Fox News "The Ingraham Angle" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Mike Lee

Interview

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CHAFFETZ: So is that the best idea? Here now Utah Senator Mike Lee. He is also author of "Written out of History," which we strongly recommend. Senator Lee, thank you for joining us here. Mike and I are friends, the senator and I both having represented the state of Utah. But Senator, thank you for joining us here.

Is Mitch McConnell right? I was a bit critical of the majority leader for not voting on the house bill that did pass with border wall funding of $5 billion. But what's the right answer?

SEN. MIKE LEE, R-UT: I'd rather vote. Whatever the question is, should we vote or not, I err on the side of saying let's cast a vote. Sometimes there's a good reason to cast a vote even if you're not sure that it's going to pass. Sometimes setting the record for who is where on that vote is helpful. And it moves the legislative process forward. I think it would help us end to shutdown faster.

CHAFFETZ: I concur because I really do think -- what's frustrating to me is they never vote, so you don't see who is actually on the record here. But how are you going to get past this impasse? Nancy Pelosi has been off work and on her hula, and now she's the speaker and the House is adjourned until Tuesday. They are not even coming back until Tuesday.

LEE: If you don't want to fight fires, don't become a firefighter. If you don't want to take difficult votes, don't become a lawmaker. That's the message we've got to send to Congress.

CHAFFETZ: But how are we going to actually solve this border wall? Nancy Pelosi is emphatic. She says absolutely no money for the wall. Are there other alternatives, or is the president and the Republicans in the Senate just going to hold the line on this?

LEE: I think the Democrats are being categorically unreasonable on this. We already have 650 miles of border fence, 650 miles. Are the Democrats saying we've got to tear that down? No. Are they saying that there is something inherently evil about the would be 651st mile? No. We are talking about a number that's infinitesimally small compared to the overall budget. We are not talking about one percent of the federal budget or even one half of one percent of the budget. This is necessary to keep our country safe to protect our border. We need to do it.

CHAFFETZ: But are there enough Democrats? At some point there would be some breaking point. I think most Americans don't even know that we are in a shutdown because they don't feel the effects of it. The normal pitch points of veterans, our military, Social Security, all of that is open and running. So I don't even know if America necessarily even noticing it. I know it's hard on the federal workers who expect and deserve their paychecks. But are there Democrats that will eventually get to this point?

LEE: I think there are. And the reason I say that is most of the Democrats I talk to in the House and in the Senate are not themselves that offended by the idea of spending money on a fence to protect our border. Most of them acknowledge this is not a big deal. And so I don't know why they are spending so much political capital on making sure that we can't make the American people safe with a fence.

CHAFFETZ: I have to ask you, now you are the senior senator from Utah. But the incoming junior senator from Utah put out an op-ed that was pretty scathing of the president. What was your take on that?

LEE: Yes, he did. And look, at the outset, I want to say his predecessor, my former colleague, Senator Orrin Hatch, was kind to me when I came in. He didn't tell me how to do my job, and I intend to extend the same courtesy to my new colleague, Senator Romney.

That said, I disagree with his op-ed. I don't think it was the right approach. I think it's important -- I respect the fact that he wants to work with the president and support him where he agrees with him. I don't think it's necessarily helpful to come in and attack his character right at the get-go, right at the beginning of his legislative career.

CHAFFETZ: I found the timing curious and I was critical of him because I don't think it did any -- you're supposed to represent the state of Utah and I don't think Mitt Romney putting out this op-ed actually did anything. He was elected to solve problems. That's what he's known for. This created a problem and it didn't actually solve a problem.

LEE: I think that's right. And everyone is entitled to a mulligan once in a while, as my dad used to say. And maybe he will want to take his mulligan on this one. But here's what I can say. As you know, I have my concerns about this president, but I've been very pleased with what he's actually done in office. If we look at what he's done, he's made the American people safer, he has made our economy stronger, and he has fought big government. That's what we elected him to do.

CHAFFETZ: I want to show you this graphic. This is the president putting out a tweet about Elizabeth Warren, kind of clever. If you look down at the bottom, 1/2020th percentage obviously taking a stab at Senator Warren. Being in the Senate, obviously with the 2020 election, how much of a distraction is this going to be? Because so many of your colleagues, they all look in the mirror and they don't see themselves as a senator. They see themselves as the next president of the United States.

LEE: That's right. They say when a senator looks in the mirror, he or she sees a president. It doesn't have that effect on me but apparently a lot of other people do have that reaction. Look, there's no question about it. This is going to be a three-ring circus. But we are familiar with three ring circuses like this this in the Senate. I saw it a few years ago when all of my Republican colleagues and half of my Democratic colleagues were running for president of the same time. We're gearing up for the same thing in 2020, just on the Democratic side.

CHAFFETZ: Listen, senator, you've got your hands full. I think the shutdown it's obviously something that is going to be on the top of everybody's mind. But I just don't understand how the Democrats on day one, four hours into office, they decide in the House, hey, we're going to go into recess. We are not coming back until Tuesday, and that they sent over a bill not to the Senate that doesn't have even a dime for border wall funding.

LEE: It's silly. It's petulant, and I call upon them to reconsider what they've done, to reconsider the fact that in the past, for 20 years now, Congress has been calling on our federal government to make sure that we protect our border. This is a step necessary to do that. They have voted for more funding than this in the past, and they need to give this funding now.

CHAFFETZ: They are authorizing bills. The Senate authorized this fence, now they won't fund it. And it's something that is totally disingenuous to not also step up to the line and define what border security is. Senator, thank you so much for joining us.

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