- [Announcer] Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home and Crematory, a proud supporter of WQPT, has been serving Quad City families since 1889.

They now have livestream capabilities for viewing your loved one's funeral or memorial service.

- Representative Cheri Bustos on her plans to leave Congress and taking care of big worries in little people in The Cities.

(gentle lively music) It was 10 years ago when East Moline City Councilwoman, Cheri Bustos, decided to run for Congress.

Well, this month, U.S. Representative Cheri Bustos, a member of the powerful Appropriations Committee and leading Democrat in the House, has decided not to run for re-election.

We talked with the Western Illinois Democrat about her decision and the future of this session of Congress.

Was there a major decision?

Was there a moment in your life that said, "Yeah, I'm done with this"?

- No, it wasn't anything like that.

It wasn't like, "Okay, I've had enough of all of this."

It was literally this process that I go through every 10 years of my life.

I did it when I was a journalist.

I did it when I worked in healthcare and I'm doing it now at this 10 year mark that I've been running or in Congress.

It was exactly 10 years ago that I made this decision to run for Congress.

So as I look back, I thought, we've accomplished a lot.

We've done a lot.

And because this is going to be a new congressional district, because of redistricting, it is a perfect time for me to say thanks to everybody who put their faith in me and allow there to be time.

There's a long runway now for elections these days, but allow the next voice to step in and run in this seat.

- One wonders though is that you made the decision after the Capitol insurrection and after all of the partisan fighting that we've seen, and it's just getting nasty, not only in Washington but across the nation.

Did that at all play a part in your decision?

- Well, I was on the House floor the day that the mob invaded the Capitol.

I was literally just a few rows from that center door that you saw, kind of what I would consider somewhat of an iconic picture now of the Capitol police officers with their guns pulled and the windows broken out.

I was sitting just rows from that, about three, four rows from that.

It's a life-changing moment.

You never think that you're going to go into work that day and you're gonna have an angry mob storm your workplace with the idea of killing you or taking you hostage.

But that said, I also think about that day through this lens that while as horrible as that was for our nation's history, how hard it was on a personal level, we got the democracy's job done that day.

We went back into session, we certified the electoral college results.

And so, when it was all said and done, the world's greatest democracy, the world's longest serving democracy prevailed.

So I got a look at it not just as a pretty bad day in my personal life, but in the end, that democracy prevailed.

So did that play into it?

Not really, it was in a bad chapter in our nation's history.

But again, at the end of that day, I felt good about what we were able to accomplish.

Jim- - I gotta tell you though, but I remember you also saying that the days after when you got on that plane and you came back to the Quad Cities, and there were angry people on the plane, and there were people that were picking on other people on the plane.

It was almost like that was also a major part of your experience during that period of time and that must've been somewhat impactful for you.

- Well, it was, it's not anything I'll ever forget.

I think we have to, though, do a heck of a lot better to bring people together.

What I've seen in my 10 years of doing this job full time now, and by the end of my fifth term which won't come until January 3rd of 2023, I've seen a lot of good.

I have some unbelievable colleagues who are smart, who are public servants through and through, who have done amazing work.

And then, there are some who are so hyper-partisan that, literally, won't give you the time of day if you have a D by your name.

And so, look, there's the good and bad in any job.

But I also, as I reflect on this time, I think I have now had my name on a ballot seven times, two for city council and five for Congress.

And the fact that the good people around here were willing to put their faith in me, put their support in me, allow me to be their voice out in Washington, D.C. is literally from a professional level, just one of the best experiences of my life, and I'm grateful to the people of this congressional district that we've been able to do this.

And I hope I will be judged, when this is all said and done, for making a difference, for bringing back hundreds of millions of dollars in my time here, for helping close more than six, about 6,000 cases.

Meaning, these are veterans or seniors who need help with Medicare or social security, just all of that.

We can go through those accomplishments, but in the end, it's about the people.

I hope that they will see that I've been able to take their voice out to Washington as a voice of reason.

