Affairs, et cetera.
00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:39.279
So it's sort of just the helping people navigate the federal government.
00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:45.920
Um, if you need help with a passport, visa, things like that, we can assist as well.
00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:48.480
And so um do both of those.
00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:58.639
And I spend a lot of time when I'm here just out meeting with uh constituents, hearing about what's on their mind, what they're liking, not liking, what they need, you know.
00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:00.639
And there's people have a lot of opinions.
00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:02.399
That's you are very busy woman.
00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:07.839
You are and uh honest question if you were afraid to fly, do you think you'd be able to do this job?
00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:10.720
No my gosh, not uh not from the West Coast.
00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:20.480
I mean, there are members from the East Coast who can take a train or drive, but from the West Coast, it's a five-hour flight each way.
00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:25.199
So you gotta, I mean, I guess you could if you, I don't know, took some drugs.
00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:27.759
Tons of traveling though.
00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:28.480
That's crazy.
00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:30.000
Yeah, yeah, a lot of travel.
00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:32.480
You moved here to Las Vegas in '93.
00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:32.879
Yeah.
00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:33.519
Is that right?
00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:40.639
You've seen Vegas go from you know all different phases in the past 20 years or so, 30 years.
00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:46.800
What do you feel like is the biggest change, or what do you feel like the the phase that Las Vegas is in right now?
00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:49.199
How would you describe what Vegas is in right now?
00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:53.519
Wow, so yeah, I mean, I've been here since 1993.
00:05:53.759 --> 00:06:08.879
So saw sort of the move when Vegas thought that it would become a family destination with the building of Treasure Island, and and then they then you know the operators decided that people don't really gamble when their kids are with them.
00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:09.439
Right.
00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:13.279
So, and then you know, we become an entertainment capital of the world.
00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:24.160
Now we become a national sports teams with the Golden Knights and the Raiders and soon to be the A's and the Aces, uh, maybe an MBA team in the future.
00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:39.439
You know, so what I've seen uh throughout um my 33 years here is really, you know, back in the day uh a lot of the casinos were owned by operators who had been here a long time.
00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:44.480
And then now you've seen I'm just gonna say it's become a lot more corporate.
00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:54.959
It's uh Wall Street has um, and that really began about 33 years ago, you know, with Steve Wynne when he took the Mirage Public, et cetera.
00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:59.040
So have definitely witnessed uh the shift along the strip.
00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:08.480
And I will say that it used to be that gaming was a hundred percent the focus of you know how we attracted visitors, et cetera.
00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:21.920
And now it's sort of we we go after the full experience and the full package from shopping to different entertainment outlets to concerts, the sphere, and now of course with national sports.
00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:42.800
So we're definitely always on the leading edge of what the innovation is around entertainment, and I think that's what makes Las Vegas so exciting is you know, when it comes to what it's gonna be that's attracting people, uh, I think that our city is always out at the front on testing those limits and and doing a great job at it.
00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:45.519
We're still the you know number one destination.
00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:46.399
Well said.
00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:46.560
Yeah.
00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:50.480
When's the last time you've been able to have a a night out to yourself?
00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:57.759
Um a night out for me is generally trying to stay home and cook with friends.
00:07:57.920 --> 00:07:58.000
Right.
00:07:58.240 --> 00:08:06.560
I mean, that's you know, I don't get a lot of opportunities lately to cook, and I love to cook home cook meals, so that's sort of my night out.
00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:08.720
Gosh, I can't even remember the last time.
00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:13.680
I mean, I've been, you know, I go out, I'll meet girlfriends out of the strip and things like that.
00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:14.480
But yeah.
00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:16.000
What's your favorite thing to cook?
00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:18.399
Oh my gosh.
00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:21.680
Um, everything I like healthy, obviously.
00:08:21.920 --> 00:08:28.800
So especially in the summer, I'm about I'm gonna make a spicy coconut chicken recipe tonight.
00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:29.680
I'm coming over.
00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:32.159
I love you don't mind.
00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:34.480
We're gonna add a few more people to your to your dinner tonight.
00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:35.759
Pull in the extra table.
00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:36.559
That's great.
00:08:36.639 --> 00:08:37.200
That's great.
00:08:37.519 --> 00:08:45.840
Prior to um being a congresswoman, you have a fairly extensive history in education and the nonprofit sector.
00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:54.000
Like, what did I read that you helped with some of the after-school programs for the underserved youth, and you helped reduce the some of the dropout rates here in Las Vegas.
00:08:54.240 --> 00:09:00.320
How did that experience alter the way you approach uh representing the people here?
00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:01.759
That's a good question.
00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:09.519
Yeah, so when I first moved here, um I worked with the former mayor of Las Vegas, Jan Jones, the first female mayor.
00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:10.320
Yeah, look at that.
00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:10.879
Shout out.
00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:12.320
Yeah.
00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:26.639
And she was really uh, you know, quite uh innovative, and um she was like one of the first mayors to understand and recognize our homeless issue here in southern Nevada.
00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:33.919
So she actually, I worked with her on a campaign that unfortunately or fortunately she uh lost.
00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:41.519
And then I went to work with her in the city, and we started the city's first comprehensive homeless uh drop-in center.
00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:43.200
And one thing led to another.
00:09:43.360 --> 00:10:00.559
I soon was starting the afterschool All-Stars, which is an after-school program for middle school youth, and then um took some time off to be with my two kids who I raised here in Nevada and Cody, and then uh communities and schools, which is a dropout prevention program.
00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:22.559
And I'll tell you that throughout all of those um engagements, you know, the thing that I've always been struck by is we're in the shadow of world-class entertainment, these beautiful casinos and hotels, we attract some of the wealthiest people in the world.
00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:32.240
And but at the same time, you can go just a half a mile off the strip and see some severe poverty here in in Las Vegas.
00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:43.840
And I've always been struck by that, that um you know, that in the in the shadow of the glitz and glamour of the strip, we really have families who are really struggling.
00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:55.840
And um, and then when you talk about education and what's happening in our schools, um, you know, 70% of the students in the Clark County School District qualify for Title I.
00:10:56.320 --> 00:11:04.159
Title I is a federal program that is set it's an anti-poverty program, but it's basically a benchmark on poverty.
00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:16.080
So, you know, when you think about that, almost three in four of our students in the Clark County School District um, you know, uh are meet our federal poverty designation.
00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:29.039
And so I've always been struck by what it is, and and from my own background, you know, I'm one of eight kids and my father had one job, you know, one job, and my mom stayed at home uh to raise us.
00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:36.799
It's really hard to find families who can exist with one bread earner in their family these days, let alone one job.
00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:37.519
Yeah, sure.
00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:54.000
And, you know, what is it that we're doing to build that American dream and to make sure that families can build wealth and equity, and uh what are the types of jobs that we're gonna attract that are gonna build like a solid middle class.
00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:54.320
Right.
00:11:54.559 --> 00:12:00.240
And um, and you know, I think that that's been a big struggle for the Clark County School District.
00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:07.120
You know, when you survey educators, they say the number one barrier to educational achievement is poverty.
00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:32.559
And so, you know, you have schools that are dealing with students who are walking in the door with severe needs outside of the classroom, and then you know, you have teachers who are working hard, and but if you have a kid whose parents can't afford eyeglasses or they're have a rumbling tummy because they're hungry, you know, they're not going to be focusing on what you have on the chalkboard.
00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:34.960
And so that's always been a challenge.
00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:47.360
And you know, for me, that's sort of what uh drove me to run for Congress, the uh economic inequality in this country, which I think uh you know you can see it in front of our eyes.
00:12:47.919 --> 00:13:08.000
Um how do we level the playing field and make sure that all families have access to that opportunity, whether it you're talking about access to higher education, you know, our tax policy, um investment investing in workforce, what types of jobs are we gonna try to attract to our community?
00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:27.440
So all those things really uh and a big issue for me too from Nevada is you know, because we're a small state, we're a relatively young state, um we were we've always sent more money to Washington than Washington has invested back into Nevada.
00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:42.720
And that's been a key issue that I've been trying to address, making sure we're bringing federal investments into our research university, making sure we're attracting, you know, the types of investments uh in our infrastructure, et cetera.
00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:45.120
So those are all important issues for me.
00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:48.480
And hopefully those investments help build jobs.
00:13:48.720 --> 00:13:54.320
Our residents take those jobs, they're good paying jobs, they can build a future for themselves.
00:13:54.799 --> 00:13:58.320
And to that point, is something me and my mom talk about a lot.
00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:00.320
We talk tons about politics.
00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:18.960
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like in general, unless someone has taken it upon themselves to learn, or unless they were taught, there is or can be misunderstandings about what is under Congress's wheel of things that they can do versus other individuals in the government.
00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:29.279
So what are the things that Congress can solve directly, and what do people incorrectly expect from your committees and your job?
00:14:29.679 --> 00:14:41.200
Yeah, I mean, um, you know, first of all, the federal government um really is about obviously federal policies like um Medicare, Social Security.
00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:53.600
Um, you know, a big issue that is being litigated right now is the Affordable Care Act, uh, which was a bill that was passed to make health care more affordable for millions of Americans.
00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:59.200
Um investment in our defense, our national defense, obviously.
00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:15.440
Um so in investment, big investments like infrastructure, our building our highways, and you know, regulating our our airways, um, clean water, clean air, like those are the big things that we engage in.
00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:18.159
What how are we gonna regulate uh AI?
00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:35.360
Um, a lot of those issues, um, higher education, um, setting up Pell, you know, the Pell Grant program and student loans, investment in federal univers, land grant universities, that is federal government.
00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:40.000
The state generally is more how are you funding that, right?
00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:43.759
And uh especially in Nevada, that is K to 12.
00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:58.480
It's how you're funding our higher, you know, our we deal more with aid to students and investment in research, et cetera, at higher ed, but in the in the state, it's how do you what's your the tuition and how are you investing in those?
00:15:58.720 --> 00:15:58.960
Sure.
00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:06.639
Um, and then you get it to the local is your roads and you know, your street lights and things like that.
00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:24.080
So it's sort of, you know, I I would say we're bigger picture, um, federal programs, uh, federal investment, the state is uh the bridge between the federal government and local, and then the local is sort of the things you see and feel right every day.
00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:24.799
Gotcha.
00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:29.200
Yeah, and state is more your school's K to 12, etc.
00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:30.000
Right.
00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:30.480
Okay.
00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:31.039
Yeah.
00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:40.080
Do you feel that uh jumping back to the the the Vegas and the the tourism side, do you feel like Vegas is still too dependent on tourism?
00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:46.720
Obviously, it's a it's you know how we got to where we are today um in a good way, but also I feel like it could be a double-edged sword.
00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:50.879
Do you feel like we're we're too dependent on tourism that we are right now?
00:16:51.440 --> 00:17:05.920
Listen, you know, it tourism has obviously always been the fuel for our economy, and I don't think there's gonna be a period where uh it's not gonna be a significant driver to our economic um vitality.
00:17:06.319 --> 00:17:08.880
And but I would say it makes us more vulnerable.
00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:16.480
I always say the heel the hills are higher and the uh the valleys are deeper in terms of economic upturn and downturn.
00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:22.960
Because if you are a tour, and we are, I do believe we are still primarily dependent on tourism.
00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:25.119
I think it's changing a little bit.
00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:32.400
Um, I still think we have more way, a long way to go uh to truly diversify our economy.
00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:48.160
But um, and so you know, when you think about it, um if we run off of people's disposable income, and when things are tight, the first thing you're gonna drop off of your list of priorities is your trip to Vegas.
00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:52.240
And, you know, when things are going well, you're coming here.
00:17:52.480 --> 00:18:11.119
And but then we also have coupled um that we're seeing now is in response to this administration's tariff policies where they've gone after some of our allies like Canada, uh, where Canadians basically turned off the spigot and said, we're not coming to America anymore.
00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:18.960
Well, our international t traveler Canadians represent 30 percent international traveler.
00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:23.680
And so you've seen figures where uh tourism is off.
00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:27.519
I've seen anywhere from seven to twenty percent.
00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:27.920
Yeah.
00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:29.440
Can I ask a clarifying question?
00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:33.039
Are you saying 30 percent to Vegas or 30 percent to the U.S.?
00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:40.319
There of all of the tra international travelers that come to Las Vegas, 30 percent, roughly 30 percent come from Canada.
00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:40.960
Whoa.
00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:47.440
And uh but you've also seen people from all over the globe not coming to the United States as well.
00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:50.240
We've seen an impact here in Nevada.
00:18:50.400 --> 00:19:01.359
And then on top of it, where people are feeling the cost of gas and you know, the rising cost of groceries and health care and housing.
00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:14.319
And so the first thing that's coming off their list is that weekend trip to Vegas, which and especially to you know, our largest uh visitor comes from California, no, you know, no surprise to any of us.
00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:22.640
And you have gasoline go up, you know, from four dollars to five dollars a gallon or even more.
00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:31.680
Um, people tend to think, and then on top of it, you've seen increased prices on everything, and they're like, you know what, we're just not gonna do it.
00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:36.720
And so uh, you know, we've seen that impact here in Nevada, unfortunately.
00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:38.640
You mentioned diversifying the economy.
00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:44.240
So if if tourism is number one, what do you feel like number two hopefully will be for us?
00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:59.920
Well, listen, I you know, I'm hoping that um we can really make some strategic investments into our university and use that as a fuel um to uh increase our advanced manufacturing.
00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:05.039
I mean, we've seen Haas Automata build a manufacturing plant in Henderson.
00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:14.000
Uh we have a uh rare earth mineral uh company, MP Materials, which uh has a mine at the border.
00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:17.039
They're they're headquartered in downtown Summerlin.
00:20:17.119 --> 00:20:17.279
Okay.
00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:40.720
They just received a$2 billion investment from the federal government to uh reduce our dependence on China for rare earth minerals and to make sure that we're actually building the magnets that are such a key component to uh a lot of our, you know, whether it's phones or you know, appliances, you name it, we need it.
00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:43.200
Um and so building on that.
00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:49.359
And then, you know, I think we have an opportunity to expand uh industry into defense.
