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

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And joining us now is Democratic Congressman Colin Allred of Texas. He's a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

It was supposed to be a big day for your committee in the House today, Representative Allred.

What was your -- what was your expectation of what was going to happen today at 9:00 a.m. when the president walked in the door? Where did it feel like the day was going to go?

REP. COLIN ALLRED (D-TX): Well, of course, I thought we might have a vote today on the bipartisan infrastructure deal. That is not the way it worked out. I am very optimistic by the end of next week we will have both of these bills passed. That's something, honestly, Lawrence, I don't know that I could have said that this morning. When the president came to speak with us, I think he laid out what was in the package he has been negotiating with basically the two senators you mentioned the last couple months and how important it is for his presidency but also for our democracy.

You and I have talked about this before. It is critically important that we show we can still get things done. I think we are still on track to do that. The big goal is still within reach.

O'DONNELL: So, as of now, we know nothing about what the two senators are thinking. These rewrites at this stage of the legislation are all for those two senators and for no one else. And we don't even know what they're thinking.

So we don't know if Senator Sinema is okay with this new version of the tax proposal.

[22:20:06]

She's had trouble with the other one.

Joe Manchin was okay with the original version of the tax proposal. But we don't know anything more about Joe Manchin tonight either.

ALLRED: Yeah. Well, you know, the White House has been in constant negotiation with these two folks. I can give everyone at home a little confidence that we have more insight into what they're thinking than maybe the press does. I am not party to all of those conversations but I have had some discussions with the White House around it and they are confident.

And the president is putting his credibility behind the idea that as he told us this morning, he now has 50 senators onboard with the framework he laid out for us. I trust the president of the United States. I trust our speaker to deliver this. And I think these two senators are going to be there in the end. There's been months of negotiations as you said to meet them where they are. I can't see any reason now why they would pull out.

O'DONNELL: So, what is your understanding of the sequence next week?

ALLRED: Yeah. Well, they're probably going to have to go together or at least in very rapid secession. I think with what came out today we are on track to do just that. And let me just say, Lawrence, there's been a lot of discussion about the process here but this is a really important bill and it is historic investment in American families. It is going to give us the tools to combat climate change. It's going to demonstrate our democracy can still do big things.

As somebody raised by a single mother who is a public school teacher who didn't make more than $50,000 in a year, there is so much in this, from pre-K, to child care, that is so important for us, the child tax credit.

You know, I know some families are going to benefit from this. So I hope we can soon start talking about the great things we've done and are going to be doing for the American people and stop talking about the kind of internal squabbles we've been having in our caucuses.

O'DONNELL: Did the president mention Virginia today as part of his reasoning for why he wanted to see a bill passed today to have a positive impact on the governor's race in Virginia?

ALLRED: I don't think the president mentioned it specifically. It has been raised by my colleagues from Virginia and we all recognize that we have to show we can get things done because the American people really don't understand that we're dealing with a super majority requirement in the Senate and that we have to go through this kind of strange process of reconciliation, just know that we have a Democrat in the White House and Democratic control of the Senate and the House. And so, we have to deliver and we're going to.

And so, obviously, I hope we have a good election next week in Virginia, but the overall goal is to set us on a path for the next decade and decades after that of prosperity in a way that builds back from the middle class out. And that's what the president is committed to. That is what I think these packages together are going to allow us to do.

O'DONNELL: Congressman Colin Allred, thank you very much for joining our discussion. Really appreciate it.

ALLRED: Thanks, Lawrence.

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