DPCC Co-Chair Bustos: Democrats Will Work Across The Aisle To Get The Nation's Work Done
WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Cheri Bustos, Co-Chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC), appeared on MSNBC Live with Stephanie Ruhle to discuss how the House Democratic Caucus will work across the aisle with Republicans to lower health care costs, increase pay and clean up corruption in Washington. Below is a transcript from the interview . Click here to watch the video.
"Well, I find it interesting that Mitch McConnell used the words "presidential harassment". The desire of Democrats is to get to the truth, period. And, that takes a look at what's going on. It takes a Mueller investigation that can move forward unimpeded. But, Stephanie, there are such things as parallel tracks and we'll be able to do that. It's chewing gum and walking at the same time. We've got very able gentlemen who will be the leaders, the new chairman of the House Oversight, of the Judiciary, of the Intelligence committee. They are capable, they are smart, they are reasonable, they are fair individuals. So, I have my complete faith that they'll do a great job and won't engage in any overreach. At the same time, we need to make sure that we're focused relentlessly on bringing down the cost of health care and prescription drug prices. That we pass a bill where we can rebuild America again. And, that means roads and bridges and locks and dams and getting rural broadband to and 23 million Americans. And, then lastly, while I am standing in this beautiful Capitol right now. It's beautiful here, but when you get outside and on the ground, we've got some self-dealing that is going on. We have this money in politics that has just corrupt the system and we need to address that as well."
"Absolutely, we can work with Republicans. And, that is the shout out in the center part of this nation. That people in my district sent me back out here, even though Donald Trump won my congressional district. I ended up winning by 24 points in a Trump district. So, that's people, in my opinion, telling me go out to Washington, work with your colleagues across the river and get the nation's work done. We can do that. There are many decent Republicans, just as there are many, many decent Democrats. We can work together, get the job done. And, then we've got to count on Mitch McConnell behaving a little bit better than to making the kind of statements that he just did about Democrats."
"Well, right now, Nancy Pelosi is the only person running for Speaker. Nobody else has announced."
"They could and I'll keep an open mind. But, I think in fairness to Nancy Pelosi, she will go down in history as a remarkable Speaker of the House. She has treated me very well, first of all. And, I'm a person in the middle of the district that, or middle of the country that doesn't always support all of the legislation that she supports, but she has accomplished -- the affordable care act, Stephanie, never would have happened, never would have happened, without her help. And, while the rollout of that was widely maligned, it didn't go very well. The end result, before the Republicans have tried to do this, is that we had 23 million additionally insured Americans. She is smart. She is good to people. She keeps her composure no matter what is coming her way. I guess that's a long way of saying I like Nancy Pelosi. I think she's been a remarkable Speaker of the House and these election votes are on November 28th and we'll see what happens."
"Well, thank you for saying that. I am going to be running for a leadership position. And, again, I think there's so much that's shaking out right now. But, Hakeem Jeffries just announced, literally within the last hour, that he's going to run for Caucus Chair. We have two other people who have already announced for that. There may be other people who are getting in these various races, but I hope in the end that I can be part of a very, very good and strong leadership team. I think we have remarkable people who are running for these leadership positions. When I was out and about, we heard from a lot people saying we need a new generation of leader. Well, I think what we can see now is that there is a new generation of leader candidate running in these various roles ,and on November 28th we'll see what our caucus decides, who's going to be our Speaker, our Leader, our Whip, our Caucus Chair, our Assistant Democratic Leader, all those positions. But, I'm confident that we'll have a very good leadership team that can usher in legislation and policy that matters to people all over this country."