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MSNBC Says Grayson is "An Incredibly Effective Legislator"
As the U.S. House of Representatives spreads for the Four Winds for August recess, Rep. Alan Grayson remains its legislative champion, with 13 Grayson amendments passed on the Floor of the House this year, and 33 more passed in his two committees. Grayson successes just last week include increased funding for bilingual housing programs, and extension of Grayson's "corporate death penalty" against crooked government contractors to State Department programs. A week ago, MSNBC took note of Grayson's prolific record, in this interview by Chris Hayes:</p>—cut to video of Congressman Grayson's "Republican Healthcare Plan" floor speech—
Congressman Alan Grayson: "Just don't get sick." That's what the Republicans have in mind for you, America. That's the Republicans' healthcare plan. But I think that the Republicans understand that that plan isn't always going to work. It's not a foolproof plan. So the Republicans have a backup plan, in case you do get sick. If you get sick in America, this is what the Republicans want you to do. If you get sick, America, the Republican healthcare plan is this: "Die quickly." That's right. The Republicans want you to die quickly if you get sick.
—end video—
Chris Hayes: That was Congressman Alan Grayson, who was best known during his first term in Congress for his blistering, but cable-news- friendly, attacks on his political opponents. That didn't go over too well in his home district, where he was unseated by a Republican challenger after one term by 18 points. Thanks to redistricting, Grayson was able to run in a much more Democratic district outside Orlando in 2012 and he won, sending him back to Congress for a second try. [Actually, there is considerable overlap between the old district and the new district. – Ed.] In a fascinating new profile, Slate's Dave Weigel pronounced Grayson "the most effective Member of the House." What emerges is the picture of a former firebrand, who's making his mark as a quiet, forceful, and incredibly effective legislator. Since returning to Congress, Grayson has launched dozens of under-the-radar campaigns to win over his Republican colleagues. Grayson gets their support on amendments to pieces of legislation that accomplish small, but concrete, progressive goals. He's already passed 31 amendments in committee this year. In one instance, Grayson attached a ban on funding for "unmanned aerial vehicles," also known as drones, to the Homeland Security bill. This is the kind of thing he's getting Republican votes on. Right now Grayson is working the chamber, trying to win support for an amendment that would restrict NSA surveillance. He says he only needs four more Republicans. It's all pretty impressive. In this Do-Nothing Congress, the lawmaker who is actually doing something is the last guy you'd expect. Joining me now is Congressman Alan Grayson, Democrat from Florida. And you're chuckling at the "last guy you'd expect," I imagine, because you think we'd expect that you would do something. But Congressman, my question to you is this: really do we see an "Alan Grayson 2.0," that you learned things from your first term in Congress, and that you are taking a different approach? Am I misreading it? Are you just the same guy, is the approach the same, or did you really learn something from that first go-around?
Alan: Well, remember that the only bipartisan accomplishment of substance in the 111th Congress, during my first term, was when I joined with Republican Ron Paul to pass a bill to audit the Federal Reserve, something that had not been done independently for 100 years. He lined up the Republican; I lined up the Democrats. I picked up a bill that had languished for 26 years, had not even gone to a committee hearing, and we got it passed. So this is a winning formula.
Chris: So you've been going through bills, looking at actually what comes actually out of the majority, looking at amendments that have passed before but have died along the way, and going and talking to your Republican colleagues. I want to play an interview with you, [that] you did with Rachel Maddow in 2009, about the Republicans. Take a listen.
—cut to video of Congressman Grayson's interview with Rachel Maddow—
Alan: The Republicans have nothing. They simply stick their heels in, they dig their heels in; they won't let anything get done -- time and time again. It's not just the health bill, it's everything. They simply block everything. That's not what America sent us to Congress to do.
—end video—
Chris: That's more or less my understanding of the current Republican majority. Do I have it wrong?
Alan: Well, the fact is that we're able to win just by picking off 18 of them. And what we do is we frame things that they find very difficult to say "no" to. Now they don't always look at it the same way that we do. You know, for instance, I introduced an amendment recently that they considered to be a states' rights amendment, and Democrats considered to be an environmental amendment. So we picked off just enough Republicans to get to a tie vote. That's the kind of thing you can do. I think that most members of Congress look at legislation like "The Blind Men and The Elephant." [In this fable, when blind men confront an elephant, one touches the leg and thinks that the elephant is like a tree, another touches the trunk and thinks that it's like a snake, etc. – Ed.] They think of the bill as whatever the part is that they're touching, that they can't see. And we take advantage of that. We take advantage of that through framing it so that Republicans see something good in our amendments and Democrats see something good in our amendments too, and therefore we end up with practical results that foster progressive goals.
Chris: If you go and talk to your Republican colleagues when you're trying to get these 18 members to come over and vote for an amendment you're proposing, do they look at you and say, "Oh that's the guy who said our health care plan was [to] die quickly, and I saw him on MSNBC saying nasty things about us." Is there a kind of reputational gap you need to overcome?
Alan: Listen, they could call me the guy who calls them "callous, bigoted tools," too, but the fact is that they vote their districts, they vote what they regard as in their self-interest, and every once in a while they vote for what's good for America -- as they see it. So if we can explain to them why something's good for their districts, why something is good for America, I have an audience.
Chris: So the big question, though, here is, ok, you're getting some stuff into [these bills], and some of these amendments are very interesting. The Department of Homeland Security cannot receive funds for programs that infringe on the Constitution. Seems like a reasonable amendment, given that everyone's sworn to uphold it. No government contracts to corporations convicted of fraud, which also seems like a fantastic idea. Department of Defense must submit a report on vulnerabilities in the military supply chain. My question to you is, is there a way to transform the little model that you've found on these kind of discrete goals into something that can, say, get the immigration bill through this House of Representatives that seems massively hostile to it.
Alan: I think so. I think that some of the Republicans could look at the immigration bill and they say, "This is a bill that makes our borders secure." Other Republicans can look at an immigration bill and they can say to themselves, "This is a bill that forces people who are not paying taxes now, not paying their fare share of taxes, to pay taxes." I think this is a winning formula for getting things done in Washington, and we badly need it. You know, many people now run – successfully -- for Congress by saying, "nothing can get done in Washington." I think those people, personally, they shouldn't run for Congress. But in fact the public is convinced that nothing can get done. We have to show that things can get done, and that's what we're doing -- by working this way, and getting so many amendments passed that promote progressive goals.
Chris: Congressman Alan Grayson from Florida -- a surprisingly can-do kind of Congressman. Thank you very much.
Alan: Thank you, too.
If you would like to show your support for our "can-do Congressman" by contributing to his re-election campaign, or if you would like to see the video of Chris Hayes's interview, then click here. And thanks – for being part of the Grayson Team.
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'Evening, Congressman!
Amazing. Keep up the good work. 
You Rock!
