YouSaid · the spoken record

Jackie Speier

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2022-05-19

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2022-05-19

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1. “Well, thank you, David. I think it's the highest calling, and I don't regret having dedicated my life to it. And if young people recognize that this is the way that you really can make great change in our country, we've just got to believe in them and help them do it.”

   2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

2. “What gives me hope is that I do believe the next generation is poised to do things better than we have done. But I will say that social media has had such a profound impact on not having to talk about the truth anymore that I worry about that. I really worry that truth doesn't matter. And if truth doesn't matter, then we are in big trouble. So we've got to be purveyors of truth. We've got to be willing to speak truth. We've got to find a way to work together. And right now there's no impetus to do that.”

   2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

3. “I think it will have a profound effect. I mean, she will go down in history as probably the most effective speaker ever to serve. And I think whoever takes her place just by virtue of experience and legislative experience, life experience will probably not have the same power and there will be more factions within the Democratic caucus that will assert themselves from time to time.”

   2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

4. “I mean, you know, the fact that we are our infrastructure is fraying our social infrastructure, childcare jobs have been lost, families are not able to go back to work. 1.4 million women who haven't gone back into the workforce since COVID. And we couldn't get a childcare package through, I think, was a huge loss. Maybe we would have been more successful.”

   2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

5. “Well, we should have the reconciliation bill should have been done and we should have taken half a loaf instead of one and a half loaves.”

   2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

6. “Well, the likelihood of the extremes on both ends having more clout will probably doom us in terms of our ability to get much done. We've seen it with just the four or five members on the Republican side that have taken control of Kevin McCarthy. And he can't control them, and so he allows them to operate in the manner they do. And so, you know, we are holding six hours of votes yesterday and today. I think on the Democratic side, the progressives have a powerful voice, but we went too far. We just went too far.”

   2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

7. “No, it's an absolute reality, actually. The likelihood of there to be exacerbated situations, I mean, Republicans are already telegraphing that. They're telegraphing. They're going to bring members in contempt. They're going to take members off committees. They're going to do everything we did plus times two.”

   2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

8. “And I remember placing my cheek on the floor and it was cold thinking, I'm going to lose my life, not in Guyana, but in this sacrosanct place of democracy. And I really thought that there was this, all the blood sort of ran out of my body. There was this sense of resignation that they were just going to kill us.”

   2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

9. “So I was sitting in the gallery watching the proceedings when we were told that the capital had been breached. I mean, there was a sense of shock that how could that possibly have happened? And then we were told to pick up the pouch underneath our chairs and unzip it and pull out this aluminum foiled packet that you ripped open. And there's a gas mask. And then we were told to race across the gallery floor underneath the brass railings and we did that and then take off your member pin and lay on the floor. And mind you, you know, we're hearing all this noise and there's members of the Capitol Police that are at the front door of the house chamber with the guns drawn with a piece of furniture in front of the door. And then all of a sudden the shot rang out.”

   2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

10. “And we'll all understand why the American people are so frustrated by our inability to fix basic fundamental issues around gas, groceries, baby formula, and to be able to move in a manner that will provide them relief.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

11. “Well, there's no purists here. But part of it's done in a defensive and part of it's done in an offensive. When the Republicans were in power and had those hearings on Benghazi and put Hillary Clinton on the stand for 11 hours, I mean, it was a $7 million project. They had over 30 hearings. And they came up with nothing. Nothing. We're in the process with the January 6th committee. And that was a coup. That was an attempt of a coup. And I would argue is a legitimate reason for investigation. It's not seen that way necessarily by the Republicans. If the Republicans were to win a majority in the House, I mean, they're going to go after Hunter Biden and we'll have two years of the crucifixion of Hunter Biden.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

12. “A unicameral legislature. If we can't fix the filibuster, then let's make it a unicameral operation. So we work together and come up with product because you won't pass, as you know, any number of bills that will just sit over on the Senate side and not get addressed. Or then they'll ping pong a bill that they've carved that doesn't necessarily meet with what we want to do. So we get stalled.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

