MSNBC "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue"- Transcript

Interview

MSNBC "1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE" INTERVIEW WITH REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD)

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MR. SHUSTER: Let's bring in Congressman Chris Van Hollen, Democrat from Maryland, chairman of the DCCC.

And Congressman Van Hollen, how close is this vote going to be tonight?

REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, I think we're going to have a healthy vote in support of this. We still don't know how many Republicans will join us. We obviously hope to get a decent number. But based on the comments we've been hearing today, we do not expect a lot.

But we will win. We now have a decent majority in the House. We wish we had more Republican support on this. The president made every effort to do so. We reached out. We had a lot of amendments today. But we'll find out. They just called the vote, so we'll know in about 15 minutes.

MR. SHUSTER: This is the biggest economic stimulus proposal in U.S. history. What goes through your mind? Any nervousness just about the scope of this? When you think about how big it is, even if you agree that it's needed, it's got to make you nervous.

REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, it's true. But given the size of our problems and the hole that we have dug ourselves into economically, the fact that just two days ago, in one day, 75,000 Americans lost their jobs, this is the kind of action we need to take. And we need to take it urgently. We need to be smart about it.

I think we have worked through the committee process here. I think we have a bill that, as the president has said, will help prevent the loss of 3 (million) to 4 million jobs, and hopefully, obviously, help gain jobs in that process.

We have dug ourselves in a very big hole. I think the American people understand we're not going to turn this around overnight. But this is the first step.

MR. SHUSTER: Congressman, we're going to let you go and let you go vote. As you see on passage right now, not a single Republican has crossed over to vote nay (sic/means aye). Not a single Democrat has voted nay. Any quick thoughts there, Congressman, on that?

REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, again, the president has been down here on Capitol Hill on numerous occasions. There are a number of provisions in this bill, as he said on the clip to the executives, the different companies today, in terms of business tax relief, in terms of investments in the area of infrastructure, roads, bridges, construction industry, new technologies, green technologies, health, IT.

These are the kind of investments we need to be making in this country, both to get the economy moving again, to get people back to work, but also to make the investments that we need for our future. So I'm disappointed we don't have more Republican support. We hope to pick up more Republican support in the Senate. But at the end of the day, we've got to get the job done here, and that's why we're moving today.

MR. SHUSTER: Congressman Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. Congressman, thanks for joining us. We appreciate it.

REP. VAN HOLLEN: Thank you.

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