Fox News "Sunday Morning Futures" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Matt Cartwright
Interview
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BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
House Democrats mark 100 days in power. Have they demonstrated that they are working for the people? Or are they more interested in investigating the president?
Joining us right now from the Democratic leadership, Pennsylvania Congressman Matt Cartwright is co-chairman of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. He also sits on the Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees funding for the Justice Department, which Attorney General William Barr testified in front of last week.
Congressman, it's good to have you on the program this morning. Thanks so much for your time this morning.
REP. MATT CARTWRIGHT (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Happy Palm Sunday, Maria. How are you?
BARTIROMO: Oh, and happy Palm Sunday to you and to all of our viewers. Thank you for that. Beautiful way to begin our interview this morning.
Sir, tell us about that. Investigating or legislating? What's the priority?
CARTWRIGHT: Oh, clearly, legislating.
You know our Democratic priorities. Of course, they were interrupted for 35 days at the beginning of this 100 days with the shutdown. But the priorities are very clear. And they are the things that we campaigned on to win the House Democratic majority in 2018, rebuilding American infrastructure.
Speaking of palm leaves, Nancy Pelosi, our House speaker, extended an olive branch to the president on Thursday -- I hope you noticed -- asking for a meeting to talk about plugging one to $2 trillion into American infrastructure. I know President Trump wants to do that.
I know he ought to take that meeting and figure out a way to move forward and actually make good on a campaign promise that he had as well. But building infrastructure, lowering the cost of prescription medications, making health care cheaper and more available to everybody, and cleaning up government, we already did that with HR-1.
I'm sorry my dear friend Doug Collins didn't think much of that bill, but one thing it does is, it takes dark money out of politics. In other words, if you donate more than $10,000 to a super PAC, your identity cannot be kept secret.
I think that's so important to our safeguarding American democracy, Maria, because if you don't know who that is, it could be anyone and it could be foreigners.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CARTWRIGHT: So we put that in HR-1. I don't know how that is going to do in the Senate, but I proudly voted for that.
BARTIROMO: Well, it's true.
When you say HR-1, let's explain HR-1. Let's explain HR-1, because our viewers may not know that that's basically the priority that you all came in with when you took the majority. You said HR-1 would be about elections.
I was scratching my head about that, because I said, is this the most important issue that you want to come and have the majority on, changing the way elections are done? For example, then you're seeing these proposals of having people as young as 16 years old vote?
CARTWRIGHT: Yes, I didn't vote for that. That was an amendment that some people voted for.
Personally, I remember being 16, and I wouldn't trust myself with a vote at that age.
BARTIROMO: Exactly.
CARTWRIGHT: I don't know about you, Maria.
(LAUGHTER)
BARTIROMO: I'm with you. I'm with you, Congressman.
CARTWRIGHT: But here is the thing.
Americans over the last several years have expressed dismay with the way Washington works. You know, they have called it...
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CARTWRIGHT: Whatever you -- if you want to call it draining the swamp or cleaning up democracy.
We hear that. And that's why my dear friend John Sarbanes from Maryland came up with this bill to get money out of politics. Everybody knows money is so important in politics. It gives influence to people over government that regular Americans don't have.
Let's get rid of that.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CARTWRIGHT: HR-1, the For the People Act that John Sarbanes wrote and that we amended with amendment after amendment, and then we passed, is so important.
I hope that the Senate gives it real consideration, because it's what Americans want.
BARTIROMO: Well, and then, when you look at the common ground, you mentioned some of these issues that you can agree with the other side and actually work toward moving the needle for the American people.
And that includes infrastructure, and you said also getting drug prices down. For sure, the other side wants that as well.
But let me ask you about infrastructure and what Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday, as you rightly pointed out. She said she would look at an infrastructure package of up to $2 trillion.
Congressman, you're on the Appropriations Committee. I mean, your subcommittee is deciding on funding even before the whole House makes a decision in terms of oversight funding.
Can you sit there and actually agree to $2 trillion in spending for an infrastructure package, when you're sitting in the face of $22 trillion in debt, sir?
CARTWRIGHT: Well, debt rises as a result of spending and tax cuts. And so we have to achieve the right balance.
I will say this. I think that, if President Trump can get behind it and come to an agreement with Speaker Pelosi, we could get this done. This is something we have to do, Maria. We can't keep letting our roads and bridges go to pot.
We have to upgrade our sewer systems, our water system. We have to have broadband Internet for rural areas. We have to make America the pride of the world. We're letting places like China get ahead of us. We can't do that.
These are promises that the president made, that I have made. Let's put money into American infrastructure and honor what our grandparents and our pants passed down to us...
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CARTWRIGHT: ... people in the greatest generation. They sacrificed to build us a wonderful portfolio of infrastructure that we have to do a proper job of husbanding and improving if we're going to keep America competitive with the rest of the world.
BARTIROMO: Yes. And we will be watching that, because this is important.
And I know you have been talking about this for a long time. I was reading on your Web site just last night all of the efforts that you have actually put fourth in terms of getting those shovels in the ground and infrastructure going.
Congressman, we will be watching. Thank you, sir.
CARTWRIGHT: Thank you, Maria. See you.
BARTIROMO: Congressman Matt Cartwright there.
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