Eshoo talks to Trib about Pacifica, passion, community college — even journalism

— Clay Lambert 

▸Thant Paing: I really do want to know, how did you get into politics? Were there any moments in your life that motivated you to take a seat at the political table?

▸ Rep. Anna Eshoo: I think my earliest memory is going back to when I was in high school and it was 1960. There was a young man that was running for president. 

I was born and raised in Connecticut. So I was in New England, and this young man was from Massachusetts, and I was very drawn to him and to his candidacy. First of all, all the presidents, to that time in my life, were all old men. And this man was a young man. And when he spoke, he had relevance to me because he spoke about a new generation of Americans. And, you know, what we can do together. And his name was John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

So, I organized high school students to work in that campaign, to knock on doors and to speak to people. Now you had to be 21 years old to vote back then. So none of us were old enough to vote, but we were certainly old enough to get some of the really important campaigning done.

So, when Election Night rolled around, my parents allowed me to stay up practically the entire night to get the results. When it was announced that John Kennedy would be the next president of the United States, I really felt like I was the one that had put him over the top because it was a very, very close election. It's said that he won by one vote per every county in the country. So I had organized 873 students, and I was very proud of that. And so that stands out as one of my earliest undertakings.

▸Paing: So, you've been a congresswoman for a considerable amount of time. How has Congress changed since your first term?

▸Eshoo: Well, it has changed in the following ways:

One of the changes is that the majority changes. So I have served when the Democrats have been in the majority, and I served when the Republicans have been in the majority. I've served in the majority, in the minority, so I know how to work on a bipartisan basis, because you don't get anything done, especially when you're in the minority, unless you know how to do that. So those are, those are big changes because they have very large differences in agendas.

And, of course, there're different profiles of people that have served as Speakers, whether it's a Republican speaker or a Democrat speaker.

I've seen over the years where more and more women have joined the Congress. When more women join the Congress, there are important changes, very important changes. And on the Democratic side, we have a saying, When women succeed, America succeeds. We are very, very proud of the number of women that we help to bring into the Congress.

Certainly, the number of women and minorities coming into the Congress and the Democratic caucus has changed dramatically since I first was elected, and that is to say that it is the women and minorities that are part of the Democratic caucus. The Democratic caucus really looks like America.

▸Paing: Pacifica recently became part of  your district.

▸Eshoo: Yes, the Citizens Redistricting Committee (and that was put into place by the voters of California, which I support) redrew the lines because there's redistricting after the census is taken every 10 years.

▸Paing: So, how's that change in your district changed your priorities? Did you have to familiarize yourself with the people of Pacifica and the interests of Pacifica?

▸ Eshoo: Well, I have a history of representing the Coastside in San Mateo County. I served for 10 years on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors. When I ran for the Board of Supervisors, it was a countywide race. Now they have district elections, but when I stood for election, (I represented) every place from Pacifica (to) Pescadero to Portola Valley to Foster City, and everything in between.

I had to campaign in the entire county in order to be elected to the board. So, I have a familiarity with the Coastside. ... I have a broad understanding of the issues of the Coastside; there are always new ones that come up, so no one can say that they know everything. Because we don't. But I love representing the Coastside. I'm thrilled that I get to represent Pacifica. And I'm very touched by how warm and welcoming the people in the community have been, and I think it has a very capable city manager. Kevin Woodhouse served as city manager of, I believe, Mountain View. I knew him from his leadership position there and now in Pacifica. So he is an important professional and an excellent one.

▸Paing: Going back to what you said earlier about the current issues and the new issues, regarding climate change, what do you believe is the best way to tackle the problem in cities such as Pacifica?

