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American Morning

Nine-Member Congressional Delegation Will Travel to Iraq Tomorrow

Aired October 20, 2003 - 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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A nine member congressional delegation will travel to Iraq tomorrow to assess the post-war situation there. The seven Republicans and two Democrats are also making some history. It is the first all female group of law makers to make that trip.
So, what do they hope to accomplish?

Joining us this morning from Long Island, Democratic Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy of New York. And joining us from Columbus...

REP. CAROLYN MCCARTHY (D), NEW YORK: How are you doing?

O'BRIEN: Good morning.

From Columbus, Ohio, is Republican Representative Deborah Pryce.

Good morning, ladies.

Thanks for joining me.

REP. DEBORAH PRYCE (R), OHIO: Hi, Soledad.

MCCARTHY: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Congresswoman Pryce, let's begin with you.

What exactly is the value of a trip of all female law makers?

PRYCE: Well, we're going to -- we hope to accomplish several things. First of all, we're going to visit our troops and give them a hello and an encouragement and check on morale. We've just appropriated an awful lot of money and we want to make sure that that's being spent correctly.

But probably most importantly for the all female aspect of this, we're going to meet with Iraqi women, Iraqi law makers, Iraqi folks that are on the ground that want to become involved in their new, fledgling democracy and encourage them to do that, get this up and running on the right foot from the very beginning, with women involved in their own governments.

O'BRIEN: Congresswoman McCarthy, I know that you said before this trip that you hoped to go as a sort of progress report. Do you think what's happening in Iraq is not being reported accurately? MCCARTHY: Well, I wouldn't say it's not being reported accurately. But I don't think there's a fair balance in there. We're certainly hearing that things are going well and the only way you're going to be able to get through the spin is being there on the ground, talking to our troops and talking to the regular citizens in Iraq.

You know, and as Deborah said, that we're also going over to talk to the women, talk to the Councilpeople to make sure when the government does get up, that we'll be able to make sure that there are women there.

Women tend to look at government functions a little bit differently. We want to make sure that there's good health care, there's good schooling for the children and also to make sure that women have a voice.

O'BRIEN: Congresswoman Pryce, we've heard some of the things specifically that Congresswoman McCarthy is going to be looking for. What about yourself? What do your constituents back in Ohio want from you? What do they want you to uncover in Iraq for them?

PRYCE: I think they want a personal perspective from me about what's going on over there, and I don't think that you can do that except by visiting. And so when I come back, I want to report on the state of women's health and children's health, what the hospitals are doing, how the educational system is being rebuilt, what's going on with the local governments up in the far outreaches of the country, to make sure that this is a truly secular democracy as it becomes set up and that women are involved at all stages.

We're going to encourage appointments of women to the different ministries and the different local and regional areas of government. And so that we can assure that this government is fully representative from the very beginning.

O'BRIEN: Congresswoman McCarthy, as we heard from Congresswoman Pryce when we began, she said you just appropriated a whole bunch of money and so you're interested in seeing how it's going to be spent. The Senate, as you well know, voted to loan half of that $20 billion for reconstruction. The House went ahead and said they would give it as a grant. And I know both of you voted in that direction, as well.

Obviously, this has to be worked out in committee. Where do you see a compromise here? What's it going to end up looking like, do you think?

MCCARTHY: Well, that's going to be the tough part, unfortunately when the Senate and the House are so far apart. But I'm hoping they will reach agreement. The bottom line is we have to make sure the money is there for our young men and women serving in the service.

You know, as far as the grant versus a loan, I would have liked to have voted on splitting that particular money, but we didn't have that opportunity. But in the end, the money is there for our young men and women in the service and we have to make sure that they get what they need. O'BRIEN: Congresswoman McCarthy and Congresswoman Pryce, thanks for joining me this morning.

Good luck with your trip and of course we're going to check in with you when you're back to find out exactly how everything went.

MCCARTHY: Thank you.

PRYCE: Thanks, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Appreciate your time this morning.

MCCARTHY: Sure.

Thank you.

