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American Morning
Interview with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison
Aired September 09, 2003 - 09:04 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.
HEMMER: The White House acknowledging that the war's new price tag would push the deficit to a record $500 billion. Congress appears ready to give the president the money he needs for Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere, but some lawmakers say the White House is not yet explaining where the money would be used or how much of the bill the American taxpayer would have to fork over.
Republic Senator from Texas Kay Bailey Hutchison our guest now from D.C. to talk about it with us.
Welcome back to "American Morning," Senator. Good morning to you.
HUTCHISON: Thank you.
HEMMER: You're on the Appropriations Committee. Given that title, given that role that you have in D.C. try and give us some answers here on this question. $20 billion slated for reconstruction in Iraq, published reports say that number could actually come a lot closer to $75 billion. Do you see the numbers adding up that way and, if so, where do you get $55 billion more?
HUTCHISON: Well, I think the rest is going to be into added security, more armored tanks, more of the bullet-proof equipment, the vests and the helmets. And I think it's armed -- it's really security issues.
So I do think we will be looking at the numbers. There's no question that we are going to do what the president asks. And what I hope is that we also do it in a way that other countries will contribute and we will even have the capability to look at oil reserves from Iraq to help rebuild their own country.
HEMMER: You've said a lot in that and we'll get to it and break it down for...
HUTCHISON: All right.
HEMMER: ... in a moment. One of your colleagues, Carl Levin, a Democrat, from Michigan was with us last hour here on "American Morning." Here appears to be the rub in the way the argument's shaping up. With tax cuts and the expense in Iraq, domestic programs in the U.S. are going to suffer eventually. How will Republicans defend that criticism?
HUTCHISON: Well, first of all, I think the tax cuts are going to help the economy. I think they will increase revenue, which will not add to the deficit, but add to revenue.
Secondly, though, I think that we will cover our domestic priorities, but we will do what other people do and their families, when they have a high priority or an illness in the family. We will put the money in defense, in the war on terrorism because that's our highest priority. And we may have to cut back in other places and I think we will explain that to the people and they will understand and agree.
HEMMER: In your -- I know your first answer you talked about oil revenue in Iraq. Clearly, it's not shaping up the way many estimates have said before the war and even after the war and the early weeks after the war.
It's now believed that maybe next year you get 12 billion in oil revenues. Maybe the year after that, you get 20 billion and 20 billion will follow then. A lot of money granted, but nowhere near going to pay for the price tag right now, labeled on rebuilding that country. How then, do you use this money? How then do you make the argument that oil revenues are, indeed, the security, when it comes to the price tag in rebuilding Iraq?
HUTCHISON: Well, first, I think we will put the money up front to try to fix the pipelines and update the refineries. The problem in Iraq is Saddam Hussein did not keep up the infrastructure. So the pipelines are being held together with towels, in some instances. So we have to get the infrastructure fixed, in order to get the revenue. And from that, I think, will flow enough that we can work from their revenues rebuilding their infrastructure.
HEMMER: But even the estimates don't appear to be nearly enough, even if you forecast over the next five years.
HUTCHISON: Well, I think that if you have contributions from other countries and we look at future oil revenues, Iraq has the second-largest oil reserves in the world, after Saudi Arabia. So I do think there is a lot out there, if we just have the technology to get it out and get it in a pipeline that will take it to Turkey and other places in Europe.
HEMMER: I know you were just in Iraq. And if you get time later in the week or next week, I'd like to ask you about your trip over there. But in the meantime, the small time we have left, you also sit on the Transportation Committee.
Front page story this morning in The Washington Post, talking about a new system that go in place. It's color-coded based, in large part, on the backgrounds of passengers, whether or not they have a criminal record, delving much deeper into a person's own personal history. Do you believe this is a good idea for keeping...
HUTCHISON: I do.
HEMMER: ... the airlines safe? Why is that?
HUTCHISON: I do. It also includes where you're going, who you're traveling with, all of the things that would show that maybe a little more scrutiny is warranted. And I know if I've got a one-way ticket, I am going through a heavier search, than if I have a round- trip ticket. That's just something that I think is important because we have intelligence that says the terrorists are still interested in trying to find holes in the aviation security system. So if we're going to protect our traveling passengers, we need to be vigilant.
HEMMER: In a word or two, for those who say it's too invasive, what do you say?
HUTCHISON: I understand that, but I think people want to be safe and they also understand that we are going to have take stronger measures, in some instances. This is about 8 percent of the passengers who would warrant more scrutiny. The rest will be sort of business as usual. I think we're doing a lot to make our flying public safer and I think people want that.
HEMMER: Thank you, senator. Kay Bailey Hutchison from D.C.
