CNN "American Morning" - Transcript

Interview

Today on CNN's American Morning, Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen, Ranking Member on the House Budget Committee, discussed the President's State of the Union address. He highlighted the President's focus on getting the economy in full gear now, getting people back to work, and putting the country on a long-term fiscally sustainable path. Full text of the interview is below, and you can watch the video here:

VAN HOLLEN: Good morning. Good to be with you.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: So, the highlight when we talk about this, trying to get a handle on our deficit, is the proposed freeze in domestic spending over the next five years. It really is a small slice of the pie, though, when you look at what we -- the so-called "mandatory spending" that we're not going to be touching right now. The White House is estimating about $400 billion over the next decade.

Why not get serious and look at some of those entitlement programs as well?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, look, the President focused on the two big issues that are on the minds of the American people. Number one, get the economy in full gear and get people back to work. And number two, as you said, act now to put the country on a long-term fiscally sustainability path.

And he laid out right away the five-year freeze on domestic discretionary spending, and then he indicated that he wanted to sit down and work with our Republican colleagues to map out that longer-term deficit reduction plan.

So, now, it's up to all of us, Republicans and Democrats alike, to try and come together and do exactly that, because the down payment the President talked about was a very serious one as he indicated. We're talking about taking domestic discretionary spending down to the level -- as a percentage of the economy -- as it was during the Eisenhower administration.

So, that's a significant move. But he also said we got to get together and map out that longer-term plan.

CHETRY: Now, I understand what you're saying it might be significant. But then some of the costs of things, the spending is going to be -- is really going to eat that up. The Congressional Budget Office, the former director, saying that Medicare and Social Security alone scheduled to rise by more than $100 billion every two years from here on out. So, that savings that you guys get from that discretionary spending is pretty much gone.

VAN HOLLEN: Well, there's no doubt that we have to work on the long- term issues that you mentioned. What I would say with that -- in that respect -- we're going to have a hearing on this issue today in the Budget Committee is that the Health Reform Bill did actually begin to bend the cost curve in the out years. In other words, the rate of increase in medical costs is brought down by a number of the innovations and changes to medical delivery that were set forth in that bill.

Now, we've got to implement that as we go forward, and there's no doubt we have to do more, especially when it comes to the out-year spending, especially the health care spending that's being driven. But I -- it's an important point and the President mentioned it last night. The health care reform bill does begin to bend that cost curve in the out-year. So, it was a first step, but only the first step.

CHETRY: I want you to listen to what Congressman Paul Ryan said in his rebuttal. He basically made the situation sound quite dire and said that our day of reckoning is really around the corner. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN: Our nation is approaching a tipping point. We're at a moment where if government's growth is left unchecked
and unchallenged, America's best century will be considered our past century. This is a future in which we will transform our social
safety net into a hammock which lulls able-bodied people into the lives of complacency and dependency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: So, we heard, you know, some optimistic words from the President last night and then you hear the GOP response making it seem like this is, you know, the tipping point.

Is the GOP overblowing how dire our situation is?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, two things. First, the most important thing we can do to help the deficit and debt situation out-year is to get the economy in full gear now, because the more economic growth you've got, the faster we come fully out of this downturn, the more economic - revenue that will be generated as we put more people back to work. So, that has got to be the focus and the priority.

But it is also true, as the President's Deficit and Debt reduction Commission said, that we have to act now to begin to put ourselves on that fiscally sustainable path. And that is why we hope to work together. Now, you know, last night was important symbolically.

CHETRY: Right.

VAN HOLLEN: A lot of Democrats and Republicans working together. As the President indicated, the test will be whether we can now come together to solve these problems. And coming together doesn't mean that we agree on everything.

CHETRY: Right.

VAN HOLLEN: But it does mean that we all have to give a little as we try and tackle these common challenges.

CHETRY: It sounds like, though, Congressman, no one on either side of the aisle is willing to sort of touch that Social Security issue and the issue of Medicare and the issue of entitlements that gobble up so much of what we're spending right now. It sounds like that's still off the table.

VAN HOLLEN: Well, certainly I don't think we should do anything to threaten the integrity of the Medicare program or the Social Security program. I mean, millions of Americans depend on that for retirement security and health security.

But in the 1980's, Tip O'Neill, the then Speaker of the House, got together with then-President Reagan and they made some changes that helped sustain those programs going forward. And so, that's the kind of model I think we can look to for coming together. And everybody had to give a little bit in that process.

CHETRY: All right. Well, it's great to talk to you this morning, Congressman Chris Van Hollen from Maryland. Thanks so much.

VAN HOLLEN: Good to be with you.

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