National Spotlight: Interview with Rep. Abigail Spanberger
By Russell Brooks
The Blue View presents Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who represents Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, in its National Spotlight feature this month. Rep. Spanberger announced last November that she is running to be Virginia’s next Governor.
Rep. Spanberger grew up in Virginia. She earned her B.A. at the University of Virginia and her MBA through a dual degree program between Purdue University’s Krannert School and the GISMA Business School in Hanover, Germany. She speaks English, Spanish, German, and French.
First elected to the U.S. House in 2018, Rep. Spanberger serves on the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and U.S. House Agriculture Committee. She is also a member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus.
The nonpartisan Lugar Center ranked her as the most bipartisan Member of Virginia’s congressional delegation, and she has received several national awards for her commitment to getting results for Virginia, focusing on constituent services, and working across the aisle.
Rep. Spanberger and her husband Adam have three school-aged children.
(This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity)
Blue View: What motivated you to get into public service?
Rep. Spanberger: “I always wanted to pursue a career in public service … my father was a career federal agent, and [I] grew up in a household where the focus was on public service. Literally, one year my parents gave my sisters and me this Top Ten Lessons for Life and one of them was there is no higher calling than service to your country. I initially followed my father’s footsteps, quite directly, into law enforcement, as a federal agent as well and then from there moved over to CIA, and was a case officer in CIA. I loved that job, and that was my space of public service for quite some time and then ultimately in 2014, we moved back home to Virginia. I thought my time in Federal public service was over at that point. My plan was to spend a lot more time focused on community, and I got a job in the private sector. Ultimately, I decided to get involved in the political side of public service, in the wake of the 2016 election and my desire to see change in how representation in both the 7th District and on Capitol Hill was accountable to and consistent with the priorities of the 7th District.”
Blue View: The Republican side of the aisle in the House is often described as the “Chaos Caucus,” how would you describe the state of the Congress these days?
Rep. Spanberger: “On the Republican side of the aisle, they are chaotic. They are unable to govern. They are unable to do the basic business of what we need to do. Ukraine is an extraordinary example. I traveled to Ukraine with the Republican Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and there were three Republicans and three Democrats, we all traveled together to meet with President Zelensky to talk about the urgency of aid and we came back and made very clear to our fellow Members of Congress that this aid is urgent and in our national security interest as well. It is really quite sad because the American people need us to do our jobs … when we should be passing legislation that is focused squarely supporting our Ukrainian allies here are the bills we [were] supposed to vote on, Hands Off Our Home Appliances Act, Liberty in Laundry Act, Clothes Dryer Reliability Act, Refrigerator Freedom Act, Affordable Air Conditioning Act, Stop Unaffordable Dishwasher Standards Act, I mean our Ukrainian allies are fighting desperately for their freedom, facing an unbelievably dire situation. They need our support, and we [were] going to be talking about the freedom of dishwashers. I believe the American people deserve better and I think when people see the chaos and anger, and the silly antics on the other side of the aisle, I think that will ensure that Democrats are in the majority in the next Congress and Hakeem Jeffries will be the Speaker.”
Blue View: This is an important Election Year, how are things looking for Congressional Democrats in Virginia?
Rep. Spanberger: “In the last Congress, the 117th, that I was proud to be a part of, it was the most effective in terms of monumental legislation that passed the House … passed the Senate, got to the President’s desk. We are very proud of all the legislation we put forward and got passed, in a bipartisan manner. As a Member of Congress who represents many veterans … veterans who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, the passage of the PACT Act was an important piece of legislation that ensures the presumption that those who served in those areas may have contracted an array of diseases that we know to be highly correlative with the toxic exposure that they encountered while serving overseas. Joe Biden signed that into law. This was deeply personal for him. He spoke often of his son, who ultimately passed away from a form of brain cancer. His son had served in the Middle East in a war zone. From a Virginia standpoint, its extraordinary that we are making major investments in technologies of the future and bringing home the infrastructure that allows us to develop the technologies of the future … unlike what we saw under the former President. Trump talked about infrastructure a lot but under Biden we got a bipartisan bill passed in his first year, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and we are now seeing the extraordinary impact of that bill, certainly in my district but [also] in the rest of Virginia.”
Blue View: As you run for Governor, what are the most important issues in Virginia?
Rep. Spanberger: “The top issues are really the issues at top of mind for the people of Virginia … they include the health and strength of our education system, our reproductive freedoms and abortion rights, lowering costs and basic issues of affordability, including housing, and public safety, to include the safety of our kids, in our schools, in our communities, and in our homes.”
Blue View: And if you are successful, what would you want to accomplish in your First 100 Days as Governor?
Rep. Spanberger: “My hat is off to the members of the House of Delegates and the State Senate, they’ve put forth good bills and really prioritized some of the issues that I touched on … there is a lot to build on … my priority is making major progress in strengthening our public education system. Dealing head-on with the recruitment and retention challenges that we have with teachers and investing in rebuilding our schools. In some cases that is the physical infrastructure but it is also strengthening the system of public education. I am sure you are aware that Virginia is among the very, very last in the investments that we make in our public education system … so making investments in our education system matters to families, matters to kids, and matters to our larger community as well. And this is not just my priority, it is what I am hearing across the board, from parents, from teachers, from grandparents, and from business owners who are talking about the workforce challenges they are facing. It has been a large part of my work on Capitol Hill, and it is a major driving factor for me to run for Governor.”
Blue View: Where were you on January 6, 2021?
Rep. Spanberger: “I was in the House. I was in the Gallery portion of the House Chamber, and I was unable to leave initially, when they evacuated the people on the floor. Due to Covid protocol, some of us where up in the gallery, and the insurrectionists approached on the side where we all were. There was theatre seating up there, and there are bars to block off the different sections, so we were climbing over and under these barriers to try to get where we needed to be, and ultimately we couldn’t safely get out. We were there for the large portion of the assault on the Capitol, including when there was a shot fired because the insurrectionists were trying to get into the House floor. It was a horrible sight.”
Blue View: What is your opinion of the former President describing those who attacked the Capitol, and were convicted for those acts, as “hostages”?
Rep. Spanberger: “I think it is an utter disgrace, it is unAmerican, it is shameful. I think it is outrageous.”
Blue View: Thank you very much for your time Representative Spanberger.
