Luanne and LION NEWS, May 30, 2019, remote, Washington, Capital Rotunda 1000am
LUANNE (LL): Congresswoman Torres! Hello! Hello! We haven’t seen you in ages! Do you have a minute?
TORRES (T): Yes, of course, Luanne! So nice to see you.
LL: (at a loss for words) Uh, uh, wait a minute! Where the heck have you been? We had heard…
T: (laughing softly) Well, I have been busy… I had to take a brief hiatus for a family emergency. All good now, thank God and thank you, too.
And after I announced I was challenging Speaker Pelosi I had to re-evaluate my party status. I have been treated like a pariah by many well-heeled interests, and that affects friendship in this town, believe me. And my daughter was accepted to Georgetown, which makes it a no-brainer that the whole family will be relocating here to Washington.
LL: But, won’t that… the whole nation knows that your position is quite precarious, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has publicly stated they will give you no money, and it is actively seeking a solid primary challenger to you, even advocating that you resign outright.
T: I am not resigning. In fact, I am forcing a floor vote tomorrow to challenge the speaker.
LL: Don’t you think that is a futile gesture? Do you really have the votes? Speaker Pelosi can count.
T: Perhaps… perhaps not. But it will force all members to take a stand.
LL: Switching gears, if I may. Will you be championing a heartbeat bill?
T: Not in congress… the prolife people have done an admirable job hewing to the science of it all. These heartbeat bills, which I applaud, are the direct result of Pelosi not compromising earlier this year when she had the chance. A simple acquiescence to assist abortion survivors, largely a symbolic gesture as there are already many safeguards in place throughout the nation, and a most reasonable and humane position, was knocked down in congress and New York and Virginia.
Now I think the democrats will compromise. The end result, which I will not speculate on, will be decided by legislatures, not courts. I do believe that neither side will be fully happy or vindicated by the result. It is still the great moral issue of our nation.
LL: Do you think Roe will be overturned?
T: Luanne, you really should listen to whom you are interviewing. I repeat: courts will not decide, legislatures will. And I will not speculate on that now. But my position is unchanged… even if abortion remains legal, it should be unthinkable.
I have to run… thanks again for your time.