Cannabis, Civil Rights And Climate: How One Conservative Lawmaker Reaches Across Party Lines To Get Things Done

Rep. Nancy Mace, a staunch conservative with a very conservative voting record, recently shed light on the painstaking efforts that go into crafting and pushing bipartisan legislation across the finish line.

In an exclusive conversation about cannabis legalization, Mace emphasized the importance of reaching across the aisle and working together on various issues, including civil rights, animal rights and energy.

"People don't realize how hard some members of Congress work to try to get something across the finish line," Mace said, highlighting the difficulty of building consensus and the long hours put into the job to be effective.

In a recent example of bipartisan cooperation, Mace teamed up with Democrat Congressman Ro Khanna on a bill to ban Russian oil and gas imports. This bill, presented in March of 2022, not only aimed to cut off a revenue stream for Russia but also included a study and strategy for the United States to become more carbon-neutral.

Mace explained, "We have to increase our domestic production of oil and gas, increase our imports from friends and not Russia, not Iran or Venezuela, who are aligned with Russia, but also we were thoughtful about, 'Hey, we're going to do this. But also at the same time, let's figure out how we become more carbon neutral until we're all transitioned into cleaner energy.'"

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The pressure that Mace, Khanna and other bipartisan members of Congress exerted with their bill led to the White House announcing its own ban on Russian oil imports within just 12 hours.

Despite her conservative background, Mace remains committed to working on issues like cannabis legalization, civil rights and animal rights, demonstrating that consensus-building is possible even among politicians with divergent ideologies. "Where we can, we should," she emphasized, underscoring the importance of cooperation in achieving progress at the federal level.

Though the process of passing legislation is time-consuming and challenging, Mace's dedication to finding common ground and forging alliances for the greater good stands as an example for others in Congress to follow.