13. “We are at a very dangerous point. You know, it's become a war game. And we're not colleagues trying to address problems. We're colleagues who are trying to beat each other in a game of power. And right now we're in a situation where in the house we can't even pass bills on what is called suspension. There are non-controversial that both sides recognize should be passed. And we're sitting on the floor for six hours voting on 20 measures that should have been taken up in a five-minute vote because there's this interest now among the colleagues on the other side to make sure we don't get anything done. And we're doing a good job of not getting anything done. And I think we should rethink this.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

14. “To address the issues particularly in Alaska, where the numbers doubled last year, but in the military generally, we've got to change the military mindset that these are not cogs in a wheel. These are human beings. And while there's this need to go through boot camp and make them a team and not an individual, they still have personal needs that have to be addressed. And I've done it in terms of medical malpractice at military treatment facilities where soldiers have not gotten the health care they needed and now have terminal cancer or have lost limbs because they've had flesh eating diseases. I mean, we've just got to do more. We want these war fighters to protect us. Well, we've got to protect them as well.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

15. “I mean, to wait two or three months for an appointment to see a behavioral health specialist is. It makes me crazy. We've got to change it. And we're going to put a bill together, a bipartisan bill. I'm doing it with Senator Sullivan and Murkowski. Yeah.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

16. “Know life offers up opportunities and responsibilities, right? And my husband sat me down. So subsequently losing my husband, having my second child. Eight years later, I remarried. And my husband, Barry, has adopted both our children. And we've been married now for 20 years. And he sat me down and he said, you know, you've been a weekend wife for 20 years. When are we going to have some time? And I owe it to him. I do not want to leave. I still have lots of work to do. I'm working on suicide in the military right now, and I've spent time in Alaska. But there's also a time to pass the torch. And I've been in public life now almost 40 years. I've been in Congress almost 15, which is very long, the scheme of things for some. I'm going to find a way to have a voice outside of these marble hallways, but I still want to stay engaged.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

17. “All on notice, and they have to have the training every year. And so I feel like we've made some progress there. How much of it is happening now? I don't know. I try to ask that question from time to time. I haven't gotten any specific answers, but I do know that the staffers know and the interns know and the fellows know that they have rights and there are protections. that that is part of the system now.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

18. “The victim was not represented by counsel. She was told to wait 30 days. There was this mandatory effort to negotiate something. And then there was a cooling-off period. And then the taxpayers picked up the tab. So that all had to be changed. And so when the Me Too movement took off, you know, I told the story about a chief of staff forcing himself on me and kissing me one night late as a staffer. And, you know, it sort of took off. And then all these women started coming to me and these stories were, some were disgusting, some were just tragic, but their lives were scarred. And there was no avenue for kind of support or compensation. And so we've changed that. And now, you know, members are...”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

19. “So, you know, I first did some work on this issue when I was in the state legislature because young women talked about it to me. And so I carried legislation to require sexual harassment training for all the members. And it was not a healthy environment there. So then I came to Congress and we weren't doing anything. And I remember sitting with the rules committee chairman at the time asking him if that I wanted to do something on this. And he just basically said no we're never going to do anything. And so in the two movement occurred, I thought this is, we've got to take advantage of this moment and see what we can do. And in the legislature, in the Congress, believe it or not, the perpetrator typically the member was being represented by counsel.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

20. “So you take your experiences into your life. I have been like this watchful mother with my kids for fear that they could ever be in a situation where they could be physically abused sexually.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

21. “That's right for a long time. Whole thing was so, I mean, the whole thing felt, you know, you don't know. Is this right, is this wrong? And eventually I did tell my mom, who basically wanted to, I don't know that she didn't believe me or just thought that I was exaggerating. No, it wasn't.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