▸ Eshoo: Well, I think right now that communities have a deep and broad awareness of what climate change is, the damage, and the toll that it is taking on our communities. In this case, Coastside communities,  this is not a new scientific discovery. It's very different from the 1980s and ’90s. We know that science has been highly instructive (and) what we must do to reduce the heating up of the earth. So, I have been part of legislation in the Congress from the earliest days addressing climate change with then Vice President Al Gore. He was the one, I think, one of the most significant national and international leaders to bring a deeper and broader understanding of the crisis, not only to people in the United States but of course around the world.

I have voted for the single most comprehensive legislation in Congress to address climate change and to fund the undertakings that are necessary as a result of it, and I'm very proud of that. And that is going to be a significant help to my constituents, especially Pacificans. 

▸Paing: I see that climate change is something you feel passionate about. But what are some other things you feel truly passionate about, and what you stand for?

▸Eshoo: I think that I know that my record is replete in the area of health  care, and that's an issue that I embraced when I went to the Board of Supervisors. I chaired our hospital board of directors. And at that time, in 1982, and moving forward for 10 years, helped to completely rebuild the hospital and helped to bring about the changes of clinics in San Mateo County, rather than having people to take buses or to ride bikes or somehow get to San Mateo.

And I took that passion to the Congress right up until the previous Congress and Congress before that. I'm the first woman in the history of the Congress to chair the Health Committee. And with that position, expanded access and insurance coverage for more Americans than any other time in the life of our country. To invest in the research and development that brought about life-saving vaccines, the mRNA vaccines. 

And I've done extensive work on breast cancer, children, medication, ALS, pancreatic cancer. Just in this last Congress and waning days of this last Congress in December, I got legislation over the finish lines that really captures the vision of President Biden. A new and limber agency modeled after DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), but it's called ARPA-H for health. That will take on the disease,  when someone is diagnosed with a whole list of these diseases it's a death sentence; if it's ALS or a certain type of cancer, certainly pancreatic cancer is one of them.

You know, I have a passion for all of these issues and the enormous capacity that the United States of America has. I mean, we are a powerhouse in research and development and at the NIH, National Institutes of Health, but also a gold standard of the Food and Drug Administrations in the approval of drugs.

Speaking of drugs, one of the things I'm proud to have helped again across the finish line is direct negotiations for the price of prescription drugs. And that is something that has eluded the American people for some time, and the Congress finally got them over the finish line. And that came right out of my committee. Prescription drugs can be the difference between life and death.

▸Paing: Personally, I just want to say thank you for two things because my grandfather actually had cancer. And I think one aspect of your legislation actually did help out. My mom has liver issues and the prescription for a bottle alone is $1,000 and I just want to say thank you for making health care more affordable for other people.

▸Eshoo: Well, if it's not affordable, then people will not be able to take it, and that can be a death sentence for them. That is simply not acceptable, not acceptable. And we finally got that over the finish line. It wasn't easy. There's a lot of opposition from the big pharmaceutical companies.  It was just a policy crying out for change.

▸Paing: So, you went to community college, right?  Cañada College?

▸Eshoo: Yes. 

▸Paing: How did the community college shape your thinking, and how does it influence your politics today?

▸Eshoo: Well, it wasn't about politics.

▸Paing: Let me rephrase that.

▸Eshoo: I just went there to take classes. You know, I went to Cañada, really, at the top of the list of why I went there was that it was convenient. It was close to where I live. And I had two small babies, so I couldn't go to school during the day, so I could take classes at night, and they had a variety of classes at night. So it was wonderfully convenient. And it offered all the courses that I needed.

Now, when I got there, I was more than pleasantly surprised, because it had what I just talked about. I also came to understand that it's a community college district, that there are three colleges in the San Mateo County Community College District: Skyline, CSM, and Cañada.

I became a board watcher. I started going to trustee meetings because I was interested in why some of the decisions had been taken. They had cut some of what I really thought were really important classes. And when I asked the professor about that, he said, well, we didn't make the decision, the Board of Trustees did. So after taking the classes and doing very well there, I loved it, and I enjoyed it. I thought the professors were terrific. I enjoyed the students that I met. 

