Fox News "Sunday Morning Futures" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Tim Ryan
Interview
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BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
Democrats are vowing to appeal this morning after a federal judge in Texas ruled that Obamacare is unconstitutional.
President Trump celebrating the decision, which in -- came in response to a lawsuit from more than a dozen states.
Let me bring in Democratic Congressman from Ohio Tim Ryan. He serves on the House Appropriations Committee.
And, Congressman, it's good to see you this morning. Thanks so much for joining us.
REP. TIM RYAN, D-OH: Good morning. Good to be with you.
BARTIROMO: So, your reaction to this ruling? Obviously, it's going to go to the Supreme Court. Question is, does the Supreme Court rule the same way as this federal judge? And are you and your colleagues going to be able to come up with a new health care plan for America in the new Congress?
RYAN: Well, I'm very concerned about it.
I represent an area, Maria, that has a lot of people that work really hard, put in 40, 50 hours a week, and still can't afford health care. And for us to lose any kind of universality or help to give these families for health care, I think is a mistake for our country.
It allows us to be healthy, competitive. It's helped business in a lot of ways. So, I think this is a mistake by the court. And I don't quite understand it, because they're talking about the individual mandate, which in many, many states, there's an individual mandate for car insurance.
That's something that has been done all over the country to say, we know you're going to get in the car accident, so you need car insurance. You know you're going to get sick, so you should have to get health insurance. And if you can't afford -- afford it, we should help pay.
BARTIROMO: Well, do you think that there is any overlap in terms of commonality between the Republicans and the Democrats to come up with a new bill, new legislation in the new Congress to actually create the right health care plan for Americans?
RYAN: I don't think so.
I mean, it's just -- the Republicans have voted 60 or 70 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act. So, I think it would throw the health care system into a tailspin. I think a lot of people, with regard to preexisting condition -- and, again, these are people who are working.
They're working hard. They're doing everything right. And their kids need health care. I would hope we could come together. We used to be able to. Mitt Romney passed it in Massachusetts. The plan, ultimately, the Affordable Care Act plan, was really a Republican plan back in the day.
And I hope we can come together and say, every American in this wealthy country should be able to have health -- health insurance for their kids and their families.
BARTIROMO: Well, there's an impasse here.
And now here we are facing another impasse this upcoming week. You're on the Appropriations Committee. What are you expecting in terms of a partial government shutdown? It looks like we're going to see it. How are we impacted?
RYAN: Yes.
Well, I think, over the holidays, it will come down to national parks and federal workers, which I think we could fix once we get a new government in January. So, I think the impact won't be -- won't be huge, to be quite honest with you.
But, again, it's a sign of the dysfunction in Washington. We have got to figure out how to come together here around some basic budgets. I mean, we believe in border security. I believe in border security. We have technologies today that are -- far surpass a wall. I mean, this is not the 15th century.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
RYAN: So let's invest into the technologies and the Border Patrol agents, the manpower we would need to secure our border.
And then let's find a deal on immigration reform, letting these kids, the DACA kids, into the country, making sure that businesses have E-Verify, so that they're not letting in illegal immigrants and then hiring them, so they could keep low-wage workers in the country.
And let's find a pathway for people to pay a fine, pay their back taxes, learn English, if they don't already know it, and come into the country in the next six, seven years, and start paying taxes and contributing to Social Security and Medicare and the economy and all of these things.
That's a good deal for everybody.
BARTIROMO: Right.
And this sounds very practical, Congressman. And you are always very practical and moderate.
(LAUGHTER)
BARTIROMO: Forty Democrats, many of your colleagues, sent a letter to the leadership saying, in the new Congress, we don't want all these investigations. We want legislation. We want to work for the American people.
I assume you're one of them.
RYAN: Well, we can walk and chew gum at the same time.
We have -- Article 1 of the Constitution gives us oversight responsibilities of the executive branch. We don't have a king in the United States. We're run by the people. We're run by the Congress. And we have those responsibilities that we have to execute.
My focus is on the economic well-being of the people of this country. And that means health care, wages, pensions, reinvesting back into the country.