PRYCE: Have a good morning.

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





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Aired October 20, 2003 - 08:13   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A nine member congressional delegation will travel to Iraq tomorrow to assess the post-war situation there. The seven Republicans and two Democrats are also making some history. It is the first all female group of law makers to make that trip.
So, what do they hope to accomplish?

Joining us this morning from Long Island, Democratic Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy of New York. And joining us from Columbus...

REP. CAROLYN MCCARTHY (D), NEW YORK: How are you doing?

O'BRIEN: Good morning.

From Columbus, Ohio, is Republican Representative Deborah Pryce.

Good morning, ladies.

Thanks for joining me.

REP. DEBORAH PRYCE (R), OHIO: Hi, Soledad.

MCCARTHY: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Congresswoman Pryce, let's begin with you.

What exactly is the value of a trip of all female law makers?

PRYCE: Well, we're going to -- we hope to accomplish several things. First of all, we're going to visit our troops and give them a hello and an encouragement and check on morale. We've just appropriated an awful lot of money and we want to make sure that that's being spent correctly.

But probably most importantly for the all female aspect of this, we're going to meet with Iraqi women, Iraqi law makers, Iraqi folks that are on the ground that want to become involved in their new, fledgling democracy and encourage them to do that, get this up and running on the right foot from the very beginning, with women involved in their own governments.

O'BRIEN: Congresswoman McCarthy, I know that you said before this trip that you hoped to go as a sort of progress report. Do you think what's happening in Iraq is not being reported accurately? MCCARTHY: Well, I wouldn't say it's not being reported accurately. But I don't think there's a fair balance in there. We're certainly hearing that things are going well and the only way you're going to be able to get through the spin is being there on the ground, talking to our troops and talking to the regular citizens in Iraq.

You know, and as Deborah said, that we're also going over to talk to the women, talk to the Councilpeople to make sure when the government does get up, that we'll be able to make sure that there are women there.

Women tend to look at government functions a little bit differently. We want to make sure that there's good health care, there's good schooling for the children and also to make sure that women have a voice.

O'BRIEN: Congresswoman Pryce, we've heard some of the things specifically that Congresswoman McCarthy is going to be looking for. What about yourself? What do your constituents back in Ohio want from you? What do they want you to uncover in Iraq for them?

PRYCE: I think they want a personal perspective from me about what's going on over there, and I don't think that you can do that except by visiting. And so when I come back, I want to report on the state of women's health and children's health, what the hospitals are doing, how the educational system is being rebuilt, what's going on with the local governments up in the far outreaches of the country, to make sure that this is a truly secular democracy as it becomes set up and that women are involved at all stages.

We're going to encourage appointments of women to the different ministries and the different local and regional areas of government. And so that we can assure that this government is fully representative from the very beginning.

O'BRIEN: Congresswoman McCarthy, as we heard from Congresswoman Pryce when we began, she said you just appropriated a whole bunch of money and so you're interested in seeing how it's going to be spent. The Senate, as you well know, voted to loan half of that $20 billion for reconstruction. The House went ahead and said they would give it as a grant. And I know both of you voted in that direction, as well.

Obviously, this has to be worked out in committee. Where do you see a compromise here? What's it going to end up looking like, do you think?

MCCARTHY: Well, that's going to be the tough part, unfortunately when the Senate and the House are so far apart. But I'm hoping they will reach agreement. The bottom line is we have to make sure the money is there for our young men and women serving in the service.

You know, as far as the grant versus a loan, I would have liked to have voted on splitting that particular money, but we didn't have that opportunity. But in the end, the money is there for our young men and women in the service and we have to make sure that they get what they need. O'BRIEN: Congresswoman McCarthy and Congresswoman Pryce, thanks for joining me this morning.

Good luck with your trip and of course we're going to check in with you when you're back to find out exactly how everything went.

MCCARTHY: Thank you.

PRYCE: Thanks, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Appreciate your time this morning.

MCCARTHY: Sure.

Thank you.

PRYCE: Have a good morning.

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





Tomorrow>