- But you know that seniority is so important in Congress.

And it's so important for, as you said, getting things done here close to home.

And now with you leaving, we're almost starting from square one, even though that you had rose so high into the democratic ranks.

- Yeah, look, the reason I was able to serve in leadership positions, actually for three of my five terms, so I actually went into leadership pretty early but that was a matter of... Look, I think it was the fundamentals.

I work hard, I am not afraid to be the voice of the Midwest of the heartland.

For most of that time, I've been the only member of House Democrats from the Midwest who have served in senior leadership.

I've been lucky enough to work my way, not just to serve on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the Ag Committee, but also what many consider the most powerful committee in all of Congress, the Appropriations Committee.

That said, whoever takes the seat, and we have a lot of political talent in this congressional district, but whoever takes the seat, if you work hard, if you're honest, if you treat people well, the sky's the limit.

And I was able to rise through the ranks relatively quickly, I think by just getting those fundamentals right.

And I'm convinced if a great person runs for this who has the belief in that public services is a way that you can make a tremendous difference and has a strong work ethic, we're gonna end up okay.

And I'm gonna do everything I can to help the next person that wants to run for this to be successful.

- In the last election cycle, you were tasked by top Democrats to increase the Democratic majority in the House, it did not go very well in November.

What do you attribute that to and do you think that's one of your, I don't want to say failures, but it wasn't a success, I guess.

- I was tasked by House Democrats to actually have one major accomplishment out of my role as the Chair of the political arm of House Democrats, and that was to hold onto the House majority, we did that.

Did I hope we would grow that majority?

Yeah, I did.

But we had Donald Trump at the top of the ticket, the turnout for him was much, much greater than any pollster had predicted, than just about anybody who follows politics had predicted.

I didn't predict that turnout as well but we held the House majority and that was job number one.

If we go back to when I was making my pitch to my colleagues saying, "Hey, I'm the right person to run the political arm of House Democrats."

They put their faith in me because I won by the largest margin of any Democrat in the country in a Trump district back in 2016, and we won by even a larger margin two years later.

But we held our majority which means we have the chairmanships of every single committee in the U.S. House of Representatives.

We've been able to be supportive of Joe Biden in having a national strategy on this terrible, terrible pandemic where we've been able to get vaccinations out.

We have been able to help reopen our schools, get our kids back in school.

We've been able to pass the largest relief package in the history of our nation because of that House majority.

So, I'm proud of the efforts that I put in.

We raised more money.

We raised more than a third of a billion dollars to help this effort.

And in the end, we accomplished job one and I'm proud of that.

I wish we could have won more but I'm proud of our ultimate effort to hold the House majority.

- I know you are supportive of President Biden's efforts right now and I'm sure that you're very proud of his first 100 days.

Are you worried that we're at this point where deficits don't matter?

- Oh, not at all.

I was, again, one of the select few members of the House who was able to be at the address to the joint session of Congress by President Biden last week, actually exactly one week ago today.

And if you wanna go back to that speech, listen to what he said about paying for rebuilding our country, to make sure that we have broadband at all of the homes in America.

We have 30 million Americans who don't have access to high-speed internet now.

The fact that we can watch this bridge go up, it's right outside my window here, we can watch this $1.2 billion bridge go up and say, "We need a lot more of those all over this country."

But President Biden has a way to pay for it and it is to reward work and not wealth.

What I mean by that is he's saying if you make 400,000 or more, you're gonna pay a little bit more.

If you're a corporation and you've made a decision to try to park your resources offshore, well, we're not gonna let you do that tax-free anymore.

If you're one of the biggest corporations in America and you pay, when it's all said and done, a net zero in federal taxes, we're not gonna let you do that anymore.

So corporations are gonna pay their fair share.

The richest of the richest of the richest are going to pay their fair share.

And that is how these massive, and why don't I word it this way, well, that's how these bold projects are going to be paid for.

