| The Early: You and the rest of the Squad defied your party to vote against the infrastructure bill in November because you wanted Congress to pass Biden's larger health care, child care and climate bill at the same time. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), who voted for the infrastructure bill, told me at the time, "If we get slow-walked into a Senate process that drags to the end of the year and beyond, they're gonna be vindicated. They're gonna have one hell of an 'I told you so.'" Do you feel vindicated? Bush: I feel angry. That's what I feel. I feel angry. I feel hurt. I feel disappointed in so many people. Vindicated? I can't say totally that that's what I feel. I do feel a big 'I told you so.' When I think of vindication, I think about me being able to stretch my arms and say 'Yes!' I don't feel that because I feel so ashamed that Congress let the people down. The Early: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has said that he could only support a dramatically scaled back version of the bill. Have you thought at all about how you would vote if the Senate passed such a bill and sent it back to the House? Bush: It would definitely depend on what's in it. What my office has been talking about — we've been talking with Sen. Bernie Sanders [(I-Vt.)] about it — is how can we get some of this stuff going? Do we need to have a standalone bill to deal with climate action? A standalone bill for community violence prevention? A standalone bill for child care? [We're] looking at how we can get some of these things done without waiting on another package. The Early: You tweeted last week that imposing broad sanctions on Russia "would not only be ineffective, but would also condemn a generation of Russians into poverty and mass suffering." What do you think of the sanctions that have been imposed so far? Bush: One thing that we know is that sanctions seem to take a life of their own. So we targeted sanctions at Vladimir Putin and targeted sanctions at those Russian oligarchs — the people of Russia are still feeling the effects of it. We have to do those things that are humane. How can we ensure that the people of Ukraine, the people of Russia, those family members, those children, those disabled community members, everyone in those communities, that they won't be the ones who are harmed and left out in this situation? The Early: Are there any sanctions that have been imposed so far that you don't support? Bush: SWIFT, broad sanctions. That is the biggest thing for me, because it didn't just touch Putin, it didn't just touch those oligarchs. When people show up to the ATM, and they're trying to get out of Russia and they have nothing, that is an issue. The Early: Who is your closest friend on the other side of the aisle? Bush: Friend is a very strong word. A friend is someone that I can call in the middle of the night because I need to run to the urgent care for something. Are there any people that I speak to or have the phone number of? I don't have that type of relationship with anyone on the other side of the aisle. But I do have those that I'll speak to. We say hi, you know, in the halls. We say hi when we see each other on the floor. The Early: You've been known to wear a T-shirt that reads, 'Your Congresswoman Loves You,' and you tweet out those words from time to time, too. How did you come up with that slogan? Bush: Because I root everything that I do in love. You know, there may be somebody who never hears that anybody loves them. Well, I need them to know that I love you. And you don't have to vote for me for me to love you and to care and to make sure that you have food. Some people have said, 'Oh, I don't care if you love me or not, just do what I need you to do.' But there is a difference when someone loves you and they care about you. There's a difference in how they do the work for you when they love you. | 
