DPCC Co-Chair Cicilline: Democrats Are Fighting For The People, Not For The Special Interests
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman David Cicilline, Co-Chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC), appeared on Special Report with Bret Baier on FOX News to discuss the new Democratic majority and how Democrats are focusing on reducing health care costs, raising wages and cleaning up corruption in Washington. Below is a transcript from the interview. Click here to watch the video.
"Well I hope not. Look, the Republicans control the House, the Senate and the White House. I hope they don't shut the government down. Last time we had an appropriation process it worked well. It was bipartisan. The President was not really involved in it. We were able to reach consensus and find common ground with our Republican colleagues and that moved forward. I hope we can do it again. But, again, the Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House, so they will ultimately decide if we have a government shutdown."
"Yes. I mean, we ran on an agenda that we described that demonstrated that Democrats are for the people of the country, not for the special interests, not for the powerful and well-connected. And, we identified three urgent priorities: one, driving down health care costs, particularly the cost of prescription drugs; two is raising family incomes and particularly focusing on rebuilding the infrastructure of our country with a trillion dollar infrastructure package that will create 16 million good paying jobs; and finally taking on the serious corruption in Washington and getting money out of our politics. Those three issues, are issues the President identified as priorities for him. He hasn't delivered on them. But, if he's serious, we should be able to work together with our Republican colleagues to get those things done for the American people."
"Well, look, I think Democrats are very committed to making sure we do everything we can to drive down health care costs. One of the big drivers of health care costs is prescription drug prices. We have a very specific proposal on how to do that, but there are a number of ideas out there to really expand access health care to drive down costs: allowing people to buy into Medicare, lowering the age of Medicare eligibility, having Medicare for everyone – so I think there are a lot of great ideas. We're going to have a Caucus that's more diverse and larger than ever. We can have a really healthy discussion on how do we build upon the success of the Affordable Care Act and make the health care system work even better and drive down costs. And, I think people will present a range of ideas and out of that will come some consensus from the Democrats of how we move forward and how we drive down costs and make sure everyone in this country has access to quality affordable health care."
"I don't think so. Look, you know, we have a lot of new Members that are going to come to Congress with the passion that they demonstrated in their elections. They're going to come with a lot of new ideas – some bold new ideas. And we're going to work together as a Caucus to try to find common ground and move forward on the behalf of American people. But I think it's healthy for our party. I think it's healthy for the country that lots of people with lots of new ideas – who have just won elections are going to come and contribute their best thinking. There's enormous consensus on the overriding issues and really kind of on the core priorities of Democrats. I think we'll have lots of conversations on the edges, but I think it going to be great for our party, great for the country. Because, out of that will come the best thinking and the best policies. So, I think it's an exciting time and we are going to have a lot of new talent, a lot of great new members who are going to contribute significantly to the work."
"Well, I don't know that she's a shoe-in. But I think she will be the next Speaker of the House. I think she has earned that position. She brought us back into the majority. She's was a very effective legislator. She brought us the Affordable Care Act. She brought us Wall Street reform. She repealed don't ask, don't tell. She's a very effective legislator. As I said before, I don't think you fire the quarterback after you just won the super bowl – so I expect she will be the Speaker of the House."