 Today, we are doing just a little bit different than navigating the journey. We are talking to a very dear friend, and he is Andy Weiner, from the office of Senator Brian Schatz. Andy is a dear, dear friend, and everybody knows, I only talked to dear friends. Aloha, Andy, and welcome. Aloha, Marcia. Good to see you and good to talk with you from D.C. Tell us about Andy before we get into the real heavy political stuff. Sure, you were asking me before, but I was raised in Southern California. I went to law school in Northern California, moved to Hawaii permanently in 1984. We were just talking about that we met in 1986 when I wanted to attend my first convention, first Democratic convention in Hawaii. And I was a practicing lawyer. I had my own law firm. And while I was doing that, I was helping friends run for office in the 1990s. Jackie Young was a neighbor of mine, and I helped her when she was running for the state senate. Later on in the 90s, Jackie was the main organizer of the campaign against repealing the same-sex marriage ruling. So we campaigned together to defend the right of same-sex couples to get married in 1998. After that, my good friend, Duke Venom, who I helped run for the state house and then for city council, decided to run for mayor. I was his campaign manager. That led to me being asked by Senator Renoise, people back in 2001 and 2002, to run my first coordinated campaign for the Democratic Party, which focused on electing state house representatives that also worked on the congressional race after Patsy Ming passed away that year. After that, I was senator of caucus campaign manager in 2006. That then led me to become the state director of Barack Obama's campaign for Hawaii in 2007 and 2008. And after that, the Obama team asked if I would be willing to come up to DC to serve in the administration. And I accepted it at a position at NOAA, the national oceanic and atmospheric administration to serve as a senior advisor to the administrator of NOAA. And so I moved up to DC in 2009. I came home in 2012 to help Maisie run for senate against Linda Lingle. And I ran the coordinated campaign that year as well. While I was trying to figure out what I was going to do next with my life, Senator Renoise passed away in December of 2012. And Brian Schott, who I had known since he was a 25-year-old candidate for state house, asked if I'd consider returning to DC and to help open his office as his chief of staff. So I moved up here at the beginning of 2013 again. And I've been Brian's chief of staff ever since then. So that's the long story of how I got from Hawaii to Washington. Well, tell us, for so many people, they don't know what a coordinated campaign is. Right now, today, we are in the middle of a coordinated campaign. In fact, we have two weeks to go. So tell us, what is a coordinated campaign? So at least in Hawaii, the coordinated campaign is usually what is put together after the primaries when we have decided on our nominees. And the idea is to combine the efforts of all of the candidates running as Democrats from governor or senator all the way down to state house representatives and to make sure that we try to do things to get our voters out, to make sure people are aware of what the Democratic platform stands for. And it's really designed to elect Democrats up and down the ticket. Given the numbers that we have in our congressional delegation and our governor and our other elected officials statewide, I'd say that over the years, you and I have done a pretty good job of helping to elect Democrats to office. And I would venture to get the states around the country that have Democratic parties would look at Hawaii's coordinated campaign as one of the most successful in the country. Yes, I think so. Now tell us about Brian. We kind of, this is Hawaii, and all of us know all of our delegates by their first name. We know them, watch them grow. Like you said, you and I watch them grow. And tell us about Brian Schatz, Senator Brian Schatz. Who is he? Like I said, assuming that nobody knows, who is Brian? So Brian is one of the most dedicated public servants that I've ever met. You could sense his sense of service. Even from the first time I met him, as I said, I met him when he was 25 years old. He was an environmental organizer and he wanted to run for the state house. And he was clearly talented enough and had the type of skills that if he had gone into the private sector, that there's no question that he would have been an immense, he would have done amazing things and been incredibly successful and probably made a lot of money. But Brian's heart was in doing good for the community. I think his real passion has been the environment and climate. But his interests are far broader than that. He grew up in a house where his father was a physician and a medical professor. And so he has a real passion for healthcare and providing healthcare for everybody working on public health issues. He's always had a good mind for protect issues and sees tech as a way for Hawaii to continue to advance its economy. And so he's become a real advocate for tech policy really since the time I've known him. But he's the kind of public servant that I would venture to guess that