00:20:49.519 --> 00:21:02.240
I mean, we have uh incredible veterans who come off of the bases of Creech and Nellis, and uh we have the testing range, which is the largest contiguous air testing range in the world.
00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:13.599
Uh, we have the Nevada test site, which I think is uh a strong, I'm just gonna say, asset that is underused, that we could have many opportunities to do that.
00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:15.839
So we have an opportunity with that.
00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:22.400
Um I also believe we should be a and we have been a world leader in renewable energy.
00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:27.839
Uh the development of not just solar but geothermal up uh north.
00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:33.519
We have uh uh some um assets for geothermal development.
00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:41.119
So I think there's many opportunities for us along the energy corridor and uh manufacturing corridor here.
00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:59.759
And listen, um I mean this is getting a little wonky, but uh with respect to what we've seen in Ukraine uh in wars, there's sort of an asymmetric um match between, you know, in the United States, we're used to building, you know, multimillion.
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.680
Multi-million dollar missiles.
00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:14.319
And Ukraine has shown how to be adept at, you know, using drone drones and building much cheaper, more mobile, more innovative type of weapons.
00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:27.200
And so that I think that that, I'm just going to say that issue is a incubator for innovation and development.
00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:36.160
And I know there's some startups that are here in southern Nevada and like to see more of that happen, more of that type of innovation.
00:22:36.720 --> 00:22:45.279
And listen, a lot of stuff's going to go towards aerospace, GPS and you know, satellites, et cetera.
00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:49.920
And I just think we're primed to take advantage of those industries.
00:22:50.079 --> 00:22:54.640
But a lot of it's first requires investment into our workforce and our universities.
00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:58.240
We need we need engine we need aerospace engineers.
00:22:58.400 --> 00:23:03.519
We need uh people who, and by the way, it doesn't all require four-year degrees.
00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:23.440
Uh you can set up certificate programs to get people, and by the way, we have incredible unions here who have amazing apprentice programs, you know, uh, from IBEW for electric workers to the carpenters to the teamsters, uh, pipe fitters, you name it.
00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:26.799
I mean, we have many opportunities to build off it.
00:23:26.880 --> 00:23:33.519
And by the way, those jobs aren't, you know, a lot of those jobs, your hardcore labor, they're not going to AI.
00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:36.480
You still got to build and you still have to.
00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:44.640
Uh, I mean, there will be some job displacement, but I'm just saying uh looking at that as a an opportunity, I think, is important too.
00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:49.680
It blows my mind that you juggle all of this in your mind and you were able to talk about any topic at any time.
00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:58.240
Uh you know, it's interesting because uh obviously I have great staff who uh keeps me educated about many things.
00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:03.200
But uh sometimes in Congress we say your knowledge has to be a mile wide.
00:24:03.359 --> 00:24:05.440
You have to be knowledgeable on anything.
00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:28.400
I I probably would say the most frustrating thing about being a member of Congress is especially being on the West Coast, and I I'm what they call a frontliner, just meaning I'm in one of the toughest electoral districts in the country, so I'm always, you know, raising money and out campaigning and uh doing that end of the job as well.
00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:28.880
Right.
00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:38.960
And probably the most frustrating thing is not really getting to become like be super deep on one particular uh issue area.
00:24:39.119 --> 00:24:51.759
I mean, I you know, obviously there's issue areas I'm more uh knowledgeable and adept at, but um, it would be nice to like just get all in on one issue and become an expert.
00:24:51.920 --> 00:25:14.799
But the good news is is we have a lot of experts that uh are advisors that are, you know, that when I need to know about an issue, uh and and I think that's one of the most exciting things about being a member of Congress is having a lot of that expertise available so that I can become make a knowledgeable decision uh when I'm called upon to.
00:25:15.119 --> 00:25:15.599
Well said.
00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:17.519
That's actually what I do here too.
00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:25.440
I'm not at a much lower level than yours, but I surround myself with people that are much more experienced and much better at certain areas than I am.
00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:28.160
I'm good at a lot of things, I'm great at just a few things.
00:25:28.319 --> 00:25:33.119
Fortunately, the team that I have, the the staff that I have is is just like yours.
00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:34.160
I'm sure you can't.
00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:34.799
No, you're fine.
00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:35.440
That's my bad.
00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:44.400
I was gonna ask before we get into the next topic if you could choose to be an expert on one policy or one area of focus, do you know which one you would want it to be?
00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:46.559
Oh gosh, there's so many.
00:25:47.440 --> 00:25:48.799
It's okay if you don't have an answer.
00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:49.759
I was just curious.
00:25:50.079 --> 00:25:54.559
I mean, there's so many, like there's so many things that I'm passionate about.
00:25:54.720 --> 00:25:54.960
Right.
00:25:55.119 --> 00:25:59.599
And um, you know, obviously education policy.
00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:03.839
I'm you know, I'm now not on that um committee of jurisdiction.
00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:04.319
Right.
00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:09.039
Uh I also serve on the natural resources uh committee, and that's an issue.
00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:10.400
Public lands, right?
00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:14.720
Uh our air, water quality is hugely important to me.
00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:26.079
Um water policy, I you know, I feel like I've become much more of an expert on that issue just be because of the nature of what's happening on the Colorado River.
00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:28.400
Uh gosh, there's so many things.
00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:31.440
Do you actually mind if we touch on that?
00:26:32.160 --> 00:26:35.359
I would love to become a leading expert on health care policy.
00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:41.359
It's so complicated and it touches like everyone's life uh intimately.
00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:42.000
Sure.
00:26:42.319 --> 00:26:50.480
Do you mind if we touch on the uh the with the Southern Nevada Water Authority saying the Colorado River basin is experiencing the worst drought in in history?
00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:52.640
Is that is that what that is so true?
00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:57.680
You are so you're your what's your role with the Colorado River Caucus?
00:26:58.079 --> 00:27:04.640
I'm a vice chair of the Colorado uh River Caucus, and this is a bipartisan group of members.
00:27:04.799 --> 00:27:08.799
So there's seven states um in the Colorado River basin.
00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:09.279
Yeah.
00:27:09.440 --> 00:27:14.319
Uh it we are the lower basin in Nevada, us in Arizona.
00:27:14.559 --> 00:27:20.559
Um, and then you have the upper basin, which is Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico.
00:27:21.279 --> 00:27:27.759
The law of the Colorado River is based off of the 1922 Colorado River Compact.
00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:35.839
And at that time, it basically allocated how much water went to the upper basin states and how much went to the lower plus Mexico.
00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:38.400
Roughly about 16 million acres.
00:27:38.559 --> 00:27:46.720
Even at that time, the river was only flowing at like 14 to 14.5 million, 14.5 million acre feet.
00:27:46.880 --> 00:27:50.799
So it was already oversubscribed in the very beginning.
00:27:50.960 --> 00:28:06.640
Um, and by the way, the the amount of economic output that comes off of the Colorado River is incredible when you think about the how it compares to what the water flow is off of the Mississippi, et cetera.
00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:27.359
And uh it supports 40 million people and GDP of all the farmland in California, uh, you know, farmland Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and so there's like economic in Phoenix, Salt Lake, LA, Las Vegas.
00:28:27.519 --> 00:28:36.240
I mean, when you think about major cities that are relying uh on this one river, and so um it was already oversubscribed.
00:28:36.319 --> 00:28:39.680
Then you add into it a mega drought, which is what we're in now.
00:28:39.839 --> 00:28:40.240
Right.
00:28:40.480 --> 00:28:53.279
And uh the river is incredibly stressed at this point, and so there has been negotiations going on between the um the upper basin and the lower basin.
00:28:53.519 --> 00:28:57.920
All the states on the river have been coming, and we've made significant cuts.
00:28:58.240 --> 00:29:14.319
Uh, and where we are right now is there was sort of a stalemate among the negotiations, and the federal government just came in and issued um, I'll just say a decree that basically called for the lower basin to make more cuts.
00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:21.519
So, on top of what Nevada has already done, and think about this, we already are the smallest user on the river.
00:29:21.599 --> 00:29:25.920
We're less than 2% of the allocation of the river.
00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:34.880
And we've been incredible stewards of the river here, um, primarily through the leadership of the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
00:29:35.039 --> 00:29:41.440
A lot of people love them and hate them at the same time, you know, when you get those warnings, etc.
00:29:41.839 --> 00:29:50.319
But it's all been about we've cut our water consumption by 40% uh while this city has grown by 800,000 people.
00:29:50.480 --> 00:29:50.720
Wow.
00:29:50.960 --> 00:30:02.079
Primarily, pretty much every ounce of water that we consume in our homes indoors is uh recycled, not like re you know, it's re-reused.
00:30:02.880 --> 00:30:04.960
And um that's incredible.
00:30:05.119 --> 00:30:05.440
Right.
00:30:05.599 --> 00:30:17.279
And not to mention all of the programs that we've had to provide incentives for you to change your landscaping to desert or artificial turf and et cetera.
00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:24.799
So we've really been not just a leader in this country, but a leader around the world in terms of water conservation.
00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:36.000
So we're sort of at this stalemate right now where the federal government came in and said, Hey, you southern, you know, they, you know, you lower basin states, you got to cut even more.
00:30:36.400 --> 00:30:40.319
And the upper basin states, you don't have to cut anything at all.
00:30:40.559 --> 00:30:44.720
And so uh the state of Nevada filed a lawsuit.
00:30:44.960 --> 00:30:45.440
Sure.
00:30:45.599 --> 00:31:01.279
Um, and we'll, you know, so that we the lawsuits like the the route of last option that we want to go, but this uh cut that just came down is so egregious and so sloppy and so one-sided.
00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:17.839
And listen, I think we need to provide a and by the way, we passed the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the inflation reduction act, uh, which together invested about$12 billion into water conservation in the West.
00:31:18.400 --> 00:31:23.759
A lot of that funding was like wiped out under the doge cuts under this administration.
00:31:23.920 --> 00:31:56.880
They're starting to come back and realize that, darn, we lost a lot of critical time in these last few years, especially at a time when the water in Lake Mead and Lake Powell is at historic lows, threatening, literally threatening uh the health of the dams and threatening hydro a lot of hydroelectricity is produced from both uh uh the Glen Canyon Dam and the Hoover Dam, powering Phoenix area, Tucson, and powering uh southern Nevada.
00:31:57.039 --> 00:31:59.680
And so we're at a critical, critical point.
00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:15.119
I wish that this administration would have, instead of cutting those investments, used them to provide types of incentives for the type of water reuse that we're seeing here in southern Nevada, all across the system.
00:32:15.759 --> 00:32:22.240
You know, there are there are I don't want to I don't want to pit farmers against urban.
00:32:23.039 --> 00:32:36.559
We need our farmers, we need to produce agriculture and our products, et cetera, we need ranchers, but there's so many tools that we could use that could assist uh people and and people in conservation.
00:32:36.799 --> 00:32:45.440
And I would like to see some type of incentives put in to see the type of conservation that you're seeing here across the whole system.
00:32:45.759 --> 00:32:57.440
And I don't think it's you know, I'm just gonna say I I think there's this belief that if you're in the upper basin, the water comes from the mountains, so it's our water.
00:32:57.920 --> 00:32:59.759
Uh so why are we cutting it?
00:32:59.920 --> 00:33:05.359
Because we're already seeing cuts because of lower precipitation and lower snowpack.
00:33:05.519 --> 00:33:20.480
Um, but the health of our system and the health of not just the economy, but our national economy really depends on us working as as a uh collection and a coalition to come up with some answers to this.
00:33:20.960 --> 00:33:23.119
Do you feel you touched on AI briefly?
00:33:23.200 --> 00:33:30.400
Do you feel with these data centers becoming more and more uh I guess increasing electricity demand?
00:33:30.480 --> 00:33:36.880
Do you feel like Southern Nevada has it enough power generation, or do you is that a another concern yours as well?
00:33:37.200 --> 00:34:04.480
Well, listen, uh, you know, with respect to data centers, I think it's pretty clear that um even any high electricity demand uh entity, and data centers being it, um, should be required to make sure they fund and take care of the increasing cost to uh energy generation, whether it's investing in the grid, in the infrastructure that needs to support that.
00:34:04.559 --> 00:34:18.559
Um so I, you know, I have a bill in Congress, the Energy Bills Relief Act, uh, which will come in and make a uh you know designation that this must be a condition for data centers.
00:34:18.719 --> 00:34:24.639
Uh that being said, I don't believe we should have like a you know a countrywide moratorium.
00:34:24.800 --> 00:34:43.119
I think we need to have guardrails that just say, you know, you need to be a responsible steward of our land and water, and uh and if there's increased cost to electricity generation and use, you need to pay the brunt, you know, you need to pay it, not the local ratepayers.
00:34:43.280 --> 00:34:50.960
And I'll say, you know, we have one of the older uh data centers in the country, Switch, uh in my district.
00:34:51.360 --> 00:34:51.760
We see it.
00:34:52.079 --> 00:34:59.199
And you know, I I don't know if you remember I don't know how long you've been here, but they've been around since 2000, I believe.
00:34:59.280 --> 00:35:04.559
They're over and I think it's two, it's somewhere in the early over 20 years.
00:35:04.880 --> 00:35:13.679
And um I remember them having a battle with NV Energy because they got off the grid and they produce all of their own energy.
00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:14.320
Really?
00:35:14.559 --> 00:35:19.519
Yeah, and they're on a closed loop water use system as well.
00:35:19.760 --> 00:35:25.440
They're actually transitioning to a glycol-based system which will require no water use.
00:35:25.599 --> 00:35:43.119
And so, you know, there are data centers that do have these closed-loop systems, and I think that one, they need the data centers, and when they're getting developed and getting permitted at a local level, that needs to be part of the requirement in the conversation.
00:35:43.679 --> 00:35:48.239
And, you know, and also what's the displacement use of that land, right?
00:35:48.320 --> 00:35:52.400
So if you're using it for a data center, you're not gonna be using it for other things.
00:35:52.719 --> 00:35:54.719
Can can your community afford that?
