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Interview with Congressman Randy Cunningham

Aired March 27, 2003 - 15:53   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.


JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: I want to bring in now a member of the House of Representatives. He's Congressman Duke Cunningham, Republican of the state of Texas. He joins us from -- I'm sorry from California. I've I have got Texas on the mind, Congressman. Please forgive me.
REP. RANDY CUNNINGHAM (R), CALIFORNIA: Thank you.

WOODRUFF: You have been involved today in the discussions on Capitol Hill about the funding for this war in Iraq. Some of your Republican colleagues, including the majority leader in the House, have said they don't like the idea the administration is asking for $75, $80 billion, but not being willing to give Congress say so over how the mun's spent. Where do you come down on that?

CUNNINGHAM: Well, Secretary Rumsfeld and the comptroller asked us for flexibility of only about 2.5 percent. For example, on H1, H2, H3 airports, they didn't know that they were going to have to go in there and make those -- that kind of construction to make it available so we could get our equipment in there.

You can't wait two or three months to go through Congress to do those things. And when you're fighting a war, you need that flexibility. As a combat soldier myself, a pilot, I want that flexibility to the secretary of defense so that we can complete our mission.

WOODRUFF: So you disagree, in effect, with your Majority Leader, Tom DeLay, that Congress needs to have more say over how these funds are spent?

CUNNINGHAM: Well, this is not setting a precedence. This is for this specific event. Of course we want oversight on dollars that we vote on to go out. But, at the same time, the original President Bush and George W. Bush, one of the greatest things that they do is they're putting the war in the hands (ph) of the war fighters that need the technology and the dollars to execute their mission.

And if we deny that, then we tie the hands, and we risk the lives of those men and women. So I look at it as someone that's fought in combat and has gone under the hardships of not having that flexibility.

WOODRUFF: Not only fought in combat, you were a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War. You are a former Navy pilot. And just this week, Congressman Cunningham, you and others have sponsored a resolution that, in effect, warns the Iraqis that if they don't abide by the Geneva Conventions in their treatment of prisoners of war, that they risk being prosecuted for war crimes. Why is it necessary for Congress to make this move?

CUNNINGHAM: Judy, in the war that I fought in Vietnam, I think the government let many of our families down. It was the wives and the children of the POWs that came forward and forced the government to acknowledge and keep at the tip of the spear the issue of our prisoners of war and their treatment.

We want to make sure that this government doesn't put it as a backburner, and that it is forefront. I would also like to thank the media. It's very, very important for the media to display the treatment that our POWs are going through.

You know I saw the film the other night with an Iraqi just literally taking a pistol and shooting four of our folks right in the head. I mean, we know who they are. We know who their leaders are. And they will be held accountable.

WOODRUFF: By passing or by proposing this resolution, are you simply underscoring the support for the president? Because it's pretty clear the president, secretary of defense, and others have already made it pretty plain that they will hold the Iraqis responsible if anything happens to these POWs.

CUNNINGHAM: Not just for the president. For me it's personal. I still wear an MIA bracelet that I've worn since 1967, Judy. And for us, it's very personal, and it's mainly support for the families to know that we're not going to forget them. We're going to keep this as an issue and keep putting as much pressure on the Iraqis so that the mistreatment of our prisoners won't continue.

WOODRUFF: All right. Congressman Duke Cunningham of California, who, as we said, is a decorated Vietnam veteran, a former Navy pilot. In fact, the movie "Top Gun" was based on his life. An extraordinary life it has been.

Congressman Cunningham, thank you very much for being with us. We appreciate you talking to us.

CUNNINGHAM: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired March 27, 2003 - 15:53   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: I want to bring in now a member of the House of Representatives. He's Congressman Duke Cunningham, Republican of the state of Texas. He joins us from -- I'm sorry from California. I've I have got Texas on the mind, Congressman. Please forgive me.
REP. RANDY CUNNINGHAM (R), CALIFORNIA: Thank you.

WOODRUFF: You have been involved today in the discussions on Capitol Hill about the funding for this war in Iraq. Some of your Republican colleagues, including the majority leader in the House, have said they don't like the idea the administration is asking for $75, $80 billion, but not being willing to give Congress say so over how the mun's spent. Where do you come down on that?

CUNNINGHAM: Well, Secretary Rumsfeld and the comptroller asked us for flexibility of only about 2.5 percent. For example, on H1, H2, H3 airports, they didn't know that they were going to have to go in there and make those -- that kind of construction to make it available so we could get our equipment in there.

You can't wait two or three months to go through Congress to do those things. And when you're fighting a war, you need that flexibility. As a combat soldier myself, a pilot, I want that flexibility to the secretary of defense so that we can complete our mission.

WOODRUFF: So you disagree, in effect, with your Majority Leader, Tom DeLay, that Congress needs to have more say over how these funds are spent?

CUNNINGHAM: Well, this is not setting a precedence. This is for this specific event. Of course we want oversight on dollars that we vote on to go out. But, at the same time, the original President Bush and George W. Bush, one of the greatest things that they do is they're putting the war in the hands (ph) of the war fighters that need the technology and the dollars to execute their mission.

And if we deny that, then we tie the hands, and we risk the lives of those men and women. So I look at it as someone that's fought in combat and has gone under the hardships of not having that flexibility.

WOODRUFF: Not only fought in combat, you were a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War. You are a former Navy pilot. And just this week, Congressman Cunningham, you and others have sponsored a resolution that, in effect, warns the Iraqis that if they don't abide by the Geneva Conventions in their treatment of prisoners of war, that they risk being prosecuted for war crimes. Why is it necessary for Congress to make this move?

CUNNINGHAM: Judy, in the war that I fought in Vietnam, I think the government let many of our families down. It was the wives and the children of the POWs that came forward and forced the government to acknowledge and keep at the tip of the spear the issue of our prisoners of war and their treatment.

We want to make sure that this government doesn't put it as a backburner, and that it is forefront. I would also like to thank the media. It's very, very important for the media to display the treatment that our POWs are going through.

You know I saw the film the other night with an Iraqi just literally taking a pistol and shooting four of our folks right in the head. I mean, we know who they are. We know who their leaders are. And they will be held accountable.

WOODRUFF: By passing or by proposing this resolution, are you simply underscoring the support for the president? Because it's pretty clear the president, secretary of defense, and others have already made it pretty plain that they will hold the Iraqis responsible if anything happens to these POWs.

CUNNINGHAM: Not just for the president. For me it's personal. I still wear an MIA bracelet that I've worn since 1967, Judy. And for us, it's very personal, and it's mainly support for the families to know that we're not going to forget them. We're going to keep this as an issue and keep putting as much pressure on the Iraqis so that the mistreatment of our prisoners won't continue.

WOODRUFF: All right. Congressman Duke Cunningham of California, who, as we said, is a decorated Vietnam veteran, a former Navy pilot. In fact, the movie "Top Gun" was based on his life. An extraordinary life it has been.

Congressman Cunningham, thank you very much for being with us. We appreciate you talking to us.

CUNNINGHAM: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com