Fox News - Transcript
Interview
Fox News - Transcript
FOX NEWS INTERVIEW WITH REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD)
SUBJECT: FINAL VERSION OF THE STIMULUS BILL INTERVIEWER: JANE SKINNER
Copyright ©2009 by Federal News Service, Inc., Ste. 500, 1000 Vermont Ave, Washington, DC 20005 USA. Federal News Service is a private firm not affiliated with the federal government. No portion of this transcript may be copied, sold or retransmitted without the written authority of Federal News Service, Inc. Copyright is not claimed as to any part of the original work prepared by a United States government officer or employee as a part of that person's official duties. For information on subscribing to the FNS Internet Service at www.fednews.com, please email Carina Nyberg at cnyberg@fednews.com or call 1-202-216-2706.
MS. SKINNER: Let's get to Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen. He is chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, assistant to the speaker of the House.
Congressman, thanks for being here.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Good to be with you, Jane.
MS. SKINNER: Let's get this timeline straight from you, just before we move on. When is this voting going to start? Will it start tonight with the House?
REP. VAN HOLLEN: It's possible it will start today in the Senate -- tonight in the Senate.
MS. SKINNER: I'm sorry, in the Senate. You're right. I misspoke. I'm sorry.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Yeah. If we -- in the Senate. If we move -- if we move first in the House, that would be tomorrow. We'd probably begin debate on the rules that govern the debate today, but the vote, if it goes first in the House, would be tomorrow.
MS. SKINNER: Let's talk about the headlines out about the speaker this morning, one of them saying that she was, quote, "rolled" by Harry Reid yesterday and that she went through the roof when she found out he was announcing that this deal had been struck between the House and Senate, and she did not know it had been struck.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, I think there was a lot of confusion last night about exactly what was in and what was not, especially with respect to some of the assistance for education that goes to the states. And we were able to straighten that out during that three- hour time period. Senator Reid came over to the House, and we were able to work it out in a way that was mutually satisfactory. Nobody got everything they wanted, but we were able to resolve a lot of the uncertainties that had been in the air during that period of time.
MS. SKINNER: There are other reports that it was the speaker who rolled Harry Reid. So what was it?
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, I don't -- I really don't think anybody rolled anybody. (Chuckles.) I think everybody, in the end, got a little bit of what they needed. You know, the House had some provisions we felt very strongly about, as did the Senate. And the Senate, of course, has to maintain that balance in order to get those votes, to get over the 60 votes.
And so at the end of the day, I think everybody is overall happy with the bill. Again, not a perfect bill from anyone's perspective, but something that will finally move us in the right direction and begin to address the terrible job losses we're facing in the country. That's what this bill is all about, trying to put Americans back to work as we invest in the infrastructure of the future, both in terms of fixing our aging infrastructure, roads and bridges, but also investing in health IT and energy technologies, clean energy.
MS. SKINNER: Congressman, we watched as this moderate group in the Senate was so influential in putting this compromise together. Are you concerned that that's going to affect the future of big-ticket items for your party?
REP. VAN HOLLEN: No. I think at the end of the day this was the product of compromise, and 90 percent of what was in the House bill and the Senate bill overlapped to begin with. I mean, if you look at the major investments and the tax-relief provisions, those were similar in the two bills.
So we were really talking about 10 percent of these bills being different. And I think that we were able to work those out in a way that is mutually satisfactory, but more importantly in a way that will work for the American people and help produce job creation.
MS. SKINNER: I want to play a quick sound bite for you. We had on last hour Republican Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana, who said he was concerned that this thing, he said, was, quote, "written in the back room," and that not a single House Republican was in that room.
Take a listen, and I'd like you to respond on the other side, if you would.
REP. MIKE PENCE (R-IN): (From video clip.) The American people deserve the opportunity on the Internet -- as Congress unanimously voted earlier this week, they deserve at least 48 hours to look at this thing and dig it out. (End video clip.)
MS. SKINNER: This thing has not been posted yet -- "the thing" here referring to the stimulus bill -- yet it's heading towards the final vote, either -- starting tonight, and for the House, as you mentioned, tomorrow. And the American people have not gotten a chance to see it. Does that concern you?
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, this bill has actually -- has had unprecedented amount of public scrutiny. I mean, this has been debated down to very small provisions in a $790 billion bill. And so --
MS. SKINNER: But the final version -- his point being that the final version isn't posted.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: But here's my point. The final version is a product of what was in the House bill and what was in the Senate bill. It's some mix of the two. So there's nothing new coming in from left field, being parachuted into this bill. It is the combination of two things that are well known and out there.
Yes, we should have a debate. We will be having a debate in the House and the Senate going forward. But I think it's hard to argue that this bill hasn't had an unprecedented amount of public scrutiny, which has been a good thing. As a result, some of the things that were in the bill have come out, and other items have been added in response to public input.
MS. SKINNER: Can you, real quickly, Congressman, guarantee that there's nothing that's been added back in that had been taken out that will be upsetting or a surprise to anybody?
REP. VAN HOLLEN: I -- oh, boy. I -- around here, I cannot guarantee that. What I can say is that most of these provisions have been very publicly vetted. Again, you're taking a House bill and a Senate bill, you're squeezing them together. Some provisions that were in the House bill are no longer there. Some that were in the Senate bill are no longer there.
I can say with respect to the big items that the reporting that's been done as of today is accurate, to my knowledge. In other words, when it comes to the big items in this bill -- for example, when you're talking about the tax relief provisions, there was a net- operating-loss provisions that were in the House bill; those have been removed, in part. They apply now to small businesses, not the big businesses. But that kind of thing has been reported.
But, you know, I'd be hard pressed to say that there's nothing in here that would be a surprise. I certainly hope not, and I'm going to be reading this bill very carefully to make sure that there are no surprises -- (audio break) -- point. And we're going to do our very best to get this information out as quickly as possible.
MS. SKINNER: Congressman Chris Van Hollen is chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Thanks for your time.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Thank you.
END.
Source