00:35:54.880 --> 00:36:00.079
Yeah, those are considerations I think primarily need to happen at the local level.
00:36:00.320 --> 00:36:21.840
I think at the federal level, we need to have some guardrails around federal land use, but also just if if you're gonna cause energy, you know, uh to prices to go up and and the need for building out infrastructure, you should bear the cost of that, not your average residential ratepayer.
00:36:22.239 --> 00:36:43.199
And then in terms of just talking a little bit further about what the local community can handle with the changes in energy and water and land usages, what conservation measures, further than what we already have now, do you think that Nevadans or Las Vegas specifically can expect or should be prepared for, if any?
00:36:44.159 --> 00:36:52.000
Um you know, I think just what um we talked about with respect to uh, you know, what switch is doing.
00:36:52.239 --> 00:37:05.280
I mean making sure that you're on a closed loop water system or using um minimal water and reusing it, um, that you're relying primarily on renewable energy as an energy source.
00:37:05.599 --> 00:37:11.440
Now, listen, there I'm an all of the above energy uh person.
00:37:11.760 --> 00:37:13.840
I think that we need to look at all of it.
00:37:14.000 --> 00:37:22.000
I don't think uh in and right now, by the way, um what's happening under this administration is a case in point.
00:37:22.320 --> 00:37:36.719
So uh when Biden was in office, and um you know he banned drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, offshore drilling, et cetera.
00:37:36.880 --> 00:37:41.840
And so when Trump got elected, he reversed a lot of those policies.
00:37:42.239 --> 00:37:44.239
But they went a step further.
00:37:44.639 --> 00:37:55.440
And uh and of course Biden was uh in the Biden administration was focused on uh addressing climate change, which is real, and impacting all of us.
00:37:55.519 --> 00:38:13.760
I mean, the national, the natural disasters we're seeing across the world, what happened in Nepal with glaciers melting out in Alaska, you know, I mean, we're seeing it everywhere, and trying to address the drivers of climate change, so supporting a switch to renewable energy.
00:38:14.159 --> 00:38:24.960
Well, when when Trump administration got into power, they basically said um, if it's a first of all, they cut off all wind power.
00:38:25.440 --> 00:38:30.239
So there were offshore wind developments that literally have been stopped in their track.
00:38:30.400 --> 00:38:35.679
I mean, like they were built and there's this investment stopped in the track.
00:38:35.840 --> 00:38:54.079
What's impacted Nevada, close to$92 billion of investment, you know, tens of thousands of jobs, basically said if you are solar or wind and you need a permit, it must get personally approved by Secretary of Interior Doug Bergum.
00:38:54.320 --> 00:38:54.480
Okay.
00:38:54.719 --> 00:38:57.440
You know, he claims someone in his office, blah, blah, blah.
00:38:57.519 --> 00:38:59.280
I don't know, whoever it is.
00:38:59.519 --> 00:39:04.480
What we have seen is solar development literally stopped in its track.
00:39:04.800 --> 00:39:07.039
I mean, there have been select few.
00:39:07.440 --> 00:39:13.760
They might have donated to a ballroom or something like that that have gotten approved.
00:39:14.079 --> 00:39:24.239
But um my point is this, and this is what the point I make with the secretary, with the secretary of the energy, is we should have parity.
00:39:24.320 --> 00:39:24.559
Yeah.
00:39:24.719 --> 00:39:37.440
It shouldn't matter, you know, and by the way, a large, you know, a small-scale nuclear plants are gonna become in the mix because they're a form of, you know, what people believe to be clean energy.
00:39:37.679 --> 00:39:44.159
We can talk about the waste, but you know, but we need to look at an all of the above energy policy.
00:39:44.320 --> 00:39:48.960
Right now, I think it's shifted back towards oil and gas.
00:39:49.119 --> 00:40:03.599
Uh I think we need to be a little more, you know, uh why I'm just gonna say wide-eyed about all the energy that we need and not tip the scale on what type of energy is or is not.
00:40:03.760 --> 00:40:13.679
Now, I'll I that being said, I do believe that you know, carbon-free energy is better for our planet and long-term better for us.
00:40:13.920 --> 00:40:25.360
And, you know, some of the uh my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will basically say that solar energy is intermittent, it's not reliable, etc.
00:40:26.079 --> 00:40:43.920
Um, you know, I'll make the claim that we have a thing called batteries now that uh allow you to have assurance that you're gonna have, you know, I mean you're not gonna generate it 24-7, but you can certainly uh have a reliable source with battery storage as well.
00:40:44.400 --> 00:40:48.639
The country and everybody has an opinion on everything you said.
00:40:48.719 --> 00:40:50.880
I I've heard so many people on one side and the other.
00:40:51.039 --> 00:40:55.599
I feel like the country and the population is more polarized now than ever.
00:40:56.000 --> 00:41:00.320
Do you feel that that it's the same way in Congress or is it the same way in Congress?
00:41:00.880 --> 00:41:06.960
Listen, I think that um many people, what you see on TV, you see a lot of the polarization.
00:41:07.920 --> 00:41:12.400
And but I will say that you gotta pass these bills somehow.
00:41:12.559 --> 00:41:12.880
Yeah.
00:41:13.199 --> 00:41:18.079
And in general, I think this country is better served when we do it in a bipartisan manner.
00:41:18.320 --> 00:41:23.039
So you gotta sit down and roll up your sleeves and figure out your differences.
00:41:23.440 --> 00:41:31.199
And that's what a lot of people don't see on you know the news shows because it's not sexy, quite honestly.
00:41:31.519 --> 00:41:33.519
Like, hey, we're working together, right?
00:41:33.679 --> 00:41:40.400
Um, you know, but I would say that uh there's obviously a shift, like these bills.
00:41:40.559 --> 00:41:48.000
Um, you know, this is sort of getting wonky, but you'll hear this term of reconciliation bill or a budget bill.
00:41:48.159 --> 00:41:57.440
The one, the one big beautiful bill that was passed last uh a year ago, uh, that was a single-sided Republican bill.
00:41:57.840 --> 00:42:00.639
Okay, it did not have Democratic support.
00:42:00.800 --> 00:42:00.880
Right.
00:42:01.360 --> 00:42:09.280
And um, and listen, we we passed the Inflation Reduction Act, uh, which was a single-sided bill as well.
00:42:09.519 --> 00:42:20.000
And so, um, but what ends up happening is you see the other party get into power and literally try to erase everything the previous party did.
00:42:20.239 --> 00:42:31.440
Yes, and that doesn't serve the American public, it doesn't serve our country's national security, you know, it doesn't like we're competing against China primarily.
00:42:31.599 --> 00:42:38.880
I mean, these uh this country is authoritarian, you know, but they have a 50-year plan, a hundred-year plan.
00:42:39.039 --> 00:42:46.320
If we're operating on two-year cycles, uh, we are really setting us ourselves up for failure.
00:42:46.559 --> 00:42:46.800
Yes.
00:42:47.039 --> 00:43:00.639
And uh, and so, you know, when you pass these one-sided bills, um, you know, and it really sets things up for uh that type of shenanigans where you're going back and forth.
00:43:00.719 --> 00:43:04.239
And I think we're better off, you know, I sit on the appropriations committee.
00:43:04.400 --> 00:43:09.840
You gotta pass a budget every year, and you gotta pass a spending bill.
00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:12.880
And that really takes having negotiations.
00:43:13.039 --> 00:43:23.440
And, you know, like sometimes, you know, Republicans want to put these riders in that say, you know, that that are really geared towards social issues.
00:43:23.679 --> 00:43:29.519
And if we can sit down and just say, we're not gonna address that, let's pass this bill as is.
00:43:29.679 --> 00:43:34.719
And so it's having those types of negotiations that I think are important.
00:43:34.960 --> 00:43:37.599
And we need more of that and not less.
00:43:38.079 --> 00:43:38.639
Well said.
00:43:39.119 --> 00:43:48.880
In terms of the the non sexy things that aren't going to be shown, because like he said, everyone is so polarized right now that it's almost like we're addicted to seeing content like that.
00:43:49.039 --> 00:43:56.800
Um, is there anything that still produces genuine agreement across both parties that y'all don't have to go back and forth so much on?
00:43:57.840 --> 00:43:59.760
Uh yeah, I mean, I think that.
00:44:00.159 --> 00:44:01.679
You know, support for our veterans.
00:44:01.920 --> 00:44:02.079
Right.
00:44:02.239 --> 00:44:04.639
I think that's a a bipartisan issue.
00:44:04.880 --> 00:44:05.119
Right.
00:44:05.440 --> 00:44:38.159
Um, I do think um support for, you know, our armed services um has a bipartisan po now there are some people on both sides uh who um you know want to see less and um and so I do think you have a little um you know and listen I mean I think uh anything again uh a lot of it um let's talk like social security, right?
00:44:39.280 --> 00:44:53.519
Um we know that this is a system that was set up to make sure that elderly pay people after they retire, they've paid into it their whole lives, have the ability to retire and know they have a safety net.
00:44:53.679 --> 00:44:53.920
Right.
00:44:54.159 --> 00:44:54.639
Right.
00:44:55.280 --> 00:45:05.519
And um, you know, there's some talk in Washington of privatizing that, throwing it all into private securities, et cetera.
00:45:05.840 --> 00:45:08.719
And you know, some people even want to eliminate it.
00:45:09.280 --> 00:45:14.159
And um, but I think in general, most people in the middle understand the importance of it.
00:45:14.320 --> 00:45:14.559
Right.
00:45:14.719 --> 00:45:17.679
So it's just how do we make sure it's secure moving forward.
00:45:18.000 --> 00:45:21.679
Well, let's talk about something that we all can agree on, and that's the Red Rock Legacy Trail.
00:45:22.000 --> 00:45:22.320
Oh, yes.
00:45:22.559 --> 00:45:23.760
Can you tell me your involvement with that?
00:45:23.840 --> 00:45:27.280
Because you've you've been you're you're you're big on the outdoors, which I love.
00:45:27.440 --> 00:45:30.000
Yeah, can you tell me about your involvement with the Red Rock Legacy Trails?
00:45:30.239 --> 00:45:34.960
Yeah, well, first of all, I want to um recognize the organization Save Red Rock.
00:45:35.039 --> 00:45:50.320
They're a nonprofit organization that really has spent two decades a long time um uh advocating and planning and working with the county and um the federal delegation, et cetera, to build this.
00:45:50.480 --> 00:45:59.519
It's gonna be a 19-mile loop that will uh parallel Charleston 159 going out to Red Rock, out to Blue Diamond.
00:45:59.840 --> 00:46:14.239
The the plan is to eventually create a full loop down Blue Diamond and around, I don't know exactly what street it will be on, but connect it all so you have a contiguous loop out uh to Red Rock.
00:46:14.320 --> 00:46:15.920
It to me it's a safety issue.
00:46:16.079 --> 00:46:16.320
Right.
00:46:16.480 --> 00:46:27.039
I mean, we when you go out there uh on a weekend, especially, sure, um there's cars backed up, people are on their cell phones, you got bikers on the side of the highway.
00:46:27.440 --> 00:46:29.199
Um, but it's also access.
00:46:29.360 --> 00:46:31.360
This isn't just for bikers, it's hikers.
00:46:31.440 --> 00:46:39.679
I today I was um driving home from mountain biking and I saw two women out on their rollerblades.
00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:40.239
Right.
00:46:40.400 --> 00:46:50.960
You know, I mean, right now it's only like a mile, mile and a half stretch, but uh I helped secure federal funding for it, and I'm gonna continue to, it's a big project for me.
00:46:51.119 --> 00:46:59.440
I think it's uh we have one of the gems of the world in Red Rock uh National Conservation Area.
00:46:59.519 --> 00:47:06.320
Um, but we also have a big population center, and I want more people to get out there and enjoy it and enjoy it safely.
00:47:06.559 --> 00:47:10.320
So um I'll continue to advocate to get more federal funding for it.
00:47:10.639 --> 00:47:12.480
What's your favorite outdoorsy place?
00:47:12.719 --> 00:47:13.519
Oh my gosh.
00:47:13.840 --> 00:47:15.440
I know I'm I'm asking you the hard questions today.
00:47:15.760 --> 00:47:16.960
I know, I know.
00:47:17.519 --> 00:47:18.400
Yeah, that's right.
00:47:19.360 --> 00:47:20.079
Well, you know what?
00:47:20.159 --> 00:47:21.119
I love Red Rock.
00:47:21.199 --> 00:47:34.239
It's um it's right, I mean, literally today I was on my mountain bike ten minutes after I biked uh out to the um campground that's out there and sure and biked from there.
00:47:34.480 --> 00:47:40.960
And um, you know, it's pretty special to have that type of access right at your fingertips.
00:47:41.199 --> 00:47:48.159
And it's world-class rock climbing, um, you know, right here and great hiking.
00:47:48.320 --> 00:47:52.000
Um I also love Mount Charleston, you know, I love to get up to Mount Charleston.
00:47:52.159 --> 00:48:02.719
Of course, we have Lake Mead, of course, uh one of the busiest national recreation areas, and the deadliest, which all the rangers out of Lake Mead would, you know, be deadliest.
00:48:03.119 --> 00:48:08.800
I'd be remiss if I didn't uh stress safety when you go out to Lake Mead is one of the dead, yeah.
00:48:08.960 --> 00:48:17.360
Why accidents, water, drownings, car, drinking, you know, dehydration, you name it.
00:48:17.440 --> 00:48:28.400
So if you're going out to Lake Mead, make sure you have proper, you know, PFDs and water, and understand that if you're out there for fun, it's still a dangerous place to be.
00:48:28.719 --> 00:48:31.039
Well, I've got one more nail biter for you.
00:48:31.599 --> 00:48:43.280
If you could take one person from Congress on a Nevada hike or mountain bike to show them like what it is that you love about our outdoor spaces here and why they're so valuable, who would you take and why?
00:48:43.679 --> 00:48:44.159
Let me think.
00:48:44.639 --> 00:48:45.920
I feel like that that's all you need to do.
00:48:46.000 --> 00:48:49.599
You just have to get them to experience what it's like and they'll do anything you say.
