CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript:
Interview
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Ana, thank you very much. And I have with me Congressman-Elect Lee Zeldin who will be Congressman in a few short hours. Thank you. First of all, congratulations.
REP.-ELECT LEE ZELDIN (R), NEW YORK: Thank you.
BASH: Let's just get down to the news. One of the first votes, if not the first vote, you are going to have to take is for the House Speaker. Will you, as a Republican, vote for John Boehner?
ZELDIN: Yes, I actually get the pleasure of -- I vote second to last. I'll very likely be casting my vote for the speaker. I've kept a very open mind since the election. A lot of this is going to unfold before me because it's a roll call vote alphabetically. So we'll see what's real and what's not real.
BASH: You're hedging a little bit?
ZELDIN: No, no. I want to let everyone know that I've kept a very open mind throughout this entire process, as I have to on all issues that get as controversial. Every vote is so important as we set up for the new session.
BASH: John Boehner campaigned for you.
ZELDIN: He did.
BASH: Raised money for you. So don't you feel a little bit of loyalty? Or the need to sort of give back and give him your vote?
ZELDIN: Well, for me, there's no one really running against him. People contact me -- they say vote for Louis Gohmert. And I like Louie. I've been talking to colleagues, and he only has one vote unless he doesn't vote for himself from everything I'm gathering. I'm not aware of anyone else. They say vote for Trey Gowdy, make him the Speaker of the House. Trey Gowdy is awesome but he seconded the nomination for the speaker.
So I'm trying to take the reality on the ground at home and talking to supporters and really analyze how this is going to unfold today with reality here in Washington. Two years ago, they attempted to make a move on the speaker. It fell woefully short of expectations. It was very disorganized. I was watching from afar; I was very unimpressed. And it's important that with we stand united. Ronald Reagan in 1858 (sic) made a speech, he says the result is not doubtful. We shall not fail when we stand firm. We shall not fail.
And I think it's important as we move into the next week, passing legislation on the Keystone XL Pipeline legislation, the Hire More Heroes Act, improve Obamacare with a 30-hour week back to a 40-hour week, that we move the ball forward and move America forward.
BASH: Now, you are a Republican from New York. You beat a Democrat, who -- Tim Bishop, who had been here for a very long time. Many, many terms. But that also means that yours is not one of those ruby red districts out there. So do you feel the need, maybe more than other Republican colleagues, to reach compromise, to reach across the aisle, because you're from a swing district?
ZELDIN: Well, the dynamics have changed. If I was here in the last who years, you have a Democratic Senate. I come from a state legislature in Albany where you have a Democratic governor and Democratic-controlled state assembly where I could not have gotten anything passed through the legislature without working with colleagues on the other side.
Right now, the 382 bills that passed the House chamber in the last two years that were dead on arrival on Harry Reid's desk, now can go to the president's desk for him to sign or veto. So we need to have an open dialogue with all of our colleagues regardless of where they're from, regardless of their background. The fact of the matter is we now have a Senate we can work with to get all these great solutions on the president's desk.
BASH: Now, you are going to be the only Republican Jewish member of Congress when you're sworn in in a couple of hours. How does that make your role and your place here different, if at all?
ZLEDIN: Well, I've always been very outspoken on foreign policy for our support of our strongest ally in the world, in Israel. So there will be opportunities to speak about principles I stand for. We need a stronger, more consistent foreign policy. We need to understand that our enemies do not respect weakness; they only respect strength. And we shouldn't be urging patience on the part of Israelis while praising the Palestinian Authority when they choose to root out Hamas.
So there are going to be so many ways that we're going to be able to speak up for causes we believe in, and I share with my constituents, that will improve America's foreign policy. So I welcome that opportunity and expand the Republican Party as well look towards a presidential captain in 2016.
BASH: Lee Zeldin, thank you very much and congratulations.
ZELDIN: Thank you.
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