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American Morning

Interview of Representative Henry Waxman

Aired January 31, 2002 - 09:19   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We move on to the issue of the looming legal battle between the president and Congress over Enron. Congress wants access to notes from meetings with the vice president's energy task force that helped craft White House energy policy. Well now, for the first time, the investigative arm of Congress, the General Accounting Office is threatening to sue to get that information.

The president's response? Bring it on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARI FLEISCHER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president will stand strong on principle, fighting for his right, and the right of all future presidents to receive advice without it being turned into a virtual news release. The president will fight for this right in a court of law, and the White House expects to prevail, because our case is strong, our policy is sound, and principle is on our side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Joining us now from Capitol Hill, California Congressman Henry Waxman -- welcome back, sir.

REP. HENRY WAXMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: Good morning. Thank you.

ZAHN: All right. Our pleasure. You, no doubt, know that the White House is now making another argument against this impending legal battle, saying the GAO has no case, and no right to ask. Let me put up on the screen some of what Dick Cheney had to say about this battle. "We went through this debate with Henry Waxman and the GAO last week." Actually, I think we have his sound. Let's roll that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We went through this debate with Henry Waxman and the GAO last summer. We said, no, we are not going to give it to you, and the GAO, at that point, sort of went quiet, they kind of backed off, because I think they know they have got a weak case. All of the attorneys that have reviewed this, and the Justice Department, White House Counsel's Office, and so forth have concluded that the GAO doesn't have the authority they're seeking to exercise here.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ZAHN: So where does this legal challenge go from here?

WAXMAN: I'm amazed that this issue has gotten to the point where the matter has to go to court to be litigated. The General Accounting Office has not asked for discussions between the vice president and his staff. The vice president is certainly -- should have the right for free discussion with people that work with him and for him.

The only thing the GAO has asked for is the external communications from Enron and other big contributors to the task force. Not to the vice president as vice president, but to the vice president as chairman of a task force creating energy policy.

I think the public has a right to know this information. I think the Congress certainly ought to be able to get that information so we can do our oversight responsibilities as spelled out in the Constitution of the United States, and if -- if the vice president's view prevailed, and this is maybe what they really want -- no administration would ever be required to give any information they didn't want to give to the Congress of the United States, and that distorts the balance of power, and puts a great deal of power in the hands of the executive branch. Vis-a-vis, the people and the Congress. That's not what the founders of the Constitution envisioned.

ZAHN: But as you know, Congressman Waxman, the White House argues that what you are essentially trying to do here is weaken the power of the presidency, and they think there would be a very damaging precedent set. How different would demanding information from a meeting Vice President Cheney held -- let's say with health care officials, as health care policy was being debated. How different would that be then from what happened with these Enron officials?

WAXMAN: Well, the Clinton administration had a health care task force, and they had outsiders come in and present their views. Eventually all of that was given to the General Accounting Office. There were some differences between the task forces, but the essential principle was that there's a long tradition and precedent for the administration of the president -- any president -- to give to the General Accounting Office and Congress information that is pertinent to understand how they reach their conclusions. Not their internal deliberations, but the requests by outside groups, lobbyist, special interests, big contributors to the administration. Could you imagine the Congress holding a hearing for and against a bill, but we wouldn't let the public know who was on what side of the issue? It is incomprehensible, and it is inconsistent with open government.

ZAHN: But from a practical standpoint, what is it you are going to learn about who attended these meetings that is going to shed any more light than you have on how -- I mean, you've already accused these Enron officials of obviously shaping energy policy. What is it going -- how is it going to enhance your knowledge to know exactly who attended those meetings?

WAXMAN: I think it would be very important to know what special interest groups sent lobbyists to argue for certain policies from this energy task force. Many of these interest groups were heavy contributors to the political process, and it's good to know who was asking for what, and what did they get when the energy bill was presented to the Congress by the administration.

ZAHN: Congressman Waxman, we are going to have to leave it there this morning. We look forward to having you back, as well as members of the administration, as this fight goes down the road.

Appreciate your time.

WAXMAN: Thank you.

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