00:48:51.199 --> 00:48:52.159
Let me think.
00:48:52.880 --> 00:48:55.119
Well, I'd be strategic about it.
00:48:55.440 --> 00:48:57.280
You can't just take your bestie.
00:48:58.559 --> 00:49:01.360
Yeah, my bestie, uh yeah.
00:49:01.679 --> 00:49:01.760
Yeah.
00:49:02.000 --> 00:49:03.119
You'd have to be strategic about it.
00:49:03.360 --> 00:49:08.880
Which I've already Lori, I I hang out with a member from Massachusetts, Lori Trahan.
00:49:09.760 --> 00:49:13.119
Um she's I've taken her already.
00:49:13.599 --> 00:49:15.039
Um gosh.
00:49:15.280 --> 00:49:17.199
See, I'd want to take a Republican.
00:49:18.159 --> 00:49:27.199
I'd want to take someone who is sort of against conservation and has mucked up public lands.
00:49:27.679 --> 00:49:33.360
I, you know, Mike Lee might come to the list, but you know, he's from Utah.
00:49:33.440 --> 00:49:34.880
Like he should understand public lands.
00:49:35.519 --> 00:49:36.239
Yeah, exactly.
00:49:36.480 --> 00:49:40.719
Um I think I'd probably take Barrasso, the senator.
00:49:41.920 --> 00:49:42.320
Why?
00:49:42.880 --> 00:49:43.920
Just because of decisions.
00:49:45.519 --> 00:49:45.679
Right.
00:49:46.079 --> 00:49:47.360
Natural resources.
00:49:47.519 --> 00:49:54.000
Uh they've been sort of key opponents to things like my lands bill, right?
00:49:54.320 --> 00:49:58.079
I uh co-sponsor with uh Catherine Cortez-Masto.
00:49:58.880 --> 00:50:05.440
Um, you know, this is the bill that has been a game changer for lands management in Nevada.
00:50:05.519 --> 00:50:10.800
You know, 80% of our land is federally controlled by the BLM.
00:50:10.960 --> 00:50:18.960
But and so whenever we want to develop land, we have to dispose of it and um you know, meaning sell it off.
00:50:19.280 --> 00:50:33.119
But that the proceeds from that, because of our lands bill, go into an account that's used for things like supporting the legacy trail, recreation and conservation, other recreation and conservation activities.
00:50:33.440 --> 00:50:37.519
It's a model piece of legislation for lands management in the West.
00:50:37.840 --> 00:50:47.920
Um, without it, it was sort of like the Wild West, like you know, I mean, some former members of Congress got in trouble for sweet sweetheart deals.
00:50:48.159 --> 00:50:48.320
Sure.
00:50:48.480 --> 00:50:50.880
So it sort of just evens the playing field.
00:50:51.119 --> 00:50:59.840
So I would probably go after him because I'd want him to understand like just how important conservation is in southern Nevada.
00:51:00.559 --> 00:51:11.119
Um, you know, Bruce Westerman is the chairman of um the Natural Resources Committee in the House, and I like him per you know, like him personally.
00:51:11.199 --> 00:51:25.360
I've I've uh I went out to Grand Teton National Park with him when we uh celebrated the passage of the Explore Act, which was a piece of land management for national parks and public lands.
00:51:25.519 --> 00:51:32.079
So um, and he's you know, he's mucked up the waters on conservation a little bit, so I've been out there too.
00:51:32.320 --> 00:51:32.960
As a reminder.
00:51:33.119 --> 00:51:36.320
But he's a big outdoorsman, so yeah, he might be able to keep up.
00:51:36.559 --> 00:51:37.599
I'll tell you what I liked about that.
00:51:37.679 --> 00:51:43.360
I I I got to see inside your mind of the the strategy of how you approach uh a question that you you weren't prepared for.
00:51:43.440 --> 00:51:44.559
So Strategy with Susie.
00:51:44.800 --> 00:51:45.840
Strategy with Susie.
00:51:46.239 --> 00:52:01.119
Yeah, I mean, you know, you sort of want to hang out with people that you agree with, but it's really important to show people, you know, it nothing nothing um you know educates someone more than being there, right?
00:52:01.360 --> 00:52:05.599
And you know, and so um I think it would be important to do that.
00:52:05.920 --> 00:52:09.360
Well, listen, I know our time is getting a little a little limited here.
00:52:09.440 --> 00:52:12.000
So we're just gonna jump straight to the rapid fire questions if that's okay.
00:52:12.400 --> 00:52:12.559
All right.
00:52:12.880 --> 00:52:13.360
You ready?
00:52:13.599 --> 00:52:16.159
Since you're an outdoorsy person, hike or bike?
00:52:16.400 --> 00:52:16.960
Oh god.
00:52:17.280 --> 00:52:17.679
I know.
00:52:18.239 --> 00:52:21.760
Uh well, I uh God, I love them both.
00:52:21.920 --> 00:52:23.440
If I have my dogs, it's hiking.
00:52:23.599 --> 00:52:24.559
If not, I'm biking.
00:52:24.800 --> 00:52:25.840
What kind of dogs do you have?
00:52:26.000 --> 00:52:28.480
I have a sheep a doodle and a labradoodle.
00:52:28.719 --> 00:52:29.119
Love that.
00:52:29.280 --> 00:52:29.679
Love that.
00:52:29.840 --> 00:52:31.599
Uh sunrise or sunset hikes?
00:52:31.760 --> 00:52:32.159
Sunrise.
00:52:32.320 --> 00:52:32.719
Sunrise.
00:52:32.960 --> 00:52:34.400
I'm a morning, I'm a morning girl.
00:52:34.559 --> 00:52:35.599
What time do you wake up?
00:52:35.840 --> 00:52:37.920
Oh too early.
00:52:38.159 --> 00:52:38.880
Too early.
00:52:39.119 --> 00:52:39.760
5 a.m.
00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:41.519
Today I slept until six.
00:52:41.760 --> 00:52:42.320
Love that.
00:52:42.559 --> 00:52:46.239
Uh, do you like do you do you climb at all too, or no?
00:52:46.480 --> 00:52:47.840
I've dabbled in it.
00:52:48.000 --> 00:52:54.800
I mean, I climbed uh Grand Teton a few times and Mount Rainier, but it's not my favorite.
00:52:54.960 --> 00:52:55.679
My kids are.
00:52:55.760 --> 00:52:55.920
Yeah.
00:52:56.239 --> 00:52:58.639
My son just climbed uh half dome.
00:52:58.800 --> 00:52:59.039
That's fair.
00:52:59.119 --> 00:52:59.840
Oh yeah.
00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:02.400
Yeah, he's he's a big climber.
00:53:02.480 --> 00:53:07.199
And he takes me out, and the whole time I'm like, what the hell am I doing here?
00:53:07.360 --> 00:53:08.639
Why am I doing this?
00:53:09.119 --> 00:53:09.599
Question for you.
00:53:09.840 --> 00:53:10.559
Whatever I'm thinking.
00:53:10.880 --> 00:53:15.199
What is, and I guess the last question, what's the best trail view that you have in Nevada?
00:53:15.599 --> 00:53:16.880
The best trail?
00:53:18.159 --> 00:53:19.199
Oh gosh.
00:53:19.440 --> 00:53:26.400
My well, one of my favorite trails is the Kraft Mountain Canyon, just because it's such a beautiful canyon.
00:53:26.639 --> 00:53:38.480
The trail I like to take people on when they visit Las Vegas is uh Muffin Top, which is out of the horse trails because you can climb up and then have a full view of the Las Vegas Valley.
00:53:39.280 --> 00:53:42.559
And so that's super cool for people to see that.
00:53:42.639 --> 00:53:43.519
Yeah, that's awesome.
00:53:43.760 --> 00:53:47.199
I like Fletcher Canyon up at Mount Charleston too.
00:53:47.760 --> 00:53:52.880
That's like it's it becomes a slot canyon, which is really cool.
00:53:53.039 --> 00:53:53.920
And it's cooler.
00:53:54.079 --> 00:53:55.760
Love that when it's so hot out.
00:53:56.000 --> 00:53:56.400
Love that.
00:53:56.559 --> 00:53:56.800
Yeah.
00:53:57.039 --> 00:53:58.800
Well, Susie, this was awesome.
00:53:58.960 --> 00:54:05.519
I am so thankful and and so fortunate that you were able to come on our show and share your insight.
00:54:05.679 --> 00:54:08.159
Um and shout out to Susie's team for coordinating.
00:54:08.480 --> 00:54:09.360
Shout out to Susie's team.
00:54:09.440 --> 00:54:10.800
Yes, incredible team.
00:54:10.960 --> 00:54:12.639
We're so, so thankful.
00:54:12.800 --> 00:54:14.960
Um, do you have any any last words, Susie?
00:54:15.440 --> 00:54:18.559
No, listen, I mean, I thought this was uh great conversation.
00:54:18.719 --> 00:54:20.239
We really didn't talk politics that much.
00:54:20.559 --> 00:54:21.440
I know it or not.
00:54:21.679 --> 00:54:24.559
Well, we kind of did, because you said all of that involves politics.
00:54:24.960 --> 00:54:25.280
It does.
00:54:25.440 --> 00:54:25.760
It does.
00:54:25.920 --> 00:54:26.960
So it does involve politics.
00:54:27.280 --> 00:54:28.480
We kind of sneak it in there every now and then.
00:54:28.639 --> 00:54:29.440
We sort of snuck it in there.
00:54:30.159 --> 00:54:37.840
But um, you know, the great thing about this community is everyone, you know, people have come here from all over the world.
00:54:37.920 --> 00:54:42.320
Uh, not just to come here to enjoy our entertainment, but to move here.
00:54:42.480 --> 00:54:42.880
Yeah, sure.
00:54:43.119 --> 00:54:48.880
And, you know, we can have world-class entertainment and world-class outdoor activities.
00:54:49.119 --> 00:54:58.960
And I think I mentioned that outdoor recreation has become the second uh GDP driver here in Nevada behind gaming and tourism.
00:54:59.119 --> 00:55:04.559
Um, but my thing is, is if you want to be involved, show up and make your voice heard.
00:55:04.639 --> 00:55:16.000
And it can go from anywhere from your local HOA to your school board to your PTA to city council to the Clark County Commission.
00:55:16.159 --> 00:55:23.920
You know, um, we all have uh we have an obligation um to make sure we're building the community we want.
00:55:24.000 --> 00:55:32.239
And I think that uh the thing I love about this community is uh people show up and want to get involved, and uh that's important to me.
00:55:32.400 --> 00:55:32.960
Well said.
00:55:33.119 --> 00:55:33.440
All right.
00:55:33.760 --> 00:55:34.960
Susie Lee, everybody.
00:55:35.119 --> 00:55:35.679
That was great.
00:55:35.760 --> 00:55:36.880
Thank you so much for coming on.
00:55:37.119 --> 00:55:37.760
Yes, thank you.
00:55:37.920 --> 00:55:38.400
That was awesome.
00:55:38.480 --> 00:55:40.559
Julie, did was it everything you imagined and more?
00:55:40.800 --> 00:55:43.039
It really was, and I want to go to Suzy's for dinner tonight.
00:55:43.360 --> 00:55:43.760
Oh my god.
00:55:44.079 --> 00:55:45.679
Okay, coconut chicken or something like that.
00:55:46.800 --> 00:55:47.840
I know, on the menu.
00:55:48.079 --> 00:55:48.400
That's right.
00:55:48.480 --> 00:55:51.679
We'll catch new episodes each week on Heybhead.com.
00:55:51.920 --> 00:55:53.039
We will see you next week.
00:55:53.360 --> 00:55:54.000
See ya.
00:00:02.240 --> 00:00:03.439
Oh, Julie.
00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:04.320
Yes, Andrew.
00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:05.679
It's a big day for Big Head.
00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:07.120
It is a big day for Big Head.
00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:09.919
Honestly, selfishly, it feels like a big day for me.
00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:15.279
You're just gonna take all the uh all the all the credit right here.
00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:15.759
Is it better?
00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:16.800
A little bit.
00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:18.960
We have one of my favorite people on today.
00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:19.839
So yeah.
00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:25.039
I'm very excited for this because finally Big Head is getting into the politics game.
00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:32.560
We've never really touched on politics too much in our year and a half run so far.
00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:36.560
But today we have a very special guest that I am very excited for.
00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:37.759
I know you are too.
00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:42.799
Congresswoman Susie Lee is here with us, representing Nevada's third congressional district.
00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:44.640
Susie Lee, welcome to the show.
00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:45.600
This is great.
00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:46.719
So excited to have you.
00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:47.600
Thanks for having me.
00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:48.399
Happy to be here.
00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:53.840
Bear with us, uh Suzy, if you don't mind, because we're probably going to ask a few beginner-level questions early on.
00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:56.320
Um so you'll have to you know totally fine.
00:00:56.640 --> 00:00:57.200
Walk us through it.
00:00:57.439 --> 00:00:58.000
Walk us through it.
00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:05.280
Yeah, I am listening before 2016, I was I knew very little about politics.
00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:12.560
I've cared more about who was starting for the New England Patriots or the Cowboys or who was playing on Saturday or Sunday.
00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:16.480
So when it comes, but now obviously everybody's talking about politics these days.
00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:23.519
Um it is a very important discussion to have, and I'm glad that we're able to sit down with you and you know kind of talk a little bit more about that.
00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:31.760
Um so first, out of the out of the gate question, can you explain what your role, what what c what your role in Congress involves?
00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:33.040
Well, I thank you.
00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:34.159
Thanks for having me.
00:01:34.560 --> 00:01:48.799
And uh listen, everyone's life, whether you know it or not, it somehow involves politics because everything that touches you, whether it's your roads, schools, etc., uh somehow plays a politics play.
00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:54.159
I always say you can't do the policy unless you do the politics first, unfortunately.
00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:58.239
But uh yeah, so I represent Nevada's third congressional district.
00:01:58.319 --> 00:02:09.199
This is pretty much all of Summerlin, everything west of the I-15, down to Mountain's Edge, uh, down to Silverado Ranch, down to the point of the state.
