In December, veteran finance staffer Amber Cottle was tapped as the new Democratic Staff Director of the Senate Finance Committee, considered by those in and outside Washington the most powerful committee on Capitol Hill. As a legislative gatekeeper, she will help conceptualize legislation?s substance and strategy and, most importantly, be in charge of moving it forward and getting it done. Cottle, a lawyer and mother-of-two, with heels as sharp as her negotiating skills, becomes the first woman ever to hold the high-profile position.
In her first weeks on the job, Washington was consumed with controversial fiscal cliff negotiations. Now, Cottle is preparing for the next big fiscal battle: the debt limit. She sat down with me to talk about her new role, how she got here, and why she believes the U.S. needs to stop lurching from one financial crisis to the next and work together to reach solutions.
Jenna Goudreau: Congratulations on your appointment. The Senate Finance Committee is known as the most powerful in Washington, influencing some of the biggest policy issues of our time. What is its role in Washington and how does it impact average Americans?
Amber Cottle: That?s what?s so exciting about the finance committee: Our jurisdiction really does touch on everything that matters to most Americans in their everyday lives.
We cover tax, which influences people in their pocketbooks, as they?re making decisions on what to buy, sell and whether to refinance their homes. We cover health care, which has direct impact on reimbursement for medical expenses. International trade affects U.S. small businesses as they?re trying to export their goods to different markets. And finally, we cover social security, which especially for our seniors is vitally important, something they recognize every time they get that check in the mail.
There?s a lot of wonky things we do here, but my boss, [Finance Committee Chairman] Sen. Baucus, is constantly reminding us not to focus only on wonky policy details and that what we?re doing does affect everyday Americans as they sit around their kitchen tables.
What is your role in the committee and what does that look like on a typical day?
Lots of meetings and strategy sessions. I manage the day-to-day work of teams of tax, health care, trade and social security professionals, the four main issue areas of the committee. I also help the senator figure out the strategy that is important to [his state] Montana and the rest of the country. We hold hearings. We have lots of meetings with his constituents in Montana and others who want to have input in the process.
What challenges will the committee face in the weeks and months ahead?
The next major challenge is getting through the next budget battle ahead of us. We have the debt ceiling coming up. The U.S. government will hit the limit, likely in February, on the amount of money it can borrow to pay our debts. Along with that we also need to figure out how to get our fiscal house in order. Like the fiscal cliff, there will be another large discussion about how do we cut spending and make sure we have the revenue we need.
One of our goals is to get past these budget battles?to fix our deficit, get our economy growing again and create jobs?in a way that we?re not constantly lurching from one deadline to the next deadline. We need to figure out a path forward so we can move on to tax reform and some of the other big issues we?re facing.
What is the path forward?
We?re still working on it. There are a lot of smart people thinking about this with us.
What was it like to be on the inside during the fiscal cliff talks?
It was an interesting window. One of the things that a lot of members of congress were frustrated about was the way it was all pulled together at the very last minute. Sen. Baucus and we as a committee would like to find a way to be more transparent, so that everyday Americans can better understand what?s happening up here.
Is there a disconnect between what happens in Washington and what Americans think happens in Washington?
There?s no question.
Follow the conversation on the next page.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.