- You do know that the impact of social media has, not only on society but on politics as well, and Facebook is now extending its ban on former President Donald Trump on Twitter.

Are you worried about the first amendment problems involved in such large companies deciding who can or cannot communicate on social media?

- Well, I'm a former journalist, it's what I did for a living for 17 years of my life.

I was a journalist longer than I've worked in healthcare, longer than I've served in Congress.

I will defend the first amendment 'til my dying breath.

That said, as you know, it doesn't... the example that you hear most often is, "You can't go into a theater and yell fire."

So much of what was posted on social media from the former President of the United States has really led to what happened with the insurrection on January 6th.

Mistruths, there are documented the number of mistruths that were spoken really inciting the fact that people didn't believe the outcome of the November 2020 election, it's absurd.

It's absurd that the former President of the United States literally kept inciting more and more, really, rejection of democracy.

And so, look, I think that the big social media companies, we need to take a look at how huge they've become.

I believe that we gotta take a look at monopolies in our country, not just in social media, but many other areas as well.

When you've got fewer, and fewer, and fewer businesses, small businesses that can make a go of it, or get gobbled up by the biggest of the big, big companies, I think we need to take a look at what it means to be a monopoly.

And social media, there's a lot of good that has come out of it, but there's also a lot of damage that has come out of that.

- As you pointed out that you're so proud of, the fact that you've had so many supporters over your term so far in Congress, and what are the next two years gonna be like?

Is it like a victory lap?

Do you get a chance to thank people?

I know that you don't wanna be a lame duck.

How do you see the next two years for you?

- Well, I have 20 months to go on this term and I will not take my foot off the gas.

We've gotta help a lot of people still.

I get a weekly report on the number of cases that come in, with every case is a human being.

It means it's a senior citizen who's having problems with Medicare or Social Security or a veteran who needs a little help with the veterans administration.

Whatever that is, we are going to continue.

I think we have some of the best caseworkers in any congressional office in the country.

They're remarkable, they care deeply.

We are going to continue to write legislation, vote for meaningful legislation, make sure that literally the hundreds of millions of dollars that are coming into this congressional district are used in a way that help our community, help our families, help our small businesses, help get kids back to school safely, help with healthcare.

All of the things that you need to move ahead as a community and move ahead as a family.

I wanna make sure that that all goes well.

But no, no such thing as a victory lap, I don't believe in that.

I wanna keep doing a good job.

I wanna end this on January 3rd, 2023 on a high note, make sure that we're doing everything we can up until that very last day.

And then, I'll move on to my next chapter.

- Representative Cheri Bustos, Democrat from Western Illinois.

In a moment, COVID and a kid's mental health.

But first, Laura Adams has great ideas for us.

As COVID restrictions are being loosened, the weather is getting better and you get ready to go out and about.

- [Laura] This is out and about through May 18th.

Ballet Quad Cities present a performance with special guest, Mo Carter, at the Adler Theater May 8th.

Plus, there's still time to catch the Church Basement Ladies in You Smell Barn at Circa through the 15.

Tomfoolery on Tremont at Renwick Mansion features Nate Craig on the 2nd and Ryan Mason on the 15th.

Or join a Naturalist for a guided natural history hike through the Black Hawk State Historic Site, May 5th starting at 10.

Veto League Baseball, a Quad City-based free adult slow pitch baseball league, takes place every Saturday at Northwest Park in Davenport.

Everyone is invited to play, no matter what their skill level.

Or enjoy Pork Tornadoes Live at Rhythm City Casino the 8th at 8:00 PM.

The Quad Cities welcomes back the QC Craft Beer Week, May 10th through 15th, check out the breweries on Facebook.

While the Cornbelt Running Club hosts a 24 Hour Race at the North Scott Eldridge High School track starting at 7:00 AM on the 15th.

Or go shopping at Meet the Makers: A Pop-Up Shopping Event at The Rust Belt, the 15th starting at 9:00.

