FOX "Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace" - Transcript: 114th Congress

Interview

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WALLACE: Senator Corker, can you do business with President Obama on some issues, like tax reform and trade authority, when he's off taking executive action on his own in other areas?

SEN. BOB CORKER (R), TENNESSEE: Absolutely. Look, obviously we have not liked the executive actions that especially were taken after lame duck, but we understand with humility, we've got a lot of serious issues that need to be addressed. The bigger issues absolutely require the president to be involved. And I think with anticipation, we look forward to that opportunity.

WALLACE: Senator Thune, how do you draw the balance between on the one hand, trying to work with the president in areas where there is some bipartisan agreement, but also passing measures such as repealing Obamacare and trying to undo his executive action on immigration reform, which you know he'll veto?

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R), SOUTH DAKOTA: Well, Chris, I think there are a lot of areas where we can work together, you know, right out of the gate, we're going to act in the Senate on the Keystone pipeline. We think the president ought to sign that into the law. His administration has done five environmental impact statements, all of which have said minimal impact on the environment, and his own State Department said it would support 42,000 jobs. So, it's good for jobs and the economy.

We're going to find out very early I think whether or not the president wants to play ball. Based on our past experience, it would be a triumph hope over experience. But you always enter a new session of Congress with high hopes. And I know that Republicans in the Senate are looking forward to and willing to work with the president on areas where we can create jobs and grow the economy and strengthen America's middle class. And I hope the president will meet us there.

WALLACE: Let me ask you about this, Senator Thune, because hearing both you and Senator Corker, I get a distinct sense from both of you that you're more interested in compromise than confrontation.

THUNE: I think, Chris, what we want to see are solutions. We want to see solutions for the American people. And we hope the president will meet us there. It takes presidential leadership to do big things in Washington, D.C. And, obviously, there are a number of things where there's bipartisan support, bills that have passed the House of Representatives that have been stalled out in the Senate. We want to start there, move those bills, put them on the president's desk. And we'll find out whether or not he wants to be a willing partner.

And I certainly hope he does, because we have some big things that we need to do for the American people when it comes to growing the economy and creating jobs and creating a smaller middle class for our country.

WALLACE: One more question for you, Senator Thune, and then I'm going to bring in Senator Corker to talk about the Foreign Relations Committee. A potential flash point and that is immigration. You and the Republican Congress has only funded the Department of Homeland Security to the end of February, while you try to find some way to undo his executive action, deferring to deportations for up to 5 million people in this country illegally.

A couple questions, can you presume that the Republican Congress will not shut down funding for the department that protects our homeland? And how will Senate Republicans handle someone like Ted Cruz who may take a harder line and in the past has been willing to stand on principle and shut down the government over that?

THUNE: Right. We're not going to shut down the government --

WALLACE: Including the Department of Homeland Security?

THUNE: Well, including that. That funding bill expires at the end of February. We recognize it's important that we fund the government. Now that we're in the majority, we have the responsibility to do that.

But we're also going to use the power of the purse, which is what the Constitution gives the congress, as a mechanism by which to challenge the president on issues where we think he overstepped the authority. And what he did on immigration is clearly an example. On 22 different occasions that he didn't have the legal or the constitutional authority to do this, and he did it anyway. That needs to be challenged.

We will look for every opportunity to that, but it's also going to be important for us to recognize it is a majority in the House and the Senate, we now have the responsibility to get things done for the country and to make sure that our government is funded, but funded in a way that's consistent with what I think the American people said in the November election, and that is they want the Congress more involved in these issues and not have the president overreaching consistently as he has in the past with executive power.

WALLACE: Let me bring you, Senator Corker. You're going to be the chair -- we have to say you're likely to be, because the committee has to actually vote on it this week, but you're going to be the chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, and there is so much on your place that our colleague George Will has a column in today's paper in which he calls you the senator to watch in 2015.

So, let's do a lightning round of quick questions/quick answers. The president's order to renew relations with Cuba, will you block any nominee to be a new ambassador to Cuba? And will you fight the president's effort to relax the trade embargo?

CORKER: Well, Chris, I said when the announcement was made, the first thing we want to do is understand what behavioral change Cuba is willing to make. So, you'll see some rigorous hearings. I don't fully understand what the telecom -- U.S. telecom companies being open to going into Cuba, what that really means. No one has seen a list of the political folks that are being released from jail.

So, there's a lot to know. And you'll see us having hearings before decisions are made as to what to do relative to this action.

WALLACE: All right. Let's turn to another subject. That is Iran. Do you have a veto proof majority in the Senate to pass a new bill in the next few weeks or months that would -- if Iran walks away from the current talks, or if it violates the interim agreement, would impose new sanctions on them?

CORKER: Well, Chris, there's no question if this deal falls apart, there's going to be additional sanctions. So, the banking committee actually deals with sanctions. That's their jurisdiction. I actually serve on that.

The Foreign Relations Committee may take up this bill that calls on Congress to weigh in on any deal that happens. This is one of the biggest issues we'll be dealing with. And for Congress not to have a role is totally inappropriate.

So, we're going to move through the committee process. The banking committee will take up one aspect of this, the Foreign Relations Committee will take up another. And through regular order, we'll see what will happen.