And your last segment about China, we have got to become more competitive. China is coming at us economically.
BARTIROMO: Right.
RYAN: We have got to invest in the research, invest into these new growing areas of the economy. And we need to dominate them economically.
And that takes a plan. It can't be run by Twitter. It's got to be done with a long-term plan that we execute. And that needs to be the focus of the Congress moving forward. We got people still losing their pensions, still losing their health care, and still working hard, playing by the rules, and not getting ahead.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
RYAN: And we have got to reestablish that social compact between corporations and workers and the government and the people.
BARTIROMO: Yes, which is -- which is including the layoffs that we just heard about in Ohio, your state, because GM is closing a plant.
Let's take a short break, Congressman. I want to ask you about that, as well as this new leadership agreement that you have signed on to, to give term limits to Nancy Pelosi.
I have got some questions about that, Congressman Tim Ryan. Stay with us.
We will be right back with more from Congressman Ryan.
RYAN: Thanks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
We're back with Ohio Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan.
And, Congressman, you, like President Trump, have been upset with General Motors for announcing this closure of plants, layoffs. Meanwhile, you were among those who voted for a bailout of GM. Do you regret voting for the bailout?
RYAN: So, well, you think about that stuff when they start cutting jobs and laying off people.
But, at the end of the day, we had to save the American auto industry. We have tens of thousands of people getting pensions from General Motors.
BARTIROMO: Right.
RYAN: And I have seen what happens to workers when they end up in a bankruptcy court. They're the last ones in line.
So we have got to keep General Motors competitive and solvent. And, in Lordstown, Ohio, we have got to find another product to get into this facility. It's a state-of-the-art facility in a great location with a great work force. So I hope we can work through it.
But, at the end of the day, it's about those retirees that we have to protect.
BARTIROMO: Congressman, you and your colleagues have agreed with Nancy Pelosi to put in terms limits for her.
I don't understand this. She was going to become the speaker for two years. You have just given her four years.
RYAN: Well, the second term, you need a two-thirds vote, which is a much higher bar, supermajority, to be able to -- to be able to get there.
And then we will institute, with her support, hopefully, term limits for all leadership moving forward to a six-year term. And I think that's a -- that's a major reform, probably one of the biggest reforms we have seen in the Democratic Caucus in decades.
And that will prevent the concentration of power in our House leadership, which is a big, big reform for us. So it's one of those deals, you don't always get what you want, but you get something that really moves the ball down the field. And I'm proud of what we have done and the reforms that we have been making.
BARTIROMO: But look at the makeup of the new Congress.
I mean, I would like to get your opinion of some people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or the new congresswoman coming in from Michigan. There's a lot of huge lefties in the party.
Can you get a shot in terms of being the nominee for president come 2020, with all the lefties that you're dealing with?
(LAUGHTER)
RYAN: Well, we have got a pretty broad coalition in the Democratic Party. We certainly have a strong Progressive Caucus.
We also have, I think, a 25-member Blue Dog Caucus. We have a New Democrat Caucus, which is a little bit more moderate. So we have got a -- we have got a big tent in the Democratic Party.
And I think the nominee for our party in 2020 is going to be somebody who's really focused on jobs and the economy and how do we, again, get ourselves ready to compete with Russia -- Russia and China, more China economically and Russia militarily, but how do we get ready to do that?
And who's got the reform ideas around education, around the economy, around moving private venture capital?
BARTIROMO: Right.
RYAN: Again, I hope that the Democrats can nominate somebody who is for a conscious capitalism, one that is focused on shared growth and shared prosperity, getting, as I said, that venture capital money out of California, New York and Massachusetts, into places like Youngstown, Ohio, and Flint, Michigan...
BARTIROMO: Yes.
RYAN: ... which is a key to moving forward.
BARTIROMO: It's funny to see the leader on the Democratic side from California, the leader on the Republican side, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, from California.
So, we will be watching all the developments.
It's good to see you, this morning, Congressman. Please come back soon.
RYAN: Thanks. Merry Christmas.
BARTIROMO: Thank you so much.
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