CNN "American Morning" - Transcripts

Interview

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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning right now.

House Democrats are still shy of the 216 votes needed to score a major presidential victory for a top domestic priority of President Obama. There are those still undecided about health care reform, and they're pretty popular these days. They're actually getting a lot of love from the White House. Some are even getting personal invitations from the president to fly on Air Force One.

Our next guest bought one of those invitees, and he actually turned it down, Ohio Congressman John Boccieri. He joins me this morning from Washington.

Congressman, thanks for being with us this morning.

REP. JOHN BOCCIERI (D), OHIO: Thank you, Kiran.

CHETRY: As we said, you're pretty popular these days in the halls of Congress. You voted against health care reform, the one passed by the House in the fall, since then you've been heavily courted by the White House. You've been invited to go on Air Force One and invited to join the president at a rally on health care, and you said no. Why?

BOCCIERI: Well, it was very difficult for this Air Force pilot to turn down a ride on Air Force one. But at the end of the day we had a job announcement in our district, $16 million was being awarded to expand a runway in my district. I had to be there and get on the road two hours earlier.

Read nothing into it. The president had to stand on the national stage that day and talk about health care reform and the balance as we move towards it here in the Congress.

CHETRY: Right, but you have been facing pressure, as well as other Democrats who are not sold on this yet. I know we talked to one out of Pennsylvania who is waiting for the CBO numbers to come out and see what's going on. But what will it take for you to vote yes on the House version of this?

BOCCIERI: Well, I agree we need to have reform. Our nation needs to have this debate. We need to do it in the way that doesn't explode the deficits, has cost containment, goes after fraud, waste, and abuse.

I'm encouraged by the Senate because it reduces deficits by $132 billion and over $1 trillion in the second two years. I'm encouraged by that. But there needs to be changes. The Senate version, there's no way Ohio should have to pay for Nebraska. I want those deals out.

CHETRY: It looks like it's out, though, right, the so-called cornhusker kickback?

BOCCIERI: That's correct. We're waiting for the final version of the bill. We want to look at the numbers, make sure they're in line with what we believe, and move from that point.

CHETRY: One of the obvious considerations has to be what's good for your own district. And I know that Henry Waxman has been putting out some e-mails just to explain to individual congressmen what they can say to people in their district.

For you, the largest employer is a hospital. According to this memo that was put out by Congressman Waxman, he says the health care bill would reduce the cost uncompensated costs for health care providers by $56 million. That's a lot. That seems like it would be a boon four guys to be able to save that amount of money on health care costs?

BOCCIERI: That's true. That's why the House version didn't go far enough in my opinion. If it was up for a vote today, I'd vote the same way. I'm encouraged by the numbers. At the end of the day, we have to do what's best for our district, what's best for Ohio, and best for America on this vote.

CHETRY: I want to ask you about what your fellow Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich ultimately decided. He was a no. He announced yesterday that he is going to go ahead and support this bill. It may not be his favorite, he says, but what he wants to do is move forward in the process so that there are other issues that he can focus on, specifically job creation. And he says that, you know, it's not going to be my way or the highway. He's not thrilled, but he's going to say yes for the greater good.

How much of a consideration is that for you?

BOCCIERI: Well, Kiran, that is the consideration. We're faced with passing an imperfect bill or doing nothing. There's a cost of doing both. There's a cost of doing nothing, and there's a cost for doing something in terms of moving this bill forward and that's what we're faced with.

But at the end of the day, we need to end the most abusive practice of the insurance industry, dropping patients because they get sick or ill or denying them coverage because they have a pre-existing condition. At the end of the day, that's what this debate should be framed around.

CHETRY: You know, in all of these districts, as we say, politics is local. And you're up against it because there are people that are thinking about trying to -- they're running ads based on whether or not you vote yes on this bill. And it's going to be what the GOP competitors in your district are going, you know, seize upon. How much of this -- how much of a concern do you have to factor in, wanting to continue as a congressman representing your district?

BOCCIERI: Well, I care less about what's done in the elections. We'll have to stand on our record and defend our votes. At the end of the day, I want to do what's right for America, what's right for Ohio. And you know, there's a lot of attention being put on our district. This is one of the, you know, of course, more moderate districts in the country. So we want to make sure that we make a good decision for our constituents.

CHETRY: If it comes out today, the CBO numbers and say this is deficit neutral, are you a yes?

BOCCIERI: Well, I'm moving at looking at those numbers very closely and moving in a direction and making a decision here very shortly.

CHETRY: All right. Well, Congressman Boccieri, thanks so much for being with us this morning.

BOCCIERI: Thank you, Kiran.

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