While New Kingdom Trailriders hold their hot rod for horses, car show, and vendor fair in Sherrard, May 15th starting at 9:00 AM.

The Quad City Symphony Orchestra present an evening with Hamilton star, Renee Elise Goldsberry, in LeClaire Park, May 15th.

For more information, visit wqpt.org.

- Thanks, Laura.

At a time of COVID-19 and so much uncertainty, we could all use a couple little victories.

That's the title of a song by Quad City musician, Murray Lee Rice.

He's part of the four man group Rude Punch, but he joined us at the Black Box Theatre Moline to show us some of his solo work.

Here's Murray Lee Rice with "Little Victories."

(gentle serene music) ♪ I didn't get a job ♪ ♪ Nor have I won the lottery ♪ ♪ But I just made a perfect cup of coffee ♪ ♪ Sometimes it's all about just little victories, oh yeah ♪ (gentle serene music) ♪ My bills are overdue ♪ ♪ My bank account is overdrawn ♪ ♪ But I think that I just met someone ♪ ♪ Sometimes it's all about ♪ ♪ little battles that I won, oh yeah ♪ (gentle serene music) ♪ Yeah, winning big sure would be nice ♪ ♪ But worrying about it will put your heart on thin ice ♪ ♪ At least I'm not six feet underground ♪ ♪ Sometimes it's all about not beating yourself down ♪ (gentle serene music) ♪ Now I've got a pretty cushy job ♪ ♪ And it pays like a low budget lottery ♪ ♪ But I still crave that perfect cup of coffee ♪ ♪ Yeah, it's still all about those little victories ♪ ♪ Oh, it's still all about those little victories ♪ - Murray Lee Rice, "Little Victories", recorded at Moline's Black Box Theatre.

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a lot out of all of us.

It has been an emotional time as we've lost some loved ones and we've seen others fight off the virus.

It has put our jobs in safety nets in jeopardy at times and it has given us anxiety and stress, and we're the adults.

Children have faced many of the same emotions with little idea of how to express those feelings without a little bit of help.

And Skip-a-Long Preschool says it has seen amazing growth in children over the last year, but so much more needs to be done to protect our kids.

We talked with Katrina Eirinberg, Mental Health Therapist at Skip-a-Long Family and Community Services.

What was the first thing that you kinda noticed when the pandemic started a year ago?

'Cause it had an immediate impact on kids.

- Oh, for sure.

One thing that is very important and in almost everything that a child is involved in is that we have to have structure and routine in order for the children to feel safe.

And what happened when COVID hit, all of a sudden these changes came.

We now, we can't go to school, we have to wear a mask, we can't play with our friends.

And that obviously created a lot of anxiety for children because it was different.

So what we know with children is the more information they have, the safer they feel.

But the problem with the pandemic is when it hits, like everybody, information about the pandemic was not information that was relatively available.

So, I think that we saw maybe the children having even a higher level of anxiety.

- So now we got a year later, and let's be honest, it hit kids, it hit all of us like a ton of bricks last March, just one day after another, and all of a sudden we're isolating ourselves.

What have you noticed among kids in the last year?

We were talking about their resiliency, that's for sure, but some kids obviously have better coping mechanisms than others.

- Right, what we found is that not all children reacted the same way.

Because like you said, if they have a higher level of resiliency and that usually comes with a strong... Like if they have some type of adult positive relationship in their life, if they have a strong sense of self, if they're able to problem solve, and if they're able to really handle their emotions, we find that they're a lot more resilient.

- But we also noticed that there was a lot of separation anxiety, right?

Let's talk about it from two different factors.

One is kids weren't allowed to be around other kids for a while.

- Right, right, and that really is impactful to children because when they're in those social situations with their friends, that's where they start to develop those social emotional skills by interacting with each other, which is a big part of their development.

- Well, and then the other part of the spectrum is they weren't around, let's say, grandparents or adults, they weren't around either.

That had to have a huge impact over most of the last year.

