During Rep. Jim Clyburn's (D-SC) Thursday town hall, he answered questions about DOGE cuts.
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00:00Thank you, Congressman. We now have a question from Patricia Pringle of Pinewood, South Carolina.
00:11Is Ms. Pringle here? There she is. Can somebody hand me right down here, front row?
00:21Yes, Ms. Pringle. Question for the Congressman.
00:23Thank you. Welcome, Congressman Clarence to Clarence County.
00:27We love you here in Clarence County, even though it didn't reflect that in the last election, but we do love you.
00:33We want you to know that. But my question is, what are your thoughts on the Trump-must-Doge cuts
00:40and the impact it is having or will have on the state of South Carolina?
00:45Well, I just thank you so much for that, and thank you for expressing your love.
00:51We hope we can get more people to show that love the next time.
00:57When I was in high school over at Old Lenton High School, one of my best friends was a guy who, I won't call this name,
01:15but he's passed away. But there were three of us who were real good buddies.
01:20I wanted to go to South Carolina State, what I did. One of them, we called him Bubba, he went to South Carolina Area Trade,
01:31as we call it back then, now Denmark Tech.
01:35But the other one, all he ever wanted to do, because his parents lived in Washington,
01:42and he went to school down there every year and every summer, he would go with his parents.
01:48It was not unusual for that kind of arrangement to be in those days.
01:54But all he ever wanted to do was to drive a transit bus in D.C.
02:01That was his aspiration.
02:03He wanted to finish high school, he wanted to get a job, driving that bus in D.C.
02:08He did finish high school. He did go to Washington, and he got the job that he dreamed about.
02:21About five or six years later, he got fired from the job.
02:29And the reason he got fired from the job was because all the bus drivers were on the clock.
02:39Your bus had to be at this corner at a certain time.
02:45And then, at a certain time, you had to be at another corner.
02:51That's the efficiency of the operation.
02:54That's the Elon Musk way of doing it.
03:01So, Freddie got fired because he was not keeping that schedule.
03:08Why?
03:09Because if somebody left their house late,
03:15they would be running down the street waving for the bus to stop.
03:19Freddie would stop.
03:20Anybody who wanted to be efficient would go on to the next stop.
03:29And so, what I say, I would be for Doge if the E stood for effectiveness rather than efficiency.
03:39What do we do to make government run effectively?
03:49We know how to make it efficient.
03:51Just stay on time.
03:54But to be effective, you got to pick up the passengers.
03:57And so, what we have to do, it seems to me,
04:05is to find a balance between that efficiency and that effectiveness.
04:12That's what you got to do, Mr. Mayor.
04:14Let me give you a good example of how that works.
04:18When Summerton lost its entire water system,
04:23the whole thing failed.
04:26There are a lot of reasons.
04:27I read all the news reports.
04:30But in the middle of that,
04:33the governor approached me about helping
04:37get a new bridge on I-95.
04:42That bridge is 60-some-odd years old.
04:4960 or 9, I believe.
04:52And we needed a new bridge.
04:56So the governor said to me,
04:59and this is another example of why,
05:01this isn't partisanship with me.
05:03Henry McMaster and I are as good of friends as you'll find.
05:13We are really good friends.
05:18I can't stand his politics, and he can't stand mine.
05:23But that's got nothing to do with serving the people of South Carolina.
05:27So Henry called me.
05:35He says, we got $175 million from the state to do this bridge.
05:43But the bridge has cost $350 million
05:47because we want to put a bridge in there
05:49that will be three lanes on either side.
05:52That's going to be a six-lane bridge
05:53with a separate lane for bicycles and walking
05:57and all of this.
05:59He says, I want to send the highway department over
06:01to sit with you
06:02because I want you to help me
06:05get $175 million from the federal government.
06:09So they came.
06:11I sat with them.
06:12And they showed me what they wanted to do.
06:15I thought it was a pretty bridge.
06:17Good-looking bridge.
06:19But I said to them,
06:22I said, you know,
06:23I would like for y'all to go back
06:25and redesign this bridge.
06:28We got the Lake Man Reasoning Water Agency
06:30sitting over here.
06:32It's producing water
06:33for the Volvo plant.
06:37It's producing water
06:38for all the people on this side,
06:41the south side of the lake.
06:44And here's the little town of Sumpton
06:46sitting on the north side of the lake.
06:49And their whole water system just failed.
06:54How about redesign this bridge
06:55and see what you can do
06:58by putting big pipes on this bridge
07:01so we can get water
07:02from the Lake Man Reasoning Water Agency
07:05right under this bridge,
07:08attached to the bridge with pipes
07:10to take water over
07:11into Clowden County
07:13so the people of Summerton
07:15can get water.
