{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://soto.house.gov/media/in-the-news/leadership-action-hills-newsmaker-series-0", "Leadership in Action: The Hill's Newsmaker Series", "2017-12-08", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "FL", "Darren Soto", "S001200", "soto.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Darren Soto spoke at an event at American University, along with Reps. Mia Love (R-Utah) and Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), as part of The Hill's Newsmaker Series: Leadership in Action. The\u00a0dialogue revolved around\u00a0the importance of bipartisanship in Congress and the need for Members to work together to pass crucial legislation this month.\nRep. Soto shared his optimism for a more bipartisan environment, specifically when Members tackle local legislative issues directly affecting constituents. He also highlighted his experience working across the aisle during his tenure\u00a0in the Florida legislature:\u00a0\n\"One of my most sobering moments was in my first town hall, at\u00a029 years of age, and I told everybody about what issues I fought for, but then was asked 'Okay but what did you do?' And since then I've tried to answer that questions to constituents and\u00a0get the job done for\u00a0Central Florida.\"\nAs reported on\u00a0The Hill: Soto a member of the equal-parts-Republican-and-Democratic Problem Solvers Caucus, said he wasn't surprised at the partisanship on big issues, but pointed out the relatively easy procedure to clear run-of-the-mill legislation through Congress.\n\"My expectation was on the big issues it was going to be very partisan because the nation is divided,\" he said, adding that \"bills are passing every day but they deal with commonsense things.\"\nSoto said the current partisan climate is, in part, something voters chose.\n\"I view it kind of as pendulum politics,\" he said. \"Right now it\u2019s nasty because before that we had a president who was very inspiring and talked about taking the high road and I think a lot of Americans were looking for, apparently, something else.\"\nBut Soto said the way candidates run their campaigns also leaves a mark on the way elected bodies ultimately behave.\n\"The strongest force in politics is a well knowledgeable, inspiring candidate and ultimately elected official. That Jedi position is the strongest in politics, but it\u2019s the hardest to do \u2014 you really need to know your stuff and you need to have a big vision,\" he said.\n  \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\nCongressman Darren Soto is committed to working with colleagues from both parties to get the work done for the people of Florida's 9th District.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://soto.house.gov/media/in-the-news/leadership-action-hills-newsmaker-series-0"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6230298206210136, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}