00:02:09.439 --> 00:02:14.560
I have uh um Laughlin and Searchlight in my district as well.
00:02:14.800 --> 00:02:24.800
So uh when you're looking at the strip, if you look at the I-15, that's sort of the dividing uh line, and that's what I represent, close to 750,000 Nevadans.
00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:25.520
That's incredible.
00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:31.680
And I'm a representative, so I fly back to DC primarily three weeks a month.
00:02:31.759 --> 00:02:36.479
I'll leave on Monday morning, fly into DC, land around four.
00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:40.960
I have some leadership meetings I attend, and we vote on Monday night.
00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:49.759
Uh, votes Tuesday, Wednesday, maybe, and then Thursday morning, and then I usually fly back Thursday afternoon and spend the weekend here.
00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:55.919
I do that three times a week, or three times a month, then one week a month I stay in the district.
00:02:56.319 --> 00:03:10.639
It's been a little different this uh session because there's been many, many weeks of votes that have been canceled, so including two at the end of the month, which we were supposed to be back in DC, but we're I'm gonna be here in Vegas.
00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:17.360
So um, but that's you know, I serve on the defense appropriations subcommittee as well as energy and water.
00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:20.319
I think we're gonna talk a little bit about water later.
00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:26.000
Um, those are two really important committees, um, especially here in Nevada.
00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:36.879
We have one of the largest national security footprints in the whole entire country, uh, with Creech and Nellis and the testing range and Fallon and our Air National Guard.
00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:37.280
Yeah.
00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:54.800
Uh we all and Army, and we also um, you know, energy and water is an important issue, particularly also with respect to Yucca Mountain, because that bill is where the people who want to send their nuclear waste to Nevada always want to put some language into that bill.
00:03:54.879 --> 00:03:57.520
So I sit there on the defense.
00:03:57.599 --> 00:04:05.840
Um, so when I'm back in DC, I'm helping write bills, we're having hearings, etc., voting on legislation.
00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:12.560
And uh when I'm here, I'm doing a lot of constituent outreach, consist constituent services.
00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:22.079
Um my district office, um we are have been ranked one of the top constituent services offices in the entire country.
00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:34.959
I've been able to return about 50 or 42 million dollars to people who have called my office asking for help, whether it's with the IRS or Veterans Affairs, et cetera.
00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:39.279
So it's sort of just the helping people navigate the federal government.
00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:45.920
Um, if you need help with a passport, visa, things like that, we can assist as well.
00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:48.480
And so um do both of those.
00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:58.639
And I spend a lot of time when I'm here just out meeting with uh constituents, hearing about what's on their mind, what they're liking, not liking, what they need, you know.
00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:00.639
And there's people have a lot of opinions.
00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:02.399
That's you are very busy woman.
00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:07.839
You are and uh honest question if you were afraid to fly, do you think you'd be able to do this job?
00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:10.720
No my gosh, not uh not from the West Coast.
00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:20.480
I mean, there are members from the East Coast who can take a train or drive, but from the West Coast, it's a five-hour flight each way.
00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:25.199
So you gotta, I mean, I guess you could if you, I don't know, took some drugs.
00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:27.759
Tons of traveling though.
00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:28.480
That's crazy.
00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:30.000
Yeah, yeah, a lot of travel.
00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:32.480
You moved here to Las Vegas in '93.
00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:32.879
Yeah.
00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:33.519
Is that right?
00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:40.639
You've seen Vegas go from you know all different phases in the past 20 years or so, 30 years.
00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:46.800
What do you feel like is the biggest change, or what do you feel like the the phase that Las Vegas is in right now?
00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:49.199
How would you describe what Vegas is in right now?
00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:53.519
Wow, so yeah, I mean, I've been here since 1993.
00:05:53.759 --> 00:06:08.879
So saw sort of the move when Vegas thought that it would become a family destination with the building of Treasure Island, and and then they then you know the operators decided that people don't really gamble when their kids are with them.
00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:09.439
Right.
00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:13.279
So, and then you know, we become an entertainment capital of the world.
00:06:13.519 --> 00:06:24.160
Now we become a national sports teams with the Golden Knights and the Raiders and soon to be the A's and the Aces, uh, maybe an MBA team in the future.
00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:39.439
You know, so what I've seen uh throughout um my 33 years here is really, you know, back in the day uh a lot of the casinos were owned by operators who had been here a long time.
00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:44.480
And then now you've seen I'm just gonna say it's become a lot more corporate.
00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:54.959
It's uh Wall Street has um, and that really began about 33 years ago, you know, with Steve Wynne when he took the Mirage Public, et cetera.
00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:59.040
So have definitely witnessed uh the shift along the strip.
00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:08.480
And I will say that it used to be that gaming was a hundred percent the focus of you know how we attracted visitors, et cetera.
00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:21.920
And now it's sort of we we go after the full experience and the full package from shopping to different entertainment outlets to concerts, the sphere, and now of course with national sports.
00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:42.800
So we're definitely always on the leading edge of what the innovation is around entertainment, and I think that's what makes Las Vegas so exciting is you know, when it comes to what it's gonna be that's attracting people, uh, I think that our city is always out at the front on testing those limits and and doing a great job at it.
00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:45.519
We're still the you know number one destination.
00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:46.399
Well said.
00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:46.560
Yeah.
00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:50.480
When's the last time you've been able to have a a night out to yourself?
00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:57.759
Um a night out for me is generally trying to stay home and cook with friends.
00:07:57.920 --> 00:07:58.000
Right.
00:07:58.240 --> 00:08:06.560
I mean, that's you know, I don't get a lot of opportunities lately to cook, and I love to cook home cook meals, so that's sort of my night out.
00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:08.720
Gosh, I can't even remember the last time.
00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:13.680
I mean, I've been, you know, I go out, I'll meet girlfriends out of the strip and things like that.
00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:14.480
But yeah.
00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:16.000
What's your favorite thing to cook?
00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:18.399
Oh my gosh.
00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:21.680
Um, everything I like healthy, obviously.
00:08:21.920 --> 00:08:28.800
So especially in the summer, I'm about I'm gonna make a spicy coconut chicken recipe tonight.
00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:29.680
I'm coming over.
00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:32.159
I love you don't mind.
00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:34.480
We're gonna add a few more people to your to your dinner tonight.
00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:35.759
Pull in the extra table.
00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:36.559
That's great.
00:08:36.639 --> 00:08:37.200
That's great.
00:08:37.519 --> 00:08:45.840
Prior to um being a congresswoman, you have a fairly extensive history in education and the nonprofit sector.
00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:54.000
Like, what did I read that you helped with some of the after-school programs for the underserved youth, and you helped reduce the some of the dropout rates here in Las Vegas.
00:08:54.240 --> 00:09:00.320
How did that experience alter the way you approach uh representing the people here?
00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:01.759
That's a good question.
00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:09.519
Yeah, so when I first moved here, um I worked with the former mayor of Las Vegas, Jan Jones, the first female mayor.
00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:10.320
Yeah, look at that.
00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:10.879
Shout out.
00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:12.320
Yeah.
00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:26.639
And she was really uh, you know, quite uh innovative, and um she was like one of the first mayors to understand and recognize our homeless issue here in southern Nevada.
00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:33.919
So she actually, I worked with her on a campaign that unfortunately or fortunately she uh lost.
00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:41.519
And then I went to work with her in the city, and we started the city's first comprehensive homeless uh drop-in center.
00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:43.200
And one thing led to another.
00:09:43.360 --> 00:10:00.559
I soon was starting the afterschool All-Stars, which is an after-school program for middle school youth, and then um took some time off to be with my two kids who I raised here in Nevada and Cody, and then uh communities and schools, which is a dropout prevention program.
00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:22.559
And I'll tell you that throughout all of those um engagements, you know, the thing that I've always been struck by is we're in the shadow of world-class entertainment, these beautiful casinos and hotels, we attract some of the wealthiest people in the world.
00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:32.240
And but at the same time, you can go just a half a mile off the strip and see some severe poverty here in in Las Vegas.
00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:43.840
And I've always been struck by that, that um you know, that in the in the shadow of the glitz and glamour of the strip, we really have families who are really struggling.
00:10:44.399 --> 00:10:55.840
And um, and then when you talk about education and what's happening in our schools, um, you know, 70% of the students in the Clark County School District qualify for Title I.
00:10:56.320 --> 00:11:04.159
Title I is a federal program that is set it's an anti-poverty program, but it's basically a benchmark on poverty.
00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:16.080
So, you know, when you think about that, almost three in four of our students in the Clark County School District um, you know, uh are meet our federal poverty designation.
00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:29.039
And so I've always been struck by what it is, and and from my own background, you know, I'm one of eight kids and my father had one job, you know, one job, and my mom stayed at home uh to raise us.
00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:36.799
It's really hard to find families who can exist with one bread earner in their family these days, let alone one job.
00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:37.519
Yeah, sure.
00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:54.000
And, you know, what is it that we're doing to build that American dream and to make sure that families can build wealth and equity, and uh what are the types of jobs that we're gonna attract that are gonna build like a solid middle class.
00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:54.320
Right.
00:11:54.559 --> 00:12:00.240
And um, and you know, I think that that's been a big struggle for the Clark County School District.
00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:07.120
You know, when you survey educators, they say the number one barrier to educational achievement is poverty.
00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:32.559
And so, you know, you have schools that are dealing with students who are walking in the door with severe needs outside of the classroom, and then you know, you have teachers who are working hard, and but if you have a kid whose parents can't afford eyeglasses or they're have a rumbling tummy because they're hungry, you know, they're not going to be focusing on what you have on the chalkboard.
00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:34.960
And so that's always been a challenge.
00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:47.360
And you know, for me, that's sort of what uh drove me to run for Congress, the uh economic inequality in this country, which I think uh you know you can see it in front of our eyes.
00:12:47.919 --> 00:13:08.000
Um how do we level the playing field and make sure that all families have access to that opportunity, whether it you're talking about access to higher education, you know, our tax policy, um investment investing in workforce, what types of jobs are we gonna try to attract to our community?
00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:27.440
So all those things really uh and a big issue for me too from Nevada is you know, because we're a small state, we're a relatively young state, um we were we've always sent more money to Washington than Washington has invested back into Nevada.
00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:42.720
And that's been a key issue that I've been trying to address, making sure we're bringing federal investments into our research university, making sure we're attracting, you know, the types of investments uh in our infrastructure, et cetera.
00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:45.120
So those are all important issues for me.
00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:48.480
And hopefully those investments help build jobs.
00:13:48.720 --> 00:13:54.320
Our residents take those jobs, they're good paying jobs, they can build a future for themselves.
00:13:54.799 --> 00:13:58.320
And to that point, is something me and my mom talk about a lot.
00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:00.320
We talk tons about politics.
00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:18.960
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like in general, unless someone has taken it upon themselves to learn, or unless they were taught, there is or can be misunderstandings about what is under Congress's wheel of things that they can do versus other individuals in the government.
00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:29.279
So what are the things that Congress can solve directly, and what do people incorrectly expect from your committees and your job?
00:14:29.679 --> 00:14:41.200
Yeah, I mean, um, you know, first of all, the federal government um really is about obviously federal policies like um Medicare, Social Security.
00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:53.600
Um, you know, a big issue that is being litigated right now is the Affordable Care Act, uh, which was a bill that was passed to make health care more affordable for millions of Americans.
00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:59.200
Um investment in our defense, our national defense, obviously.
00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:15.440
Um so in investment, big investments like infrastructure, our building our highways, and you know, regulating our our airways, um, clean water, clean air, like those are the big things that we engage in.
00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:18.159
What how are we gonna regulate uh AI?
00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:35.360
Um, a lot of those issues, um, higher education, um, setting up Pell, you know, the Pell Grant program and student loans, investment in federal univers, land grant universities, that is federal government.
00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:40.000
The state generally is more how are you funding that, right?
00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:43.759
And uh especially in Nevada, that is K to 12.
00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:58.480
It's how you're funding our higher, you know, our we deal more with aid to students and investment in research, et cetera, at higher ed, but in the in the state, it's how do you what's your the tuition and how are you investing in those?
00:15:58.720 --> 00:15:58.960
Sure.
00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:06.639
Um, and then you get it to the local is your roads and you know, your street lights and things like that.
00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:24.080
So it's sort of, you know, I I would say we're bigger picture, um, federal programs, uh, federal investment, the state is uh the bridge between the federal government and local, and then the local is sort of the things you see and feel right every day.
00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:24.799
Gotcha.
00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:29.200
Yeah, and state is more your school's K to 12, etc.
00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:30.000
Right.
00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:30.480
Okay.
00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:31.039
Yeah.
00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:40.080
Do you feel that uh jumping back to the the the Vegas and the the tourism side, do you feel like Vegas is still too dependent on tourism?
00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:46.720
Obviously, it's a it's you know how we got to where we are today um in a good way, but also I feel like it could be a double-edged sword.
00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:50.879
Do you feel like we're we're too dependent on tourism that we are right now?
00:16:51.440 --> 00:17:05.920
Listen, you know, it tourism has obviously always been the fuel for our economy, and I don't think there's gonna be a period where uh it's not gonna be a significant driver to our economic um vitality.
00:17:06.319 --> 00:17:08.880
And but I would say it makes us more vulnerable.
00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:16.480
I always say the heel the hills are higher and the uh the valleys are deeper in terms of economic upturn and downturn.
00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:22.960
Because if you are a tour, and we are, I do believe we are still primarily dependent on tourism.
00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:25.119
I think it's changing a little bit.
00:17:25.200 --> 00:17:32.400
Um, I still think we have more way, a long way to go uh to truly diversify our economy.
00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:48.160
But um, and so you know, when you think about it, um if we run off of people's disposable income, and when things are tight, the first thing you're gonna drop off of your list of priorities is your trip to Vegas.
00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:52.240
And, you know, when things are going well, you're coming here.
00:17:52.480 --> 00:18:11.119
And but then we also have coupled um that we're seeing now is in response to this administration's tariff policies where they've gone after some of our allies like Canada, uh, where Canadians basically turned off the spigot and said, we're not coming to America anymore.
