Fox News "Sunday Morning Futures" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Ro Khanna
Interview
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BARTIROMO: Welcome back. President Trump doubling down on his calls for a border wall with Mexico before heading off to Camp David to meet with senior advisors. Let me bring in California Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna right now. He's the vice chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, he sits on both the House Budget and Armed Services Committees. And congressman, it's good to have you on the program this morning.
REP. RO KHANNA, D-CALIF.: Thanks, Maria, for having me on.
BARTIROMO: We just heard from Senator Shelby and he could not identify what the Democrats want. Why will you not vote for a wall?
KHANNA: Well, two things. First of all, we should have the functioning of government taking place and not hold it hostage to any president's personal cause. Look, I represent Silicon Valley. We can't have companies IPO-ing, which is hurting the markets or making things more volatile. So let's fund government. And then separately, let's have the debate on immigration. But Senator Shelby said, what do the Democrats want?
I say we want very simply three things. First, the president should level with the American people that he was wrong, Mexico isn't going to pay for border security. He wants Congress to pay for border security. Secondly, he should have a path for the Dreamers to have some legal way of staying in the United States. And third, he should recognize that this is the 21st century. Most people who are here in an undocumented way have overstayed their visas. Where we need the investment is on better technology, better sensors, better enforcement, not on a wall which is a 15th century idea.
BARTIROMO: Now, what's wrong with the wall? I mean, you're not going to leave your doors unlocked and let anybody come in. You have a wall and concrete stopping from strangers coming in. Can you really say a wall doesn't work?
KHANNA: Well, I think we have more technology, right, I mean in my house I don't have a wall around it but I have an alarm system. So I think that if you're going to look at what the marginal benefit of investments are, you would get more from funding some of these technology solutions. And secondly, a lot of the people who are here in an undocumented way, they came here legally but they've overstayed their visas and a wall does nothing to fix that.
So the Democrats are for securing our borders. No one believes that we shouldn't secure our borders. We want to do so in a thoughtful way. And by the way, the immigration deal in 2013 that was reached had funding for border security. But first, let's get government back up and running. Let's pay the people at TSA, let's pay border agents. Let's allow Silicon Valley companies to IPO to help the markets.
BARTIROMO: Well, Congressman, honestly, I mean a lot of people believe this is all about politics. The fact that the Democrats do not want this president to have one more thing to be able to say "I had a promise during the campaign, I kept that promise." Because you mentioned DACA. There was a deal from the president on DACA a year and a half ago and the Dems said no.
KHANNA: He - he actually didn't take the deal. The Senate had a bipartisan bill that the president rejected and the president wanted a far more conservative version. But the reality is the president's campaign promise was that Mexico was going to pay for it. And he still hasn't explained why Mexico isn't paying for it. And so I think that that is important for him to level. But put the politics aside.
Let's talk about funding for border security and the best way to do it. And a lot of the experts will tell you that the president's idea of a wall isn't actually what's going to secure our borders. It's not what's going to help against drug trafficking and sex trafficking and all the problems that he's identified.
BARTIROMO: And I want to be clear because you have not been afraid to stand up to leadership in your party when you feel it doesn't make sense and when you disagree. You've said that you are opposing the Democrat rules leadership package. I want to know why you're doing that, explain the rules package and what you don't like about it. And also, this broader divide within the Democratic party. I mean, you are the vice chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
We know that you've got lots of members who are pulling the overall party all the way to the left and that goes against what many moderate Democrats want to do in terms of leadership. So how are you going to correct that?
KHANNA: Well, let me answer both questions. First on PAYGO which I opposed, what that requires is that the government has to have an offset - Congress has to have an offset for any single piece of legislation. I opposed it because it's bad economics. I mean, in a recession, you need the government to spend and in an economy that's doing well, you don't need the government to spend as much. That's just basic economics, anyone who has studied economics 101 knows that .
BARTIROMO: That's exactly right.
KHANNA: You know, so I opposed that on that principle. Your broader question is a good one. And look, I have not been partisan. For example, even though I disagreed with the way the president has pulled out of Syria, I actually support his decision to start pulling out of Syria and Afghanistan. And there were many congressional progressives who worked with people on the right, on a policy of more foreign policy restraint.
So I don't think that the lines in Congress are always just left/right. I think the question is, who's going to have more restraint in foreign policy and how are we going to have an economic policy that helps working class and middle class Americans? And you may actually see some strange or interesting coalitions to get those policies through.
BARTIROMO: Well, one of your colleagues, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez wants to raise taxes on the top earners and we know that the top 10 percent of all earners already pay 70 percent of the tax on this country, sir.
KHANNA: Well, the way I would .
BARTIROMO: Are you for - are you for what AOC is saying?
KHANNA: . I -- I -- I'm not for her exact plan. I -- my view is we can get the revenue by getting us out of bad wars by repealing a large part of the Bush and Trump tax cuts, and by taxing companies who are making a lot of their money overseas. I mean, right now we are taxing companies overseas.
So there are disagreements within the Democratic caucus on the exact way to get something done but I think, at the end of the day, the basic party will be unified on a few goals. We want an infrastructure bill. We want to lower the cost of prescription drugs. We should try to get out of these bad wars. We need to bring jobs to places left behind. And frankly, I -- some of these ideas aren't even partisan. Look, I was at the White House two weeks ago. The president signed a bill working with the White House Innovation Office to modernize our federal websites.
We have to find common ground in this country. We can disagree but what are we doing to make sure the country's moving forward, so we lead the 21st century and not China?
BARTIROMO: Well, so -- so many of your colleagues, and you included, signed this farm bill, $867 billion. And it really is questionable that you can't find $5 billion to secure the borders. This is an ongoing conversation and we'll continue to have it.
Congressman, I hope you'll join us again soon. Thanks very much for joining us.
KHANNA: I appreciate it, appreciate you having me on.
BARTIROMO: You mentioned Syria. We're going to get into it next because National Security Advisor John Bolton is an Israel this morning holding talks with a key American ally in the wake of President Trump's plan to pull U.S. troops out of Syria.
What comes next in the Middle East? Ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee Texas Republican Congressman Mac Thornberry my guest next, in an exclusive as we look ahead on Sunday Morning Futures back in a moment.
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