22. “I was young. And it was when my parents would drop us off for a weekend and I would take a nap with my grandfather. I almost didn't put it in the book, but then I did because I thought, you know, it happens in families all the time. 25%. And if we don't talk about just like we don't talk about abortion, how can we ever fix the pain associated with these issues? You know, it was revealing to me that when I was looking at all the passion I have around these issues around sexual assault and rape, I was trying to figure out why do I have this burning need to be working on these issues. And then it sort of clicked. It dated back to this childhood experience.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

23. “Yeah, that was very hard for me to write about because I had so compartmentalized it. But my grandfather had sexually abused me as a child. How old?”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

24. “And I don't think people appreciate how destructive this is going to be to the family unit and to women generally in the future. Because over 36 million women will be in states that you cannot get an abortion. And in California, I think we're seeing 500 a day coming into California to get abortions from Texas now. But it's such a fundamentally personal decision. And yet it has become this pinata that can be batted around by people who I think really want to put the brakes on women having any economic success. I do think that justice Alito, the rhetoric is so hot in that draft opinion that it reflects On someone who is offended that more than 50% of the women in law school and in medical school now are women, that there needs to be some kind of shutting down of women's economic success.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

25. “Rape or incest or just the fact that, you know, you had a rump in the back seat of a car and you got pregnant and it's all on you as the woman and there's no responsibility to the man who was part of that process. It does take two. So that's loss in this whole discussion as well.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

26. “It is, as you know, I mean, you're taking a right away from a woman and her family and her doctor, and you're saying the government is going to make you have this child. And it is, and we have this whole fundamental belief and separation of church and state. Now, while Catholicism promotes life at conception, that is not the beliefs of other religions. And how are we then using that? Restrict a woman's right to choose and have this kind of control over her body. And then couple that with the fact that we are not even talking about the impregnator Is no talk about the impregnator.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

27. “So, you know, it's lost in this discussion is the reality that 59% of women that get abortions are mothers. More often than not, it's because of a complication or because of the time in their lives and their responsibilities to their children that they feel they cannot bring another child into the world at this time. Now mind you, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, I keep saying over and over again, you are pro-birth, you are not pro-life because you don't Give a damn about what happens after these children are born. And the fact that there's so much interest in wanting to have control over whether or not you put a mask on your mouth, but you want to get into my uterus is, you know, it sends me into orbit. And I think most women into orbit because”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

28. “Defund Planned Parenthood. For all the services they provide to women that are not abortion related, where they discover cancer and are able to save women's lives. But one of my colleagues was reading from a book and talking about limbs being sawed off and I'm thinking, I just lost it. And so spoke up and said, you have no idea what you're talking about. And then spoke about my second trimester abortion.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

29. “It was tragic because 17 weeks you're moving on in your pregnancy and there's great anticipation. And the fetus had slipped through the cervix into the vagina. And so they tried to get the fetus to move back into the uterus and had me upside down overnight. And then that wasn't working. decided that the fetus wasn't going to be viable. So I decided along with my husband to terminate the pregnancy. It was so painful. I mean, a woman doesn't get pregnant and then have an abortion without it being a painful experience. And when we were, this was when the Republicans took over the house in 2011. And the first bill they introduced was HR1, and it was to defund title.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

30. “Well, there was speculation that I couldn't have children at one point. And then I did get pregnant and we had our first child, who's now 34 years old. And then I had these two miscarriages, one at 10 weeks and then one at 17 weeks.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

31. “And I had a Germanic father who, when I said, Dad, I don't think I can keep doing this. He said, Jackie, it's been three months. Get over it. Talking about the death of my husband, and that was a tough time. I told him I was at bed rest because of this pregnancy. It was high risk. And I told him, get out of my bedroom. I didn't talk to him for a number of weeks. But, you know, it was that, you know, you got to move on. You got to find the lemonade in lemons. And so that's what I did.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

32. “And then when I was pregnant with our second child, my husband was killed in an automobile accident by a young driver who had no brakes and ran a red light. So that was yet another test of whether or not I could survive. And I didn't want to go on. I really didn't.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