if you work as a staffer, you would be incredibly proud to be part of his staff. He is always looking for ways to try to make things better. We're working today, for example, we were talking about disaster relief and how it is that we were going to get funds and resources for the Big Island and for Kauai and for Oahu. And he is right in the middle of those details. And so he has a real passion for service. He has a real passion for getting things done from government. He believes that government can be a positive force. He is a wonderful manager. I've been blessed to be his chief and it has made my job a lot easier because people want to work for him. And so as the person who sort of coordinates the staff, having people that are happy to interact with him I think is something that is really a blessing for somebody who's managing other people. I think we have pictures of him doing exactly what you say, of him working with the community for and about Hawaii. So I think we have some pictures of, yes, there we are, Senator Schatz working to grow the economy. And his work with and for Hawaii from the federal gives us an in Hawaii a leg up, I think. And then we have another picture of him working with Medicare people to enhance Social Security and Medicare. And those things that we used to take for granted now they're scary that the other side wants to do away with them. And his work with the civil rights I guess we should say people of every gender, race, ethnicity, color, national origin, disability, religion, sexual orientation, all of that. And of course I have worked with Ryan with civil rights movement for as long as I've known him, even when he was a kid like you said at 25. It's hard to believe it's been that long. So now we're talking kind of shorthand here. Tell us about the Senate and the House in the big picture because you're at the Capitol. Now, how does the Senate work? How does the House of Representative work? How do they work together and they should work to hold the President in check? There's the President, the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch, and the Judicial. But somehow this President seems to pull them all as if he's a dictator. So tell us how should they work? How is it planned that the Senate and the House should work? Let me ask that. So the way the Constitution is set up is that we elect all of the House members every two years, all 435 of them. And the way that the House tends to work is that it is a much more majority rule-driven body. And historically it has been the body that has been always in a hurry. It generally reflects the interests and passions of the time. And so the House is a, when you're up here, you still see that it's a rowdy place. It tends to be, because of the sheer numbers, it is a place where if you're in the minority, it is a lot of times difficult to get things done because the majority tends to be pretty heavy-handed. The Senate is a different body. The Senate is much more deliberative. Because we have six-year terms for the Senators, there's not as much turnover. Only a third of our members are up every year. And so the institutional role of the Senate has always been one to be a little bit slower, a little bit more disservative with a small C. And to be what has been known as the world's greatest deliberative body. Now, whether or not we've earned that over the last couple of years, I think, is open to discussion. But the Senate should be a calming influence, if you will, in terms of how the Congress should work. Now, right now the Republicans control both the House and the Senate, but because of the way the Senate operates. And a lot of the votes that we take on policy require 60 votes instead of a majority of 50. And because the Republicans only have a 51 to 49 advantage, there are times that we are able to block things that are coming from the House or to water things down or even to advance our own priorities. And I think that one of the untold stories of the last couple of years is as difficult of things as things have been because of the Trump administration, what they've done to healthcare, the policies they've advanced on taxes, the policies they've advanced on the environment. We still haven't been able on the Senate to slow some of that down. And also, especially when you look at appropriations bills, they tend to reflect values that are much more bipartisan. So the Senate is much more set up to encourage bipartisan policymaking. And if you want to get something done in the Senate and actually pass a bill, you almost always have to have a Republican that is working with you if you're a Democrat. So those are how those two bodies like exist and work together. The Senate will typically water down some of what is coming out of the House in favor of more bipartisan solutions. So what committees are Brian on? So Brian is on the Appropriations Committee, which has an incredible amount of impact on Hawaii. Yeah, and he's now on the Defense Subcommittee for Appropriations. He is the ranking member on the Military Construction VA Subcommittee. He's on the Transportation Housing Urban Development Subcommittee. He is on Commerce, Justice, and Science, which provides a lot of the funding for the University