MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript

Interview

MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show

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SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): Well, thank you, Rachel. I do want to

recall - what was it that you called us? That I"m live from dysfunction

junction? That was really - a nice way to introduce me. Thank you.

MADDOW: Do you deny that the Senate is where legislation goes to die

now?

KLOBUCHAR: Could I (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that in the last month, we passed

that major jobs package, remember, actually, with was some bipartisan

support. We"ve got the FAA reauthorization props which may sound small,

which is actually a big deal for getting our air traffic modernized.

So we are starting to get some things done here in a big way.

And you will see a big thing this week with health care. As you pointed

out, they are going to delay and obstruct every step of the way.

You can call it the voter-rama-drama. And it will be going on

into the night. But our people, despite what you may poke fun at us, we

will not waiver and we will get it done.

You saw this in December when we got every single one of us

together to vote for that bill. And you can"t actually say that about the

House. But Harry Reid, Dick Durbin, our leadership were able to unite our

caucus on that bill and you"re going to see that again as we go forward.

And we are going to be hit with difficult amendments. But the

most important thing is to get health care done for the people of this

country. I was just looking at our letters in the office to kind of get me

going and inspire me for this week.

And the one that always sticks out for me is a woman who wrote

from Bemidji, Minnesota named Sherry. And she was writing for her

daughter, Mickey. She said, "Mickey just called me," her words. She said,

"Mickey was sobbing so hard I couldn"t hear what she said. She said her

husband"s company just cut them off of their health insurance. It is a

small business. They couldn"t afford it."

She said, "And here"s the deal." She said, "My daughter, Mickey,

has cystic fibrosis and she won"t be able to get insurance anymore." And

then, she said, "She has been fighting her whole life and we need someone

to fight for her. We need to get this done."

And so all of us that go to the floor this week that have to vote

on these just horrific amendments that are just meant to really hurt us

politically, are meant to delay things, are going to have one thing for our

guiding light, and that"s the people of this country that need health care

but also people who have health care that see it getting astronomically

more costly.

I wanted to put these costs under control and make it more

affordable, something in Minnesota that had been than my major focus from

the beginning on this bill. And as you know, half the bill is about our

cost control and it reduces the deficit by $130 billion in the first 10

years. And that"s what we"ll be focused on.

MADDOW: Senator, let me ask you about one - it"s not altogether

procedural. It"s about whether or not these fixes are actually going to

pass. I know the idea originally was that Senate would pass the House

fixes exactly as is. So after the Senate bill, health reform would go to

the president and will really and truly be done including this package

that"s still pending.

Sen. Baucus said today there might be a few changes to the

reconciliation package in the Senate. That would mean it would have to go

back to the House again which opens up a whole other can of worms, takes

this out for longer and also opens it up to more of these Republican

delaying tactics in both houses. Do you think that will happen? Are you

worried about that?

KLOBUCHAR: You always have to worry about that. But really, the hope

here is to not have that happen, to pass this bill pure. We have made some

major fixes in this bill that needed to be made.

From the left to the right people agree that that Nebraska deal

should get out of there. And that is what one the major fixes is. It"s to

extend the same benefits to the people of this country, some of the changes

to the excise tax and some other things that were necessary to be made.

So from the Senate perspective, we are simply taking a bill that

had some very good things in it and making it better, making these

improvements, fixing the bill. And that is what reconciliation is about.

And as you have done so beautifully done on your program many

times pointed out, reconciliation is something that has been used 22 times,

16 times by Republican Congresses. And it just gives you an ability to fix

a bill.

MADDOW: Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, thank you for your time

tonight. It"s been too long since we had you on the show. And I promise

not to use the dysfunction junction thing next time.

KLOBUCHAR: It was a nice rhyme, I have to tell you.

MADDOW: I"ll use the voter-rama one next time, OK?

KLOBUCHAR: Yes, I gave you one - voter-rama-drama.

MADDOW: Thank you, Senator.

KLOBUCHAR: Bye.

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