33. “That's right. That's exactly right. And so I was running against a brother-in-law of a seated member in the assembly. So it was the year of the family. I ran and it was a tough race. And I couldn't get any campaign resources from Sacramento. It was all very grassroots. So I got elected by less than 555 votes out of 40,000 votes cast. Willie Brown made me a deputy whip quite early because he wanted to keep his eye on me. But then I served there for 10 years and we had term limits. But during that time I got married and we had our first child. And then I had a number of miscarriages and one abortion at 17 weeks, which was what has become known as the first time a member of Congress has talked about it on the House floor. Back in 2011.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

34. “But when I ran for Congress and Laws, I realized that that I had something to offer and that I did want to make changes and that I thought that the process of becoming elected would allow me to do that. So I ran for the Board of Supervisors against a 20-year incumbent and no one thought I had a chance and got elected. And then six years later ran for the state legislature. Willie Brown was the Speaker of the Assembly and he wanted nothing to do with me. And they spent a truckload of money trying to make sure I didn't get elected.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

35. “Guess when I ran for Congress, by the way, I have the record in Congress. It took me 29 years to get back here after I ran and lost.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

36. “I took off the wrap and I walked along the beach in Hawaii. And it didn't matter if people were looking at me or not. And, you know, it was when I finally recognized this is who I am. I'm embracing it and I'm moving on.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

37. “As someone who survives gun violence, I mean, there's a lot of, there's obvious grief, but there's guilt because you survived and others didn't. And then for me, I had 10 surgeries. They thought they were going to amputate my leg and my arm at one point because I had gas gangrene so bad. Then after I was sort of all put together with skin grafts or my body is deformed. And then you get into relationships and before you can even become intimate you got to explain that you've got a very scarred body. I talk about this in my book where the sense of freedom came to me when I took off this because I never when I wore a swim so I was covered.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

38. “And it doesn't stop. So I've got to believe that the next generation that will take over the reins of power in this institution will have more willingness to do things that we've been incapable of doing.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

39. “Rayse a really hard question to answer because you don't get into this business without a belief that you can change things. And yet we've been so unsuccessful. I've done gun buybacks in my district for years. Some people snicker, but it's taking these guns out of the universe. And, you know, it's astonishing. I live in a pretty blue district and we had assault weapons and we had sawed off shotguns and we had guns that had the serial numbers scratched. You know, they were crime guns. And, you know, I share your sense of distrust that we can get anything done, but we can't, we just can't give in to this because you can go all these countries around the world. I mean, Norway, I think, has only eight murders a year. You know, we have, you know, eight murders a year. 15 minutes in this country.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

40. “Signed it into law. And now we can't even get a closing a loophole background checks passed in the Senate because the NRA has a lock on that institution.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

41. “It's very emotional for me for years when we would do these moments of silence, I would just walk off the house floor. I couldn't tolerate it. When I was in the state legislature, I had carried the assault weapon ban on the assembly side. And one of my colleagues was challenging me saying, how can you carry this legislation? Have you ever shot an assault weapon? And I thought, if you're stupid enough to ask me this question, I'm going to give it right back to you. And I says, no, I haven't, but let me ask you one. Have you ever been shot by an assault weapon? Now, to just show you how we have changed in this country. So that bill passed the House passed the Assembly and the Senate and the state legislature. It went to then Governor Pete Wilson, a Republican.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

42. “You're in a state of shock. And the expectation was that the Jonestown crew would come back and finish us off. So I just prayed. And I mean, there was great pain about having lost the mentor, but it was this sense of doom that. I was trying to cope with at the time.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

43. “As I've said many times, you don't sweat the small stuff when you're dying. It was at the time we used tape recorders and there was a reporter's tape recorder nearby and I asked if I could send a message to my parents and so I kind of gave my last will and testament in this tape recorder, you know, expecting to die on that airstrip got through that night 22 hours no medical attention and those that survived that had gone into the little town that had a bar the NBC producer would come back occasionally and bring this 150 proof rum and I would take swigs of the rum to get through the night.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

