Barbara Boxer talks about her legacy in government
Video: Barbara Boxer talks about challenges of working in the Senate
She’s spent the better part of her life in public office. 40 years! And she’s ready to retire from office.
But U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D, Calif.) says she’s not done working.
In an exclusive interview with CBS Local 2’s Brooke Beare, Boxer shares her plans for the future, which include spending more time in her home in the Coachella Valley.
Barbara Boxer says being a U.S. senator is the best job she’s had.
Brooke Beare: “Did you ever consider running for governor, for vice president, or president?”
Sen. Barbara Boxer: “I never wanted to do any more than go to the United States Senate. And when I did that, that was the gold ring for me. It’s the highest legislative body in the world, and you can do so much from there.”
Boxer agreed to a sit down interview with CBS Local 2 anchor Brooke Beare at the Retreat Pavillion of the Sunnylands Estate in Rancho Mirage for a series of interviews about her legacy, retirement, upcoming memoir, and life in the Coachella Valley. She and her husband, Stuart, made the desert their permanent home a dozen years ago, but when the public knows she’s here, it’s usually because she’s on stage.
Witnessing the good work happening at the Boys and Girls Club, touring the devastation of the Esperanza Fire, or seeing the hope brought to families by the FIND Food Bank.
The rest of the time, the four-term senator could be here, and the public wouldn’t even know it.
Sen. Boxer: “You know, I like my life. I’ve been married for over 50 years. I have kids and grandkids. I like to be able to go to a local restaurant, walk out onto the street, put on a little cap, and go to Nordstrom Rack, or wherever I go, and not be deluged with people.”
Boxer was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982, there were only seven women serving. Only two female senators came before her.
Sen. Boxer: “And in ’92, four more of us came in. So they called it the ‘Year of the Woman.’ We did triple our numbers, but we went from two to six. Out of 100. So there’s a long way to go still.”
Brooke Beare: “A lot of people jumped into the ring when you announced you were retiring. What do you think is going to be the most important subject for them to tackle?”
Sen. Boxer “So we have to have people that understand protecting the environment means protecting public health and safety. So that would be a key issue. Protecting women’s health. A woman’s right to choose. That’s on the line. We’ve got states that now criminalizing abortion saying they’re going to put doctors in prison. This is something that I think the women in this country need to unite around….So I think I could sum it up in one word for what’s important, and that word is ‘everything.’ Everything is on the line in this election. For my successor and for the next president.”
Beare: “It doesn’t sound like you feel like your job is done yet.”
Boxer: “Of course not. If you read the preamble, it talks about a more perfect union. There’s no such thing as perfection. We have to work toward perfection. So the history of the United States has been one of more freedom, of more equality, more justice. Better standard of living. That’s no guarantee. That could all change.”
Beare: “In just the past month, you’ve spoken about sextortion, e-cigarettes, climate change, and pilot-passenger safety. Among all these issues, are there some you are particularly passionate about? And that you might continue to work very hard for after you retire?”
Boxer: “That’s a good question. Well, I do not intend to retire from public life. I am going to work. I’m not going to run for anything anymore. I’ve done that enough. I think it was 12 elections. So that part is over. But being involved, and working behind the scenes for candidates and pushing these issues, if I can fight for children, for the environment, for fairness, for a peaceful world, sure I’m going to do it in every way that I can.”
Beare: “You are involved with so many things locally. Just a couple of weeks ago, honored by AIDS Assistance Program.”
Boxer: “When it comes to the AIDS issue, and the need to find a cure, and until then, the need to help everybody. That’s something I’ll absolutely be involved in. There are many other things. I appreciate the film festival. So fantastic. It’s so wonderful for the valley, and for the filmmakers. My daughter’s a filmmaker, so I’m very plugged into that.”
Beare: “You’re somewhat of a weekend warrior when it comes to the Coachella Valley. Because you’re so busy during the week, are there some things here that you feel like you haven’t really gotten the chance to do properly because you’re always working on things somewhere else?”
Boxer: “I haven’t gotten to do the hikes I want to do around here, I haven’t done that exploration, because it’s hard for me to find the hours of time, I haven’t picked up a tennis racquet in so many years, I’d hate to even tell you, and I’d like to do that. But I’m going to be working. I work, that’s what I do.”
Highs and Lows
Beare: “You talked about being a stockbroker, then being a secretary in the office before that, and you’ve been a mother and a grandmother, and all these things, what is the toughest job that you’ve had? Not just professionally, but personally?”
