MSNBC "The Beat with Ari Melber" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Pramila Jayapal
Statement
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
We have Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal here, chair of the Progressive Caucus. She did this meeting with the speaker.
Thanks for joining us.
What did you glean from the meeting? Where are we headed?
JAYAPAL: Well, Ari, it`s great to be with you.
Look, we have been working hard for several weeks to get 50 senators on board and make sure we have 218 votes in the House. We have really slim margins in both chambers. And that`s just the reality of it.
The Progressive Caucus, 96 members` strong, I`m really proud of us because, because of us holding the line and saying we`re not just going to deliver a small piece of the president`s agenda to his desk, we`re not going to leave anybody behind, we held the line, we have got this Build Back Better act back on the table. And there`s been more negotiation in the last three weeks on the Build Back Better Act than there was for six months with the two senators that we need to get on board.
We are close, but we`re not done. We are waiting for an agreement with the two senators. And anybody that`s concerned about the delay here should just look at the fact that we need to get two senators on board. And we`re waiting for that to happen. And there`s no shade being thrown here.
Senator Boxer is right. We need 50 senators. That`s just -- that`s just the reality of where we are.
MELBER: Yes. Yes.
JAYAPAL: And we need 218 votes in the House. So, that`s the place we`re in.
MELBER: Right.
JAYAPAL: And let`s see where we get to.
But I think we just -- we`re not there yet. We don`t have that agreement yet.
MELBER: As of this moment, is family leave out of the package?
JAYAPAL: Well, that`s what I`m hearing.
I spoke to Senator Manchin myself, and I told him how frustrating it was for me that he doesn`t think that`s a good idea. Ari, there are only six countries in the world that don`t have paid family leave. And I can`t believe that the United States is going to be -- continue to be one of them.
I am a woman. I have had a baby. I understand how important this is. And I think there are millions of women out there who are saying, what do you not understand about investing in us to have this paid family and medical leave, so that we can bring up and invest in our kids early on, when we need to do that?
This is really -- I think it`s inconceivable for most of us who have had babies, I said that to Senator Manchin, frankly, to families that have had children. I don`t understand. But that`s where he is.
MELBER: Yes.
And on the billionaire`s tax, as you said, and the senator, your former congressional colleague, Senator Boxer, said on our air here moments ago, you echoed it, like, hey, got to work together, so you don`t want to antagonize them.
Having said that, the billionaire tax would seem to be this breakthrough. Is it a dance where sometimes these two senators find a coordination? Is it accidental or on-purpose synchronized swimming, so to speak?
And what should we in the country make of the concern by not Senator Manchin -- I`m not only singling him out, although he`s a key vote -- but also by some Republican senators to oppose a tax on a super wealthy class of people that in some instances that are not even in their states, as we have emphasized, which raises the very public question of whether the only reason that they oppose it is because of out-of-state donors and not actually representing their state?
JAYAPAL: Well, I love the billionaires tax.
Senator Warren and I have a wealth tax that is -- we would love to see on the table, but this is a version of that, a much smaller version. It`s just 700 billionaires. I have some of those billionaires in my state, Ari. You know Washington state well.
[18:15:08]
MELBER: I do.
JAYAPAL: We have those billionaires there.
And I think it`s time for those 700 billionaires to pay at least a piece of their fair share. I mean, this isn`t going to get everything, but it`s starting to unrig the system. Now, that wasn`t our first choice. Let`s just back up here.
We had a whole set of tax incentives -- or tax changes that were about rolling back the Trump tax cuts. Senator Sinema didn`t like those. She didn`t want to do those. Senator Manchin was actually OK with many of them.
So, what happened was, Senator Warren and others, Senator Wyden, came up with a billionaires tax and really socialized that idea. I think it`s fantastic. But now Senator Sinema is OK with that tax, but Senator Manchin has problems with it.
And so this is where it`s like, OK, the two of them don`t actually agree with each other; 98 percent of us have been on the same page for a long time.
MELBER: Right. Right.
JAYAPAL: And we keep being patient, but, look, at the end of the day, they need to understand that they do need to come together.
And I have spent time, particularly with Senator Manchin. I just talked to him today on the phone. I think he`s working in good faith. But I think we need a little bit more here, because we need to get this done.
MELBER: Yes. Yes.
JAYAPAL: And we need to pass it for the American people.
MELBER: Well, you are a powerful person with an important job. And, as we get our civics lesson here about things that matter, people are reminded why it`s also a tough job that not everyone would want.
But we wish everyone in government luck. And, Congresswoman, thank you for joining us.
JAYAPAL: Thank you, Ari.
MELBER: Absolutely.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source