Roll Call: The One Republican Who Met With Hillary Clinton

Rep. Mia Love

By Emma Dumain, Jul. 15, 2015, Roll Call

While Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, had to settle for throwing rhetorical shots at Hillary Rodham Clinton from across the Capitol Tuesday — quipping, “I wonder if she brought her emails,” — Rep. Mia Love talked with Clinton directly, in the very same room.

The Utah freshman was the only Republican who got to enjoy a personal audience with the 2016 presidential candidate during her visit to Capitol Hill. Clinton, a former senator herself, was there to meet with House and Senate Democrats. She also chatted with various breakout groups, including the Congressional Black Caucus, a group made up entirely of Democrats save one.

“The CBC is bipartisan, and so we deliberately kept the conversation at a policy level,” said CBC Chairman G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., though he told reporters he personally thinks Clinton will “energize our base.”

Butterfield said he was gratified Clinton was “very well briefed” on the CBC’s “10-20-30″ plan, which would direct at least 10 percent of Rural Development investments to communities where at least 20 percent of the population has lived below the poverty threshold for at least 30 years.

“We have a pledge from Mrs. Clinton that if elected president, she will work untiringly to address the question of poverty,” he said.

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