MSNBC "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" - Transcript

Interview

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SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D), NEW YORK: Good evening.

HAYES: OK. Are you going to pass this thing tomorrow?

GILLIBRAND: I"m very hopeful we will. We are really working hard to come together, to have the votes we need. I"m very confident that if we hold this vote, we will pass this bill.

HAYES: Coburn"s office released a statement today saying he is working with the bill sponsors, you know, to find--quote, "to find a way to help those who need our aid without creating new burdens for other Americans."

Leaving aside the assumption that, you know, that other Americans would not want to shoulder the burden, how are you going to pay for this? And what is the current status of the pay-for that"s in the bill to come up with the revenue for $6.2 billion?

GILLIBRAND: Well, the very important fact is this bill is fully paid for which very few things in Washington are. So--

HAYES: Almost nothing as far as I can tell.

GILLIBRAND: Yes, this is fully paid for. And the way we are paying for it is a fee on foreign companies that get procurement contracts from our government. And so, think that this pay-for addresses some of the concerns our Republican colleagues had early on, not wanting to have a tax. And, you know, we have addressed a lot of those concerns. And I think we have the support we need, we got the votes we need. We just need to hold the vote and we need to make sure that we can vote in a timely way so that we can really deliver for these first responders.

And you just heard T.J."s testimony. It"s heart-wrenching. These are men and women who gave everything.

They didn"t care who they were helping. They just heard the call to duty. They rushed to the towers. They are the ones who literally ran up the towers when people were coming down. They"re the ones who looked for survivors, they looked for remains, they did the cleanup days and weeks and months after the towers fell.

And, now, because of those toxins that were released, they are suffering from cancers, other ailments, terrible health effects. And so, we have to deliver for them. We really have to stand by them in their gravest time of need.

HAYES: You know, it"s striking to me the United States Chamber of Commerce is lobbying against you on this bill, the Organization for International Investors. I"m wondering, have you talked directly with companies behind these groups with their representatives?

GILLIBRAND: No. And the interesting thing is, this is not a New York issue. This is a national issue. This is a national security issue. We were attacked--terror attack in New York, but it was not an attack on New York. It was an attack on America.

And so, we are hearing from people all across the country right now.

They want to see justice done. They want to see these first responders get

the health care they desperately--they need. They want these survivors -
they want these first responders to survive at this point. And they need the health care.

You know, you heard from T.J. that the health care costs are so expensive.

And another thing to know about the bill--this is the payer of last resort. Health care plans that these men and women have pay first, their worker"s comp pay second, any settlement pay third and this is their, in case all of that runs out, to make sure they are not having to bankrupt their families to pay for the health care they need literally to survive.

HAYES: I know in a country with a stronger social safety net, we wouldn"t--we need this bill, but I"m glad you are pushing this. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, sponsor of Zadroga Bill, thank you so much. We really appreciate it.

GILLIBRAND: Take care.

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