CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview with Steven Horsford

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

All right, so with me now is Democratic Congressman Steven Horsford of Nevada. Congressman, so good to see you.

So you are a member of the Budget Committee and voted yesterday to pass the President's $3.5 trillion social spending bill. And today Speaker Pelosi said it's, quote, "self-evident" that the price tag of that bill will be smaller.

As a member of the Progressive Caucus, do you believe your colleagues will support a smaller bill? How much are you willing to cut?

REP. STEVEN HORSFORD (D-NV): Well, Fredricka, thank you for having me on, and it's really important that the American people know what is contained in this Build Back Better Act.

We are about to deliver historic cuts for middle class families, create millions of good paying jobs, as well as pass legislation to lower healthcare costs, and to finally mandate that Medicare negotiate for lower prescription drug, something that seniors have been calling for, for a long time, and I'm proud to be working on this bill. My colleagues and I worked seven hours yesterday to pass the package

out of the Budget Committee, prior to that in the Ways and Means Committee, and we are going to deliver both the bipartisan infrastructure bill, as well as the larger Build Back Better Act.

WHITFIELD: Why are you so confident that you'll have the votes this week when thus far, we've heard from the House Speaker and others who say you don't have the votes tomorrow?

What's going to change this week in order to secure a victory for you?

HORSFORD: Well, we are on one team and we're going to come together because this is not about personalities in Washington. This is about what's important to the American people, the American family, American worker, American small businesses, and this is what Democrats do. We deliver for the American people, and I am confident in our leadership and in our members in doing the right thing to deliver for our constituents.

WHITFIELD: Okay, I hear your confidence, but what if you are not able to reach the consensus that you're looking for? How big of a failure might this be for both Democrats and for this White House?

HORSFORD: Well, failure is not an option, and actually, I think it's a false choice to consider one or the other. We're going to deliver both.

Now, the disagreement and the obstruction is not on our side, it is actually with Kevin McCarthy and the Republicans. He is literally whipping his members to vote against the bipartisan infrastructure Bill. Nineteen Senate Republicans voted on that package just a few weeks ago.

I joined President Biden and my colleagues in the Senate and in the House in a meeting earlier this week or last week at the White House, and we talked about how we, as Democrats will get this package over. It's not about --

WHITFIELD: Except it also sounds like between moderates and progressives, there is some infighting and disagreement.

HORSFORD: No, in fact, we are on one team, and we know that delivering for the American people is what is most important. As I said, those child tax cuts, that literally is a tax cut for the majority of American families, 92 percent of the families with children in my district in Nevada's fourth benefit from that tax break. Universal pre-K education, paid leave, reducing prescription drug cost, enacting climate action. These are the bills that members are going to have the opportunity to vote for this week, and we are going to get this done.

We are not chasing an arbitrary deadline or an arbitrary number, we are going to work and deliver for the American people.

WHITFIELD: All right. Hey, let me ask you also about what many are considering a real defeat. You know, this bipartisan Police Reform Bill has apparently fallen apart, at least for now. There was momentum for change following the death of George Floyd and today, there was a lot of finger pointing coming from the measures leading Democrat and Republican about who and what is to blame for this failure. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): We have about a billion dollars in grant money that goes to police. When you start saying in order to receive those dollars, you must do A, B, and C, and if you don't do A, B, and C, you literally lose eligibility for the two major pots of money, the burn grants and the cop grants.

When you tell local law enforcement agencies that you are in eligible for money, that's defunding police, there's no way to spin that.

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): Again, it is unfortunate. You remember on this saga, we got the head of the FOP, the Director of FOP, IACP these are some of the biggest unions in law enforcement agencies to go with us on a lot of commonsense reforms and those folks don't want to defund the police.

This is a bill that would have had millions of dollars for police departments.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:10:08]

WHITFIELD: So, are we to understand that this reform proposal failed because of proposed consequences of bad policing or what some are saying would be accountability versus the definition of defunding police.

HORSFORD: You know, I'm really disappointed in Senator Scott. I actually participated as a member of the Problem Solvers Caucus in several meetings with him on the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act, and at no point in any conversation that I was in that the conversation about defunding the police ever come up. Why, Fredricka? Because I nor many of my colleagues support defunding the police.

What we are calling for is accountability in our law enforcement systems and departments across this country. Now, I want to make this absolutely clear, and I spoke to our Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Joyce Beatty, Congresswoman Karen Bass, Senator Cory Booker, we are not done. The George Floyd Justice and Policing Bill is very much alive. We will continue to work because lives depend on it.

WHITFIELD: How do you see regaining footing on that? And does it mean the participants will change?

HORSFORD: Well, what we are going to do first and foremost is look at the executive orders that were passed in the previous administration. Senator Scott wants to talk about requirements that law enforcement has to meet in order to receive Federal funding. That was a policy under the Trump administration.

So Senator Scott saying that he didn't support Trump's policies on police accountability that he adopted? If so, then let's have that debate and let's have that conversation. But George Floyd Justice and Policing is very much alive. The Congressional Black Caucus, which is 57 members strong will call for the passage of that legislation. Lives depend on it and we are not done.

WHITFIELD: Congressman Steven Horsford, thank you so much, and as we here are talking about this police reform effort that really was galvanized as a result of George Floyd and his killing at the hands of police officers, as we're talking, now the unveiling of a mural in his honor there in Houston, Texas. Texas was home for him even though he had relocated to Minneapolis and that's where he died.

Thank you so much, Congressman. Appreciate it.

We'll be right back.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source