MSNBC Interview - Transcript

MSNBC INTERVIEW WITH REP.-ELECT MIKE QUIGLEY (D-IL)

SUBJECT: HIS ELECTION TO THE SEAT FORMERLY HELD BY WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF RAHM EMANUEL
INTERVIEWER: ANDREA MITCHELL

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MS. MITCHELL: The race for the Illinois Senate seat vacated by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel -- congressional seat, we should say -- is over, and Democrat Mike Quigley is the new Congress member. He won 69 percent of the vote to 24 percent in that heavily Democratic district.

Joining us live from Chicago, the new congressman, Congressman- elect Mike Quigley, former Cook County commissioner. Thank you very much. Congratulations to you.

I guess the first question is, how are you going to follow up in Rahm Emanuel's shoes? Some might suggest that you might have to learn a whole new vocabulary. I don't know you well enough. Maybe you already have that vocabulary --

REP.-ELECT QUIGLEY: (Chuckles.) Only when we play hockey.

MS. MITCHELL: -- but tell me what your top priorities are.

REP.-ELECT QUIGLEY: Our issues have always been --

MS. MITCHELL: So you don't play hardball.

REP.-ELECT QUIGLEY: I play hockey.

My issues have always been transparency, fighting for reform, accountability in government, fighting for ethics reform here in Chicago. Those have been my issues, along with the environment and human rights measures.

But I know, going to D.C., the number-one issue is and will be for some time the economy.

MS. MITCHELL: In terms of the economy, would you have supported the president's budget? How do you describe yourself in terms of the stimulus package? I'm assuming you would have been in the Pelosi majority.

REP.-ELECT QUIGLEY: Well, I support the president. I was a delegate for the president. I like to put my two cents in, and I'm pretty well-known here in Chicago for dissenting when necessary.

To me, the stimulus package will also act potentially as a slow brake on the economy, because we're going to pay for it for a long time. Clearly the president understands that.

For me, the part of the packages that matter most are the ones that have a long-term lasting impact. So if we pay for it for a long time, it should have a long-term positive impact, like rebuilding our transit systems.

MS. MITCHELL: Now, according to the Chicago Tribune, you're planning to return home on weekends and sleep on your office couch, rather than taking a place in D.C. Is that a budget concern?

REP.-ELECT QUIGLEY: Well, I have two wonderful daughters who are in college at the same time, so it's at least partly a budget concern.

But you have to remember that most people who get elected to Congress have at least two months to get used to the job and find a place and get oriented. Literally we go tonight and we start our work tomorrow morning.

MS. MITCHELL: When are you being sworn in?

REP.-ELECT QUIGLEY: Well, I get sworn in the 21st, but there are some duties I guess I take right away. I have to hire a staff, get my district office going, and get briefed on many of the issues we'll be facing right away, because literally on the 21st the speaker swears me in and then tells me to go way at the back and start voting.

MS. MITCHELL: Okay. Well, thank you very much for joining us. Congratulations again, Mike Quigley, the new member of Congress replacing Rahm Emanuel in the U.S. House of Representatives. We appreciate that, and we look forward to welcoming you to Washington, look forward to seeing you when you're here.

REP.-ELECT QUIGLEY: Thanks for having me.

MS. MITCHELL: Thank you.

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