MSNBC "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Katie Porter

Interview

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O`DONNELL: And joining us now, Democratic Congresswoman Katie Porter of California. She`s the deputy chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Congresswoman Porter, do you know if the speaker is going to bring this to a vote tomorrow and let it fail? As speakers in the past have sometimes had to do in order to make the point about where we really are.

REP. KATIE PORTER (D-CA): I don`t think Speaker Pelosi will bring the bill to the floor, because I think we already know where we are, which is exactly what Congressman Khanna said. I think there are dozens and dozens and dozens of colleagues who are going to vote no if needed because we have to deliver the entirety of the president`s agenda.

You know, I think sometimes people think that we have some secret information, we have information that they don`t have. I just want to show people, this is what we received today for what will be voting tomorrow. Question mark, first votes, question mark, last votes, question mark.

So we don`t know exactly the sequence of what we`re going to do tomorrow. But we do know what the outcome will be. Until Senator Sinema and Senator Manchin are able to come up with what they want to do for their constituents, to do for the American people, until Senator Sinema stops being cute and starts doing her job and leaving for the people of Arizona, we`re simply not going to be able to move the president`s agenda forward.

O`DONNELL: Well, we know strategically what Senator Sinema and Senator Manchin are doing, one more professionally at least on the exterior than the other, and that is they`re trying to delay any possible action on the reconciliation bill so that the bill that they worked on, the bipartisan Senate infrastructure bill, will pass. Then they will have unlimited time to object to what is in the reconciliation bill, and possibly never vote for it.

PORTER: Well, think that`s really irresponsible to their constituents and to the people of this country. Infrastructure is incredibly important. It will create good-paying jobs and it`s an important part of the economy.

But I wasn`t elected just to represent one industry or just to elect one kind of worker. I was elected to create a strong and stable and competitive economy. And to do that, for example, we have to see women re-enter the workforce, we have to address the crisis in elder care, we have to make sure that workers are healthy and able to go to workplaces.

And so, I think this idea that, you know, it`s infrastructure and nothing else will be okay, if that`s really what Senator Sinema and Senator Manchin believe, they owe it to the American people to say that.

O`DONNELL: Let`s listen to what Senator Bernie Sanders said about the situation.

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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): What you got now are 48 out of 50 members who are prepared to support this legislation. You have 95 percent of the House Democrats prepared to support the legislation. It`s not like, okay, let`s reach a middle ground. We have the overwhelming votes, the president of the United States wants it, and the American people want it.

So I would hope to answer your point that after months, not weeks, of discussion, we can in fact go someplace and pass what the American people want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O`DONNELL: Senator Sanders has been a completely practical legislator on this all the way through. He`s had the responsible of budget committee chairman, to get the budget resolution on this, which Joe Manchin and Senator Sinema, they both voted for, the $3.5 trillion budget resolution that is now being reconciled and the other half of that process.

[22:20:15]

PORTER: That`s exactly right. They supported that budget resolution, and now we`re simply doing the work in the House. We`ve had markups, we`ve debated, made amendments to the legislation, put it together into a package, and now, we`re expecting them to engage back in good faith.

If they have concerns, if they have problems, tell us what they are. But we simply can`t negotiate away from -- you know, with ourselves and away from what the American people want if there are no meaningful competing concerns. And I was elected to represent the people of Orange County, to fight for families, to stand up to corporate interests. I wasn`t elected to read the mind of Kyrsten Sinema. Thank goodness, because I have no idea what she is thinking.

O`DONNELL: Well, you`re in similar situations, right, because she won a previously a -- Senate seat that was previously held by a Republican. You won a seat in the House previously held by Republican. Do you recognize anything in the way she appears to be handling this that is based on the fact that she flipped a seat from a Republican, and has a concern about being able to appeal to Republican voters, as you do too in Orange County?

PORTER: I have to be honest. I really don`t. The way that I find it easiest and best and most honest to connect with constituents who might have different values or different opinions that I do is to be incredibly accountable, to be as transparent and forthright and honest with them as I can be. And so, I think, you know, likely that all of us have constituents who disagree with us. But you listen to their concerns, you tell them where you stand, you explain, you answer their questions, and you go forth and do exactly what you told them you`re going to do.

She`s simply not answering to the American people. And that should be a concern for the American people, regardless of where they fall on the political spectrum.

O`DONNELL: Congresswoman Katie Porter, We will see how the question marks on your phone get field in tomorrow. Thank you very much for sharing that with us and for joining us tonight.

PORTER: Thank you.

O`DONNELL: Thank you.

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