MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript

Interview

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Congresswoman Lee, it`s great to see you again. Thank you for being here.

REP. BARBARA LEE (D-CA), CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS: Thank you so much for having me with you tonight, Rachel.

MADDOW: I am -- I am not much of a media critic. I think that probably I`m as damnable as anybody else in the media at any given day. But this really struck me as being very differently represented in the
media than it was when I saw it on tape.

You were there in the room. Do you think the president`s remarks are being fairly represented?

LEE: Well, let me say, it was a very lengthy and comprehensive speech, Rachel, at least 35 to 45 minutes. Also I know, you know, some of the controversial comments that have been picked up by the media.

They couldn`t have been directed to the Congressional Black Caucus and members of the caucus because as a former member of the Congressional Black Caucus, the president knows how much these great members who have sacrificed so much throughout their lives have made our country better and
will continue to fight for justice and for jobs and for equality.

And also I was very pleased in the president`s speech, he did talk about the huge numbers of African-Americans who are unemployed as it relates to the black unemployment rates. He talked about black children living in poverty, nearly 40 percent. Unconscionable.

And so I think that what he said, of course, you know, could have been off script. He could have, you know, in terms of the controversial parts of his speech, for whatever reason, but I do have to say that he knows that we hear the suffering and the cries of the American people who need jobs. Who are anxious about jobs.

He`s heard that. As a former member of the Congressional Black Caucus, he knows what we`re doing each and every day. And so we want to work with him to make sure that this American Jobs Act gets passed because this is the first step toward creating jobs and clearly in the black community, that`s what our cry is and our voices are pleading for Congress and the White House to get together to create some jobs, so people can get to work.

MADDOW: With your work in Congress, specifically your work with the Out of Poverty Caucus, as founder and current co-chair of that caucus, you`ve done as much as anybody to try to bring attention to that aspect of our national economic woes.

Do you feel like the president is substantively telling something -- telling you something that is going to make a difference, that he`s talking about his economic agenda, his jobs agenda and his understanding of poverty issues in a way that resonates with you and that you think is substantive?

LEE: I think the president is talking about jobs. Why this country has a moral obligation, first of all, to create jobs. We can`t have a country that`s secure with people -- with so many people unemployed.

And I`m very happy, as I said earlier, that he mentioned childhood poverty. Forty percent of African-American children live in poverty.

And, Rachel, I have to say, the reason that I formed the Out of Poverty caucus when the Bush administration was in because I knew then that the Bush administration policies and these wars would lead to where we are today unfortunately.

So we have 39 members of the Out of Poverty Caucus. We`ve been working with the White House on our Out of Poverty agenda. And our jobs agenda. Because clearly the best pathway out of poverty is a job. And so
that`s what we`re working on and I think that the president has heard us and I`m very proud of Congresswoman Waters and Chairman Clyburn in the Congressional Black Caucus.

When you look at what was taking place -- what took place in August with the black caucus, five cities, a jobs tour. What we did was get the jobs debate on the agenda where now the president has the space and the wherewithal to be able to use his platform, the bully pulpit to say, look, we have to work together to create jobs.

MADDOW: Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Democrat of California. I want to thank you very much for your work on this continuing issue and thank you for joining us tonight, ma`am. It`s always a real pleasure to have you here.

LEE: Thank you. It was so good to be with you, Rachel.

MADDOW: Thank you.

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