CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcripts
Interview
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BLITZER: All right Dana stand by. We'll get more on this story. We're also standing by for more on how President Obama's campaigning for every health care vote before D-day on Sunday. That includes phone calls to Democrats who are undeclared or wavering, but some lawmakers aren't willing to be lobbied even by the commander in chief. Take a look at this. One Congressman Henry Cuellar of Texas says he received a phone call from the White House but so far Congressman Cuellar hasn't returned that phone call. He says he'll only talk to the president, only talk to the president if he has to, but he's still obviously not ready to make a commitment.
The president by the way, will be heading up to Capitol Hill tomorrow in mid-afternoon to meet with all the House Democrats to try to solidify their support. Remember, they need 216 votes in the House of Representatives on Sunday. If they don't have 216 votes, this will go down. Some Democrats have come forward today to declare which way they'll vote. You heard Dana report that, but the head count still remains fluid right now. We're joined by a key player in all of this, Congressman Chris Van Holland of Maryland who's chairman of the Democratic congressional campaign committee, one of the leaders on the Democratic side. Congressman, thanks very much for coming in.
REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, CHMN, DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN CMTE: Good to be with you Wolf.
BLITZER: I'm still a little confused about what's going to happen after 2:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. Will there be one vote or two votes?
VAN HOLLEN: Well, there will be two votes at that point in time. I mean, one vote would be to pass essentially the Senate bill with the understanding that it will be modified. In other words, the issue you've been hearing a lot about. Then you have the reconciliation bill, the amendments. The first vote is to make sure we pass the Senate bill with the understanding that it will only come out of the House if the amendments to it are also adopted.
BLITZER: So we're basically talking about what's called the deem and pass. That's going to be first vote, is that what you're saying?
VAN HOLLEN: I wouldn't call it deem and pass. There's been a lot of misinformation about this. What it is essentially is it says that the Senate bill will come out of the House but only, only if it's been modified. Just as if you're going to buy a house and you sign a contract, but you also have a provision right there in the contract that says you are not going to go through with it unless it passes an inspection.
BLITZER: Congressman, explain to our viewers why not simply have two votes?. You're going to have two votes anyhow, one passing the Senate version as passed by the Senate Christmas eve, then a second immediate vote right afterwards on the so-called fixes or the amendments to that Senate legislation. Why not do it in a relatively clean way like that?
VAN HOLLEN: This is a clean way. In fact it is a process that's been used since the 1930s. It's a process that our Republican colleagues used as recently as 2006 as part of a reconciliation bill. Because what the other side is trying to do is create the false impression that the bill -- the product that is passing out of the House is the Senate bill by itself and that just is not true. That's why we're saying we're going to pass the Senate bill as modified. And there are lots of changes to this Senate bill. And the other side wants to do nothing better than to try and suggest that you're not going to get rid of the Nebraska deal, which we are, that we're not going to get rid of some of the other deals the Senate put out, but we are going to get rid of them. And that's just an attempt to create a false impression. So we're going to get the package through and I'm confident that the momentum is building in the right direction.
BLITZER: So there will be two votes, one sort of stapling together these two pieces of legislation, then a second vote on the amendments, the fixes. Let's talk about some of those modifications. You mentioned Ben Nelson and the Nebraska, the cornhusker kickback as it's been called, that's been removed is that right?
VAN HOLLEN: Yes, it has.
BLITZER: What about Mary Landrieu and the Louisiana purchase? Has that been removed?
VAN HOLLEN: My understanding on that provision is it's drafted in a way to make sure that any state, any state that experiences a kind of natural disaster like Katrina and therefore, as a result of that natural disaster were to lose some of the Medicaid benefits, that any state in that situation would be able to qualify. So it would apply generally to any state that suffered that kind of natural disaster. BLITZER: Right now only Louisiana qualifies.
VAN HOLLEN: That's because Louisiana took a huge hit in terms of the Federal share of Medicaid as a result of hurricane Katrina and what this provision says is if another state experiences that kind of hit, they will also benefit from essentially restoring the Medicaid support that the Federal government had provided before a natural disaster.
BLITZER: What about for Florida? The 800,000 seniors that are supposed to get this privileged Medicare plus benefit? Is that staying in?
VAN HOLLEN: That is not staying in. There's a provision that had a special benefit under Medicare advantage for Florida, I believe also for New York and that special provision that applied just to those two states is not in.
BLITZER: What about the hundred million dollar hospital for Connecticut?
VAN HOLLEN: My understanding is that is now a grant program. In other words, you will have a competitive grant so it is not fixed on Connecticut alone.
BLITZER: A lot of Democrats in the House and you know them much better than I do obviously, they're really worried that they can't trust their Democratic colleagues in the Senate. Do you have a letter from 51 Democratic senators promising them if they make this tough vote and pass this legislation, the Senate will follow suit?
VAN HOLLEN: We don't have it in hand yet, Wolf, but you're absolutely right. From our perspective it's trust but verify. We want something in the form of a letter with 51 senators signing it or having 51 senators co-sponsoring the budget reconciliation bill, the amendments that we're all adopting, as a condition of moving forward. Because we do want those assurances. Look, we talked a lot about these special provisions that had been added in the Senate. One of the lessons that's clearly been learned, I hope and one of the lessons that the House has transmitted to the Senate is enough of the deal making. We want to adopt a bill that has important general rules that apply across the board and that's what we're doing as part of this.
BLITZER: I just want to be precise, without that letter, you're not going to vote on Sunday, is that right?
VAN HOLLEN: Without some very concrete form of assurance from the senators, it could be in the form of a letter or maybe they'll put their names as co-sponsors on the reconciliation package, on the amendments, of some very concrete form of assurance. Without that, House members will not feel confident moving forward.
BLITZER: We're out of time. Are you about half a dozen votes shy still? Is that the number?
VAN HOLLEN: We don't have any particular number on it. Let's just say it's moving in the right direction.
BLITZER: Congressman Van Hollen, thanks very much for joining us.
VAN HOLLEN: It's good to be with you.
BLITZER: Chris Van Hollen, one of the leaders of the Democrats in the House. And stay with CNN Sunday for full coverage of the health care vote and what happens next. I'll be here. I'll be anchoring our coverage together with the best political team on television. We'll have coverage on Sunday live. This is going to be historic. And we'll be here to cover it.
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