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CNN Live At Daybreak
America Under Attack: Minority Leader Speaks Out
Aired September 13, 2001 - 08:22 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's turn our sights on Washington for a little bit -- the U.S. Capitol.
Minority Leader Dick Gephardt is standing by to talk a little bit about what's ahead in Congress as the discussion shifts to some tough talk, the possibility of retaliation.
Thanks for being with us, Mr. Gephardt.
REP. RICHARD GEPHARDT (D), MINORITY LEADER: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: All right. First of all, give us a sense of the debate over any sort of resolution and the wording of a resolution. I hesitate to call it a declaration of war. I presume you would too.
What would you call it?
GEPHARDT: Well, I think it's an authorization for the president to do what is necessary to both find and punish the perpetrators of this violence and to try to prevent other acts from happening in the future.
The president is asking for authority, and I think the president will get the proper authority. We're going to be talking to his people today about how to word it properly, but I think it is needed, and it will be done.
O'BRIEN: These are the sorts of occasions when partisan rancor is put to the side. But nevertheless, there are some people who with good intentions could have some debate about how to phrase this resolution.
What are the substantive issues, which may divide the parties on this?
GEPHARDT: Well, there are all kinds of kind of arcane issues about how to word it. But essentially, I don't think it's going to be a problem.
Look, this was the worst violence on our soil by a foreign influence or power in the history of the country. This is worse than Pearl Harbor. This country is united today. The Congress is united. There is no air or light between Democrats and Republicans, between the Congress and the president. We want to respond. This was an act against humanity, against civilization, against all Americans. And America, as it always has, will respond. We are moved by what the heroic patriotic people are doing, sifting through this wreckage trying to find people. We have all kinds of reports of heroism and courage, and America will stand behind our people and stand behind the entire world order.
O'BRIEN: You know, you mention a foreign power is the cause of it. You would have to go back to the Civil War to find greater loss of life...
GEPHARDT: That's right.
O'BRIEN: ... on the U.S. soil, which leads one to believe, of course, if we can recover from the Civil War, we can well recover from this.
Let's talk about short-term for just a moment. There is talk of an emergency spending resolution, perhaps on the order of $20 billion. This comes right on the heels of a discussion about the budget and some concerns about tapping into social security, for example.
Is there some concern that this whole issue might change the whole tenor of the budget discussion in the future?
GEPHARDT: Well, I really think this is a special exception. This is a national emergency. This is a national crisis. And we cannot worry about what the budgetary costs -- we have to get this done. So I think Congress will put this to the side. We'll say this is not in the normal budgetary debate or discussion, and we're going to do what needs to be done.
Again, there is unity in this country, in the Congress and among the people of our country. Just as after Pearl Harbor, we stood together and fought a common enemy. That's what we're going to do at this time.
O'BRIEN: Looking back on your congressional tenure, perhaps the only parallel would be the Persian Gulf War.
Can you compare the tone of the times then and the rhetoric then to today? Is there any substantive difference? Or do you see it as very similar?
GEPHARDT: Well, I think it is different. I think the amount of unity from the outset is greater. We had a real discussion and a legitimate debate before the Persian Gulf War. There were those of us who were willing to use force, but we didn't think that was the right time to go at it. And we wanted to use diplomatic (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to try to achieve the end. So there was a difference of opinion.
After we voted and the Congress decided to use force, there was absolutely no dissent. We stood shoulder to shoulder. But that's where we are now at the outset. There is no real criticism of moving forward, of finding the people who perpetrated this, trying to prevent it from ever happening again, and finding and bringing to justice the people who perpetrated this atrocity.
O'BRIEN: The House Minority Leader is Richard Gephardt. Thank you very much for sharing some time with us this morning.
GEPHARDT: Thank you.
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