I don't think there's any question for those in Iran or around the world, that if this falls apart, certainly, there's going to be additional sanctions. The question is, when do you do that? When do you signal that?

And we're paying a lot of attention to what's happening in the negotiations. We're talking to people all around the world. And we'll see as we move ahead.

WALLACE: All right. We're in a lightning round here, so quick answers/quick answers.

Guantanamo, and I know you have shared authority on this as well. But the president transferred 28 detainees out of Gitmo this last year. If -- can you block him if he decides to try to close Gitmo on his own?

CORKER: Well, again, the '01 authorization for the use of military force is an issue that's still open. We have meetings with the White House over that. Part of that relates to what you can do with Gitmo.

You know, the fact is all of us have been open to major changes at Gitmo, but we're waiting for the administration to lay out a plan. What he's doing right now is not as sensible as laying out a plan for the future as to how we're going to deal with all of the detainees at Gitmo.

WALLACE: But if he tries to close it on his own, will you block him?

CORKER: Well, you know, we'll see. I mean, we'll see where they're going -- if he tries to close it on his own, we'll see. I mean, is there a plan of some kind that he has laid out? That's what all of us have been seeking since for the last six years, and that is a plan, ever since he's been in office to deal with an issue that he campaigned on while running, and yet has never been forthcoming with.

WALLACE: And let me ask you one last question under the lightning round of quick questions quick answer is, and that is ISIS. Will your panel pass an authorization for the use of military force specifically to deal with ISIS? And what will you say about the use of U.S. ground troops?

CORKER: Well, on ISIS, I think what we are all hoping to happen is getting the White House to lay out a plan that has a plausible -- shows a plausible way to the outcome that they rhetorically have outlined. So, it depends. Certainly, we're going to have hearings in January and February.

Hopefully, they will finally come forth and lay out to us how they will achieve that outcome. But to me, that's an important part of any authorization that we might put forth with Syria.

WALLACE: All right. Senator Thune, let me turn to you and the commerce committee. One of the big items on your agenda is the fact that you have to find a way to finance the transportation bill which would pay for upkeep of our highways and the public transit system.

With gas prices now under $2.50 a gallon, would you favor increasing the gas tax?

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R), SOUTH DAKOTA: Well, I don't favor increasing any tax, Chris, but I think we have to look at all the option. We obviously have a big delta (ph) we have to meet. The highway bill expires at the end of May and there's about a hundred billion shortfall of what it would take to fund the highway trust fund at the current level of operation.

So, obviously, we've got to deal with it here. And I think there's a number of ways you could deal with that, and those discussions continue. I think we'll get to a resolution on that, but it is important we fund infrastructure, and we deal with that, as well as planes, trains and automobiles, all those issues.

WALLACE: Let me just interrupt because we're running out of the time here.

Now, Senator Corker and others have suggested a 12 cent per gallon increase in the gas tax over the next two years. You certainly sound like you're not ruling that out?

THUNE: Well, Bob Corker has got a proposal out there. There are others who have suggestions as well. We appreciate the fact that we've got solutions that are being future forward.

I don't think we take anything off the table at this point. I think it's important to recognize that we have a problem, an issue that we need a solution for, and we need to look at all the possible ways out there in which we can address the challenge and address the problem. But that's one proposal that's out there and Bob Corkers has been, you know, taken a strong stand on that issue.

WALLACE: Final question for you --

CORKER: Chris, if I could, that was -- Chris, if I could --

WALLACE: Sure.

CORKER: I just want to point out yes, we have proposed raising the gasoline tax -- user fee by 12 cents, but also by off-setting other taxes that Americans would pay. So, it's revenue neutral, but at least it would put our infrastructure on strong footing. And that second component seems to get left out of the conversation most of the time. But, yes, I believe that's what we should do.

WALLACE: Well, thank you for that clarification.

Final question for you, Senator Thune, less than a minute left. Keystone, we talked about it at the very beginning, that's not going to be handled by your committee. It's -- the Energy Committee will take the lead on that, but it does run through your state.

Do you have a veto-proof majority in the Senate to force the president to approve the Keystone pipeline?

THUNE: I think the question is, Chris, whether or not there are -- we're going to find out whether or not there are moderate Democrats in the Senate. This will -- this is something that has broad bipartisan support in the House of Representatives. It has a number of Democrats supporting it in the Senate.

The question is, can we get to 67 if the president decides to veto it? And I think that's a good question. It's going to be up to a lot of those Democrats who have expressed support in this in the past as to whether or not, now that it really matters, it's more than just a symbolic vote whether or not they're going to be there.

WALLACE: But you intend to push that -- let me ask briefly in about 30 seconds, if you may. If the president decides to veto it, what will that say about him?

THUNE: Well, I think the -- what it will say about him for one is that he's listening again to his sort of left-wing base on this issue rather than where the American people are, who are overwhelmingly supportive of the project, and where there's a fairly big bipartisan support of the Congress. So, we'll see.

I mean, I think we're going to get indication of how this president wants to govern in the last two years and how he wants to work with Republicans in Congress? But this will be -- this will certainly be a way in which we can measure where he's going to come down.

WALLACE: Senator Thune, Senator Corker, thank you both so much for coming in today. Thanks for joining us. And we'll be following you during the New Year.

THUNE: Sounds good. Thanks, Chris.

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