Boxer: “I don’t know. I never looked at my jobs as tough. I just looked at them as challenging.”
Beare: “What about the best job?”
Boxer: “Well. the one that I’ve had now. Senator, has been incredible. Because you can do so much to help so many people.”
On division within the Democratic Party
Boxer: “We meet in the center. We figure it out, and I think we will (with regard to the Democratic presidential nomination). People forget how difficult it was when Hillary Clinton ran against Barack Obama. And I remember going on T.V. I remember, Wolf Blitzer saying ‘Will the Hillary people ever support Barack Obama?’ I said, ‘yes, but you got to give it a little time.'”
Beare: “So what happened (at the convention in Nevada)?”
Boxer: “I went there to represent Hillary Clinton. And there was a group of Bernie Sanders supporters who were furious that I was there for whatever reason. And they started to shout and make obscene gestures and shout obscenities. And they were right at the foot of the stage. Fortunately for me I had a lot of security there. And I tried to stand my ground. And I failed at that. Hillary has asked for civility, Bernie has asked for civility. I told them, ‘When you boo me, you’re booing Bernie.'”
Beare: “That tone which you experienced there, and is been so prevalent at Trump rallies, is this something new?”
Boxer: “It’s not something new, but it is something very frightening. And I don’t like it. I’ve seen anger, I’ve seen disappointment that maybe their candidate lost. People bitter. People have prejudices toward women, toward minorities…and they’re free to, but booing down a speaker? And Bernie did call me. Because I had called him and said, ‘We need to talk. You need to get control.’ And I felt that he was distressed about it. And I did tell him, the vast majority of his people were very polite and sat in their seats. It was not a happy feeling. I could have just walked off, but i’m not afraid of bullies. So I just stood there and tried my best to get order, and I failed, I couldn’t do it.”
On her successor
Boxer: “I think we need to have people who understand that we have to work across party lines, but give not up your core. Your center. Everything that we know is on the line in this presidential election, and in this Senate election. So if you’re for a clean and healthy environment, (here we are sitting in this most magnificent place), you cannot take this for granted. Because there would be people who would bulldoze everything. There will be people who want to repeal the Clean Air Act. The Safe Drinking Water Act. Look what happened in Flint (Michigan). So we have to have people that understand protecting the environment means protecting public health and safety. So that would be a key issue. Protecting women’s health. A woman’s right to choose. That’s on the line. We’ve got states that now criminalizing abortion saying they’re going to put doctors in prison. This is something that I think the women in this country need to unite around. The education system is on the line. Jobs are on the line, the minimum wage is on the line. So I think I could sum it up in one word for what’s important, and that word is everything. Everything is on the line in this election. for my successor and for the next president.”
Beare: “What are you waiting for to endorse a candidate?”
Boxer: “Well, I don’t intend to endorse at this time because I have two very good friends in the race. (California Attorney General) Kamala Harris, and (U.S. Representative) Loretta Sanchez. Both women who have helped me in my career and who I respect. But if somehow, there’s an issue that suddenly drives them apart, and I think it’s important, then I could get in.”
Legacy in the Coachella Valley
Boxer: “Whether its health care, whether it’s after school care, whether it’s Joshua Tree, whether its putting acres in wilderness, whether it’s clean energy, fighting to save the Salton Sea, alternative energy, solar energy, there’s just so many…There’s just many, many things that either indirectly or directly helped the valley.”
Beare: “How has being a mother and a grandmother changed the way you lead?”
Boxer: “First of all, I’m not sure I would have ever run for office if hadn’t have had little kids and began to see the world though a different set of glasses, because it wasn’t just about me. It was about them and about all of their friends, and about all of that generation. And we were in the middle of the Vietnam War in those years when my kids were born. And we were in the middle of coming out of devastating assassination. John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, and it looked like the world was falling apart. “I was not even looking at running, but because I had these kids, and because I was looking at the future in a different way, I said, I can’t just sit around and decide what are the best stocks for people? I wanted to get involved, and that’s how I got involved. And then when you get grandkids, it’s that same reinforcement again because not just about my kids and grandkids, it’s about everybody’s kids and grandkids. And we have an obligation to be involved and that’s what I’ve tried to do through elected office, and in my spare time, and that’s what I’ll try to do after I’m no longer in the Senate.”
