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American Morning

Interview with Rep. Dennis Hastert

Aired July 24, 2002 - 08:13   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: President Bush has just wrapped up his breakfast meetings with congressional leaders.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert joins us from the White House lawn.

Good to see you again. Welcome, sir .

REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R-IL), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Good morning. Great to be with you.

ZAHN: What was on the top of the president's agenda this morning?

HASTERT: Well, usually what we do is have a review of what's going on in Afghanistan and the Middle East and the terrorist situation around the world and what the status is. That's all, of course, a secure briefing.

We also talked about the agenda that we're trying to run down before Congress leaves in August, and I think there's some positive news. We're very well on the way of getting agreement on a homeland security bill in the House of Representatives. As a matter of fact, we'll probably be going to the floor with that bill tomorrow, which is positive.

And what we're trying to do is to make sure that we can be more efficient in how we protect this country.

ZAHN: But there is a fight looming, Mr. House Speaker...

HASTERT: Yes?

ZAHN: ... and that is over whether you're going to extend the deadline for the provision that all luggage has to be checked for explosives.

HASTERT: Right. In our bill that we passed last year, we said that that would have to be done by January 1 of this year. There are some that think that that would cause extraordinary long lines and waits. There's others who fear that we need to pay the price to get it done.

So that debate will take place on the floor of the House. I think it's a positive debate that we're going to have and we'll try to find a solution to it.

ZAHN: Speaker Hastert, you said that the president also touched on the Middle East this morning, the White House condemning the actions taken by the Israeli government yesterday, the bombing of the Hamas leader that also left some innocent civilians dead. Did he have anything else to add to that?

HASTERT: Well, all the president said is that, you know, we also took out three apartment buildings when it happened and that's a travesty. What we need to do is find a solution to the Middle East, to make sure that those two people, certainly the people of Israel and the Palestinians, can live in peace. And we need to move towards that as quickly as possible.

ZAHN: There is a piece in the "New York Times" saying that SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt is asking for a raise and an elevation of his job to a cabinet level status. And it says Democrats are grumbling and grousing about this. Are you aware of this request he has put through?

HASTERT: Well, I haven't read that yet this morning. I will be advised as soon as I get back to the Capitol. But, you know, our view on this thing is not individuals or who we're going to move around in this chess game. We need to find a way to make sure that people who invest, people who have had their jobs ruined can get back and get some satisfaction out of this process.

We have two pieces of legislation before us, a House bill that we passed in April and a Senate bill that was passed a couple of weeks ago. And we think we're making good progress and coming to a good solution.

Our bottom line is we want to protect investors. We want to protect people whose pensions and life savings have been put into the markets. We want to make sure that those people who lose their jobs because of corporate directors and CEOs that make bad decisions or illegal decisions, that doesn't happen again. And there is real punishment. There is real accountability and, most importantly, there's transparency. So people, you know, the debts are hidden, profits aren't shaded, the people really know what they're investing in.

ZAHN: I know you say how concerned you are about consumers and the lack of confidence they have in Wall Street right now. But there are some recent polls that suggest that voters actually think the Democrats are the ones that are more likely to fix these problems of malfeasance.

HASTERT: Well, you know, there's a lot of polls out there. The fact is that Congress has to work together. Republicans and Democrats have to work together to solve this problem. And it's not going to be one side or the other. It has to be a joint effort.

ZAHN: In closing, we touched on Harvey Pitt. I know you said you didn't have a chance to see this "New York Times" piece yet. But do you think it is a good time, if this report is true, for the head of the SEC to be, through a bill, basically asking for a 22 percent raise when there are members of Congress, even some members in your own party, who are asking for this guy to go?

HASTERT: Well, I think probably, like I said, I want to read the story first. But I think it's probably not the best time in the world.

ZAHN: And let's talk about the vulnerability of your party at this moment. Minority Leader Dick Gephardt suggested in a "Time" magazine article that the Democrats could pick up -- and I'm going to use his quote -- "30 to 40 seats in the midterm elections." Is he smoking something?

HASTERT: Well, what I see, you know, I look at those races every day and we've done good things. We've gotten a tax cut for the American people. We've paid down $450 billion of public debt. We've balanced the budget four out of five years. And, you know, this year we have a war and national security and a downturn in the economy.

So we basically have performed well for the American people. I think to try to make hay out of economic problems certainly doesn't bode well for his party or probably for the country, the people of this country.

ZAHN: But what...

HASTERT: I don't think people want to see somebody trying to make political profits out of somebody else's misfortune.

ZAHN: So the 30, 40 seat prediction, you think, is nonsense?

HASTERT: Well, I don't, nothing is nonsense in this business. I think we have the upper hand and I think we'll keep the upper hand. But, you know, I always say, this is a fickle business.

ZAHN: All right, House Speaker Hastert, thanks again for your time this morning. Appreciate your dropping by after having breakfast with the president.

HASTERT: My pleasure. Thank you.

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