I decided after going to trustee meetings that I can do a better job. So in 1977, I ran for a seat on the Community College Board of Trustees. And I lost!

▸Paing: Wow.

▸Eshoo: Yeah!

But I learned a great deal. I didn't really fully comprehend what a countywide (election) is. That's larger than a congressional district. But I went out there with my friends. You know, the women that I knew, and they helped me all over the county. And we didn't make it. I was trying to unseat a 20- or 25-year incumbent. And came close. But you know, that doesn't count in elections. You either have more votes than your opponent, and, if you don't, you lose. But you know, I've never regretted it. 

More importantly, there were a lot of people that were impressed with what I was able to do. And garnering the number of votes that I did. I didn't really didn't understand it at the time, to tell you the truth.

All I knew was that I lost. 

But I can go to people that run and lose, and I can say to them, I know how you feel because I've run and I've lost. I've run, and I've won. It feels much better to win. But you learn no one can ever take that away from you.

▸Paing: So, youth always make mistakes. And you learn from it. What would you like to see the youth of the world do today in the world of politics and beyond?

▸Eshoo: Well, I think when you say when you're a kid, you make mistakes: We make mistakes all of life. Hopefully, we learned from mistakes, and we're not making the same ones over and over again. But, you know, falling down and getting up is not just reserved for young people. It's throughout life. But what I would say to young people is: Follow your passion. Follow your passions. What is it that you really care a lot about? What do you have, like, burning in the pit of your stomach? 

 Whatever you choose to do with your life, there is grunt work to it.

You'd be so surprised at what you would call grunt work. I stay up late at night reading to prepare for whatever it is I need to do the next day. Whether it's reading legislative language, whether it's going through all of the work. Hours and hours and hours in hearings. That takes enormous preparation.

And I would suggest that whatever you choose to do, there is hard work to it.

That people think that we're just, I don't know, in the news and stars on TV, being waited on hand and foot, that's not what it is at all. That's not what it is at all. When I make a decision, vote for something that becomes a law, those words  (impact)  people's lives. So, you gotta be really careful about what you're doing. We better know what we're doing and what those words mean.

But I would say you have a passion. What's that

passion that you have? Because you need to really love what you're doing. It has meaning, it has to have meaning to you — deep meaning to you. And my work has meaning to me. 

▸Paing: And one last question. Reps. Katie Porter, Barbara Lee and others have launched their bid for the Senate seat in this upcoming election. Can we hear an Anna Eshoo for Senate ad out anytime soon?

▸Eshoo: Oh, no. I'm not considering that. Thank you. Thank you for raising that. I was approached many years ago, and there was another opening, and my answer then was the following: I would never want to spend two years every single day dialing for dollars. I just don't want to ever spend my time that way. I've never done that. And I'm not going to start now. 

God bless those that will spend their time doing that. And it's a very costly race in California because California is the nation's (most populous) state. It has two very expensive media markets, and, you know, that's what's required. I don't like it. But, that's really what's required. So I'm not interested in it. I love serving in the House.

▸Paing: I think you would have done the job really well, but again, I just want to say thank you so much for all your time and all the hard work you do.

▸Eshoo: Isn't that nice? Thank you, Tyler. Does this help you?

▸Paing: Yes, it actually made me want to pursue a career in journalism. So there goes the passion you were talking about. 

▸Eshoo: We need good journalists. Our democracy is hanging by threads, and excellent journalism is more essential today than ever been before. At least in my view, I think that. So good for you. You know, years and years and years ago, when I was running for Congress, the Peninsula Times Tribune announced they were pulling out. At that time, we had the San Mateo Times, we had the Pacifica Tribune, and in the South Bay, the San Jose Mercury News. 

Had I not been running for Congress, I know what I would have done. I would have put together investors to buy the building, buy the business and run a newspaper. That's what I would have done. But I was already engaged in my congressional campaign, so I never got to do that.