When Sydney Kamlager-Dove won the race to represent California's 37th Congressional District last year, she knew she would have big shoes to fill.

The seat was once held by Rep. Karen Bass, a respected legislator on Capitol Hill, a reported shortlist candidate for Joe Biden’s running mate in 2020 and a rumored replacement for Kamala Harris in the Senate.

But while she may be a new face in Washington, Kamlager-Dove is no stranger to crafting legislation: She served in both the California State Assembly and in the state senate, during which she was a champion of reproductive rights.

That work continues in Congress: Kamlager-Dove’s first speech on the floor was against a Republican-led bill called the “Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act,” which would set requirements of care in the case of a child born alive after an abortion or attempted abortion.

“It is not about the protection of newborn children; it's about control,” she said on the House floor. “It's about Republicans' continued desire to control women, take away their freedoms, limit their bodily autonomy, plunge poor women deeper into poverty and further marginalize those already not seen.”

“We cannot continue to let the extreme Republican Party attack and erode the rights of women across this country,” she added. “We have a responsibility to put an end to politicians inserting themselves into the doctor's offices and uteruses of women across this country.”

The bill ultimately passed, though it has no chance of passing the Democrat-controlled Senate or being signed by President Biden.

But Kamlager-Dove told Spectrum News that she felt it was important for her to speak out against this specific bill for her first floor speech.

“Abortion rights are incredibly important,” Kamlager-Dove told Spectrum News, adding that she is a “proud member” of Planned Parenthood’s board of directors. “This bill … really should be called ‘endangering pregnant women with complications act,’  because what it will do is prevent medical professionals from making decisions about the health of a pregnant woman because they are fearful of being criminalized or prosecuted.” 

Like most incoming members of the House, Kamlager-Dove has not received her committee assignments as of publication. That’s in part due to the lengthy process that kickstarted the 118th congress: electing a Speaker.

“We didn't know it was going to go on for 15 rounds. That's the equivalent of a heavyweight fight,” remarked Kamlager-Dove. “And I have to say it was anxiety producing – all of your family come from across the country to see you get sworn in, and they have to leave, and they don't get what they came here for.”

“I think [it was] really disrespectful for the House to have families held hostage in the gallery for five days,” she said, adding: “They come, they take time off from work … to see this moment.”

“I think there could have been another way to allow family members and children and loved ones to participate in something ceremonial, at least while we were working out the speaker vote,” she continued.

Kamlager-Dove, who was sworn in with all House members following the speaker election, is still waiting to schedule her ceremonial swearing in. She plans to place her hand upon Rosa Parks’ pocket bible – which the civil rights icon had with her that consequential day on the Montgomery bus – when she recites the ceremonial oath.

“Of all the female energies that I want with me, Rosa Parks, I mean, you can't beat her as an icon, as a legend, and really, as a warrior, who led the way,” Kamlager-Dove said of her decision to use Parks’ bible. 

“She was an unassuming woman, quiet, but resilient,” she continued. “She was a force for social justice; she's a name that people know across this country and the world. She stood for equity and equality, she stood up to and against the men. And she's in the history books. And she's also remained this woman with a history that's really clean and just and admirable.”

“I strive for that,” Kamlager-Dove said, adding: You want to be remembered as someone who cared about policy and people. And so I'm just grateful that the Library of Congress had her Bible and will allow me to use it when I'm ceremonially sworn in.”

While she is still waiting for her committee assignments, Kamlager-Dove says she has priorities in mind as she takes on this new role, including economic justice, homelessness, and small business initiatives. 

But she is also picking up the baton of her predecessor, Bass, who led bipartisan police reform talks with Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Tim Scott, R-S.C., that fell apart in 2021.

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Kamlager-Dove told Spectrum News that she planned on re-introducing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a package of law enforcement reforms which Bass had introduced in the previous Congress. The measure passed the House in 2021 mostly along party lines, but did not pass the evenly divided Senate. 

It’s unclear if the efforts to pass the bill a second time will be successful, but Mayor Bass says she is confident in her successor.

“I have full confidence in the new congresswoman, I know that she is capable and can and will do everything in her power to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act,” Bass told Spectrum News while in Washington at the annual United States Conference of Mayors. “The big difference, however, is the fact that the Republicans are now in charge of the House of Representatives.”

“I'm very excited to see her move forward, and I'm going be there supporting her every step of the way,” Bass added.

The freshman lawmaker said Bass also bestowed some words of wisdom as she took on this new role.

“[Bass] said find ways to work across the aisle,” recalled Kamlager-Dove. “Don't be scared by an R, because there are some members who are Republicans who quietly do want to get work done.”

“She said have a good time, listen, and learn and take it all in,” she added. “And remember that this is going to be an awesome experience. Don't get caught up in the kabuki of Congress and allow that to cloud your ability to live in the moment.”