SPOKANE, Wash. — Amanda Roley (AR): Well, Carmela Conroy, thank you for joining me on The Tea with Amanda Roley, to spill the tea on who you are and help voters get to know you better.
Carmela Conroy (CC): Thanks for having me, Amanda. It's a pleasure to be here.
AR: Happy to have you. We're going to get to this tough stuff first. You got to tell me, what kind of tea are you deciding to drink today?
CC: Well, Amanda, it's fall, and it's been feeling like fall, one of my favorite seasons here, and so I've got the orange cinnamon spice tea.
AR: You're running for Washington's Fifth Congressional District. Why did you decide to run for this race?
CC: I've lived a life of public service. Almost 30 years of political public service: four years as a Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor, and then almost 25 years as a US Foreign Service officer. I feel like, because I've got the federal experience, that it is something that I can sort of return to my communities.
AR: What is the most important thing you would want to tackle in Congress if you're elected?
CC: Well, I think job one, if a farm bill doesn't pass before the end of the year, is getting that farm bill going. I think the farm bill is what ties all Americans together, whether they're urban folks or rural folks. We all have an interest. We all agree that no family should go to bed hungry.
AR: What do you think needs to be done in Congress to address inflation?
CC: Some of what we can do is make sure that we, for example, restore some tax fairness. When working people say that they feel like they're paying too much in taxes, I agree with that.
AR: Spill the tea. Where do you stand on immigration policy?
CC: I am a big, big supporter of national security, and that ensures that our borders are safe. I was very disappointed to see that the bipartisan bill that apparently was primarily drafted by a conservative Republican senator from Oklahoma didn't make it to the White House for signature. Our country needs secure borders.
AR: Where do you stand on abortion?
CC: I believe that that should be a nationwide right as it was up until 2022. They can't get those appointments in Idaho anymore, and so that means all of us, those of us who are nearest our clinics in Eastern Washington, have to wait longer to be able to get in and see a specialist.
AR: Is there anything that you could foresee doing within Congress to address that increase in demand?
CC: Well, sure, it would be to reinstate nationally a woman's and a girl's and anybody's right to make private decisions about their own lives.
AR: Your opponent claims that your policies do not fit Eastern Washington and its values. Spill the tea for me. Carmela, what do you say to that?
CC: I got to wonder who he's talking to, because what I'm hearing is that people really do want our freedoms to be protected. We are independent Westerners. We don't want the government up in our business.
AR: Well. Thank you so much, Carmela, for talking through your experience and where you stand on things and [giving] folks an opportunity to learn more about you as their candidate.
CC: Amanda, thank you so much.