ABC "This Week" - Transcript: Interview with Bill Cassidy

Interview

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STEPHANOPOULOS: Let's bring in Senator Bill Cassidy -- Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.

And, Senator Cassidy, thank you for joining us this morning. Let's pick up where we just left off with Mr. Richmond. This Texas abortion ban, do you support it?

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R), LOUISIANA: I am pro-life. But let's be clear, George, the ruling on SCOTUS was that the plaintiffs did not have standing. It had nothing to do with the constitutionality of Roe v. Wade. It was only on if the plaintiffs had standing. People are using it to gin up their base to distract from the disastrous policies in Afghanistan, and maybe for fundraising appeals. I wish we would focus on issues as opposed to -- as opposed to theater. It was about if they had standing, nothing to do with constitutionality. I think we should move on to other issues.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, except that it -- so the law is being enacted right now. And let's talk about the underlying law, which is, talk about the substance of the underlying law. It gives private citizens the right to enforce this law. It actually tasks private citizens with enforcing this law. And The Wall Street Journal came out against that this week, they called it -- said in an editorial calling it the "Texas abortion law blunder," saying the law sets an awful precedent that conservatives should hate. Could California allow private citizens to sue individuals for hate speech or New York deputize private lawsuits against gun owners? So setting aside the standing issue, what do you think of the underlying substance of the law?

CASSIDY: I think the Supreme Court will swat it away once it comes to them in an appropriate manner. If it is as terrible as people say it is, it will be destroyed by the Supreme Court. But to act like this is an assault upon Roe v. Wade is, again, something the president is doing I think to distract from his other issues. And it is clearly not an assault upon the -- by the way, I'm pro-life. But just to say, the facts are this is about standing, about nothing else. And the Supreme Court will decide how to affect standing before all these other things play out.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC "THIS WEEK" ANCHOR: You don't -- you don't think it signals the court is prepared to undo Roe v. Wade now?

CASSIDY: You know, so we can always talk about eventualities. We can always talk theoreticals. It makes good fodder.

But I'm kind of a guy who's in the middle of a state in which 700,000 people don't have electricity, in which we've got a disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the administration is pushing a $3.5 trillion bill which will be to inflation what the withdrawal was to Afghanistan.

Now, if you -- you know, in my mind, I don't think about theoreticals. I think about those things that are before me and that's what I focused on.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, then, let's talk -- let's talk about each of those.

Let's talk, first of all, about this reconciliation bill. You saw Senator Joe Manchin's statement this week. As far as you're concerned, does that kill the bill? And if it does, does it worry you that the bipartisan infrastructure bill, the smaller one that you support, will also die?

CASSIDY: Implicit in what Joe said is that he would accept a smaller bill. I think a smaller bill is disastrous. But on the other hand, the two are delinked.

There's going to be a vote on September the 27th on the bipartisan infrastructure bill. The very fact that Joe is saying he has to negotiate means that the vote on the 3$3.5 trillion inflation-igniting bill that comes later will come later.

And so, they are delinked. They are not connected. We'll vote on the infrastructure bill which will be voted on its on merits and it's very meritorious. And then we'll have a later vote, they will, on the $3.5 trillion that will come back to the Senate.

Hopefully, by -- hopefully, by that time, cooler heads have prevailed and people recognized that it is wrong policy for the United States of America.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So, you're not concerned that if Senator Manchin's opposition stands, progressives will prevail on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi not to pass the smaller bipartisan bill?

CASSIDY: Well, of course, I'm concerned about that, which is why I want Republicans to vote for it, too. It should not be a party line vote in the House. It wasn't in the Senate. And folks say, well, Republicans are opposing for whatever reason.

I say go down to Lafourche and Terrebonne Parish, to people who will not have electricity back until September 29th and tell them you're going to vote against a bill which hardens our grid, which gives coastal restoration dollars, which has flood mitigation, which will build levees and protect Louisiana and other states from natural disasters, go to those parishes and tell them whatever cockamamie reason you have to vote no.

STEPHANOPOULOS: What is the situation in your state right now? And are you satisfied with President Biden's initial response?

CASSIDY: It is getting better. And the federal partners have been there. And so, I compliment the federal partners and thank them for that.

But we need gasoline and we need electricity and we need housing. And then we need to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill for the long term.

So, on the other hand, telling people it gets better when they're told they won't have electricity back until September 29th is cold comfort.

So, in the meantime, we need gasoline so that people can run their generators. And when that happens, I think folks will feel a little bit better about their current situation.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You're a physician. Is your state finally getting COVID under control?

CASSIDY: Yes. The numbers are falling down for delta. But our immunization rates are still way too low. And our ICUs still have too many patients related to what is essentially a vaccine-preventable disease.

And so, yes, it's getting better. But we can imagine future waves. I still encourage people, please get vaccinated.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Cassidy, thanks for your time this morning.

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