ABC "Face the Nation" - Transcript - Protests in Kiev and Budget Agreement
Interview
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SCHIEFFER: Senator, I want to thank you for joining us this morning. Now, be safe, and next thing you should you do is go inside and get warm.
And we want to go to Chicago now, where we are joined by the number two Democrat in the Senate, Richard Durbin.
Senator Durbin, well, you just heard Senator McCain. How serious is this situation in Kiev?
And is this really something the United States ought to be involved in at this point?
DURBIN: I think John McCain really articulated it very clearly. Ukraine has been in a struggle internally since the fall of the Soviet Union. There are ethnic, cultural and religious connections with Russia and Moscow. And then there are those in Ukraine looking to the West for their future.
Yanukovych is caught in the middle. And at this point, he has to decide. What Putin has offered him is an alliance with Belarus, which is ruled by the last dictator in Europe, Lukashenko, and Kazakhstan. The alternative is an alliance with the European Union. It's fairly clear to all of us in the West where the future lies. And I certainly hope the people in the streets of Kiev will get the message clearly through to Yanukovych.
SCHIEFFER: All right. Well, let me shift to subjects closer to home. Do you now have the votes to pass the budget that passed in the House, with Paul Ryan and Patty Murray coming together and putting together this compromise. Have you got the votes right now?
DURBIN: Well, first let me say, Bob, that Patty Murray, our senator from Washington, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, and Paul Ryan of Wisconsin did an extraordinarily good job in coming to a bipartisan agreement, which was ratified by the House of Representatives with over 300 votes from both sides of the aisle.
The struggle is still on in the United States Senate. We will need about eight Republicans to come our way. I feel we'll have a good, strong showing from the Democratic side. But we need bipartisan support to pass it. And the problems we have are twofold. A handful of members of the Senate are vying for the presidency in years to come and thinking about this vote in the context. And others are frankly afraid of this new force, the Tea Party force, the Heritage Foundation force, that is threatening seven out of the 12 Republican senators running for re-election.
So it's very difficult. As John McCain said, this is the right thing to do for our country, a bipartisan agreement to get the first real budget in five years. And I hope that at least eight or maybe even more Republican senators will join us.
SCHIEFFER: Well, you just heard John McCain say he's going to vote for it. How many other Republicans do you think you have at this point?
DURBIN: Well, we have a handful, but we need more. Some are still thinking about it. Over the weekend, I've talked to one or two of them in the process, and it's a tough vote for them because of this Tea Party threat.
Remember, Boehner faced them down before this vote in the House and finally said, "We've got to do something here. We can't let a handful of members really dictate what happens in the House and what happens to our future." I think he learned his lesson from that government showdown (sic). I hope the Republican senators heard the same message.
SCHIEFFER: Well, how significant do you think John Boehner's action was? Will that have an influence on the Senate, as it obviously did on the House?
DURBIN: It should. And I know that there are members of the House Republican leadership reaching out to some senators to persuade them.
But keep in mind, Bob, this is a relatively new development where seven out of the 12 senators, Republican senators running, are facing Tea Party primary opposition. And that is a relatively new phenomenon in the Senate.
SCHIEFFER: Well, Senator, I would thank you for being with us this morning. And we wish you the best.
DURBIN: Thanks, Bob.
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