- Right and I think that all those type of interactions are valuable to the children.

Obviously, with the parent, that's their role model.

With the grandparents that they're not able to see, and maybe they had been seeing them for a long time and then all of a sudden, they can't see them, that's hard for them to process.

- So, where are we right now?

We're coming out of a lot of the restrictions for COVID, kids are getting back to normal.

What can parents do to help kids along with yet another adjustment?

This one actually for the good.

- Well, and I think, yeah, so we're seeing what's happening now is that parents are returning to work.

Children are now coming back to school or to their program and that in itself are more changes, and that's gonna trigger more anxiety.

And remember when I said earlier that they need structure and routine to feel safe.

And when they don't have that, it's like this alarm goes off in them and they're looking around, "Where's my person?

Where's my person?"

They're looking for that person to feel safe.

So I think that when they're here in the classroom, things that we can do to help alleviate that is a lot of times, we'll ask the parents to bring a picture so they can carry it with them, so they can feel safe.

There might be a favorite blanket that they wanna use.

Books are really good to read to children because it kind of lets them relate to, "Oh, other children are going through this."

Visuals are good for kids when you're talking about timeframes so they can actually see a visual of when this is gonna happen or when it's gonna end.

And of course, a lot of re-insurance from their caregivers that they are safe.

- I was gonna say, a lot of parental support is needed.

And in some ways, with kids being in home a lot more, perhaps there was a better bond they got with some of their parents.

- Oh, yeah, and that's true.

And what happened with that is that when they were there and they bonded with those parents, that was all great.

But then all of a sudden when things started to open up again and they had to leave, and now we have to go back into another environment, that's a complete change for them again, that anxiety is going to ramp up.

We can look at COVID and say, "There were a lot of good things that happened."

And that was one of them, that we got to stay home with mom and dad, have quality time.

But then, one of the other aspects of the COVID is that there was a lot of anxiety that came with it.

- Well, and let's be honest, you can't do generalizations when it comes to kids and their mental health as you can't do it with an adult either.

But you keep saying it's communication, it's reassurance, and it's structure.

What about the child that is a little more sensitive?

Maybe a little more withdrawn, even naturally?

- I think with those situations that's about, to me then, that they need that reassurance that they are safe.

So then, we're gonna wanna spend a lot of one-on-one time with them, reassurance, giving them the tools that you need, whether that's that picture of mom and dad or what it is that they might need to feel that sense of safety.

- Well, I know that Skip-a-Long in particular, you were pointing out that in a way to make kids more secure, you actually had more activities.

In other words, keep them busy.

- Yes, and well, here's the thing.

One of my main roles here at Skip-a-Long is to work with the children on social emotional skills.

So during COVID, obviously, I couldn't go into the classroom but I created activities that I could take to the classroom.

So, these activities gave the children the information they needed in order to feel safe.

So for example, I took some rubber gloves and I filled them with water and I froze them, and then I took a marker and marked all over their hand like there were germs.

And so, then, the teachers were able to take those, let the children wash the gloves and the germs came off.

So now they have a sense, "Oh, if I wash my hands and the germs go away, I'm gonna stay safe."

- Well, and as you said, there's a lot of lessons that have been learned and hopefully our children... Wow, what a period they went through but you want them to come out stronger.

- Yes, for sure.

And I think that through, again, the reassurance, the structure that they have found here at Skip-a-Long, we're finding a lot of success that you're always gonna have that level of anxiety, but if we can, as care providers reduce that, then I feel that we've been successful.

- Katrina Eirinberg, Mental Health Therapist at Skip-a-Long Family and Community Services.

On the air, on the radio, on the web, on your mobile device, and streaming on your computer, thanks for taking some time to join us as we talk about the issues on The Cities.

(gentle music) - [Announcer] Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home and Crematory, a proud supporter of WQPT, has been serving Quad City families since 1889.

They now have live stream capabilities for viewing your loved one's funeral or memorial service.