44. “Congressman Ryan was shot 45 times. I mean, they had identified who they wanted to kill. I had run off under the plane as well, and I hid behind a wheel. And I was lying with my side with my head down, trying to pretend I was dead. And then I was shot five times. And I looked to my body, and my whole right side of my body was blown up and phones coming out of my arm. And good Catholic girl, I say the act of contrition and waited for the lights to go out. And thought of my grandmother, who just kind of motivated me. She was just this remarkable person. And I eventually dragged my body to the cargo hole. The plane wasn't going anywhere because it had bullets through it. And someone pushed me into the cargo hold. And then eventually they took me out of the plane and put me on the side of the airstrip. Unfortunately on an anthill.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

45. “Yeah, there were probably, I don't know, 20, 25, and there was a problem that we needed to order another plane. And so we get to the airstrip, and I'm loading passengers onto the two planes. And Congress and Ryan is talking with people off to the side. And then what we didn't know is a tractor trailer followed behind us some distance. And then they came onto the airstrip and started shooting. And so we just ran under the plane.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

46. “And so the next morning, more and more people wanted to leave. So it became a powder keg. It was just the tensest experience probably of my life. And we eventually got to the airstrip and beknots.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

47. “Protecting American citizens abroad was one of the missions. And so we made the trip there. There were two staff that went on the trip. And we had to negotiate an actual invitation to come to the commune. And it was in the middle of a jungle. I mean, it took forever to go three miles in this jungle. And so we got there and we had a tour and the congressman spoke and we provided, we had many letters from family members who wanted to make sure they got to their kids, young adults. And so we interviewed a number of them. Media was on the trip. And one of the reporters, Don Harris, was slipped a note that said, we want to get out. And so at the end of the evening, he brought this over to the congressman and I just, my heart fell because then I knew, you know, all that we feared was true.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

48. “So, Jim Jones was very connected in San Francisco politics because he could put 3,000 people on the streets to campaign for candidates. And so he rose the ranks and got appointed to different commissions. But there was this rumbling that there were people that were leaving the people's temple, that there was concerns about suicide packs and physical abuse and sexual abuse. A number of constituents of Congressman Ryan had young adults that got involved in it because it was interracial and it was kind of a utopian world they were trying to create. So Congressman Ryan was a real maverick and was someone who was very experiential in the way he legislated. So he decided after meeting with the concerned relatives group and a defector that he wanted to go and see firsthand what was happening and he was on the Foreign Affairs Committee and”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

49. “Because it was too radical. So I didn't get accepted to Stanford. And so I went to Davis. I hadn't been to Davis. And I show up there and it was 20 minutes from the state capitol. And so that's what started my real pursuit in life. And again, faith played a huge part in that. So I worked first as an intern in his office, then as a staffer, then came back when he ran for Congress and worked as a legislative assistant and then as legislative counsel after I graduated from law school.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

50. “So I was drawn to politics in part, I guess. I was raised and then worked on his campaign. And, you know, I must say, and I write this in my memoir, there are things that just happen. My parents got a card in the mail saying, Would you contribute? I filled it out and said, I don't have any money, but I'd like to work on a campaign. And so I got a call on a Saturday morning, and I'm vacuuming. I can't even quite hear what was coming through the speaker of the phone. And it was actually his campaign manager asking me to come to meet. And so I went to this address, which was, as it turns out, Ryan's home, and they were interviewing what they were calling Ryan Girls, painful for me to say I even have a picture of it. And it was during the, you know, Beetlemania. So they were, you know, we had black knitted tights and mini skirts and white boots. And black turtlenecks and we ran around the communities passing out literature. So that was my first involvement. And then I only applied to two colleges, Stanford University and UC Davis. And my parents didn't want me going to Berkeley.”

    2022-05-19 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 490 — Rep. Jackie Speier · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source