of Hawaii. And he's also on the Labor and Health and Human Services Subcommittee. So all of those subcommittees are important for Hawaii. He also serves on the Commerce Committee. He is the ranking member, which means the lead Democrat on the Telecom Internet and Technology Subcommittee. He is on the Banking and Housing Urban Development Committee, where we focus a lot on public housing and on public transit. He's on Indian Affairs. And he also is on the Ethics Committee. So we have those five committees. Five committees. Where's their time for that? He is an amazingly hard worker. And so he is spending a lot of time reading, a lot of time getting ready. We have a staff of about 40 to 45 that staff him and get him ready for all of that work and handle everything else. But it is a large plate and a large number of issues that we cover. And Brian has to be able to understand aspects of all of those committees and also stuff that's not on our committees as well. But it is a heavy committee plate of assignment. Well, we need to take a break and 60 seconds and we will be right back. And then we want to talk about where we go from here. We'll be right back. Don't go away. This is Think Tech Hawaii, raising public awareness. When I was growing up, I was among the one in six American kids who struggle with hunger and hungry mornings make tired days, grumpy days, that kind of days. But with the power of breakfast, the kids in your neighborhood can think big and be more. We're not hungry for breakfast. We're hungry for more, more ideas, more dreams, more fun. When kids aren't hungry for breakfast, they can be hungry for more. Go to hungeris.org and lend your time or your voice to make breakfast happen for kids in your neighborhood. Welcome to Sister Power. I'm your host, Sharon Thomas Yarbrough, where we motivate, educate, empower and inspire all women. We are live here every other Thursday at 4 p.m. and we welcome you to join us here at Sister Power. Aloha and thank you. Aloha. I'm Marcia Joyner and we're back. We are talking to my dear friend, but you know that, Andy Weiner from Senator Brian Schott's office. Andy is the Chief of Staff. Now, we have an issue right here at home and that is, in spite of the fact that we say we've got this great medical coverage here in Hawaii, we have what is called telemedicine, but there are areas that can't get it because of the fiber optic cables that don't exist. Going to the Big Island, going to the Wai'anae Coast, these places can't get this newest technology. What can Brian do to get us a tele, a underground cable, fiber optic cable so those places can get the newest advances in medicine? So that's a really good question, Marcia. I mean, to start out with, let's talk about, let me just talk briefly about the, about telehealth and telemedicine. Brian has actually managed to pass legislation in the last year that has expanded telemedicine in ways that have not existed previously in the country. Up until this year, Medicare didn't allow for reimbursement for telehealth and that is restricted and made it very difficult for healthcare institutions and hospitals to make telemedicine work. And we are now about 70, 75% of the way towards getting reimbursement for those areas. So now you actually have the opportunity to make it economically viable and also to help out with rural populations that don't have to now come to Oahu to get treatment. You now have, you now have people that would prefer actually to communicate with their healthcare provider by iPhone as opposed to flying into Honolulu. And I think you'll see that expand as a result of the legislation that Brian championed. Now, getting to your question about, about cyber optics and how do we, how do we work to get, to get better infrastructure? That is something that we are working on in his role as the ranking member of the, of the telecom and internet technology subcommittee. Rural broadband is an issue that is very much top of mind for Brian, for Senator Wicker, who, if the Republican pulls the Senate, he will be the new chair of the commerce committee. And so we are working now on legislation that will help with, with providing funding and providing conditions that will permit the deployment of broadband in rural areas. And so we've made some strides in this area. I would expect over the next couple of years, especially if we have an infrastructure package that you'll see this as part of that. And if we're able to get it in the infrastructure package, which is called authorizing legislation, then the hope would be that we'd be able to use our position as appropriators to then get funding for it to help Hawaii. So we can cover it in both ways. We can help authorize it through rural broadband legislation and then fund it through the appropriations committee. Well, now I would think, and this isn't anything new, that if the Democrats took care of rural health across the nation, they could win hands down. And so for some reason, rural health gets put on the back burner. Every state, all 50 states have issues with rural health. Why has it not come up to the forefront? Well, I think it actually has. I mean, and you're correct that it is an issue in all 50 states. And the reason that we were