00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:18.960
Well, our international t traveler Canadians represent 30 percent international traveler.
00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:23.680
And so you've seen figures where uh tourism is off.
00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:27.519
I've seen anywhere from seven to twenty percent.
00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:27.920
Yeah.
00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:29.440
Can I ask a clarifying question?
00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:33.039
Are you saying 30 percent to Vegas or 30 percent to the U.S.?
00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:40.319
There of all of the tra international travelers that come to Las Vegas, 30 percent, roughly 30 percent come from Canada.
00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:40.960
Whoa.
00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:47.440
And uh but you've also seen people from all over the globe not coming to the United States as well.
00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:50.240
We've seen an impact here in Nevada.
00:18:50.400 --> 00:19:01.359
And then on top of it, where people are feeling the cost of gas and you know, the rising cost of groceries and health care and housing.
00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:14.319
And so the first thing that's coming off their list is that weekend trip to Vegas, which and especially to you know, our largest uh visitor comes from California, no, you know, no surprise to any of us.
00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:22.640
And you have gasoline go up, you know, from four dollars to five dollars a gallon or even more.
00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:31.680
Um, people tend to think, and then on top of it, you've seen increased prices on everything, and they're like, you know what, we're just not gonna do it.
00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:36.720
And so uh, you know, we've seen that impact here in Nevada, unfortunately.
00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:38.640
You mentioned diversifying the economy.
00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:44.240
So if if tourism is number one, what do you feel like number two hopefully will be for us?
00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:59.920
Well, listen, I you know, I'm hoping that um we can really make some strategic investments into our university and use that as a fuel um to uh increase our advanced manufacturing.
00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:05.039
I mean, we've seen Haas Automata build a manufacturing plant in Henderson.
00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:14.000
Uh we have a uh rare earth mineral uh company, MP Materials, which uh has a mine at the border.
00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:17.039
They're they're headquartered in downtown Summerlin.
00:20:17.119 --> 00:20:17.279
Okay.
00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:40.720
They just received a$2 billion investment from the federal government to uh reduce our dependence on China for rare earth minerals and to make sure that we're actually building the magnets that are such a key component to uh a lot of our, you know, whether it's phones or you know, appliances, you name it, we need it.
00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:43.200
Um and so building on that.
00:20:43.359 --> 00:20:49.359
And then, you know, I think we have an opportunity to expand uh industry into defense.
00:20:49.519 --> 00:21:02.240
I mean, we have uh incredible veterans who come off of the bases of Creech and Nellis, and uh we have the testing range, which is the largest contiguous air testing range in the world.
00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:13.599
Uh, we have the Nevada test site, which I think is uh a strong, I'm just gonna say, asset that is underused, that we could have many opportunities to do that.
00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:15.839
So we have an opportunity with that.
00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:22.400
Um I also believe we should be a and we have been a world leader in renewable energy.
00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:27.839
Uh the development of not just solar but geothermal up uh north.
00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:33.519
We have uh uh some um assets for geothermal development.
00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:41.119
So I think there's many opportunities for us along the energy corridor and uh manufacturing corridor here.
00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:59.759
And listen, um I mean this is getting a little wonky, but uh with respect to what we've seen in Ukraine uh in wars, there's sort of an asymmetric um match between, you know, in the United States, we're used to building, you know, multimillion.
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.680
Multi-million dollar missiles.
00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:14.319
And Ukraine has shown how to be adept at, you know, using drone drones and building much cheaper, more mobile, more innovative type of weapons.
00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:27.200
And so that I think that that, I'm just going to say that issue is a incubator for innovation and development.
00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:36.160
And I know there's some startups that are here in southern Nevada and like to see more of that happen, more of that type of innovation.
00:22:36.720 --> 00:22:45.279
And listen, a lot of stuff's going to go towards aerospace, GPS and you know, satellites, et cetera.
00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:49.920
And I just think we're primed to take advantage of those industries.
00:22:50.079 --> 00:22:54.640
But a lot of it's first requires investment into our workforce and our universities.
00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:58.240
We need we need engine we need aerospace engineers.
00:22:58.400 --> 00:23:03.519
We need uh people who, and by the way, it doesn't all require four-year degrees.
00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:23.440
Uh you can set up certificate programs to get people, and by the way, we have incredible unions here who have amazing apprentice programs, you know, uh, from IBEW for electric workers to the carpenters to the teamsters, uh, pipe fitters, you name it.
00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:26.799
I mean, we have many opportunities to build off it.
00:23:26.880 --> 00:23:33.519
And by the way, those jobs aren't, you know, a lot of those jobs, your hardcore labor, they're not going to AI.
00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:36.480
You still got to build and you still have to.
00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:44.640
Uh, I mean, there will be some job displacement, but I'm just saying uh looking at that as a an opportunity, I think, is important too.
00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:49.680
It blows my mind that you juggle all of this in your mind and you were able to talk about any topic at any time.
00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:58.240
Uh you know, it's interesting because uh obviously I have great staff who uh keeps me educated about many things.
00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:03.200
But uh sometimes in Congress we say your knowledge has to be a mile wide.
00:24:03.359 --> 00:24:05.440
You have to be knowledgeable on anything.
00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:28.400
I I probably would say the most frustrating thing about being a member of Congress is especially being on the West Coast, and I I'm what they call a frontliner, just meaning I'm in one of the toughest electoral districts in the country, so I'm always, you know, raising money and out campaigning and uh doing that end of the job as well.
00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:28.880
Right.
00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:38.960
And probably the most frustrating thing is not really getting to become like be super deep on one particular uh issue area.
00:24:39.119 --> 00:24:51.759
I mean, I you know, obviously there's issue areas I'm more uh knowledgeable and adept at, but um, it would be nice to like just get all in on one issue and become an expert.
00:24:51.920 --> 00:25:14.799
But the good news is is we have a lot of experts that uh are advisors that are, you know, that when I need to know about an issue, uh and and I think that's one of the most exciting things about being a member of Congress is having a lot of that expertise available so that I can become make a knowledgeable decision uh when I'm called upon to.
00:25:15.119 --> 00:25:15.599
Well said.
00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:17.519
That's actually what I do here too.
00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:25.440
I'm not at a much lower level than yours, but I surround myself with people that are much more experienced and much better at certain areas than I am.
00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:28.160
I'm good at a lot of things, I'm great at just a few things.
00:25:28.319 --> 00:25:33.119
Fortunately, the team that I have, the the staff that I have is is just like yours.
00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:34.160
I'm sure you can't.
00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:34.799
No, you're fine.
00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:35.440
That's my bad.
00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:44.400
I was gonna ask before we get into the next topic if you could choose to be an expert on one policy or one area of focus, do you know which one you would want it to be?
00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:46.559
Oh gosh, there's so many.
00:25:47.440 --> 00:25:48.799
It's okay if you don't have an answer.
00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:49.759
I was just curious.
00:25:50.079 --> 00:25:54.559
I mean, there's so many, like there's so many things that I'm passionate about.
00:25:54.720 --> 00:25:54.960
Right.
00:25:55.119 --> 00:25:59.599
And um, you know, obviously education policy.
00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:03.839
I'm you know, I'm now not on that um committee of jurisdiction.
00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:04.319
Right.
00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:09.039
Uh I also serve on the natural resources uh committee, and that's an issue.
00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:10.400
Public lands, right?
00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:14.720
Uh our air, water quality is hugely important to me.
00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:26.079
Um water policy, I you know, I feel like I've become much more of an expert on that issue just be because of the nature of what's happening on the Colorado River.
00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:28.400
Uh gosh, there's so many things.
00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:31.440
Do you actually mind if we touch on that?
00:26:32.160 --> 00:26:35.359
I would love to become a leading expert on health care policy.
00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:41.359
It's so complicated and it touches like everyone's life uh intimately.
00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:42.000
Sure.
00:26:42.319 --> 00:26:50.480
Do you mind if we touch on the uh the with the Southern Nevada Water Authority saying the Colorado River basin is experiencing the worst drought in in history?
00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:52.640
Is that is that what that is so true?
00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:57.680
You are so you're your what's your role with the Colorado River Caucus?
00:26:58.079 --> 00:27:04.640
I'm a vice chair of the Colorado uh River Caucus, and this is a bipartisan group of members.
00:27:04.799 --> 00:27:08.799
So there's seven states um in the Colorado River basin.
00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:09.279
Yeah.
00:27:09.440 --> 00:27:14.319
Uh it we are the lower basin in Nevada, us in Arizona.
00:27:14.559 --> 00:27:20.559
Um, and then you have the upper basin, which is Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico.
00:27:21.279 --> 00:27:27.759
The law of the Colorado River is based off of the 1922 Colorado River Compact.
00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:35.839
And at that time, it basically allocated how much water went to the upper basin states and how much went to the lower plus Mexico.
00:27:36.079 --> 00:27:38.400
Roughly about 16 million acres.
00:27:38.559 --> 00:27:46.720
Even at that time, the river was only flowing at like 14 to 14.5 million, 14.5 million acre feet.
00:27:46.880 --> 00:27:50.799
So it was already oversubscribed in the very beginning.
00:27:50.960 --> 00:28:06.640
Um, and by the way, the the amount of economic output that comes off of the Colorado River is incredible when you think about the how it compares to what the water flow is off of the Mississippi, et cetera.
00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:27.359
And uh it supports 40 million people and GDP of all the farmland in California, uh, you know, farmland Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and so there's like economic in Phoenix, Salt Lake, LA, Las Vegas.
00:28:27.519 --> 00:28:36.240
I mean, when you think about major cities that are relying uh on this one river, and so um it was already oversubscribed.
00:28:36.319 --> 00:28:39.680
Then you add into it a mega drought, which is what we're in now.
00:28:39.839 --> 00:28:40.240
Right.
00:28:40.480 --> 00:28:53.279
And uh the river is incredibly stressed at this point, and so there has been negotiations going on between the um the upper basin and the lower basin.
00:28:53.519 --> 00:28:57.920
All the states on the river have been coming, and we've made significant cuts.
00:28:58.240 --> 00:29:14.319
Uh, and where we are right now is there was sort of a stalemate among the negotiations, and the federal government just came in and issued um, I'll just say a decree that basically called for the lower basin to make more cuts.
00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:21.519
So, on top of what Nevada has already done, and think about this, we already are the smallest user on the river.
00:29:21.599 --> 00:29:25.920
We're less than 2% of the allocation of the river.
00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:34.880
And we've been incredible stewards of the river here, um, primarily through the leadership of the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
00:29:35.039 --> 00:29:41.440
A lot of people love them and hate them at the same time, you know, when you get those warnings, etc.
00:29:41.839 --> 00:29:50.319
But it's all been about we've cut our water consumption by 40% uh while this city has grown by 800,000 people.
00:29:50.480 --> 00:29:50.720
Wow.
00:29:50.960 --> 00:30:02.079
Primarily, pretty much every ounce of water that we consume in our homes indoors is uh recycled, not like re you know, it's re-reused.
00:30:02.880 --> 00:30:04.960
And um that's incredible.
00:30:05.119 --> 00:30:05.440
Right.
00:30:05.599 --> 00:30:17.279
And not to mention all of the programs that we've had to provide incentives for you to change your landscaping to desert or artificial turf and et cetera.
00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:24.799
So we've really been not just a leader in this country, but a leader around the world in terms of water conservation.
00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:36.000
So we're sort of at this stalemate right now where the federal government came in and said, Hey, you southern, you know, they, you know, you lower basin states, you got to cut even more.
00:30:36.400 --> 00:30:40.319
And the upper basin states, you don't have to cut anything at all.
00:30:40.559 --> 00:30:44.720
And so uh the state of Nevada filed a lawsuit.
00:30:44.960 --> 00:30:45.440
Sure.
00:30:45.599 --> 00:31:01.279
Um, and we'll, you know, so that we the lawsuits like the the route of last option that we want to go, but this uh cut that just came down is so egregious and so sloppy and so one-sided.
00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:17.839
And listen, I think we need to provide a and by the way, we passed the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the inflation reduction act, uh, which together invested about$12 billion into water conservation in the West.
00:31:18.400 --> 00:31:23.759
A lot of that funding was like wiped out under the doge cuts under this administration.
00:31:23.920 --> 00:31:56.880
They're starting to come back and realize that, darn, we lost a lot of critical time in these last few years, especially at a time when the water in Lake Mead and Lake Powell is at historic lows, threatening, literally threatening uh the health of the dams and threatening hydro a lot of hydroelectricity is produced from both uh uh the Glen Canyon Dam and the Hoover Dam, powering Phoenix area, Tucson, and powering uh southern Nevada.
00:31:57.039 --> 00:31:59.680
And so we're at a critical, critical point.
00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:15.119
I wish that this administration would have, instead of cutting those investments, used them to provide types of incentives for the type of water reuse that we're seeing here in southern Nevada, all across the system.
00:32:15.759 --> 00:32:22.240
You know, there are there are I don't want to I don't want to pit farmers against urban.
00:32:23.039 --> 00:32:36.559
We need our farmers, we need to produce agriculture and our products, et cetera, we need ranchers, but there's so many tools that we could use that could assist uh people and and people in conservation.
00:32:36.799 --> 00:32:45.440
And I would like to see some type of incentives put in to see the type of conservation that you're seeing here across the whole system.
00:32:45.759 --> 00:32:57.440
And I don't think it's you know, I'm just gonna say I I think there's this belief that if you're in the upper basin, the water comes from the mountains, so it's our water.
00:32:57.920 --> 00:32:59.759
Uh so why are we cutting it?
00:32:59.920 --> 00:33:05.359
Because we're already seeing cuts because of lower precipitation and lower snowpack.
00:33:05.519 --> 00:33:20.480
Um, but the health of our system and the health of not just the economy, but our national economy really depends on us working as as a uh collection and a coalition to come up with some answers to this.
00:33:20.960 --> 00:33:23.119
Do you feel you touched on AI briefly?
00:33:23.200 --> 00:33:30.400
Do you feel with these data centers becoming more and more uh I guess increasing electricity demand?
