CBS "Face the Nation" - Transcript

Interview

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BOB SCHIEFFER: All right. Welcome, Senator. Well let's start where sort of where Senator McCain left off. He agreed, you heard him, with what Mitch McConnell said also this morning. There needs to be a vote on repealing health care. If the Republicans do force a vote, and I-- I would guess that about the only way they can get this done is just to add it on as an amendment
to some other legislation. That seems most likely to me. But if they do that, Senator Schumer, what will be the democratic response?

SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER: Well, let me say Harry Reid has wisely said we should not--he would not offer repeal on the floor because the American people want us to focus on jobs and the economy and stretching the middle-class paycheck. But Mitch McConnell has the right to offer an amendment. If he does, if the Republicans offer an amendment on the floor, then we will require them to vote on the individual protections in the bill that are very popular. And that even some of the new Republican House members have said they support. So in the end, their repeal bill is going to be so full of holes it looks like Swiss cheese. Let me give you some
examples. Our Republicans going to vote no on a provision to maintain the Donut Hole benefits, so that seniors pay less for prescription drugs? Are they going to vote against the ability of twenty-one to twenty-six year olds to stay on their parents' health care? They're new in the job market. They often can't get it themselves. Are they going to vote to repeal the mandatory-- the-
- not the mandatory but the free check ups that seniors on Medicare get which saves billions of dollars in prevention. We all know early check ups work. So I think at the end of the day their effort to repeal is not going to work at all. And it shows something, Bob. There are places we can work together. Senators Klobuchar and Cantwell and Nelson wrote a letter to Boehner-- to sp-- Speaker Boehner saying we'll repeal the 1099 provisions that put burdens on small business. We certainly I agree with Senator McCain there's still a lot of waste in the inefficiencies in the Medicare program. And you can keep people's good benefits and still get rid of those. So we should work together to improve the bill but this idea of repeal is not going to work. And I think if they try it, they're going to learn that.

BOB SCHIEFFER: So in other words, you will vote on specifics. You will bring up votes on specific things--

SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER: Right.

BOB SCHIEFFER: --in the bill. Let me ask you about one of those specifics, because I-- I know you brought with you this morning and we have a copy of it, a letter that you plan to send to Eric Cantor, who's part of the Republican leadership in the House. In that letter you say the following, "Repeal could force three million seniors to repay the government the two hundred and fifty dollars they received as a rebate last year." That, of course, refers to seniors in the socalled Donut Hole that is their medicine costs too much to be paid through Medicare but it didn't cost enough that they can qualify for catastrophic coverage.

SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER (overlapping): Correct.

BOB SCHIEFFER: But senator, I-- I read-- you also go on to say in the letter, "they would have to return the funds," quote, "in theory." So would they or wouldn't they?

SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER: Well, we're not sure. The actuary for CMS has said in a published report that they'd have to return them in theory. And obviously, this is something that would bother a whole lot of citizens. So we, Senator Menendez and I have sent a letter to Eric Cantor asking him to commit now unequivocally that if it should be found that they have to
return, that seniors have to return the two hundred fifty dollars to help fill the Donut Hole that they got last year that he will recall his repeal bill. Again, it shows this, you know, rush to recall the entire bill which almost all Americans believe have good parts, even those who are for repeal. Only twenty percent are for full repeal and the rest say keep the good parts of it. So this rush to do it doesn't make sense. And we hope that Majority Leader Cantor will say today that if the two hundred fifty has to be returned, he will ask to bring back the bill that they passed, to recall it.

BOB SCHIEFFER: All right. In his preview of the State of the Union message at that the White House released last night, a kind of a video press release, here's one of the things that President Obama said. Take a listen.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA (Organizing for America Video): We're also going to have to deal with our deficits and our debt in a responsible way. And we've got to reform government so that it's leaner and smarter for the 21st Century.

BOB SCHIEFFER: You know if I didn't know better and had my eyes closed I might have thought that was President Reagan talking. It sounded very much like a speech that a Republican co-- would make. Are Democrats really going to be serious about this, Senator Schumer?

SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER: Yes.

BOB SCHIEFFER: And how is the left in your party going to take this idea of this new focus on cutting spending?

SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER: Well, let me say this. First, we are serious and we'll continue to be. We passed last year in our appropriations measures something called McCaskill-Sessions, Claire McCaskill, Democrat; Jeff Sessions, Republican. That cut back on spending. We know that has to happen but it has to be done in a smart way. And another thing the
President is going to talk about is not cutting back on investments that will help us grow in the future. Things like education and infrastructure and scientific research. In fact, I think, the President's message is going to be one of-- of-- of hope, of the future, and of growth. He is going to focus like a laser on the middle class and helping them grow their paychecks if they
have a job, growing jobs, growing the economy both in the short term and the long term. And so, yes we have to cut. And there's a lot of waste in the government. We will join with our colleagues and with the President to do it. But certain key investments we will keep. And the bottom line is this. The American people want an optimistic future-oriented pro-growth platform.
This dour sour everything is wrong, no one can do anything right. That's not going to work. That's not what the American people want. So I think the President's speech is going to be well received by Democrats in the Congress, in the country but by all Americans more importantly.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Ah, Eric Cantor said this morning under hard questioning, I should add, that yes indeed cancer research would also be on the table when you talk about cutting spending. Can you envision cuts in cancer research?

SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER: Well, you know, the proposal that the Republican Study Committee made focuses on only one part of the budget. And because they have to get all their reductions out of that one part, they do things that most Americans wouldn't want, such as cut cancer research. But for instance, they leave the military totally out. Now I'm for a strong military and I've always supported it. But everyone knows there's waste and inefficiency in the military budget. Defense Secretary Gates has proposed cutting a hundred fifty billion dollars out of it. And if you want to be fair, if you want to be-- convince people that you're really for cutting you have to cut the waste across the board. Waste in the military is no better than waste in domestic programs. And it seems that it's a little political.

BOB SCHIEFFER (overlapping): All right, we're--

SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER: You know just focus on one area-- areas that Republicans don't like. We should try to eliminate the waste and inefficiency across the board.

BOB SCHIEFFER: About thirty seconds left.

SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER: Sorry.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Where are you going to sit at the President's State of the Union?

SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER: Yeah.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Will you be with the Republican--

SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER: Yes.

BOB SCHIEFFER: --or will you sit with Democrats?

SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER: I've already asked Tom Coburn, who is a very conservative Republican. We don't agree on that many things, but we're friends to sit next to me. He's graciously agreed. And I think, if Coburn and Schumer can sit next to each other, then probably just about everybody can. And I would urge others to do it. Mark Udall had this idea. It spread
like wildfire. It's true, it's symbolic. But let's not forget, often times in history symbols influence reality and the lame duck session, which was bipartisan. The President's gracious address, John McCain's gracious response means that maybe we can come together to solve America's problems.

BOB SCHIEFFER (overlapping): All right.

SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER: And I hope that'll happen.

BOB SCHIEFFER: All right. Well, we'll end it right there. Thank you so much, senator. And I'll be back with some final thoughts of my own in a minute.

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