07:17And then,
07:18let's talk.
07:24Well, they told me
07:25it'll cost $30 million.
07:28An additional $30 million.
07:29And I said,
07:29okay.
07:31How much y'all got now?
07:36They came back with a new bridge,
07:38new design bridge,
07:39and we got the money.
07:41And the reason we got the money,
07:44according to a person
07:45that came to me and said,
07:47congratulations.
07:49You all made that bridge
07:50about more than a road.
07:53It became a health.
07:55so that to me
08:04is what it's all about.
08:08How do you look
08:09at the needs of the community?
08:12This county,
08:15in spite of the way
08:18people voted,
08:20it doesn't bother me.
08:23I would like to win the county.
08:25But the fact is this.
08:30The whole idea
08:31about the bill
08:34that got wrapped
08:36into the so-called
08:37infrastructure bill
08:39to make broadband
08:44accessible and affordable,
08:47it started right here
08:48in Clowden County.
08:50Some of you may know
08:51that story.
08:52when Serena Williams
08:55asked for my help
08:58on an issue
09:00that she had
09:02with the family,
09:04whatever that tournament,
09:06tennis tournament
09:06is down in Charleston.
09:08What is it, Angie?
09:10Family circle.
09:11That's my tennis
09:13player over there.
09:15She loved tennis.
09:16I hope she one day
09:17learned to play.
09:21The family circle.
09:22Come.
09:24So,
09:25I told Serena
09:28I'll be pleased
09:28to help her,
09:30but it would cost her.
09:34She said,
09:34well, what would it cost?
09:35I said,
09:37it'll cost you
09:38a couple hundred laptops
09:40because I want
09:43some laptops
09:44for the children
09:46at Scotch Branch High School.
09:49You all may remember that.
09:53Well,
09:54we made the deal.
09:54I thought I had
09:57done something.
09:58I called Rose Wilder,
10:01the late Rose Wilder
10:02who was superintendent
10:03at the time.
10:04I said,
10:04Rose,
10:05I want to tell you
10:06about something
10:07I just did.
10:08And I noticed
10:09she didn't react
10:11the way I thought
10:12she should.
10:14I said,
10:14Rose,
10:15did you hear
10:16what I just said?
10:17I just got
10:17these laptops
10:18for your kids.
10:19She said,
10:19well,
10:19what are you going
10:20to do
10:20with these laptops?
10:22I said,
10:22well,
10:22put them in the library.
10:23and let
10:25the students
10:26check laptops
10:27out the library
10:28just like
10:29they check books.
10:31She said,
10:32yeah,
10:32that's fine.
10:33But what they're
10:34going to do
10:34with them
10:35when they get them
10:35home?
10:37And that's
10:38when it hit me.
10:40At the time,
10:4134% adoption rate
10:43in the county
10:44or in the school district.
10:48That's when I knew
10:49there's one thing
10:51to give them
10:51a laptop.
10:53it's something
10:54else
10:55to make it
10:56effective.
11:00And the only way
11:01to make that
11:02laptop effective
11:04was to get
11:04broadband.
11:07And so,
11:08I went back
11:09to Washington.
11:10I got me
11:1120 people
11:12from rural places
11:14all over the country.
11:16And we sat down
11:17in my conference room.
11:18and we pledged
11:21to each other
11:21that we were not
11:23going to let
11:24an infrastructure bill
11:25go through the house
11:26unless we treat
11:29the information highway
11:30the same way
11:32we treat
11:32the interstate highway.
11:35And so that's
11:35what happened.
11:36And we got
11:37$65 billion
11:39for broadband
11:41in that bill.
11:44And so when
11:45the governor
11:45called me
11:46on the
11:48she never
11:49read the date
11:50January 6th
11:522021
11:52I got a call
11:54from
11:56Governor
11:56McNaster
11:57asking
11:58about my safety.
12:00That's our friendship.
12:01and we discussed
12:05to him
12:06I was fine.
12:07He said
12:08well I'm going
12:08to go to the legislature
12:09and I'm going
12:11to ask for some money
12:12to get started
12:12on your broadband
12:13program.
12:16And we had
12:16a joint press conference
12:18announcing
12:20that by the end
12:22of this year
12:24by the end
12:27of 2025
12:28I hope we stay
12:29on schedule
12:29every residence
12:32and every
12:34business
12:34in the state
12:36of South Carolina
12:37will be
12:39connected
12:40to the internet.
12:48$650 million
12:52and we got
12:54all the money
12:55sitting in the
12:56bank to do it.
12:58We're going
12:59to do it.
13:00That's
13:01what we do.
13:08All right.