00:33:30.480 --> 00:33:36.880
Do you feel like Southern Nevada has it enough power generation, or do you is that a another concern yours as well?
00:33:37.200 --> 00:34:04.480
Well, listen, uh, you know, with respect to data centers, I think it's pretty clear that um even any high electricity demand uh entity, and data centers being it, um, should be required to make sure they fund and take care of the increasing cost to uh energy generation, whether it's investing in the grid, in the infrastructure that needs to support that.
00:34:04.559 --> 00:34:18.559
Um so I, you know, I have a bill in Congress, the Energy Bills Relief Act, uh, which will come in and make a uh you know designation that this must be a condition for data centers.
00:34:18.719 --> 00:34:24.639
Uh that being said, I don't believe we should have like a you know a countrywide moratorium.
00:34:24.800 --> 00:34:43.119
I think we need to have guardrails that just say, you know, you need to be a responsible steward of our land and water, and uh and if there's increased cost to electricity generation and use, you need to pay the brunt, you know, you need to pay it, not the local ratepayers.
00:34:43.280 --> 00:34:50.960
And I'll say, you know, we have one of the older uh data centers in the country, Switch, uh in my district.
00:34:51.360 --> 00:34:51.760
We see it.
00:34:52.079 --> 00:34:59.199
And you know, I I don't know if you remember I don't know how long you've been here, but they've been around since 2000, I believe.
00:34:59.280 --> 00:35:04.559
They're over and I think it's two, it's somewhere in the early over 20 years.
00:35:04.880 --> 00:35:13.679
And um I remember them having a battle with NV Energy because they got off the grid and they produce all of their own energy.
00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:14.320
Really?
00:35:14.559 --> 00:35:19.519
Yeah, and they're on a closed loop water use system as well.
00:35:19.760 --> 00:35:25.440
They're actually transitioning to a glycol-based system which will require no water use.
00:35:25.599 --> 00:35:43.119
And so, you know, there are data centers that do have these closed-loop systems, and I think that one, they need the data centers, and when they're getting developed and getting permitted at a local level, that needs to be part of the requirement in the conversation.
00:35:43.679 --> 00:35:48.239
And, you know, and also what's the displacement use of that land, right?
00:35:48.320 --> 00:35:52.400
So if you're using it for a data center, you're not gonna be using it for other things.
00:35:52.719 --> 00:35:54.719
Can can your community afford that?
00:35:54.880 --> 00:36:00.079
Yeah, those are considerations I think primarily need to happen at the local level.
00:36:00.320 --> 00:36:21.840
I think at the federal level, we need to have some guardrails around federal land use, but also just if if you're gonna cause energy, you know, uh to prices to go up and and the need for building out infrastructure, you should bear the cost of that, not your average residential ratepayer.
00:36:22.239 --> 00:36:43.199
And then in terms of just talking a little bit further about what the local community can handle with the changes in energy and water and land usages, what conservation measures, further than what we already have now, do you think that Nevadans or Las Vegas specifically can expect or should be prepared for, if any?
00:36:44.159 --> 00:36:52.000
Um you know, I think just what um we talked about with respect to uh, you know, what switch is doing.
00:36:52.239 --> 00:37:05.280
I mean making sure that you're on a closed loop water system or using um minimal water and reusing it, um, that you're relying primarily on renewable energy as an energy source.
00:37:05.599 --> 00:37:11.440
Now, listen, there I'm an all of the above energy uh person.
00:37:11.760 --> 00:37:13.840
I think that we need to look at all of it.
00:37:14.000 --> 00:37:22.000
I don't think uh in and right now, by the way, um what's happening under this administration is a case in point.
00:37:22.320 --> 00:37:36.719
So uh when Biden was in office, and um you know he banned drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, offshore drilling, et cetera.
00:37:36.880 --> 00:37:41.840
And so when Trump got elected, he reversed a lot of those policies.
00:37:42.239 --> 00:37:44.239
But they went a step further.
00:37:44.639 --> 00:37:55.440
And uh and of course Biden was uh in the Biden administration was focused on uh addressing climate change, which is real, and impacting all of us.
00:37:55.519 --> 00:38:13.760
I mean, the national, the natural disasters we're seeing across the world, what happened in Nepal with glaciers melting out in Alaska, you know, I mean, we're seeing it everywhere, and trying to address the drivers of climate change, so supporting a switch to renewable energy.
00:38:14.159 --> 00:38:24.960
Well, when when Trump administration got into power, they basically said um, if it's a first of all, they cut off all wind power.
00:38:25.440 --> 00:38:30.239
So there were offshore wind developments that literally have been stopped in their track.
00:38:30.400 --> 00:38:35.679
I mean, like they were built and there's this investment stopped in the track.
00:38:35.840 --> 00:38:54.079
What's impacted Nevada, close to$92 billion of investment, you know, tens of thousands of jobs, basically said if you are solar or wind and you need a permit, it must get personally approved by Secretary of Interior Doug Bergum.
00:38:54.320 --> 00:38:54.480
Okay.
00:38:54.719 --> 00:38:57.440
You know, he claims someone in his office, blah, blah, blah.
00:38:57.519 --> 00:38:59.280
I don't know, whoever it is.
00:38:59.519 --> 00:39:04.480
What we have seen is solar development literally stopped in its track.
00:39:04.800 --> 00:39:07.039
I mean, there have been select few.
00:39:07.440 --> 00:39:13.760
They might have donated to a ballroom or something like that that have gotten approved.
00:39:14.079 --> 00:39:24.239
But um my point is this, and this is what the point I make with the secretary, with the secretary of the energy, is we should have parity.
00:39:24.320 --> 00:39:24.559
Yeah.
00:39:24.719 --> 00:39:37.440
It shouldn't matter, you know, and by the way, a large, you know, a small-scale nuclear plants are gonna become in the mix because they're a form of, you know, what people believe to be clean energy.
00:39:37.679 --> 00:39:44.159
We can talk about the waste, but you know, but we need to look at an all of the above energy policy.
00:39:44.320 --> 00:39:48.960
Right now, I think it's shifted back towards oil and gas.
00:39:49.119 --> 00:40:03.599
Uh I think we need to be a little more, you know, uh why I'm just gonna say wide-eyed about all the energy that we need and not tip the scale on what type of energy is or is not.
00:40:03.760 --> 00:40:13.679
Now, I'll I that being said, I do believe that you know, carbon-free energy is better for our planet and long-term better for us.
00:40:13.920 --> 00:40:25.360
And, you know, some of the uh my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will basically say that solar energy is intermittent, it's not reliable, etc.
00:40:26.079 --> 00:40:43.920
Um, you know, I'll make the claim that we have a thing called batteries now that uh allow you to have assurance that you're gonna have, you know, I mean you're not gonna generate it 24-7, but you can certainly uh have a reliable source with battery storage as well.
00:40:44.400 --> 00:40:48.639
The country and everybody has an opinion on everything you said.
00:40:48.719 --> 00:40:50.880
I I've heard so many people on one side and the other.
00:40:51.039 --> 00:40:55.599
I feel like the country and the population is more polarized now than ever.
00:40:56.000 --> 00:41:00.320
Do you feel that that it's the same way in Congress or is it the same way in Congress?
00:41:00.880 --> 00:41:06.960
Listen, I think that um many people, what you see on TV, you see a lot of the polarization.
00:41:07.920 --> 00:41:12.400
And but I will say that you gotta pass these bills somehow.
00:41:12.559 --> 00:41:12.880
Yeah.
00:41:13.199 --> 00:41:18.079
And in general, I think this country is better served when we do it in a bipartisan manner.
00:41:18.320 --> 00:41:23.039
So you gotta sit down and roll up your sleeves and figure out your differences.
00:41:23.440 --> 00:41:31.199
And that's what a lot of people don't see on you know the news shows because it's not sexy, quite honestly.
00:41:31.519 --> 00:41:33.519
Like, hey, we're working together, right?
00:41:33.679 --> 00:41:40.400
Um, you know, but I would say that uh there's obviously a shift, like these bills.
00:41:40.559 --> 00:41:48.000
Um, you know, this is sort of getting wonky, but you'll hear this term of reconciliation bill or a budget bill.
00:41:48.159 --> 00:41:57.440
The one, the one big beautiful bill that was passed last uh a year ago, uh, that was a single-sided Republican bill.
00:41:57.840 --> 00:42:00.639
Okay, it did not have Democratic support.
00:42:00.800 --> 00:42:00.880
Right.
00:42:01.360 --> 00:42:09.280
And um, and listen, we we passed the Inflation Reduction Act, uh, which was a single-sided bill as well.
00:42:09.519 --> 00:42:20.000
And so, um, but what ends up happening is you see the other party get into power and literally try to erase everything the previous party did.
00:42:20.239 --> 00:42:31.440
Yes, and that doesn't serve the American public, it doesn't serve our country's national security, you know, it doesn't like we're competing against China primarily.
00:42:31.599 --> 00:42:38.880
I mean, these uh this country is authoritarian, you know, but they have a 50-year plan, a hundred-year plan.
00:42:39.039 --> 00:42:46.320
If we're operating on two-year cycles, uh, we are really setting us ourselves up for failure.
00:42:46.559 --> 00:42:46.800
Yes.
00:42:47.039 --> 00:43:00.639
And uh, and so, you know, when you pass these one-sided bills, um, you know, and it really sets things up for uh that type of shenanigans where you're going back and forth.
00:43:00.719 --> 00:43:04.239
And I think we're better off, you know, I sit on the appropriations committee.
00:43:04.400 --> 00:43:09.840
You gotta pass a budget every year, and you gotta pass a spending bill.
00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:12.880
And that really takes having negotiations.
00:43:13.039 --> 00:43:23.440
And, you know, like sometimes, you know, Republicans want to put these riders in that say, you know, that that are really geared towards social issues.
00:43:23.679 --> 00:43:29.519
And if we can sit down and just say, we're not gonna address that, let's pass this bill as is.
00:43:29.679 --> 00:43:34.719
And so it's having those types of negotiations that I think are important.
00:43:34.960 --> 00:43:37.599
And we need more of that and not less.
00:43:38.079 --> 00:43:38.639
Well said.
00:43:39.119 --> 00:43:48.880
In terms of the the non sexy things that aren't going to be shown, because like he said, everyone is so polarized right now that it's almost like we're addicted to seeing content like that.
00:43:49.039 --> 00:43:56.800
Um, is there anything that still produces genuine agreement across both parties that y'all don't have to go back and forth so much on?
00:43:57.840 --> 00:43:59.760
Uh yeah, I mean, I think that.
00:44:00.159 --> 00:44:01.679
You know, support for our veterans.
00:44:01.920 --> 00:44:02.079
Right.
00:44:02.239 --> 00:44:04.639
I think that's a a bipartisan issue.
00:44:04.880 --> 00:44:05.119
Right.
00:44:05.440 --> 00:44:38.159
Um, I do think um support for, you know, our armed services um has a bipartisan po now there are some people on both sides uh who um you know want to see less and um and so I do think you have a little um you know and listen I mean I think uh anything again uh a lot of it um let's talk like social security, right?
00:44:39.280 --> 00:44:53.519
Um we know that this is a system that was set up to make sure that elderly pay people after they retire, they've paid into it their whole lives, have the ability to retire and know they have a safety net.
00:44:53.679 --> 00:44:53.920
Right.
00:44:54.159 --> 00:44:54.639
Right.
00:44:55.280 --> 00:45:05.519
And um, you know, there's some talk in Washington of privatizing that, throwing it all into private securities, et cetera.
00:45:05.840 --> 00:45:08.719
And you know, some people even want to eliminate it.
00:45:09.280 --> 00:45:14.159
And um, but I think in general, most people in the middle understand the importance of it.
00:45:14.320 --> 00:45:14.559
Right.
00:45:14.719 --> 00:45:17.679
So it's just how do we make sure it's secure moving forward.
00:45:18.000 --> 00:45:21.679
Well, let's talk about something that we all can agree on, and that's the Red Rock Legacy Trail.
00:45:22.000 --> 00:45:22.320
Oh, yes.
00:45:22.559 --> 00:45:23.760
Can you tell me your involvement with that?
00:45:23.840 --> 00:45:27.280
Because you've you've been you're you're you're big on the outdoors, which I love.
00:45:27.440 --> 00:45:30.000
Yeah, can you tell me about your involvement with the Red Rock Legacy Trails?
00:45:30.239 --> 00:45:34.960
Yeah, well, first of all, I want to um recognize the organization Save Red Rock.
00:45:35.039 --> 00:45:50.320
They're a nonprofit organization that really has spent two decades a long time um uh advocating and planning and working with the county and um the federal delegation, et cetera, to build this.
00:45:50.480 --> 00:45:59.519
It's gonna be a 19-mile loop that will uh parallel Charleston 159 going out to Red Rock, out to Blue Diamond.
00:45:59.840 --> 00:46:14.239
The the plan is to eventually create a full loop down Blue Diamond and around, I don't know exactly what street it will be on, but connect it all so you have a contiguous loop out uh to Red Rock.
00:46:14.320 --> 00:46:15.920
It to me it's a safety issue.
00:46:16.079 --> 00:46:16.320
Right.
00:46:16.480 --> 00:46:27.039
I mean, we when you go out there uh on a weekend, especially, sure, um there's cars backed up, people are on their cell phones, you got bikers on the side of the highway.
00:46:27.440 --> 00:46:29.199
Um, but it's also access.
00:46:29.360 --> 00:46:31.360
This isn't just for bikers, it's hikers.
00:46:31.440 --> 00:46:39.679
I today I was um driving home from mountain biking and I saw two women out on their rollerblades.
00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:40.239
Right.
00:46:40.400 --> 00:46:50.960
You know, I mean, right now it's only like a mile, mile and a half stretch, but uh I helped secure federal funding for it, and I'm gonna continue to, it's a big project for me.
00:46:51.119 --> 00:46:59.440
I think it's uh we have one of the gems of the world in Red Rock uh National Conservation Area.
