Exclusive–Freedom Caucus Chair Meadows: ‘More Energy on Policy and Less on Rhetoric Would Do Us Good’

Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-NC) told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview that “more energy on policy and less on rhetoric would do us good.”

Congressman Meadows told Breitbart News that tragedies such as the Alexandria shooting offers opportunities for everyone to get closer with friends and family, and to value the dignity of life. He said:

I think you can see the best of times and you can see the worst of times. The biggest thing is that even though you see the worst of times and with people seeking to do harm like the shooter did yesterday you also see the best of times. You see relationships that you might take for granted on a daily basis. Relationships are more important, and it’s critically important that you express that. It’s important that we all say thank you more often and hug your kids and hug your wife a little closer than you would normally and be thankful for one day longer and enjoy the blessings of life.

The North Carolina representative explained that now is a time to focus less on the vicious rhetoric of the current political climate and focus on policy solutions that will benefit the American people. Meadows said:

I think there is some vicious rhetoric, but if we focus on policy than rhetoric and especially in the House and there are 435 members of Congress that would love to do some good. They all have great ideas that they would love to implement. There’s a pent-up policy frustration where instead of putting our rhetoric to use, we can find bipartisan solutions and bipartisan compromise instead of pushing for a few well-connected, well-directed pieces of policy that can come to the president’s desk. Pushing for those bills allows people to become more critical of each other’s position, rather than trying to understand each other and find the common solution. I think that if we take the opportunity and find the truth in each other’s argument, and say ‘How can I disagree with that’ but also come up with policy that moves things forward on behalf of the American people. Now, we are all from different districts. My district is very different from California or New York, but that does not mean you cannot find you cannot find common ground, supporting our veterans is bipartisan, supporting Israel is bipartisan fighting the whole opioid epidemic is bipartisan. Let’s find the areas that we have common ground on and find some real solutions. Some more energy on policy and less on rhetoric would do us good.

I think that what we would have to do is spend a certain amount of time on what you believe is the best policy, but then once you realize that we are at an impasse, you should look at different tactics or strategies to get there. Lowering taxes across the board will not only spur the economy but will be good for the United States. We lose sight of the person that we serve; he is back home on main street in our districts, he is not here in the beltway in D.C. If people could remember back to when they took their oath of office when they were sworn in, you would see more people working across party lines, more willingness to work on the things that are the most important and help the people that we are serving.

The Freedom Caucus chair told Breitbart News that we can find common ground with lawmakers on the opposite of the ideological spectrum and create opportunities to find constructive ground on even more divisive issues such as tax reform. Meadows explained:

Senator Warren is a prime example; I have a resolution that would honor our first responders and honor their contribution to our homes and our communities. That bill would honor them for one day in October, and create a national first responder recognition day. The chairman of the Freedom Caucus leading that, with Elijah Cummings another Democrat, and Senator Warren on that the same bill in the Senate bridges that sort of ideological bridge from one side of the spectrum to the other. It’s what we need to be about, and it’s not just about honoring our first responders it should also be about lowering corporate tax rates for our small and medium size corporate businesses. I think we can all agree on that.

We need to ignore the district that a particular piece of legislation comes from, I’ve asked our team to look for Democrat bills that are conservative in nature or good government policy. Just because a Democrat leads that effort, does not mean that it’s a bad idea and if we continue to do that we can find common ground. I’m not suggesting in any way that we put our principles or our convictions on the shelf. What I am saying is that that if Gerry Connolly who represents the 11^th district of Virginia says it’s a good I am going to look at it in a lot more detail because of the friendship and the relationship I have with Gerry Connolly.

Meadows added, “I think that we need to go across party lines and recognize our differences and we can really work together in a bipartisan way.”