'Fox News Sunday' on November 5, 2023
Interview
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Hey, Shannon. Great to be with you.
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Yes, no. We -- it is surprising to see this level of antisemitism that has sprung up around the country. Apparently, it's been dormant for a while, but this has given rise to that. And we're deeply concerned about it.
The opening to the program today, Shannon, I think gave a great snapshot of the crisis that Israel faces. And that's why, right off the block, as soon as I became speaker, within the hour, we passed a resolution to make clear that Congress stands by our great friend in that region, we always will. And then we passed, as you saw, our first priority is an emergency immediate funding aid to Israel so they can defeat Hamas and protect and continue as a nation. That's what's at stake.
I spoke to Prime Minister Netanyahu on Saturday evening a week ago and he said this is a battle between good versus evil, light versus darkness. I could not agree and the world can see that.
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Shannon, it's really surprising to hear Senator Schumer say that it's not a serious proposal. It's actually is what was requested, $14.5 billion.
What they don't like is that in the House, we're trying to be good stewards of the taxpayers' resources. We offset that spending. Instead of printing new dollars and/or borrowing it from another nation to send over to fulfill our obligations and help our ally, we want to pay for it. What a concept, and we're trying to change how Washington works.
And so, by taking that money from this giant fund, over $65 billion that's sitting there to build up the IRS, we weighed those priorities and said, you know what? It's more important to protect Israel right now than it is to hire more IRS agents.
Apparently, Senator Schumer disagrees with that. But I'll take that debate to the American people all day long.
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Look, only in Washington can you cut funding, add a pay-for to a new spending measure, and they say it's terrible for the deficit.
Listen, we're taking care of our priorities and we will. We know that these other important measures that right there on the table and we're working through it hour by hour, day-by-day and we're going to meet those obligations. But we have to do things in the proper order and we are committed to changing how Washington works.
I think you see a united and energized House conference. All of our members are working together in good faith trying to solve these great challenges that we face, and I'm very optimistic that we're going to do that. But we are going to also change the trajectory we're on.
Shannon, right now, we have $33.6 trillion federal debt. Just last week, the Treasury Department and the Biden administration announced that we're going to have to borrow over $1.5 trillion over the next two quarters, six months, to continue our operation as a government.
This is not a sustainable track. We can take care of our obligations and we can do it in a responsible manner and that's what we're committed to.
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What this is about is advancing the agenda and first priority is the American people. I don't know which Democrat gave you that absurd quote, but they're clearly not listening to their constituents.
If you go into the country, people will say, look, we understand our role as a leader in the free world, we understand that we're the great superpower that needs to assist and ensure that freedom survives. But we have to take care of our own house first, and securing our border is an essential priority to American people.
So they're not listening to their constituents, I think that's a tone-deaf response. Again, we can do all of these things together. But when -- when you couple Ukraine and the border, that makes sense to people because they say, if we're going to protect Ukraine's border, and we have to do what is necessary there, we don't want Vladimir Putin to prevail. We can't afford that.
The free world can't afford that. But we have to take care of our own border first. And that's what we're saying. This is policy changes that are necessary. There's a growing consensus in the Congress, certainly amongst Republicans, but also even some across the aisle who recognize we have to change what is happening over 6.3 million illegal crossings since Joe Biden took office. It's more than the population of my state. We cannot continue this and everyone knows it and the fentanyl that's come over the border of human trafficking, the cartels making billions of dollars on our backs. We're going to stop that. And the House Republicans are committed to it. I think that people are with us, Shannon.
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The reason I look a little haggard this morning, Shannon, is because it was up late last night. We worked through the weekend. On a stopgap measure, we recognize that we may not get all the appropriations bills done by this deadline of November 17. But we're going to continue in good faith.
And the difference between what we call on Capitol Hill and continuing resolution now and what we've dealt with in years past is that this would allow us time and everybody understands, allow us time to continue this appropriations process. We're committed to bringing 12 bills to the floor as the law -- statutory law requires Congress to do that hasn't been done in many years. But again, we're changing the way Washington works because we believe it needs to be more accountable and more transparent for the people. And so we're going to fight that fight every single day. And we'll get that job done.
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No. Shannon, look, I'm pro-life. I've said very clearly, I'm a Bible-believing Christian. I believe in the sanctity of every single human life. So I come to Congress with deep personally held convictions. But guess what, sort of, my 434 other colleagues in the House, everyone comes to Congress with their deeply held convictions. But the process here is that you make law by consensus. And I've not brought forward any measure to address any of those issues.
Right now, our priorities are funding the government, handling these -- these massive national security priorities that we have in crises around the globe, and taking care of changing and reforming how Congress works. That's what we're going to do.
Listen, I -- prior to the modern time, I mean, until recently, actually, almost all of our nation's leaders openly acknowledged that they were also Bible-believing Christians. So I mean, this is not something that should cause great unrest. OK, it's just that Washington right now, what you're seeing, Washington and the Associated Press Corps are engaging with a leader who openly acknowledges faith and in the foundational principles of our country.
I think this is a healthy discussion, but it doesn't affect how we run Congress.
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I don't -- I don't think so. I'm not sure what they're talking about. I really don't remember any of those measures.
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I am personally pro-life, yeah. No, no, of course not. No, that -- that's something that's blessed a lot of families who have problems with fertility, of course, that's a great thing. I would support that.
But, look, again, these are not issues that are on the front of the agenda, and we can come with our convictions and we can govern in an accountable transparent manner for the American people. And that's what -- that's what we're going to do.
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No, I'm not even sure what the term means. And look, there are entire industries built on taking down, tearing down people like me. I understand that comes with a territory and we're not fazed by it. But listen, what -- what I believe in, are the founding principles of the country, individual freedom, limited government, the rule of law, peace through strength, fiscal responsibility, free markets, human dignity. Those are essential American principles.
And so I've been labeled all kinds of stuff, but these people don't know me. Look, my family, it's no fun to be misquoted and maligned and -- and mocked, of course, but we know that comes with a job, and we're unfazed. We're going to continue to love all people. We're going to continue to bless, even those who persecute us. Because that's -- that's our worldview, and that's how we operate. And if people just -- everybody take a breath, give us a chance, and you'll see what principled governance looks like. That's what I'm committed to do.
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Yes, look, I'm a man of modest means. OK. I was a lawyer, but I did constitutional law. And most of my career has been in the nonprofit sector. We have four kids, five now that are very active. And I have kids in graduate school, law school, undergraduate. We have a lot of expenses. But I can relate to everybody else. My father was a firefighter, right? I didn't grow up with great means. But I think that helps us be a better leader because we can relate to every hard work in American family. That's who we are. And I think it governs and helps govern my decisions and how I lead.
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Thanks, Shannon.
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