00:46:59.519 --> 00:47:06.320
Um, but we also have a big population center, and I want more people to get out there and enjoy it and enjoy it safely.
00:47:06.559 --> 00:47:10.320
So um I'll continue to advocate to get more federal funding for it.
00:47:10.639 --> 00:47:12.480
What's your favorite outdoorsy place?
00:47:12.719 --> 00:47:13.519
Oh my gosh.
00:47:13.840 --> 00:47:15.440
I know I'm I'm asking you the hard questions today.
00:47:15.760 --> 00:47:16.960
I know, I know.
00:47:17.519 --> 00:47:18.400
Yeah, that's right.
00:47:19.360 --> 00:47:20.079
Well, you know what?
00:47:20.159 --> 00:47:21.119
I love Red Rock.
00:47:21.199 --> 00:47:34.239
It's um it's right, I mean, literally today I was on my mountain bike ten minutes after I biked uh out to the um campground that's out there and sure and biked from there.
00:47:34.480 --> 00:47:40.960
And um, you know, it's pretty special to have that type of access right at your fingertips.
00:47:41.199 --> 00:47:48.159
And it's world-class rock climbing, um, you know, right here and great hiking.
00:47:48.320 --> 00:47:52.000
Um I also love Mount Charleston, you know, I love to get up to Mount Charleston.
00:47:52.159 --> 00:48:02.719
Of course, we have Lake Mead, of course, uh one of the busiest national recreation areas, and the deadliest, which all the rangers out of Lake Mead would, you know, be deadliest.
00:48:03.119 --> 00:48:08.800
I'd be remiss if I didn't uh stress safety when you go out to Lake Mead is one of the dead, yeah.
00:48:08.960 --> 00:48:17.360
Why accidents, water, drownings, car, drinking, you know, dehydration, you name it.
00:48:17.440 --> 00:48:28.400
So if you're going out to Lake Mead, make sure you have proper, you know, PFDs and water, and understand that if you're out there for fun, it's still a dangerous place to be.
00:48:28.719 --> 00:48:31.039
Well, I've got one more nail biter for you.
00:48:31.599 --> 00:48:43.280
If you could take one person from Congress on a Nevada hike or mountain bike to show them like what it is that you love about our outdoor spaces here and why they're so valuable, who would you take and why?
00:48:43.679 --> 00:48:44.159
Let me think.
00:48:44.639 --> 00:48:45.920
I feel like that that's all you need to do.
00:48:46.000 --> 00:48:49.599
You just have to get them to experience what it's like and they'll do anything you say.
00:48:51.199 --> 00:48:52.159
Let me think.
00:48:52.880 --> 00:48:55.119
Well, I'd be strategic about it.
00:48:55.440 --> 00:48:57.280
You can't just take your bestie.
00:48:58.559 --> 00:49:01.360
Yeah, my bestie, uh yeah.
00:49:01.679 --> 00:49:01.760
Yeah.
00:49:02.000 --> 00:49:03.119
You'd have to be strategic about it.
00:49:03.360 --> 00:49:08.880
Which I've already Lori, I I hang out with a member from Massachusetts, Lori Trahan.
00:49:09.760 --> 00:49:13.119
Um she's I've taken her already.
00:49:13.599 --> 00:49:15.039
Um gosh.
00:49:15.280 --> 00:49:17.199
See, I'd want to take a Republican.
00:49:18.159 --> 00:49:27.199
I'd want to take someone who is sort of against conservation and has mucked up public lands.
00:49:27.679 --> 00:49:33.360
I, you know, Mike Lee might come to the list, but you know, he's from Utah.
00:49:33.440 --> 00:49:34.880
Like he should understand public lands.
00:49:35.519 --> 00:49:36.239
Yeah, exactly.
00:49:36.480 --> 00:49:40.719
Um I think I'd probably take Barrasso, the senator.
00:49:41.920 --> 00:49:42.320
Why?
00:49:42.880 --> 00:49:43.920
Just because of decisions.
00:49:45.519 --> 00:49:45.679
Right.
00:49:46.079 --> 00:49:47.360
Natural resources.
00:49:47.519 --> 00:49:54.000
Uh they've been sort of key opponents to things like my lands bill, right?
00:49:54.320 --> 00:49:58.079
I uh co-sponsor with uh Catherine Cortez-Masto.
00:49:58.880 --> 00:50:05.440
Um, you know, this is the bill that has been a game changer for lands management in Nevada.
00:50:05.519 --> 00:50:10.800
You know, 80% of our land is federally controlled by the BLM.
00:50:10.960 --> 00:50:18.960
But and so whenever we want to develop land, we have to dispose of it and um you know, meaning sell it off.
00:50:19.280 --> 00:50:33.119
But that the proceeds from that, because of our lands bill, go into an account that's used for things like supporting the legacy trail, recreation and conservation, other recreation and conservation activities.
00:50:33.440 --> 00:50:37.519
It's a model piece of legislation for lands management in the West.
00:50:37.840 --> 00:50:47.920
Um, without it, it was sort of like the Wild West, like you know, I mean, some former members of Congress got in trouble for sweet sweetheart deals.
00:50:48.159 --> 00:50:48.320
Sure.
00:50:48.480 --> 00:50:50.880
So it sort of just evens the playing field.
00:50:51.119 --> 00:50:59.840
So I would probably go after him because I'd want him to understand like just how important conservation is in southern Nevada.
00:51:00.559 --> 00:51:11.119
Um, you know, Bruce Westerman is the chairman of um the Natural Resources Committee in the House, and I like him per you know, like him personally.
00:51:11.199 --> 00:51:25.360
I've I've uh I went out to Grand Teton National Park with him when we uh celebrated the passage of the Explore Act, which was a piece of land management for national parks and public lands.
00:51:25.519 --> 00:51:32.079
So um, and he's you know, he's mucked up the waters on conservation a little bit, so I've been out there too.
00:51:32.320 --> 00:51:32.960
As a reminder.
00:51:33.119 --> 00:51:36.320
But he's a big outdoorsman, so yeah, he might be able to keep up.
00:51:36.559 --> 00:51:37.599
I'll tell you what I liked about that.
00:51:37.679 --> 00:51:43.360
I I I got to see inside your mind of the the strategy of how you approach uh a question that you you weren't prepared for.
00:51:43.440 --> 00:51:44.559
So Strategy with Susie.
00:51:44.800 --> 00:51:45.840
Strategy with Susie.
00:51:46.239 --> 00:52:01.119
Yeah, I mean, you know, you sort of want to hang out with people that you agree with, but it's really important to show people, you know, it nothing nothing um you know educates someone more than being there, right?
00:52:01.360 --> 00:52:05.599
And you know, and so um I think it would be important to do that.
00:52:05.920 --> 00:52:09.360
Well, listen, I know our time is getting a little a little limited here.
00:52:09.440 --> 00:52:12.000
So we're just gonna jump straight to the rapid fire questions if that's okay.
00:52:12.400 --> 00:52:12.559
All right.
00:52:12.880 --> 00:52:13.360
You ready?
00:52:13.599 --> 00:52:16.159
Since you're an outdoorsy person, hike or bike?
00:52:16.400 --> 00:52:16.960
Oh god.
00:52:17.280 --> 00:52:17.679
I know.
00:52:18.239 --> 00:52:21.760
Uh well, I uh God, I love them both.
00:52:21.920 --> 00:52:23.440
If I have my dogs, it's hiking.
00:52:23.599 --> 00:52:24.559
If not, I'm biking.
00:52:24.800 --> 00:52:25.840
What kind of dogs do you have?
00:52:26.000 --> 00:52:28.480
I have a sheep a doodle and a labradoodle.
00:52:28.719 --> 00:52:29.119
Love that.
00:52:29.280 --> 00:52:29.679
Love that.
00:52:29.840 --> 00:52:31.599
Uh sunrise or sunset hikes?
00:52:31.760 --> 00:52:32.159
Sunrise.
00:52:32.320 --> 00:52:32.719
Sunrise.
00:52:32.960 --> 00:52:34.400
I'm a morning, I'm a morning girl.
00:52:34.559 --> 00:52:35.599
What time do you wake up?
00:52:35.840 --> 00:52:37.920
Oh too early.
00:52:38.159 --> 00:52:38.880
Too early.
00:52:39.119 --> 00:52:39.760
5 a.m.
00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:41.519
Today I slept until six.
00:52:41.760 --> 00:52:42.320
Love that.
00:52:42.559 --> 00:52:46.239
Uh, do you like do you do you climb at all too, or no?
00:52:46.480 --> 00:52:47.840
I've dabbled in it.
00:52:48.000 --> 00:52:54.800
I mean, I climbed uh Grand Teton a few times and Mount Rainier, but it's not my favorite.
00:52:54.960 --> 00:52:55.679
My kids are.
00:52:55.760 --> 00:52:55.920
Yeah.
00:52:56.239 --> 00:52:58.639
My son just climbed uh half dome.
00:52:58.800 --> 00:52:59.039
That's fair.
00:52:59.119 --> 00:52:59.840
Oh yeah.
00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:02.400
Yeah, he's he's a big climber.
00:53:02.480 --> 00:53:07.199
And he takes me out, and the whole time I'm like, what the hell am I doing here?
00:53:07.360 --> 00:53:08.639
Why am I doing this?
00:53:09.119 --> 00:53:09.599
Question for you.
00:53:09.840 --> 00:53:10.559
Whatever I'm thinking.
00:53:10.880 --> 00:53:15.199
What is, and I guess the last question, what's the best trail view that you have in Nevada?
00:53:15.599 --> 00:53:16.880
The best trail?
00:53:18.159 --> 00:53:19.199
Oh gosh.
00:53:19.440 --> 00:53:26.400
My well, one of my favorite trails is the Kraft Mountain Canyon, just because it's such a beautiful canyon.
00:53:26.639 --> 00:53:38.480
The trail I like to take people on when they visit Las Vegas is uh Muffin Top, which is out of the horse trails because you can climb up and then have a full view of the Las Vegas Valley.
00:53:39.280 --> 00:53:42.559
And so that's super cool for people to see that.
00:53:42.639 --> 00:53:43.519
Yeah, that's awesome.
00:53:43.760 --> 00:53:47.199
I like Fletcher Canyon up at Mount Charleston too.
00:53:47.760 --> 00:53:52.880
That's like it's it becomes a slot canyon, which is really cool.
00:53:53.039 --> 00:53:53.920
And it's cooler.
00:53:54.079 --> 00:53:55.760
Love that when it's so hot out.
00:53:56.000 --> 00:53:56.400
Love that.
00:53:56.559 --> 00:53:56.800
Yeah.
00:53:57.039 --> 00:53:58.800
Well, Susie, this was awesome.
00:53:58.960 --> 00:54:05.519
I am so thankful and and so fortunate that you were able to come on our show and share your insight.
00:54:05.679 --> 00:54:08.159
Um and shout out to Susie's team for coordinating.
00:54:08.480 --> 00:54:09.360
Shout out to Susie's team.
00:54:09.440 --> 00:54:10.800
Yes, incredible team.
00:54:10.960 --> 00:54:12.639
We're so, so thankful.
00:54:12.800 --> 00:54:14.960
Um, do you have any any last words, Susie?
00:54:15.440 --> 00:54:18.559
No, listen, I mean, I thought this was uh great conversation.
00:54:18.719 --> 00:54:20.239
We really didn't talk politics that much.
00:54:20.559 --> 00:54:21.440
I know it or not.
00:54:21.679 --> 00:54:24.559
Well, we kind of did, because you said all of that involves politics.
00:54:24.960 --> 00:54:25.280
It does.
00:54:25.440 --> 00:54:25.760
It does.
00:54:25.920 --> 00:54:26.960
So it does involve politics.
00:54:27.280 --> 00:54:28.480
We kind of sneak it in there every now and then.
00:54:28.639 --> 00:54:29.440
We sort of snuck it in there.
00:54:30.159 --> 00:54:37.840
But um, you know, the great thing about this community is everyone, you know, people have come here from all over the world.
00:54:37.920 --> 00:54:42.320
Uh, not just to come here to enjoy our entertainment, but to move here.
00:54:42.480 --> 00:54:42.880
Yeah, sure.
00:54:43.119 --> 00:54:48.880
And, you know, we can have world-class entertainment and world-class outdoor activities.
00:54:49.119 --> 00:54:58.960
And I think I mentioned that outdoor recreation has become the second uh GDP driver here in Nevada behind gaming and tourism.
00:54:59.119 --> 00:55:04.559
Um, but my thing is, is if you want to be involved, show up and make your voice heard.
00:55:04.639 --> 00:55:16.000
And it can go from anywhere from your local HOA to your school board to your PTA to city council to the Clark County Commission.
00:55:16.159 --> 00:55:23.920
You know, um, we all have uh we have an obligation um to make sure we're building the community we want.
00:55:24.000 --> 00:55:32.239
And I think that uh the thing I love about this community is uh people show up and want to get involved, and uh that's important to me.
00:55:32.400 --> 00:55:32.960
Well said.
00:55:33.119 --> 00:55:33.440
All right.
00:55:33.760 --> 00:55:34.960
Susie Lee, everybody.
00:55:35.119 --> 00:55:35.679
That was great.
00:55:35.760 --> 00:55:36.880
Thank you so much for coming on.
00:55:37.119 --> 00:55:37.760
Yes, thank you.
00:55:37.920 --> 00:55:38.400
That was awesome.
00:55:38.480 --> 00:55:40.559
Julie, did was it everything you imagined and more?
00:55:40.800 --> 00:55:43.039
It really was, and I want to go to Suzy's for dinner tonight.
00:55:43.360 --> 00:55:43.760
Oh my god.
00:55:44.079 --> 00:55:45.679
Okay, coconut chicken or something like that.
00:55:46.800 --> 00:55:47.840
I know, on the menu.
00:55:48.079 --> 00:55:48.400
That's right.
00:55:48.480 --> 00:55:51.679
We'll catch new episodes each week on Heybhead.com.
00:55:51.920 --> 00:55:53.039
We will see you next week.
00:55:53.360 --> 00:55:54.000
See ya.