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 9, 2003 - 09:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEMMER: The White House acknowledging that the war's new price tag would push the deficit to a record $500 billion. Congress appears ready to give the president the money he needs for Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere, but some lawmakers say the White House is not yet explaining where the money would be used or how much of the bill the American taxpayer would have to fork over.
Republic Senator from Texas Kay Bailey Hutchison our guest now from D.C. to talk about it with us.
Welcome back to "American Morning," Senator. Good morning to you.
HUTCHISON: Thank you.
HEMMER: You're on the Appropriations Committee. Given that title, given that role that you have in D.C. try and give us some answers here on this question. $20 billion slated for reconstruction in Iraq, published reports say that number could actually come a lot closer to $75 billion. Do you see the numbers adding up that way and, if so, where do you get $55 billion more?
HUTCHISON: Well, I think the rest is going to be into added security, more armored tanks, more of the bullet-proof equipment, the vests and the helmets. And I think it's armed -- it's really security issues.
So I do think we will be looking at the numbers. There's no question that we are going to do what the president asks. And what I hope is that we also do it in a way that other countries will contribute and we will even have the capability to look at oil reserves from Iraq to help rebuild their own country.
HEMMER: You've said a lot in that and we'll get to it and break it down for...
HUTCHISON: All right.
HEMMER: ... in a moment. One of your colleagues, Carl Levin, a Democrat, from Michigan was with us last hour here on "American Morning." Here appears to be the rub in the way the argument's shaping up. With tax cuts and the expense in Iraq, domestic programs in the U.S. are going to suffer eventually. How will Republicans defend that criticism?
HUTCHISON: Well, first of all, I think the tax cuts are going to help the economy. I think they will increase revenue, which will not add to the deficit, but add to revenue.
Secondly, though, I think that we will cover our domestic priorities, but we will do what other people do and their families, when they have a high priority or an illness in the family. We will put the money in defense, in the war on terrorism because that's our highest priority. And we may have to cut back in other places and I think we will explain that to the people and they will understand and agree.
HEMMER: In your -- I know your first answer you talked about oil revenue in Iraq. Clearly, it's not shaping up the way many estimates have said before the war and even after the war and the early weeks after the war.
It's now believed that maybe next year you get 12 billion in oil revenues. Maybe the year after that, you get 20 billion and 20 billion will follow then. A lot of money granted, but nowhere near going to pay for the price tag right now, labeled on rebuilding that country. How then, do you use this money? How then do you make the argument that oil revenues are, indeed, the security, when it comes to the price tag in rebuilding Iraq?
HUTCHISON: Well, first, I think we will put the money up front to try to fix the pipelines and update the refineries. The problem in Iraq is Saddam Hussein did not keep up the infrastructure. So the pipelines are being held together with towels, in some instances. So we have to get the infrastructure fixed, in order to get the revenue. And from that, I think, will flow enough that we can work from their revenues rebuilding their infrastructure.
HEMMER: But even the estimates don't appear to be nearly enough, even if you forecast over the next five years.
HUTCHISON: Well, I think that if you have contributions from other countries and we look at future oil revenues, Iraq has the second-largest oil reserves in the world, after Saudi Arabia. So I do think there is a lot out there, if we just have the technology to get it out and get it in a pipeline that will take it to Turkey and other places in Europe.
HEMMER: I know you were just in Iraq. And if you get time later in the week or next week, I'd like to ask you about your trip over there. But in the meantime, the small time we have left, you also sit on the Transportation Committee.
Front page story this morning in The Washington Post, talking about a new system that go in place. It's color-coded based, in large part, on the backgrounds of passengers, whether or not they have a criminal record, delving much deeper into a person's own personal history. Do you believe this is a good idea for keeping...
HUTCHISON: I do.
HEMMER: ... the airlines safe? Why is that?
HUTCHISON: I do. It also includes where you're going, who you're traveling with, all of the things that would show that maybe a little more scrutiny is warranted. And I know if I've got a one-way ticket, I am going through a heavier search, than if I have a round- trip ticket. That's just something that I think is important because we have intelligence that says the terrorists are still interested in trying to find holes in the aviation security system. So if we're going to protect our traveling passengers, we need to be vigilant.
HEMMER: In a word or two, for those who say it's too invasive, what do you say?
HUTCHISON: I understand that, but I think people want to be safe and they also understand that we are going to have take stronger measures, in some instances. This is about 8 percent of the passengers who would warrant more scrutiny. The rest will be sort of business as usual. I think we're doing a lot to make our flying public safer and I think people want that.
HEMMER: Thank you, senator. Kay Bailey Hutchison from D.C.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
