Transcript for February 5

MR. RUSSERT: Let me turn to domestic spending. Headlines all across the country today, the President planning to ask for $30 billion to $35 billion reductions in Medicare costs. And this headline: On Wednesday, the House approved $39 billion budget savings package. "The deepest cuts--$12.7 billion over five years--were exacted on the government's student loan programs." The President's calling for more research, more investment, math, science. Why would you cut student loan programs?

REP. BOEHNER: Tim, we didn't. You know, I authored that section of--of the bill. We were able to expand benefits for students, higher loan limits, lower origination fees, and yet reform the program and take $12.7 billion from those private lenders who run the program.

MR. RUSSERT: But kids may have to pay much higher interest rates.

REP. BOEHNER: The agreement on the interest rates was agreed to in 2001 that, in July of this year, interest rate would go to 6.8 percent. I--I wanted to go with a variable rate over the next five years, but it was Senator Ted Kennedy, Congressman George Miller and others, all the student groups, who insisted on having a fixed rate. And the fact is we were able to expand benefits for students and reform the program and save $12.7 billion. And it's exactly what the taxpayers expect--expect of us. We're going to spend probably $10 billion more this year on student loans and, over the next five years, save this $12.7 billion.

MR. RUSSERT: But many Americans who see these headlines, Congressman, say, well, why tinker with student loans, why tinker with Medicare, when they see this in The Wall Street Journal: "The smell of bacon. 1995, the number of earmarked projects before Congress 1439, total $10 billion. Last year, nearly 14,000 individual earmarked projects by members of Congress, $27 billion." That's a lot of money.

REP. BOEHNER: That's a lot of money.

MR. RUSSERT: And for programs that are difficult--some of them are difficult to defend.

REP. BOEHNER: Very difficult to defend.

MR. RUSSERT: So why would you go after student loans or Medicare rather than eliminate earmarked projects?

REP. BOEHNER: Tim, the American people know that our government's too big and it spends too much, and they expect Congress to do something about it. I've never asked for one of those projects over the 15 years that I've been in the Congress. I told my constituents in 1990, when I was running for Congress, that, "If you think my job is to rob the federal Treasury on your behalf, you're voting for the wrong guy." I was up-front and honest with them, and I've kept my promise to them. I've never asked...

MR. RUSSERT: Should they be eliminated?

REP. BOEHNER: I don't know that it's appropriate to eliminate all of them. I think what we need to do is we need to reduce the number of--of earmarks, we need to bring more transparency to the process and more accountability: who authored them, what's the public purpose, is it a federal purpose? And I think, through that process, we can bring a lot more accountability and lower the number of earmarks in all of these bills.

MR. RUSSERT: You think they'll be reduced significantly?

REP. BOEHNER: I do.

MR. RUSSERT: Let's turn to the whole issue of lobbyists, corruption, travel, congressional travel. Speaker Hastert, your boss, had a proposal on the table, which you dismissed as childish.

REP. BOEHNER: That's not true, Tim. That's not true. What I said were there were a lot of childish proposals out there. We've gotten proposals from the Democrat leadership, the House leadership, every group known to man, and that's what I was referring to.

MR. RUSSERT: Well, here's exactly what the article said: "`House Speaker Dennis Hastert's proposal to end all privately funded trips would be counterproductive,' Boehner said. `Members could be required to seek pre-approval from the House Ethics Committee of any trip,' he said. But he added `Members need to understand what's happening in the world. They need to understand what's happening with industry. That won't happen if they're locked up in a cubbyhole here in the Capitol.'" And you went on to say, "We shouldn't be treated like children."

REP. BOEHNER: That comment was made several weeks ago, all right? Denny Hastert and I are very close friends, we've worked together closely over the last 15 years, and we're going to continue to work closely together. He's the boss. And he and David Dreier have worked on a package of ethics and lobby reforms. We're--Mr. Dreier is now working with Democrats, trying to come together with a package. And we need to allow the members to engage in this process, to come up with a package that's real. Not something that looks good and sounds good, but something that will, in fact, bring greater transparency to the relationship between members of Congress and those who lobby us.

MR. RUSSERT: But the speaker did want to eliminate privately funded travel for congressmen, and you...

REP. BOEHNER: I've got, I've got my doubts about that, but that doesn't mean that he and I don't feel strongly that we've got to have a lobby reform bill passed the Congress here in the next several months.

MR. RUSSERT: When you say you have your doubts, many point to your own behavior. From 535 members of Congress, John Boehner ranked number 10 according to PoliticalMoneyLine, which did analysis of this. Over the last five years they say John Boehner received trips which would equal $157,000, privately funded. And they point out where you went, which is--and here's, here's a list,. Congressmen Boehner: White Sulpher Springs, West Virginia, where the Green Briar Resort is, eight times; Boca Raton, Florida, six times; Scottsdale, Arizona, four times; Monterey/Pebble Beach, California twice; Edinburgh, Scotland, home of St. Andrew's Golf Course, twice. Foreign travel: Rome, Venice, Brussels, Paris, Barcelona.

To the American people looking at that, they're saying those aren't exactly the global hot spots in terms of conflict. But they are places that you'd want to go and relax or play golf.

REP. BOEHNER: People want--people invite me to give speeches. And, and as you know Tim, you know, I've got 11 brothers and sisters, my dad owned a bar. What you see is what you get. And I've got a very open relationship with lobbyists in town, with my colleagues, with the press, and with my constituents. And, and as a result, you know, people invite me to go give speeches, and I go give them. And you also learn a lot about these industries. It's easy to point out where I've gone around the world, but when you start to look at the people that I've worked with--you know, going to, to Scotland with the Transatlantic Policy Network. Now, understanding the relationship between members of the European Union and members of Congress, and trying to build closer ties, this is something that's very beneficial for members of Congress. And I believe that--that--that privately funded travel ought to be pre-cleared. There ought to be a good public purpose in members going on a trip, and if there isn't, then they shouldn't go.

MR. RUSSERT: Many voters will say, Congressman, rather than going to a plush resort, why don't you just meet these guys in your office?

REP. BOEHNER: These industry meetings occur in nice places. And--and that's where the--that's where the events are, that's where the speeches are. And if you get invited, you got to decide whether you can go or not go, or whether it's worthwhile.

MR. RUSSERT: You said this, according to The Washington Post: "`Yes, I'm cozy with lobbyists,' Boehner told lowmakers--lawmakers concerned about his K Street lobbyist connections, `but I have never done anything unethical.'" Is that the standard?

REP. BOEHNER: Tim, everything I've ever done in my entire political career has been to the benefit of my constituents and the American people. They're the ones who dictate what I do every day. I know who I am, and I know why I'm here, not because I wanted to be a Congressman, but because I wanted to do things on behalf of my constituents and the American people. And I--there's nothing in my entire political career, no decision I've ever made, where they weren't the winners.

MR. RUSSERT: So you would be against eliminating private funding of trips for Congressmen.

REP. BOEHNER: I think having pre-approval of these trips would be a more forthright way to go.

MR. RUSSERT: By whom? A board of public integrity, or your fellow Congressmen?

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