Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Interview with Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama
Aired September 08, 2003 - 07:05 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: For reaction from last night's speech, let's talk now to Republican Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama. He joins us from Birmingham this morning.
Good morning to you, sir. Thanks for joining us.
SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), ALABAMA: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: When you heard the price tag, $87 billion, what was your reaction?
SHELBY: Well, my first reaction that this is realism. We knew that it was going to be a lot of money and it was going to take a lot of time, but this was the first strong message that the president put out like that, and I think he had to do it. He had no choice.
I think where we are today is that we've had the military success. Now, we've got to pacify the country, and we're having trouble there, and we need all the help we can get. But I think the bottom line is that we cannot run and we cannot fail. There are probably 1,000 terrorists there, perhaps more, that are willing to die killing off our soldiers, killing off our allied soldiers, trying to disrupt what we've done.
But I think at the end of the day, the American people will back the soldiers, will back the president.
O'BRIEN: Well, let's talk a little bit about the American people. As you say, $87 billion, you feel it's a realistic number.
Here is what Senator Bob Graham of Florida, who also, of course, as you well know, is running for the White House, had to say: "Eighty-seven billion dollars more than the federal government will spend on education this year, twice as much as the federal government will spend on our roads, bridges, highways, and public transit systems."
Don't you have concerns that the American public, the taxpayers, will say way, way too much money?
SHELBY: Well, we do have those concerns. We all have the concerns that we need to spend more and more money at home helping our own people. On the other hand, where we have this terrorist threat, as we do not only at home but abroad, and we have had that military success, we've got to finish the job. Otherwise, the damage that they did two years ago will just begin. We can't have that. We will not have it. We will prevail. O'BRIEN: Howard Dean, another presidential hopeful, said this: "The president created Iraq to be the front line of terrorism."
What do you make of what he's saying?
SHELBY: Well, Howard Dean's running for president of the United States. It's the political season. But I think President Bush has shown strong leadership in the fight against terrorism. He's shown it in Iraq. And I believe, as I said earlier, the American people, first the Congress, I believe they will follow him and we will prevail. We will win.
O'BRIEN: Senator Shelby, I want to play for you just a small clip of the speech from last night. And this is President Bush really talking about the United Nations and their potential role. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Members of the United Nations now have an opportunity and the responsibility to assume a broader role in assuring that Iraq becomes a free and democratic nation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Certainly a diplomatic request for help. Do you think it's strong enough?
SHELBY: I hope it's strong enough. We already have a lot of nations, as Secretary Powell has said many times, that are helping us. We do need more help. We need more military help. We need more financial help. And I'm hoping that the French particularly, and the Germans, would say, gosh, we didn't agree with you going in, but you're in and we should be in this together.
But I hope it's strong enough. But if it's not strong enough, we will stay there, and we will have a lot of help from a lot of our friends.
O'BRIEN: As we heard from Suzanne Malveaux, the speech lasted a little less than 20 minutes. Was there anything you did not hear last night that you wish the president had elaborated upon?
SHELBY: I thought the president's message was clear and unambiguous last night. I thought it was very sobering, and that's the kind of speech and the kind of message he needs to deliver to the American people, and I believe he did.
Now, it's going to be up to us in Congress to follow. The Appropriations Committee, which I serve on, will be in the front line of that. We're going to provide the money and we're going to provide the troops, and we hope that our allies are going to step up to the plate too. We cannot go back. We cannot lose.
O'BRIEN: Senator Richard Shelby is a Republican from Alabama. Thanks for joining us, sir. Appreciate your time.
SHELBY: 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 September 8, 2003 - 07:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: For reaction from last night's speech, let's talk now to Republican Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama. He joins us from Birmingham this morning.
Good morning to you, sir. Thanks for joining us.
SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), ALABAMA: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: When you heard the price tag, $87 billion, what was your reaction?
SHELBY: Well, my first reaction that this is realism. We knew that it was going to be a lot of money and it was going to take a lot of time, but this was the first strong message that the president put out like that, and I think he had to do it. He had no choice.
I think where we are today is that we've had the military success. Now, we've got to pacify the country, and we're having trouble there, and we need all the help we can get. But I think the bottom line is that we cannot run and we cannot fail. There are probably 1,000 terrorists there, perhaps more, that are willing to die killing off our soldiers, killing off our allied soldiers, trying to disrupt what we've done.
But I think at the end of the day, the American people will back the soldiers, will back the president.
O'BRIEN: Well, let's talk a little bit about the American people. As you say, $87 billion, you feel it's a realistic number.
Here is what Senator Bob Graham of Florida, who also, of course, as you well know, is running for the White House, had to say: "Eighty-seven billion dollars more than the federal government will spend on education this year, twice as much as the federal government will spend on our roads, bridges, highways, and public transit systems."
Don't you have concerns that the American public, the taxpayers, will say way, way too much money?
SHELBY: Well, we do have those concerns. We all have the concerns that we need to spend more and more money at home helping our own people. On the other hand, where we have this terrorist threat, as we do not only at home but abroad, and we have had that military success, we've got to finish the job. Otherwise, the damage that they did two years ago will just begin. We can't have that. We will not have it. We will prevail. O'BRIEN: Howard Dean, another presidential hopeful, said this: "The president created Iraq to be the front line of terrorism."
What do you make of what he's saying?
SHELBY: Well, Howard Dean's running for president of the United States. It's the political season. But I think President Bush has shown strong leadership in the fight against terrorism. He's shown it in Iraq. And I believe, as I said earlier, the American people, first the Congress, I believe they will follow him and we will prevail. We will win.
O'BRIEN: Senator Shelby, I want to play for you just a small clip of the speech from last night. And this is President Bush really talking about the United Nations and their potential role. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Members of the United Nations now have an opportunity and the responsibility to assume a broader role in assuring that Iraq becomes a free and democratic nation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Certainly a diplomatic request for help. Do you think it's strong enough?
SHELBY: I hope it's strong enough. We already have a lot of nations, as Secretary Powell has said many times, that are helping us. We do need more help. We need more military help. We need more financial help. And I'm hoping that the French particularly, and the Germans, would say, gosh, we didn't agree with you going in, but you're in and we should be in this together.
But I hope it's strong enough. But if it's not strong enough, we will stay there, and we will have a lot of help from a lot of our friends.
O'BRIEN: As we heard from Suzanne Malveaux, the speech lasted a little less than 20 minutes. Was there anything you did not hear last night that you wish the president had elaborated upon?
SHELBY: I thought the president's message was clear and unambiguous last night. I thought it was very sobering, and that's the kind of speech and the kind of message he needs to deliver to the American people, and I believe he did.
Now, it's going to be up to us in Congress to follow. The Appropriations Committee, which I serve on, will be in the front line of that. We're going to provide the money and we're going to provide the troops, and we hope that our allies are going to step up to the plate too. We cannot go back. We cannot lose.
O'BRIEN: Senator Richard Shelby is a Republican from Alabama. Thanks for joining us, sir. Appreciate your time.
SHELBY: 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.