able to get to tell the telemedicine bill passed by a Republican Senate in-house is because we were working with Roger Wicker from Mississippi and John Thune from North Dakota, who are Republicans, but they obviously are part, they have large rural population. But we were also able to garner support from Democrats. And in the end, it really turned out not to be terribly controversial once we were able to get the bill into a vehicle that allowed us to pass it. So I think that even though we disagree with the Republicans on the best way to provide health care coverage, I think we do agree that there is a problem in terms of availability of health care for individuals that live in rural and isolated areas. And it's been a focus of our office for the last several years. I think you'll see it in use more and more in things like opioid treatment, drug addiction, psychology or psychiatrists, psychology visits. You'll see it more for dermatology. There are certain specialties where you're going to be able to use telehealth in a much more effective way. And I think that the Democrats have a better approach in terms of how to pay for it, but there's little questions the Republicans want to work on it, too, because they know that their rural populations are suffering from the same kinds of problems that we're experiencing, especially on our neighbor island. Well, yeah. Okay. Yes. Most people think of Hawaii and they think of Oahu. And they don't think of the issues with Hawaii, Niihau, Lanai, Maui, and the big island, especially the big island, and the lack of all of these facilities. Everybody's got medical coverage, but they don't have any place to take the coverage to. So that becomes the issue. And that is my whole thing about rural health is we need clinics, we need hospitals, we need roads to for the ambulance to get from here to there. All of those things are rural health. And I'm sure that the Democrats could win hands down if they address those issues. Now, one more thing. We have, what, two weeks before the election, and you told me you were working on supporting other candidates in other states. Now, of course, we have pictures of some of those. My favorite, of course, is, and I told you, Beto O'Rourke. So what other candidates do we have? Are you supporting to get them elected or re-elected? So one of the things that we've done historically is that there obviously is a large connection between Hawaii and the state of Nevada, known as the ninth island. And there are, I mean, besides Hawaii people going to Las Vegas on vacation, you had tens of thousands of Hawaii residents relocate to the Las Vegas area in particular in the 1990s when our economy wasn't so good and there were construction and hotel industry jobs. So over the last 10 years, we've developed a program where we do phone banking from Hawaii into Nevada with a focus on ex-Hawaii residents. And so we're organizing that. We're actually doing some of that this week in Hawaii. Representative Jackie Rosen is running for the Senate right now in Nevada. He's the candidate that we're focused on there. Do we have a picture of Senator Rosen or the person running for that office? She's in the house right now. She's running against Senator, yeah, so she's running against Senator Heller and right now she's looking very like there's a good chance she could win, but it's going to be close. There she is. We're doing that. And then the second person that we're doing a lot to help out with is Senator Tester in Montana. And he's in a very close spot race. He is very close to Senator Schatz and we've worked together on lots of issues relating to veterans, Native Americans, and they're having some problems there, especially in Indian country. The Republicans are trying to suppress the vote there, make it difficult for Native Americans to vote. And so what we've been doing is recruiting people to travel to Montana to be poll watchers, to be part of the legal team, to challenge any efforts to stop people from being able to vote. And so we have, over the course of the last two years, Senator Schatz has financially supported dozens of Democrats running for the Senate and the House. But as we get down to the last couple of weeks and we have to kind of pick and choose where we can focus our efforts, Montana and Nevada are the two that we have selected to spend more time on and to actually send people. So we're sending people for the one. I'm here. You ready to go? I'm ready to go to the Indian country. Yes. We'll talk to you. We'll get you to the plane and get you under the help. Let's see what we can do. You know, we, gosh, this is so good. We could keep talking forever like we have done all of these last couple hundred years. So we're just about out of time. Can you talk again after the election and see where we are? Did we gain any seats in the House? Did we gain any seats in the Senate? And if we did, then what? So can we talk again after the election? Let's try to do it in person. I'll be back in Honolulu for the elections and then a few days after that and I'll be back in early December also. Maybe we can talk then. That would be fun. Thank you so much. This has been a pleasure and we'll see you soon. Aloha. Okay. Thanks, Marshal.